Wild Apricot
JANUARY 30, 2009
If questions from our readers are any indication, there’s still a lot of confusion about the differences between Facebook’s Profiles, Fan Pages, and Groups — and which of these might best suit a nonprofit’s social-networking plan. Let’s take a closer look. Facebook was conceived as a social network of individuals, so everything starts with the individual Profile.
Judi Sohn
JANUARY 10, 2009
As a recently-returned-to-the-fold knitting geek , I’ve been amazed by Ravelry. It’s incredible. TechCrunch didn’t take it seriously. Condescending attitude aside, they should. As of right now, the site has 258,711 users and counting, with thousands online at the same time. These aren’t geeks trying out the new online toy. For the most part, these are people who take their hobby very seriously.
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NetWits
JANUARY 29, 2009
I'm excited to report that I've been invited to speak on the American Marketing Association radio program next Wednesday, February 4, at 11am Central Time. The program, Beyond the Basics: Taking Five Website Staples to the Next Level , will focus on the amazing benefits you'll experience if you make the investment in optimizing your website in just a few key areas.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
JANUARY 24, 2009
I recently was invited to give a talk at my alma mater, Caltech. The talk was hosted by the Caltech Y, as well as by the local chapter of NetImpact and the alumni association, as part of their Social Activism Speaker Series (SASS). I was particularly thrilled that Martin Luther King was an earlier speaker hosted by the Y in the area of social activism!
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Amy Sample Ward
JANUARY 14, 2009
These are my links for January 12th through January 14th: Network For Good - The audience for this 45-page guide is small nonprofits who need help launching a great online fundraising or marketing campaign in quick order. The guide features 12 real-life strategies organizations are using right now to succeed during the downturn, in addition to tons of great tactical advice, creative samples and other resources.
Nonprofit Technology brings together the best content for nonprofit technical enthusiasts from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
VisionLink
JANUARY 30, 2009
'Tonight we begin a series of upgrades, which when combined create Form Builder 2.0. It''s hard to imagine this module has come so far so fast. Thank you customers for your input! Form Builder 2.0 includes business logic auditing (meaning that changes to the Forms themselves are now audited), extraordinary integration of our content management system and the Form Builder (can you say "flexible call scripting"?
Judi Sohn
JANUARY 29, 2009
Especially if it’s Google and you can’t pick up the phone and get immediate support. I’m reading a rant on Joel on Software against Google Apps. The short story is that he signed up for Google Apps and registered his domain at the same time. All well and good until the domain came up for renewal, and he had serious problems getting it renewed. He’s blaming Google Apps for his trouble, when in fact the issue is something between Google and enom, the company that actually registers the domains.
NetWits
JANUARY 2, 2009
My colleague, Nicholai Burton, posted a terrific blog entry last month about ways for cultural organizations to thrive in a down economy. While he spoke specifically on ways to engage patrons, his ideas can be relevant to all types of nonprofit organizations. As a marketer, my favorite suggestion was his first, to “know thy audience.” As I regularly discuss in consultations and presentations, the better you can understand your audience, the better you can relate with them through your communicat
Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology
JANUARY 26, 2009
CiviCRM was the first nonprofit-focused open source CRM (one of only two, at this moment.) It is a great tool for small to medium-sized organizations who are looking for a CRM to track members and donations, register people for events, and do mass mailings. There are also some other features, like grants management and case management that are more nascent, but promising for the future.
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.
Amy Sample Ward
JANUARY 2, 2009
There are a TON of lists out there that identify the top _# of things to do for really anything you want to explore (whether it’s building a model or building an organization). I’ve been thinking about these lists in terms of adopting social media tools and think that most of the lists are hitting on the same exact things. So, why recreate the wheel over and over when the core theory is the same?
Robert Weiner
JANUARY 30, 2009
Jay Frost of ContactReporter.com (formerly of WealthID) has started a new blog that will track large individual gifts to all types of charities in the US and abroad: www.BigGifts.wordpress.com. Tags: Prospect Research Fundraising.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
JANUARY 12, 2009
Over the weekend just ended we successfully launched the completely rebuilt Bookshare website. The original Bookshare website and service was created over seven years ago, and has served us well. But, our new Bookshare for Education project with its likely prospect of increasing our student users one hundredfold meant we needed a rebuild. I'm also excited about our new logo!
