AUGUST 26

Ever wonder how your email list stacks up against other nonprofits? Is it just your open rate that's declining, or are all nonprofits seeing the same results? And just what is a good online fundraising response rate?

Our speaker, Karen Matheson of M+R Strategic Services will speak on the results of the 2008 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study. The report analyzed online messaging, fundraising, and advocacy data from 21 leading nonprofit organizations.

Karen will cover key findings on fundraising and advocacy metrics, explore what the data tells us about industry-wide changes, provide key metrics to analyze your organization's online program and take questions about the study and nonprofit online metrics.

She will also offer up real-world advice and research-based best practices for communicating effectively with your membership, helping maintain and develop supporters, build relationships, and sharing your story.

DETAILS:

Date: Tuesday, August 26th
Time: 6 pm - 8 pm
Place: AboutUs.org, SW 2nd & Stark
TSVP: On Upcoming - http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/928776

Karen Matheson is the Manager of Quantitative Research and Analysis at M+R Strategic Services and provides strategic data analysis for a range of M+R's eCampaigns clients, including the Human Rights Campaign, Oxfam America, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. With a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Oregon and graduate coursework in statistics and analysis, Karen has a strong quantitative research background. In addition to co-authoring M+R and NTEN's eNonprofit Benchmarks Study (http://www.e-benchmarksstudy.com), Karen regularly researches and co-authors articles about best online communications strategies using data from several national nonprofits.

FOOD: Some food and beverages are provided, but feel free to bring something to share! We hope that you will join us to meet new friends, share issues and ideas about technology in the nonprofit sector, and continue to help mold the group. These events will also try to offer information about open source (read: free!) alternatives to software and tools used by or available to nonprofits.

SEPTEMBER 4

HumaniNet will present a status report on their Maps 2.0 initiative, which is exploring ready-to-use Web-based mapping tools for humanitarian and nonprofit organizations.

Dylan Myers, a digital mapping specialist at Google Maps, will also be there to answer your questions on the ever-expanding toolkit of Google Maps and Google Earth. Dylan was a key member of a Mercy Corps team that conducted a GIS (geospatial information systems) project in Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami.

Justin Perkins, an online marketing expert and Care2's Nonprofit Services Director, will also be present and was an adviser to the Maps 2.0 project at NetSquared.

DETAILS:

Schedule:
5 PM - Conversation and Networking
6 PM - Presentation/Q&A by Gregg Swanson and Matt Blair of HumaniNet
6:30 PM - More networking and Q/A with Dylan Meyers, Google Maps

Date: Thursday, Sept. 4th
Place: Lucky Lab Beer Hall - 1945 NW Quimby
RSVP: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1022977

Humaninet will briefly discuss the initial findings of the research, which is based on interviews with aid and relief managers in Afghanistan, Sudan, Singapore, London, and – not least - Portland. Matt will share some notes on emerging Web 2.0 social mapping services, including the promise and pitfalls of 'crowd-sourced' geospatial data.

Following Q&A, you can meet Dylan, see demos, exchange ideas, practice your "geo-geek speak," and learn more about what online maps can do for your project or organization.

Interested in more Maps 2.0?

• Hear a full presentation on the findings and analysis of Maps 2.0, with discussion following.
• Discuss trends with Dylan Myers of Google Maps, who will be available to answer questions.
• Get a better understanding of Google tools and the Google Outreach program.
• Get a hands-on demo of GPS, to include posting the locations on Google Earth.
• Learn different ways that Google tools can be used for nonprofit and humanitarian benefit.
• Network with other nonprofit managers and GIS practitioners.

Net Squared Community Blog: Net Squared "enables social benefit organizations to leverage the tools of the social web." This is a great place to hear about what other organizations are doing, regardless of where they may be on the adoption timeline for different new media tools. I love the varied topics and people that post here, keeping me exposed to all sorts of fields. It is a community blog, so feel free to set up your free account with Net Squared and post to the blog as well!

NTEN Affinity Groups: NTEN is a membership organization of nonprofit technology professionals that "aspires to a world where all nonprofit organizations skillfully and confidently use technology to meet community needs and fulfill their missions." You don't have to be a member to join the affinity groups, though! There are many different topic areas covered and it's a terrific way to find resources and contacts that can help answer questions or provide advice, especially for areas where you previously didn't know quite who to ask. Check out the lists and join groups that match your interests!

