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The semantic web (lately being called web 3.0 among other buzzwords) is the future of our online networking. Boiled down, it's all about context. The new technologies that have been in development to better contextualize or networks and boost our interactivity are really starting to get awesome!
One of my favorite geek blogs, Read Write Web, posted a list of their Top 10 Semantic Web Products of 2008, so I thought I'd poke around in some of these and call out my favorite new cool toy.
Although Zemanta wasn't one RWW's particular faves, it was so highly rated by users that they felt compelled to include it. This, of course, piqued my interest, so I decided to give this semantic/contextual blogging tool a shot. I tried out the product in both Google's Blogger and in our very old version of Movable Type. In both cases, you actually download the handy little app as a Firefox extension. But, you ask, what does it actually do?
Well, once installed, a little window pops up (see picture at top of this post) and the user is given a scrolling palette of image choices to click on and automagically embed in his/her post. The photos are selected from Wikimedia Commons, flickr and wikipedia as well as other open-source websites to make terms active links.
Ultimately, I was hoping to see a magic button that would let me, say, highlight terms in my blog post, and it would then seek them out on the interwebs and insert the links. As it stands, I spend a bunch of time cruising my post and looking for web addresses to add links in my text manually. Zemanta does not do this for me, as it really focuses on wikipedia links and is still a little lacking in search sophistication. But, it is a very fun tool that takes almost no learning to use, and it is a great step towards awesome things to come!
Do you use contextual web tools? What is your favorite? Would you/do you use Zemanta? Why or why not?
ps- click on the little reblog link at the bottom of the post to see something really cool for cross posting and quoting!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=f480f6fe-0fdf-4390-be1a-22cba9506f68)
Simple photo editing and touch-up work shouldn't cost you a thing these days, thanks to all of the new, free-to-use image editors and improvements to the ones that have been around for a while. You don't really need to lay down big bucks for Photoshop or the new version of the full featured Adobe CS4 hitting the market. Instead, you might want to consider some of these very workable options:
GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages. GIMP has really come along way, making great strides in the look and feel of this handy editor with versions for Mac, Windows and Linux users. Check out some great screenshots here and here.
http://Alilg.com - A free online photo editor. The interface is reminiscent of older versions of Photoshop, but with far fewer tools. I like the way the editor pops out into a separate window and looks like I'm not in the browser anymore. It does not support all file types, but it is quick and easy, and does not require any kind of registration, membership, whatever.
http://www.drpic.com/ - This is another free online photo editor with a nice look and feel as well as a whole lotta tools. All of the editor's buttons are very simple and easy to understand, and you can quickly save your image to the web (for free, without a membership) or your computer in a variety of formats and quality. I highly recommend this service for anyone new to this type of work who wants something simple, fast and easy.
http://www.flauntr.com - This online editor is all about embellishment and templates. It's a fun way to jazz up an image and possible create some great branded looks. Flauntr does require you to register and makes their money by offering you ways to make prints, cards and other products. You can get lost in the fun of Flauntr's fake magazine covers and numerous backgrounds very easily.
http://FotoFlexer.com - Yet another fabulous, free online editor. FotoFlexer allows you to edit your images as uploads, or images you already have posted to a variety of other places on the web like Facebook, Picassa Web or Photobucket. Features include tools such as distortions, layers, effects, smart scissors and a whole lot more. This service gets to be more and more fun as you explore the live webcam option, adding animations to your images, and changing people's haircolor! Watch a great demo here.
http://Picnik.com - Flickr.com users already know that Picnik is a great service for editing their photos that are already uploaded. But, you can also import from and save to other services as well. There are scads of cool tools, fonts and shapes at the free level, and an optional subscription based level with more tools and functionality too.
http://Webresizer.com - Speaking of online, are you looking to do most of your image editing for the web? Webresizer offers you extremely simple tools to resize an image, crop it, optimize it and make the image more usable online. Optimizing your images will help the speed of your site and universal readability for your online visitors.
