Nonprofit Tech for Good

DECEMBER 13, 2009

Scheduled to occur sometime between late 2009 and early 2010, some major changes are coming to Facebook Fan Pages. My first instinct is that the changes below are going to significantly impact nonprofits, and in some cases, not in a good way. I think those nonprofits with national and international brand recognition, lots of fans, and technical resources will benefit and the changes will hardly affect them.

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Amy Sample Ward

OCTOBER 30, 2009

Lauren Cochrane has a great post today with ideas for lists organizations could create with Twitter’s new List function. If you haven’t heard about Lists yet, you’re not behind! They have only been rolled out to around half of the users so far. You can read more about Lists on the Twitter Blog here. Lauren outlines 7 Lists that organizations may find useful, including: Your organisation’s chapters and campaigns.

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NetWits

SEPTEMBER 27, 2009

With over 300 million users and over fifty percent of those users logging in daily Facebook is a platform that’s proven to be effective. It doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon either. Millions of people use the tool to stay connected with family and friends – sharing photos, videos, links, resources and personal day to day information. Some nonprofits are even figuring out how to connect with their supporters, donors, volunteers and advocates in new and unique ways.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 11, 2009

This morning, I looked at both Salesforce.com, with the second nonprofit template, and CiviCRM with a small group of colleagues. All of us implement, or have used, one or both of the systems. But each of us has expertise in only one of the systems.(I’m one of the CiviCRM folks). It’s pretty interesting to compare them. The nonprofit template has certainly helped to make it easier for nonprofits to do the brain surgery required to use a for-profit sales tool for nonprofit CRM purposes

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Template Brain Registration Nptech 168

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

DECEMBER 5, 2009

We filed the following comments to the Copyright Office's request for comments on issues about access for people with print disabilities. Background on this can be reviewed at the Knowledge Ecology International website. December 4, 2009 Benetech’s Reply Comments in response to the Copyright Office Notice of Inquiry and Request for Comments on the Topic of Facilitating Access to Copyrighted Works for the Blind or Other Persons With Disabilities The issue all comes down to human rights vs. money.

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Robert Weiner

AUGUST 24, 2009

TechSoup , the nonprofit tech web site where I host a discussion forum, went live with a redesigned home page over the weekend. I love the new look, although it's only skin-deep. This is Phase 1 and only affects the home page--most links take you to pages on the old site, with a the old design and the old navigation. TechSoup's description of the project recognizes this issue: What you see today, Phase 1, offers several key improvements: An easier-to-use redesigned home page, An upgraded search

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Judi Sohn

DECEMBER 23, 2009

Part of my job is helping my colleagues do what they need to do on their computers and online. They ask, "Judi, how do I.?" and I tell them. To make finding this info easier, I started building wiki pages for documenting how we at C3 do what we do. I took screenshots with Skitch , recorded movies with Jing. Took forever. The problem is that things change.

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Jing PDF Wiki Movie 140

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 13, 2009

. NTEN offered a fantastic Webinar today featuring Randi Zuckerberg, Director of Marketing at Facebook and Adam (didn't get his last name) from the DC Office on the emerging best practices for nonprofits who want to set up Facebook Fan Pages. Here's the description. This webinar will be a resource for non-profits and other organizations for social good.

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Facebook Profile Demographics Nonprofit 121

NCE Social Media

DECEMBER 22, 2009

Mashable recently posted that YouTube is the top social media innovation in the past decade. That’s a pretty bold statement on their part but lets look at their evidence. Increases in bandwidth, better video capture and uploading, and the rise of social networks were all key roles in increasing the need for YouTube. Being able to embed content in other media, such as this blog post was a great way to spread information via social networks.

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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

Nonprofit Tech for Good

OCTOBER 22, 2009

Six months ago I came pretty close to complete social media burnout. I was running over 20 social networking profiles, logging in seven days a week, and at minimum pulling 60-hour work weeks. My brain was completely fried and those around me were getting pretty fed up with the fact that I was never present, only connected… online, all the time.

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Social Media Media Management Tips 246

Nonprofit Tech for Good

NOVEMBER 18, 2009

If you are reading this now, then of the world’s 6.8 billion people , you are likely one of the lucky ones. You have Internet access, a computer, a roof over your head, and likely planning some holiday shopping this year. By spending consciously, your consumer power can change the world. Did you know that in the United States more than 70% of holiday gifts end up in the landfill within 6 months?

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Gift Place Benefit Program 237

Amy Sample Ward

OCTOBER 27, 2009

This month’s Net2 Think Tank question asks, “How do you stay up-to-date online?&# There are so many blogs, news sources, and conversations happening at the same time, every day, and the chances that you’ll be able to find them all without trying is pretty unlikely. There are hundreds of millions of blogs according to Technorati, and that’s just blogs!

