Articles and Tag - Nonprofit Technology

Back Away From That Spreadsheet: Why Excel Isn’t a Donor Database

Robert Weiner

AUGUST 18, 2009

Idealware published a new article of mine today, on a subject that comes up whenever I teach workshops for small nonprofits: "Why not use Excel as my donor database?" " The article is at [link]. Tags: Donor Databases.

Database

Database Donor Teach Tag

Back Away from that Spreadsheet: Why Excel Isn’t a Donor Database

Robert Weiner

AUGUST 19, 2009

Idealware just published a new article of mine, on a subject that comes up whenever I teach workshops for small nonprofits: "Why not use Excel as my donor database?". Tags: TechSoup.

Database

Database Donor Teach System

Creating Strong Passwords

Robert Weiner

JULY 29, 2009

More recently, Slate.com published an article called Fix Your Terrible, Insecure Passwords in Five Minutes with general password tips and a clever algorithm for developing strong passwords. You can also look at TechSoup's Security Corner for more tips, articles, blog posts, and resources on securing your information. . .

Create

Create Doc Lesson NTEN

Using Prospect Research to Raise $1 Million

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 11, 2009

Margaret King, President of the InfoRich Group, has published an article on how prospect research yielded $1 million in foundation funding for one of her clients. You can read the article at [link]. Tags: Prospect Research Fundraising Foundations. The results: a 75% success rate, resulting in nearly $1 million.

Research

Research Raise Foundation Rate

Donor Tracking vs. Business Intelligence

Robert Weiner

SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

The Nonprofit Times recently published an article called Is It Donor Management Software Or Business Intelligence. The article is also included in a special report on business intelligence and a vendor list that, unfortunately, says little about how vendors are addressing this area.

Track

Track Business Donor Database

Separating Personal and Professional Lives on Social Media

Robert Weiner

APRIL 30, 2010

" His article and the comments provide some suggestions about how to separate the two. " Tags: Social Media. In his blog post Separating Personal and Professional Networks Online , Andy Shandlain lamented that "separating personal and professional networks can be a desirable, but elusive goal."

Social Media

Social Media Professional Personal Media

Everywun Wants Your Clicks

Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 5, 2008

The San Francisco Chronicle published an article about everywun.com , a new click-to-give site. The article makes this sound like a new idea, but The Hunger Site (and their later projects for breast cancer, children’s health, literacy, rain forest protection, and animal rescue) has been doing this since 1999.

San Francisco

San Francisco Hunger Literacy Cancer

TechSoup Featured in The San Francisco Chronicle

Robert Weiner

MARCH 23, 2009

Check out the article about TechSoup in Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle. Tags: TechSoup. TechSoup might be shy about blowing its own horn but since I’m a volunteer, I have no such reservations.

San Francisco

San Francisco Interview Local Benefit

Analysis of Convio’s Online Fundraising Study

Robert Weiner

MARCH 26, 2009

She interviewed me, so of course I think the article is good. Tags: Online Fundraising Fundraising. Care2’s Allyson Kapin just published an analysis of Convio’s online fundraising study (which I mentioned earlier this week ). The analysis is posted at [link].

Analysis

Analysis Studies Online Fundraising

Lame spam of the day: Facebook notifications

Robert Weiner

JUNE 4, 2012

Similar to the notifications from MySpace, Habbo, Tagged, and Foursquare I got a few weeks ago, I'm getting lots of fake Facebook notifications. According to this article , they're phishing messages. Here are a few examples: Sender : Facebook (confirm+robert@ig.com.br). Subject: Reminder: Reset your password.

Facebook

Facebook Spam Myspace Team

Thoughts on Software RFPs

Robert Weiner

MAY 4, 2010

Resources : My article Finding the Perfect Fundraising Database in an Imperfect World includes a section called "To RFP or not to RFP" Idealware article: The Perfect Fit: A Guide to Evaluating and Purchasing Major Software Systems. Techsoup article: The RFP Process: An Overview.

Software

Software Database Phase Proposal

Fundraising in a Bad Economy

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 5, 2009

The Association of Fundraising Professionals has posted A Survival Kit for Fundraising in a Bad Economy , which includes links to dozens of articles. Tags: TechSoup.

Fundraising

Fundraising Associations Professional Tag

Coping with a Troubled Economy

Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 15, 2008

Some of the articles are free and some require a subscription (in most cases, you can tell because the URL contains the either the word “free&# or “premium&# ). Tags: TechSoup Fundraising.

Statistics

Statistics Philanthropy Charity Free

Twitter Best Practices

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 25, 2009

Every day it seems like there’s a new article on how nonprofits and businesses can use Twitter for engagement, activism, marketing, and fundraising. Tags: TechSoup. Today’s entry comes from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which published When Characters Count: Advice for Charities on Making the Most of Twitter.

Twitter

Twitter Practice Charity Philanthropy

Do You Need New Donor Management Software?

