Amy Sample Ward

NOVEMBER 19, 2010

Earlier this year, Ning announced that it would be dropping 40% of it’s staff and dropping the free service which came as a shock to much of the community, including author of the Ning for Dummies book Manny Hernandez and spurring many forums and blogs to create lists of Ning alternatives that were still free. As all of these posts mention, the underlying issue here isn’t whether Ning was the best tool on the Web or not, in face it has nothing to do with that.

Ning 163

Ning Phoenix Platform Alternative 163

Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 16, 2010

As someone that has helped others to create, and has created many networks on the Ning platform, yesterday’s news that the company would be dropping 40% of it’s staff and dropping the free service was incredibly alarming. The news from Jason Rosenthal, Ning’s CEO, stated: My main conclusion is that we need to double down on our premium services business. Please join me in signing this Change.org petition to keep Ning free for nonprofit and education use.

Ning 139

Ning Free Network Phase 139

Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 16, 2010

Now, with the recent news from Ning that it plans to discontinue free service, I am revisiting those thoughts about “what’s really needed?&# Tags: community issues causes community management free ideablob ning open Last November we saw a few alarming events taking place in this social media for social good sector: Causes left Myspace and Ideablob shut down , both without warning or community support.

Ning 172

Ning Causes Build Evaluation 172

Forum One

APRIL 22, 2010

Ning , the leading free social media platform provider has recently lost not only its CEO, but also about 40 percent of its workforce. Freshly-appointed CEO Jason Rosenthal posted last week , Ning will now "double down on our premium services business." " Where does that leave those of us who need a free-for-use Ning alternative? The following were both collaboratively edited by dozens of people across the internet: Alternatives to Ning Spreadsheet.

Ning 59

Ning Alternative Free Profile 59

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

APRIL 23, 2009

My colleague, Manny Hernandez, has written the "Ning for Dummies Book." . For anyone who works in nonprofits and wants to know the secrets to success of setting up and running a "branded" social network on Ning, Manny's book is your best resource. Here's the deal: Leave a comment describing why you want create a Ning site for your community, your goals, and how you will measure success or if you have an existing Ning site how you want to improve it.

Ning 51

Ning NTC Social Network Community 51

Wild Apricot

APRIL 22, 2010

Recent changes in Ning’s business model (see News & Views About Change for updates) have Network Creators wondering whether to pay to keep hosting their online communities on the Ning platform, or to start looking at alternatives. Tags: Non-profit technology General non-profit interest nptech online community Blogging Social networking membership database websites Membership management data backup open source software content Ning

Ning 72

Ning Content Network Alternative 72

Allegiance Group

APRIL 19, 2010

This week, the online community of online communities was shaken by the April 16 th announcement by that the online networking company, Ning, would be phasing out its free product. Ning had cornered the market for building online communities in a fast and easy way. But now, if your non-profit has its community data in a free Ning product, Ning has just become a nightmare.

Ning 41

Ning Effective Phase Free 41

Allegiance Group

JUNE 10, 2009

Recently, we relaunched an environmentally focused service learning program for the Wildlife Conservation Society on the Ning community platform. on Ning after beginning its life as a typical minisite some years ago. For this client and project, Ning was a perfect choice, offering both the out of the box community features that a teen audience would expect with enough customization to satisfy the needs of the organization.

Ning 40

Ning Teen Kickapps Conservancy 40

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JUNE 27, 2008

It recently launched a ning site - a branded social network for its community of nonprofits. Tell me a little about your organization's social media strategy for its ning (branded social network) site? s Ning online strategy began as a way to solve a very practical solution???keeping A Ning site was developed in order to answer this specific need. Why did you select ning? Ning's development application is very intuitive and easy.

Ning 50

Ning Site Headline Chicago 50

Tech Soup Blog

OCTOBER 6, 2009

Ning is a powerful tool that allows you to not only create a dynamic, easy to update website, but its functionality allows your community to create accounts, share information, connect with you and other people in your community and work collaboratively. Kami Griffiths will interview Manny Hernandez, author of Ning For Dummies who will give an overview of Ning and how it is being used by several organizations. The Internet is a great tool for communicating and connecting.

Ning 53

Ning Myspace Linkedin Community 53

Have Fun - Do Good

JULY 7, 2009

Changeblogger Ning Network I've also set up a Ning network for Changebloggers, people who use their blogs, podcasts and vlogs to make positive change. Hello Have Fun * Do Gooders! I'm back from a relaxing vacation and feeling energized. One of the things I wanted to share with you is other places that we can connect online: Twitter I get lots of requests to post about things, but don't always have time so lots of times I "tweet" links to stuff.