These are but a few of the heaps of online image editors (except GIMP which is not web-based) popping up constantly. Even Adobe has launched an online version of Photoshop. Mashable.com has a fantastic post on 20 online editors including most of these and way more. The comments are a great read. too.
What is you fave online/free image editor?
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OK, OK- I know Firefox isn't exactly "new media." But, as the tender of the connec+ipedia garden and a bunch of other sites, I can't tell you how many email & phone conversations I engage in regarding issues with other browsers. I have personally used Firefox for years, and I find it to be the best browser for fast, safe internet access no matter what type of computer or platform I'm using.
You can use Firefox with just about any operating system- be it Mac, Windows or Linux because it is free and open to everyone. This fantastic, Open Source browser is easy to download, and it is very likely the "IT guy/gal" at your organization will let you set it up or happily set it up for you if you don't have admin privileges.
Cool features such as one-click bookmarking, spell checking, full zoom, password manager, and a new smart location bar make this Firefox all the more fantastic and handy.
And, if you're feeling like diving into the geeky end...Due to it's open, friendly, just-plain-awesome nature, there are new add-ons/plug-ins for Firefox emerging constantly. Some of my all-time favorites, from least to most geeky, are:
Foxmarks is a bookmarks synchronizer that works silently in the background to keep your bookmarks and (optionally) passwords synchronized. Foxmarks also keeps your data backed up and safe from computer failures. If you're away from your computer, Foxmarks allows you to access your bookmarks online by logging into my.foxmarks.com.
Adblock is a content filtering plug-in for the Mozilla and Firebird browsers. It is both more robust and more precise than the built-in image blocker. Adblock allows the user to specify filters, which remove unwanted content based on the source-address. If this sounds complicated, don't worry: it's not.
Zotero- helps you collect, manage, and cite your research sources.
Linkification converts text links into genuine, clickable links.
Firebug Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of web development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page. This is so cool and functional, it kinda hurts!
GreaseMonkey allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript. Hundreds of scripts, for a wide variety of popular sites, are already available at http://userscripts.org. You can write your own scripts, too. Check out http://wiki.greasespot.net/ to get started.
Every org and person has different relationships for the web, so go out there, download Firefox, and find the right plugins for you- it's fun! Or, do you already have a favorite plugin you want to share? Submit a comment below...
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The MMT geeks have been fans of Twitter for quite a while. Did you know that you can use Twitter for your organization? And, that many orgs already do? This includes both the Meyer Trust and connec+ipedia.
Twitter is a "micro-blogging" site that allows users to post comments and links up to 140 characters, and organizations are using it as a tool to get information moving through the web quickly. Tweeters, or "tweeples" (folks who use twitter) use it as a forum, an IM application, and even as a newsreader with popular blogs and other websites.
Additionally, there are a number of tools to help you use twitter in the best way! Here are a few of our faves:
search.twitter has powerful advanced search and search streaming options!
twittervision offers a real-time geographical visualization of posts to Twitter. It's really fun to watch tweets pop up on a map!
Twellow is a Twitter search directory of people by area of expertise, profession or other attribute listed in personal profiles on Twitter.
Just Tweet It is a user directory for Twitter organized by genre to allow for users to easily find other Twitter users to connect with.
Twitterfeed allows people and organizations to feed their blog posts and other streaming information to their twitter accounts. This is a great way to extend the reach of your blog and news items.
Twhirl is one of many useful desktop clients, based on the Adobe Air platform that provides a different way to view and interact with your twitter accounts. It is PC & Mac friendly, and irt can also be used with other social networking services.
Want to be gently guided through it? Check out Caroline Middlebrook's The Big Juicy Twitter Guide.
Looking for more on social media for nonprofits? Try the great resources listed in connec+ipedia.
What are your favorite microblogging and other social media tools?
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (1)Two big events are coming up - check them out and I hope you can join us!
Ever wonder how your email list stacks up against other nonprofits? Is it just your open rate that's declining, or are all nonprofits seeing the same results? And just what is a good online fundraising response rate?
Our speaker, Karen Matheson of M+R Strategic Services will speak on the results of the 2008 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study. The report analyzed online messaging, fundraising, and advocacy data from 21 leading nonprofit organizations.
