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This year, the holiday season is upon us with myriad options for giving in a good way without the hustle and bustle, and sometimes jostle, of shopping in the stores. Online fundraising sites have made it easy for people to donate to charities and many organizations have holiday giving that includes special certificates or gifts for those you have donated for.
Network for Good has a unique approach to all of the holiday gift donations: the Good Card.
The Good Card is like giving a gift certificate to Whole Foods, or whichever grocery store you like to visit. There are many great things to choose from and you may not usually treat yourself to spending money on more expensive, organic, or specialty foods. But with a gift card, you have all the selection AND it's already been paid for. The Good Card lets the recipient choose the organization they would like to support without having to set aside their own funds to do so.
People are more excited about receiving certificates when they can participate in it. (Sometimes folks resent doantions in their name to an organization they don't know or don't want to support.) This approach keeps the good will intact!
Check out Network for Good's Good Card and get some holiday shopping out of the way!
Permalink | Comments (0)POST is Forresters terrific new model for step-by-step strategy development using social media tools. With the ever-growing list of new media tools available for the for- and nonprofit organizations to use, picking the best tool for the project becomes a big issue.
In the POST method, you have four steps including: People, Objectives, Strategy, Technology. Addressing the issue of People means looking first at who the audience before doing anything else.
After you are confident about who you are reaching and some of their online characteristics, you can move on to Objectives. This is where you really think about what you are trying to do. Think small. Saving the world is on everyone's list, but probably not quite as doable as provide event participants with collaboration and conversation access.
With your audience and goals in check, start thinking about the Strategy. Strategy doesn't mean the social media tools, though, don't rush! In this part, you want to focus on what the technology tools will change for you and your audience. How will things be after you have implemented the tools?
Okay, now you can pick the most applicable technology tools to use. It will be easier to see the right tools from the plethora that exists because you are looking through a specific lens that has the audience, goal and strategy layers. You will now be able to also have a more constructive view of why some and not some other options.
The POST process is a terrific way to help nonprofits and for-profits in their media decision making. Forrester, and specifically Josh Bernoff, has done terrific work on this. You should head over to Forrester's website or to their blog to learn more about POST and the great work happening at Forrester.
The POST method will be featured in Forrester's book Groundswell. You can find out more about the book on their website.
Permalink | Comments (0)This past Friday was our third event in the series Communicating in the Age of New Media and focused on social media tools. It was a wonderful success, at least in my opinion, and took place at IRCO (Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization) offering us a chance to have applicable conversations and applications of our small group scenarios, many of which focused on immigrant and refugee or other special needs populations. My standard review process includes noting three positives and one negative, so, here's my take on the event:
Rose: Facilitator
We were very honored and thrilled to have Beth Kanter come out to provide us with an overview of social media and the tools nonprofits are and can be using and then walk us through the day's workshop. She provided great insight and helped the groups every step of the way with suggestions, ideas, and thought-provoking questions. You can even read Beth's reflections on the event on her blog!
Rose: Participants
Beth was terrific, but our participants really made the day for me! They were positive about the new media tools and ready to learn. People were jumping right in to the workshop scenarios and energetic in creating strategies using social media to help nonprofits best do their work. When faced with this much new information, people can get scared and overwhelmed, or excited and motivated. I was thrilled to see that our participants were the latter.
Rose: Conversation
At every table around the room, conversations were taking place that proved how energetic and enthused the participants and the leaders were about the topic—what is not to be excited about? After all, some nonprofits are ahead of corporations in adopting social web tools! One great tool that my group touched on was the utility of wikis for organizations and their members. What better place to collaborate and build community through participation and contribution than in a wiki? We even set up a wiki for the event so that the notes, ideas, questions, and great conversation could be recorded and continued.
Thorn: Time
With such a motivated group of participants and a guru facilitator, it was hard to call it a day. We could have easily worked on the scenarios in small groups, had conversations and answered questions together for many more hours. Even this thorn has a rose: Check out the wiki for the event and we can keep discussing and collaborating!