Ning 40

Ning Blogher Vlog Podcast 40

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MAY 6, 2009

I finally got a chance to meet Manny Hernandez, author written the " Ning for Dummies Book." He is founder of The Diabetes Hands Foundation, a non profit that operates two niche social networks for people touched by diabetes: TuDiabetes (in English, with close to 8,200 members) and EsTuDiabetes. You had to leave a comment indicating your goals, audience, and how you'd measure success of your Ning Community on this post which also includes a round up of Ning resources.

Ning 50

Ning Canada California Case Study 50

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

AUGUST 31, 2008

Andy Carvin launched the Gustav Information Center on Ning, and through social networks, word is spreading fast - the hash tag #gustav is being used. Photo by Corburn. Home Depot already using the tag to update on stories in the Hurricane???s s path. hat tip Tom Watson ). As we wait for Gustav to hit, Tom Watson gives us reflection about social media and Katrina -- How will the use of social media and with Gustav may it different this time

Ning 54

Ning Hurricane Reflection Social Media 54

Have Fun - Do Good

AUGUST 26, 2008

Changeblogger Ning social network to connect with other changebloggers. In early May, I wrote a post asking all of you for suggestions for "changebloggers," people who are using their blog, podcast or vlog to raise awareness, to build community, and/or to facilitate readers/listeners/viewers' taking action to make the world a better place.

Ning 40

Ning Meme Wiki Vlog 40

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

OCTOBER 10, 2008

Last week for WeAreMedia project, I put a call on Twitter for case studies, best practices, and links about nonprofits using social networking sites, including Ning. Ning, which lets you set up your own custom social network, has attracted attention for its ability to create communities that are more functional than those created through competing services from Google and Yahoo listservs. Nonprofits, support groups, and nonprofit professionals have found their homes on Ning.

Ning 58

Ning Practice Interview Headline 58

Have Fun - Do Good

AUGUST 10, 2007

I have a personal request for all you Ning and social networking experts out there. They are using Ning to build a social network and need some help setting it up to meet their needs, for example, they'd like to incorporate LinkedIn on the site. I just sent them Jusin Perkins of Care2's ROI Calcualator for Social Networking , but I'm not enough of a Ning expert to be of more help than that. You can see what they have so far on Ning here and their wiki here.

Ning 40

Ning Culture NGO Social Network 40

Amy Sample Ward

MAY 7, 2010

—– I’ve talked about issues and ideas over the last year about the use of certain tools or platforms in the social technology for social impact sector, from Causes to Ideablob to Ning. The number of fans on your facebook page is one of the core features on the landing page, the number of Ning network members is the same, and again with Twitter, etc. Tags: community otherblogs causes community building ideablob ning ssir tools

Community 135

Community Tools Ning Offline 135

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

NOVEMBER 1, 2007

Marc Andreessen, who is, of late, connected to Ning, has a great blog entry with details. Google has a number of partners, including social network sites like LinkedIn, Friendster and Ning, as well as Salesforce, which does have very interesting implications given the increasing use of Salesforce in the nonprofit sector. Ning, which is the social network of social networks, could end up being a very important player here.

Ning 100

Ning API Myspace Linkedin 100

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 16, 2010

Countless nonprofits flocked to Ning to create social networks. But now that Ning isn’t free anymore , I’m going to carp some. Or is it free because it is a start up in search for a business model (Ning)? There is an effort afloat to get Ning to make nonprofit and educational accounts free. And even if they do, there is no guarantee that Ning will even survive.

Ning 166

Ning Drupal Open Source Free 166

See3

FEBRUARY 5, 2008

Marc Andreessen, the founder of Netscape, Ning and an internet thinker (and billionaire), wrote a post today on his blog called Inaugurating the New York Times Deathwatch.

New York 40

New York Time Blackberry FAQ 40

Amy Sample Ward

JANUARY 22, 2009

Social Actions , the platform that makes it easy for individuals and organizations to share actions across the web, has just launched it’s Ning-powered social network: My.SocialActions. It’s built on Ning, so it has some features you’re probably familiar with, too. The social network side of Social Actions is an exciting venture - it’s a way to make actions more personal and track the actions your participate in or start.

Action 100

Action Ning Guide Reflection 100

3rd Sector Labs

JUNE 1, 2015

Cleaning / cleansing – [KLEE-ning] / [KLEN-zing], noun. Every nonprofit needs a data management plan, especially for their donor data. The plan needs to address a variety of topics, such as data hygiene and enrichment , data usage in various communications activities , input/output management, and more.

