Beth's Blog: Nonprofits and Social Media

Judi Sohn of the Colorectal Cancer Coalition: Blogging for Cancer Advocacy

Judi Sohn, Director of Operations and Communications, for the Colorectal Cancer Coalition.   

I had the pleasure of interviewing Judi Sohn for Blogher and have finally published it.   I really enjoy reading her personal blog, A View from Home and if you work with nonprofits and technology - you'll find it very valuable.

She made some really important observations about using a blog for professional development that resonated with me.

Like me she is a self-taught techie, "Everything I know now I taught myself by experimenting and learning from others online."

She uses her personal blog, A View From Home, to help her keep informed of technology.  "I’m a geek wannabe. I understand this stuff enough to be dangerously chatty at cocktail parties but I’m no programmer. I use my blog to help work things out for myself. If I have a “eureka” moment about something, I’ll blog it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to remember when something happened or what the circumstances were that led me to a given point, and I’ll search my own blog to get that reference. It’s always fun when I’m Googling for something and my own site pops up in the results."

Her advice for those that work for nonprofits and do not blog anonymously.

"Before I hit the “publish” button on any post, I always ask myself, 'if the New York Times linked to this would I be okay? Is this something I would be comfortable posting on a bulletin board?' Since I’m the type of person who likes expressing her opinion, the answer is usually “yes.”

Her personal blog drives traffic to her organization's web site.

"I will sometimes use my blog to help drive visitors to C3 in the first place since my site is more established and gets better search engine traffic. C3’s referrer logs show that this tactic is often successful."

Judi recommends the following nonprofit technology blogs:

Emily's World

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

Studio 501c


Here are a few nonprofit technology posts from Judi's blog

Nonprofit blogging: keep your eyes on the road

9Charities 

Nonprofit technology: The next frontier

Logic Puzzles and Democracy

Photo Credit Used with Permission from Flickr User c3colorectal

The second thing she did after hiring an attorney to get the organization's tax-exempt status was to hire a well-known cancer blogger for her organization.   "My only requirement to her was not to let more than 3 days go by without an entry. Some folks in the organization looked at me like I was nuts, but they trusted me and it was the best thing we could have done. Our website is a top search result for many keywords, all originating from Kate’s blog entries. Kate is also now our Director of Research Communication. She has an incredible ability to take the most complex science and turn it around into language anyone can understand. It’s a lot harder than it looks."

The organization also has an Advocacy blog. "We need to draw attention to colon cancer.  This only happens through patients and their famliies. So we are working hard to connect with as many people who are affected by colorectal cancer as we can.  A blog can do this."

An Interview with the Web Team at Fight Hunger (4 out of 5 women)

Meet the Fight Hunger Web Team
From left:  Anna Ylä-Kauttu,  Susanne Thörnqvist, Desirée Forsyth-Sommer, Cordelia Salter-Nour, and Emanuele Quinto
- photo in flickr with bios

Fight Hunger is a division of the UN World Food Programme set up to help end child hunger by 2015 which is part of the first Millennium Development Goal. It is a partnership of UN agencies, NGOs, businesses, schools, universities, communities and individuals who all believe that we can work together to end child hunger. The main focus is raising awareness. From their annual global Walk the World to educating decision makers on the importance of well nourished children.
 
I'm the moderator for the Flickr for Nonprofits Online Affinity Group over at NTEN and during a recent exchange about nonprofits using online photo and (video) contests to call attention to the causes, Cordellia and Susanne caught my attention.  They are part of a five-person web team for Fight Hunger, that includes four women and one guy.  The one guy on this busy web team is a  web developer-programmer named
Emanuele Quinto thinks working with four women: is “Fantastic!”

I interviewed the team about how they work together and their recent viral video contest.

1.  How do you all collaborate or work together effectively?

We have noticed through our work together that the women on our team are more facile at multi-tasking.  We find it very easy to switch from one thing to another and to keep several activities going at once. “ 

We are not only colleagues, we have become friends in the process of working together for such a long time, and have an implicit understanding of what teamwork and respect means, which allows us to work harmoniously together. Since we are working close to each other the communication of the team works really efficiently. We all sit in one room and follow what each other are doing informally.  We don’t really need to have formal meetings because we come to decisions as they arise.   There is a lot of crossover and tasks often start out with one person and then switch across the team members.  We have group ownership for everything to do with the website – we all feel part of it.

2.  Tell me a little about your video contest

We’re interested in using the viral video boom to spread the word about ending child hunger.   Instead of commissioning a video (which would cost money) we decided to have the contest and to tap into the talent of the general public.  We have some great entries so far so our gut sense was right!  The winning prize also has viral value – the winner will have the chance to visit a WFP School Feeding Project in a developing country which could be a life changing experience for a mediamaker.