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Create Netsquared Organization RSS 234

Amy Sample Ward

OCTOBER 30, 2009

Lauren Cochrane has a great post today with ideas for lists organizations could create with Twitter’s new List function. If you haven’t heard about Lists yet, you’re not behind! They have only been rolled out to around half of the users so far. You can read more about Lists on the Twitter Blog here. Lauren outlines 7 Lists that organizations may find useful, including: Your organisation’s chapters and campaigns.

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Twitter Chapter Campaign Celebrate 227

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

Amy Sample Ward

AUGUST 6, 2009

My latest post is up on the Stanford Social Innovation Review opinion blog. You can read the full post and join the conversation on SSIR here. The post is copied below. My current job title includes the term “Community Builder” and I get asked nearly every day just what that means: how do you build community? where is the community you want to build?

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

Since the popular Facebook fundraising App Causes was built using GuideStar’s database of nonprofits in the United States and Canada, only nonprofits in the U.S. and Canada can utilize Causes’ fundraising tools. There are some amazing nonprofits at the grassroots working miracles daily with relatively small amounts of cash, but unfortunately, since no international database of verified nonprofits exists, these nonprofits are consistently unable to utilize most online fundraising tool

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

DECEMBER 8, 2009

Nonprofits that have been using Facebook for a year or more consistently comment “OK… Facebook is great, but how can we take our Facebook Page strategy to the next level?&# Below are six advanced Facebook Page strategies in response to that question: 1) Create Customized Tabs. Advanced strategies requires advanced tech skills. If you know html and have a good graphic designer, then you can use the Static FBML App to create and completely customize Tabs on Facebook Pages.

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

OCTOBER 26, 2009

2010 is going to be the year that the large national and international nonprofits launch iPhone Apps. Many of those Apps are already in development (@ Kiva4iPhone ), but at this early in the game hiring someone to develop an iPhone App for your nonprofit is expensive. Very expensive. Large companies and some nonprofits are spending as much as $50,000 to build and launch an a iPhone App.

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Avatar Houston Adopt Nonprofit 201

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

Nonprofit Tech for Good

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

Twitter’s new Lists are a great way to organize your followers, and with a little intention and a dose of good will, Twitter Lists can also be used to promote your favorite nonprofits and the causes you care about. Here’s how: 1) Create a “Favorite Nonprofits&# List. Lists can say a lot about your character and what’s important to you.

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Twitter Causes Conservancy Chapter 197

Nonprofit Tech for Good

NOVEMBER 6, 2009

I was fortunate enough to get two Google Wave invites last week (thanks to @nonprofitdaily and @donortools ). It’s a good thing because I messed up the first invite and attached it to my personal Gmail account. When in fact, I wanted to attach it to a newly created “NonprofitOrgs&# account, as in nonprofitorgs@gmail.com. Now, I am still figuring out how Google Wave works.

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Amy Sample Ward

JULY 16, 2009

Over the last few months, we have seen Twitter serve the global community by playing an important role in communications - whether it’s finding new friends (#FollowFriday), or telling the world about your government/election/political state (#IranElection), whether it’s having a conversation together (#4Change), or non-linearly replacing your RSS feed.

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

OCTOBER 29, 2009

If used correctly, #hashtags can be very useful to nonprofits on Twitter. Hashtags allow your organization to participate and inspire conversations (and in the process get new followers) and organize the Twitterverse around campaigns ( #climatechange ) and events ( #openwebawards ). The problem is that there so many hashtags floating around on Twitter, that’s it tough to keep track of which hashtags work best and reach the most individuals.

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Twitter Nonprofit Avatar Nptech 195

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

Nonprofit Tech for Good

OCTOBER 5, 2009

As the Web goes mobile , so does social media… and so should your nonprofit. If there is one thing I have learned over ten years of using the Internet for fundraising and social change, those nonprofits that can embrace change quickly, empower their visionaries, and adopt new Web trends, reap the benefits of being early adopters. The Web and how people use it is transforming quickly.

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

DECEMBER 30, 2009

During 2009 I created and promoted 34 TwtPolls to help better understand the needs of nonprofits. The TwtPoll results are often surprising and can be very useful for nonprofits as they forge ahead with their 2010 communications strategies. Below are the 11 TwtPoll results that I think are the most telling: 1) Is your nonprofit planning on utilizing mobile technology in 2010 (live Tweeting, group texting, iPhone Apps, launching a mobile site)?

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

SEPTEMBER 25, 2009

With over 45 million active users worldwide, LinkedIn is a social networking site that is becoming much more than just a place to have a Web 2.0 resume. Recently they have added many new tools and will likely be adding more in the coming year. Here are three simple, but powerful ways that nonprofits can use LinkedIn: 1) Create a Group : Make sure you create the group under the “Nonprofit&# category and select “Yes&# to both being listed in the “Groups Directory&# and that your

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Animoto is a service that allows you to create videos about your nonprofit using a selection of your organization’s best photos. Within a few minutes and a couple of clicks, your nonprofit could have a new promotional video that you can use on your Web site, your Blog, in your e-mail newsletters, and on social networking sites. An Animoto video created by the American Cancer Society is good example of how photos, music, and simple text can tell a story and convey a message of gratitude to

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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