Where do you find peer-to-peer help when you have a question or need advice? Do you prefer on or offline help; people you know already or people you may know via a network (like Net Squared or NTEN)?

1. We Are Media Project - from NTEN and Beth Kanter

The Social Media Starter Kit for Nonprofits: This project is a collaborative approach to build a "toolkit and instructional guides about how social media strategies and tools can enable nonprofit organizations to create, compile, and distribute their stories and change the world." It is now in its second week, which focuses on strategic thinking about social media. You can see what participants have shared and how the project is growing, by visiting the wiki.

2. Digital Makeover Project - from Simon Fairway

This project focuses on South Yorkshire Funding and Advice Bureau to examine the current state of digital communications, needs, and staff capacity. The strategy development for social media and other technology advancements for the organization are coming from the larger community (even you!). SYFAB's website is very much like that of many nonprofit organizations: it does provide information, but it doesn't provide community or participation, and isn't very welcoming. The organization has 12 employees (some part some full time), so in size it is similar to many other nonprofits as well. This is a great project to stay up-to-date with and learn along with! You can see it unfold on Simon Fairway's NetSquared blog.

Posterous is a new tool that let's you do just that! All you need is email, and I'd put money on the fact that you all have email already! All you need to do is send an email to post@posterous.com and you've just posted to your blog!

The subject line of your email is the post title. The message body is the post content. You can even send pictures, audio or video attachments to be posted as well! "If you can use email, you can have your own website to share thoughts and media with friends, family and the world."

If you submit multiple photos, they'll automatically make a photo gallery for you. If you send in a link, they will make it an active link; unless it's a link to a video or photo or some other media, when they embed the video for you so readers don't have to click to see it. And much more!

I just did it myself. It REALLY is just as easy as it sounds. All I did was send an email. But, it was fun so I did it twice. :) You can see it here!

If you want to try it out, just send an email to post@posterous.com! You can check Posterous out on the web, too; here are the FAQs.

Many people have already registered and are sharing information about people, places and things. You can learn more about connec+ipedia on the website or even follow on Twitter!

Last night was the June event for Net Tuesday here in Portland where the group focused on presentations from Squarepeg and connec+ipedia. It was a big turn out and great conversations and questions. Some of the questions we are hearing most about connec+ipedia include:

• What is the difference between our staff using connec+ipedia and using our own wiki? If you are looking for a place for your staff to collaborate on projects, planning, and conversations or keep information internal, then connec+ipedia won't be the place for that. If you are working on research or a specific program area, whether you are in the initial phase of learning or have collected much of your research and are putting it together, connec+ipedia is a great place to store, share, and collaborate around the topic.


• What if my organization's focus area is not already identified as a topic area? Add it! Anyone can read and search the site, but registered users (it is free, but requires accepting the terms of use to be nice!) can read, search, edit and contribute. You can create a new topic area that more properly fits the information your organization has. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if you weren't the only group who would use that new section!


• I don't know what I could contribute. I bet you do! One way is to track the requests from visitors who don't find what they need in connec+ipedia now, and ask for help in tracking down the information. Maybe you already know where to find it and can add links! Check it out!... In addition, the first step for many users after registering for their password is to add their own organization and the corresponding details. When you add an organization in connec+ipedia, you are able to connect it with applicable geographies and topic areas. This means your organization will show up automatically when someone is looking at a topic area you are involved with (and have indicated on the organization's card). Give it a try!

You can watch the recording of the launch (streaming video or download the file, note that it is very large!), or download the user guide as an into to the tool.

It was a lot of hard work ramping up for the launch: anxious stomachs, tired eyes, little sleep, and aching heads. But it was all worth it to stand in front of the packed room yesterday and unveil this awesome new tool. What is most exciting to me, is that this is a tool for everyone! We put in the leg work and now you all get to join us in building it out in directions we may not even have thought of yet. Together, the connec+ipedia community can shape this resource to meet all of our needs in a connected way.

Sharing and collaborating on People, Places, and Things, as well as all the intersections between them, means we have the possibility to move anywhere and everywhere the information takes us. We hope it will help those working for the common good do their work, understand their work, and inform their work.

Come connect today!

Wikis

As usual, we will open up the meeting to a broader conversation and discuss open source options for software. Bring your examples and questions, too!