I hope all of you who had the opportunity to be with us on Friday enjoyed it and learned something you can put to use at your organization. To those who could not join us, we hope to put on similar events in the future and I will continue to post here on ideas, issues, news, and information to help you use social media tools in your organization.
Permalink | Comments (0)Change.org announced recently the launch of a major new service for its nonprofit partners. With the goal to become the central platform for connecting and empowering nonprofits, donors, and activists worldwide, this new services provides specifically branded networking capabilities for nonprofit organizations.
This new service allows any nonprofit organization in the US or abroad to turn their basic profile on Change.org into a branded social network that looks like their website and has custom features to enable each organization to better communicate with supporters and provide additional means for taking action. In other words, organizations that have a free account or "profile" on the http://change.org website, can now bump up that profile into a complete tool to engage, connect, fundraise, and inform supporters.
Over 50 organizations are already using the new branding service, including Amnesty International, The Humane Society, and Friends of New Orleans.
You can learn more or sign up to start using Change.org's new networking tool.
Are you already using Change.org or its' new branded tool for nonprofits? What has been the most interesting part of the experience so far?
Permalink | Comments (0)It's already holiday season and tomorrow people will be gathered at dining tables big and small around the country to celebrate another year with family and friends. The Thanksgiving holiday includes for many of us some hand-made turkeys and pilgrims and home cooking. There is football and pumpkin pie and then the question, "what are you thankful for this year?"
My answer (well, ONE of my answers) is for something that I am thankful for every day of the year: this short list of terrific organizations working to support the nonprofit sector with technology and new media tools:
Nonprofit Technology Education Network
You can become a member of NTEN and participate in groups (both online and in person), take webinars (November is Nonprofit Appreciation Month so many were free!), find jobs, and more. If you attended our Communicating in the Age of New Media event on Distributing Content then you met NTEN's Executive Director, Holly Ross!
NetSquared
Share with the Net2 community on the the blog or meet in person around the country at monthly Net Tuesday events. You can even start a Net Tuesday event in your city!
TechSoup
Participate in discussions online and events, register your organization to get donated technology products, get news and information to use on your organization's blog, and more. Check out their free downloads page, too!
What technology tools or services are you most thankful for this year?
Permalink | Comments (0)I was thinking this morning that it could be interesting to make a list of the technology tools for nonprofits that I have either heard or talked about this week. Have any of these been buzzing in your ears this week?
Google Checkout for Nonprofits
Give your supporters the ability to donate online from your website!
Google Earth & mapping tools
Track your work, service areas, and impact and share it with the world!
Nonprofit leadership forecasts, including Bridgespan Group and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations' studies
-Leadership development and retention is becoming incredibly important!
Google Apps -Reduce your IT costs by using Google's document/web page/email/everything applications and storage!
FreeCause
-Increase exposure and awareness of your cause!
DASHTrack
-Evaluate your donor satisfaction! (requires purchase)
What was on your buzz list this week that should be on mine?
Permalink | Comments (0)The BlogWorld & New Media Expo held last Wednesday through Friday (Nov. 7-9) was quite the experience. Bloggers and new media gurus walked side by side with those asking, "so, what's a blog, anyway?" Breakout sessions were filled with questions and answers and lots of interested participants. Some of the best take-aways for nonprofits include:
1. Ethics: A conversation on ethics for your nonprofit's new media tools is a great way to focus and answer some sticky situations before they come up. For example, if you have a blog, will you allow comments from anyone on anything? Where do you draw the line on user generated content? Any answer is okay, as long as it is agreed upon by your organization and there are objective measures or specific examples to help guide when content/comments have crossed the line.
2. Creating Content: Remember that your organization's story, insight, experiences, and events are unique. You already have original content that is compelling and creative that you can share with your community on a blog, in an email campaign, or in a video. Telling your story the way you saw it, felt it, experienced it will be more interesting to readers and more inviting for them to comment, send to friends, and even help out with your organization.