Karen will cover key findings on fundraising and advocacy metrics, explore what the data tells us about industry-wide changes, provide key metrics to analyze your organization's online program and take questions about the study and nonprofit online metrics.
She will also offer up real-world advice and research-based best practices for communicating effectively with your membership, helping maintain and develop supporters, build relationships, and sharing your story.
DETAILS:
Date: Tuesday, August 26th
Time: 6 pm - 8 pm
Place: AboutUs.org, SW 2nd & Stark
TSVP: On Upcoming - http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/928776
Karen Matheson is the Manager of Quantitative Research and Analysis at M+R Strategic Services and provides strategic data analysis for a range of M+R's eCampaigns clients, including the Human Rights Campaign, Oxfam America, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. With a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Oregon and graduate coursework in statistics and analysis, Karen has a strong quantitative research background. In addition to co-authoring M+R and NTEN's eNonprofit Benchmarks Study (http://www.e-benchmarksstudy.com), Karen regularly researches and co-authors articles about best online communications strategies using data from several national nonprofits.
FOOD: Some food and beverages are provided, but feel free to bring something to share! We hope that you will join us to meet new friends, share issues and ideas about technology in the nonprofit sector, and continue to help mold the group. These events will also try to offer information about open source (read: free!) alternatives to software and tools used by or available to nonprofits.
HumaniNet will present a status report on their Maps 2.0 initiative, which is exploring ready-to-use Web-based mapping tools for humanitarian and nonprofit organizations.
Dylan Myers, a digital mapping specialist at Google Maps, will also be there to answer your questions on the ever-expanding toolkit of Google Maps and Google Earth. Dylan was a key member of a Mercy Corps team that conducted a GIS (geospatial information systems) project in Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami.
Justin Perkins, an online marketing expert and Care2's Nonprofit Services Director, will also be present and was an adviser to the Maps 2.0 project at NetSquared.
DETAILS:
Schedule:
5 PM - Conversation and Networking
6 PM - Presentation/Q&A by Gregg Swanson and Matt Blair of HumaniNet
6:30 PM - More networking and Q/A with Dylan Meyers, Google Maps
Date: Thursday, Sept. 4th
Place: Lucky Lab Beer Hall - 1945 NW Quimby
RSVP: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1022977
Humaninet will briefly discuss the initial findings of the research, which is based on interviews with aid and relief managers in Afghanistan, Sudan, Singapore, London, and – not least - Portland. Matt will share some notes on emerging Web 2.0 social mapping services, including the promise and pitfalls of 'crowd-sourced' geospatial data.
Following Q&A, you can meet Dylan, see demos, exchange ideas, practice your "geo-geek speak," and learn more about what online maps can do for your project or organization.
I am a huge fan of all things shared-knowledge. I get excited, dive right in, and always feel like I learn so much regardless of how much I'm able to contribute (though I try to always put in all that I can). I hope, and believe, that many of you are the same way and thought I would make sure you all know about two awesome ways for sharing peer-to-peer knowledge, especially with peers you didn't know you had!
Net Squared Community Blog: Net Squared "enables social benefit organizations to leverage the tools of the social web." This is a great place to hear about what other organizations are doing, regardless of where they may be on the adoption timeline for different new media tools. I love the varied topics and people that post here, keeping me exposed to all sorts of fields. It is a community blog, so feel free to set up your free account with Net Squared and post to the blog as well!
NTEN Affinity Groups: NTEN is a membership organization of nonprofit technology professionals that "aspires to a world where all nonprofit organizations skillfully and confidently use technology to meet community needs and fulfill their missions." You don't have to be a member to join the affinity groups, though! There are many different topic areas covered and it's a terrific way to find resources and contacts that can help answer questions or provide advice, especially for areas where you previously didn't know quite who to ask. Check out the lists and join groups that match your interests!
Where do you find peer-to-peer help when you have a question or need advice? Do you prefer on or offline help; people you know already or people you may know via a network (like Net Squared or NTEN)?
