Amy Sample Ward

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

As you may have heard , Jumo is now open in beta. What is Jumo? As Mashable reports, “Jumo was designed to let users find, follow and support the causes important to them, and with 3,500 organizations on board at launch, would-be philanthropists should be able to find and follow something of interest upon joining. (For comparison’s sake — Apple’s Ping had 2,000 artists two months out of the gate.)&# I’ve been playing around with the new social platform this morning and wanted to shar

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NetWits

NOVEMBER 10, 2010

So, you have a social media plan…right? Hopefully your nonprofit is pretty far down the social media strategy rabbit hole at this point. While it’s easy setup a Twitter account and start tweeting, it’s much more difficult to tie that activity back to outcomes. That’s why it’s important to begin your foray into social media with a strong strategy.

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

Organization: Big Cat Rescue. Organization Size: 125 exotic cats, 9 paid staff, 107 volunteers, 80,000 supporters. Name: Carol Baskin. Title: CEO. Website: BigCatRescue.org. Blog: BigCatRescue.org?/Blog. Facebook: facebook.com/BigCatRescue. Twitter: twitter.com/BigCatRescue. YouTube: youtube.com/BigCatRescue. Posterous: BigCatRescue.posterous.com. 1.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 28, 2010

In April of this year, I left twitter. I had good reason to leave twitter. And, after a few months, I didn’t miss it. And, frankly I still don’t miss it. But I had a bit of an epiphany lately that you social media mavens out there will very much appreciate. I figured it was worth writing on this blog about. I joined Twitter in the beginning, because my colleagues were.

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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

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

I announced in this blog last month that judges in Guatemala had found two former police officers guilty in the 1984 forced disappearance of Guatemalan student and union leader Edgar Fernando García. Expert testimony by Benetech statistical consultant Daniel Guzmán provided critical evidence in the conviction of the former Guatemalan National Police officers Abraham Lancerio Gómez and Héctor Roderico Ramírez.

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Robert Weiner

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

One of the presentations at last month’s Association of Advancement Services Professionals conference dealt with mobile giving. I’m still skeptical about its suitability for most nonprofits, and the NY Times said the same yesterday. If you have an urgent call to action, a way of reaching a mass audience, and don’t mind not being able to identify, steward, or resolicit most of the donors who give via text, mobile giving can definitely be effective.

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NetWits

NOVEMBER 17, 2010

I’m sure you’ve noticed QR codes by now – those funny little black and white squares that are appearing on posters, business cards, and event lanyards everywhere. These next-gen bar codes are most often used by marketers who want to link to a website or landing page from a visual appeal. If you’re looking for a fun, interactive, easy-to-implement hook for your nonprofit’s next campaign, you might want to check out QR codes.

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

Jumo.com , the new social network for causes and nonprofits created by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes went live this morning. They have launched with a small number of nonprofits, but you can easily add your organization in just a couple of clicks (if you are a 501(c)(3) as defined by the IRS). It is worth noting that anyone can “Add an Organization&# to Jumo, so this is one of those increasing common situations where nonprofits don’t really have a choice of whether they want to pa

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

A couple of tidbits on the environment today: A post on Read Write Web entitled “Cloud Computing good for the environment. Really?&#. Another in the series of “The Story of Stuff&# on Electronics. Tags: Technology Zen environment.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

A Guest Beneblog by Teresa Throckmorton, Benetech's CFO Walking into the Santa Clara Convention Center last night looked very much like so many other black tie events – but that’s where the similarity ended. I just attended the 2010 Tech Awards Gala Even. Awards were presented in five areas: Environment, Economic Development, Education, Equality and Health.

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Speaker: Tim Sarrantonio

The average nonprofit uses five or more different software platforms to create their donor’s journey, making the experience clunky and disjointed. If you want to design a magical online giving experience for donors, making their journey as seamless as possible is key. In this webinar with expert Tim Sarrantonio, you’ll learn the fundamental steps to create an immersive and personalized online giving experience for your donors.

Donor

NCE Social Media

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

The Pew Internet Life Project has release a new study related to location-based check in services such as Gowalla , Foursquare and [link] It found that adults are 8 times less likely to use a location-based check-in application. Overall, 4% of Americans use location-based check-in tools. What does that mean to you? It probably means that you should really consider who your target audience really is, and if they are using smartphones prior to embarking on a full fledged location-based program.

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Amy Sample Ward

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

Earlier this summer, I had the huge privilege to visit Romania and help with the Local Philanthropy Workshop. It was so much fun and it was an amazing experience to work with people like Chris Worman and meet with so many local nonprofit and community changemakers. The social impact landscape in Romania is complex and exciting – you can see struggle and hope, fear and enthusiasm mixed in every conversation and every presentation.

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NetWits

NOVEMBER 11, 2010

Would you be happy with a return of.30 cents per email address when asking your supporter based for money through an email appeal? With 10,000 people in your email list you’d make $3,000.00 in revenue from one mailing. Subtract the money it cost you to send the email and you’re looking at a pretty good RIO. I bet you’d go for that, right? I think most non-profits would.

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

Last year’s list of nonprofit holiday gift programs has been getting a lot traffic over the last two weeks thanks to Google searches. In addition to all those wonderful programs, I wrote up 11 more for 2010. Please use your purchasing power wisely and with compassion this holiday season by giving gifts that benefit nonprofits and make the world a better place.