3. Creating Conversations: All over the internet, conversations are taking place already. You do not always need to start the conversation, but can continue it. Find other organizations online that are blogging or posting video and photos about a topic your organization is interested in (whether it is a similar event, similar service, or in the same community). You can link to their websites or blogs or even YouTube videos and then contribute your thoughts as well. Be sure to always invite your readers and supports to share with you as well.
4. Looking Ahead: The world of technology is moving and evolving rapidly. the tools that many organizations feel are highly needed and beneficial to success were not even around a couple years ago, some not even ONE year ago. What does this mean for nonprofits looking to plan for the future? Education is often one of the most crippling barriers to adoption and success with new technologies. Ensuring that staff capacity exists for continued learning and development for new media tools is a must. For some organizations, this means hiring a staff member dedicated to technology needs; for others, it means creating good relationships with consultants or other outside vendors to assist with changing new media opportunities. Some organizations have staff members that spend their spare time exploring these tools and can step in to help the organization. Others can utilize interested volunteers who are looking for a way to put their geek skills to good use.
Whether you are looking at content, comments or continued support in the future, new media tools should be adapted throughout your organization and decisions made collectively. The information and the tools are available, most of them free! So, if you haven't started using new media yet, today is the day to start!
Permalink | Comments (0)Social media tools are in abundance to help connect you to people you already know and those you haven't yet met. Staying connected to friends, family, and colleagues is made easier by email and blogs. Sharing photos and videos online also helps bring us all together. For instant updates, Twitter is the tool that you should check out.
What is it? Twitter is a website application that allows you to create an account and answer the question, "what are you doing?" In updates limited to 140 characters (don't worry, it counts the characters down for you), you can ask questions to your network, answer others' queries, or simply state what you are doing/working on/thinking about. It is so simple to get started and once you start using it, it's easy to get hooked!
With all social media tools, finding new "friends" that have similar experience, interests and mutual friends is easy. Connecting with these new friends is a great way to learn more about your field, connect with new minds on problems and solutions, and network to find partnerships in new places. On Twitter, making new friends is contagious! It seems that finding new friends, information, and even news becomes harder and harder to escape the more you use it to share and explore. Many nonprofits have Twitter accounts, providing a simple and fast way to update supporters and volunteers.
I am on Twitter (and you should be, too!). Find me and start "following" me (following is how you connect with other users and Twitter puts their updates on your page for you to easily find) right now: www.twitter.com/amyrsward.
Why should you follow me? This Wednesday - Friday I will be in Las Vegas at the BlogWorld & New Media Expo. I will be making updates from the conference and hope that you will be following me! I will also blog about sessions and other news. But for up-to-the-minute information, find my tweets on Twitter!
(Insider Tip: Once you set up your account, you can send a message referencing one of my updates by typing: @amyrsward)
Permalink | Comments (0)The first Wednesday of every month, local geeks, nerds, and those who love new media technology but hate titles all gather at Wiki Wednesday in the AboutUs office in southeast Portland. Conversation moves from general chats to in-depth wiki development, from finding jobs to making deals. It's a great place for entrepreneurs, developers, bloggers, software geeks, open source wizards, and individuals looking for a new and interesting watering hole.
But wait, what's a "wiki?"
According to Wikipedia (note the "wiki" there!), a wiki is "computer software that allows users to easily create, edit and link web pages. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites, power community websites, and are increasingly being installed by businesses to provide affordable and effective Intranets or for use in Knowledge Management. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as 'the simplest online database that could possibly work'."
Even if that definition is the first you have heard of a wiki, Wiki Wednesday is still a great event to attend—you will learn about wikis and other open source software. You will meet new friends and find colleagues and partners you didn't know you had. You could even have the chance to meet Ward Cunningham (see definition above).
Will we see you Wednesday, Nov. 7, 6:30 pm at AboutUs (107 SE Washington St, Suite 520)? We sure hope so!
Permalink | Comments (0)Grassroots nonprofit organizations are often overwhelmed by the underpaid and overworked lifestyle. Technology is available in abundance to help save time and money and better tool volunteers and staff to do the work they are passionate about. BUT, one problem that surfaces time and again is getting the right technology into the organizations and learning to use it so time, money and resources can be saved.
The Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management, from University of San Francisco, released a study on "Successful Technology Use in Small Grassroots Nonprofits."
The report covers innovative uses of technology and indicators of success. Organizations were compared by field, organization type, location, and more. Some of the innovative uses noted include:
Back when I was in high school on the speech and debate team, we did a great deal of presentation with feedback. Our one rule was to have three roses for every thorn—no one, especially a 15 year old, likes to be torn down completely.
One week ago, we had the second part in our three-part series titled Communicating in the Age of New Media. This session, on Distributing Content, had over 80 attendees and a great energy. Here are my three roses and a thorn:
Rose #1: Conversation
The event opened and closed with great conversation. It was refreshing to have so many people prepared to be vocal about their experiences or lack thereof with new media technologies. We all benefit from each other's experiences when they are shared in such an open way, especially in a setting where we can really focus on helpful tools and resources to try next. At the close of the event we had some great exchanges; I really appreciated the openness people had when sharing important lessons from the breakout sessions that were useful for them and their organization. Thanks for speaking up!
Rose #2: Questions
When no one steps up with a question during question and answer segments of events, it can often slow the momentum of the entire group. The attendees at the Distributing Content event, though, were more than willing to raise their hands, stand up, and ask questions they really wanted answered—and, most importantly, many others were thinking of, too. It really helped guide presentations toward being as practical and helpful as possible because participants were willing to be proactive in their learning—letting the speakers know just what they needed and wanted to learn about. Thanks for raising your hands!
Rose #3: Excitement
There is little that is worse for a presenter than having a disengaged audience. Thank you to all of the attendees at Friday's event, because everyone was excited to be there and to collaborate actively on distribution tools to use for their nonprofits. Regardless whether it was the coffee in the lobby or the tight seating arrangement that pumped you up, it was excellent to have a room packed with over 80 engaged people. Thanks for taking your vitamins!
Thorn: Time
With so many great sessions happening all at once, and only one time slot to choose from, I felt that it would be much too hard to pick THE one to attend (but I was a presenter, so I was stuck!). The smaller sessions are always one of the best parts of an event because they allow for more in-depth learning and collaboration. In a perfect world, there would have been time for attendees to participate in each breakout—though, in a perfect world, we'd also be able to add time for the sessions and still end at noon!
BUT, we do have a wiki for the event, so participants can share knowledge, ask questions, and still learn from the breakout sessions they couldn't attend. Even those who missed the inperson event entirely can visit the wiki and participate in what happened last week.
The final event in the Communicating in the Age of New Media series will take place this December. So, be on the look out for news and registration information for the third event (on social media and networking), and visit the wiki to collaborate on content distribution topics.
Permalink | Comments (0)Southern California, including San Diego and Los Angeles counties, has been burning rapidly for four days as residents evacuate by the tens of thousands (currently over 500,000 have had to leave their homes). New media tools are helping the public stay informed, evacuees keep tabs on the response effort, and the responders stay in contact to best tackle the fires. How?
Tools like Twitter, Flickr, and Google Earth (as well as satelite imagery from NASA) allow everyone involved—from evacuees and those still in their homes, to firefighters and response teams—to stay connected and united on the progress and situation.
Twitter is a site that allows users to "mini-blog", or post entries that are less than 140 characters. Organizations, like the LA Fire Department and KPBS News are using Twitter for up to the minute status. Individuals are also updating their communities on the fire and rescue efforts on Twitter, including nateritter, Viss.
Flickr allows you to have either a free or paid account to upload digital videos to the internet (so you don't have to store them!). You can see photos on Flickr from people throughout the region. Some are taking the shots from their homes and others are driving through dangerous areas taking pictures from their cars. Here are some photos taken by slworking2 and here are some from djloche. When users post pictures, they tag them with key words that allow others to find them easier. For these pictures, tags like "socal fires," "los angeles," "san diego," "october fires," and "2007 fires" are all great for searching.