DETAILS:

Topic: Wikis and your nonprofit
Presenter: Mark Dilley and others
Date: May 27th
Time: 6 pm
Location: AboutUs.org office (SE 2nd and Washington)
Connection online: http://netsquared.meetup.com/13/

We hope that you will join us to meet new friends, share issues and ideas about technology in the nonprofit sector, and continue to help mold the group. These events will also try to offer information about open source (read: free!) alternatives to software and tools used by or available to nonprofits as well.

You can check out the group online here: http://netsquared.meetup.com/13/
And sign up to RSVP for the meeting, network, and stay in the loop!

ABOUT: The fourth Tuesday of each month, social changemakers and web innovators get together to network, mix, swap stories and ideas, build new relationships and learn at Net Tuesday, an event produced by NetSquared, http://www.netsquared.org a project of TechSoup, http://www.techsoup.org. All those interested, involved, or employed in nonprofits and that recognize the importance and utility of technology in the sector are invited to join us for discussion and exchange.

Storytelling

DETAILS:

Presenter: Roger Burks, Mercy Corps
Location: Northwest Health Foundation, 221 NW 2nd Ave, Suite 300 (in Bamboo Room), Portland, OR
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Food: Bring your own lunch and we'll bring some goodies!

Roger Burks is a Senior Writer at Mercy Corps and presented in the session, Connections in Crisis: Using Technology to Bring People Together, at the 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference. Please join us to learn from Roger's experience and to engage him with your questions.

The Portland 501 Tech Club is growing with your participation and turning into one of the hottest new places to learn, connect, and CHANGE within the Portland community! This is a fantastic way to keep conversations, learning opportunities and networking going throughout the community.

If you haven't already, you can join the Portland 501 Tech Club at http://groups.nten.org.

Women

An off-line extension of the Women Who Tech online network, this picnic hopes to bring together women from many industries that use technology to do their jobs or to help their organizations. You can learn more about the national network of women and join in by visiting the organization's website: http://womenwhotech.com

DETAILS:

When: Sunday, June 22, 11 am - 2 pm
Where: Laurelhurst Park, picnic area A
Why: Join with the growing community of women in technology
What to bring: A potluck item to share (beverages will be provided)
Who to invite: Other women colleagues and friends using technology in their work

(Check out the event page on Facebook or UpComing.)

Email Advocacy
The average rate for page completion (filling in a form, etc.) increased from 85% in 2006 to 89% in 2007. Things like improved layout and design of advocacy pages could be the reason for the increase, or that supporters are more comfortble/used to the forms and what to expect when clicking through to the page. I think it is also important to think about the inclusion of auto-complete/fill information either from a personal option on the users' computers or through a cookie from your site.

Taking Action
Environmental and rights organizations each had about half of their membership taking action in 2007. That is well ahead of health and international organizations. Often, it is hard to simplify the best reason or couple reasons that contribute to the high action rates. Of course, doing everything 'right' doesn't hurt! I suggest signing up on the list for organizations or campaigns that strikes/surprises/motivates/impresses you outside (or in) your sector of work and learn from the ways it is done - how the emails are done (how many, about what, etc.), how you are called to action, how you are rewarded for action if you do take it, etc.

One statistic that is very important to learn from is that of those who are active members, 13% are categorized as 'super activists' but those 13% account for 42% of the action taken (in 2007). These super activists comprise about 5% of an organization's list. These are very important members. That much goes without saying; but, what does it mean for your organization's interaction with them? It's important to investigate and develop ways for super activists to do the work of cultivating less active or inactive members into taking action, so that you don't have to. Building a system for interaction between members can allow for further actions that include inviting others to become active when you do, or suggesting actions to your contacts, etc.

Case Studies
#1. Human Rights Campaign

The HRC increased its advocacy response rates in 2007 by a full percentage point and contribute this increase to segmentation of its list. It split the list into five sub-lists based on the members' past activities/interactions with the organization. HRC could then communicate in a more tailored way with the members on each list.

Today, everyone on the list gets one advocacy action and the one email newsletter per month, plus a fundraising campaign every 2-3 months. Beyond that, audiences for emails are based on demonstrated interest. For example, extra action alerts only go to people who've already shown an interest in that issue and to core activists (who have taken 5+ online actions in the page year). Special fundraising campaigns target recent donors. Higher-threshold actions like phone calls and letters to the editor never go to inactives.

