Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

DECEMBER 27, 2010

The question arose as to whether or not it was worth thinking about shifting some of that communications traffic from email lists to the web in some form. I think that’s a big question – it matters a lot what the demographics of the organization are, what the goals of the email lists are, and the direction things are going.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 6, 2008

I’m going to go out on a really thin limb here, and feel free to saw it off in the comments. :-). There is little question that Obama was Presidential Candidate 2.0. But there is no question that there is a technical aspect to what made this possible. depends largely on two things: open standards, and open source software.

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Amy Sample Ward

MAY 16, 2011

You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying. Open Source Zanby Announcement | Zanby.com – I'm so very excited to see this group/community platform go open source! Trying scanning this QR code with the QR reader on your smartphone.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

SEPTEMBER 19, 2008

I volunteered to be the “expert&# in residence for the “Program&# track of Office Hours. The description: “ Talk with Michelle about internal software systems – document and knowledge management, CRM, client management databases, intranets, etc.&# So, come join me. So, come join me. Be Helpful.

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

AUGUST 7, 2019

Direct Relief , a humanitarian aid organization, and its Direct Relief and its bot builder, Mind Heros , have open-sourced their model. Share in the comments. While easy to set up, designing an effective bot for a nonprofit from scratch can be daunting. It’s available for free to other nonprofits through BotsForCharity.com.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JULY 15, 2007

They are going to release an open source version later this year, which is wonderful, but I also would have had to pony up another $149 for a year of a Pro account, and that seemed excessive, since I could just as easily set up a Wordpress blog on the host I’m already paying for. One such platform was Typepad. Now, there is.

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Amy Sample Ward

DECEMBER 9, 2010

You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying. This 82-page report answers these questions and many, many more! " Open for Action — A blog for OpenAction thoughts and musings – "Not sure about you, but we’re saying finally!

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JULY 27, 2008

This week, I asked the question: What is the biggest mistake a nonprofit can make with their website. at 11:56 pm { 1 comment… read it below or add one } 1 Michael 07.31.08 at 11:56 pm { 1 comment… read it below or add one } 1 Michael 07.31.08 Check This List 07.28.08 Check This List 07.28.08 Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JULY 25, 2008

It’s an interesting question, what Android might (or might not) turn out to be. So far, it’s simply vaporware. Not waiting for Android vaporware (my research suggested it was probably a long time coming, and would not be on my carrier, AT&T,) I decided to succumb, and buy an iPhone 3G. More on that in a later post. {

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MAY 19, 2008

To their credit Convio asks this question on their blog : “Should organizations like Convio, and Giving USA continue to offer these sorts of insights to the nonprofit community, or is this simply self-serving marketing fluff? Commenters on Allan’s post wonder about the fate of Convio’s IPO. Time will tell. {

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

AUGUST 5, 2008

I’ve been helping a client hire a temporary project manager, and so in the interview process one of the questions I ask is how people keep up with change in the field. 4 comments… read them below or add one } 1 Holly 08.07.08 at 7:16 am The question of how bleeding edge we need to be intrigues me.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 27, 2008

I answer all of their tech questions, and solve pretty much all of their tech problems (mostly by helping them figure out who they should call.) I’d also love to consult with for-profit vendors who are thinking about dipping their toes into offering support for open source projects, or open sourcing their software.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JANUARY 8, 2008

But the real question is: will this actually result in data portability? { Update: LinkedIn, Flickr, SixApart and Twitter have now joined Dataportability.org. This is, of course, great news. Freelance Switch Gavin’s Digital Diner Idealware Jon Stahl’s Journal Lifehacker LinuxChix – Be Polite. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 10, 2008

One question I asked all of them was about whether they had a process of reflection and evaluation of their work, as it was going on, and when the project was coming to a close. Unfortunately, none of them had an answer to that question. 2 comments… read them below or add one } 1 Michele Martin 03.10.08 Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 19, 2008

So the model that I am coming up with is a combination of that model, and what I would call an “inquiry based&# model – helping people in a more structured way come up with specific questions and problems before the event, and then use the event to collaboratively answer those questions, and solve those problems.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 14, 2008

Joanne Fritz asks the question that is probably on the minds of lots of folks in the nonprofit sector: what are we going to do in facing the current problematic economic climate? at 12:13 pm { 1 comment… read it below or add one } 1 robert guinto 04.19.08 And I get to highlight the work of some of my favorite bloggers, too.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 16, 2007

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology Linux Desktop Migration November 16, 2007 Linux has proven itself as a server platform – no one really questions it. A large chunk (the majority?) Be Helpful.

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

AUGUST 8, 2008

The final program is done through a combination of an open submission and community voting process with staff and advisory board feedback. The panel picker process just opened - so you have until August 29th to vote for as many panels as you think are worthy of being on the program or not. To vote: 1. Create an account. With snacks!

