Beth's Blog: Nonprofits and Social Media

Do Nonprofits Need To Consider iPads in their Mobile/WebStrategy?

My son, Harry, who likes most kids his age, loves screens: computer, video games, and television.  "Screen Time" is our house is limited and a reward for good behavior.  He, of course, was very aware of the launch of iPad and wanted one. (Me too)

So after a good report card, I acquired an iPad.  Right now we're using it to play Blokus, a game that we have played together as family for years in its analog form.  The game teaches strategy and visual skills.   The iPad version lets you play against the CPU, in tournaments, alone, and with others, including multi-players.    It has a coaching mode so you can improve strategy.  I also found a coloring and drawing app  that my daughter is enjoying, although I must admit that I'm having fun with it too.

The device isn't just a toy for the kids (or me.) I also have been exploring the iPad professional uses.  So far, it is useful for note taking, live tweeting at conferences, and checking email on the go.  I also admit that the first app I downloaded was one for google analytics - it's great for browsing data.  Most of all, I like using it to read web content over coffee away from my desktop.  I like it better than my smart phone because I don't need 300x reading glasses to read the screen and it is nice and light.   

So, I was curious when I saw the question from the Chronicle of Philanthropy on Twitter about nonprofits and the iPad.  The post points to an interesting article about the iPad user experience by Jeremy Rue. In short, the iPad is a lean back versus lean forward media.   The post muses about the implications for nonprofits:

Organizations that think about how they can build  an experience that truly captures their missions will have an advantage in attracting people who use tablets.

While acknowledging that thinking about integrating iPad apps is something that isn't yet widespread, the Chronicle is wondering what iPad apps early adopter nonprofits are working on for constituent engagement? This might be something along the lines of an interactive game that engages people around a cause.

This may not require the development of a native app, it could be something interactive on a web site that can be accessed via your iPad.  In fact, I was able to join LiveStrong's Join the Ride Online Event using my iPad. This online event allows you to create your own virtual bike and race through the California landscape using your story to invite more people to join us in the fight against cancer.  (BTW, their Partners RadioShack will donate $75,000 if LiveStrong can get 10,000 to join in the next 48 hours.)

I ran into Peter Conlon, the CEO of Ammado, an online giving platform, was eager to not only show me his iPad, but that one could make a donation online using their widgets.

One area of iPad development are "productivity" or "enterprise" apps that allow users to link back to a CRM or other database.  Computerworld wrote about enterprise apps mentioning one from Blackbaud.   So, not only is there front-end, but there is also a back-end, which assumes that the nonprofit has the iPad.

There is also another area for development and that is iPad apps for program/service delivery.  Take for example this app that allows deaf people to test their hearing.  Or VolunteerMatch which launched an iPhone and iPad app recently.

Conclusion

Amid the hype around the iPad and apps, there will be lots of potential ways that nonprofits could use iPad apps to support their missions - from engagement, fundraising, enterprise and program delivery as there is more widespread adoption by end users.   Right now, nonprofits should recognize that we're still in the early stages and there's no compelling rush to get seduced by shiny object syndrome. 

We'll no doubt watch a few nonprofit early adopters test the waters with native iPad app development, although it's bound to be expensive until we have other options.  In the meantime, iPad can also be used to access web content, so easy place to start is to see if you're getting web visits via iPads and then make sure your web site content is iPad ready

What's your take on iPads and Nonprofits?

Zoetica Iphone App and More Thoughts On Nonprofit iPhone Apps

I'm happy to announce that our Zoetica iPhone application, is now live on the iTunes store.  It provides a complication of nonprofit tech and social change blog feeds. So, now you read a great collection of nonprofit, social change, and social media content your iPhone (download now). Content feeds on the application include:

• The Zoetica Link Feed
• The Case Foundation Blog
• Chronicle of Philanthropy Give and Take
• Great NonProfits
• Allison Fine's Blog
• Social Edge Blogs
• Care2's FrogLoop
• Britt Bravo's Have Fun, Do Good Blog
• Working Wikily
• Kivi's NonProfit Communications Blog
• IdealWare Blog
• Philanthropy 2173
• The NTEN Blog
• Katya's Nonprofit Marketing Blog

We want to thank AppMakr for partnering with us to build and develop this iPhone application. If you do download, and you have feedback on the application, please let us now.

iPhone App 1-2-3:  Build, Distribute, and Promote Through All Channels

As a prelude to this launch, back in January I created an iPhone app for Beth's Blog also using AppMakr.  It was a low risk experiment on AppMakr to test drive the service before selecting a vendor and to learn what was involved.  AppMakr offers a very user friendly interface to create a native iPhone application that you customize with images and content feeds  The result is a simple informational app rich in content.   

