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1. Board Governance Resources great list of eight resources from Susan Hammond, sc Hammond Advisors

2. Free nonprofit tools from 10 different experts! from the Fundraising Coach

10 of us have gotten together to offer:

with Steve Fischer & Ja-nae Duane

If you are involved in the Non Profit community, Revolutionary Road is a presentation you just can’t miss!  Ja-nae and Steve present two different projects that they created and ran.  Both of them used social media extensively to develop their projects [...]]]>

Another reason to attend Tech Day Camp – Crowdsourcing for Non-Profits

Fall is creeping in, today in New England is a bright crisp day! We are about to announce the schedule for Tech Day Camp, and we have a whole series for NPO directors, staff and volunteers!! Hope you can make it Saturday, Oct 22! Now on to the picks for the [...]]]>

Image by lu2shoot via Flickr

Fall is creeping in, today in New England is a bright crisp day! We are about to announce the schedule for Tech Day Camp, and we have a whole series for NPO directors, staff and volunteers!! Hope you can make it Saturday, Oct 22! Now on to the picks for the week.

1. From our favorite  advisor, Susan Hammond: Advisory Boards Can Improve Fiduciary Boards

Many problems in governance start with uneducated people getting onto a board, corporate or nonprofit.  They are asked by a trusted colleague because they are successful in business or some other endeavor.  That success in turn is seen as preparing you to serve on a board.  Wrong!

One of the easiest ways to get familiar with board service is serving on an advisory board.

2.  Are you on Facebook? Christine Pilch, one of our fantastic speakers at Tech Day Camp: Facebook compromised your privacy this week, and you probably didn’t even notice it Thanks for watching out for us Christine!!

In the way of a great illusionist, this week Facebook got so many users worked up about the loss of easy access to recent posts that they were able to slide in much more significant changes that altered the privacy control that every Facebook user had over his own information.

3. More about changes on Facebook and Pages from Beth Kanter about: Facebook Changes for Organization Pages: Focus On Results

The discussion about the recent changes on Facebook has focused mostly around what it means for individuals, particularly the tension between openness and  privacy.    Many people are wondering what it means for nonprofit brands  using Facebook as one of their marketing channels.   So are people like me who do coaching and training on how to use Facebook effectively.     It makes no sense to freak out.

4. From another presenter, John Haydon, a regular here on Friday: The most important question you could ask a new donor

What made you donate to our organization?

5. What we all want to know: 5 Tips to Make Donating Easy from Inspiring Generosity

A few weeks ago we asked our Facebook friends what obstacles they saw in online fundraising. One friend noted that some nonprofits make it hard for donors to donate on their website, with too many clicks in the middle.

There are simple solutions to this, so if you’re thinking about revamping your nonprofit’s website, take these tips into consideration…

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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 [...]]]>

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.

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Here in New England, there is fall in the air, thinking I need to put away my shorts, as it has been a bit chilly…Hope everyone is ready for the businesses to get back into gear! Here are my picks for the week.

1. Why isn’t anyone sharing your nonprofit’s content? by [...]]]>

Image by renedrivers via Flickr

Here in New England, there is fall in the air, thinking I need to put away my shorts, as it has been a bit chilly…Hope everyone is ready for the businesses to get back into gear! Here are my picks for the week.

1. Why isn’t anyone sharing your nonprofit’s content? by John Haydon: trust, caring, boring, “coolness”…find out more, and join the discussion.

2. Helping nonprofits master the art of grant writing from Socialbrite & JD Lasica

It seems that many of the 1.5 million nonprofits in the land still have not heard of the Foundation Center. And that’s too bad, because the venerable nonprofit organization, which has been around for more than 50 years, offers a wealth of information about U.S. philanthropy and helps people learn how to apply for grants through a rich foundation database.

Best of all, it’s free — just like a public library!

3. Embracing Next Generation Philanthropy from NTen:

Recent economic forecasting suggests that traditional fundraising is not going to get easier any time soon. While it’s tempting to focus on scarcity, a new generation of philanthropists is coming of age. They are young community builders, driven by a DIY ethic, and empowered by social media. They are leveraging the lowered costs of coordination provided by the web and mobile net, and they are stepping up to meet the challenges facing their generations.

