What is SOPA/PIPA?

From Wikipedia:

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, byHouse Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.^[2]

So what does this have to do with  non-profits?

Since there is currently no definition of what an “intellectual property right infringement” might be, your site could get cited under SOPA or PIPA because of links included in your online newsletter or stories on your website. If your agency gets cited, anyone, including possible donors and supporters will not be able to find you online via Google or other search engines and you won’t be seen in their search results. If these bills pass, companies could shut down sites based on accusation alone.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Go to Stop American Censorship for more information and a bunch of ways you can take action quickly, easily, and painlessly. The Senate votes in two weeks, and we need to help at least 41 more senators see reason before then. Please. Make your voice heard.

TODAY: If you click through to the Wikipedia site, you can write your Congressman and Senator and ask them to oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act (Congress) or the Protect IP Act (Senate). Here is a sample letter:

For Congress:
I’m writing to you to ensure that you oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act and make sure that it remains shelved.

We all oppose piracy, but we don’t want to give the government broad censorship powers that would provide a mechanism to shut down web sites arbitrarily by accusing a site of piracy.

For Senate:
I’m writing to you to request that you vote against the Protect IP Act.

We all oppose piracy, but we don’t want to give the government broad censorship powers that would provide a mechanism to shut down web sites arbitrarily by accusing a site of piracy.

Related articles

• Current Community protests SOPA/PIPA – Are you In? (current.com)
• SOPA vs. PIPA: Anti-piracy bills, uproar explained (digitaltrends.com)
• Wikipedia to protest SOPA/PIPA with 24-hour shut-down (techradar.com)
• How Can SOPA/PIPA Affect Non-Profits? (Donor Dreams Blog)

Tech Day Camp is just 15 days away, besides the awesome Nonprofit Speakers, we thought we would share some of the 40+ workshops that will be offered:

• Location Based Technology for Business and Personal Use with Eric Andersen
• Spreading the word: tools that help you get your message out with Bobbie Carlton
• 10 tips and tricks for the iPad and iPhone with Dave Caolo
• Advanced Twitter with Leslie Poston
• Quickbooks for beginners and Quickbooks tips & tricks with Alison Edmands
• Intro to the Cloud and Online Networking Etiquette with Diane Darling
• All things Apple with Ed Justen
• Leveraging social media for your business with Diane Danielson
• Facebook for NPO’s, and On-Line Fundraising with John Haydon
• WordPress with James Coletti and Kurt Ng
• Is social media the silver bullet for nonprofit fundraising with Marc Pitman
• PC Maintance with Michael Hertz
• Making a brochure with word and web design with Shea Baker
• Beginning video with Skip Bensley
• Blogging with Jeff Cutler
• Tips & Techniques using Microsoft Word & Excel with Deb Kane
• Do you Google? and Email Marketing can work for you with Tricia White
• Beginning Social Medis & Basic Twitter with Christina Inge
• Getting Started Building Your Personal Brand Online with Lindsey Mark
• Video: DIY, or Not, and Basic Photography, with Ursula August
• Facebook and Photoshop Basics with Matt Ulvila
• Want to know about Community TV and your video? Ask Alecia Lebeda!
• Content Farms & Content Gardens: Do you bring a watering can or pen? with John Cass
• Want to Publish a Book, self-publish, ebook what to do…Blaise Freeman will help you

And More!!!

Things are moving forward with Tech Day Camp…Early Booking rates end today… $99 then rates go up.

We are very excited about our workshops especially for non-profit organizations with Marc Pitman and John Haydon.

Around the web this week:

1. Facebook has made a few changes this week, and our friend John Haydon has some great post on what you need to know and do:

• Facebook launches completely new process for creating Pages (video)
• How to activate Facebook’s new Subscribe Button (and what it means)
• 7 ways Facebook’s Subscribe Button can be a nonprofit game-changer

2. Cross-promoting your content: working smarter instead of harder from Grow my Company, Christine Pilch, another one of our speakers at Tech Day Camp.

If you’ve done the work and created a great piece, why not post it everywhere you can and repackage it for cross-promotion? If you’ve retained the copyright on your work, there is nothing stopping you from having the piece republished within another venue, chopping it up for multiple blog posts, and producing a video about the topic. But don’t stop there….

3. Check these out:  Fall Season of (free) Webinars for Nonprofits from nonprofitwebinars September 28 3:00 pm EDT/noon PDT Success with Nonprofit Auctions From someone that supports the NPToolbox: Tom Weitbrecht, SA Bids!

