Nonprofit Tech for Good

JULY 13, 2010

One in five Americans now access the Mobile Web daily. Smartphones are transforming the Internet and how individuals access the Web. This means nonprofits and their web communication strategies need to transform as well. Desktop and laptop computers have become essential tools for nonprofit communicators over the last decade, and now we are entering the era of smartphones – a tool that nonprofit communicators should definitely be writing into next year’s budget for key communications

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Communication Mobile Nonprofit Laptop 216

NetWits

JULY 15, 2010

We recently released a pretty cool resource for the nonprofit industry – The Blackbaud Index ! It contains both The Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving and The Blackbaud Index of Online Giving. The charitable giving index reports that overall revenue increased by 6.2 percent for the 3 months ending May 2010 as compared to the same period in 2009 while the online giving index reports that online revenue increased by 23.0 percent for the 3 months ending May 2010 as compared to the same period in

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VisionLink

JULY 13, 2010

'We are pleased to welcome another new customer to the VisionLink network. This is the Crisis Call Center of Nevada, established as an outreach effort of the University of Nevada, Reno, due to the high rates of suicide across the state. The center is supported by individual donations, government sources, corporate and foundation grants and the United Way.

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Nevada Government University Grant 113

Wild Apricot

JULY 12, 2010

Volunteers will stay longer and work better for your non-profit organization if you can match their personalities and passions with appropriate tasks. Could a simple quiz help you to ensure your volunteers are matched up with the kind of work they'll enjoy for the long haul? ( read more ). Tags: Non-profit technology General non-profit interest nptech Volunteers.

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Volunteer Profit Nptech Tag 121

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

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 14, 2010

Swedish-Lesson - (Photo: International Federation of Red Cross/Hakan Flank/VolunteerMatch). Note from Beth: Last month, we did a Networked Nonprofit session at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service. Robert J. Rosenthal, Director of Communications for VolunteerMatch was a participant. He offered to write a guest post. Recently I got my first full-on blast of the Networked Nonprofit at a session the authors presented at the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service.

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Volunteer Network Organization Help 104

Tech Soup

JULY 14, 2010

You've heard the maxims of social media before: "Join the conversation," "Engage your audience," "Be authentic!" — but what does all of that really mean? If you attended last Thursday's free webinar, 10 Social Media Tips & Secrets , you can now answer these questions for yourself. Of the nearly 400 people who listened in on Thursday, many say they gained real, actionable advice they could apply to their organization's social media use.

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Social Media Tips Media Social 66

Wild Apricot

JULY 14, 2010

Six out of 10 professional marketers are spending more on content marketing in 2010, for the third year in a row. The rise of blogs and other social media makes online content creation a growing focus for non-profit sector, too. Why? Because content marketing works. Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling.

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Content Profit Marketing Strategy 116

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 13, 2010

Social Media Lab: Becoming A Networked Nonprofit. View more presentations from Beth Kanter. As Visiting Scholar in Nonprofits and Social Media at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, I am coaching grantee organizations and leading workshops and peer trainings on how to become a Networked Nonprofit. It is a fantastic laboratory to take some of the ideas in the book and put in them into a practice.

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Tech Soup

JULY 12, 2010

Screen savers often will override your sleep settings and prevent monitors and computers from going into sleep mode. Also, LCD (or flat-screen) monitors will not burn-in, so they do not require a screen saver like the old CRT monitors did. Find more information at the US Department of Energy. Save your energy and save your screen by putting your computer to sleep without using a screen saver.

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Green Tag 60

NTEN

JULY 15, 2010

Flickr photo: Brigitte Let me start by saying that I love the phrase "accidental techie." It's fun to say -- and, in the early part of this century, it was the only way we could describe the growing legion of people who suddenly found themselves mastering a new vocabulary of acronyms: LAN, ISP, RAM, CPU, CRM. My great colleague Sue Bennett even wrote a book called " The Accidental Techie.