Data 109

Data Donor Management Ning 109

Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 9, 2010

Ning/Yahoo/Google. Notes from the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference for: Who : Speakers: Susan Tenby | TechSoup Global; Janet Fouts; Kira Marchenese. What : An important part of your social media strategy should be listening for people and organizations who are talking about the issues you want to discuss.How do you know which networks will be most effective to reach your goals? Listen first and discover where the conversations are!

Social Media 159

Social Media Network Ning Second Life 159

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

NOVEMBER 15, 2008

Gina Bianchini, CEO and Founder of Ning. Allyson Kapin has a post on the Huffington Post called Cracking the Boys Club that shares her top 10 women pioneers of Web 2.0. I'm honored to be on the list along with some awesome women. Mary Hodder, Founder of Dabble.com and VP of Product Development, Apisphere. Tara Hunt, Co-Founder Citizen Agency and Citizen Space. Sandy Jen, Co-Founder of Meeboo. Lynne D. Johnson, Director of Social Media, Fast Company. Charlene Li, Consultant and Blogger.

Ning 50

Ning Slideshare Blogger Director 50

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MARCH 31, 2008

| View | Upload your own. Later today, I am speaking on a panel at the WomenWhoTech Conference. Web 2.0: Hot Or Not? 5:15 PM EST Twitter! Facebook! Panelists share their opinions on the latest trends in Web 2.0 and how organizations can effectively use them to build community as well as as how to measure the real ROI???s. Panelists: Heather Holdridge, Care2.com, Connie Reece, Social Media Club and Frozen Pea Fund, Beth Kanter Moderator: Allyson Kapin, Women Who Tech and Rad Campaign.

Ning 50

Ning Slides ROI Measure 50

See3

JULY 13, 2009

TuDiabetes.com is built on the white-label social networking platform Ning , and Manny wrote the book on it. He really wrote the book on Ning. Tomorrow at 4:00pm ET, 14,000 people worldwide will test their blood sugar simultaneously and share their results online. The organizer is TuDiabetes.com.com, the niche social networking site for people affected by diabetes.

Ning 40

Ning Activities Active Activism 40

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

SocialGiving , a Ning app that allows for peer-to-peer fundraising initiatives for Ning Network Creators was launched this week by PincGiving. Ning has been a popular platform for nonprofits to create communities of interest around their causes. Manny Hernandez, author of Ning for Dummies, is the founder of tudiabetes and estudiabetes - two highly successful nonprofit communities on Ning. Follow his blog for expert Ning advice.

Nptech 74

Nptech Ning Social Media Congo 74

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

APRIL 19, 2010

Although it likely won’t be on too many up-to-the-minute news items (like the recent Ning Thing) because I’ll be paying less attention to those goings on, and more attention to other, deeper things. As you might know, almost a year ago, I made a big change in my use of social media – I segregated my social graph – work related stuff moved to LinkedIn and Twitter, and personal friends only on Facebook.

Business 145

Business Ning Brain Info 145

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

NOVEMBER 14, 2009

My friend, Manny Hernandez, founder of Tuiabetes Community and author of Ning for Dummies, let me know that today, November 14 is World Diabetes Day. Today, at 14:00 hours (local time), thousands of people with diabetes will test their blood sugar, do 14 minutes of exercise, test again and share their results on TuDiabetes or on Twitter. He is using a tool called " Twibbon " that makes it easy for people to change their avatar to incorporate a visual for a particular cause.

Avatar 75

Avatar Profile Iran Ning 75

Forum One

FEBRUARY 12, 2011

Ning is a hosted workspace product which boasts the largest numbers of users and networks of all of the private social networks. Because it started as a free product, the platform serves mostly small groups, but many Ning groups have grown to be quite substantial. Our clients are planning, designing, and launching online professional networks of all shapes and sizes to reach, engage, and inform external stakeholders.

Drupal 47

Drupal Ning Platform Social Network 47

Allegiance Group

JANUARY 10, 2010

Recently, Beaconfire helped Legacy revitalize their website and migrate their users from Ning to the Elgg social networking software solution. The community portion of the site was originally created using the Ning social networking platform. By far, however, the most critical part of the project was to migrate the community of users from Ning to Elgg.

Ning 40

Ning Flash Adobe Application 40

Forum One

FEBRUARY 12, 2011

Ning is a hosted workspace product which boasts the largest numbers of users and networks of all of the private social networks. Because it started as a free product, the platform serves mostly small groups, but many Ning groups have grown to be quite substantial. Our clients are planning, designing, and launching online professional networks of all shapes and sizes to reach, engage, and inform external stakeholders.

