On the morning of Jan. 26, 2001, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the western Indian state of Gujarat. More than 20,000 people were killed and 160,000 injured, many of them crushed by falling buildings. International aid agencies flocked to the scene and began reconstruction. One year later, civil engineer Elizabeth Hausler traveled to Gujarat on a Fulbright scholarship, hoping to learn how she could use her skills to build homes that withstand tectonic shifts. She found that many survivors didn’t want to live in their new, donor-built earthquake-resistant houses because they were made…
Selected by tammiejones
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SSIR Articles
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Grassroots Concrete
3 Feb 2010 | 2:39 pm -
Second Chances and a Third Bottom Line
26 Jan 2010 | 4:14 pmInside the steel and glass office towers of Chile’s capital, Santiago, computers, printers, and faxes hum. Out on the streets, business executives and taxi drivers chat away on some of Chile’s 14 million cellular telephones. Urbanized, well educated, and home to 17 million people, Chile is one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America. And as is the case in the United States, all its electronic gadgets are beginning to lead to a whole lot of electronic waste. The country currently discards 300,000 computers a year, and by 2020 it will be grappling with an annual pile of 1.7… -
Strength Through Flexibility
20 Jan 2010 | 2:36 pmIn June 1992, the five founders of what became the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) met at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center on Lake Como, Italy. Each woman was a minister of education in her home country (Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, the Seychelles, and Zimbabwe). And each lamented that only half of Africa’s school-age girls enrolled in school. FAWE’s founders understood the obstacles that girls met on the way to the schoolhouse. Many parents simply couldn’t afford school tuition and fees. Others preferred to keep their daughters at home to perform household… -
An Ounce of Advocacy
11 Jan 2010 | 1:38 pmFor years before Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast, scientists, engineers, and journalists warned that New Orleans’ levees might not withstand the inevitable “Big One.” Yet government officials at every level ignored the warnings and cut the programs designed to fortify the city’s defenses. So when disaster finally struck in late August 2005, government agencies were woefully unprepared to deal with the devastation. Into this breach waded nonprofits and businesses. The American Red Cross, for instance, spent more than $2 billion and deployed 220,000 volunteers to assist… -
Podcasts
8 Jan 2010 | 3:01 pm
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Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media
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Opening Session at NASSCOM and Social Innovation Winners
9 Feb 2010 | 12:28 amLighting of the lamp is a traditional way to begin a conference here in India. I'm still very jet-lagged and adjusting to both the time zone and culture in Mumbai. I was lucky enough to have a front row seat in the reserved section with laptop and digital camera in hand to cover the opening ceremonies on Twitter. Following the #nilf was an excellent way to gain a better of understanding of what was happening on the stage. The opening session started with the lighting of a lamp and welcome from NASSCOM officials to the crowded ballroom fill with 1600 conference attendees from 27… -
The Universal Language of Technology Conferences: Schwag
8 Feb 2010 | 8:24 pmI arrived in Mumbai on Monday morning in the very early morning hours (3:00 am) after a trip that lasted nearly 24 hours and hopped across 12 time zones. I greeted at the airport with a sign that read "Nasscom Leadership India Forum - Miss Kanter." The driven took me to the Grand Hyatt Hotel saying that during the day the traffic is much different. The conference hotel one of the largest hotels in Mumbai with many rooms and a large convention area. After going through security to enter the hotel and registering, I got into my room and then I crashed. Although my body still thinks it… -
Win A HP Computer and Printer: What's Your Theory of Change for Social Media Use?
8 Feb 2010 | 4:51 amHP is giving away laptop and printer bundles as part of its HP’s Create Change program which is an example of "embedded giving." That's a buzz word coined by Lucy Bernholz to describe the common practice of building a philanthropic gift into another, unrelated, financial transaction. Embedded giving is easy for individuals to do, and probably gives them an added psychological boost to know that spending money on purchasing something is not just an act of commerce, it's an act of generosity. The idea here is that if you purchase an HP product, they'll donate 4% to one of seven… -
PepsiFresh Contest: Real Tracking and Social Impact Analysis
6 Feb 2010 | 11:01 amI've been following the PepsiFresh contest since the launch in December, the largest social media for social good cause marketing effort put forth to date. I recently posted a guest post by Bonin Bough from Pepsi that gives the insider view. This is a big bold effort. I'm most curious to see how Pepsi will demonstrate leadership in social marketing and of course the longer term result - social impact.Jeremiah Owyang has shared his initial analysis of Pepsi's Contest, summarizing the opportunity, risks, strengths, weaknesses, metrics, and impact. Strengths:Pepsi's campaign has a few… -
I'm Headed for Nasscom Foundation's Indian Leadership Forum in Mumbai
6 Feb 2010 | 9:54 amThe Nasscom Foundation in India is the epicenter of nonprofit technology and social innovation. They are hosting the Global CSR track at the Indian Leadership Forum in Mumbai Feb 9-11. I'll not only be speaking at the conference and CSR Track, but will be leading two workshops for NGO and CSR practitioners. Nasscom Foundation is a partner of TechSoup Global and has an impressive technology product donation program called "BIGTech"Here's how they describe their mission and impact.NASSCOM Foundation was set up to support the Indian IT industry’s role in nation building and to…
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Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog
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Inspiration for arts orgs: Virtual season launch
9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 amA little while back, Kim Witman of the Wolf Trap Opera Company contacted me about helping with her virtual season launch. She asked to do a guest post. I thought this was a very innovative way to engage bloggers, so I’m featuring her here. I hope it inspires other arts organizations to think about how to drum up support in this down economy! By Kim Witman Thanks to Katya for letting me sit in the guest blogging seat today. As we create a mini-internet buzz on the occasion of our 2010 season announcement, I want to merge the topics closest to Katya’s heart: marketing… -
HP has given me a laptop and printer to give away…
8 Feb 2010 | 7:18 pmReally! They emailed me to say they are giving away laptop and printer bundles as part of their Create Change program, which highlights how individuals and technology are creating change in the world. More on the campaign here. So here’s the deal. Write in comments one great, brief story about how technology helps you transform lives. Use all those great storytelling skills. I’ll give you till Friday to post your comments. Then I’ll pick the most moving story and HP will send that person a laptop and printer. That’s it. Everyone else… -
Extreme Website Makeover: From Ick to Slick!