3.  Fight Hunger is using a lot of new web 2.0 techniques -- blog, viral video, etc.  How do you find the time to  incorporate these new techniques into your communications plan?

We keep an eye on what is catching people’s attention on the web and do what we can to participate.  Sometimes we are short of resources and can’t do as much as we would like but we try to experiment on a small scale!

4.  How have these tools helped you raise awareness of your cause?

Our viral video contest was picked up by some major blogs and got the FightHunger.org website attention in new areas.  We are hoping to build on this in the future.  It’s difficult to predict what might go viral but once it starts we hope the word spread and spreads.  No-one can say that child hunger is a good thing so we want the whole world (internet and not internet) to join us and help end it!

5.  As staff members who work with nonprofits and technology for ngo doing development work, what blogs you read to keep up with what's going on in your field? 

Development Blogs

The Pros/Cons of Social Web for NGOs from Kabissa

Kabissa, an organization that supports African civil society organizations so they can put information and communication technologies to work for the benefit of the people they serve, has recently published a terrific overview of the promises and and pitfalls of Web2.0 for African Civil Society.

I think some of the points are universal, others not.  Take for example this pitfall to watch out for:

What to do when you’re away from the Internet?

People that spend alot of time online begin to take it for granted - this was already the case before Web 2.0, but now new Web 2.0 services are encouraging you to do more online than ever. What do you do when you’re not near your Yahoo mailbox, your blog, your flickr account? Please be very strategic and don’t fall into the trap of being in a life threatening situation without critical information that is only available on Yahoo and you are 200 miles from the nearest cybercafe.

Those of us large metro areas in the US are never far away from a coffee shop with wi-fi or high speed Internet access.  But that isn't the case for an ngo working a developing country or extremely rural area.  I remember this from my time in Cambodia where I was an hour's drive from the nearest Internet cafe while teaching ESL in the Roteang Village School english program.  I usually left my laptop back in the hotel and packed all my paper resources.  But, when I go on an assignment here in the US, I can always pull down what I've forgotten from the Web.

Anyway, this brief summary is well worth a read if you're thinking about Web2.0, Social Media, and Nonprofits.

Alison Lowndes: Helping to care for children in Kenya

I "met" Ali while lurking on the UK Riders list, a peer group of ICT circuit riders.  She caught my attention because she founded an organization that works with orphaned and disabled children in Kenya.  She also asked some really good questions about blogging for ngos on the listserv.      

Ali is the Founder of AVIF (ABLe Volunteers International Fund). In  2002, she established a 65-teacher international summer school in NE Asia.  She lived in China for 8 months with her 2 young children.  On returning to the UK in 2003 she spent some time working in internet security before deciding to go back to school.  She was studying Astrophysics but unfortunately, as a single parent, she found it difficult to continue with the financial burden.  Having friends in Kenya, she came up with the idea to provide summer schools in Kenya.  In March 2006 AVIF was born, the first volunteer placement ran over a 5 week period this summer.  (She chronicles the program's start up on her personal blog)

She shares why she started her NGO, "The economic situation is far worse in Kenya than China so volunteer teachers were the only option.   I decided to make AVIF a charity rather than a company as people are always more willing to offer time to a non-profit organisation. That said we are hoping to launch a trading company allowing all the orphanages and communities we reach in Kenya to sell their hand-made local crafts; bags, sandals, pumice, soapstone, plates, jewellery etc, to further their own futures. Trade not Aid !"

AVIF is a virtual organization that uses free and low-cost Internet technologies like VOIP to manage its programs and development work from the UK.  Notes Ali, "It is me in my living room and a friend named Sharn Argwings-Kodhek networking in Nairobi.  We access all orphanages via the internet. We have a substantial network of people we speak to by SKPE or SMS.  Kenya has a poor bandwidth at best and this limits internet access to email only in most areas, except large corporations in large towns. Mobile communications are extremely accessible however, with very few dead zones."

The organization works directly with local ngos and volunteers matching them by interest, need, and skills.   Organizations in Kenya are carefully vetted.  Notes Ali, "Unfortunately there is a lot of corruption and greed in Kenya.  Assigning volunteers to work with vetted organisations allows us to fully verify the organization's commitment to the children. "

AVIF plans to open an online shop to sell items to raise money for its program.  "We have a large number of really beautifully-made items, hand made by the communities the volunteers lived with this summer. They have sent me photographs, weights and full descriptions of all the items. These items will be listed and hopefully sold on our online shop and the items packaged by the Kenyans and dropped with DHL for global delivery."