What are you doing to find them now and cultivate relationships with them for the long haul?

4. 7 Tips for Better Fundraising Emails from Inspiring Generosity by geofflivingston

For most nonprofits, email has been and remains the heart and soul of their online strategies. Even social media-heavy programs seek to engage more loyal supporters through email programs like newsletter, petitions, pledges, advocacy and more. The purpose is to build a house file.

5. Measuring the Return on Relationships from Beth’s Blog and Claire Diaz Ortiz

I explained that while researching my new book, Twitter for Good (http://ht.ly/4RirJ), I took a long, hard look at fundraising on social media and came to a new, startling conclusion: it’s not about the money. As I asserted, the real ROI (return on investment) of fundraising on new media is the relationships.

Have a great weekend!

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Whew, what a week for us, we were without power for 4 days, even though we did not have much rain, and winds were no worse than some of the N’or-easter’s that come through. It was interesting “camping out” at home. Our hearts go out to those with real damage, [...]]]>

Image by Richard Elzey via Flickr

Whew, what a week for us, we were without power for 4 days, even though we did not have much rain, and winds were no worse than some of the N’or-easter’s that come through. It was interesting “camping out” at home. Our hearts go out to those with real damage, flooding and trauma.

Here are my picks for the week:

1. Hurricane Irene and the Nonprofit Social Media Storm from NTen:

We know our friends over at the Red Cross have been expertly using social media for disaster response for years now, but this weekend, with Hurricane Irene set to touch down all along the east coast, we saw many other organizations and government entities reaching out via social media, as well.

2. Get the Most Value from Your Audit from Blue Avacado and Denise Walsh, CPA:

Many nonprofits have annual CPA audits, but the executive director and/or the board’s finance or audit committee may be unsure whether they are getting the most out of the audit. A worthwhile question for the board to ask might be: “Are we getting the most out of this significant investment of money and time?”

3. Foursquare (a geo-locating site where you can find information & friends)  can help promote your location & NPO: Five Types of “Tips” Nonprofits Can Post on Foursquare Venue Pages from Nonprofit Tech 2.0

…five different types of “Tips” that your nonprofit can post on Foursquare Venue Pages using your nonprofit’s Foursquare Page (not your personal Foursquare account) to both gain new followers and inspire the Foursquare community. That said, some things to keep in mind when posting Tips:

4. 7 Things Nonprofits Can Talk About on Facebook Besides Themselves from Social Strand Media:

…there are other things besides press opportunities and fundraising or awareness events that your fans are interested in learning more about. As I’ve talked about before, social media is about being social, so when you talk only about yourself or your organization, it gets old quickly. Spice it up. Here’s a list of 7 things a nonprofit can talk about on Facebook besides themselves…

5. This is a fun one…which persona are you? The Six Personas Of Social Media Sharing from John Haydon:

The New York Times partnered with Latitude Research to conduct a study to understand why people share content.

By conducting in-person interviews, “sharing panels”, and surveying over 2500 participants, they were able to define sharing six personas

Have a safe Labor Day Weekend!!

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August brings thoughts of sunny days at the beach…ahhh

Now back to work, here are my five for the week:

1. Five Recent Upgrades to Facebook Pages Your Nonprofit May Not Know About from Nonprofit 2.o

Facebook has been making a flurry of changes to the functionality of Facebook Pages, Facebook Community Pages, and Facebook Places [...]]]>

Image via Wikipedia

August brings thoughts of sunny days at the beach…ahhh

Now back to work, here are my five for the week:

1. Five Recent Upgrades to Facebook Pages Your Nonprofit May Not Know About from Nonprofit 2.o

Facebook has been making a flurry of changes to the functionality of Facebook Pages, Facebook Community Pages, and Facebook Places Pages over the last few weeks. The good news is that the upgrades signal that Facebook is working towards merging these three types of pages (when possible), thus making managing your nonprofit’s presence on Facebook much easier.