Judi Sohn
JANUARY 24, 2009
Not a fun Friday. At some point yesterday morning, my WordPress database disappeared and was replaced with a default WordPress install. It looked like this in Safari: That tiny print is the copy that’s on a default WordPress installation, but with the Thesis theme I use applied to it…kind of. I couldn’t log in to wp-admin. More troubling, the title of the blog was changed to a funky spam link.
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!
Wild Apricot
JANUARY 8, 2009
Who should speak for your organization in social media? How can you control what’s being said about your group and your cause? If you're not sure, it may be time to work out a social media policy for your staff and volunteers who blog and chat and comment online, where the personal and professional lines often blur.( read more ). Tags: media Social networking Best practices General non-profit interest Non-profit technology Non-profit Communications nptech.
Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology
JANUARY 26, 2009
As I talked about in my last post, there are a variety of strategies one can use to move data between your CMS and your CRM. I’m going to choose a few examples to look at in some depth. Some of these are examples I’ve been working with clients on, or I’ve played with, some are just examples I know about, but are prominent, useful examples to talk about.
Amy Sample Ward
JANUARY 26, 2009
Originally posted on the NetSquared blog. This month’s Net2 Think Tank question was, “What do you think will be the big changes, new technologies, hot applications, or successful campaigns of 2009?” We had a great collection of contributions this month. Take a look at the posts below—many great conversation starters to get you thinking and buzzing about what 2009 will bring.
Robert Weiner
JANUARY 29, 2009
The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently conducted an online discussion with Lorry I. Lokey, who has appeared on The Chronicle’s list of America’s top donors every year since 2000. Mr. Lokey responded to questions such as. What is the biggest mistake development officers make when first meeting a new prospect? How could a small institution with big aspirations engage donors with significant financial capability?
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.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
JANUARY 9, 2009
I'm always interested in fresh approaches to social problems. The global climate crisis is one that is engaging a lot of creative brainpower. I've been tracking local researcher Leslie Field and her Ice911 concept for more than a year. It's still in stealth mode, but I got Leslie's permission to blog about it. Leslie was motivated by seeing An Inconvenient Truth to think about a new way to help reduce global warming.
Judi Sohn
JANUARY 24, 2009
I was disappointed when it was announced that the NTEN NTC would be in San Francisco this year. The NTC is the nonprofit technology conference. I loved it last year in New Orleans. The sessions I attended were outstanding, and very easy to adapt to the way our small nonprofit can get more out of the tools we use. Less focus on consultants and high-budget solutions.
Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media
JANUARY 23, 2009
Source: Dollar Bin, Flickr In February, I'll be co-teaching the " WeAreMedia Live " intensive two-day workshop in San Francisco from NTEN. The goal is to help participants create a social media strategy AND take a deep dive into the tactics and tools of social media. One of the challenges, of course, is integrating social media strategy with overall communications planning as well as Internet strategy without having the time in the workshop to drill down into those other topics.
Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology
JANUARY 14, 2009
I love NTC (NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference). I would be dishonest if I said I didn’t have a sweet reminiscence for the Circiut Rider Roundups of old. But they are long gone. As fields often do, ours grew up and professionalized. And what has taken it’s place is valuable to a much wider audience (and a much larger one!) And, this year, for the very first time, I live in the same city in which NTC is taking place.
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Amy Sample Ward
JANUARY 22, 2009
Social Actions , the platform that makes it easy for individuals and organizations to share actions across the web, has just launched it’s Ning-powered social network: My.SocialActions. The social network side of Social Actions is an exciting venture - it’s a way to make actions more personal and track the actions your participate in or start.
Robert Weiner
JANUARY 28, 2009
M+R Strategic Services says that although the economy is down, online giving is up (as of November 2008). They looked at online giving for five nonprofit clients during September and October (Easter Seals, Habitat for Humanity International, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Oxfam America, and The Wilderness Society) and compared those results to the same two months in 2007.
Wild Apricot
JANUARY 12, 2009
The more information you've published online, the better the chances that your organization's blog or website will be found by potential readers, right? That's true, yes, as far as it goes — quantity counts when each indexed page might be the answer to some web-surfer's search query. But the quality of information that readers find on your blog or website is what will help or hinder your organization's cause in the long run.
Judi Sohn
JANUARY 10, 2009
Those of us who live in tech and read all the blogs have been speaking the language for years. We switched to Firefox back at version 1something, had @gmail.com addresses since when they were hard to get, and have forgotten more userIDs than most folks will ever have. But from time to time something in tech clicks in the real world in a good way. You stop having to explain to “normal&# friends and family what you’re talking about because they’re doing it, too.
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