#2. Environmental Defense

ED noticed that they were earning 40% of their dollars in the year-end and that people gave at the same rate regardless of how many emails when looking at the data from three consecutive Decembers. In 2007, they took a random 15% of their list and those members received only 3 messages while the rest of the list received 13 (between Thanksgiving and December 31st). The group receiving only 3 messages had a lower donation rate so they plan to do further list testing to find the 'sweet spot' with their members. What has been the result of list tests like this; if you haven't yet done any segmenting or testing, do you plan to?

An interesting test that ED conducted on their website took place right on the home page. They used a graphic with polar bears and a call to action for contributions, in one instance, and in the other simply put the donation form in the same spot (top, center of the home page). What they noticed was an increase of 8% more gifts with the donation form, 8% more donations of $1,000 or less and 10% more donations of %500 or less. The lesson they learned was to just put the option completely in front of the visitor, take out all possible clicks, and let them decide right away if they are going to give or not.

What has been the best advocacy campaign/call to action in the last year at your organization? What data did you collect (either quantitative or qualitative) that helped you plan for the next one?

Fundraising Response Rates
It was mentioned in the previous post as well that messaging response rates, including those of fundraising messages, were down last year compared to 2006. There is a bit of trickiness to that data though: even though the response rates declined, the overall amount raised online continues to go up partly because of the fact that the average email list has grown by a factor that is larger than the decline in response rates.

The declining open rates still convince me to look for ways to integrate calls into one message so that you have actions/advocacy, fundraising opportunities, and news/information in every email so it isn't a one shot or nothing deal.

Online Giving
On average, organizations raised 40% of the online giving in Q4 (October-December). This trend is true as well for gift size. The study found that gift size dramatically increased at the end of the year (same was true in 2006). So, the obvious lesson here is to cultivate as many donations as possible at the end of the year.

It seems to me, though, that just as much as you should cultivate donors/donations at year-end, you should find new ways of engaging them in your fundraising needs in other times of the year. Remember that tying fundraising appeals to current events and other communication campaigns as another option for support (it's really just another call to action) can bring in new donors and help you identify what issues the supporters care most about.

Case Studies
#1. Humane Society of the United States

One of the profiles included in the study focuses on the HSUS' fundraising success. There are a few things they did to improve their fundraising response rates, one of them was that:

They recruited new advocates on high profile advocacy campaigns, and then converted the new advocates to donors by sending fundraising appeals on the same issue. This strategy has proved so successful for HSUS that the organization has decided to customize its rolling welcome appeal for new advocates so that new advocates hear from HSUS on the same issue they joined the email list on. HSUS has extended this segmentation strategy to other appeals, too, by targeting list members with appeals based on those advocates' and donors' past online actions.

#2. Amnesty International USA

During the report release conference call/webinar/live event, a representative from AI explained some interesting learning they went through with their website and online giving. Here are some of the areas they made changes and saw results:

• Changing the web confirmation to donation form raised $46,000+ since December and indicates which issue inspires the donor (this is a confirmation when taking action, filling out a form, etc.)
• Changing the standard gray "submit" (or "donate" and so on) button on the donation form to a large red "submit" button, they saw a 29% lift in conversion rate.
• Adding some right-pointing arrows to a "donate" graphic on the home page provided a 5% lift in overall traffic to the donation form and a 55% lift in total dollars raised

There is one more section to the benchmarks study that I'm going to cover next (the section on Advocacy). The fundraising section really creates just as many questions as the email data from yesterday.

Where do you find out the most information about a donor right now and how is that reflected on your website? How are you currently designing ways to cultivate donors outside of the October-December high season?

This "analysis of online messaging, fundraising and advocacy metrics for nonprofit organizations" comes with some surprises and some data that shouldn't surprise anyone who has been paying attention to their online benchmarks. The NonProfit Times has a piece on the report here.

It contains benchmark data from a study group of 21 nonprofit organizations covering areas like email campaigns, fundraising, and advocacy. This post focuses on the email data, but next is information about the fundraising and advocacy data.

If you want to download the report, you can do so right here.

Email Campaigns

Email Open Rates
One of the first pieces of information most of us look at when considering our effectiveness online is the open rate for email campaigns. As the report indicates, open rates have continued to trend down—2007's rate was 17.6% with 2006 being at 21.3%. One important factor to remember, though, that really messes with the validity of these numbers, is the the way opens are indicated. Usually there is a one pixel size image that is embedded in the email so that when it loads on the viewer's screen, the sender's server is indicated and a open is registered. Many email applications have a preview window that loads an email even if the viewer doesn't read it. Alternatively, most email clients viewed in a web browser are set by default not to load images. So, a viewer could read an email and even click through to take action or donate, with an open never being registered on the sender's server.