2 Feb 2010 | 10:02 amI’ll confess it right here: I love a good makeover show. My daughters and I are avid fans of What Not to Wear. I also adore a good nonprofit website makeover, though they are harder to find than reruns of Stacy and Clinton steering women away from shapeless clothes. Most nonprofit websites are still at the “before” stage. It is therefore with great excitement that I get to unveil a highly successful makeover from Project Hope. They took their website from dull to dynamic, meeting all the important requirements of a great site. To be clear how I judge a site, I think a good… -
News roundup: Foundation transparency at Glass Pockets, new social media benchmarks
1 Feb 2010 | 6:28 pmGlass Pockets - Foundations Go Transparent: A handful of foundations are trying to appear more transparent to the public. They’ve started glasspockets.org, a website with “facts about all 97,000 U.S. foundations, illustrations of philanthropy’s impact on the issues that people care about, and information on the ways in which foundations are striving to become more transparent.” M+R has released a new social benchmarks study: Get the study here or read a summary at frogloop. -
You’re not in competition with Haiti
1 Feb 2010 | 6:17 pmAnd if you are as a fundraiser, you really should not be thinking that way in the first place, folks. If you do it right, fundraising is not a zero sum game. My wonderfully provacative blogger friend Eric Foley says we should stop looking at Haiti as a diversion from our own missions, and I could not agree more. Read his whole post today, and especially note this good advice: So if you are a nonprofit and you suspect your donations are down due to the Haiti disaster, what should you do? He says (and I quote): 1. Don’t–just don’t–write your donors and draw comparisons between the…
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NTEN: THE NONPROFIT TECHNOLOGY NETWORK
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Calling all NPTech Knights to the RoundTable!
9 Feb 2010 | 10:18 amFlickr Photo by Trainer62You may have noticed there's a lot going on at the NTEN court as of late -- new nten.org (just look around), release of the NTEN Data Ecosystem Report, NTC Scholarship Campaign, the NTC, and a great line-up of webinars! Along with the many ways to engage and learn, we still want to continue to give NTEN Members the opportunity to talk with their colleagues who might be struggling with the same issues they are. So we invite you to gather 'round with the NTEN Community at one of our upcoming RoundTables. The NTEN RoundTables focus in on 3 areas -- Consultants,… -
Why My Mom Is My Fundraising Guru
8 Feb 2010 | 3:26 pmFlickr Photo: Mez LoveYou may have heard by now that we're raising money for scholarships to the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference.Last year was the first time we ran the campaign, and while we met our goal, it was a stretch, and we almost burnt ourselves out. The challenge in online fundraising today is that it's more than just email: it's Facebook, and Twitter, and e-mail, and widgets, and your website, and your blog, and your supporters blogs, and... well, you get the idea. During the course of the 2009 fundraising campaign, the task ahead of me often felt like Medusa: if I stared… -
Introducing the New NTEN.org
8 Feb 2010 | 3:12 pmAfter what seems like months of work, we've finally implemented our web site redesign. (If you've been following this space, you'll know it seems like months because it was: 8 of them since the start of our information architecture review. So, to those of you who've been waiting with bated breath, our apologies. Hopefully the faster-loading site makes it up to you.) While the new look has thrown off a few of us here at NTEN HQ -- years of habituation to click the same spot to go the the NTC pages, undone! -- we hope it will make the process of finding things on our site more intuitive for… -
NTEN Member Buzz Round-Up: February 5th
5 Feb 2010 | 10:43 am(Note: This is a weekly round-up of NTEN members doing and sharing their nptech awesome. Members are in bold. Tag your own news with "nten member" or "nptech" to help us find your awesome online, or contact Annaliese with your updates.) Amy Sample Ward blogs about a new report on nonprofit's use of social media, summarizing the findings and adding a few insights and tips of her own. Thank you for sharing, Amy! ReadWriteWeb wants to point out the "social media for good" organizations that deliver on the "good" part, not just the social media. -
The Overhead Question: What's Our Role?