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)Here are two great ways to start learning about social media, examining your organization's online presence and improving the way you work digitally.
1. We Are Media Project - from NTEN and Beth Kanter
The Social Media Starter Kit for Nonprofits: This project is a collaborative approach to build a "toolkit and instructional guides about how social media strategies and tools can enable nonprofit organizations to create, compile, and distribute their stories and change the world." It is now in its second week, which focuses on strategic thinking about social media. You can see what participants have shared and how the project is growing, by visiting the wiki.
2. Digital Makeover Project - from Simon Fairway
This project focuses on South Yorkshire Funding and Advice Bureau to examine the current state of digital communications, needs, and staff capacity. The strategy development for social media and other technology advancements for the organization are coming from the larger community (even you!). SYFAB's website is very much like that of many nonprofit organizations: it does provide information, but it doesn't provide community or participation, and isn't very welcoming. The organization has 12 employees (some part some full time), so in size it is similar to many other nonprofits as well. This is a great project to stay up-to-date with and learn along with! You can see it unfold on Simon Fairway's NetSquared blog.
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)I have talked about blogging and micro-blogging before, but what about blogging without a blog?
Posterous is a new tool that let's you do just that! All you need is email, and I'd put money on the fact that you all have email already! All you need to do is send an email to post@posterous.com and you've just posted to your blog!
The subject line of your email is the post title. The message body is the post content. You can even send pictures, audio or video attachments to be posted as well! "If you can use email, you can have your own website to share thoughts and media with friends, family and the world."
If you submit multiple photos, they'll automatically make a photo gallery for you. If you send in a link, they will make it an active link; unless it's a link to a video or photo or some other media, when they embed the video for you so readers don't have to click to see it. And much more!
I just did it myself. It REALLY is just as easy as it sounds. All I did was send an email. But, it was fun so I did it twice. :) You can see it here!
If you want to try it out, just send an email to post@posterous.com! You can check Posterous out on the web, too; here are the FAQs.
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)Are you connected in connec+ipedia?
Many people have already registered and are sharing information about people, places and things. You can learn more about connec+ipedia on the website or even follow on Twitter!
Last night was the June event for Net Tuesday here in Portland where the group focused on presentations from Squarepeg and connec+ipedia. It was a big turn out and great conversations and questions. Some of the questions we are hearing most about connec+ipedia include:
Yesterday was the public launch for connec+ipedia!
You can watch the recording of the launch (streaming video or download the file, note that it is very large!), or download the user guide as an into to the tool.
It was a lot of hard work ramping up for the launch: anxious stomachs, tired eyes, little sleep, and aching heads. But it was all worth it to stand in front of the packed room yesterday and unveil this awesome new tool. What is most exciting to me, is that this is a tool for everyone! We put in the leg work and now you all get to join us in building it out in directions we may not even have thought of yet. Together, the connec+ipedia community can shape this resource to meet all of our needs in a connected way.
Sharing and collaborating on People, Places, and Things, as well as all the intersections between them, means we have the possibility to move anywhere and everywhere the information takes us. We hope it will help those working for the common good do their work, understand their work, and inform their work.
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)There are a few events coming up soon that promise to be very informative and interesting.
As usual, we will open up the meeting to a broader conversation and discuss open source options for software. Bring your examples and questions, too!
DETAILS:
Topic: Wikis and your nonprofit
Presenter: Mark Dilley and others
Date: May 27th
Time: 6 pm
Location: AboutUs.org office (SE 2nd and Washington)
Connection online: http://netsquared.meetup.com/13/
We hope that you will join us to meet new friends, share issues and ideas about technology in the nonprofit sector, and continue to help mold the group. These events will also try to offer information about open source (read: free!) alternatives to software and tools used by or available to nonprofits as well.
You can check out the group online here: http://netsquared.meetup.com/13/
And sign up to RSVP for the meeting, network, and stay in the loop!
