Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 6, 2009

This Wednesday, MIT and Tie-Boston are hosting The 140-Character Mission: Social Media & Entrepreneurship event. I was going to be presenting live via video but the time difference is just too much. Instead, I’m going to be presenting by proxy: the wonderful and talented John Haydon will be walking you through my slides. About the event: Already Twitter, Facebook, and the rest are revolutionizing the business and marketing of social impact.

Twitter 167

Twitter Case Study Slides Boston 167

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 3, 2009

Now that the Idealware CMS report is out, I get to have my say about it. Here’s the first post, there might be more to come. The thing that is prompting this post is the little storm about the security metric that we used to try and get a handle on the security of the 4 different systems we reviewed. More on that in a bit. You might think that comparing four different open source packages that, in essence, do pretty the same thing (in a broad sense) would be a cakc walk.

Drupal 150

Drupal Comment Report Open Source 150

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 15, 2009

President Marc Mauer of the National Federation of the Blind just had an excellent op ed published by the Baltimore Sun entitled Bias against blind book lovers. Mauer does a great job in capturing the advocacy position of the Reading Rights Coalition. This is a case of dueling moral high grounds. The Authors Guild are pressing the cause of authors' rights to make more money (in theory).

Baltimore 124

Baltimore Authoring eBook Articulate 124

NCE Social Media

APRIL 29, 2009

This is an email I got today that I wanted to share with our readers. Please visit the Change.org link listed below for more information. If you already use this service, please let us know. Hello Nonprofit Admins, Good news! The $20 monthly fee for our premium service is no more. Now all nonprofits on Change.org have the premium service toolset added to their Admin Dashboards.

Service 117

Service Myspace Free Linkedin 117

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Managing HR tasks like payroll, compliance, and employee data can overwhelm small businesses. That’s where a Human Capital Management (HCM) solution comes in. Our eBook, Why Every Small Business Needs an HCM Solution: A Comprehensive Guide , shows how an HCM system automates tedious processes, ensuring your business stays compliant and efficient. You’ll learn how to simplify payroll, eliminate costly errors, and empower your employees with self-service tools.

Business

Robert Weiner

APRIL 30, 2009

Hewlett Packard has published a free guide to greening your IT. They describe it as: Green IT for Dummies … is intended to give organizations simple and straight-forward ideas on how to reduce the environmental impact of IT systems and harness the power of IT to reduce the wider environmental impacts of climate change in society. The guide, produced independently by research and analysis firm Freeform Dynamics, provides guidance for where to start in greening an organization and maps out a

Green 100

Green Map Analysis Guide 100

Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 7, 2009

Over the last few months, I’ve been collaborating with Andy Gibson and David Wilcox , and Clive Holtham and Nigel Courtney from Cass Business School, on a book about using new technologies for social benefit projects. It’s going to be called Social by Social: a practical guide to using new technologies to deliver social impact and it should be published and distributed by NESTA next month.

Social 147

Social Empowerment Conversation Content 147

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 22, 2009

NTC is coming, and I don’t have to pack! That’s a good thing. But I will be BARTing my way into SF everyday, from Saturday for Penguin Day , Sunday through Tuesday for NTC, and Wed and Thursday for CiviCRM Developer Camp. I’m very much looking forward to all of it, even though it seems like it’s going to be an exhausting 6 days.

NTC 100

NTC Open Source Drupal API 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 26, 2009

One of the highlights of last week's Social Enterprise Alliance's Summit was the Launch of the Policy Track. We were delighted to have with us Carlos Monje of the White House Office of Social Innovation (so new, it doesn't have a website). A lot of cool things happened in the policy track (even I spoke), but I think the interesting thing was Carlos' comments.

Policy 104

Policy Track Social National 104

NCE Social Media

APRIL 29, 2009

John Haydon is a Boston-area social media marketing guru. He has one of the best websites I’ve seen that gives a step by step of tools, tips, and suggestions that you can use to dramatically improve your Twitter knowledge, and thus your Twitter presence. The goal of his website is to help nonprofits bring in more funds. I think if you read through his various tips, you’ll be fulfilling his goal.