The fall 2011 season of (free) nonprofit professional development webinars launches today and features a great list of topics and expert presenters. Webinars every Wednesday at 1:00 Eastern/10:00 Pacific and at 3:00 Eastern/noon Pacific.

4. How to make cause marketing video that doesn’t suck from Socialbrite Guest post by Steve Stockman

The good news: stories about people, struggle, challenges and passion are entertaining — as long as you know how not to push your audience away with a lame video. Turns out that with a little bit of awareness, planning and practice, you too can make video that doesn’t suck. Here are 10 things you need to know…

5. Fourteen Ways to Improve Your Open Rate from NTen, it’s about email marketing, good tips and things to think about.

Related articles

• Around the Web Sep 16 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Around the Web Sep 2 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Tech Day Camp Updates – Speakers (thenon-profittoolbox.com)

It’s Friday, so I do “Around the Web” and choose some of my favorite Non-profit posts. But since Sunday is a very “Special Day”  I thought I would start out with a promotion for To Mama, With Love is a collaborative online art project that honors moms across the globe and raises funds to invest in remarkable women who are transforming our world. Please stop by their site.

Now on to our weekly Fab 5:

1. 6 Ways Youtube is helping Non-Profits from Socialbrite: So think about video, and all the good it can do for you, and then ponder this: of the more than 1.5 million nonprofits in the United States, only 10,000 had bothered to apply for the YouTube nonprofits program. Now an all-in-one application process was in place. Fill out an application form, answer a few simple questions and within 30 days you’ll be notified if you’ve made the cut. Qualifying nonprofits will be able to participate in Google Grants,Google Earth for Nonprofits, Google AdWords for Nonprofits and much more.

2. HOW TO: Launch a Mobile Photo-Sharing Campaign for Your Nonprofit from Nonprofit Tech 2.0.  Are NPO’s being left behind in the mobile world?

One of the simplest ways to begin dabbling in mobile technology is to launch a mobile photo-sharing campaign, and Yfrog, Twitpic, and DailyBooth make it easy for any nonprofit social (and now mobile) media manager with a smartphone and little creativity. While mobile websites, group text messaging, and text-to-give campaigns may be looming large on your To Do List, making that transition from desktop communications to mobile is a crucial and timely evolution in your nonprofit communications practices. That said, here are three simple steps to get started with mobile photo-sharing… [read the 3 steps]

3. How Mature Is Your Nonprofit’s Social Media Practice? from Beth’s Blog.

Putting the Networked Nonprofit ideas into practice and using social media and other emerging technologies will only be success if nonprofits take small, incremental and strategic steps. In this model, there are four different levels of social media practice:  Crawl, Walk, Run, Fly.   One level is not better than another; it is just where the organization is at with respect to becoming a networked nonprofit and agile at using social media and other emerging technologies.

4. Facebook Page Insights analytics: Users vs. Interactions from John Haydon…first of a series about Facebook Insights. Second one: What does “Active Users” mean in Facebook Page Insights? next: Viewing detailed reports on Facebook Page’s Daily Active Users

You already know that you can view metrics for your Facebook Page with Insights. But knowing how to view these reports and knowing what they mean are two different things.

5. How nonprofit supporters are using their smartphones And how nonprofits need to adjust to the new mobile marketplace from Socialbrite: Guest post by Tonia Zampieri great overview on what needs to be looked at when thinking about mobile, and it’s not just text2give.

Become a Fan of The Non-Profit Toolbox “like” us on Facebook

1.  HOW TO: Use Facebook Questions for Your Nonprofit by NonProfit Tech 2.0. Want to ask questions on your page? This article explains the how’s and why’s.

2. 16 Ways To Get More Comments On Your Facebook Page by John Haydon.

Getting fans to comment on your Facebook Page can take a lot of time and effort. And it can sometimes be painful seeing other Facebook Pages who make engagement look easy.

But even the most active Facebook Page walls began from a standing start. And many of them got to where they are today by making it easier for fans to comment on their Page.

3. Twitter Community Organizing Rules for Non Profits from Beth’s Blog. A post by Robin Stephenson with ten rules to follow when using Twitter.

4. Say “No” to Money (to Make Money) from N-Ten, a post from CEO and Founder of give2gether, Arnon Shafir.  Something everyone should think about:

Say “no” to money. We dare you.