4 Feb 2010 | 2:27 pmFlickr Photo: tylerdurden1Ask any nonprofit to describe how they feel about their overhead percentage, and you're most likely to be met with groans, sighs and rolls of eyes. None of us like the fact that the percentage of income we spend on "overhead" is the primary measure of our effectiveness. The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle aptly summarized the problem with the overhead measure this summer. Then, in December, some of the sector's top rating agencies, including Guidestar and Charity Navigator, agreed that a new measure is needed. Here at NTEN, we're keenly interested in this…
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Tactical Philanthropy
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Innovation & Effectiveness in Philanthropy
9 Feb 2010 | 7:39 amThis is my most recent column in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. You can find an archive of my past columns here. More Than Money, a Lack of Research Hampers Nonprofit Innovation By Sean Stannard-Stockton | Chronicle of Philanthropy The federal government will soon release guidelines to spell out how it will award $50-million through its new Social Innovation Fund, one of the Obama administration’s signature efforts to aid promising, innovative nonprofit groups. But if the draft version of the guidelines, released in December, is any indication, the fund’s approach is geared toward a view… -
Philanthropy Daily Digest
8 Feb 2010 | 5:01 pmCorporation for National and Community Service 2011 Budget The proposed 2011 budget for the Social Innovation Fund is $60 million, up from 2010's $50 million. Many people have pointed to the SIF's $50 million budget as too small, but if it is truly $50 million a year (with potential for annual increases), it is comparable to a $1 billion-plus endowment. (tags: philanthropy) Haiti Crisis Prompts Fresh Talk of Pooling U.S. Relief Money – NYTimes.com Stephanie Strom highlights how the Red Cross out-fundraised Partners in Health even thought PIH seems better positioned to help in… -
Words That Describe Philanthropy
8 Feb 2010 | 8:37 amWow! Thanks so the more than 25 of you who submitted an entry to our mini-contest in search of words that describe philanthropy. You can click on the link above to see a Wordle made from the entries. The entries covered a lot of ground. Here’s a couple that jumped out at me: By Jeanine Buford Gracious When it’s at its best, philanthropy is gracious, graceful, and administered with a light touch. When we think of grace, apart from the religious connotations, we think of support given with seriousness of purpose, but with a light touch. Graciousness supports without judgment, without pity,… -
Words That Describe Great Philanthropy
5 Feb 2010 | 9:03 amOn Wednesday, I asked readers to submit words that they thought best described great philanthropy. You will find all the details here. On Monday, we’ll be randomly selecting a reader who submitted a word and give them a $50 gift certificate to Vittana.org (microfinance for student loans in developing countries). Here’s a couple of entries so far: By Rich Polt Passion Passion is the lifeblood of good philanthropy because it sustains ones giving over the course of a lifetime. Effective philanthropy, like anything in life, requires experimentation and long term commitment. Some things work. -
Philanthropy Daily Digest
4 Feb 2010 | 5:01 pmThe Overhead Question: The Future of Nonprofit Assessment and Reporting Here's the recording of the conference call I did today with Bob Ottenhoff, Guidestar, Ken Berger, Charity Navigator, Lucy Bernholtz, Blueprint R & D, Peter Campbell, TechCafeteria, Christine Egger, Social Actions, David Geilhufe, NetSuite, and Holly Ross, NTEN. (tags: philanthropy) Stanford Social Innovation Review : Highlights of 2009: Top Five Articles The Stanford Social Innovation Review offers fantastic, thought provoking articles. Here's their five most read articles of last year. (tags: philanthropy)…
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PHILANTHROPY 2173
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In a changing landscape, whither the 501c3?
3 Feb 2010 | 9:39 amI'm concerned about nonprofits. Are they aware of the threats they face?Are they prepared to demonstrate their value in the face of changes in corporate and tax law, and, as importantly, changes in the cultural zeitgeist about social capital markets and social enterprise?For almost a century, 501c3 nonprofits have held a privileged place in our communities and in our tax code. They are provided tax exempt status, and supporters can deduct their contributions to these organizations from their income taxes. In so doing, the US tax code privileges these organizations - from major hospitals and… -
The Changing Ecosystem of Change
2 Feb 2010 | 10:15 amI'm pleased to draw your attention to a newly published paper we've written with the support of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. "The Changing Ecosystem of Change" looks at the many new enterprise forms, from social businesses to nonprofits, that are now actively producing and distributing social goods. The paper also looks at the opportunities and challenges these new enterprise forms raise for funders, and that funders raise for these enterprises.Thursday, February 4 in the SF Bay Area is a big day for discussing these issues. Criterion Ventures, with backing from the… -
What kind of Apps would your foundation build?
26 Jan 2010 | 11:40 pmI admit it - I tossed the question out onto Twitter in a bit of a lark. I was preparing for a presentation to 50+ of America's largest community foundations and I've been thinking about Apps quite a bit (not only because of the new Apple Tablet due out tomorrow) because I was about to declare Apps as Buzzword 2010.1.Most of what I will talk about has to do with ways that certain technologies (and the expectations/behavior they allow) are shifting philanthropy, the shifting sands of social businesses, policy opportunities, intersections with the public sector, new ways of organizing for… -
Nonprofit Data Scorecard goes live
26 Jan 2010 | 5:16 am(Sorry folks - The first version of this post (January 25) somehow got corrupted/encoded. Lots of email readers received empty emails and/or gibberish. Hope this one posts better. Thanks for your patience.)I've written about the Nonprofit Mapping effort before and am thrilled to say they've launched their test version. Go to the site, check out the data, check out the rankings, comment on the methods, improve the data, use the data, and consider the implications. For all of us as donors to nonprofits. For all of us as taxpayers who pay for the data. For people who use, enjoy, benefit from the… -
How technology is disrupting philanthropy
24 Jan 2010 | 4:00 pmI hope readers in the SF Bay Area will join us at Stanford this Thursday, January 28 at 5 pm for a discussion with me, Sonal Shah, and Rob Reich on how technology is changing philanthropy.For those on twitter, the hashtag for the conversation is #sempacs. The hashtag for the Disrupting Philanthropy paper is #disruptphil.Tags: philanthropy, #sempacs, technology, #disruptphil
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Frogloop
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Five Online Fundraising Tips to Raise More Money
6 Feb 2010 | 4:20 pmRepeat after me. "I will no longer send out fundraising appeals with boring subject lines and long-winded pitches." In today’s battle of the inboxes, tweets, Facebook updates, text messages, and banner ads flying across the screen, organizations can’t afford to ignore online fundraising 101 strategies to motivate and inspire supporters to donate money. Don’t have the budget to hire fundraising strategists to help you craft your online fundraising campaigns? No problem. Follow these five tips and you will be on your way to increasing open and click-through rates and more… -
Cheap, Fast, and Good. Can Nonprofits have them All?