It is a great service for nonprofits that want to serve up content for supporters on an iPhone, but have an extremely limited budget, no design skills, and lack iPhone programming expertise.   But using the service to create the application is only one third of the process.  You need to get it approved and published on iTunes for distribution and, of course, you have to promote outside of the iTunes.  iPhone apps are not a build it and they will come project!

I'm seeing more and more nonprofits add iPhone apps (or other mobile apps) to their marketing mix.  For example, just take a look at the explosion of mobile apps for museums.  and especially since the dramatic success of the Red Cross Haiti text fundraising.   But text fundraising is a whole different type of project than delivering content which might make a good "toe in the water with mobile" low-cost experiment. 

But there is a whole more possible than simple content delivery. The Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (CAFB) recently launched iPheedANeed, the first iPhone application launched by a food bank to-date. It is designed to do more than deliver content on the issue of hunger in Central Texas, it also has interactive components such as a game featuring a virtual "Kitchen Cupboard," where users can stock their kitchen shelves with healthy, non-perishable food items they've caught.  (Going beyond content delivery does require a bit more resources in the creation/production of the app)

Promoting Your App Through Multi-Channels

There are many creative ways that you can market and promote your iPhone or other mobile app to your target audiences through multiple channels.  You want to incorporate it in your existing marketing strategy and the very first thing you should do is put a big link and announcement to your iPhone App to download on your web site, blog, social media profiles, print publications, etc.  In addition to the iTunes store, there are other directories and curated niche lists.  And, of course, you want to track with analytics what tactics work or not, and improve over time.

What iphone marketing tactics have you used that were successful?  What are some creative ways that nonprofits are marketing their mobile apps to target audiences?

 

Nonprofits Should Consider SMS Fundraising With Eyes Wide Open

Photo by OxMour

Maybe I'm jaded.  But having been in the nonprofit technology since 1993, I've seen a predictable pattern of cycles with new tools and technology.  It closely follows Gartner's Technology Hype Cycle

• Technology Trigger
• Inflated Expectations
• Trough of Disillusionment
• Slope of Enlightenment
• Plateau of Productivity

With nonprofits, the Trough of Disillusionment comes when we start to understand the real challenges in implementing a new technology and stop looking at as a panacea that will solve all our problems.  Or be bailout for our nonprofit.

The Haiti crisis demonstrated that text to give fundraising can be a powerful tool, particularly as an "early responder" fundraising technique in disaster. But will the dramatic text fundraising that we saw the Red Cross experience translate to every non-profit that wants to add it to their tool bag?

I like the way that Allison Fine reflected on this question last week.  How does she feel about text to give?  Trepidatious.

Geoff Livingston has written a good piece on Mashable that throws a little cold water SMS/Text To Give Campaigns by pointing out the challenges and limitations.  The reality is that there are challenges - cost, vendors, and other limitations.

The technology isn't cheap to set up.  In fact, according to the post it can be expensive, anywhere from $3,000-10,000.   And, just like other technology tools, like online credit card transactions, nonprofits end up paying a transaction fee of 5-10% back to the vendor.     So, deciding to incorporate a SMS campaign should  include a traditional nonprofit technology ROI analysis that analyzes the benefits, value, and financial analysis.  It may not make sense for your nonprofit to get mobile  

The set up cost is out of reach for many smaller/mid-sized nonprofits, and especially since the vendors require a minimum budget of $500,000 to have the right to purchase service.  Geoff also points out that text donations are limited to small donations and organizations don't get the donor contact information, thus closing the door to ongoing engagement and relationship building not to mention potentially missing out on an important ROI - the lifetime value of a donor. 

Geoff goes onto make a point that I find myself making over and over about the need to link the use of the tools to an overall communications and engagement strategy.  He also encourages nonprofits to look at other ways to incorporate the use of mobile technology as part of a communications strategy or program delivery. (The place to look for lots of ideas and advice is MobileActive.

Allison Fine makes another good point: "It seems to me that relationship building with a first engagement being a cell phone number is going to be inherently difficult."  

Geoff ends his piece with a point about looking at other options which may be the only choice for the smaller nonprofits.  Recently, AppMakr rolled out its service that lets anyone create a iPhone app for less than $200.  In fact, I created one for Beth's Blog!  But be careful, I was asked a lot of questions about my blog's audience size and reach and only after looking over my stats (subscribers, page views, Twitter followers) was my app accepted.

