Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

Nhuong Son: Why This Wired Cambodian Fundraiser Cares About Cambodian Children

From Nhung Son's Facebook Photos
   
Two weeks ago, Blogger Michele Martin, set up an America's Giving Challenge widget for the Sharing Foundation to support the project over at Global Giving.  Other bloggers have also signed up to participate and many have .. thanks so much. 

But here's what has surprised me, Nhuong Son, a Cambodian American attending college in New Jersey.  He contacted me through Facebook to let me know he wanted to help!   Here's the post he wrote:

My name is Nhuong Son and I am doing an online fund raiser through the America Giving Challenge. The winner of this challenge will receive $50,000 to help their charity. This is my story in why I hold this cause so dear to my heart.

Since I was born and bred in Cambodia I understand how difficult it is to obtain an education when you have no money and more importantly when food and clothing are scarce in itself. For most children in Cambodia this is a story that is all too common. Most children are illiterate and work on the family farm. As the country industrializes and leaves behind the agrarian lifestyle, these children grow up to be migrant workers with nowhere to go. Unlike those children, I was lucky enough to come to America and receive an education.

My years at The Westtown School and Drew University has reemphasized the importance of education. Through my research I have found that education is the KEY to success and a livelihood. Now I understand why my parents constantly berated me when they did not see me doing homework or reading. Education can pull people out of poverty because it has helped me and my family. $40 out of your pocket can fund English classes for a Cambodian child for an entire YEAR! Just think about that…that’s you and three friends forgoing eating out for ONE night.

I have never met Nhuong and I'm trying to find out how he heard about our cause and what motivated him to help us.   He also set up a group on Facebook and he is now asking his over 300 friends to donate through the Global Giving fundraising page.

He sent me a message last night with this request:

I'm new at this blogging thing. Do you have an word of wisdom for me? I'm planning to write about the economy in Asia and also other issues. I am actually going to study in Nanjing University in China for the spring semester, so i'll be blogging about my experience there too!

I'll start off the advice with try to get into the habit of writing regularly.  Write about what interests you.  Link to other bloggers.  Leave comments and connect. 

I'm hoping these Cambodian blogger colleagues will provide some words of wisdom too:

• trajoke
• kalyankeo
• deedeedoll
• Mean Lux
• khmerak
• Tharum

And, of course, I'm hoping the wise and wonderful readers of this blog who are bloggers will also add their words of wisdom too.

And of course ...

• Donate $10 or more to the Sharing Foundation through Global Giving Fundraiser set up by Blogger Michele Martin of the Bamboo project!
• If we are four of the top causes to get the most unique donors, we'll win $50,000 for the Sharing Foundation as part of America's Giving Challenge
• If you are a blogger and want to participate in this blogger's campaign, you can sign up here.

Bloggers Who Create Community Award

Roger Carr from the Everyday Giving Blog presented the Bloggers Who Create Community Award to Beth's Blog!  Here's what he had to say:

Beth is a guru in the use of technology for nonprofits. She seems to be involved everywhere nonprofit technology is discussed online. Beth practices what she teaches (and let's others watch and participate as she does it). She also shares an astounding amount of useful information with the community for free. Beth Kanter has created a huge community of nonprofit and technology experts who are changing the world.

Thank you Roger!  I feel like I should be giving you this award for all you work to support the Sharing Foundation's America's Giving Challenge and sharing the very valuable information on your blog!   I'm delighted to accept this award on behalf the many NpTech gurus who share their thoughts and ideas on their blogs and in the comments. 

I take it from reading Roger's blog that this award that you receive and then pay it forward to three others.  So, here goes:

Michele Martin, The Bamboo Project

Michele is an amazing blogger and a master of reflection and learning.  But, it doesn't stop there.  Michele creates communities around her.   If you read her blog, you'll notice the lively conversation that happens in the comments.   Michele, thank you for everything you share so generously and for all that you've taught me.

Amy Sample Ward's Version of NpTech

Amy Sample Ward is writes about nonprofits, technology, and social media.  She's based on Portland.  She's well-known in her local community of nonprofits and the one on her blog!  I appreciate her thoughtful writing and community spirit!

Beth Dunn, Small Dots Blog

Beth works in the arts and nonprofits world.  She's only been blogging for a couple of months, but already you can see the lively community and conversation happening on her blog.   I appreciate her deep engagement in conversation, listening, and cross-disciplinary thinking.

 

New Year's Resolution: Do Something About That Pile of E-Waste

My Flickr Photo from a visit to Freegeek in Portland, Oregon

Earlier this month, I was in Portland, Oregon and had an opportunity to visit FreeGeek, a computer recylcing organization.  It got me thinking about the computer graveyard that is my home office.   I have the dead bodies of too many computers and other electronics collecting dust in my office.  (Not to mention cluttering up the floor space.)  So, I decided that one of my New Year's resolutions would be to do something about this growing mess of e-waste that I have been to afraid to simply throw in the trash can.

I spent some time over the downtime of the holidays to clear the clutter, carefully removing and organizing equipment no longer being used.    I put them in a corner.  Ah, that felt great.  But, now what? I tweeted about it!

Within a few minutes, Jessica Burko, offered two Boston area solutions:  the world computer exchange and list of local options where I can donate equipment.

In a quick scan of various nonprofit lists, I wasn't the only person in the nonprofit sector who decided to do something about my e-waste.   Here's quick round up of responsible ways to recycle the e-waste hanging around your office:

The electronics recycling industry is plagued by "sham" recyclers - those that rely on low-road practices for making a quick buck, like exporting to developing countries and using prison labor for processing, or simply dumping e-waste after taking out the most valuable parts.   Use a responsible recycler.  You can find one  using the Electronic Take Back Coalition's map

Depending on the brand and model of the computer, some manufacturers actually have programs to take back their older products and recycle them.  The Electronics Take Back Coalition has a guide to computer manufacturer take back programs.