Twitter 100

Twitter Tools Boston Tips 100

Speaker: Joe Sharpe and James Carlson

Payroll optimization can be one of the most time-consuming and complex factors of small business management. Yet, organizations that crack the code on streamlining employee compensation often discover innovative avenues for growth. With the right strategies in place, outsourcing and streamlining payroll processes can result in substantial time and resource savings.

Foundation

Robert Weiner

APRIL 28, 2009

Today was the second session of my 2-part workshop for consultants and wanna-be consultants. Jana Byington-Smith blogged it again, and here’s what she recorded. We started by listing everyone’s burning issues, then discussed as many as we could in-depth. Presenters: Robert L. Weiner. John Kenyon, John Kenyon Technology Consulting. Michael Stein, Michael Stein, Inc.

Consultant 100

Consultant NTEN Structure Skills 100

NetWits

APRIL 28, 2009

I had been looking forward to Clay Shirky 's plenary at the 2009 Nonprofit Technology Conference for a while, and he did not let me down. Keeping in theme with his almost dead-on resemblance to Tom Hanks, his words/message/thoughts resonated around the room like Forest Gump on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Had the WiFi in the room not gone down, I am almost certain Twitter would have collapsed under the weight of our collective epiphanies.

Mind 100

Mind NTC Conference Twitter 100

Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 28, 2009

I’m here at the 09NTC in Corey Pudhorodsky and Chad Norman’s session on podcasting! Session Description: With portable music players, smart phones, and cheap bandwidth everywhere, more and more online marketers are turning to podcasting as a powerful way to extend the reach of their brands and engage supporters. We’ll discuss how to produce a podcasts using free tools and from scratch, including pre-production, recording, editing, processing, and rendering.

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Podcast Support Files Audio 123

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 20, 2009

In general, the activities of the big tech corporations have somewhat limited and indirect effect on nonprofit technology. For large enterprises, the activities of the big players is a much more immediate and important set of issues to deal with. For us, it’s generally much more removed. However, today’s news that Oracle is going to buy Sun Microsystems has some very important implications.

Oracle 100

Oracle Open Source Database Alternative 100

Speaker: Tim Sarrantonio, Director of Corporate Brand

Is your organization ready to build a recurring giving program that not only sustains but also propels your mission forward? 🚀 In this new webinar with industry visionary Tim Sarrantonio, we’ll guide you through the critical steps to establishing and scaling a successful recurring giving program. Whether you’re starting fresh or enhancing an existing program, this session will provide the strategies you need to deepen donor relationships and secure long-term support!

Giving

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 21, 2009

I keynoted the Illinois Computing Educators - ICE conference recently, and someone posted a picture on Flickr. It's fun to go out and tell stories to hundreds of people. Mainly, I talk about where Benetech comes from. Tags: ice educators keynote fruchterman.

Illinois 104

Illinois Flickr Picture Education 104

NCE Social Media

APRIL 28, 2009

Yesterday I stumbled across a group page on Facebook for my agency’s camping and recreation program. Our agency didn’t set up this group and we don’t administer it. A former camp counselor set it up as a way to reconnect with other former and current camp counselors from our camping program. They have our current camping program schedule posted to the site.

Facebook 100

Facebook Law Social Media Awareness 100

Robert Weiner

APRIL 28, 2009

I moderated a panel with the above title yesterday at NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference. Jana Byington-Smith did a great job of capturing the discussion for the conference’s live blog. I’m reposting her summary below. The list of links she mentions is at [link]. You can read all of the conference blogs at [link]. So You Want to Be a Consultant?

Consultant 100

Consultant NTEN Conference Product 100

NetWits

APRIL 27, 2009

Wall Street Journal has learned that Facebook is expected to launch brand new web services that let developers access areas of the site and content that was not available before. This news is especially exciting and relevant because of the broad market appeal and adoption of the platform making it one of the world's largest repository of relational data.

Facebook 100

Facebook Open Journal Adopt 100

Speaker: Andrew Olsen, CFRE - EVP, Fundraising Solutions at DickersonBakker | Kat Landa, CFRE, CSD - SVP, Talent Solutions at DickersonBakker

Across the nonprofit sector, organizations invest heavily in donor retention efforts, yet the struggle of cultivating lasting relationships remains. While attracting new donors is crucial, the lack of repeat donors poses significant financial risks. Through a comprehensive analysis of industry data, experts argue that there is a direct correlation between donor burnout, donor retention, and the talent retention crisis.