For me, the most interesting piece is looking to the future.  When will we see a Network for Good for text fundraising campaigns?  What are some of the best practices for incorporating mobile into your communications and engagement tool box?

SMS Fundraising Campaign for Breast Cancer

Given the visible success of the Haiti text to give campaigns, SMS is bound to become one of the tools in the an organization's fundraising bag if it isn't already.

Today I heard about Drew Olanoff's latest fundraising campaign, a text to give strategy on behalf of Boarding for Breast Cancer.  Here's how it works:

Every time someone texts “tp4bc” to 60611, the textPlus mobile address, textPlus will donate $1 to Boarding for Breast Cancer, a non-profit, youth-focused education, awareness, and fundraising foundation whose mission is to increase awareness about breast cancer, the importance of early detection and the value of an active lifestyle. 

textPlus, a mobile app, offers users free texting with group text capability.  What's cool is that Drew’s employer GOGII is the mobile app developers behind textPlus a free group texting application available on the iphone and android platforms. 

This is not the first time Drew Olanoff has taken to the social web to fundraise for cancer.  Last May after Drew Olanoff was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, he launched a charity called blamedrewscancer.com which donated $1 dollar to the LIVESTRONG foundation for every person that followed @DrewFromTV, the twitter handle of comedian Drew Carey.  The charity has raised $15,000 dollars to date and is a great example of personal fundraising that leverages the power of social media.

If you are looking for information about to design and implement an effective sms campaign, Allyson Kapin has a post that includes tips, as well as a description of some of the challenges.  Her tips include:

If your nonprofit is thinking of launching a mobile fundraising campaign, it’s critical that you develop a multi-channel marketing and outreach plan to spread the word and maximize donations. For example:

• Start with emailing your online activists and donors and place your shortcode and keyword front and center. Include a “Forward to a Friend” link and a “Share This” app on the landing page so people can promote it to social networks too. Reinforce this in a follow up thank you email as well.

• Leverage social networks. Tweet the “text to donate” campaign. Ask followers to pass it on. Post it to your Facebook Fanpage and any other social networks your organization is active on. Report back on key milestones. The American Red Cross has done a terrific job in the last 72 hours of reporting how much money they are raising via mobile, the work they are doing on the ground, etc.

• Paid advertising such as banner ads, keywords and text ads are excellent and fast ways to promote your campaign to millions of people and grow your list at the same time.

• Follow up with your donors. Tell them about the progress you have made towards reaching your fundraising goals. Explain how their money is being spent. Share some personal stories by people who have been impacted by their donations.

 

Update: More from Heather Mansfield on mobile marketing best practices here and some

Has your organization incorporated text to give in it is fundraising bag of tricks? What have you learned about implementing these campaigns?  What are the best specific blog posts and resources out there on SMS fundraising?

Resources:

Fundraising with Social Media Reaching a Tipping Point by Allison Fine
Reflections on SMS Fundraising Campaigns by Allison Fine
Few Text Donors Opt In To Receive Updates by Chronicle

 

 

 

 

 

Beth's Blog: The Iphone App Version

I'm making my way back from vacation, slowly. 

I wanted to quickly share a new service called AppMakr that allows anyone - even me  - to easily create an iPhone app - for less than $200.   With just a few clicks, I created an iPhone version of my blog.

The service provides a very user friendly interface to create a native iPhone application that you customize with images and content feeds.   You can also monetize it by charging a fee or including ads.   The service can publish your iPhone to the app store or for a higher fee you can publish with your own branding. 

What you get is a very simple, informational iPhone app - it doesn't give you any interactive features that might be critical to achieving your goals.    However, you'd probably be paying far more than $200, perhaps even as much as $10,000 for a customized app.

However, let's say you knew that your supporters/audience were iPhone users and were asking for ways to access your content on their iPhones.  And, let's say you had an extremely limited budget, no design skills, and lacked iPhone programming expertise.   This service is an inexpensive way to get your organization's content into an native iPhone.

If you want to be successful, I suggest that you spend time designing and planning your app than I did.  For example, you could create multiple tabs.  You'll also need to think about ways to promote it to your audience so they can find it and download it.    And, of course, you'll need to figure out some metrics to measure your success.

If you're contemplating setting up a low cost experiment, AppMakr is offering a big discount to readers of this blog.  You can create an iPhone app for $50.  Just type in KANTER in the coupon area.  The discount is good from 1/4 to 1/18.