The Service Source Network helps people with disabilities and has a Keep It Green program.  Because computers contain materials that could be dangerous if left in a landfill, the ServiceSource Network has partnered with CDM eCycling to keep these hazards out of our environment.  Donated computers are disassembled so their component parts can be reused.  They work in Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina.

The National Cristina Foundation accepts donated computers, software and peripherals and then matches these items to a charity, school, or public agency that has been selected from its partner network.

For more information, check out the greenpeace guide to guide to green electronics and these green resources from TechSoup blog and MAR program.

How are you dealing with your nonprofit's e-waste?  What are your best tips and resources for finding a responsible local computer recycler?

NpTech Tag Summary: Best Wishes for Healthy, Happy, and Social 2008!

The Net2 Secret Plan from Marnie Webb

NpTech Tag New Year's Reflections, Predictions, and Best Ofs

What are some of the ways that the social web marks the New Year? Let's take a look.

Chronicle of Philanthropy has a roundup of predictions for 2008 from
nonprofit leaders, including Daniel Ben-Horin, founder of CompuMentor who predicts, "Successful nonprofit players in the social media space will those who understand the opportunity without being seduced by it."    Also quoted is Sean Stannard-Stockton, author of the   Tactical Philanthropy blog  was also quoted and he shares his expanded predictions here, including "Charities recognize the potential of social-media tools and finally get serious about integrated online strategies."

Lucy Bernholz points to an NY Times editorial on embedded giving  with a prediction about what will continue to work best with giving to charity.  The Selfish Giving Blog by Joe Waters gives us some tongue and check predictions about Cause Marketing. 

For social media and technology predictions, here's a few from the Read/Write Web.

I wonder how Jason Zanon at DIA would score those predictions? And speaking of predictions, in December 2006, Jon Stahl predicted that the Web2.0 bubble would burst.

Britt Bravo at NetSquared summarized a community discussion about the "Best of the Nonprofit Social Web."  Emily offers her thoughts here.  Nedra Weinreich hosted the "Best of Nonprofit Campaigns" carnival of nonprofit consultants.  Wendy Harmon gives us a list of her favorite web sites.  Some bloggers, like Skelliewag, highlighted the best of best of their blog posts, while CogDog blog took the opposite approach and look at the Top 0 list.  And finally, Chris Brogan focused on needs for 2008.  What are the nptech social media needs for 2008? 

There are also a few who blogged New Year's Resolutions, from not being a bore to being a more robust activist.

As we move into 2008, one last reflection, what are you lessons learned about Nonprofits and Social Media?

NpTech Tag  Reflections

Over the course of the last year, I've been in engaged in a monthly real-time voice discussion with colleagues at CpSquared about online communities, specifically tagging communities and the community sits behind the NpTech tag.   I came across Jeremiah Owyang's definition of online community -"An online community is: Where a group of people with similar goals or interests connect and exchange information using web tools" and it defines the tagging community.

But over the past few months, I have noticed, like Amy Gahran, that as I've engaged more in using Twitter, I'm connecting with resources and people more on Twitter than with social bookmarking tools.  I still bookmark items with the nptech tag and I still monitor the tag stream, but on Twitter I feel more of a connection to the actual person, not just the exchange of information.  The main reason I'm still tagging is for retrieval when asked for a resource on and to write this summary.   

But, there's something about the instant gratification Twitter provides, that just-in-time byte of information.   I am wondering how all relates to the NpTech tag community and what it means.   How do we continue to connect and have a conversation facilitated by different social media tools?  How to make these summaries more useful to you all?  Thoughts, leave them in the comments.

Social Media Conversations

Marnie Webb writes about why nonprofit should stop lecturing and start listening and her experiences from a recent hands-on workshop where nonprofits were taught how to follow what was being said about their causes or organizations on the social web.    If you are in a position of teaching this skill to nonprofits, what do you show them?  How do you make easy? What is the reaction?

Beth Dunn asks "Do Social Networks mostly promote inclusion or exclusion?" and writes about how to engage more deeply in conversation on Twitter.   She says how important it is to be open, transparent, humble, and receptive to comments and criticism is on the social web.  What do you think?

On blogs, comments are the conversation.  Michele Martin wrote this piece about the six reasons why people aren't commenting on your blog in reaction to a piece by Chris Brogan called "The Power of Comments" where the post was in the comments.  I'd add to her list, because you didn't end your post with question.   Michele wrote an excellent post summarizing her reader's comments about commenting.   

There's a gem of an idea from one of Michele's readers, Sarah Stewart, about writing a statement on your blog about why commenting is important to you.

Katya Andresen has some great advice on building relationships on social networks.
The Frozen PeaFund, a social media campaign to raise money for breast cancer research, is seeking some advice about becoming a nonprofit organization.

Twitter

Nonprofits will be delving into the world of twitter on January 8th at the Net Tuesday SF Meetup.

Marnie Webb points to hashtags with a note in Ma.gnolia.com, "Seems like it could be a way to tweet for causes."   Laura Whitehead describes "it as an easy way to track a specific topic or event such as the San
Diego Fires using the Twitter network. This allows for hyper-instant
communication surrounding disaster relief and reporting."  Elsua notes "If only Hashtags would be a native feature from Twitter, right? Things would be even much more interesting!"

NetworkforGood has a new learning center called "fundraising123."  It is a fundraising guide for the overworked nonprofit.  There's lots of great tip sheets on different topics, including Social Networking.  Here's a tip sheet on Twitter.

New (to me) Blogs

A Small Change-Fundraising Blog: A blog to answer questions from nonprofits about fundraising


Brenda Zulu from Zambia, a journalist who covers ICT and Development issues.

The NpTech Tag started as an experimental community tagging project in 2005. A loosely coupled group of nonprofit techies and social change activists decided to use the tag "NpTech" to identify web resources that would create an ongoing stream of information to promote and educate those working in nonprofit technology. Many individuals tag hundreds of resources each week. Through TechSoup's Netsquared project, blogger Beth Kanter, was commissioned to write a weekly summary.