5 Feb 2010 | 11:52 amWhen 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 (shown below) is often talked about. Software projects can be fast (that is, done quickly), done well, and/or… -
Care2's Community Impacts Global Change
2 Feb 2010 | 6:11 pmCommunities like Facebook, Twitter, and Ning are great networks to help brand your nonprofit, engage with your supporters, and connect with potential new members. But there’s no question you need to invest time in finding those people who are passionate about your organization's issues. With cause-based communities like Care2 (the B Corporation that started the Frogloop blog) however, it’s easy for nonprofits to connect with over 12 million do-gooders who care to make a difference in this world. In 2009, Care2's community created more than 22,000 petitions resulting in more than… -
Nonprofit Social Media Benchmarks Study
31 Jan 2010 | 4:28 pmInterested in setting Facebook and Twitter benchmarks for your nonprofit but don’t know where to start? Check out M+R Strategic Services first Nonprofit Social Media Benchmarks Study, which includes sample research by groups such as Easter Seals, Oxfam, Human Rights Campaign, League of Conservation Voters, and more. Facebook Key Findings: Organizations posted to their Facebook Pages about six times weekly. 2.5% of each organization's Facebook fans took some sort of an action weekly such as… -
Webinar Recap: Connecting Advocacy to Fundraising
27 Jan 2010 | 3:47 pmOn Tuesday, Care2’s Justin Perkins moderated the webinar Connecting Advocacy to Fundraising for Maximum Impact. Steve Daigneault, former Internet Director for Amnesty International, and Blackbaud’s Mark Davis discussed how activists on nonprofit’s email list are seven times more likely to donate money to organizations than non-activists are. However, according to M&R’s eNonprofit Benchmark study, 61% of online activists take action one-time. This is why nonprofits need to identify and cultivate super-activists. The best strategies to hook activists and turn them…
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Nonprofit Communications
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Ensure Your E-News is Read – Not Dead – on Arrival
9 Feb 2010 | 11:33 amI just wrapped up an hour-long teleconference for Network for Good’s Nonprofit 911 series titled “Ensuring Your E-Newsletters are Read – Not Dead – On Arrival This Year.” The focus of the call was on creating a newsletter strategy that really provides value for your readers. I created two new pages at Nonprofit Marketing Guide for the call: Making Your Newsletter Valuable to Your Readers, which I used as my speaking notes for the call Newsletter Ideas for Every Month of the Year, which helps you come up with good hooks for starting your articles The recording and… -
Mixed Links: Free Training, Special Deals, and Fab Info
2 Feb 2010 | 8:51 amWith freezing rain falling and snow on the ground here in North Carolina, it’s time for some hot mixed links! Free Training on E-Newsletters I’m doing another free conference call for Network for Good’s Nonprofit 911 series, this time on Ensuring Your E-Newsletters are Read – Not Dead – On Arrival This Year. Join us next Tuesday, February 9 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. As for our weekly webinar series here at Nonprofit Marketing Guide, here’s what’s coming up next: February 10: How to Write a Quick and Dirty Nonprofit Marketing Strategy February 16: 10 Ways… -
Integrating Your Website, Email Newsletter and Social Media Sites
26 Jan 2010 | 11:28 amTomorrow I’m presenting a brand new webinar on How to Integrate Your Website, Email Newsletter, and Social Media Sites. It was the #1 requested topic in last fall’s survey of what you wanted to see on the weekly webinar series schedule. I have to admit, it’s a rather ambitious topic for one hour. I’m in the middle of the PowerPoint deck now trying to find the sweet spot between giving you enough information to really make a difference in your online marketing strategy and giving you too many to-do list items that you run screaming from the whole idea of integration. -
A New Coaching Program for Freelance Writers Serving Nonprofits
22 Jan 2010 | 10:04 amThis blog is all about helping small nonprofits and one-person marketing departments communicate as effectively as possible with their supporters. Sometimes the best way to do that is to outsource your content creation to a professional freelance writer. The problem is that there really aren’t all that many writers who specialize in producing the kind of content that nonprofits need. At the same time, there are lots of freelance writers who would love to do more work for nonprofits, if they only knew how. To help solve both problems, I’m launching a new “Writing for… -
The One Question Your Annual Report Must Answer
19 Jan 2010 | 12:42 pmA good nonprofit annual report answers the questions that donors are most likely to have about last year’s work: What did you do? Whom did you help? On what did you spend money? Where did that money come from? But the single most important question that your annual report must answer is “So what?” You did a bunch of stuff. So what? What changed in the world as a result? You helped a bunch of people. So what? How are their lives different now, and why does that matter? You raised money and you spent it. So what? What do your income and expenses tell us about your values,…
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Selfish Giving
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Cause Marketing Success Story: Ocean State Raises $212,000
9 Feb 2010 | 7:43 amBack in December I told you about Ocean State Job Lot and their annual pinup programs to support the hospital. Despite a sputtering economy, Ocean State not only met its goal, it blew it away! During the month of December, Ocean State Job Lot raised $212,000! That’s almost 40% more than 2008. Moreover, these results put them on track to raise one million dollars for the hospital in just six years. Ocean State’s tag line is The Home of Adventure Shopping. The joy and enthusiasm shoppers and employees find in their stores obviously extends to their giving! Are you planning a cause… -
AFP Presentation: Cause Marketing for Nonprofits
5 Feb 2010 | 7:11 amThanks to everyone who came out to the Association of Fundraising Professionals Brown Bag today to hear me, Joanna MacDonald and Dan Curtin, General Manager of Zipcar Boston, talk about cause marketing. As promised, here are my slides from the presentation (at least the most relevant ones). I’ve linked them to several posts that might be helpful to you. What is Cause Marketing? Read my post of the same name, and be sure to check out the comments. Point-of-Sale. You can read about several great examples of pinup programs that support Komen, Jake’s Ride and BMC. Not familiar with… -
Selling Local Sponsorships for Nonprofits: Convincing Thinkers, Feelers & Deferers