People have so many emails to get through every day and it is only increasing. My question to consider then, is how do you become a resource or include value in every email without overwhelming the reader? You still want them to click on the donate or take action links, but by increasing the value of the content of your emails (value doesn't necessarily only mean information, but options for action, etc.), you can increase your open rate and the number of clickthroughs for donations or action because of the visibility.

Message Type
The report measures the success of emails (open rate, clickthroughs, page completion, and response rate) by the three main message types: fundraising, news, advocacy. Rates have declined for each type from 2006 to 2007 but advocacy actions generated slightly higher open rates and significantly higher clickthrough, page completion and response rates. This says to me: provide options for advocacy and fundraising and news in every message! Diversifying your email lists is important, and there is certainly a lot to the impact those more tailored emails get - but that doesn't mean that they can't have tailored and appropriate messages for all three areas in an email.

Clickthrough Rates
In this area, the rates vary by issue sector. The environmental organizations that participated (you can find out which organizations were included in the survey here), had the highest clickthrough rates of all participants. What do their email newsletters have that yours don't? Are they offering/linking to compelling videos and photos? Maybe including compelling stories and reports that require the reader to click through to the website to continue reading or download. Or, maybe there is a link to community features that require leaving the email.

Message Frequency & Subscribers
The report's findings indicate a correlation between the number of emails sent and the open rate: "when an organization sent five or more emails per subscriber in a month, the open rate dropped by 1%." Likewise, "the more messages an organization sends, the higher its unsubscribe rate for that month." This doesn't mean that you should be wary of emailing your lists. On the contrary. Focus on key questions though, like: What is pertinent, relates to current events, contributes to a campaign, creates positive actions for members? Or, how can we combine some of these smaller messages into a compelling story or segmented email? Don't let data that could seem negative, cause fear. It's good to question what you are doing though so that you can really be sure to send the best messages you have to your members.

There are really so many questions that this report brings to mind that should be discussed and not hidden. I encourage you to ask a hard question about some of your data, and get excited for positive places you can go with the answers.

What benchmarks have you seen your organization's email campaigns hitting or missing? What do you want to be with your data - and are those goals realistic based on these benchmarks?

"How can we effectively translate our outreach efforts into the technology-supported social/virtual world?"

and

"How do we develop solid, generative measures of success?"

The survey has some interesting findings about what works and what doesn't:

• Overwhelmingly, blogging was viewed as a sure, effective way to reach net citizenry and support the nonprofit.
• Respondents were optimistic about the value of social networking technologies to 'organize an event' and spread news' about the organization.
• Respondents were less optimistic about the prospects of social networking technologies to help raise significant monetary or goods donations for their organization.
• Respondents indicated that 'web traffic' was the most prominent value they have gained through use of various technologies. Other specific gains were harder to quantify.

Jot down some of your thoughts and questions about your organization's use of social media tools and then check out the report to explore the survey's findings!

Portland Grassroots Media Camp
September 12 - 14th, 2008
Portland Community College Cascade Campus in North Portland

There will also be opportunities for facilitated collaboration on media projects designed by participants in the camp and hopefully continued on after the event is over. Topics could include any issue area, including fighting the anti-immigrant ballot measures this fall, the effects of gentrification on North Portland, youth activism, the anti-war movement, homelessness, the environment, prison industrial complex, feminist and queer issues, and so on.

Volunteer
To ensure that the camp is as successful as possible, they are looking for eager and excited volunteers to help in a variety of ways including:

• Programming: Plans the events that will take place at the camp.
• Logistics: Deals with the space and materials to be used.
• Outreach: Will work to bring in and assist community organizations.
• Publicity: Will work with the media and get the word out as widely as possible.
• Fundraising: Will solicit donations and coordinate events to raise funds.
• Volunteer Coordination: Gets people involved in the way they feel most comfortable.
• Skill Share Facilitator Coordination: Gathers in the people who have the knowledge and teaches them how to pass it on to others.

It was a great chance to talk between conference goers about highlights and questions and even more exciting to have folks who hadn't been to the conference ask questions to start conversations. Some of the areas that we touched on include:

• Leadership: Technology staff have a great opportunity for developing leadership skills and helping navigate the organization, with technology-related issues as well as non-technology-related issues. It strengthens the organization to have technology staff a part of the leadership team. Likewise, it is incredibly important for execitve directors to gain technology knowledge so that when new, shiny, tools/toys come out (which seems to happen every day!), there is an understanding of what the organization can and can't adopt and how.