And if you’re enjoying this blog, please consider subscribing for free.

Roger Carr and Bob Uva Join Michele Martin's America's Giving Challenge for the Sharing Foundation!

Roger Carr has said it much better than I can in his post directing his blog readers to the Sharing Foundation's America's Giving Challenge fundraiser set up by Michele Martin.  Thank you Michele and Roger!

I'd also like to point over to Bob Uva's blog post about the supporting the Sharing Foundation.   I met Bob through Facebook.  He is very interested in Cambodia and a colleague of Kilong Ung, Cambodian-American who is based on Portland and local leader in the Cambodian community.  I've never met Kilong, but we've exchanged emails and I sent khmer alphabet flash cards for their literacy program a few years back.

Four Lessons Learned: Social Media and Nonprofits Meme

In the past two weeks, I have been mulling around what type of New Year's post to write.  Should I do best of, predictions, resolutions, or something else.   I'm not as creative as Chris Brogan who wrote about 2008 needs or CogDog Blog's Top Zero List.  The day after Christmas, I stumbled upon Chris Penn's list of reflection tips and it gave some ideas.

During the holidays, one tradition in this house is to try to get things organized.  So, I've spent the last couple of days in the home office and throughout out house - organizing, prioritizing, and deciding what items should be given away to charity or free cycled.  Putting things back in their or cleaning or clearing. My desk, pictured above, has never been this clear and uncluttered.

It made me think about the question, "What if I could start all my social media and nonprofits work over from scratch?  What would I do differently?  What lessons have I learned that will stick with me for 2008?"

Here are my lessons:

1.   Don't Join New Social Networks Without Thinking.   This is especially important if you got an email invitation from a friend.  If I learned anything from the Shelfari and the Spock, it is to use your critical thinking skills before joining a social network that a trusted friend has invited you to join.   Ask your friend why they invited you.  Refrain from joining as a knee jerk response until you know that your friend has really checked out the service and has not been duped.  (Thanks Nancy White)

2. Size doesn't matter:   It isn't how many people are in your network, it is how you well you know them and your relationship.  It isn't about quantity or friend collecting.  It isn't about broadcasting your message or lecturing.  Grow your network slowly and get to know your friends and be helpful.  And, if you find yourself in the position I was in - with lots of people requesting to be friends, find out why first.  Don't just accept them. Seek out tools that will help you manage your relationships efficiently, not gather or collect more friends.    Connie Benson's advice on networking will continue to stick with me.

3.  Deep engagement in one community is better than being spread too thin across many communities.  I can't be on every social network.   Yes, I check many out because I might be writing about it or interviewing some nonprofit who has done something interesting.  But, through trial and error I've found the communities that really are important to my goals and where "my people are."   I hope to find ways to efficiently and effectively engage.  Beth Dunn has some great reflections on how to do this and why it is important.  (Thanks Beth)

4.  Translation skills are really, really, really important.   Beth Dunn and I got into a conversation about this right before the holiday.  The social media mavens move fast -- and if you follow them - you learn a lot.  I can't begin to say how much I've learned from reading people like Chris Brogan or Jeremiah Owyang.  Or following the twitter streams and blogs posts of people like Pistachio and Connie Reece.   But the social media crowd moves faster than the speed of light and nonprofits move a little slower.  So, we often find ourselves in the role of translator and often seeking small interventions that really matter.  The better you can keep one foot running fast with the social media conversation and the other in the real world of the nonprofit work place, the more effective you'll be as a translator. 

I'm going to tag a few folks to share their lessons learned about social media and nonprofits and tag others.

Marnie Webb
Holly Ross
Katya Andresen
Ian Wilker
Nancy Schwartz
Deborah Finn
Alan Benamer
Tactical Philanthropy Blog
Sue Waters
Laura Whitehead
Nick Booth
Lux Mean
Britt Bravo
Rich Reader

What are your four lessons learned about nonprofits and social media? 

Happy Birthday Amy Sample Ward!

Today is Amy Sample Ward's Birthday!  Happy Birthday!   I've been reading Amy's blog now since she started it back in October.  I got a chance to meet Amy when I was in Portland, Oregon a few weeks back to do a workshop and really appreciated the opportunity to geek out about nonprofit tech and social media!   

Amy is also one of the awesome bloggers who is helping to promote the Sharing Foundation's America's Giving Challenge, along with Michele Martin, Roger Carr, Rebecca Krause Hardie, and more. 

Happy Birthday Amy!

 

America's Giving Challenge Days: Bloggers Campaign!

What?

The America's Giving Challenge will award $50,000 to the project that gets the most unique donors. I can't do this alone and that's why I'm asking my blogger friends to join me and in helping to raise money to help the many children who are touched by the Sharing Foundation's programs. Michele Martin has graciously agreed to lead the charge and created this widget (Thanks Michele)  Not only that she invited her blog community to participate.

These bloggers are also helping out with posts, adding the widget to their side bar, and encouraging readers/friends to contribute:

Roger Carr, Everyday Giving Blog
Michael Pick, Screencaster
Rebecca Krause-Hardie,Pema Ts'al
Amy Jussel, Shaping Youth
Darren Barefoot, DB.com (Buy his book!)
Amy Sample Ward

Want to join the fun? Sign up here.

Why am I doing this?

My husband and I adopted two beautiful children, Harry and Sara, from Cambodia.  On our first trip we were overjoyed to bring our son, Harry, home.  But, also felt sad when thought of the many children in Cambodia who would not have the same opportunities as our children do.  That's why we've been advocates and supporters for the Sharing Foundation for the past eight years.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may remember that my family and I sponsor a college student, Leng Sopharath, with the help of many of you.  But there are 1499 other children who are touched by the Sharing Foundation's programs every day!  The programs include an orphanage,  a pre-school, college and high school sponsorship,  vocational training (sewing and computer school), and more.