3 Feb 2010 | 9:20 amI’ve written four other posts to get you to this point: you’re sitting across from a decision maker and you finally have a shot of actually selling a sponsorship. Of course, you may not be talking to just one person. You may be pitching to a whole group. If so, you should check out an earlier post I wrote: Analyze, Organize, Energize: Keys to a Powerful Presentation. Rather than focusing on analyzing your listener(s), or how best to organize your key points, or dealing with the butterflies that invariably come with public speaking, this post looks at the means of persuasion… -
Cause Marketing Success Story: Jake’s Ride
2 Feb 2010 | 9:12 amBack in September, I introduced you to my friend Beth Pfiel (@readerbean) and her nonprofit The Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation. Beth had asked for my help creating their first cause marketing campaign, a pinup program with Garden of Eden, a grocer and specialty food store with five locations in New York and one in New Jersey. Beth had a busy fourth quarter, but we recently had a chance to catch up about the results of the program. With just six small grocery stores participating Beth raised over $6,000. Her best store raised $1,700. In addition to being the top pinup… -
Selling Local Sponsorships for Nonprofits: Reaching Out to Prospects
28 Jan 2010 | 7:00 amNow that you have some strategies for finding qualified prospects, let’s look at making some progress at getting some extended face time with new prospects that are neither current sponsors nor aware of your organization. Yep, I’m talking about prospects in that outer ring and making cold calls. Regardless of the channel of communication (e.g. phone, email, in person at say a networking event), the following rules apply: Your #1 goal is to stay prospect-centric. Always be prepared to adjust your messaging with prospects to meet their needs, interests and goals. You may…
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Wild Apricot Blog
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Twitter Maps to Promote Your Events
9 Feb 2010 | 8:08 amDo you use Twitter to remind your members of a meeting or fundraising event? Here's a free tool that easily creates a special map to go with your tweet, so people will be sure to find your event. Twitter users can even RSVP or add a comment, if you choose to allow those options....(read more) -
New Statistics on Internet, Social Media Use
8 Feb 2010 | 1:26 amA number of findings in a newly released study by Pew Internat on Social Media and Young Adults will be of interest to nonprofits who seek to connect with or recruit members and donors online....(read more) -
Wild Apricot Software News January-February 2010
2 Feb 2010 | 10:39 pmWild Apricot software news for February 2010 The first half of January was slow as most of our developers were taking some well-earned time off. (We did have to deal with a small bump — a number of clients experienced problems with the link tracking function, so we were hunting down the cause. It turned out that a small typo was made in the configuration of one of the servers when we publishes a quick fix at the end of December. As a result, some of the people using link tracking — those who happened...(read more) -
Is the Right Person Doing Your Nonprofit's Social Media?
2 Feb 2010 | 7:02 pmWho handles the social media marketing for your nonprofit? Often, in a small organization, the job falls to the most enthusiastic person — or to the Gen Yer on staff (on the theory that “that generation knows all about this web stuff”) — but wouldn’t it be nice if there were some convenient scoring system to help you pick the right person? Tom Humbarger has come up with a skills-assessment matrix based on the D.A.R.C. framework suggested by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah in their hit marketing...(read more) -
24+ Free Webinars for Nonprofits - February 2010
1 Feb 2010 | 11:37 amFor the shortest month of the year, February is shaping up with a pretty good selection of free online training opportunities for folks working in nonprofits and associations. Keep an eye on the comments here for additions and updates, too!...(read more)
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Connections
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Online Giving and Rapid Response Trends
4 Feb 2010 | 8:54 amThe recent Haiti earthquake disaster has once again brought to the forefront the role that new giving channels play in helping those most affected. The combination of online giving and mobile giving were the first response channels of choice by donors. I will save the pros and cons of mobile giving for another blog post. I did some research to look back at previous major events and the volume of online giving that took place. Blackbaud has online giving data going back to 1999 and that allows us to look at some historical trends. USA Today referenced some of these trends in their recent… -
Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.15 - Release Preview
1 Feb 2010 | 9:03 amBlackbaud NetCommunity 6.15 represents a major step forward for our Internet Solutions based on thousands of hours of research, customer feedback, usability design, application development, testing, and validation. The updates and new features in this release are another sign of Blackbaud’s commitment to improve our online solutions. From a technology perspective, BBNC 6.15 also represents a major milestone as the entire application has been migrated to Blackbaud’s next generation Infinity platform. There are a few high level requirements for this upcoming release. BBNC 6.15 is a PA-DSS /… -
Independent Fundraising Event Trends
22 Jan 2010 | 11:00 amBlackbaud and Event 360 have released a new white paper based on a joint research project to better understand the common denominators of a successful programmatic approach to third-party fundraising. Independent fundraising events (IFE) are activities designed and run by volunteers to raise money on behalf of a specific nonprofit organization. You can download a copy of "Raising More Money Online with Independent Fundraising Events" and register for a free webinar on February 3rd at 2pm EDT. The research team analyzed data from nearly 30,000 donors and… -
Support Disaster Relief in Haiti
14 Jan 2010 | 5:05 amThe images coming out of Haiti following Tuesday's earthquake are heartbreaking. It is comforting to know that so many nonprofit organizations are already helping on the ground and more relief is on the way. People are using the Internet to stay informed about the disaster, help communicate what's happening, and to donate to charities. The volume of online donations on January 13th was 3 times that of December 31st and growing. There are several organizations accepting online donations to support their relief efforts in Haiti: Doctors Without Borders Medical Teams International… -
Is the Fundraising Pyramid Really a Lie?