2. Where Should You Invest Your Time: Google+, Search, or Email? from Beth’s Blog

I think nonprofits should wait or rather don’t jump in deeply with a heavy time investment quite yet.  Take an ROI approach to the amount of time that is being spent, especially if you haven’t reallybuilt up, engaged, and developed relationships with people via your social networks in other places.

Don’t just do an ROI analysis with your social time.   Your time might be best spent on incorporating  multi-channel best practices.  Do you need to redesign your web site, incorporate SEO, or  beef up your CRM and email strategy.    As John Haydon said later in the thread,  ”Don’t buy the Persian rug if your roof has a hole in it” and then wrote this post.

3. Why your nonprofit should have a mobile strategy by Tamara Schweitzer at Socialbrite:

You don’t have to develop an app to be a player in the mobile market. In fact, SMS text messaging and QR codes are two ways that you can work with mobile technology without breaking the bank.

A QR code, or quick response code, is like a barcode that can easily be scanned by smartphones to relay all kinds of information.

4. Five Ways Nonprofits Can Use QR Codes by Allyson Kapin on Frogloop:

“QR codes allow you to land a visitor much farther down whatever funnel of engagement you’re interested in moving them through. Rather than trusting a visitor to type in www.yoursite.com, a QR code can send them directly to the specific page you’d like them to see,” said Henry Quinn at the Idealware Blog.”

A QR code can link directly to music, video, news—on or off your site—it can activate a phone call, send an SMS, open forums for conversation or social networking—anything that’s online and that’s going increase their engagement with your organization, you can put in front of a user with a phone, immediately, with one click, said Quinn.

5. An Introduction to Using Facebook Ads for Your Nonprofit from John Haydon. Reasons to use FB ads for NPO’s:

Now go see the whole slide deck!

5. Why your nonprofit should have a mobile strategy

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Summer is half over, wow, time does fly!  Are these the dog-days of summer, are we lounging around waiting…wondering what’s next? What are you doing to get your NPO ready for fall?

1. 17 Ways to Ask For Donor Support on Inspiring Generosity by SocialButterfly – you [...]]]>

via Flickr”]

Image by bunchadogs & susan[weed chomp weed chomp

Summer is half over, wow, time does fly!  Are these the dog-days of summer, are we lounging around waiting…wondering what’s next? What are you doing to get your NPO ready for fall?

1. 17 Ways to Ask For Donor Support on Inspiring Generosity by SocialButterfly – you just have to click through to see these great ideas

To raise money and support for a good cause, you have to ask. In a recent study, Blackbaud looked at the motivation of why people give. 50% of people surveyed said they give because “a friend asked me.” It’s easier said than done, but here are 21 ways to ask someone to donate to your cause…

2. Nonprofits & Gaming: Playing Your Way to More Funds, More Volunteers, and Solving the World’s Problems from NTen, and Casey Golden. Offers some ideas and examples of engaging people.

Games “…may prove to be a key resource for solving some of our most pressing real-world problems,” according to game designer Jane McGonigal in The Wall Street Journal. “When we play, we… have a sense of urgent optimism. We believe whole-heartedly that we are up to any challenge, and we become remarkably resilient in the face of failure.” Gamers are exactly the kinds of people you want helping your organization succeed.

Related article: Gamification: A Primer for Nonprofits

3. How to Adapt When Everything Around You is Changing- A Nonprofit Organization Survival Guide from Network for Good, Brian Reich: phones, ipads, Facebook, real life, changes everything, information travels faster, thoughtful post…

The old ways of thinking and old ways of operating aren’t getting the results we want because everything is changing.

4. Socialbrite: How to find amazing, powerful stories for your nonprofit video by Lindsay Oberst

If your nonprofit wants to make use of stories, how can you take a step back and find the right stories that support the causes that matter to you? Here are three steps you can take to discover amazing, powerful stories to use in your own videos…

5. Three Ways Social Media Has Negatively Affected the Nonprofit Sector (and What We Can Do About It) by Nonprofit Tech 2.0: Tips on how NPOs can help change the bad news, negative commenting and rants, and SM burnout.

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