Our project on Global Giving focuses on literacy which is key to education and jobs for poor children. It's a route out of poverty.  The Sharing Foundation's Khmer Literacy program helps farm children learn their native alphabet and numbers well enough to attend elementary school. The Sharing Foundation's English Language Program offers village students, ages 8-18, the opportunity to learn English, allowing them to obtain jobs in tourism and word processing. These students are so dedicated that some meet on their own to study on weekends. The literacy school runs three sessions a day for 130 children of Roteang village’s poorest families. Ten bilingual Cambodian college graduates teach English to 500 students in 19 sections offered daily after school hours at the village school.

Take Action Now!

• Donate $10 or more to the Sharing Foundation through Global Giving Fundraiser set up by Blogger Michele Martin of the Bamboo project!
• If we are four of the top causes to get the most unique donors, we'll win $50,000 for the Sharing Foundation as part of America's Giving Challenge
• If you are a blogger and want to participate in this blogger's campaign, you can sign up here.

An Interview with Perla Ni, CEO and Founder of Great Nonprofits

Perla Ni, Ceo and Founder of Great Nonprofits


1.    Why did you start Great Nonprofits?

When Hurricane Katrina hit, I was the publisher of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, and we wanted to write a story about how nonprofits were helping the victims. Even though we had access to far more information than the ordinary donor or volunteer, we found it difficult to find out exactly which nonprofits were doing a good job of helping those in need.

We only started to get a clearer understanding of which nonprofits were actually rising to the challenge when our former managing editor, David Weir, flew out to Biloxi, Miss., and walked up and down the streets, asking people which nonprofits had been out there helping them. The locals told him about several excellent small local nonprofits that provided supplies and help. One guy told him how he had broken his leg and had been living in his car until volunteers from a local nonprofit came and found him and took him to the doctor. The local nonprofit in that case was unknown to the larger world and received little public attention or funding. (David's article ended up being published in Salon.)

In general, there isn't a lot of media coverage for local nonprofits, and when there is, it's usually to uncover a scandal rather than to highlight nonprofits that are doing excellent work.

I've gotten to know a lot of nonprofits and most of them are honest and hardworking. And some of them do darned great work. I've known nonprofits personally as a client of their services. My family had $100 when we immigrated and countless nonprofits helped us. If you look at photos of me when I was a kid, practically everything I wore came second hand from nonprofits. My cavities got filled for free at a nonprofit community dental clinic.

So I know how much the help of a nonprofit can mean.

It struck me, as I struggled professionally to find great nonprofits for our magazine to write about, that there needed to be an online "Zagat," if you will, for nonprofits that would collect stories and reviews of people -- people like me, the victims of Katrina, and hundreds of thousands of others -- who have seen the impact of nonprofits up close, and can speak personally and firsthand about it. (An article by Bill Meehan had proposed such an idea a year ago.)

So many donors and volunteers want to know if their giving is going to make a difference. Come help others discover what a difference their involvement in a nonprofit can make.


2.    What makes Great Nonprofits different from other sites that offer ways for people to connect with nonprofits to volunteer or give money?


We provide real and authentic reviews from people who have directly seen the impact of the nonprofit you are considering to give to.   It's the first time a site has tried to do reviews of nonprofits from the bottom up.  That is, instead of a top down approach where some expert evaluates the nonprofit, we enable people who are on the street level to say what they've seen as an impact of the nonprofit.  It's the Zagat's guide approach rather than the NYTimes food critic approach.

3.    How do balance running a start up with being a mom?


That's a great question!  I have great childcare -  reliable nannies, a husband on a flexible work schedule and my parents who moved to be nearby to help with my kids.  My office is in a separate building right next to my house so it's easy for me to check in on the kids if I need to. I also am able to work flexibly because I can do emails from my iphone.  So when I have to wake up at 1am and 5am to feed the newborn, I also read my emails and respond to a couple of them.  I also get a solid stretch of work time in the evenings after I put the kids to bed.   I am a terrible cook and so I don't attempt to do much in the kitchen other than make simple things like oatmeal for my kids.  We eat at my parents house a lot or order in.   I'm very lucky to be able to structure my work around my lifestyle.  I really am impressed by other moms who manage to do it with a lot less.

4.    What would you most like people to know about your site?


We don't just want to just be a successful website - what's more important is that we are showing one way for smaller nonprofits - and that is the majority of nonprofits out there - which have a hard time getting any visibility, to raise their profile, gain volunteers and donors.  Local and small nonprofits have limited marketing dollars and resources and they aren't typically some new sexy micro finance operation in an exotic locale.  Especially around this time of year when all of us are getting piles of direct mail from national and international nonprofits, have you received mail from your local homeless shelter?  Or after school program?  Or elderly center?  Probably not because they can't afford marketing like the larger nonprofits can.  So our site tries to help these local nonprofits by enabling them to harness what they all have - goodwill.  They've got people who have volunteered for them, people who have benefited from their programs, and other local supporters.  Using our website, they can - for free - turn all that goodwill into stories of impact.  Through these reviews, they can raise their visibility and build their reputation and credibility. 

Additional Resources
NTEN Blog
Perla's One Post Challenge at Tactical Philanthropy
Getting Attention Blog, Nancy Schwartz

Green Geek Holidays: A Message from Harry

Harry is a bit obsessed with being green. He pointed out what we need to do be doing with the wrapping paper.

Happy Holidays

Harry and Sara hope that you will consider donating $10 to the Sharing Foundation as part of America's Giving Challenge.

America's Giving Challenge Days 8-9: Happy 86th Birthday Dad!

 

My Dad Bouncing Harry and Singing "I'm Just Wild About Harry"
My Flickr Stream

Today is my Dad's 86th Birthday!   I sent him a box of pears (his favorite) and made a donation to the Sharing Foundation through our Global Giving Fund Raising page (as part of America's Giving Challenge)!  On my Dad's 78th birthday in 1999, my husband and I received our official adoption notice and our first photo of Harry.   Harry was the first grandson. 