Network + Self-Organizing + Location + Data Visualization = 2010

I've been playing in a sand box to explore online collaboration/social media tools and how they support network weaving.  The big ah ha for me during our reflection that was that effective online collaboration tools for working in a networked way can't have top-down control interaction design.  This gets in the way of everyone being able to do a little bit of work.  It isn't just about tool features, you have to understand how working in a networked way is embedded in the interaction design of the tool. 

I think it is more than just having self-organizing values embedded in the way the tool works.  I think these are four qualities to look for:

• Network:  This is a collection of people and organizations that linked together.  It's your professional social network or a network of organizations or typically both.
• Self-Organizing:  The ability for people to work together without a centralized or top down coordinator.  It means letting go of control and letting others help you.
• Location:   We are no longer tethered to our desktops or offices, but with mobile phones, GPS, and other "where" technology, location is important.
• Data Visualization:  Given the volume of information and our ability to connect with more people, in order to manage our work visualization is now critical.   This comes in the form of maps or other creative ways to see our networks.

It's funny how you discover an insight and then apply that lens to what you're seeing and patterns emerge.   I've come across three different tools that embed these principles.  These ideas are going to have an impact on the way nonprofits use the Web in 2010 and into the next couple of years.

Lucy Bernholz tipped me off to Groundcrew is a web/mobile software that organizes groups of people in real time in real life to work on projects and allows for complex coordination of tasks and communities.   As the name implies, it is a way to turn the crowd into a crew.   Network members can see who is available to help at any moment and can quickly communicate assignments to help people work together.  This is a synthesis of real time tracking with real time coordination. 

Stowe Boyd did a video interview and analysis and comments on the "participation design"

I am particularly impressed by the self-organizing qualities of Groundcrew, around 'participation design', where the volunteers are handed more control about how their involvement should be applied in some project or activity, instead of just being told what to do.

I haven't played with it because the tool isn't free (after 30 day trial).   I don't want to fall into the "if you build they will come" trap.   This tool might work best for organizations that have already built a network on Twitter or Facebook - and could import their friends into the system or have a way to identify people in a geographic area who have an interest in their project or work.  

This tools like a good match for organizations that have the networked mindeset - value self-organizing and open participation.  I'm thinking about organizations such as 350 or Moms Rising.  For more traditional institutions that have worked in a particular way, embracing this tool might require addressing some cultural/change management issues first.

My Plancast for SXSW Session:  Crowdsourcing Social Change

I recently came across a tool called "Plan Cast" which incorporates these concepts but in a different way.  It is a social network where you share your future plans with your friends.  You can also follow other people's plans.  It easily allows you to share that information with your networks on Facebook or Twitter.   It is a little bit more flexible than the social travel applications like TripIt because you enter any type of event.  I've been noticing that in the comments a little bit of self-organizing on going.

Christine Egger shared an interesting presentation tool called Prezi that allows you to bust out of the linear powerpoint trap and present in a more flexible way. This might be a useful application if you're doing a session where you want to avoid talking at people, but want to integrate some visuals. Or, if you're presenting complex ideas - to be able to provide a macro, micro view.

How do you see the ideas of network, self-organizing, location, and data visualization impacting your nonprofit's work?  What tools have you been using that incorporate these concepts?

Alexandra Rampy, Guest Post: The Cool Factor About Mobile

Courtesy of Alexandra Rampy, publisher of SocialButterfly

Mobile. What do we do with this one word? We CAN do so much. Rather than go on, instead, I want to give some examples and highlight the cool factor of how mobile can add some out-of-the-box type thinking to an overall health and/or social marketing-related initiative.

(Granted, any initiative must go beyond cool, and must not be done solely for the cool factor. But, for creative juices, let’s show off some coolness.)

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Organization(s): The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the University of Georgia’s New Media Institute
Objective: Get the word out about National HIV Testing Day

Cool Factor: Personal PSAs, 24 Hours, and Collaboration.

In one day, more than 20 students from 6 universities and five AIDS organizations hit the streets with only cellphone video cameras to produce 8 short video messages to encourage youth to be tested for HIV. (Personal PSAs are those shared via mobile and social networks, in addition to being user-generated.)

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Organization(s): University of Auckland Clinical Trials Research Unit and Healthphone Solutions
Objective: Using Mobile SMS Technology to increase individual smoking cessation success.

Cool Factor: Txt2Quit. 480 Customized Text Messages. 26 Week Program.