13 Jan 2010 | 10:01 amThe nonprofit sector needs more spirited debate. Mark Rovner over at Sea Change Strategies blogged some strong opinions about the state of fundraising. So I asked Lawrence Henze, managing director of Target Analytics, to write this guest blog post in response: Mark Rovner recently offered up the opinion that the fundraising pyramid is a lie because "most major donors at most organizations do not rise up through the ranks of $15 donors, who become $100 donors, and then ultimately become $100,000 donors." My 30 years of experience in the fundraising world give me a very…
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Corporatedollar.org
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Why The Title Of Your Facebook Page Is Absolutely Critical (Video)
8 Feb 2010 | 7:12 am -
WordPress Fans – The New Headway Video Site Has Launched!
5 Feb 2010 | 7:09 amAs many of you know, I use the Headway WordPress theme on this blog and in my WordPress development work at Inbound Zombie. I also play a marginal role in promoting the theme on various social media sites. After meeting up with Headway’s founder, Clay Griffiths at WordCamp Boston a few weeks ago, one thing has become glarlingly clear to me: Headway is not a WordPress Theme The more I use Headway, the more I realize that it’s actually a WordPress development engine. What I mean is that Headway’s visual editor allows for limitless design and site functionality choices. This is… -
How do we get our nonprofit’s supporters to retweet content?
4 Feb 2010 | 7:42 amOne of the central benefits of social media is the ability to share content with just one or two mouse clicks. Your supporters are already sharing interesting content on Facebook. They’re retweeting it. They’re favoriting videos on YouTube as well. All with one mouse click. But you know all too well, that even though sharing has gotten easier, actually getting people to share can feel like pulling teeth. And when when you see other non-profits getting thousands of views on YouTube with what seems like no effort, you feel like stabbing yourself in the eye. So how do you get people… -
Email Deliverability Tips For Your Non-Profit
2 Feb 2010 | 8:47 amFollowing is an article by Tom Kulzer of Aweber communications, an email marketing firm in Huntingdon Valley, PA. Disclaimer: Aweber pays me a teeny weeny bonus for any business I refer to them. ___________________________ Ensuring requested opt-in email is delivered to subscriber inboxes is an increasingly difficult battle in the age of spam filtering. Open and click thru response rates can be dramatically affected by as much as 20-30% due to incorrect spam filter classification. Permission Confirming that the people who ask for your information have actually requested to be on your list is… -
Results From The 31 Day Challenge to Optimize Your Blog With Social Media (Day 31)
31 Jan 2010 | 7:49 amThis is last day of the 31 Day Challenge To Optimize Your Blog With Social Media. I’ll be publishing a PDF containing the entire series, so stay tuned. ______________________________ Challenges and results Following are “before and after” experiences by a few folks who took the 31 day challenge. Please share your experience in the comment section. - Abbie Mood Challenge: I didn’t understand how to use social media to effectively promote my blog/freelance career. Results: I have learned about new tools (twitter karma, etc.) that I will definitely use. I’m excited…
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Entry Level Living
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Follow Friday: What Has Haiti Shown Us About Nonprofits?