Believe it or not, sometimes saying ‘no’ to money helps the money pour in. Counter-intuitive? Yes. But does it work? Yes!

5.  Storytelling: Up Close and Personal from Frogloop.

Nonprofit campaigners and fundraisers need to take a step back and focus on re-connecting with their members – not treating them like ATM machines or clicktivism robots.

How can you start re-connecting with your members and potential supporters?  Tell your story.  And I don’t mean a boring one that’s been edited 10x by senior management and contains wonky policy messaging. Tell a real story. No red tape. No policy jargon.

Here’s some tips to think about as you experiment and go down your storytelling route.

Ja-nae Duane has just announced an amazingly aggressive and creative project, I had an opportunity to participate in a brainstorming session at PodCamp Western Mass last week. Her intentions are to go into each city in the list below and she and her team will participate/facilitate an event with a non-profit organization in that town. So if you know people (organizations) in any of the cities below, let them know about the Revolution Roadtrip!

Part of Ja-nae's Revolution! Roadtrip strategy team at #PCWM

Here are some of the details from Ja-nae’s website:

The Revolution Roadtrip: From Boston to SXSW and back again. A team of “social do-gooders” will leave Mar 4 from Boston, travel in a eco-friendly van (sponsored by GreenVans) and collaborate with various cities and towns to help facilitate change in those communities.

Join Us! We are all in this together and the more we brainstorm solutions, the more likely we will be to find solutions that work!

Revolution! Team: The eco-friendly van (sponsored by GreenVans)  leaves on March 4.  There are seats available for 9 Revolutionaries.  If you have a flexible March schedule or can work from the road, then I encourage you to contact us and join this life-changing opportunity to work for positive change.

City Ambassadors: We need locals who want to help us coordinate our activities in your town.  If you live in any of the towns listed on our stops, please contact us.

Artists and Musicians: We will be performing and recording with local artists and musicians in various cities to be a part of an upcoming release and we want you to collaborate with us.  Please contact us to discuss how we can collaborate.

Here is the route:

New York : Launch Party!, Philadelphia, Washington D.C.,Raleigh, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., Atlanta, Mobile, AL, New Orleans, Houston

Austin: For the entire SXSW conference

Back on the Road: Dallas, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh
Boston: Welcome Home Party!

Can you help Ja-nae find some people and organizations?

Jane B. Ford

I had a conversation with to my husband about an upcoming meeting where a development committee planned to present the idea of hiring a marketing consultant to help the nonprofit get its message out. His frown told me he didn’t think much of the idea. As I explained that this was a great organization that just needed to communicate better with its members and the broader community, he responded “Then I think you should call the position “communications consultant”. It seemed like semantics to me, but I asked some questions and finally got his point.

To many people, the term marketing sounds like sales or, worse, those telemarketers who inundate us with unwanted phone calls. On the other hand, communications can connote a dialogue, a way that your nonprofit can both give and get information from the people you want to reach. One-way sales pitches, whether they are for annual donations or to attract an audience to an event, are often dull, boring and end up in the trash. Good communication pieces more often result in a larger annual fund or a bigger audience at your event.

Volumes have been written on good communications and I recommend you spend some time reading in this field. For the short term, however, use these three guidelines when your nonprofits prepare any form of communications.

1. Visualize the reader in your mind’s eye and imagine what response he or she will give to this piece.
2. Make sure to include at least one compelling story that will touch your readers’ hearts.
3. Find a way to make your communications piece a dialogue by including simple ways (such as an email address or phone number) for the reader to contact you.

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event at Derby Street Shoppes December 14th!

Janel, Reiko and Tom were interviewed by Cape Cod Broadcasting

Last week, before our first Networking for Non-Profit event, Janel, Reiko and Tom were interview by Cape Cod Broadcasting.  The interview aired June 6th on their very popular Sunday Morning Journal.  You can listen to the interview on Capecod.com and look at the podcasts that were uploaded on June 9th, or by clicking the link below.  In this interview we covered several topics:  How we came up with the idea for The Non-Profit Toolbox, what we actually do, and what types of help the nonprofit gets asked for by this under served group.

We think the interview came out great and can’t thank Sarah Colvin enough for the fantastic job she did leading us along.  She was extremely prepared and asked great questions. Thank you Sarah.

Here is a download of the interview:

The Non-Profit Toolbox on Cape Cod Radio

Join us for our next Networking for Non-Profit Event in August!