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

AUGUST 13, 2008

Of course, I’ve been a wiki fan since the very beginning, and I haven’t lost the desire for true data portability , and open source alternatives to the current social networks. at 7:04 am { 3 comments… read them below or add one } 1 Beth Kanter 08.14.08 however, as you all know so well, I’m a realist. {

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

OCTOBER 24, 2007

at 12:09 pm { 2 comments… read them below or add one } 1 Beth Kanter 11.10.07 at 9:00 pm Well, for one thing, I should have used mutually exclusive questions instead of checkboxes. [poll=2] { 1 trackback } Roundup for November 2007 « Nonprofit Blog Exchange 07.09.10 at 7:21 pm What did you get out of this survey?

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JANUARY 6, 2007

Gavin started this all off by posting a good and interesting set of questions about the efficiency of folksonomies. at 5:46 pm { 1 comment… read it below or add one } 1 Beth 01.08.07 I’ll agree with Gavin, that folksonomies sure are less efficient, and a lot more messy than taxonomies. What do those guidelines look like?

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Tech Soup

JANUARY 6, 2013

His focus is on open-source software and low-cost tech solutions for small, rural libraries. We'll answer the following questions: What is the difference between the various types of broadband connections? Plus, lots of time for questions from participants. Have Questions? Please share here in the comments!

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

AUGUST 30, 2007

I hope that in the process of doing projects for clients, I am able to ask those deep questions, and help them ask “why&# much more often. 1 comment… read it below or add one } 1 Michele Martin 08.30.07 at 6:50 pm Michelle, I like how you differentiate between the mission of your blog and the mission of your work.

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

But a good CMS can also facilitate constituent relationships in a number of other ways, including facilitating comments, blogs and social media. A good CMS should also include a built-in Spam filter to keep obviously unrelated content from cluttering your comments sections.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 13, 2007

It’s an interesting time, and there is a good question – is this something nonprofits should jump on? at 8:37 pm { 1 comment… read it below or add one } 1 Beth Kanter 11.14.07 The privacy issues are a concern, but the bigger issue is answering the strategy questions first – that Owyang lays out.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 15, 2007

April 15, 2007 At NTC , there was a lot of talk about the “big three&# open source CMS packages that most people these days in our sector are using: Drupal , Plone , and Joomla. Technorati Tags: cms , drupal , joomla { 4 comments… read them below or add one } 1 Photopoppy 04.17.07 But Joomla is pretty darned geeky.

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Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 30, 2009

Questions, comments? Check out these awesome panels and sign up today. Our sponsors help make this event possible. A big thank you goes out to them. FreePress , Democracy In Action , Rad Campaign , Convio , Care2 , NTEN , Massey Media and Network Solutions. Email Allyson anytime at Allyson@womenwhotech.com.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 1, 2007

The Macintosh operating system has without question, the best, most intuitive user interface ever invented, built on top of the best OS invented, UNIX. 3 comments… read them below or add one } 1 Kevin Mark 11.01.07 Those of you who are loyal Mac users are gasping. I’d gasp if I read this a couple of years ago.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

JUNE 11, 2007

I don’t have too many answers today, but living inside the questions for a while is always a good start. { I don’t have too many answers today, but living inside the questions for a while is always a good start. { How do you get providers to invest time and energy in what is really a marginally profitable business?

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Amy Sample Ward

JULY 10, 2012

You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying. ”" Microsites for Nonprofits: Your Questions Answered | NTEN – "What do you do when you want to give extra publicity to a specific cause or campaign?

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

OCTOBER 20, 2006

Part Vb:APIs October 20, 2006 This morning, I sat in on the " Great Open API Debate " hosted by NTEN. So, first off, one of the interesting things was that there was some initial differences of opinion as to how to define open APIs, and what they were used for. You can have openness and security.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

AUGUST 17, 2007

Home About Me Subscribe Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology Thoughtful and sometimes snarky perspectives on nonprofit technology The search for good web conferencing August 17, 2007 I decided, perhaps rashly, that one way of exposing people to, and training people on, open source software, was by doing web conferencing.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

The tough question that ran through my mind was: How can we as technologists in Silicon Valley help prevent this kind of atrocity? Delivering my opening remarks at the Martus'' 10th Anniversary A decade later, in 2003, Benetech —the nonprofit tech company I founded and lead—launched our Human Rights Program to address this very question.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 19, 2007

3 comments… read them below or add one } 1 Michele 03.19.07 I decided several weeks ago, for a variety of reasons, to retire my independent consultant hat. I want to more directly work with people and organizations, primarily focused around faith and spirituality. I want to see people’s real faces, and hear their real voices.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 1, 2007

Basically, if the more social network sites that adopt OpenSocial, the more open the whole thing gets. This breaks the whole thing open. No question about that. 3 trackbacks } Open Web APIs, Google’s Open Social and you « The Whole Enchilada 11.01.07 at 1:15 pm Open Social !=

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

AUGUST 9, 2007

Open Office works better on Linux than on the mac, as does thunderbird and firefox For a few things (mostly system/network tools) there are some incredibly awesome options, amazingly good for free (as in beer) software, and better than software you’d pay for. I love apt-get/aptitude. It’s so incredibly easy. Be Helpful.

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Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

MARCH 19, 2007

at 7:35 pm { 1 comment… read it below or add one } 1 Michele 03.19.07 But how to stop that kind of thinking on an organizational level is the question. So the scarcity mentality isn’t just for small, struggling nonprofits. It’s very widespread. Be Helpful.

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