5 Feb 2010 | 2:40 pmWith the immediate impact of the earthquake fading from people’s memories, many are beginning to focus on the nonprofits providing services to Haiti. Below are some of the interesting conversations I have read regarding nonprofits and their involvement in helping Haiti. I definitely recommend you follow these folks for powerful insight. Marketing: What has the millions of dollars raised shown us about public engagement in disaster relief? Dan Pallotta (@danpallotta), social entrepreneur, author of Free the Nonprofits, and blogger at Harvard Business Review, states that there is a… -
Reader Response: Inexpensive Professional Development Resources
4 Feb 2010 | 4:30 amWelcome to the fist edition of Reader Response! Do you have a question about developing a career in the nonprofit sector, navigating life in NYC, or working with social media? Send me an email! ajlovesya [at] gmail [dot] com. I might feature it here! Today, I’d like to tackle a question I get regularly: What free or low cost resources can a young person interested in a nonprofit career tap into for professional development? Understandably, as a nonprofit newbie, you’re focused not only on finding your passion but also on developing important skills to make you competitive… -
News and Notes
2 Feb 2010 | 1:21 pmSometimes my inbox is flooded with so many interesting opportunities, I figured I’d share! New additions to my blog: Reader Response: I get quite a few emails from readers with questions that range from how do I start a nonprofit to what kind of books should I read for my career? I think those kinds of questions would benefit lots of people if I addressed them and solicited input from other readers. So on Thursdays I will post a question I received, give my response, and hopefully others will chime in. I hope this will be helpful! If you have any questions you would like… -
Help Save Idealist.org
1 Feb 2010 | 2:37 pmI was floored when I read this tweet by Ami Dar, founder and executive director of idealist.org. While we are all aware of the impact the weak economy is having on many nonprofits, some organizations seem invincible because of the sheer impact they have on the entire sector. Idealist.org has become such integral part in how we create, share, and search for opportunities for social change that I couldn’t fathom it enduring the level of distress indicated above. In fact, my growth in the nonprofit sector has been fueled by idealist.org. Aside from finding my first job opportunity in NYC… -
When it Comes to Executive Pay, Numbers Arent Enough
24 Jan 2010 | 8:46 pmWhile much of the conversation about nonprofit pay focuses on how we are not paid enough given the work we do, every now and then someone will attract the wrath of the public for having what is considered a salary that is too high. Honestly, I generally don’t share the indignation because there is never any context given to the numbers. There are a few questions I think we should answer when deciding whether or not pay is excessive: What percentage does this take of the organization’s budget? We accept that, as a rule, the larger the organization, the larger the salary but have we…
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Case Foundation - Investing in People and Ideas that Can Change the World
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Give a gift that gives back this Valentine's Day
8 Feb 2010 | 7:31 amFebruary 14th is rapidly approaching and like with any gift giving holiday, you have a choice to make! Are you going to go the traditional route and drop your cash on standard red roses and a box of chocolates, or will you give to impress with thoughtful gifts that give back? If you opt to give AND give back this year, here are ten of my favorite charitable gift ideas to get you started: Who doesn't love a charm bracelet? Give this Liz Claiborne Heart Bracelet from the Cause Shoppe and 100% of the profits will benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Want to go the traditional route of… -
Target gets charitable for Valentine's Day
4 Feb 2010 | 7:57 amThis week, Target announced its newest charitable giving initiative taking place on Facebook, launched for Valentine's Day. Similar to the campaign it launched last May, when the retailer asked its Facebook fans to help decide how it would divvy up $3 million amongst 10 charities, the Valentine's Day campaign asks its Facebook fans to help it divvy up $1 million to organizations, with a focus on educational programs. The campaign, which is also tied into the Super Bowl, has a slight twist from its first Facebook voting contest - users are asked to choose the charity they think should get the… -
Nonprofit Jobs: Perspectives and advice on where to find them and how to land them
1 Feb 2010 | 3:05 pm2010 has just begun and already we've seen numerous reports that the job market is still looking, well ... bleak. It's hard not to describe it this way when the headlines from major news outlets are describing the job outlook in these terms - Economy still bleeding jobs (Wall Street Journal), Job outlook for 2010 grads: still stinks (CNN Money), and Grim job outlook turns bleaker (MSNBC). But, what does this mean for the nonprofit sector and its 1.8 million nonprofit organizations, or, to look at it another way, 1.8 million employers? There's no doubt that the economic challenges have hit… -
Rethinking hydro-philanthropy
25 Jan 2010 | 2:20 pmGuest blogger Ned Breslin is CEO of Water For People, a nonprofit international humanitarian organization that supports the development of sustainable safe drinking water resources and improved sanitation facilities in developing countries. In October 2009, Water For People announced an investment from the Case Foundation to accelerate and expand its efforts to provide innovative, sustainable water solutions in Africa. The water sector is dominated by pictures of happy children drinking water from a tap. This is of course the goal, but is it the reality? Sadly not. The picture above of a… -
AGC Success Stories: Five Star proves you don't have to be a social media expert to win online competitions
25 Jan 2010 | 8:06 amIn the research we conducted after the first America's Giving Challenge in 2007-2008, we found that a hallmark for many successful efforts was a combination of online and offline outreach to mobilize supporters. It's no surprise that the combination of tactics beyond just online to generate donations was once again successful for many of this year's winners. One such effort that inspired us was the work of Five Star, a youth leadership development program in Michiana, the region in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan, which has been hit hard by the economic crisis. Five Star is mentoring…
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IMPACTMAX
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Nonprofits and Foundations: Don’t Forget the Infographics
6 Feb 2010 | 12:08 pmI’ve read many articles and posts over the past few years about the nonprofit sector’s inability to manage and share information effectively. (Gee, I’ve even written a couple.) Most of these articles suggest how nonprofits can share information more meaningfully than through reports, and how they can tell stories that convey information in a more powerful, memorable way. Let me add another important tool to this remedial mix—infographics. Wikipedia defines them as visual devices intended to communicate complex information quickly and clearly. We’ve all seen… -
DIY stratetgic communications planning for nonprofits: Step 2—Key Audiences
14 Jan 2010 | 3:30 pmAfter my last strategic planning post, I’ll assume you’ve made a list of the actions you want to happen in the world as a result of your nonprofit’s efforts. That clarity is all-important as you move on to the next step in strategic communications planning—determining your key audiences. Many nonprofits give this step short shrift, believing it’s obvious to everyone who those audiences are. But I urge you to spend time on this, even if you believe you already know your key audiences. You may know their broad outlines, but do you know their names and addresses? -
Top 10 posts of the year: Happy 2010!