Donor

Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 30, 2009

The 2nd Annual Women Who Tech TeleSummit is just one week away. Again, this year we have a great line up so don’t wait to sign up. When: May 12, 2009. Panels run from 11AM EDT to 6PM EDT. Where: Everywhere via phone and web. Fee: $10. Check out these awesome panels and sign up today. When you sign up for one panel, feel free to register for a couple more complementary - that’s right, it’s on us. • Social Media ROI. • Women and Open Source. • Tools Galore in Online Comm

Tech 120

Tech San Francisco Atlanta Blogher 120

VisionLink

APRIL 17, 2009

'Tonight we make the AIRS XML Resource Data Exchange capacities a module directly available to system operators! Now system operators can share their Resource information with other partners and other systems, when they are compliant with version 3.0 of the AIRS Standard. Importantly, this tool is available in the system administration area of CommunityOS--no programming intervention is necessary.

Data 100

Data Free Module System 100

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

APRIL 29, 2009

The systems for participating in government have been long established and formalized. They often make joint discussion hard. For example, the traditional approach is for an agency to issue a Request for Comment. Then, people have a certain number of weeks to post comments, but can't comment on each others' work real-time. And then, there's a time for reply comments.

Comment 100

Comment DC Government Policy 100

NCE Social Media

APRIL 24, 2009

I attended a conference over the past two days which included a session on using search engine optimization (SEO) to enhance your page rankings on search engines like Google and Yahoo. One of the key points is that Google gives more weight to a website that uses a.org domain than a.com,net, etc. They do this to favor nonprofit agencies. If you’d like to learn a little more about search enginge optimization for your agency, you can visit this site [link].

Search 100

Search Social Media Yahoo Media 100

Advertiser: Digital Ocean

Effectively managing cloud technology is getting more complex. From cybersecurity concerns, vendor lock-in, cost increases, or lack of transparency on costs, it can quickly get out of control. Knowing what you can control and finding a platform that’s built with nonprofits in mind is key.

Nonprofit

Robert Weiner

APRIL 28, 2009

Our friends at Idealware and NTEN have released their Consumers Guide to Low Cost Donor Management Systems. The guide presents detailed comparisons of 33 donor databases that cost less than $4,250 in the first year. It includes a high-level overview of common features, comparisons and summaries of the systems they reviewed, recommendations for which systems might be suited to a variety of nonprofit scenarios, and a directory of consultants who can help you select a database.

System 100

System Guide Comparison Donor 100

NetWits

APRIL 24, 2009

I’m fortunate enough to speak to nonprofit organizations each day and lately I’ve noticed a heavier emphasis on stewardship. This makes me smile. It means they’re thinking strategically about their organization’s success and not only how they can fulfill their mission but how they can best show the impact of each gift.

Gift 100

Gift Impact Organization Nonprofit 100

Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 7, 2009

Micah L. Sifry , the co-founder of Personal Democracy Forum, took a closer look at ROI for Facebook apps in his piece last week Facebook Haggadah: A Case Study in Viral ROI (Is This App Different From All Other Apps?) for TechPresident. He sent his thoughts around asking for feedback and I was more than happy to share some ideas on the subject. Here’s an excerpt from his post : Within a day his Facebook Haggadah was all over the web.

Case Study 108

Case Study ROI Facebook Studies 108

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 15, 2009

Second to last in my series on CMS and CRM integration (I’m saving Drupal and Salesforce for last) is using web forms. I wanted to talk about this because it is arguably the most common form of “integration&# between CRM and CMS that’s out there (besides the manual kind). You’ve got a CMS, and you’ve got a CRM somewhere else, and you need some way for data from users to make it to your CRM.

Integration 100

Integration Web Drupal Blackbaud 100

Advertiser: Syncrony

Looking for cost reductions for your nonprofit? Why not consider modernizing with a digital board management system that's designed to work with remote meetings, with immediate cost reductions if you still distribute paper packets to members? Get going in less than an hour on a fully hosted cloud solution built on the latest technology that runs on any device - from desktops to tablets and smartphones - without any installation.

Nonprofit