Blogs and news stories are easy to find by searching for "Southern California fires" or similar phrases (called "tags" like with Flickr) on Technorati and del.icio.us. Searching on these two sites allows you to find stories that have been the most popular by other readers and those tagged with common social vernacular to match your search more closely. You can use these two sites to find news and information that is of interest to you, or you can create your own del.icio.us account that allows you to bookmark your pages online, instead of saving your bookmarks only to the specific computer you are on, so you can look up your favorite websites from anywhere.
Google has revolutionized the way we see our neighborhoods and driving directions thanks to its Maps and Earth applications which let us see maps, satellite images and even street views of where we want to go. Google and other satellite imagery helps show the big picture, literally, of the fires' path and destruction. You can click here to see a Google Maps image of the fire area in and around San Diego from KPBS News. Social Media also posted this picture from NASA/MODIS Rapid Response showing a satellite view of the region, most alarming is the amount of smoke visible.
Last week, Portland area emergency personnel participated in a response rehearsal at Portland International Raceway. In the event of an attack or other emergency in the city, the same new media tools currently at use for the Southern California fires could be utilized in similar ways to keep residents, news media, and responders connected.
Get on Twitter, Flickr, Technorati and all of the other sites mentioned above and stay up-to-date on the fires—you may just learn something about new media while you're at it!
Permalink | Comments (0)We all have a favorite color and a favorite song. Many even have a favorite pair of jeans. Do you have a favorite blog, though?
I have a favorite color that changes if I am talking about paint, shoes or design. There is a great deal of music that I love and I definitely have more than one favorite pair of jeans. It seems fitting that I also have many blogs that I really enjoy (and subscribe to with RSS).
One of my favorites should be one of yours as well: Beth Kanter writes a blog on "How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media" and it's great. I'll even tell you why I think so!
Follow the Yellow Brick Road!
Many of the best blogs are not ones creating all original content and topics. Directing people to news, information, and collaboration can be more important than opinion and saves the author time by not rewriting it. Beth does a terrific job on her blog of sharing everything she learns with her community of readers. She isn't shy about pointing you all over the web to the best information she has come across.
Timing is Everything!
News and ideas rarely flow in confined work hours. Beth knows this and posts information to the blog whenever she can. It isn't a scheduled Monday afternoon post, which isn't necessarily a bad thing to do for a nonprofit that can only post once or twice a week. Beth posts frequently, keeping her readers engaged and informed.
Short and Sweet!
Many readers have jobs, just like bloggers. Posts can't be too long every time, or readers will end up skipping out on great information. Beth keeps things to the point but still informative. This is especially helpful when posts are frequent.
Variety is the Spice of Blogs!
It can be hard to keep readership up and engaging if the same message or topic is covered every post. Nonprofits can talk about events, staff changes, issues and news in the field, and public awareness of work. Beth does a great job of covering a wide range of topics, all pertinent to nonprofits using social media. She covers presentations she makes to organizations and at conferences, ideas that other presenters bring up, as well as industry shop talk and news readers can use.
I find Beth's blog to be helpful in uniting people interested in nonprofit technology from around the world in discussions and collaborative work. Nonprofits can learn a lot by subscribing to her RSS feed (what's this?) to get her posts when they are published or bookmarking her page and checking it often for more news and stories.
Do you want to learn more about blogging and other new media tools in person? You can! There are still spaces available for our Communicating in the Age of New Media: Distributing Content event this Friday. It is the second event in a series of 3. It is NOT necessary that you participated in the first event to come this Friday. Register now!
Permalink | Comments (0)Here is a bit of "Did you know?" for a Monday morning:
1. Did you know that you can attend the up-coming new media event (Communicating in the Age of New Media, part II: Distributing Content) even if you did not attend the first part? You can! Register here.
2. Did you know that you can learn about and discuss blogs, email campaigns, RSS, video, and podcasts this Friday morning? You can! Register here.
3. Did you know that you can collaborate with others in the nonprofit sector in person to ask and answer questions about new media? You can! Register here.
