Cheap, Fast and Good

from frogloop: Cheap, Fast, and Good. Can Nonprofits have them All? When a nonprofit organization is beginning the process of doing a software implementation (such as a new website, or a new CRM or donation management product,) it is often unaware of the things that might underly whether such a project will succeed, how long it will take, and how much it will cost. Since nonprofits focus on their mission, and not software projects, that is an unknown to them, and understandably so. In software development or implementation projects, this triangle is often talked about. Software projects can be fast (that is, done quickly), done well, and/or cheap. But you only get to pick two of those. A project can be good, and cheap, but it won’t be done quickly. It can be fast and cheap, but it won’t... Continue Reading

Blogging Tips, Traps and Tales

Whether you already have a blog, or are thinking of beginning one, here’s a comprehensive article on what you should know – focused to the nonprofit world. from Fundraising Success: Blogging Tips, Traps and Tales In the webinar “Blogging for Nonprofits: Tips, Traps, and Tales” last month, Kivi Leroux Miller, founder of EcoScribe Communications and keeper of the Nonprofit Marketing Guide, covered blogging inside and out, including information about the types of blogs nonprofits can create and questions organizations should ask themselves to make sure a blog is right for them. [Translate] Bookmark:  Read More →

Is Your Website Tired?

from Fundraising Success Magazine: You Might Need to Redesign Your Web Site If … For most businesses and organizations, a Web site started out as an online billboard or brochure. As technology has changed – and it has done so at breakneck speed the last several years – Web sites have become online locations where audiences expect to get real services and take actions important to them. “Modernizing” your Web presence – particularly if it involves multiple sites, complex e-commerce applications or extensive libraries of content – can be a long, costly (and sometimes painful) experience… But how do you know whether it is time to redesign your Web site? Less than two years ago, a thoroughly modern Web site could ignore things with names like social media and RSS, accessibility... Continue Reading

Network for Good to Acquire ePhilanthropy Foundation

Network for Good, a leading provider of online fundraising services and how-to resources for nonprofits, announced today that it has acquired the ePhilanthropy Foundation, an educational organization helping other nonprofits to use best Internet practices. The move comes as Network for Good seeks to expand its help tools for nonprofits at a time when many small- to medium-sized organizations are struggling to raise funds and need assistance in starting online giving programs. Because of their low costs and high yield, online outreach programs are especially important during an economic downturn. Continue Reading [Translate] Bookmark:  Read More →

Do You Understand Social Media Value?

from Online Marketer Blog (tip to Miriam Kagan): ROI Of Social Media For Gen Y Audiences (And How To Convince Your Boss) Generation Y – roughly those aged 13-29 – are among the strongest consumers and influencers. And while social media like Facebook, delicious, and Flickr have garnered media attention, many businesses are still wary of dipping a toe in the social media water. I argue that we can gauge return on investment (or influence) for Gen Y by looking at their buying power and online behavior and therefore that it is imperative that (most) businesses participate in social media. Plus, I will give you the research to back up these assertions so you can prove it to your boss. Read more here. (image courtesy of jbhill on flickr) [Translate] Bookmark:  Read More →

Trends in Giving

Making Donations with a social conscience, keeping up with changing technology, bracing for an economic downturn – these are just a few of the stories in a special section called “Trends in Giving” in this week’s Forward. Here is a snapshot of just two: Technologically Impaired? Jewish Organizations Struggle To Keep Pace With New Technologies So what exactly is breaking down when you take the term “not-for-profit” and put the word “Jewish” in front of it? It could be a matter of where the money’s coming from. MoveOn.org and Kiva.org are both extremely well funded by a wide range of sources, which makes it easy for them to experiment with new technologies. Plus, many secular not-for-profits receive a push to embrace new technology from behind the scenes. “Some of the... Continue Reading

How to Set Up a Non-Profit Facebook Page

New features and other enhancements have been added to Facebook and nonprofits are learning more about making the best use of the popular social networking site. Let’s take a quick look now at the Facebook Pages for nonprofits. Read more from Wild Apricot. [Translate] Bookmark:  Read More →

The Generosity of Crowds

“It’s more difficult to give money away intelligently than it is to earn it in the first place.” Andrew Carnegie The US has over a million registered non-profit institutions including tens of thousands most have never heard of. You’d like to contribute, but effectively allocating your available funds among all these good causes seems like a hopeless task. Now comes an experimental website called Donation Dashboard, which uses machine learning techniques to recommend a customized portfolio of good causes based on individual ratings of sample non-profit organizations. Here’s how it works: the site visitor is presented with brief descriptions of non-profit institutions and asked to rate each in terms of how interested they are in donating to it. The system analyzes the ratings... Continue Reading

Linked Some More

A collection of one liners from yesterday evening’s panel; comments, ideas and thoughts. Each one is valuable. My apologies if I misquoted or took something improperly out of context. Chalk it up to making notes at 1 am. Allison Fine Email moves messages faster than anything in the history of the world Definition of a millenial: anyone who went to college with a laptop We need to go where they are. The challenge is they grew up in a 2.0 world and expect things to work that way. In other words, like open source software, this generation is seeking an ‘open system’ There is excess capacity in our social networks that care about our causes; the challenge is to maximize it Organizations need to be re-invented using these new tools Anything that connects your more to people will help your... Continue Reading

JCSA Gets It!

They really, really get it. Several hours ago JCSA concluded their annual meeting proving without a doubt that not only could they ‘walk the walk’ but were adept to ‘talk the talk’. The theme this year was titled LINKED: Maximizing technology for the future of the Jewish community. And for those who may feel that like other conferences they were only paying lip service to both new technologies and the new generation, I have a suggestion: call them to plan your next program! For not only was the topic relevant, they had ‘tuned-in’ and ‘on-point’ speakers; the event was live video-streamed welcoming participants from as far away as Israel and Russia; and they utilized Twitter, allowing those from afar to ask questions. Summing up the evening, panel moderator... Continue Reading

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