Group items tagged

This site has at Top 10 list for paid social media monitoring services specifically designed for nonprofits. I found it to be very helpful because it had descriptions of each type of service along with costs, and what size nonprofit it would be most beneficial for. This could be useful for a nonprofit trying to organize contacts while also receiving feedback on how they are progressing through social media.

MobileCause is currently the leading mobile giving platform in the U.S., has been steadily building a mobile giving client base since 2009. They have an impressive client list of the largest, most well known, nonprofits in the US.

Predictions that I agree with for 2011

I did some volunteering with this organization this past weekend. A group of about 50 students from Grand Valley went and disassembled over 230 computers. CompRenew Environmental recycles old electronics (tvs, computers, microwaves….basically anything with a plug) and keeps them from going into landfills. They then refurbish the electronics and sell them, or they disassemble them and sell the parts, or just recycle them. All of the money they get from the recycled electronics goes to education in over 44 countries. CompRenew is a really neat company. Hopefully their idea will spread and more cities will be able to recycle old electronics.

Goodwill and MacMedia both have related recycling / refurbishing interests around the state: http://www.goodwillwm.org/donate/computer-recycling--reuse and http://www.macmedia.org/care.html, respectively.

Responsibly recycle your electronics.

Open APIs (application programming interfaces) are VERY important to look for when considering cloud-based solutions. Think about the implications for nonprofits selecting an online solution... would you want one with an API or not? (BTW... take a look at the APIs for both Google Apps online and Microsoft Office365 online. Let me know what you find.)

This is the video I showed during the 1/31 class re: APIs. (Cards vs. Candyland)

This video was brought to us by The American Red Cross. This shows us that some nonprofits have before very advanced with the technology being used.

TechAtlas helps nonprofits stay updated with technology.  This is a great way to get technology resources organized and under control. 

Email marketing is CHEAP and EFFECTIVE means to marketing in a nonprofit but there is a wrong way to do it. This article outlines the importance of not upsetting people with SPAM. A targeted, restrained outreach is more effective in the long run.

This article is very useful in outlining the pyramid of achievements a small nonprofit should be looking to achieve step by step. IT asset building starts with the mission statement and choosing the people who will implement your strategies.

This post is an article linking to a series that outlines the building of IT assets in a nonprofit organization

It is increasingly apparent that finding the perfect cloud platform is a lot like getting married. The perfect partner if hard to find. Yes there are 5 major players as of today that include Google, Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon but even they aren't identical in this field. A better bargain might be found with one of these baby clouds so it appears to be worth the look. All of the usual IT issues are what will last, what's next and how much did that cost? The clouds are coming no matter what though....

Only 16% of nonprofits expect to be ready for mobile devices in 2011 so there is tremendous opportunity in 84% of nonprofits. Mobile web use increased 230% from 2008 to 2009 which indicates that many more people are impressed with mobile computing devices and it is here to stay for a while. Websites without mobile connectivity are essentially going to be out-of-date now.

This is supplementary to our first reading assignment which outlines where we are are and where we are going in nonprofit technology

This details metro health switching completely over to electronic systems to run their hospitals with.

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.

This article discusses the changes being implemented into the nonprofit sector in the technology area. New technologies are being used to assist in accomplishing the organization's mission statement as well as using funding to its greatest potential and maximizing funding coming in. "In a release, Kristen Fulks, Blackbaud principal consultant and another co-author of the paper, said that 'We think it is very important to share fundraising technology trends with the nonprofit community, yet the fundamentals familiar to any fundraiser still apply,' she said. 'With the ever-demanding challenges of the economy and other influences, it is even more critical to get donors engaged faster, rather than just using technology for technology's sake.'"

Quadriga Art works with nonprofits to help improve online donations by creating a more advanced technology infrastructure.

This is a nice list of useful cutting edge mobile tools. Mobile web seems to have the most immediate impact potential in the sector for 2011. I personally like bump with lets you share contact lists instantly. There is so many new mobile applications coming out that you need to hunt.

Mobile is where all the growth is

Touch screen digital signage has brought about a new dimension in the fundraising possibility and helps with the recognition of the nonprofit organization.

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.

Np time is the technology, that is use for small and medium-sized nonprofits purchasing software, the biggest concern is that it don,t cost too much, but rather not buying the right technology. the smaller nonprofit lack with technology expertise and therefore, the can make bad choices on buying software.