ABOUT: The fourth Tuesday of each month, social changemakers and web innovators get together to network, mix, swap stories and ideas, build new relationships and learn at Net Tuesday, an event produced by NetSquared, http://www.netsquared.org a project of TechSoup, http://www.techsoup.org. All those interested, involved, or employed in nonprofits and that recognize the importance and utility of technology in the sector are invited to join us for discussion and exchange.
DETAILS:
Presenter: Roger Burks, Mercy Corps
Location: Northwest Health Foundation, 221 NW 2nd Ave, Suite 300 (in Bamboo Room), Portland, OR
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Food: Bring your own lunch and we'll bring some goodies!
Roger Burks is a Senior Writer at Mercy Corps and presented in the session, Connections in Crisis: Using Technology to Bring People Together, at the 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference. Please join us to learn from Roger's experience and to engage him with your questions.
The Portland 501 Tech Club is growing with your participation and turning into one of the hottest new places to learn, connect, and CHANGE within the Portland community! This is a fantastic way to keep conversations, learning opportunities and networking going throughout the community.
If you haven't already, you can join the Portland 501 Tech Club at http://groups.nten.org.
An off-line extension of the Women Who Tech online network, this picnic hopes to bring together women from many industries that use technology to do their jobs or to help their organizations. You can learn more about the national network of women and join in by visiting the organization's website: http://womenwhotech.com
DETAILS:
When: Sunday, June 22, 11 am - 2 pm
Where: Laurelhurst Park, picnic area A
Why: Join with the growing community of women in technology
What to bring: A potluck item to share (beverages will be provided)
Who to invite: Other women colleagues and friends using technology in their work
(Check out the event page on Facebook or UpComing.)
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)I discussed email campaigns and fundraising campaigns already from M+R and NTEN's 2008 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study and there is also data on advocacy. Here are some of my thoughts about the advocacy benchmarks highlighted in the report and case studies to help frame and establish some questions when thinking about your own data.
Email Advocacy
The average rate for page completion (filling in a form, etc.) increased from 85% in 2006 to 89% in 2007. Things like improved layout and design of advocacy pages could be the reason for the increase, or that supporters are more comfortble/used to the forms and what to expect when clicking through to the page. I think it is also important to think about the inclusion of auto-complete/fill information either from a personal option on the users' computers or through a cookie from your site.
Taking Action
Environmental and rights organizations each had about half of their membership taking action in 2007. That is well ahead of health and international organizations. Often, it is hard to simplify the best reason or couple reasons that contribute to the high action rates. Of course, doing everything 'right' doesn't hurt! I suggest signing up on the list for organizations or campaigns that strikes/surprises/motivates/impresses you outside (or in) your sector of work and learn from the ways it is done - how the emails are done (how many, about what, etc.), how you are called to action, how you are rewarded for action if you do take it, etc.
One statistic that is very important to learn from is that of those who are active members, 13% are categorized as 'super activists' but those 13% account for 42% of the action taken (in 2007). These super activists comprise about 5% of an organization's list. These are very important members. That much goes without saying; but, what does it mean for your organization's interaction with them? It's important to investigate and develop ways for super activists to do the work of cultivating less active or inactive members into taking action, so that you don't have to. Building a system for interaction between members can allow for further actions that include inviting others to become active when you do, or suggesting actions to your contacts, etc.
Case Studies
#1. Human Rights Campaign
The HRC increased its advocacy response rates in 2007 by a full percentage point and contribute this increase to segmentation of its list. It split the list into five sub-lists based on the members' past activities/interactions with the organization. HRC could then communicate in a more tailored way with the members on each list.
Today, everyone on the list gets one advocacy action and the one email newsletter per month, plus a fundraising campaign every 2-3 months. Beyond that, audiences for emails are based on demonstrated interest. For example, extra action alerts only go to people who've already shown an interest in that issue and to core activists (who have taken 5+ online actions in the page year). Special fundraising campaigns target recent donors. Higher-threshold actions like phone calls and letters to the editor never go to inactives.