Harry's grandparents joined us on our trip to Cambodia to bring Harry home.  My parents were incredibly helpful teaching us how to change a diaper, how give a bottle and bath.  They also had a ball playing with Harry.   Harry is named after my grandfather and I'll never forget my dad holding Harry in his arms in Cambodia, dancing around the hotel room and singing, "I'm Just Wild About Harry."  I captured a snippet on my mavoca digital camera here.

My Dad got to see first hand the great work of the Sharing Foundation (in the early days).  He had the same reaction I did:   Harry is lucky to have the opportunity to come to America for a better life, but what about all those other children?  That's why I'm sure he be pleased that I kicked in $10 to support the Sharing Foundation in honor of his birthday.

Call to Action: Wish Dad A Happy Birthday!

• Donate $10 or more to the Sharing Foundation through Global Giving Fundraiser set up by Blogger Michele Martin of the Bamboo project!
• If we are four of the top causes to get the most unique donors, we'll win $50,000 for the Sharing Foundation as part of America's Giving Challenge

NPTech Summary: Happy Holidays!

Ed Schipul, who grew a mustache for children with cancer last week, created a peavator

 

Things are slowing down during the holidays, so here's a short version of the NpTech Tag Summary.  We'll be back before 2008 with a roundup of 2007.

The PeaFund Friday Campaign

PeaFund Friday is an amazing example of the power of social media for social change.  It is authentic, it is caring, and it is beautiful. It all started when Susan Reynolds, a social media maven and artist, was diagnosed with breast cancer and started a blog to write about her experience and used twitter to fight her cancer.   Her friends through out the social web responded and put together the campaign: 

• Watch and listen to Connie Reece explain what this campaign is all about and why it is important to her.
• View the list of people who contributed their smarts, hearts, and souls to this campaign.
• See the flickr pool of pea avatar photos

What lessons can nonprofits take from this in using social media campaigns for social good?

YouTube Nonprofit Channels

Now, even the Queen of England of has her own The Royal Channel on YouTube.  (Commentary here)  Maybe that's why we've heard rumblings in the blogosphere and on listservs that the YouTube Nonprofit Channel was backlogged on accepting applications. 

But looks that they are catching up, check out Burleigh Mountain's Channel, for example. 

What are the benefits of a YouTube Nonprofit Channel?  What are the 5 things should get into place while you are waiting for your YouTube Nonprofit Channel to be approved? What are the best practices for using a YouTube Nonprofit Channel to promote your cause?   Leave a comment and I'll summarize in the next NpTech Summary.

In the meantime,  this post from Marc Sirkin sharing his YouTube Nonprofit Channel experience is worth reading as people contemplate a YouTube strategy.  Marc's findings: Traffic increase, little donation follow through.  You can find a collection how-to YouTube and Viral Video strategy resources here.

Twitter and Nonprofits

On January 8th, the next NetTuesday meetup will focus on Twitter and campaign organizing.  Details here.  Here's a few useful resources on Twitter and Nonprofits.   Here some thoughts from the NTEN blog about ways to use twitter for your organization, although some nonprofit technology experts do not find twitter useful professionally.   What's your take on Twitter for Nonprofits?  Useful for you personally or organizationally?  Not at all? 

Micro-Competitions for Nonprofits

I just noticed yet another competition from TechCrunch.  The 2007 Crunchies is its first annual competition and award ceremony to recognize and celebrate the most compelling startups, internet and technology innovations of the year.  There is a category for Changing the World.   The five top nominees are Causes, DonorsChoose, ZeroFootprint, Kiva, and OneLaptop Per Child.  Go vote here.

Do contests and competitions help build social capital and nonprofit fund raising or inspire burnout?   Do you think these are worthwhile pursuits for nonprofits?  That was a question posed on a listserv with little response except for this observation:

Micro-campaign 'competitions' are not going to last as an effective means of NPO fundraising. Here are at least five reasons why:

- They tend to be donor-driven; no one likes to be told to shuck and jive in public

- Their novelty quickly wears off; results are often invisible

- They tire networks; call it competition fatigue

- Their use as a recruitment tool will table; they'll reach a network threshold fairly quickly

- They favor established networks; the small efforts they actually target will wise up

Over at the NTEN blog, you can read reflections from nonprofits that are participating in America's Giving Challenge. 

The NpTech Tag started as an experimental community tagging project in 2005. A loosely coupled group of nonprofit techies and social change activists decided to use the tag "NpTech" to identify web resources that would create an ongoing stream of information to promote and educate those working in nonprofit technology. Many individuals tag hundreds of resources each week. Through TechSoup's Netsquared project, blogger Beth Kanter, was commissioned to write a weekly summary.

Lost in Translation: Twitter Experience, Culture and Community for Nonprofits

"I feel like a stranger in a foreign country and I don't understand the language and I'm not wearing the right hat."

Over ten years ago someone in an Internet Skills Workshops for Nonprofits I was teaching, said that.  It was during a discussion about moving from fax machines to email.   It has stuck with me.  I thought about this today again and how hard it is to translate or explain ideas/concepts when someone has not experienced it.  That is the case for Twitter, words alone, no matter how good of a translator you are, won't do the experience justice.

There has been an amazing conversation about twitter on the social web over the past couple of days.  It prompted me to ask my readers, "What are the six signs that Twitter isn't for your Nonprofit?"  I wasn't asking to be a naysayer or cranky, but because I've submerged too much into Twitter culture and needed the view from the nonprofit office eye level.  I got some terrific ideas in the comments, especially these pithy points from Pistachio.

DO NOT engage with Twitter if you don't want to invest time, attention and resources in making real connections there.

DO NOT encourage your staff to Twitter if you don't want them to share information quickly, connect to one another more deeply, and discuss your nonprofits work with the broader public.