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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

Wild Apricot

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

Ventureneer and Caliber gathered data from 891 nonprofits to learn what's working and what's not, and to develop “best practices” for social media marketing. The results are detailed in a 44-page report, "Nonprofits and Social Media: It Ain't Optional," that's free to download and CC-licensed to share.( read more ). Tags: association marketing Best practices case studies Marketing nonprofit non-profit Non-profit technology nptech online community research social media Social networking.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 9, 2010

At the STS meeting in Kyoto, I had the pleasure of meeting France Córdova, the president of Purdue University. I took my first full pattern recognition course at Purdue long ago and far away (my brother Bill is a Boilermaker/Purdue alum, too). France mentioned some cool education technology that had been developed at Purdue, called Signals - Stoplights for student success.

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NCE Social Media

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

I was fortunate enough to serve on a committee of AFP International that brought together some social media gurus to hash out guidelines that nonprofit organizations can use to craft their own social media policies. These guidelines focus on social media from a fundraiser’s point of view but they are easy to tweak to your own needs and a great starting point if you are starting from scratch.

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Amy Sample Ward

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Today I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar to clients of the Washington Access Fund. Participants on the call come from many backgrounds and situations and are now embarking on new businesses, services and consulting. The webinar was designed to offer an overview of the basics, best practices and examples of successful social media integration.

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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

NetWits

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

Where’d I get 47%? According to All Facebook Jeff Widman of BrandGlue did some A/B testing. He discovered… We ran an A/B test just four weeks ago to guesstimate the efficacy of a landing tab. We drove visitors to the fan page of a major brand using ads. Those ad-driven visitors converted to fans at a rate of approximately 47% WITH a landing tab.

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

NOVEMBER 14, 2010

Over the last few years I have been experimenting with the frequency of posting Status Updates on Facebook on the Nonprofit Organizations Facebook Page. From posting twice a day to only twice weekly, I have tested all levels of frequency in posting until finally settling on posting 4-6 Status Updates a week. At that rate “Unlikes&# have minimal and the total number of “Likes&# has grown at a steady rate.

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Wild Apricot

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

Busy as this season is for nonprofit folks, with year-end fundraising campaigns and family events for the holidays, still there’s no better time to sneak in a bit of professional development to get you ready for a bright New Year! ( read more ). Tags: nonprofit non-profit Non-profit technology nptech webinar.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

I'm having a conversation over at Social Edge on What Matters. Feel free to join in the conversation and share your views on the topic. Here's my kick-off post for the thread: I was impressed when I heard Tim O'Reilly, one of the main thought leaders in information technology, recommending to all tech folks last year that they Work on Stuff that Matters.

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Advertiser: DonorDock

Are your donors your biggest fans, or are you lacking donor loyalty? The truth is, your donors have expectations of what their relationship with your organization should look like. This ebook will help you learn how to live up to those expectations!

Donor

NCE Social Media

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

Here’s a great “How To&# on how to post a Facebook status update on the walls of other Facebook pages as a nonprofit administrator. Blog Post from Nonprofit Tech 2.0 on Facebook Blogging. Tags: Facebook facebook tagging @.

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Amy Sample Ward

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

Over the last few of years I’ve had a the opportunity to work with a team of intelligent and thoughtful colleagues, speak at conferences, and collaborate with other facilitators and community builders. During this time, I’ve help create community maps and strategic plans with my own team and with many other groups. More and more often, I get asked at conferences or on the blog for more information about how to create a community map or content plan.

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NetWits

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

As we move into the last month of the year, let’s take a quick look at how you can improve your email newsletters and appeals in 2011. Consider the following email pitfalls. Which of these is your Nonprofit guilty of committing? You don’t track the results of your emails. How will you know what your audience respond to and what they dislike?

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

Organization: Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Organization Size: Medium. Name: Allison Nassour. Title: Social Media Manager. Website: pancan.org. Blog: pancan.org/blog. Facebook: facebook.com/JointheFight. Twitter: twitter.com/PanCAN , twitter.com/Advocate4PanCAN. YouTube: youtube.com/StopPancreaticCancer. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/groups?gid=104492. 1.

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Advertisement

Organizations like yours are increasingly realizing that technology adoption is only as good as the technology you choose. Statistics from a 2014 NTEN study show that seriously investing resources in training for your staff corresponds to higher adoption and ultimately technology effectiveness. In this report, we’ll give you a high-level overview of how to get your organization in shape for technology adoption and best practices for facilitating this critical process.

Nonprofit

Wild Apricot

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

Thanks to mobile access, waiting for appointments and commuting time have become prime time for your nonprofit's supporters to catch up on news, to connect with friends, and to play online games. a lot of games. How is your cause going to compete with Farmville? ( read more ). Tags: case studies cause marketing donations Facebook games Marketing non-profit Non-profit Communications Non-profit technology nptech online community online donations promotion social media Social networking.

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Game Marketing Case Study Social 119

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

Note from Beth: The long anticipated social network site for social change, Jumo , launched. Here’s the article from today’s New York Times. Many of us have been up early playing with Jumo, setting up our individual profiles and finding issues and organizations or setting up profiles for organizations. It is still clearly in beta, with the usual tech glitches and 500 errors , which will smooth out as more people play with it and give them feedback.

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NTEN

NOVEMBER 12, 2010

Pune Dracker, Director, Website Content & Editorial Services, ASPCA. Surprise, surprise: there’s no one right way to do it. Just think context, consistency and case-by-case. Here’s what some social media pros -- and our own Facebook fans -- have to say about responding to negative comments on blogs, forums and Facebook. Open the Playground, Post the Rules.

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Comment Guidelines Social Media Tips 100

Amy Sample Ward

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources all over the web every day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of November 16th). You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying. To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

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