This is a tested and research-based product produced to help individuals quit smoking. The program was presented at the Texting for Health Conference this past February, and hopes to provide the tool in multiple languages as well!

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Organization(s): The 2007 Live Earth Concerts, The Ethical Reputation Index and LightSpeed Research
Objective: 1) Measure the effectiveness among 18-45 year olds of event sponsorship and advertising in real-time and 2) Measure this audience’s interest in green issues raised by the global concerts and sponsors.

Cool Factor: Mobile as a research tool.

The first example was using mobile to raise awareness and increase a call to action. The second example offered a product to those working to stop smoking. This example expands the uses of mobile by showing how it can be used as a medium to conduct research. In case your curious, the response rate was 20% and most notably, the research was done, fast, with results given that same day.

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Organization(s): The Fair & Lovely Foundation and Hindustan Unilever Limited
Objective: Increase the visibilty and utilization of the Fair & Lovely Foundation’s scholarship program among women and girls in low-income groups in rural and urban India.

Cool Factor: Cost Effective. Wide Reaching. Full Approach.

All elements of mobile marketing were utilized in this campaign: an SMS Blast, SMS Shortcode (a code word/number individuals can respond to), interactive voice response, banner advertising, a microsite and the Lead Capturing Zone that induced the call to action for individuals to apply for the scholarship. As a result, over 44,000 student applied in 1.5 months and 2 million page impressions were gained from the banner advertising.

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Organization(s): Macmillan Cancer Support
Objective: Provide an alternative route to collect donations for those not wanting to donate online via credit or debit card.

Cool Factor: Mobile as a fundraising channel.

For this organization and through this campaign, SMS donations was the most successful mechanism with 59% of donations being made through text.

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Organization(s): Save the Children and Verizon Wireless
Objective: Provide lifesaving assistance during the natural disasters that occurred in China and Myanmar.

Cool Factor: Assists during times of emergency.

Individuals could text 4SAVE with the word ‘quake’ to donate to earthquake relief or the keyword ‘cycloce’ to contribute to the cyclone relief. Upon texting, a reply asking for confirmation will be sent and a $5 donation will be added to the person’s phone bill.

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Organization(s): Major universities and colleges across the country.
Objective: Implement an emergency notification system for all the University campus community.

Cool Factor: Campus Alert System. Emergency Preparedness.

Across the country, universities and colleges are implementing emergency alert systems through mobile and email technology to prevent another Virginia Tech tragedy. It’ll be interesting to see how other systems and institutions implement a similar strategy.

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Organization(s): mGive & Keep A Child Alive, mGive & the Washington Nationals, The MLB and the Children’s National Medical Center, mGive & The All-Star Game, Stand Up for Cancer, and Make a Wish Foundation
Objective: mGive & Keep A Child Alive: Move people to donate during Alicia Key ‘As I Am’ tour; mGive & the Washington Nationals: When the Nationals play the Houston Astros, fans will be asked to donate to the Children’s National Medical Center to fight pediatric diabetes through a mobile/text campaign; mGive & The All-Star Game, Stand Up for Cancer, and Make a Wish Foundation: fans will be asked to donate to these two non-profits during the All-Star game through a mobile program.

Cool Factor: Mobile Giving. Integrated Marketing.

Mobile giving is now becoming a trend. Through the Alicia Keys mobile campaign, over $40,000 was raised to support Keep a Child Alive. mGive itself is a social giving company that helps non-profits utilize mobile technology to increase their fundraising efforts. To see the latest campaigns (including combining broadcast television commercials with a mobile call to action), check out their blog. The Mobile Giving Foundation currently keeps a list of all 36 ongoing mobile giving campaigns.

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Organization(s): The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Objective: Provide a home site for of CDC’s mobile information about hurricane preparedness and the flu season.

Cool Factor: Government Goes Mobile.

Due to the increasing amount of dangerous hurricane like Katrina, Gustav and Ike, the CDC recently created a mobile Web site to further assist during times of emergency. I see this site growing as the use of mobile increases, but it’s a great first step and a good role model for other government agencies.

***************

Organization(s): Meir Panim (Network of Soup Kitchens in Israel)
Objective: Increase donations for the soup kitchens, while also communicating an individual’s impact on the cause.

Cool Factor: Shows Impact on the Spot.

Meir Panim ran an interactive campaign with banner advertisements asking individuals to ‘SMS for Lunch‘ a promotional interactive campaign: On their website a boy was featured, facing an empty plate. The site encouraged donations and once the system received the SMS, the banner changed to show a full plate of food with the boy smiling. Talk about realtime impact!