AVIF uses the Internet to recruit volunteers.  Notes Ali, "We advertise for free on the very many ESL /TEFL websites for teachers and also recruit many primary education student-teachers in 2/3rd year of university degrees via the UK government's Teaching Development Agency (TDA). We also advertise the Volunteer Centres in the UK web sites."

The organization has just started to use a blog to engage volunteers and others interested in their work in a conversation.  Volunteers are able to post about their experience in country.   Notes Ali, "Blogs also allow much more "real" info as well as progress reports.  It is so much more alive than a static web site.  We've just begun blogging and thankfully I've been helped by my peers on the UK riders group."

Photo from Ali Lowndes on flickr
 

E-Tuk Tuk Project: Other Building Peace through ICT projects

photo from the E-Tuk Tuk project

I just had to blog it.  Would love to see something like this in Cambodia and perhaps is a step towards comprehensive connectivity?

The eTUKTUK is a community building initiative that aims to converge the technological benefits of digital communications and new media with community radio. The eTUKTUK is a self-contained mobile telecentre and radio broadcasting unit housed within a three wheeled motorcycle.

One of the golden rules of blogging is to acknowledge your sources - something I've always practiced.  Now, Alan Levine has come up with a term for it, LinkTrition (Hmm .. a meta linktrition?)
I learned about this project via a well-written and researched blog post called "Building Peace through ICT - Ideas for practical ICT4Peace Projects."   This is a great list of practical, down to earth ICT projects.

Flickr and Nonprofits: NTEN Affinity Group

from my flickr stream set

Right after the Netsquared Conference last May, I kept thinking about the concept that Allison Hewlitt mentioned to me, a "write shop" where a group of folks get together and write curriculum.   Sometime during the redeye home, it morphed into a different concept - playshop.

I really believe in the connection between work, play, and learning. I'm tired of playing alone ...   So, when NTEN announced its platform for Affinity Groups, I set up the Flickr for Nonprofits -- as a place to talk about using flickr with colleagues and play a bit.

Last Friday, enough people had discovered the group and signed up to get things started.   I've already learned quite a bit from postings already.  So, it's not too late to join and have fun. 

Best Nonprofit Use of Google Maps and Flickr Mashup

I have to point you over to Steve Bridger's post about the Full Stop Campaign.  The Flickr Mashup is pretty cool too.  What level of technical skills does it take to do something like that?  How did they measure their success?

You Can Hear Teresa's Too

Last week while I busy trying to shoot a scene for an upcoming screencast, I forgot to turn off my SKYPE. And, of course, I got pinged while I was taping (darn, I had to reshoot the whole thing).  But the person on the other end was Teresa Crawford and I hadn't talked to her in over a year.  She wasn't interested in catching up, rather she was testing a Skype set up for a co-worker.   She also offered to help me test my video camera hook-up to Skype.

Anyway, now you don't have to wait for Teresa to Skype you to hear her .  Listen to her podcast over at InterAction.

Teresa speaks to InterAction about demystifying Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and social networking tools or "social web," and offers examples of how advocacy organizations are effectively using these technologies in the field.

BTW, we never did get to test the video connection.  If anyone uses one of the logitech cameras with Skype and can help me, you'd make my day!

The Young and Generous: A New Research Report from Network for Good

Flickr photo from: Just Me Robin Photos
"Fried Green Tomatoes anyone?"

My first thought when I opened this email from Katya Andresen, VP Marketing, Network for Good, pointing me to some new research, "The Young and the Generous" (you have to register to download) was about fried green tomatoes.  Well, actually a line from the movie of the same name delivered by Kathy Bates. 

Bates, who plays an older woman in the film, is in a grocery store parking lot just about to pull into an empty space.   A younger woman zooms into the space and says something like "I'm younger and faster."   She gets angry and bashes into the woman's car and says, "Well, I'm older and have more insurance." 

 

Well, maybe those younger donors don't have as many expenses and are giving away more of their money .... 

Some highlights of the study, “The Young and the Generous” are:

-Online givers are young (38-39 years old) and generous, giving several times more than offline donors on average. 

-Men and women give online in equal numbers.

-Virtually all of online givers (96%) have given to charity before, but a sizable proportion (38%) is new to online philanthropy.

-Online giving is tracking to the trends of online shopping and banking, and it is the avenue of choice for donors during disasters.

-Most people give online during the week, during business hours – most commonly, between 10am and noon.

-New York is the most generous state for online giving; Mississippi and North Dakota are the least generous.

-Most online giving goes to disaster agencies, followed by animal-related causes.

-Top searches are disaster related, plus “children,” “cancer,” and “homeless.”

