Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

DECEMBER 5, 2016

One of the newest resources, a free online guide called “ The Data Playbook ,” was recently published by the Schusterman Foundation and written by Rella Kaplowitz, Program Officer, Evaluation and Learning. The Playbook includes a few examples and methods for doing this. Limited – possess a defined scope and duration.

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Resource Practice Data Work 105

Forum One

AUGUST 16, 2023

Some of the biggest reporting challenges for nonprofits, associations, and foundations include: Where to get the data: Some data is found easily in data dashboards, some is not. As annual reports shift to digital formats, they become not only reflections but also drivers of engagement and mission advancement.

Story 60

Story Report Data Blended 60

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 15, 2012

I was honored to be a trainer as part of the launch of the ACE Leaders Project, a program developed by the Institute of International Education Sub-Saharan Regional Office and supported by the Packard Foundation. This design was a participatory process and was intended to provide an opportunity for deep reflective process.

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Rwanda Social Media Training Train 113

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

OCTOBER 24, 2014

Earlier this month, I had an opportunity to facilitate a full-day innovation lab for an amazing group of network thinkers using human design methods to inform the design of a leadership network. It has been exactly a year since I have committed to practicing the methods from Luma Institute as part of improving my facilitation practice.

Professional 101

Professional Network Learning Lebanon 101

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

NOVEMBER 19, 2013

Foundation Review (Vol 5:3) Makes the case that most foundation strategies are unfolding in complex and dynamic environments, and foundations need a more committed approach to learning and strategic adaptation. I got to facilitate a deep dive with a dozen folks and here are the takeaways from the discussion.

Social Media 100

Social Media Channel Data Media 100

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 7, 2013

The camp was organized by Thai Fund Foundation in partnership with Opendream , , Thai Netizen Network , Frontier Foundation and Tactical Technology Collective. Here’s a few reflections about presenting remotely in locations outside of the US. The camp took place in Cha-am, Petchburi, Thailand.

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Thailand Laos Cambodia Burma 95

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JANUARY 4, 2016

I had a wonderful break – filled with fun, family, walking, hiking, reading, quiet, and reflection. One annual ritual is to create “To Do/Not To Do/Reflection” notebook where I use modified bullet journaling to track my progress. I also designed and facilitated a six month peer learning cohort with colleague Stephanie Rudat.

Iowa 50

Iowa Facilitation Teach San Antonio 50

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JANUARY 2, 2015

Facilitator for Learning Network: Most of my work is designing and delivering capacity building projects for nonprofits literally all over the world and here in the US. It is about making it possible for participants to capture, share, and reflect on what they have learned. Year in Review.

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Instructional Design Facilitation San Antonio North Carolina 50

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

FEBRUARY 6, 2012

Note from Beth: This past year has been a deep exploration into how nonprofits can use measurement and reflection to improve their practices as a networked nonprofit and social media. As part of my work at the Packard Foundation, I designed and facilitated several peer learning groups and exchanges.

Social Media 96

Social Media Media Social DC 96

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 11, 2010

Photo by HeyDee Almost a year ago, Allison Fine and I finished a reflection paper on the lessons learned from the first America's Giving Challenge from the Case Foundation. So, go join the conversation in the comments over at the Case Foundation blog.

Case Study 89

Case Study Social Media Conversation Studies 89

Bloomerang

AUGUST 21, 2023

Tailor your fundraising messages and methods to specific donor categories based on their preferences and behavior. Current budget numbers reflect your existing program commitments, not your aspirational ones. Have you tried bringing in a communications facilitator to deepen the conversation? One size does not fit all.

Action 74

Action Report Practice Fundraising 74

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Grantees, Experts, and Partners at the end of the Brainerd Foundation’s 21st Century Advocacy Design Lab. Here’s what I learned about the facilitating design thinking processes: What Is A Design Lab? https://storify.com/ResourceMedia/brainerd-foundation-s-21st-century-advocacy-design”>Storify. Why Use One?

Design 50

Design Strategy Facilitation Advocacy 50

Qgiv

JUNE 23, 2021

Creating the perfect fundraising strategy takes a lot of time and effort, so your best bet to grow and raise more each year is to first lay out a solid fundraising foundation. This way, you can note which engagement methods were most successful and focus your energies accordingly in the future! Reflect your nonprofit’s unique brand.

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Campaign Effective Fundraising Nonprofit 98

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

SEPTEMBER 13, 2009

I tweeted the link to the original and one colleague, Michelle Murrain, wrote a reflection called " Evaluation and Being A Learning Organization.". I appreciated Sally’s post on the topic of active learning and the questions she has posed are similar ones we challenge ourselves with at the Packard Foundation.

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Evaluation Learning Foundation Reflection 86

Bloomerang

JUNE 1, 2022

Direct mail is the most popular year-end giving marketing method. Ensure all of your marketing materials reflect your organization’s brand by incorporating your logo, fonts, colors, and tone of voice. Your online donation form itself should be easy to fill out to facilitate ongoing donations through your website.

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Guide Giving Nonprofit Mail 112

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MARCH 1, 2011

I’m the lead for Zoetica where my role is to deliver training, advise on the curriculum and coaching methods, model transparency, and serve as meta network weaver. Shabakat Al Ordon trains young people in technical, professional and facilitation skills who then go out and create programs to train people in their communities.

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NGO Network Lebanon Yemen 105

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 10, 2011

The Foundation has teamed up with an evaluation consultant, TCC Group, to figure out if working wikily can enhance the quality of learning as the OE Goldmine Research project and the Foundation’s OE program review move forward. What are the techniques and methods for moving people up the ladder?