***************

MORE:

• The Mobile Marketing Association provides a larger list of mobile initiatives, separated by industry.
• The Mobile Giving Foundation currently keeps a list of all 36 ongoing mobile giving campaigns.
• The blog MobileActive.org has a directory listing of non-profits using mobile technology, as well as a list of tools and vendors.

From these examples, we’ve seen how mobile technology can be used to:

• Raise Awareness.
• Provide a product.
• Be an instrument for research.
• Be cost-effective, fast, and provide results.
• Be a fundraising tool.
• Be creative.
• Encourage mobile giving.
• Extend a current campaign.
• Be another medium to integrate into a marketing program.

What other mobile campaigns exist that you think have an extra dose of the cool factor?

Flickr photo credit: Milica Sekulic by CC Attribution 2.0 Generic license

This article was originally posted on SocialButterfly at http://www.fly4change.com/http:/www.fly4change.com/the-cool-factor-about-mobile/213 by Alexandra Rampy:

Alex Rampy is a social marketing believer, blogger, practitioner, researcher and enthusiast who works and writes on social marketing, social change and social media initiatives.

My Treo Can Find A New Life on the Frontlines of Global Health, But What Should I Replace It With?

That's a video I took at NTC after dinner when we all wandered into the Apple Store. I realized that I was the only one in the group who didn't have an Iphone.  I've been using a Treo600 for five years and waiting for it to die before getting the next phone.

It's so old that it is retro now.

It's time to let go.   And, I just heard about a way to give my old treo a new life on the frontlines of global health!

FrontlineSMS:Medic today launched Hope Phones, a nationwide mobile phone collection campaign supporting mHealth programs at medical clinics in over 30 countries. The campaign will make use of old cell phones in the US to provide phones for clinics and healthcare workers in the developing world.

According to Hope Phones, cell phones are valuable tools in the battle to reduce disease and illness. The field of mHealth - the provision and coordination of health-related services via mobile communications - is blossoming in response to a global shortage of healthcare workers and the demonstrated impact made by simple, mobile tools.

Hope Phones will make use of the nearly 450,000 cell phones discarded every day in the US. HopePhones.org allows donors to print a free shipping label and send their old phone in to The Wireless Source, a global leader in wireless device recycling. The phone’s value allows FrontlineSMS:Medic to purchase usable, recycled cell phones for healthcare workers.

Okay, that makes it easy.  But what should I replace it with?

But, should I succumb to the Iphone? 

I posted this on Twitter and the advice boiled down to this:

• IPhone lovers came out of the woodwork in larger numbers
• One or two warned that Iphone is candy, avoid it.  Instead get a Nokia or Android.

It strikes me that I didn't ask the right question. I should be asking - What SmartPhone will best support my mobile work flow and communications needs?

• Browse web
• Ability to access my google docs, calendar, and gmail - not only read, but edit
• Ability to read/respond on social sites - FB, FF, Twitter, etc
• Decent Phone
• Ability to type well
• Good camera, doesn't have to be video but that would be nice
• Entertain me when I'm bored in airports

Well, when I saw that Creative Whack Pack is an app on the IPhone, I though that airplane time might be more fun.

Considering ...

Nokia N97 (not out yet)
Nokia E71
IPhone  (when is next version out?)
Android

I need to look at the costs, carriers, and actually feel the phones in my hands.

What do mobile phones, baseball, and pediatric Diabetes have in common?

Photo by Christopher Dale

A text to give campaign will make its major league debut at a professional sporting event on the July 13th  “Children’s National Day at Nationals Park.  This a special day will highlight and support the partnership between the Washington Nationals and Children’s National Medical Center to fight pediatric diabetes.  (The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation has given $2 million toward the creation of a new $5 million diabetes care complex at Children’s.)  Baseball fans can buy discounted tickets for the 1:35 game against the Houston Astros and have $15 from every ticket be donated to the Children’s Medical Center. 

During the game, the Nationals and Major League Baseball will launch a mobile giving campaign. All fans at the stadium – and people anywhere – will be invited to text a one-word message to a special five-digit number and a $5 donation will go to Children’s.  The donation will be added to the donor’s phone bill.

According to the Mobile Giving Foundation, which is making this initiative possible, this technology was used successfully during this year’s Super Bowl, but this will be the first time mobile giving has been used in a stadium at a professional sporting event to allow fans to support a charity.  More from MobileActive about Text-to-Give campaigns in America and elsewhere.