-Small organizations benefit from listings on aggregation sites; at network for good, half of dollars go to small-medium sized charities.

-People say they give online because it’s easier than writing a check and a fast way to respond to disasters.

Now delving into the details of the study, I was really curious about this finding:

Finding #5: Giving follows a classic long-tailed distribution, with a few well-known organizations receiving half of donations but thousands of smaller or lesser-known organizations combining to account for an equal amount of giving.

The “long tail” phenomenon – a term devised by Wired Editor Chris Anderson to describe how the Internet creates and serves long-tailed distribution markets – is evident at Network for Good when numbers of donations are charted by organization. At Network for Good, 50% the donations go to 1% of charities (excluding crisis giving). The rest is spread out along the long tail. Just as Amazon and Google have enabled consumers to access products and information that meets their particular needs and interests by providing one-stop access to many, diverse choices, Network for Good has enabled donors to contribute to many, diverse nonprofits by putting a fragmented nonprofit “market” in one place.

Believe it or not, I've heard resistence from some a few small nonprofits about using portal donation sites.   This is a very compelling statistic!    I'm bringing this to my next board meeting!  Thanks Katya!

Nonprofits and Second Life and Other Games

Susan Tenby from TechSoup demos the virtual TechSoup Office  during the Netsquared Conference while Ruby Sinreich and Deborah Finn (Cyber-Yenta) blogged about it.  (Blogger Wagner James Au who reports on Second Life is seated next to Susan.)  The TechSoup Virtual Office at Second Life take by Jeska Linden.

At least once a month, I jump down rabbit holes.  That's my metaphor for embracing a topic that grabs my attention and is related to my work (nonprofits and technology) but I have no prior knowledge or experience. 

This month I'm exploring the topic of digital games for social change.  In two weeks I'm headed for The Games for Change Annual Conference in NYC (and I'll live blog it, too) The conference brings together nonprofits, game designers, foundations, and academics around the world to explore best practices for social change gaming.  I hope to learn about the full spectrum of games for serious outcomes.

The first genre of games that I'm exploring is "immersive web or persistent world or metaverse"  or "massively multiplayer nnline game (MMOG)"  It's defined as a digital game with a virtual world that is a setting for role-playing, events, entertainment, and other activities.  The online environment is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of playters simultaneously over the Internet.   

A few organizations in the nonprofit sector are exploring the power of the this type of gaming medium for social justice - take Camp Darfur for example.     But can games like Second Life be a useful tool for social change? Is it worth for nonprofits to invest?  According to Ethan Zukerman's post about his Camp Darfur experience in Second LIfe,  although metaverse games like Second Life might have a social impact in the future, he feels there are many reasons why he wouldn't recommend that social change projects invest their very limited resources in this technology now. 

But what about nonprofits using games for training, role playing, support groups, education, fundraising, or outreach?   At the Netsquared Conference, I discovered that there are few organizations in the experimenting with metaverse games -- the early adopters.  It will be interesting to see what they learn from their experiments.

To do more research (that's what I told my son when he busted me - "Mommy why are you playing games in the Internet when you won't let me play?),  I created an avitar and did some exploring ... 

Techsoup, a project from CompuMentor, is the technology place for nonprofits on the Web)  So it makes sense that they should open a virtual office on Second Life.  Right now the office is just a cool place to hang out, but the group members are meeting to brainstorm ideas and build informaiton kiosks.  The office is located on "Information Island" and there are libraries near by.  In fact, I met a  librarian from Spain last night while wandering around.


Deborah Finn, Emily W/Nonprofit Blog Exchange and I posed for a snapshot with our TechSoup T-Shirts

You can read the discussion thread that launched the TechSoup virtual office here as well as Cyber Yenta's and Taran's first-hand impressions.  If you visit the virtual office, you get a free t-shirt by clicking on a pink flower. 


At the Full Moon Museum in front of the ACS Donation Box.

At the TechSoup Offices, I met a kind avitar named Frank and noticed he was a member of the Arts Council.  So I joined.  Later, I got word from the Arts Council that there was a gallery walk at the Full Moon Museum and discovered a thriving arts community. (Hmm .. not virtual Tate Modern, though.)  While walking around gallery, I saw a Relay for Life poster and donation box.  (I gave them some Lindon dollars, the currency that residents use to drive the virtual economy).

The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life has announced its"Second Life Relay for Life" event in July (its second time in Second Life).  They will be developing virtual pledge cards, sponsorships, teams, and other features.  The Society is expanding its role in the community by establishing a virtual space on their own Island.   The office will offer an interactive cancer information resource, peer support groups, as well as a headquarters for in-world event planning.  (You can keep up on their progress at the Fi Space Blog)

I also learned via the flickr stream for Nonprofit Marketing Blog  that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has a virtual support group and beautiful log cabin for its members.  So, my avitar joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Virtual Support Group in Second Life.