31 Dec 2009 | 8:55 amNo way around it, 2009 was a tough year for everyone—especially nonprofits. I hope we’re looking at much more good news in 2010! Here’s a year-end round-up of my most read posts. Thanks for tuning in this year, and a special thanks to those who shared comments! How nonprofits can succeed in the new sustainability paradigm: 6 big lessons from social media 10 ways to show a little sympathy to your donors Free tool of the week: Prezi rates a WOW The best fundraising advice I’ve ever heard First step in strategic communications planning: Communications audits Best… -
DIY strategic communications planning for nonprofits
27 Dec 2009 | 11:56 amFlickr/Sumlin A while ago I promised some advice about strategic communications planning, and my next step-by-step posts will cover that topic. It’s timely because–while you might be able to overlook wasted communications dollars when times are good—2010 is the year to make sure you’re absolutely getting the most bang for your buck. A strategic communications plan can help you do that. I’ll assume you’ve already done the three-part communications audit to figure out the effectiveness of your current communications and what your audiences are saying about… -
Using social media to drive policy change
18 Nov 2009 | 4:39 pmConsider how you can best use social media to achieve your policy change goals Before I launch into my real post below, I want to take a minute to revel in being a Minnesotan. In the past several years, there have been very few opportunities to do that. But Tuesday, we reclaimed something of our past selves by setting a new state one-day online fund raising record of $14 million!!! As Beth Kanter says, it’s a jaw dropping figure. One day, one state, one website…hundreds of nonprofits supported. The success of this venture is due to many factors–great communications among…
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A. Fine Blog
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I Have a FREE HP Laptop and Printer to Give Away!
8 Feb 2010 | 9:49 amMorning, peeps, I’ve got a special surprise today! Beth and I have helped to plan and assess online contests such as America’s Giving Challenge sponsored by the Case Foundation over the past several years. Now, we’re part of a group of bloggers who get to help sponsor a contest and give away free HP stuff! The [...] -
Nonprofit Disaster Accountability
4 Feb 2010 | 6:11 pmThe epic earthquake in Haiti was notable for the horrific damage it left in its literal wake. The aftermath has been notable for the huge amounts of private money donated for relief efforts. The combination of urgency and ease of giving through tools like text messaging has added up to$644 million to date according to [...] -
Demand Question Time!
3 Feb 2010 | 8:07 amAs always, my friend Micah Sifry and his pals at Personal Democracy Forum and TechPresident are up to some good fun! If you didn’t see the debate that President Obama had with the House Republicans last week, you absolutely must. It was inspiring to see elected officials have real, civil dialogue about real issues. Here’s a [...] -
Ushahidi Puts All the Pieces Together
1 Feb 2010 | 7:21 amUshahidi is the Swahili word for testimony or witness. It is also a relatively new organization that represents all of the pieces of the digital convergence to crowdsource crisis information. Ushahidi began in 2008 in the wake of the stolen election in Kenya. The government controlled television and land line telephone service, but it couldn’t control [...] -
Reflections on Fundraising By Text
27 Jan 2010 | 8:58 amI’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about the explosion in donations by text messaging since the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Here are my latest thoughts: 1. Gavin Clabaugh, one of the smartest folks I know about this stuff, made a very insightful comment on my post the other day about Haiti signifying the tipping [...]
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The Successful Nonprofit
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Posterous Importer
8 Feb 2010 | 7:04 pmPosterous is a blogging system that launched with an interesting twist — everything happens via email from signup to posting. Since the launch of our post by email features in addition to things like email comment replies and blog subscriptions we’ve been receiving more inquiries from people wanting to graduate from Posterous to a full blog with the features, flexibility, and reliability of WordPress.com. It was actually easier than we thought: Posterous has a very nice API for reading from and writing to their service. After logging into your WordPress.com Dashboard, click on… -
New Theme: Steira
8 Feb 2010 | 1:57 pmFull of character yet minimal, we bring you the wonderful “Steira,” bursting at the seams with detail and functionality. Steira in all its glory! Recent Comments Widget for Steira The sidebar is large in this theme giving you a lot of room to play. Any widget will do, but the custom widgets are quite convenient and stylish. The “Recent Comments” widget is especially nice. It shows a dedication to your content while at the same time keeping the visual intensity that the rest of the theme boasts. The "New" post. There are a lot of subtle details in this theme. -
Improved Polls and Ratings
4 Feb 2010 | 10:11 amWe have made a couple of updates to the polls and ratings feature on WordPress.com that you may have already noticed. Ratings on front page There is now an option in the ratings settings to allow you to display your posts ratings on the front page. Usage is very simple – pick whether you want the rating above or below the post, and save. Your ratings will now appear on your blogs front page… nice! Poll Options Menu You may have noticed a new menu option under the polls menu – Options. Here you can import another PollDaddy account if you wish to access another account from your… -
Post by Email Wrapup
28 Jan 2010 | 3:07 amSince our Post by Email feature opened last year the emails have been coming in fast and furious. Here’s a wrap-up of some of the latest improvements. Bigger attachments We like to see photos and video in your posts, so we’ve increased the size of emails that can be sent, now up to 50MB. Anything you can upload to WordPress.com can be sent in an email and will be neatly placed on your post. Better image handling In conjunction with this we’ve also improved our image handling so your photos look even better, particularly when teamed up with duotone, a great new photo theme. -
Vox Importer
27 Jan 2010 | 3:51 pmThinking of moving your blog from Vox.com to WordPress.com? You are not alone. We’ve noticed that several people are dissatisfied with the service and want to move their blog elsewhere. A lot of people that we’ve heard from say they didn’t realize that there is no way to export from Vox and are looking for a solution. Vox users have at least one option now: create a free blog here at WordPress.com, then import your Vox blog. (And never be locked in again — we make your data as free as possible.) After logging into your WordPress.com Dashboard, click on Tools -> Import. Click on…