Last February, Mobile Active reported on the Sunday’s Super Bowl launch of a United Way fund-raising campaign using mobile phone text messaging.  The campaign was also noted by Philanthropy 2173 Blog (Lucy Bernholz) who asked, "Texting votes to American Idol is old hat - will it work for giving?" 

In a May 2008 post in Read/Write Web about Text to Give Campaigns:

Mobile Giving is certainly a growing trend meant to capitalize on the ubiquity of cell phones and their heavy use by members of the younger generation. We'll definitely start seeing more of these "text to give" campaigns in the future, but it seems that, today, only Verizon seems to offer a campaign for China and Myanmar aid, which is disappointing.

It will be interesting to watch the continued evolution of "text to give" in the US and how this fundraising strategy will be used by more and more nonprofits here in the US. 

Using Mobile Phones for Fundraisingin the United States: Texting for A Cause

If you follow the mobile active blog, you'll know that in other areas of the world, using text messages to make a donation is commonplace.  Last Friday, Mobile Active reported on the Sunday’s Super Bowl launch of a United Way fund-raising campaign using mobile phone text messaging.  The campaign was also noted by Philanthropy 2173 Blog (Lucy Bernholz) who asks, "Texting votes to American Idol is old hat - will it work for giving?" and subsequently picked up by the Give and Take Bog.

The Mobile Active post provides some additional context about how the campaign was funded and mentions other Text-to-Give campaigns in America.

The program is made possible through a partnership of the National Football League, Mobile Accord, United Way, and the Mobile Giving Foundation, and supported by VeriSign. The Mobile Giving Foundation is a new nonprofit aimed at facilitating more efficient and cost-effective mobile fundraising in the United States. The donations from the program will go to support the "Hometown Huddle" program, a collaboration between the NFL and the United Way that brings NFL football players to local communities for youth fitness programs. According to the ad, one in three children in the United States is overweight or obese. Watch the 10-second commercial here on YouTube.

Previous mobile fundraising campaigns have included Text-to-Give campaigns to raise money during Hurricane Katrina and the Southern California fires this past October. In other countries, text-to-give programs are more common, with many interesting and innovative campaigns. You can read more on mobile fundraising around the world here on the MobileActive blog.

 

 

Learnings and Reflections from BlogHer about Mobile Phones for Video Blogging and Beyond

Photo 1

Photo 2

I'm going to the Cambodian Blogger Summit in a few weeks.  One of the ideas I've been exploring is the whole notion of video blogging from Cambodia by Cambodians.  While I was in Chicago, Ryanne Hodson, who I met at last year's BlogHer, is in Cambodia and Southeast Asia with Jay Dedman to document the work of Project Hope International.  (The back story is here)   

I'm going to bring over video blogging kits - inexpensive cameras, rechargeable batteries, SD cards, and Ryanne's book.  However, in one of the discussion threads on the Summit wiki, there has been mention about using cameraphones or smart phones for this in addition to. 

So, while at BlogHer 07 I had a little bit of a personal learning mission: What can I learn about mobile video blogging in a global context?    My travel hassles combined with sleep deprivation made it really difficult to write complete sentences.  But, the brain fog has started to fade.    As always, I got a lot out of BlogHer, so I wanted to capture here in case anyone else is wondering about this topic.

The photographs above were taken on the last day of Blogher, at the Unconference on Sunday morning facilitated by the talented Kaliya Hamlin who blogs about unconferences here.  My first exposure to "unconferences" or Open Space Technology  was during a week-long arts and education professional development seminar in 1997.  I remember being inspired by it.  It's been a year since I had an "unconference experience," having participated in the Dialogue and Deliberation Conference last summer and facilitated by Lisa Heft.

The group organizes and selects the topics and the learning is through discussion, peer to peer. One of the rules of Open Space Technology is "prepared to be surprised" and the people who show up are the right people.   I put out a call for a session "Mobile Blogging and Video Blogging: I know nothing, educate me."   Three other people, Elizabeth Perry, Valerie Brown, and Snigdha Sen came to the table.  (Snigdha Sen is a journalist and contributing editor at Blogher)

After introducing ourselves and realizing that we all thought we knew nothing about mobile video blogging, we decided to identify what we didn't know by formulating questions.  This is a great method for peer learning.  The questions are way more important than the answers.  Our questions were:

• What do you need to know about web/blog design so that your blog can be read by people on a mobile phone?
• What is the best blog platform for mobile bloggers?
• How do you make your blog/web site mobile friendly?
• How to best encourage people to engage in an online project/group that is discussing a physical location in the location itself using a mobile phone?  (This was Liz's question and it relates to this art project)
• How can a mobile device connect you to the physical environment?
• If you were creating some instructional materials about mobile video blogging in a developing country, like say Cambodia, what are the most important points to cover? (that last question was mine and I had to draw myself a picture)
• What video hosting platforms support cell phones?