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Public Learning Wiki Taxonomy 103

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MARCH 13, 2013

This week I was in Austin, TX for SXSW Interactive Festival where I presented or facilitated at several social good sessions or events. ” One method that some nonprofits engage in to improve an event or campaign is an “ After Action Review.,” How can we encourage this as both individually and organizationally?”

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Global Social Artist Technique 98

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

APRIL 24, 2011

At SXSW and facilitating a panel called A Global Discussion About Networked Nonprofits and Free Agents , I introduced myself with this photo of me and Lena, the master trainer from Yemen for the E-Mediat Project. His comment made me reflect over the past 32 years of working in the nonprofit sector. Flickr Photo by SMEXbeirut.

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Maslow Yemen Artist Arts 98

ASU Lodestar Center

MAY 18, 2016

More than a million tax-exempt organizations exist in the United States, including public charities, private foundations, and civic organizations—not counting the 220,000 religious congregations that are also registered. However, the traditional reliance of nonprofits on governmental and charitable funding is increasingly unsustainable.

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Model Fund Social United States 53

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

OCTOBER 11, 2009

Over the summer, Holly Minch , who is an expert at helping nonprofits and philanthropies unlock the potential of strategic communications for social change, suggested that I facilitate a workshop on social media strategy with a group of nonprofit and philanthropy communications folks. . The important question is to ask, "to what end?

Social Media 97

Social Media Strategy Communication Remix 97

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JUNE 14, 2010

In his question to create the storage battery, he conducted 10,000 experiments before arriving at a method that worked. On Friday, I facilitated the final face-to-face workshop for the Social Media Lab for 25 arts organizations inspired by Thomas Edison’s approach. Posters: Wall of Reflection and Gratitude.

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Social Media Media San Jose Social 99

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Then comes the difficult part – identifying what “associated” metrics from social, email, and your web site that you need to collect. What follows is a reflection from several workshops for nonprofits on how to do this. What are the Indicators by which you will judge your progress?

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Results Metrics Measure Associations 97

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

AUGUST 10, 2011

As part of my work as Visiting Scholar at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, I’m facilitating peer exchange groups on measuring the networked nonprofit with 60 grantees. Does not have a dashboard or simple collection method. Does data collection from time-to-time, but not formal reporting. Often overwhelmed.

Results 95

Results Data Charlotte Measure 95

Connection Cafe

JUNE 12, 2017

The nature of today’s nonprofit workplace——face-paced and heavy workloads—makes it difficult to find the reflective time to put together a learning plan and implement it consistently. The Playbook features a highly practical toolkit that consists of facilitator agendas and worksheets for nonprofit staff to apply the ideas and frameworks.

Culture 47

Culture Philanthropy Marketing Create 47

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

Several months ago, my colleague Rachel Happe from the Community Roundtable invited me to facilitate a discussion with members about the issues that swirl around organizational adoption of social media. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hearing Michael Quinn Patton , an evaluation guru, speak at the Packard Foundation.

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Social Media Culture Create Media 99

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

OCTOBER 27, 2014

Last week I was lucky enough to facilitate a mini-innovation lab for 60 community foundation program officers at the first meeting of ProNet during the Council on Foundations conference in Cleveland, Ohio that celebrated 100 years of community philanthropy.

Foundation 102

Foundation Design Community Work 102

Tech Soup

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

In my first blog post , I mentioned that the very first step in configuring QuickBooks is to have a QuickBooks implementation meeting, and I recommended using a questionnaire to facilitate the meeting and act as a centerpiece. Think of the chart of accounts as the foundation for a building you are about to construct.

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Chart Sample Method Classes 45

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JUNE 25, 2012

This year a lot of my work as Visiting Scholar at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation is working with grantees outside of the US. I’ve just returned from leading a training for Population and Reproductive Health grantees from India. We are working very closely with V.S. Anupam Shukla and Ms. Monica Wahengbam.

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India NGO Network Exercise 102

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 31, 2013

I’ve been working program and instructional design, facilitation of peer calls and workshops – in collaboration with the fantastic team at Spitfire. This week was the third face-to-face meeting I’ve helped design and facilitate. Source: Spitfire Twitter Feed.

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Reflection Action Learning Change 97

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

AUGUST 3, 2008

Zandria did a fabulous job of facilitating the session. If you work in nonprofits and track relevant research, you no doubt have come across the Social Citizen Blog from the Case Foundation and the paper, Social Citizen , from Allison Fine. Her writing is reflective and brilliant. Both are essential reading.

Blogger 50

Blogger Change Social Philanthropy 50

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JANUARY 28, 2013

I had the honor facilitating a session on measuring impact with Greg Baldwin and Jay Backstrand from VolunteerMatch discussing how their approach to measuring impact over the past decade. Are there foundations funded initiatives or other efforts to encourage learning from failure in the nonprofit sector? What are some examples?

Learning 115

Learning Impact DC Culture 115

sgEngage

DECEMBER 5, 2023

That emerges as a reason for foundation leadership to avoid working with a group of people, especially outside of the hierarchy of control that the foundation has with its own staff. The role of strategic facilitation of decision-making in participatory philanthropy is often unrecognized and underappreciated.

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Participatory Facilitation Philanthropy Skills 88

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 2, 2013

As part of my work as Visiting Scholar at the Packard Foundation this year, I’m facilitating a peer learning group based on “ Measuring the Networked Nonprofit ” and the next session we are focusing on the sense-making step of measurement. What visualization methods should you use?

Resource 117

Resource Data Guide Chart 117

Qgiv

OCTOBER 28, 2021

If you’re unsure about your web design expertise, rest assured that your own experience browsing professional websites has likely already helped you form a solid foundational understanding. However, nearly all nonprofits share many core website design choices to help facilitate common user actions, such as making a donation.

Design 59

Design Websites Practice Site 59