DO NOT even try it unless you are open to serendipitous returns. If you establish rigid goals and "pursue" them with Twitter, you may as well just flush the toilet. Be open to spontaneity. Go with the flow.

DO NOT approach Twitter with the aim of accumulating and controlling an audience.

DO NOT mistake Twitter for software.

DO NOT Twitter without love.

Sue Waters and I batted around some ideas in the comments and pointed me over to her "How To Get My Twitter Magic Back" where she asked for help from readers.  She got incredibly useful feedback about Twitter use processes and how to make efficient and effective depending on your goals.  These two posts are brilliant.

Twitter, What's Twitter?

When I teach workshops, I start with a pop quiz to get a sense of who is in the room and what they know.  A year ago, when I asked "Twitter?"  no one would raise their hand.  Last March, after SWSX, maybe 1/5 of the room would raise their hands.  Now, depending on the location, I often see as many as half the room.

Twitter Life Cycle by CogdogBlog (Essay here)

So, if you need some good primers on Twitter, here's a reflection I wrote back in March that includes some pointers to basic introductions. Or maybe you would like a collection of stories about how Twitter has been used for network collaboration.  Nancy White has collected them here.  Or check out Twitterstories.

Delving to the World of Twitter

 

Karl Hedstrom

For those lucky people who live in San Francisco, the next Net Tuesday is about Twitter and Nonprofits. The speakers are  Nate Ritter, talking about how he used Twitter as a help center during the San Diego fires, and Jeremy Pepper, the Director of Communications of the Point.

Beth Dunn, who also commented, when back wrote a post about the human face of Twitter.  Chris Brogan mentioned in the comments

I quite agree. Twitter has put quite a human face on the web, and I’m grateful for that. Hard to explain to people still struggling with using it or not, but I’m happy as hell to have found it, and glad that you’re part of the story. : )

Beth reminded me of a quote from Jeremiah Owyang, "The Tools Come and Go, but Strategy Sustains."  We brainstormed an adoption progression - in the abstract.   

If you were working with a nonprofit as an internal or external consultant, and they asked, "Should we be on Twitter?"   What questions would you ask?  What counsel would you give them?

Donate $5 (the cost of Frozen Peas) To Support Breast Cancer Research and Susan Reynolds

Photo by Pistachio

Last night I couldn't sleep and followed the trail of links that Pistachio or rather PEAstachio left in a comment on the post about nonprofits and twitter.   She also something very powerful, "Do Not Twitter Without Love."  So, if you want to really understand and see the power of social media - authentic social media, go to PeaFund Friday.

• Watch and listen to Connie Reece explain what this campaign is all about and why it is important to her.
• Read Susan Reynold's statement
• View the list of people who contributed their smarts, hearts, and souls to this campaign.
• See the flickr pool of pea avatar photos

I am watching my Twitter stream and seeing a sea of green and that is pretty amazing. This is authentic social media - people engaged in a conversation, friendships, creativity, and giving to a cause.   

I've never met Susan Reynolds, but I am connected to some of her twitter friends and this authentic community support is very moving. 

Frozen Pea Fund Friday

Peas from Dooloop

In a comment on the Twitter post, Pistachio suggested that if nonprofits want to understand the power of Twitter, they should check out the Frozen Pea Fund, launching on December 21st.

If you aren't involved in the twitter community, you may be wondering, what's this all about.  Susan Reynolds, an artist and social media maven, was diagnosed with Breast cancer.   As she announced on her blog, "I use Twitter to fight Cancer."  Without any formal blogger relations campaign, well-known and influential bloggers blogged about her situation and changed their avatars to include peas.

As Pistachio mentions, "This arose spontaneously. From love, connection, support and caring. It's spreading like wildfire. We just added www.twitter.com/PEAple yesterday to offer the PEAvatar folks their own Twitter "channel" to come together and share information, ideas & support."  You can feel the love and community in the comments to this post. There is also the fund drive.

Pistachio adds "The power here, and what will happen tomorrow in the fund drive, comes from connection and love. There's no trick, tip or shortcut to get there. But the potential momentum nonprofits could achieve through social media if they start genuinely engaging, listening, experimenting and trying? Staggering."

Now off to figure out how to make a Peavator

America's Giving Challenge: Day 7

Sharing Foundation Calendar

I'm on Day 7 of participating in the America's Giving Challenge.  My goals are to raise money for the Sharing Foundation (and maybe with your help get $50,000 for the Sharing Foundation), share stories about the Sharing Foundation's programs, and share what I'm learning about using social networks to raise money as an extra organizational activist on my blog over the course of the 50-day giving challenge.

The Sharing Foundation Calendar Project

The Sharing Foundation will be celebrating 10 years of helping to care for Cambodia's children in 2008.  This calendar project, produced lovely by a proud adoptive parent, is one of the ways the organization acknowledging this important milestone.  Everyone on the board has purchased in bulk or is selling calendars right now!  This is an example of how we work together to support our cause and bring people in.   

Another indicator is leadership,  particularly our founder Dr. Hendrie, who knows how to inspire and motivate.  Many board members and volunteers give many hours of their time to this organization.  There is definitely a warm and loving community surrounding this organization.  In Cambodia, the Sharing Foundation hires Cambodians to manage all programs and through strong oversight and mentoring, the number of trained Cambodians ready to lead their communities is steadily increasing. 

Reflections

• It's been a week of small experiments and trials to get a better understanding of where to focus my efforts.  I'm convinced that experimentation is the key to understanding, even if there is a lot of tension, stress, and frustration involved.    The best approach - in terms of winning this contest - is to focus people to one giving channel.  I think we have the best chances of winning the $50,000 through Global Giving.   

• I spent quite a bit of time today analyzing the top 50 causes.  We are number 49.  I looked at each cause, the number of members and the number of donors.   There is too much competition and to win the top prize, it really favors existing networks. 
  