En route to their cabin, two other avitars asked me "I know this is personal, but what is it like to have Leukemia?"   I told them that I was healthy, but joined the group because I was interested in how nonprofits were using Second Life.   It seemed that there might be some opportunities here for a group to spread its message, although I wonder about the audience.  (There were some really strange characters running about and even stranger conversations in the public welcome areas ...)

 There are several virtual campuses, including  the New Media Consortium's Virtual Campus (discovered via CogDogBlog who snarled at me when I inquired about the value, but later wagged his tail.)   The NMC Virtual Campus was a private space so I couldn't get into see it, although there are several public campuses on Second Life and a virtual education office where you can get ideas, tips, and assistance.

There's a lot of to explore, but my first life is very busy and it takes time. Sticking my toe into the immersive web was a huge (informal) learning curve (I'm not a game player).  I had to create an avitar (oh what fun it is to edit your appearance and create outfits) and then you have to learn how to walk, run, fly, jump,  navigate the world, interact with other avitars, manage your information, etc.  It's difficult at first, but I discovered that if I found the right people and asked questions that informal learning strategies worked for me.  (If you rather read up and use some tutorials, Lisa Williams has collected a few)



I even managed to build a few objects or "primitives." including the above Angkor Wat photo opportunity.  There I am in my Cambodian dress (made from a scan of Cambodian Ikat Silk).    And while it was loads of fun,  my Cambodian colleagues would be left out because they don't really have the bandwidth or computer power to participate.   

Technorati Tags: second_life, sl, secondlife

Taking Back Mother's Day for Peace!

My colleague, Michael Stein ("Internet Strategist and Author") who works with nonprofits, emailed me about a new Internet campaign Take Back Mother's Day for Peace that was recently launched by a Bay Area public grantmaking foundation, The  Ploughshares Fund (www.ploughshares.org).  (Ahem ... hint, hint, hint --  this is a nice idea for Mother's Day).

I know I stress out every year about what to send my own mother -- a card, candy, flowers, or donation in her honor.   The anxiety about finding something meaningful takes something away from the holiday for me.   Also, I know my children who are probably too young to worry about finding the perfect gift, happily make me something or bring me breakfast in bed - but wouldn't it be nice for them to learn the true meaning of Mother's Day?  Not to mention, turning a commerical gift-giving opportunity into a cause!
 
According to the site: Mother's Day was originally designated as a day to inspire people to work for peace. It was conceived after the Civil War by abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe, who wrote, "Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of mercy, charity and patience." That sentiment — with our daughters included — is as urgent today as it was then.

Michael is quick to point out the aspects of this nonprofit Internet campaign that make it interesting (and successful):

• It's timed around Mother's Day to take advantage of  the social and shopping buzz. It reframes Mother's Day by reminding us of its  origins (conceived after the U.S. Civil War by abolitionist and suffragette  Julia Ward Howe).
• There's a "double your gift" component (Esprit  founder Susie Buell is matching up to $10,000).
• They invite people to suggest ways to take back  Mother's Day, and use SurveyMonkey.com so you can vote for ideas or suggest your  own. This element (which lives at a separate URL, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=520532091219) is  actually pretty cool and worth a look. I like "Treat your mother to a yoga  class," and "Cook your mom a slow food meal."

New Online Learning Resource for NGOs - Building Electronic Communities

Image from Internet Village Motoman project in Ratanakiri Village in Cambodia

The above image is from the Ratanakiri Village project in Cambodia. The village is located in a remote region of Cambodia's northeast.  There are no highways, no electricity, and villagers life a simple life.  But they do have Internet access through five bright red Honda motorcycles equipped with Mobile Access Points and a Satellite uplink.   This is but one case study that I researched as a contributor to the IMARK (Information Management Resource Kit) project.

Both Nancy White and I were both contributors, along with 23 other contributors from more than half-dozen  partners. 

The module we both worked on (not together - independently) is titled "Building Electronic Communities and Networks."   The online course is designed for coordinators and facilitators of established or potential communities as well as individuals with shared interests in agricultural and rural development.   

While much of the advice and examples are shaped for development ngos, particularly smaller ones, it is an excellent way for your ngo to explore the planning and use of online communities as part of your work.   I really like use of storytelling throughout.  It brings the advice to life and probably helps make it stick.  There are also lots of worksheets, mini-lessons, and resources.  And, it is a free resource too!

