NetWits

JANUARY 6, 2011

Videos are an amazing way to share your nonprofit’s story with supporters. But as with all forms of online communication, the goal should be to get that visitor to take an action. Thankfully, the YouTube Nonprofit Program has made it easy to add interactive calls to action to your videos. What do Calls to Action Look Like? Calls to action are simply the things you want web visitors do after viewing a piece of content.

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Nonprofit Tech for Good

JANUARY 6, 2011

At the beginning of each chapter in my book (11 total) there will be a quote of wisdom from a nonprofit that speaks to content of that chapter. Then throughout the book, there will be approximately 20 more quotes of wisdom. If you have some wisdom to share with the nonprofit community, please post your quote below and if it fits, I’ll add it to the book.

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NCE Social Media

JANUARY 4, 2011

PBSNewsHour had a recent segment on how charities are turning to social media as a fundraising tool now more than ever. In the video, which is embedded below, Allison Fine from The Chronicle of Philanthropy is interviewed by Ray Suarez. I’ve mentioned Allison in a previous post. She creates podcasts on the topic of social media for the Chronicle of Philanthropy and you should check them out.

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 1, 2011

Benetech has spent a good part of this last year thinking about what's next for our mission and our team. A crucial part of that effort has been to identify what we think is uniquely true about Benetech. This portion was an internally focused effort based on conversations with our team. We came up with the following truths as part of that process. You might call them Benetech's values, but we didn't look at traditional organizational value statements while drafting these truths.

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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

NetWits

JANUARY 3, 2011

Nonprofits have become more sophisticated at driving traffic to their websites. Direct mail may use different friendly URLs to test response rates. Email may test different “Donate” calls to action to improve click-through rates. What happens, though, when visitors arrive at your website? Now that they’re one step closer to becoming a donor, event participant, or email subscriber, do you stop testing?

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Amy Sample Ward

JANUARY 7, 2011

My latest contribution to the Stanford Social Innovation Review is now up – you can check out the blog and conversation on the SSIR opinion blog , or read it reposted below. —– I recently posted about Jumo with reflections, notes from my experience using the new platform, and questions – this post has also generated a great deal of valuable conversation in the comments (over 70 thoughtful comments so far).

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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

JANUARY 4, 2011

Patrick Ball and I have often discussed the risks to social justice groups from using unlicensed proprietary software. A government could suppress a group using "piracy" as a reason, rather than criticism of the government. We've seen this happen in places like Russia. That's why it's heartening to read an article like this in the Christian Science Monitor, Russia rights groups get help from unlikely champion: Microsoft.

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NetWits

JANUARY 3, 2011

Welcome to 2011! If you are anything like me right now, you are probably sitting at a desk somewhere, trying desperately to pull your mind out of holiday mode and back into work mode. There are probably mountains of work just waiting for your attention, right? Don’t panic – you’re not alone in your longing to be back on a beach (or a ski slope) somewhere!

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Amy Sample Ward

JANUARY 7, 2011

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 January 7th). 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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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JANUARY 5, 2011

Photo by hmcotterill. In the nonprofit sector, time is our most valuable resource. It can’t be recycled if we squander it. Distractions are time wasters and you need to manage them no the other way around. Some interruptions come from our physical environment. Co-workers stop and chat at your desk or a colleague asks you to compile a report.

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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

JANUARY 6, 2011

With the New Year comes a new renewal cycle. Are you confident that your renewal process will demonstrate value and deliver 80-90% renewal rates? Here is some food for thought on what Association members might be looking for this year and tips on renewal timing, frequency and communication strategies.( read more ).

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NTEN

JANUARY 4, 2011

Katya Andresen, COO, Network for Good If you love data, you’re in for a treat. Network for Good and TrueSense Marketing recently went mining through $381 million in donations through our platform. We looked at: 3.6 million gifts 1.879 million unique donors 66,470 different nonprofits Seven-year time span (2003-2009) Donations from a wide range of nonprofit sizes and types About the Study The purpose of this data mining wasn’t to create another study about the rapid growth of online giving (thoug

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Amy Sample Ward

JANUARY 7, 2011

At the end of 2010, I started having a weekly, 30-minute skype call with my friend Vanessa Rhinesmith. There is no agenda. We do not work together. We call these weekly calls, “brain dates.&# It is a chance to connect in real time, share ideas, and generally have space to explore ideas or questions that we have encountered during the week as we push ahead with our various jobs, projects and goals in the nonprofit and technology sector.

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JANUARY 6, 2011

Flickr Photo by Lee Haywood. (Note from Beth: Geoff Livingston contributed to this post. Thanks Geoff! ). Over the holidays, I finally visited Quora , a social learning site focused around asking and answering questions founded by an ex-Facebook employee. Quora has been around for a year and provides an independent question platform from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn that is similar to Yahoo!

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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

JANUARY 4, 2011

We'd like to start the New Year by saying thanks to all of our readers for following the Wild Apricot blog. In 2011, we hope to continue offering information and ideas to help membership and non-profit organizations thrive. And to be sure we're blogging on topic, we're going to be launching a reader survey this month to find out what you want to hear about this year.

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NTEN

JANUARY 3, 2011

By Grant Howe, VP Research and Development, Sage Nonprofit Solutions I've been asked to present a session at the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference on "Technical Management Techniques for Managers". Consider this an official "teaser" on a topic we'll cover in detail during the session: Handling a Crisis. I've found the analogy of a "house fire" both useful for managers to understand what to do, as well as to explain to others what's needed during a crisis.