• The causes represent a spectrum - from those launched by organizations, by extra organizational activists (like me), and by student networks.   Because of the networked effect, the causes connected with school networks may have a distinct advantage over those launched by a single activist for the grant prize.   

• Questions to ponder:

• Is the $1,000 daily prize worth the time investment?

No.  And it is doubtful that we could win one of the daily prizes. 

• Is there an opportunity to engage cause participants so they become regular donors or supporters beyond the contest period?

Maybe.   The interaction design on causes does not match a ladder of engagement.  It is really hard to cultivate and get to know people on a one-to-one basis.  And, if you message people privately and cut and paste, Facebook might punish you by deleting your account. 

• Given TSF is on both Networked for Good and Global Giving and it doesn't make sense to use both for the campaign, which on to choose?

We've decided to focus on our Global Giving fundraiser for a variety of reasons. Since the badges will be used by our core volunteers who are not technology savvy, I set up a test.  I had to create a separate page to make it easy.

• What is the best strategy for directing the people who have joined the Facebook cause to make a donation over at Global Giving?

I'm mulling this over and would love your advice.

Call To Action

• Donate $10 or more to our cause through Global Giving now!

• Are you a blogger?  Please sign up to help me!  You'll find the information here

The Art of Saying Thank you: Amy Sample Ward, Darren Barefoot, and Michele Martin

My first job in the nonprofit field over 28 years ago was in development office at the New England Conservatory and later at the Boston Symphony.   In those days, I was the twenty-something accidental techie in the office who figured out the IBM memory typewriter.  That cool new tool helped us personalized typed letters and envelopes by letter you manually insert the greeting and it automatically typed out the letter.  (I'm embarrassed at how much paper I probably wasted (we didn't recycle in those days) and it took a lot of trial and error to get it to work properly.)

Those IBM typewriters saved time.  Before they arrived in the office, letters were hand typed and hand signed. And before that personal thank you notes were written, probably for gifts as small as ten dollars.  (Stamps were cheaper)

So fast forward to today.  We have these online tools for fund raising that make it easier for us get the job done more efficiently.   But what about a personal touch?   How do you keep a personal touch ...

I admit I might overdo saying thanks, but it is genuine.  But the new online tools create opportunities for many more donors, and with one little person like me -- personalized thanks are hard to scale.  It brings up the issue of capacity which translates to time commitment.   

All that to day I'm behind two or three days with saying thank you to a couple of friends for helping out with the America's Giving Challenge.

• Amy Sample Ward put the Global Giving Widget on her Facebook profile.   I got to meet Amy when I was in Portland earlier this month and enjoyed the opportunity to talk about social media and nonprofits. 

• Michele Martin of the Bamboo Project Blog wrote a terrific post about the campaign.  She set up the Global Giving fundraiser and donated too.  She also pointed to my facebook cause recruitment video.

• Darren Barefoot also write a post about our America's Giving Challenge efforts.  I've known of Darren Barefoot's work, but he really caught my attention in flickr with his "social media starfish."  That's where I learned about his newly published book, "Getting to First Base."  I have a copy, I'm reading it and will post a review once I'm done.  Of what I've read so far, if you work in social media and are looking for a little holiday gift for yourself,  but the book now.

Call To Action

• Donate $10 or more to our cause through Global Giving now!

• Are you a blogger?  Please sign up to help me!  You'll find the information here

The Six Signs That Twitter Isn't For Your Nonprofit

Twitter reflections and insights have been the air.  Chris Brogan's post says, "Twitter has changed my life." I might also say that Chris's life changing experience on Twitter has had a ripple effect on two young Cambodian college students, Leng Sopharath and Champerom.  Chris and 81 people (several who are mentioned below) helped send these two young people to college with Twitter.

Last night, Pistachio was on Jonny's Par-Tay show and shared some amazing insights about Twitter.  This morning, I noticed pointers to two excellent posts about Twitter one from Kevin Gamble and the other from Chris Brogan.

Kevin wrote a reaction to this post on ZDnet "Twitter is Dangerous" where Michael Krigsman makes this point:

Twitter is rapidly becoming a serious threat to corporate information protection. The program’s great strength — many-to-many messaging — becomes its great weakness in this context.

Kevin's solution is to have the 700,000 user community revert back to the early adopter days, suggesting that people who had an account before Dec. 2006 should be allowed to stay.

Chris Brogan has an excellent post called "Twitter Revisited."  He gives us the pros/cons of Twitter, pointing out when it isn't the right tool.  He goes on to give us some great tips and additional resources. 

Here are his tips:

• If you want to promote your blog or podcast, at least try to do it conversationally. Ask people what they think about global warming as it applies to methane release on farms, and share the link. Don’t just blurt out your podcast url.
• If you want to follow a specific space, consider finding the right people twittering about that space, and building a blended RSS feed in Yahoo Pipes, and adding that to your RSS reader, instead of using the Twitter interface itself. Why build a persona and add people if you’re just using Twitter to scrape data?
• If you want to build real friends in Twitter, pay attention to who uses lots of @ replies, and see how they interact with others. Some folks use Twitter like a bullhorn, and others use it like a walkie-talkie.
• If you want to use Twitter to meet new business colleagues, do what you’d do in other social media spaces: learn more about the person. Follow their links. Read their blogs. Get to know them. Don’t just pounce all over them. It’s easy to unfollow people in this space.
• Try this. Instead of answering “what are you doing?,” try answering “What has your attention?” I find the answer is often more useful to others.
• Do your best to promote other people on Twitter, instead of talking only about you and your things. If you find the good stuff, share the good stuff.

I am going to add on to Chris's list of tips:

• It's important to listen.  But you have choices of how deeply you want to listen.  You can submerge yourself and dip or something in between.  There are lots of different applications and tools that you can you to facilitate your listening style, although as Jeremiah Owyang notes true useful business tools haven’t really emerged, but it’s only year one.

