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This report indicates what trends dominate older users of social media. The main argument here is whether or not using social media to interact with NPO volunteeers and clients is worthwhile. The research indicates that it is a worthwhile endeavor. The important thing to bear in mind as far as older users are concerned, is making organizational web sites extremely accessible and user-friendly.

I think to a certain extent it is important to incorporate new social media into npo's its a easier way to reach out to volunteers and clients, its mostly about how you as a supervisor manage the usage from your employees.

This is a secondary post to accompany one of my earlier ones on public education and administration strategies. Related to previous post about Obama wanting to create an Ed-Tech agency. This official White House website posts a complete outline of Obama's broader plan for American Innovation to build the economy of the 21st century (in the form of an executive summary).      Interesting pyramid figure conceptually charting the projeced impact on innovation for "Sustainable Growth" and quality jobs.

Wikipedia turns ten years old this month. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that is open to anyone with an internet connection to write on any topic that they see fit. IT is more of a starting place for research on things because of its open user format, but those dedicated to Wikipedia usually come in and remove any nonsense that a person, place, or event may accumulate. The founders of Wikipedia could have easily made a fortune, but in turn decided to make Wikipedia a non-profit, charitable business.

Technology is increasingly important to the American Red Cross. We are an old organization proving we can learn new ways of doing good. Our ultimate goal is to empower the American public to get help or give help during emergencies. A healthy dose of passionate people, tools, and gadgets are required to do this effectively.  

Thanks to technology, email accounts, social networking sites, and cell phones are now prime marketing real estate. In order to strike the right balance between marketing to the masses and generating revenue, organizations should do two things right away. First, establish communication guidelines that reflect the organization's vision, mission, short and long-term objectives (collectively, the brand)-not what the business Joneses are doing. Second, ask constituents what matters to them.

New York City-based Catchafire, a business that links nonprofits with skilled volunteers who are ready to perform discrete, pro bono tasks. The goal is two-fold: to help nonprofits build capacity within their organization by using volunteers and to provide professionals with high-quality, skills-based volunteer experiences.

After seeing the tragedy that has hit Japan, I found this story to be useful as a great example of how tech can really affect people's lives. Google has provided a system where you can search the name of a person in Japan and find out about their status in the country after the earthquake. This tool is so important for government to use during a national disaster because it allows families, no matter where they are across the globe, to better find out what has happened to their loved ones after such a tragedy. Governments or non profits such as the American Red Cross can use this technology in all types of different relief effort circumstances when a number of people somewhere in the world have been the victim of such a disaster.

With all these travesties continuing to occur in Japan there seems to be many ideas and techniques to help these disaster areas. This shows yet again the innovations of today's modern robots and their ability to help those in need when it may be unsafe for humans. This is a very interesting article as to how advancements in technology can continue to advance the efforts of governments and organizations to help victims of disasters.

""There's way too much made of a couple of acquisitions to make our market seem uncompetitive," said Gene Austin, CEO of Convio in Austin, Texas. "We are all competing in a very healthy way, in a way that fosters innovation and better things for the clients," he said. He pointed to as examples Kintera and Blackbaud, as well as other "small yet emerging organizations that will also bring innovation and competition to the marketplace."

Consolidation in the sector will continue to some degree as the firms move toward Software as a Service (SaaS). Major mergers will dictate the direction of cloud computing...

Courts are starting to warm to the idea of having video conferencing between jails and courts in order to cut down on the transporting of prisoners back and forth.

- "MedAssurant, Inc., a leading provider of data-driven healthcare solutions, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), one of the nation's top health care plans, today announced an expansion of their partnership to achieve an industry-leading capability to improve delivery of care to its Medicare Advantage members. The partnership centers around integrated quality outcomes, utilization improvement, financial performance, and business intelligence.  With a focus on highly coordinated analytics and interventions, BCBSM has partnered with MedAssurant to implement a suite of eight solutions spanning CMS 5 Star Complete Quality Management (CQM™), NCQA HEDIS management, Prospective Advantage™, Capitated Risk Adjustment (CARA™), Claims Aggregation Analysis and Submission (CAAS™), CareSync Advantage™, Business Intelligence, and Distributed Analytics™."

The Kentucky Office Of Homeland Security (KOHS) has released an iPhone app that allows users to be "the eyes and ears" of Kentucky in hopes to prevent domestic terror attacks. The app allows users to submit information on suspects who act strangely, ask questions about building security, or other such things. The app also allows users to submit information anonymously.

With the recent news that more e-books were brought than paperbacks in February, its no surprise that Amazon is allowing the Kindle to borrow e-books from more than 11,000 libraries across the U.S. in working with OverDrive, a huge supplier of e-books for public schools and libraries. Students and non-profits will now have greater access to e-books, but the limit on checking out books is a concern with HaperCollins announcing a new policy that requires e-books to expire after being check out only 26 times.

Clarification - the description is an excerpt beginning with the 4th paragraph of the article. Not my words. "My problem is that for as long as I have tried to figure out, Dropbox made some bold claims about how your files were encrypted and how nobody had access to them, with statements like: All transmission of file data occurs over an encrypted channel (SSL). All files stored on Dropbox servers are encrypted (AES-256) Dropbox employees aren't able to access user files, and when troubleshooting an account they only have access to file metadata (filenames, file sizes, etc., not the file contents)."

As the cell phone becomes more affordable to the rest of the world, people with no bank accounts, or those who have to spend a lot of money to go to a bank have found an easier way to carry out transactions.

I think this is similar to what i have at my credit union its called audio teller where we have an automated number we can call during or after banking hours to manage our accounts, I love it and couldnt live without it!! : )

This looks to be a really interesting way to get people connected with Nonprofits. Using your Facebook account, you hook up with Jumo to connect to organizations you care about, and maximize your potential in doing work for them. Founded in February 2010 by one of the founders of Facebook itself, Jumo is still a work in progress. It appears to be a really streamlined way to get involved, and would be an excellent way to get volunteers for any organization.

The emerging business structure applicable to nonprofits. You will have to pay taxes but the confusion is in the donation structure. There is a link to that information contained within

Was seeking answers to what is an L3C?

Obama talking about the importance of investing in wireless technology in Marquette, MI, up north last Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011. This part of a new White House focus on "innovation, competitiveness and infrastructure as a pathway to jobs and 'winning the future.' The president compared the goal of extending wireless access to important successes that connected previous generations of Americans: the building of railroads and the federal highway system."

I really like the plans he is pushing for. Mobile devices is obviously the current frontier to win. The impact on nonprofit activity will be enormous. Most businesses for that matter now have to consider a mobile device plan in supplement to their initial web design plans.

I found this article to be interesting. In the past few elections we have seen the use of social media soar. I think this is a great opportunity for an average person to be able to get the opportunity to ask questions that are meaningful to the general public. Prior to YouTube and Facebook it would seem nearly impossible for a question that we have to be answered by the President of the United States in a live news conference. Technology makes this possible.