If you already knew the answers to these questions and are registered to attend Communicating in the Age of New Media, Part II: Distributing Content, great! The space is filling up, so tell your friends and colleagues to register soon!
Permalink | Comments (0)Starting and maintaining a blog for your nonprofit shouldn't be an intimidating idea; it should be an exciting opportunity to better communicate with and inform your service community.
Blogs are a great way to quickly and easily inform readers of news from your organization, advertise about an event (speaking of which, have you registered for our second event in the series Communicating in an Age of New Media?), or providing industry information.
Blogs can be updated as frequently as you decide, though the more often you update, the more benefit readership and RSS subscription is for your users. Knowing that your supporters expect to have something new to read is a good incentive to developing content routinely. This is also a great reminder to keep the rest of your information on your website current, so that it is truly a resource and tool and not an information parking lot.
If developing your own content is too difficult, overwhelming or time consuming, do not fear! One key to remember when it comes to blogging (and other areas of your website for that matter) is that if the information already exists, just point it out! You are serving your readers and community better by saving yourself time to do the rest of your job and taking only the time to write an introduction sentence or two with a link to the website, story or information of interest, than you would by taking all day trying to rewrite it all.
Another way to provide information to readers without much work is to publish an interview you have with an intriguing yet pertinent guest or asking someone involved in the field to write a short article on an emerging issue. This also helps attract readers who may not have known about your services before but follow the work of the invited guest.
There are many ways to create a blog that do not even require changing your actual website. Many blog providers offer blog space for free and have simple posting and editing interfaces. You can check out Google's Blogger, Word Press, or Blog.com. If you want a quick tutorial and additional reading on blogs, click here to visit BlogBasics.
You have the option to create a blog address to closely mirror that of your organization's web address and can direct people to it by posting a link on your site. Most all of the blog providers you go with will automatically generate an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed for you, enabling readers to subscribe and receive new information as it is published. (To learn more about RSS, click here.)
At our upcoming event Communicating in the Age of New Media: Distributing Information, there will be an entire session devoted to blogging for nonprofits, in addition to other new media focuses. If you haven't already, you should really check it out and register!
What are you waiting for? Create your blog today and start communicating with your supporters!
Permalink | Comments (0)Instant messaging came about long ago, though without much of the glit and glam of today's chat options. The greatest aspect of IMing has always remained the same: You and I can chat in real-time from anywhere on the planet! We created a screen name for our readers' benefit so anyone can contact us with a new media question.
Do you want to learn more about instant message? You can click here to read more from Wikipedia. Do you want to get started now? There are many options for instant messaging, but you can click here to get started with AOL's Instant Messenger.
Talk to us! We will be online Mondays and Wednesday (you can add us to your buddy list and catch us whenever we sign in, too!).
The screen name to use for asking about and discussing new media topics is: MMTNewMedia
Discussions will be archived in the Forums area of the MMT website.
Permalink | Comments (0)There are myriad ways for nonprofit organizations to promote themselves to service communities and the world. Many organizations, though, feel that time and know-how are severe limits to seizing these opportunities. Thankfully, new media outlets are making it even easier!
YouTube.com has recently developed a special channel for nonprofit organizations to promote services and causes online, the same way that individuals share video clips with friends, family, and the world. The YouTube Nonprofit Program allows 501c3 organizations in the US to share their stories for free and incorporates Google Checkout so viewers can donate right online!
Plus, the first 300 nonprofits to sign up with The YouTube Nonprofit Program receive a video camera for free!
If you are not one of the first 300 to sign up with YouTube, fear not! The Flip Video Spotlight Program is giving away 1 million Flip Video camcorders! Pure Digital Technologies is launching the five year give away to help nonprofits around the world better tell their stories and accomplishments with the world. Nonprofits can sign up in December 2007 to receive a camcorder and the necessary tools to begin using video technology to connect and share.
Lesson of the day: Start sharing your story with video and watch what happens :)
Permalink | Comments (2)