• Chris says it better in his last point above, don't use Twitter as a shameless self-promotion tool all the time.  Sharing is important.   I need to do a better job of this, I'm putting this on my New Year's resolution list. 

I also want to flag a recent post by Marshall Kirkpatrick about Tweeterboard, a sort of Technorati-like influence tracker for Twitter.  Marshall points over an analysis by Jeremiah Owyang and Monkchips.  As Jeremiah points out, "Why is understanding who talks to me and vice versa important?  Because you can see who influences me, and who I influence."   We are seeing more tools to get at that metric of influence and here is an emerging one for twitter influence.

As Chris writes in his valuable piece, Twitter isn't for everyone.  I might also say it isn't for all nonprofits.   If we were to make a list called  "The Six Signs Twitter Isn't For Your Nonprofit,"  what would be on that list?   I'll throw one out:

• You think Twitter is a bull horn and is a great way to broadcast campaign messaging from a Twitter account that is branded with your logo.

Okay, I admit it.  I love Twitter too much.  Those of you who work in the nonprofit space, when would you counsel a client NOT to use it? 

 

Ed Schipul Grew A Mustache (and beard) For His Cause: Texas Children's Hospital Cancer Center!

Flickr Photo from DenneyTerrio

 

Ed Schipul is a colleague from the NetSquared Community that I have had the pleasure of knowing for two years now.  I have the honor of joining his SWSX Panel in March about nonprofits, social media, and social good.  He was one of 81 people who donated to my campaign to send two young Cambodians to college last October.

Three weeks ago he asked me to sponsor him in  "Mustaches for Kids -Houston."  I did.   The fundraiser is   where group of volunteers grew mustaches and asked their friends to support the charity, the Texas Children's Hospital Center.

He just emailed me to let me know that the groups raised was able to raise $7805.25 in its inaugural year!  Congratulations Ed!

The Bora Connection

Meet Vuth Bora.  He is a Cambodian studying in the US in Iowa.  He joined my cause early on.  Not quite sure how, but he is friends with Mongkol on Facebook.   The first person to join the Sharing Foundation cause was another adoptive parent.  I didn't know she was on facebook.   Her husband wrote a book called the "The Bora Boys."   The book is dedicated to their Cambodian adopted son, Bora.   Ah  .. the Bora connection.

Bora has been recruiting people to the Sharing Foundation cause.  A big thank you.

Call To Action

• Donate $10 or more to our cause through Global Giving now!

• Are you a blogger?  Please sign up to help me!  You'll find the information here

Something I don't Like About Facebook Causes ..

Nick Temple whose blog you should read .. left the above message on my wall. 

Causes has a leader board where it shows who recruited the most people, who donated the most, and who got the most donations.  It shows five positions for each.  At anytime, you could get knocked out.   So, is that a way good way to say thanks and motivate your donors and volunteers?     Hello, Joe Green, what's up with that?

I'm in the older cohort of the baby boom generation. I'm old -- okay, I fool people because I do 5 spin classes a week and lift weights, but I'm old school.  I started my career in development also thirty years ago. If someone is working hard for your cause (even if someone else is working harder) we'd never tell them - you efforts aren't appreciated.  Why would you design that into the software?  Is this just generational?  Is competition and kicking people off the top a millennial thing I don't get?  Or, does the interface design need to be more appropriate to different generations. 

One of my Facebook friends shared this link to an excellent presentation by Nancy Shoemaker and while it is taking about RSS mostly, there are several pages about the ladder of engagement.   What's the big problem with causes?  I may be wrong, but after looking closely at the workflow it doesn't really support the ladder of engagement.  It can only help you go from unaware to aware.  When you try to cultivate to engage, the work flow is very inefficient.   

So, here's my question.   If causes is designed to reach out to Millennials, do we need to rethink the ladder of engagement?  Or, given that there is now a growing mix of age cohorts using Facebook (and organizations), perhaps the interaction design is off.  What do you think?

Thank you Darlene and Mata!

One of my longtime flickr contacts, an artist named Darlene, just sent me a note that when her paycheck arrives, 10% is going to the Sharing Foundation.  OMG, I can't believe this generosity.   So, in return, I'm plugging her cause - Life in Africa and this cause.

Is this an example of the virtual gift economy? 

On her portfolio site she shares a life vow called Threads of Empathy

As part of a life-vow I have made which is at the basis of much of my art, I donate 10% of my income from all art sales to help provide opportunity and education in developing countries. Donations thus far have focused mainly on library and school construction projects through various organizations.

Mata, over at Blogher, wrote a terrific post called "Three Ways you can simply change the world for the better."  And, she has volunteered to help me with my Sharing Foundation America's Giving Challenge.  Thank you so much!

Call To Action

• Donate $10 or more to our cause through Global Giving now!

• Are you a blogger?  Please sign up to help me!  You'll find the information here

   

Got Pistachio? Tonight at 9:00 PM on Jonny's Par-Tay

Photo by Skept

My good friend Jonny Goldstein, who is the host of his blog.tv show "Jonny's Par-Tay", has a rock start guest tonight, Laura Fitton, Pistachio Consulting.  I first met Laura at Boston Media Makers meeting several months ago and ran into her again in October at the Social Media Meetup for Jeremiah Owyang.  He did this cool video interview.

What: Jonny’s Par-tay, the live interactive web video talk show
Where: Right here at jonnygoldstein.com
Who: Laura “Pistachio” Fitton, Jonny Goldstein, Scott Stead, and You!
Interactivity: Interact via the live chatroom and if you have a webcam and a blogtv.com account, we can even put you on via video.
When: 9PM Eastern, Weds, Dec 19

Wonder if this will reduce or increase "invite" spam on Facebook?

hat tip to Digital Inspiration

There is now a friends/group feature on your Facebook friends list.  I'd give it a whirl, but facebook is really slow and buggy today.  Amit thinks it might solve the Facebook spam problem, but might it increase the number of messages in your box?