Here's where the coffee cup photos enter.  Liz answered my question with another question, "Perhaps it would be important to understand how to apply good asethetics to a tiny camera?"  This lead us to brainstorm a list:

• Closeups are a must - for picture and sound
• Rule of thirds
• Use of negative space
• Don't use zoom with cameraphone
• Shoot b-roll if you're doing editing and if it is in a noisy environment, include a b-shot of the noise source

Of course, we pulled out the digital camera because we're experiential learners and started to explore the ideas with hands-on practice.  The coffee cup photos show that it is important not only to photograph the object, but to consider the space around the object.

We had a few "bumble bees" buzz by our table.  One of them told us that there was a special plugin for wordpress that display the blog in style sheet that is readable on cell/mobile phones.  Something must have jogged Liz's memory and she said, Jan ChipChase.  It's a wonderful blog about mobile design and cell phones and I can't wait to dig in.

It was wonderful to see Georgia Popplewell (send from left) from Global s. I realized that it had been two years since we met face to face at the Global s Summit in London.  (As Ethan says - "the more interaction we have virtually, the more important it becomes to see people face to face).  Georgia moderated the Global Women's Panel with Amira Al Husseini (who also writes for Global s), Snidga Sen from BlogHer, and the incredibly smart Julia Rotich.  She pointed to a case study of using cell phones for mobile reporting.  (And, this was also mentioned on our discussion thread for the Cambodia Bloggers Summit too, but a different blog post.)

After the lunch on the second day, I sat down with Marshall Kirkpatrick to pick his brain on mobile video blogging and camera phones.   Marshall shared his personalized Google search engine and we used to identify a few good links which turned out to be very valuable.  The bookmarks are here.

This lead me to a little experiment with Blip.TV mobile posting.

Click to Play

When I got home, I remembered the work of colleague Joitske Hulsebosch who has taught video blogging in Ghana. I went back to look at her how-to which could be adapted easily for Cambodia.  As I was reviewing it, I noticed that Preetam Rai, who is in Singapore and is the Southeast Asian editor for Global s and who writes the fantastic blog "Better Days" was online.  I pinged him the link and some questions.  He suggested that a few pointers on shooting techniques and showing something like jumpcut because the video editing can be done online and convenient from a Internet Cafe. I edited this video for the campaign using jumpcut.

While at BlogHer, I was also online at the Cambodian Bloggers Summit page using the discussion area to get more background about mobile phones.

I was also curious about what brand of smart phones were primariliy in use in Cambodia. I learned about a mobile phone magazine in Khmer.  Virak Hor mentioned:

The most popular brand is NOKIA which has many smart phone series and price is cheaper than others, and the rest are those phones that is running Windows Mobile OS. Sony Ericsson is also a popular brand even most of their phone are not smart, but they are good for photo and video capturing.

Some Cambodians may have more than one phone as Borin explains here   Borin also writes about how he uses his mobile phone with his laptop to get online.  As Jinja pointed out, there is an issue around sustainability.

UPDATE:   Published on Mobileactive.org

Ring it On! Ringtones 08 - User Generated Cell Phone RingTones!

Jo Lee from CitizenSpeak emailed me to let me know that CitizenSpeak has a new sibling called RingTones08.com - a free site where  people can create and share ringtones about the 2008 election.
RingTones08.com is a joint Green Machine PR (Jo is a partner) and Mobile Active (Katrin Verclas) in partnership with Myxer.com. 

Jo says in email announcement,

"A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes well-chosen short political sound bites can rally a cause, make us laugh, and even sway an election.  Ringtones08.com is first free site that lets people easily create and share ringtones about the upcoming 2008 elections. Ringtones08 makes it quick and easy to create ringtones and broadcast opinions - from any political persuasion - about national or local candidates, issues, get out the vote, or any other subject dealing with the 2008 election. To post a ringtone, users simply go to RingTones08.com, click on "Submit Your Tone" and follow the steps on MyxerTones' site to upload their 20 second audio file."

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.