• ROI (Return on Investment): Specifically that of Social ROI, for social media, is a growing body of thought and practice with lots of conversations about different ways to measure social media work that doesn't relate specifically to fundraising dollars. The most prominent component of social media is the community building and conversational nature of the tools, so the development of ways to measure and evaluate your organization's use of these tools is integral.


• Social Media Adoption: I was part of or overheard many conversations reinforcing the idea that organization's can't, and don't have the staff/time/support/money, to adopt every tool that comes out. Instead, campaigns and projects need to be designed around the organization's missions and then appropriate technology can be used when it is appropriate.


• Communities of Practice: It was interesting to see puddles of people form because of common job functions and experiences that transcended session tracks or table topics. Groups like IT directors, peer-to-peer fundraisers, and non-technical staff that manage or work with online tools in their campaigns. It was great seeing the offline communities form with people who only knew each other online or through other friends. It is very important for people to build their support community because so many of us work in situations where we are the only IT staff person and it can be a lonely position.


• Vendors: Many people enjoyed the opportunity to meet with and talk to vendor company representatives IN PERSON. Shaking the hand of someone from PayPal or Salesforce really changed the faceless, distant organization to companies with human employees that nonprofits can connect with.


• Mobiles: A constantly growing field in the nonprofit technology world is that of mobile technology and the changing opportunities for nonprofits leveraging the power mobiles hold for reaching out to communities in need and in crisis. It is a great field to watch, and if you are interested in learning more about mobile technology, Mobile Active is an awesome organization to check out.

Here are some of the ways that Google's tools merge with Salesforce for you:

• Salesforce and Gmail
  Email and CRM Joined Together.
  See your productivity soar when you use Gmail for business and send messages to contacts from inside Salesforce or log emails in Salesforce from Gmail.
• Salesforce and Google Talk
  Instant Messaging Inside Salesforce.
  Instantly communicate with colleagues right from Salesforce - during sales or customer services calls, in discussions with partners, or when reviewing CRM data in Salesforce.
• Salesforce and Google Docs
  Real-Time Document Collaboration.
  Share documents with your colleagues, partners, and customers so that everyone can work together in real time - no more emailing attachments or worrying about different versions floating around.
• Salesforce and Google Calendar
  Multiple Calendars Managed in Sync.
  Manage your various work activities plus your personal and outside calendars all in one easy calendar interface with the checkbox simplicity and drag-and-drop convenience you would expect from Web 2.0.
• Salesforce and Google Start Page
  Everything That Matters - in a Single Glance.
  Start your day with a customized, all-in one view of everything that matters to your business.

Both of these tools are freely available to nonprofits so check them out if you are looking to explore new ways to handle your organization's software needs.

Some of the main take-aways from her presentation and our discussion are summarized below:

A great place to start your conversation about online organizing is to think about offline organizing. Successful offline campaigns include activities like:

• canvassing
• door knocking
• phone banking
• flyering

With online organizing, successful campaigns can include activities like:

• email
• blogs
• podcasts
• rss
• APIs/widgets

With 'web 2.0', supporters don't just read your messages, they can create their own content, interact with your content or with other supporters. Content can now also include:

• wikis
• videos and photos
• peer to peer interaction/connection

Pledgebank and other similar sites offer a way for an individual or group with a good idea to create change, to make a commitment with the support of others. But, do people follow through on their pledges? PB did a survey of money-based pledges and found that about 75% of pledgers followed through. Of that 75%, they pledged anywhere from 75% to 150% of the amount they pledge.

It is easy to think 'too big' at first. You may want to march on Washington about your cause. It could be very difficult though to successfully mobilize thousands of people to show up and march with you. Instead, you could start with a petition and working to many people to sign it. Then, encourage people to call their representatives personally. Once you are able to successfully mobilize people to do that, you can work on local organizing events, and so forth. Build up to the march on Washington by building a quality, active membership first.

Some tools and resources include:

• dotorganize.net - they have done surveys on how people are using the social web
• netsquared.org and techsoup.org - resources on cheap software and also good community for questions and support
• nten.org - great learning opportunities and participation with a knowledgeable community
• new organizing institute - great resources on their wiki
• onenw.org - much like dotorganize
• aspirationtech.org - great workshps and curriculum
• idealware.org - compares tools for you