The module outline can be found here (I contributed to Units 2,3 &4) and Nancy contributed to all five.   There are modules available on other topics as well, including one on management of electronic documents and digitization.  You can also request a CD-ROM version.

Ramifications of Web 2.0 for nonprofits with participatory applications

Via Christine.net comes a summary of a discussion from N-TEN's NTC Conference last month.   This one well worth reading if you're interested in social software and nonprofits.  Christine reports that this chicken and egg question came up:

"Do people's social needs drive the emergence of new technology, or does
the emergence of these new technologies drive what people want to do?"

She summarizes the panelists responses (Marnie Webb, Marshall Kirkpatrick, and Robb Cottingham) as well as discussion in the room.

The Intersection of blogging and organizational culture

Via a post from roots.lab (whose tagline is "Learning about, thinking about, facilitating the growth of truly empowered cause-centered communities."

This post was inspired by the reading of "Naked Conversations."   The post speaks to the right organizational culture to support blogging.   Some quotes that caught my eye:

"If an organization isn’t already in a place where openness and
transparency in communications exists and is practiced, then using
tools like blogs will be unlikely to do anything positive for that
organization. If your openness/transparency foundation isn’t there,
don’t blog."

"That’s good stuff. And if people are hungry for companies that have
conversations with them, they are truly ravenous for mission-driven
organizations that want them as individuals, want their unique s,
experiences, and wisdom, want them to be a part of the work, and not
just a checkbook or a data record."

Nonprofit Technology in Austraila

I came across CommunIT by way of Mike Seyfang - LearnDog.  Mike is presenting on blogs and nonprofits at the ConnectingUP, the Austrailian version of the NTC Conference or as it says in its about section "annual national conference, organised by Community Information Strategies Australia (CISA) Inc www.cisa.asn.au ‘Information and technology services for Australian communities’.  Looks like Joe Baker from N-TEN is one of the International Keynote Speakers.

Raising Thousands (if Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars with Email

Madeline Stanionis, author of new book on email fundraising.

My colleague Michael Stein emailed me about a month ago right before the NTC Conference to offer me a FREE review copy of a new book by Madeline Stanionis about how nonprofits can raise money online using email.  I love the title, "Raising Thousands (if Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars with Email." published by Emerson & Church.  All I had to do was blog about the book after I read it ....  I was gonna read it on the plane, but with last month's sad events - it got lost in the shuffle.  So, I picked it up again this week ...



I was particularly interested in the topic because online fundraising strategy isn't my core area of nonprofit tech knowledge.   And, as a volunteer or board member with small nonprofits, we've never been able to go very far in implementing an online fundraising strategy.    So, this book might prove to be an excellent educationational resource. 

Madeline Stanionis is a guru in online fundraising.  Currently she is president of Donordigital, a well-respected firm that helps nonprofits (larger ones) raise money online and mobilize constituents for progressive causes -- so I was little skeptical as to whether the book would be a long sales pitch for her company's services. IT IS NOT!    The book is like having a private consult with her!  She is sharing extremely useful information in a way that smaller nonprofits can eventually apply it!

There's another thing I like about her book -- her .  I've never met Madeline or heard her speak, but she has a great sense of humor and her writing style made me laugh.  (And I really needed to laugh)   The book is friendly to visual learner types like me -- with lots of bullet points, charts,  and screen captures.  Better yet, you can read it in a few hours -- and it chocked full of stories from the field and strategy tips.   Her calm, authorative style leaves you with the sense that your organization can do that!   There is absolutely no snail oil talk either ...

Even though many of the examples are about larger nonprofits like the Humane Society and Earth Justice, at least she apologizes.  Better yet, she offers "translations" for smaller nonprofits.   I'm on the board of a small nonprofit that has flirted with the idea of email fundraising, but has stayed clear for one reason or another. (Fear of the investment, a sense that only large nonprofits can do this, blah blah blah, etc.)   So, I lent the book to a few board members and asked them to read it.  So far, there is interest in beginning a conversation about email fundraising!

Some other places where you can read more about Madeline and her new book:.

Michael Stein interviewed Madeline Stanionis for the N-TEN Blog
Betsy Harmon (a nonprofit internet strategy consultant) wrote a review here
You can purhcase the book here

Survey: Analysis of Benefits of Blogging in Nonprofit Organizations

I got an email from Cesar Vargas who writes the NPO Blog.  He was born in Lima, Peru and is studying for his masters in Information Systems in Hawaii at HPU.  He is currently working on a paper about: "How do blogs benefit nonprofit organizations in U.S."     As part of research for his degree, he is conducting a survey about the Benefits of Blogging in Nonprofit Organizations.   Check it out.