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

Idealware just published an article by Keith Heller called Do You Need New Donor Management Software? Tags: TechSoup. Keith urges nonprofits to look before they leap into new software, cautioning that "new software may not make anything better — in fact, it could make things worse."

Software

Software Management Donor Summary

Trends Affecting Fundraising in 2009

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 21, 2009

You can read the full article at philanthropy.com/news/prospecting/index.php?id=6835. Tags: Fundraising.

Trend

Trend Fundraising Philanthropy News

Making the Case for Advancement Services

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 22, 2010

Tags: Advancement Services. I also pointed her to CASE's book Advancement Services: A Foundation for Fund Raising , and CASE's Handbook of Institutional Advancement , which includes a chapter on Advancement Services, as well as the Association of Advancement Services Professionals. Thanks to Charlie Hunsaker for his input on this post.

Service

Service Retention Evaluation System

Optimize Your Web Pages

Robert Weiner

JULY 8, 2009

The Chronicle of Philanthropy published a brief article (subscription required) describing how the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program used Website Optimizer to determine which of three versions of a web page was most effective in persuading people to sign up for information. Tags: TechSoup. Go forth and test!

Web

Web Test Instruction Instructional

Top 10 Threats to Higher Ed Computer Systems

Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 15, 2008

In his article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy titled “ Top 10 Threats to Computer Systems Include Professors and Students ,&# Jeffrey Young says. You can (and should) read the whole article at [link]. Tags: IT Management Security.

System

System Georgia Student Spam

Taking Advantage of a Crisis

Robert Weiner

AUGUST 17, 2009

" Chip Grizzard of Grizzard Communications Group makes this point in a recent article on AFP's website. Tags: Fundraising Nonprofit Management TechSoup. But to paraphrase Rahm Emanuel (who was apparently paraphrasing Stanford economist Paul Romer ), "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." He says: read more.

Retention

Retention Metrics News Analytics

Online Alumni Communities in the Age of Social Media

Robert Weiner

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

FYI, here's an article on using LinkedIn for alumni groups: [link]. Tags: Alumni Relations Education Social Media Alumni. There are other ways of providing most of those, of course.). Some of the key points are: What are your goals for the group? How will you measure them? How will you market the group?

Social Media

Social Media Community Online Media

The Current Economy and Major Gifts Fundraising

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 7, 2009

The full article, including footnotes, is at [link]. Tags: Fundraising. For many groups, it will mean the SCALE and orientation of their fundraising work will have to change. It will require more time and larger budgets for fund-raising and messaging.

Gift

Gift Fundraising Comparison Foundation

Advice for Consultants - Part 3

Robert Weiner

JULY 17, 2009

writing articles. Tags: Consulting. Build your list of references and qualifications, even if that requires doing pro bono or heavily discounted work. When projects end, ask clients to write testimonials and agree to serve as references. Figure out how you will market your work. Options include. publishing a newsletter. business cards.

Consultant

Consultant Advice Listserv Associations

So You Want to Be a Consultant?

Robert Weiner

APRIL 28, 2009

Build a presence: Public speaking, a lot of writing of books and articles, blogging, volunteering, client referral, meet fundraising consultants if you’re a product consultant and product consultants should meet fundraising consultants, LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, apply for open jobs. Tags: Consulting NTEN.

Consultant

Consultant NTEN Conference Skills

TechSoup’s New Site Design

Robert Weiner

AUGUST 24, 2009

For example, while the home page and the search results page have been redesigned, the articles and forums have not yet been updated. Tags: Nonprofit Technology TechSoup. You can read more about the redesign at [link] , whick includes links to co-CEO Marnie Webb's blog and an FAQ page. Congratulations to TechSoup. Here's to Phase 2.

Site

Site Design Phase FAQ

Nonprofit Technology

Robert Weiner

Back Away From That Spreadsheet: Why Excel Isn’t a Donor Database

Back Away from that Spreadsheet: Why Excel Isn’t a Donor Database

Trending Sources

Creating Strong Passwords

Using Prospect Research to Raise $1 Million

Donor Tracking vs. Business Intelligence

Separating Personal and Professional Lives on Social Media

Everywun Wants Your Clicks

TechSoup Featured in The San Francisco Chronicle

Analysis of Convio’s Online Fundraising Study

Lame spam of the day: Facebook notifications

Thoughts on Software RFPs

Fundraising in a Bad Economy

Coping with a Troubled Economy

Twitter Best Practices

Do You Need New Donor Management Software?

Trends Affecting Fundraising in 2009

Making the Case for Advancement Services

Optimize Your Web Pages

Top 10 Threats to Higher Ed Computer Systems

Taking Advantage of a Crisis

Online Alumni Communities in the Age of Social Media

The Current Economy and Major Gifts Fundraising

Advice for Consultants - Part 3

So You Want to Be a Consultant?

TechSoup’s New Site Design

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