#2. Environmental Defense
ED noticed that they were earning 40% of their dollars in the year-end and that people gave at the same rate regardless of how many emails when looking at the data from three consecutive Decembers. In 2007, they took a random 15% of their list and those members received only 3 messages while the rest of the list received 13 (between Thanksgiving and December 31st). The group receiving only 3 messages had a lower donation rate so they plan to do further list testing to find the 'sweet spot' with their members. What has been the result of list tests like this; if you haven't yet done any segmenting or testing, do you plan to?
An interesting test that ED conducted on their website took place right on the home page. They used a graphic with polar bears and a call to action for contributions, in one instance, and in the other simply put the donation form in the same spot (top, center of the home page). What they noticed was an increase of 8% more gifts with the donation form, 8% more donations of $1,000 or less and 10% more donations of %500 or less. The lesson they learned was to just put the option completely in front of the visitor, take out all possible clicks, and let them decide right away if they are going to give or not.
What has been the best advocacy campaign/call to action in the last year at your organization? What data did you collect (either quantitative or qualitative) that helped you plan for the next one?
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)As I started discussing with email campaigns previously, M+R and NTEN released the2008 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study and there is quite a bit of data to get through. Today, I want to share some of my thoughts about the fundraising benchmarks highlighted in the report and one of the case studies discussed in the report's launch presentation.
Fundraising Response Rates
It was mentioned in the previous post as well that messaging response rates, including those of fundraising messages, were down last year compared to 2006. There is a bit of trickiness to that data though: even though the response rates declined, the overall amount raised online continues to go up partly because of the fact that the average email list has grown by a factor that is larger than the decline in response rates.
The declining open rates still convince me to look for ways to integrate calls into one message so that you have actions/advocacy, fundraising opportunities, and news/information in every email so it isn't a one shot or nothing deal.
Online Giving
On average, organizations raised 40% of the online giving in Q4 (October-December). This trend is true as well for gift size. The study found that gift size dramatically increased at the end of the year (same was true in 2006). So, the obvious lesson here is to cultivate as many donations as possible at the end of the year.
It seems to me, though, that just as much as you should cultivate donors/donations at year-end, you should find new ways of engaging them in your fundraising needs in other times of the year. Remember that tying fundraising appeals to current events and other communication campaigns as another option for support (it's really just another call to action) can bring in new donors and help you identify what issues the supporters care most about.
Case Studies
#1. Humane Society of the United States
One of the profiles included in the study focuses on the HSUS' fundraising success. There are a few things they did to improve their fundraising response rates, one of them was that:
They recruited new advocates on high profile advocacy campaigns, and then converted the new advocates to donors by sending fundraising appeals on the same issue. This strategy has proved so successful for HSUS that the organization has decided to customize its rolling welcome appeal for new advocates so that new advocates hear from HSUS on the same issue they joined the email list on. HSUS has extended this segmentation strategy to other appeals, too, by targeting list members with appeals based on those advocates' and donors' past online actions.
#2. Amnesty International USA
During the report release conference call/webinar/live event, a representative from AI explained some interesting learning they went through with their website and online giving. Here are some of the areas they made changes and saw results:
There is one more section to the benchmarks study that I'm going to cover next (the section on Advocacy). The fundraising section really creates just as many questions as the email data from yesterday.
Where do you find out the most information about a donor right now and how is that reflected on your website? How are you currently designing ways to cultivate donors outside of the October-December high season?
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)Recently, M+R Strategic Services and NTEN released the 2008 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study.
This "analysis of online messaging, fundraising and advocacy metrics for nonprofit organizations" comes with some surprises and some data that shouldn't surprise anyone who has been paying attention to their online benchmarks. The NonProfit Times has a piece on the report here.
It contains benchmark data from a study group of 21 nonprofit organizations covering areas like email campaigns, fundraising, and advocacy. This post focuses on the email data, but next is information about the fundraising and advocacy data.
If you want to download the report, you can do so right here.