Drupal 43

Drupal Ning Platform Social Network 43

Care2

NOVEMBER 29, 2011

For the first time this year, quite a few newbies were added to the list of Social Network platforms: FourSquare, Jumo, Vimeo, Yelp, Picassa, Ning, Delicious, CrowdRise, FirstGiving, Razoo and Causes. The 2011 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report provides some incredible data on how 11K+ nonprofits are using social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. The study also answers the biggest question on everyone's mind.

Social Network 87

Social Network Money Raise Network 87

Allegiance Group

JANUARY 6, 2012

I wrote it about this in April of 2010 , when Ning changed it’s business model. The Internet is awash in free tools, and I love them, both for my own personal use as well as for our clients. With all that’s out there and wonderful, why wouldn’t you want to use a free tool? There’s always a caveat. If a company changes its business model, goes out of business, or just plain decides they don’t like you, you can lose your data, with little to no recourse.

Ning 43

Ning Free Model Washington 43

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

OCTOBER 8, 2008

There are new types of software being developed all the time (like, for instance, the new crop of “ Social Network Management Systems &# both open source and SaaS, like Ning.). I keep being surprised by how frequently I hear clients tell me that a vendor has suggested they “build them a CMS,&# or by proposals from vendors that include custom building a CMS. I hear people suggesting building their own social networking website.

Build 100

Build Open Source Ning Module 100

NTEN

MAY 10, 2010

Let's create a Ning site! Remember those halcyon days of yore when the phrase "social networking" was suffused with golden light? New fundraising campaing? Try Causes! Need to build community? No budget for a web site redesign? Start a Facebook Page instead! Maybe it will work. Ah, 2008, you are missed. Well, playtime's over. If your organization isn't measuring the results of its social media initiatives, you may be wasting time and effort. You just don't know it yet!)

Ning 53

Ning Social Network Benchmark Fun 53

Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 1, 2009

Ning is a platform that allows individuals or organizations to create branded social networks. Today is April Fools, but instead of giving into temptation to play any tricks, I thoughts I’d focus in on the other April activity: Spring cleaning! When it comes to a big, deep clean in your office, going through files, recycling lots of random print outs, returning long-borrowed manuals, and finding that secret stash of blue pens in the back of your desk drawer are all on the list.

Social Media 100

Social Media Tools Ning Bookmarking 100

Amy Sample Ward

JUNE 11, 2010

It’s because this is another example of how our tools are defining community. ( Last month’s post focused on that topic using Causes, Ideablob and Ning as references for the conversation.) My latest Stanford Social Innovation Review opinion piece is up and copied below. You can read and comment on the original post here.

Community 149

Community Ning Ipod Public 149

Care2

JANUARY 3, 2011

The community could be a blog community, a YouTube channel community, a Facebook or Ning group, or a reddit group. 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.".

Reddit 81

Reddit Ning Community Raise 81

Amy Sample Ward

NOVEMBER 26, 2009

– If you use something like Ning does that platform share a part of the liability? depends on the set up, whether you are building communities in ning or drupal or from scratch, building in the ability for users to include video and so on is easier. I’m capturing notes at the MyPublicServices event from PatientOpinion. This session is lead by Holly Seddon from FreshNetworks and titled Harnessing and Nurturing Communities.

Community 111

Community Ning Offline Spam 111

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MARCH 20, 2007

Paul also shared a ning site he has set up called "Cool 'n Conscientious" Cool 'n Conscientious focuses on how emerging information technology tools and services can be leveraged to change the world - both the practical and relevant application of technology to address social challenges. But as Paul pointed out in an email he thinks that ning has come close to integrated conversational media into a blog like platform

Conservancy 50

Conservancy Ning Podcast Platform 50

Amy Sample Ward

APRIL 20, 2011

Ning allows you to build your own public or private online network with various pricing options. I originally wrote this feature for the World Pulse magazine. Due to space restrictions, unfortunately, it will not be included in the upcoming issue. I didn’t want the spotlight to go dark on Aashika and her work, though, so am posting it here! Please share it with your networks! —– Aashika Damodar & collaborative technology for social impact.

Case Study 153

Case Study Collaboration Impact Technology 153

Tech Soup Blog

MARCH 27, 2009

He told me that a few months ago, they'd set up a social networking hub on Ning for friends and constituents of the organization to connect with each other. TechSoup community leader Megan has a new honorific to add to her growing list : " ultimate online party host." " Katrina at Hot Tub had a chat with Megan about online community building, and Katrina's notes are well worth the read. One of the big takeaways is the importance of hands-on leadership.

Offline 53

Offline Build Ning Community 53