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Amy Sample Ward

JANUARY 6, 2011

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 January 6th). 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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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JANUARY 6, 2011

Momsrising Story Site. Note from Beth: We featured Momsrising in our book, The Networked Nonprofit , as an example of a nonprofit that was born as a Networked Nonprofit. They are experts in using social media as part of their multi-channel advocacy campaigns. They are also experts in repurposing content for different channels. If you’re grappling with a content strategy, take a look at what they do.

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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

Have Fun - Do Good

JANUARY 7, 2011

Watercolor postcard with rubber stamp I love letters. I think the decline of personal letter writing is one of saddest casualties of technological expansion. Emailing and texting may increase the frequency of communication, but nothing can replace the subtle messages, and beauty, of individual handwriting, the color of ink and the weight of paper. Here are 5 have fun, do good letter writing ideas: 1.

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NTEN

JANUARY 6, 2011

Casey Golden, CEO, Small Act "Success" in social media has historically meant acquiring a large number of fans and followers. Savvy nonprofiteers know it's about much more than that. It's about creating authentic, meaningful relationships that drive actions benefitting your organization: getting more members, volunteers, and donations. Danielle Brigida from the National Wildlife Federation -- one of our amazing panelists for the upcoming presentation at the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference ,

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Care2

JANUARY 3, 2011

There is a lot of buzz about "free agent fundraisers" an individual using personal fundraising to raise money for a nonprofit organization. The free agent fundraiser is described in detail in Allison Fine and Beth Kanter's book The Networked Nonprofit. However, there is a new class of free agent out there, specific to social networks: " the free agent community.".

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JANUARY 3, 2011

My Three Words for 2011 inspired by Harold Jarche's Networked Learning Model. Last year, I used Chris Brogan’s “ Three Words &# to set some professional/personal goals for the year. The process is simple: Think of how you want to be successful in the coming year. Then, try to think in even broader terms. Extrapolate on the broader terms, and find one word to hang the idea on.

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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

Have Fun - Do Good

JANUARY 1, 2011

Happy New Year Have Fun, Do Gooders! The hubs illustrated 8 worksheets you can use to record your 2011 dreams. You can download them (for free) from Dropbox at [link]. How to Use Your DreamTree Worksheets The first page has your DreamTree on it, blossoming with colorful eggs, where you can write words and phrases that capture your dreams for 2011. You'll also notice three gray balloons floating off into the distance.

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NTEN

JANUARY 4, 2011

Want to hear something crazy? We're on pace to have the biggest Nonprofit Technology Conference ever. If we stay on our current pace, we'll sell out the whole show some time next month! (So yes, if you're planning on joining us, you should register soon.) As exciting as that is, we remain committed to making the conference as accessible as possible, no matter how small the budgets of our attendees.

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Care2

JANUARY 7, 2011

It’s been three years (perhaps more depending on which economist you ask) since the recession hit. Nonprofits and associations have faced tough times as they struggled to raise money, recruit new members, and retain old ones. As organizations continue to plan for 2011, it’s important to examine 2010 benchmarks such as the Membership Marketing Benchmark report that surveyed over 400 association executives. “Associations reported that they were having trouble acquiring new member

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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JANUARY 4, 2011

Flickr Photo by Robert Couse-Baker. Last month, we launched the The Zoetica Salon on my Facebook Page with my Zoetica colleagues, Geoff Livingston , Kami Huyse , and Julie Pippert (the newest Zoetican ) where over 7,000 nonprofit leaders have been engaging in informal learning about nonprofits and social media. Our intent is to provide a space for just-in-time answers, share best practices at no charge , and deepened our learning based on a monthly theme.

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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.

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Have Fun - Do Good

JANUARY 4, 2011

I'm the one with the "Princess Leia" hairdo Instead of thinking about what I want to achieve in 2011, I'm focusing on how I want to play! As regular readers know, I re-read Play by Stuart Brown over the holidays. In the book, he talks about recording your play history: "The primary purpose of the play history is to get us back in touch with the joy that we have all experienced at some point in our lives.

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NTEN

JANUARY 5, 2011

One of NTEN's values is: We are a stage and a platform for your voices, ideas, and debates on technology-related issues that affect us all in our work. That's voices , plural. I take that to mean it's our job to make sure the entire nonprofit sector has access to the NTEN stage and can make use of it. That's the reason behind our annual NTC Scholarship Campaign: it's important that we make the NTC as accessible as possible, regardless of our attendees' budget sizes.

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Care2

JANUARY 5, 2011

The Millennials, Gen Xers, and the Matures. Millennials (ages 18-33) are an important demographic to the nonprofit sector. The are tech savvy. They love their gadgets and are constantly on the web via laptops and mobile devices. According to Pew’s latest study, “they still clearly surpass their elders online when it comes to many communications and entertainment-related activities, such as using social network sites and playing games online.&# Interestingly, the fastest growth has be

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Tech Soup

JANUARY 4, 2011

If by chance GreenTech happened to get a windfall of end-of-year financial donations, here are some green IT items that we'd be very tempted to get or try out. Some new LED monitors for desktop computers. These energy efficient displays are now on the market at prices that are comparable to conventional LCD monitors. They are around 40% more energy efficient that conventional LCDs.

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