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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

Wild Apricot

JULY 15, 2010

The ability to retain hyperlinks when you convert documents to PDF format has been missing from most of the free or low-cost PDF tools to date. Finally, here’s a free online document converter that can keep those clickable links working in your PDFs. Thanks to Donnie Maclurcan of ProjectAustralia for the tip on this useful free tool! ( read more ). Tags: Non-profit technology nptech PDF application.

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 10, 2010

@Clamo88 (Claire Murray) is a technologist who works for human service agencies. One of the most gratifying things about the publication of the book, The Networked Nonprofit , is that it has re-connected me to colleagues and past clients as well as making connections to new people. I met Claire Murray almost five years ago this month when I was working as a consultant for the Community Technology Center Networks to do training for human service agencies that provided homeless services.

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Review Network New York City Ning 99

Care2

JULY 16, 2010

Did You Know? * 300 billion was raised in 2008 (Giving USA); * $15 billion was raised online in 2008 – a 44% increase over 2007) (Blackbaud); * $21 million has been raised by Causes since its launch three years ago; * 30% of online giving happens in December. (2008 donorCentrics Internet Giving Collaborative Benchmarking Analysis); * The average online gift was $144.72, according to BlackBaud though M&R’s benchmark study noted that the average one time online gift was $81.

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Online Practice Fundraising Benchmark 64

NTEN

JULY 16, 2010

Flickr: Craving Creativity We're entering uncharted territory as a species, particularly in the United States. Americans consume 3.6 zettabytes of information every day. It's an unfathomably huge number (especially to those of us who remember playing Ultima IV on a 64 kilobyte computer). One billion trillion bytes worth of television and radio broadcasts, YouTube videos, e-mails, tweets, Facebook updates, and yes, even print.

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Data United States Metrics NTEN 61

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

Tech Soup

JULY 13, 2010

One of my favorite parts of NCVS was meeting Joe Solomon of 350.org. Joe gave an excellent presentation on nonprofits and social media (more on that in a later post). One thing he said that really struck a chord with me was, "The best movements have the worst websites.". I don't think he meant that completely literally (although it is often very true).

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 14, 2010

Unlike fellow nonprofit book nerd, Rosetta Thurman , I am way behind on my nonprofit book summer reading list. My blog is the July 15th stop on Clay Shirky’s virtual book tour for his recently published book, Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in A Connected Age. I received a review copy of the book and was invited to write a post about it.

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Participatory Lesson Social Media Review 95

Have Fun - Do Good

JULY 10, 2010

Happy summer Saturday, Have Fun, Do Gooders! I've posted the newest July/August Big Vision Worksheet (illustrated by my hubs ). You can download the PDF from Dropbox to fill it out on, or near the new moon tomorrow, July 11th. I like to start by filling out my 3 biggest 2010 goals (Don't worry if yours change throughout the year, that's normal). Then, I fill out my 3 biggest summer goals, which hopefully relate in some way to my 2010 goals.

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Fun PDF Free Goal 57

Get Fully Funded

JULY 13, 2010

I had a few minutes between appointments yesterday and got to stop in one of my favorite thrift stores. It’s one of the stores operated by Knox Area Rescue Ministries and it’s a really nice store. Every time I go in there, I have to smile. That store is there in part because of me. More than 10 years ago, I took my first job in Development at the Rescue Ministries.

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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

Tech Soup

JULY 16, 2010

If I were a manager or supervisor, two recurring responsibilities would keep me awake at night with fear, guilt, and indigestion: performance evaluations and planning documents. Passing judgment on one's friends and colleagues is never easy, and plans are detailed predictions about the future that you'll eventually be held accountable for. I'm afraid there's no easy cure for the agony of performance evaluations.

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Free Business Evaluation Tech 58

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 16, 2010

Allison Fine and I have completed the assessment and reflection paper for 2009 America’s Giving Challenge for the Case Foundation. This is their second online competition that encouraged people to leverage their social networks to raise money and awareness and recruit supporters for the causes they care about most. Allison and I wrote the reflection paper for the first challenge.