UK Riders Frappr Map

This is the map from the UK Riders Frappr group.  (I have no idea why the widget script didn't work, so took a screen capture and edited in Photoshop).    Teresa Crawford mentioned that the eriders site would be migrating to frappr.   (BTW, the eriders site has lots great content!)

Rumors of Blogs' Demise and Revolution Are Exaggerated!

"Blogs are not causing a revolution.  Blog are just another Internet communication strategy and tool!"

Just in time for our NTC nonprofit blogging panel.  I'm taking a break from searching through Flickr for some visuals for our nonprofit blogging panel.  We're going to run through the topic "Blogs: Myths or Facts?" and I need stimulating visuals to illustrate those points.

I entered "blog hype" as a search term and came across a recent article on WSJ online.  It asks ...

Are blogs a vanishing fad?
Are blogs this year's digital Pet Rock?
Are blogs a business bubble about to pop?
A sucker's bet for new-media fame seekers?

The article points out some recent articles and polls that suggest a cooling off in the hype around blogs.  These include:

New York Magazine:  Blogs to Riches - The Haves and Have-Nots of the Blogging Boom by Clive Thompson.  February, 2006.   It talks about the disparity of audiences between the so called A-List and other bloggers.  My favorite quote:  "What’s more, a blog is like a shark: If it stops moving, it dies. Without fresh postings,  even the most well-linked blog will quickly lose its audience."

Slate Magazine, Twilight of the Blogs: Are they over as a business? by Daniel Gross. February, 2006.   "As a cultural phenomenon, blogs are in their gangly adolescence.  As businesses, blogs may have peaked."   

Gallop Poll on Blog Readership "Gallup's latest examination of Americans' online habits finds that one in five Web users read Web-logs, or "blogs," either frequently or occasionally. Though this translates into 40 million readers, it relegates blogs to the bottom pack of Internet activities, among the 13 for which Gallup recently measured Americans' use. Like most Web activities, blog readership hasn't increased over the past year or so,even though Americans are spending more time online."

So, this is the backlash hype.  The WSJ article offers the middle ground:

"Reports of blogging's demise are bosh, but if we're lucky, something else really is going away: the by-turns overheated and uninformed obsession with blogging. Which would be just fine, because it would let blogging become what it was always destined to be: just another digital technology and method of communication, one with plenty to offer but no particular claim to revolution.

My bet: Within a couple of years blogging will be a term thrown around loosely -- and sometimes inaccurately -- to describe a style and rhythm of writing, as well as the tools to publish that writing. This is already happening: One of the chief problems with some chronicles of blogging's demise is their confusion about definitions, aconfusion that's mirrored in efforts to measure blogs' popularity or to say anything that can apply to bloggers as a group."

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Knowledge in the Public Interest Announces Blog

via an email from Diania Woolis

The KPI blog will explore diverse facets of knowledge management practice, research, and theory -- from community of practice (COP) strategy, to emerging technologies, to conferences and events taking place around the world.

We're excited to share what we're discovering about knowledge management for the nonprofit, public, and philanthropic sectors as we do our work -- and for you to post your critiques and ideas. Together we can pool our insights and assist one another in serving our clients and communities more effectively.

In that spirit we are also pleased to release our latest whitepaper, "The Revolution Is Online: Two Polilogue Case Studies."  Over the past two years we have worked with new online communities of practice in the public and non-profit sectors. Some communities took off, exceeding the goals they set out to achieve. Several didn't -- but the process still had beneficial effects on the organization and the team. And for many, it was somewhere in between.  "The Revolution Is Online" explores how the successes prove the power of this approach to knowledge management, and what the underperformers suggest about setting the parameters for investment.

Another one to read on the plane to Seattle.  Wonder if there is anything different from the findings here.

Blogging as professional development

Mark D. Wagner writes the Educational Technology and Life Blog - his tagline "Context-embedded, Inquiry-driven, and Socially-negotiated Learning."  Anyway, his blog was one of the first edtech blogs I started to follow and he emailed me recently to let me know he has a new domain and wordpress blog.

So, I popped over to land on a post about burn out ... and the lack of time.  I've been preparing a story about nonprofit blogging and professional development based on a colleague's experience in Cambodia for an upcoming NTC panel -- so I was stroke by his words:

"I feel as if half the learning I’ve done while in my phd program has
been facilitated by this blog. I certainly would not have connected
with the experts and practitioners that I have without it. But, on the
flip side… there are several hours each week (sometimes each day) that
I am spending on reading feeds and writing about them) that I could be
putting toward my phd, and this balance may need to shift back to the
phd for the next year."

