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ROI: Return on Investment or Influence?
The meme of the week! This month's Net2Think Tank question was, "What is the ROI (return on investment) of the social web for nonprofits?" Quite a few thought-provoking ideas in the summary offering different view points. Some suggests some methods for measuring, while others say that it is to early to measure and the results are still intangible. I was particularly struck by Wendy Harmon's advice on to begin to collect and reflect on your social media experiments and measure them little by little. I also got a good laugh with her master card ad style analysis of some results from a project! As Allan Benamer observes
using the social web is a strategic initiative whose financial payoff is too far down the line for most nonprofits to contemplate.
The corporate sector is also debating this same question based on the live-tweeting from the recent Forrester Consumer Forum. One answer, "When they ask what is the ROI on social media, ask what the ROI on business cards, new carpet, signage, and the phone system!" Elsua also notes "ROI = Industrial Age, tangibles only Value exchanges = today, intangibles rule"
TechSoup's 2-Day Online Event: Making an Impact: Web Stats for Nonprofits. Yann Toldedano, TechSoup's Web Building Forum host and Malin Coleridge, TechSoup's Senior Web Analyst, share their expertise.
Getting Naked and Secret Romances- Who Knew Nonprofit Techies Were This Exciting?
Getting Naked: Being Human and Transparent is this week's Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants! It's about transparency and authenticity.
Gavin writes about his secret summer romance.
Green IT
It sounds like Green Iced Tea. I like to call it "Green Geekery. It means environmentally friendly computing. Michelle Murrain points out that it is on the Gartner list of technologies to watch in 2008. Michelle also points out that Open Source Software isn't on the list and that is good news because it no longer "trendy" -- it's become an essential piece of the IT toolbox.
Global NpTech
NGO Post is site a collaborative news site to find and share stories about the connection between social change work and technology with an emphasis on stories from India where the site administrators are based. The site uses pligg, an open source application that has Digg like features. One of the popular stories is about Grameen Village Phone Program and how the financial model is no longer working due to the proliferation of mobile phones.
Social Networking
Ivan Booth is one of the best thinkers on nonprofits and social networking sites. Check out his blog post "Organizing Rather Than Mobilizing: Using Social Networks for Constituency-Building" and then put his feed in your RSS reader.
Will Facebook remove it 1000-person cap on email to group members? Predictions:Companies like Convio and Democracy in Action will find new sources of
revenue in building "message your member of Congress" applications and
licensing them to groups for use within Facebook.
Think My Space is for kids? The demographics continue to migrate to age 35 and older, according to this Media Metrix report published almost a year ago. Hat tip from Jonathan Coleman Twitter.
I'm going to invent a new word - Friendiquette - meaning how to mind your manners on Facebook. Jeff Pulver has the details.
Oh no, not another youth oriented social change social networking site! MTV brings us Think with a embedded pun in the tag line, "Your cause. Your effect." The pitch to nonprofits? If you're an organization (or school, or government agency, or social business venture) and want to mobilize young people to your cause, you can leverage "the most highly recognized youth brand in the world." Don't you want to team up with Think and create a kick-ass profile on the site right this minute?
Web2.0 Trainings for Nonprofits coming up in various places in California. The tools include Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube. Couldn't find any online content or outlines, but here's the reviews from previous trainings.
Some MySpace and YouTube synergy using the nonprofit channel and a PSA from Youth Noise.
Anyone else thinking this thought?
Fundraising
Lucy Bernholz gives an analysis of the DonorsChoose blog fundraising model and asks if there are other blog fundraising efforts?
AFP blog points to an article in a new widget being used by a children's charity that shows donors how their money is being used. I found the interface a bit busy.
Blueprint has set up a pbwiki that lists Technology Tools for Foundations.
Chris Brogan writes about the Stand Up Speak Out Against Poverty Campaign and points us the campaign on Twitter. He points to hurley who has an idea for a Barcamp speak out event.
Twitter in emergencies and an informal survey of how the news industry is using it.
Blogging
More on blogging to fight poverty.
More on blogging as professional development. The most frequently mentioned advantage of blogging is sharing ideas.
The most frequently mentioned disadvantages of blogging are
time-constraint and technological barriers.
This blog post could be retitled "The Difficulties of Sustaining An Executive Director Blog"
Nonprofit Software
The NTEN blog notes that Michelle Murrain and the Nonprofit Open Source Initiative (NOSI) have just published an update to the "Choosing and Using Free and Open Source Software: A Primer for Nonprofits." (Why is this blogger saying "Open Source Is Not For You"?
NTEN is offering a Webinar on Google Adwords with Frederick Vallaeyes, Google Adwords Evangelist.
Kintera Throws open the Doors vis the NTEN blog. Commentary from Allan Benamer.
New (to me) Blogs
Just loving The Social Enterprise Pirate Blog. Be sure to check out the interview with Socialmarkets.org
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.
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