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Reflection Challenge Contest Giving 94

Care2

JULY 13, 2010

Most nonprofits and social justice groups work with the traditional media to build audiences and new support for their vision. This morning’s stories in the Washington Post and The New York Times are what people are talking about at the water-cooler. When you get a story in the press, people believe it and become attracted to the issue. But how do you get a story in the press?

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Have Fun - Do Good

JULY 13, 2010

I'm interviewing Jessica Prentice, co-owner of the community supported kitchen, Three Stone Hearth , and author of Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection, this weekend for the Big Vision Podcast , and Have Fun, Do Good. Do you have any questions you'd like me to ask her about community supported kitchens? If you so, let me know in the comments by Saturday morning.

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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

Tech Soup

JULY 13, 2010

One of the fastest and easiest ways you can immediately start saving energy and money is to turn on the sleep settings of your computer. The display and sleep idle features are very important for power savings and battery life. The display can consume approximately 40% of the power budget on the typical mobile PC and anywhere from 30-100+ Watts on a desktop PC.

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Change Laptop Green Life 56

Get Fully Funded

JULY 12, 2010

It’s been amazingly dry here lately. Our pastures have become brown and crunchy. Then yesterday, for the first time in weeks, we had a long, steady rain. And again today, it rained. It was so refreshing! I started thinking about how sometimes working in fundraising can be like that. We can have long dry spells, where we’re working as hard as we can, trying everything we can think of, but nothing seems to be happening.

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Feeds Fun Fundraising Comment 49

Care2

JULY 14, 2010

Did you know that a strong organizational tagline does double-duty? According to Nancy Schwartz , a nonprofit consulting, "working to extend your organization’s name and mission, while delivering a focused, memorable and repeatable message to your base is one of your most effective marketing tools." However, a GettingAttention.org survey showed that 72% of nonprofit organizations don’t have a tagline or rate theirs as performing poorly.

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Award Nonprofit Survey Rate 59

Forum One

JULY 15, 2010

There’s a flurry of action this week as we await the start of the XVIII International AIDS Conference ( #AIDS2010 ) in Vienna, Austria, next week. I wish I was able to attend, but am glad that many of my clients have the opportunity to go. The conference is held every two years, and is always an eye-opening and innovative event. The theme of this year's conference is “Rights Here, Right Now,” and the objectives of the event are many.

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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

Tech Soup

JULY 16, 2010

If you haven't already, be sure to check out TechSoup.org's digital catalog , a fast, convenient new way to browse everything that TechSoup has to offer. read more. Tags: Acquiring Technology Tech Planning TechSoup Help.

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Digital Tech Tag Technology 52

NTEN

JULY 16, 2010

Flickr: cambodia4kidsorg (Note: This is a weekly round-up of NTEN members doing and sharing their nptech awesome. Members are in bold. Tag your own news with "nten member" or "nptech" to help us find your awesome online, or contact Annaliese with your updates.). Sean Powell , of PMGDirect , wrote up a great how-to , with United. Cerebral Palsy (UCP) as an example: how to customize your Facebook. page to convert your fans to your email list.

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NTEN Nptech Summary Policy 47

Museum 2.0

JULY 12, 2010

Let's say you want to make a documentary about the World Cup. Or sail around the world. Or produce an art exhibit with elementary school students. Or build an open-source PCR machine for copying DNA. How would you fund it? Kickstarter is a website for creative folks to find funding for their dream projects. The site doesn't link them with foundations or grant applications; instead, it makes it easy to reach out to regular people for donations of as little as $1.

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Connection Cafe

JULY 16, 2010

Author: Jordan Viator. Everybody loves a great best practices guide, especially when it’s one that can help you do your job better and more effectively. And with such impressive growth in the world on online fundraising, nonprofit organizations are realizing the power of the Internet more and more with each passing day and looking for best practices to help leverage the Internet to raise funds.

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Association executives—and hopefully their boards—know that they are facing perilous times. Driven by the pace of cultural and technological change, they are experiencing major disruptions in the traditional business models that used to guide organizational growth strategies.orgSource offers a straightforward approach to navigating these changes and readying your organization for growth.

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