It made me think about this post-it note that I photographed from a workshop ten years ago ... with art teachers on the issue of integrating digital tools into their instruction.    I used this technique called the "Wall of Reflection" and put up butcher block paper with the topics.   After we each section, I encouraged them to reflect on experience and share via post it notes.   The reflection question was about how the challenge of transfer - how will you take the skills you've learned today in powerpoint or photoshop or whatever the hell I was teaching and integrate them into your life.

I think about the issue of integrating blogging into my daily life .. and constant balancing act that Mark describes.  It's about balance.   Blogging for professional development - your own professional development can give you the time and space to reflect before and after experiences.  (As well as connect you to other practictioners and experts in your field.)

P2Paid

Check this out.  It's still in beta.  It's called People To People Aid.  The goal is: p2pAid.org is a website that aims to connect people in situations of extreme need, with people who can and wish to contribute to alleviate, even just once, human suffering.  

The Nonprofit Nook on OneWorld U.S

OneWorld U.S. has a blog and it has a nonprofit nook.  The main purpose of the blog, according to the "about" page, is: The purpose of the OneWorld U.S. blog is to facilitate networking, collaboration & the sharing of information and ideas about global and local issues.  It looks a blog community that is just getting started.

There is an interesting article by Roshani Kothari on photo tips and tricks who is a wonderful photographer.  Check out her global mosaics gallery.  The photo above is from Ghana.

Nonprofit Blogging as Business Lunch

My colleague Celeste who blogs at the studio501c blog responded to my invitation to help answer the question "To blog or not to blog that is the question."   (The ideas presented in my post are the collective thinking of  John Lorance from CompuMentor,  Nancy White from Full Circle, and Marshall Kirkpatrick.  We will be addressing this issue as part of the session on Nonprofit Blogging at the NTC Conference in Seattle in two weeks. )

Celeste suggests that nonprofits consider the concept of a "business-lunch-blog" -- a simple, general blog that chronicles events and ideas in the life of the nonprofit organization. 

She says: 

"I call it that because the tone and topics are similar to that of a conversation you might have with one of your stakeholders -– a donor, client, staff member, board member -- over lunch. I also think the metaphor helps overcome popular misconceptions about blogs, e.g., that they are only suited to heavy political discussions or chronicles of the antics of your cats."

She makes the point that nonprofit blogs can still be effective with one author and cautions against offering prescriptive blogging rules.

While a business-lunch blog could certainly involve many contributors, it can just as easily and effectively be authored by -- gasp -- a central authority, even -- gasp again -- PR and marketing people, as the case seems to be with this excellent example of a business-lunch blog from the Air Conditioning Contractors of America. (The gasps are not poking fun at Beth, just at some of the dogma I’ve heard about nonprofit and business blogging.)

Even if only one person posts to the blog on behalf of the whole organization, I think it’s best, and more in keeping with the more personal nature of blogging, if the poster’s name is published with each entry. (I recommend this especially if there’s a chance that more than one person will post to the blog in the future.) Note, however, that the posts on this well regarded blog of the humanitarian organization Interplast are not identified with a particular author -- proof that a blog can be great even if it doesn’t follow every rule ever published about blogging.

She offers some great examples of what types of post the business lunch nonprofit blog might offer.

Great thinking Celeste!   Will be you be in Seattle in two weeks?  Or perhaps you'd like to SKYPE into our panel and say a few words?

Tracking the Currion Meme

That could be the title of a thriller movie or mystery novel ...

Blame Paul Currion who blogs at humanitarian.info.  He started the meme about asking for NGO related resources by pushing it out to Nancy White, Hell's Dire Agent, Jennine, Taran, and Declan.  Nancy tagged Joitske, Brit, and me.   Nancy choose resources more specific to those looking to use distributed group processes and technology in their work. (Note to self: This is all needs an inspiration map to show the relationships and how the content of the meme has morphed ...and some reflection on memes ....)

So, I went back to Paul's original post to read it slowly and I just discovered NGO Manager.  Here's their elevator speech:

"NGO Manager aspires to provide a comprehensive range of nonprofit management services to managers of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including training courses and consultancy, and research on how to improve management capacity building."

Okay, it is a Swiss version of Compasspoint but focused on humanitarian organizations.

Here's more information about how and why it was created:

NGO Manager was created by a small group of professionals working in the humanitarian sector in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 2001. Their starting point was to help NGOs improving their management capacity and performance through a non-profit Internet service. Members from the association NGO Management Group (NMG) maintain and develop the website. NMG is a small independent nonprofit association based near Geneva in Switzerland. Its members are NGO management specialists and practitioners who are working in the fields of development, environment, humanitarian aid and education in the South and the North. Several of NMG's members accomplished their studies in NGO management in the London School of Economics' Centre for Civil Society.

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