Email Campaigns
Email Open Rates
One of the first pieces of information most of us look at when considering our effectiveness online is the open rate for email campaigns. As the report indicates, open rates have continued to trend down—2007's rate was 17.6% with 2006 being at 21.3%. One important factor to remember, though, that really messes with the validity of these numbers, is the the way opens are indicated. Usually there is a one pixel size image that is embedded in the email so that when it loads on the viewer's screen, the sender's server is indicated and a open is registered. Many email applications have a preview window that loads an email even if the viewer doesn't read it. Alternatively, most email clients viewed in a web browser are set by default not to load images. So, a viewer could read an email and even click through to take action or donate, with an open never being registered on the sender's server.
People have so many emails to get through every day and it is only increasing. My question to consider then, is how do you become a resource or include value in every email without overwhelming the reader? You still want them to click on the donate or take action links, but by increasing the value of the content of your emails (value doesn't necessarily only mean information, but options for action, etc.), you can increase your open rate and the number of clickthroughs for donations or action because of the visibility.
Message Type
The report measures the success of emails (open rate, clickthroughs, page completion, and response rate) by the three main message types: fundraising, news, advocacy. Rates have declined for each type from 2006 to 2007 but advocacy actions generated slightly higher open rates and significantly higher clickthrough, page completion and response rates. This says to me: provide options for advocacy and fundraising and news in every message! Diversifying your email lists is important, and there is certainly a lot to the impact those more tailored emails get - but that doesn't mean that they can't have tailored and appropriate messages for all three areas in an email.
Clickthrough Rates
In this area, the rates vary by issue sector. The environmental organizations that participated (you can find out which organizations were included in the survey here), had the highest clickthrough rates of all participants. What do their email newsletters have that yours don't? Are they offering/linking to compelling videos and photos? Maybe including compelling stories and reports that require the reader to click through to the website to continue reading or download. Or, maybe there is a link to community features that require leaving the email.
Message Frequency & Subscribers
The report's findings indicate a correlation between the number of emails sent and the open rate: "when an organization sent five or more emails per subscriber in a month, the open rate dropped by 1%." Likewise, "the more messages an organization sends, the higher its unsubscribe rate for that month." This doesn't mean that you should be wary of emailing your lists. On the contrary. Focus on key questions though, like: What is pertinent, relates to current events, contributes to a campaign, creates positive actions for members? Or, how can we combine some of these smaller messages into a compelling story or segmented email? Don't let data that could seem negative, cause fear. It's good to question what you are doing though so that you can really be sure to send the best messages you have to your members.
There are really so many questions that this report brings to mind that should be discussed and not hidden. I encourage you to ask a hard question about some of your data, and get excited for positive places you can go with the answers.
What benchmarks have you seen your organization's email campaigns hitting or missing? What do you want to be with your data - and are those goals realistic based on these benchmarks?
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)Two important questions related to the integration of social media tools into nonprofit work are:
"How can we effectively translate our outreach efforts into the technology-supported social/virtual world?"This is from the Web 2.0 & Social Networking Nonprofit Survey from Citizen Schools, Inc and Public Learning Media Laboratory that came out in March 2008.and
"How do we develop solid, generative measures of success?"
The survey has some interesting findings about what works and what doesn't:
Jot down some of your thoughts and questions about your organization's use of social media tools and then check out the report to explore the survey's findings!
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)The Portland Grassroots Media Camp will be held again this summer. It is "a weekend of hands-on skill shares, media workshops, presentations, discussions and gatherings aimed to empower people with tools and skills to express themselves. The camp is open to anyone, emphasizing the inclusion of those who are traditionally excluded from media representation, creation and production."
Portland Grassroots Media CampLast year's event focused on media skills for immigrant communities, as well as others who wanted to learn or teach. This year, they are hoping to be more innovative in their approach to media skill training and to connect communities on a deeper level. To do this, there will be three tracks for participants: "One track which will include things like writing press releases, organizing press conferences, and creating media strategies for an organization. Another track will be provided for more 'street' oriented skills; screenprinting, stencils, flyer making. The final track will focus on skills involving video and audio production, both technical and artistic."
September 12 - 14th, 2008
Portland Community College Cascade Campus in North Portland
There will also be opportunities for facilitated collaboration on media projects designed by participants in the camp and hopefully continued on after the event is over. Topics could include any issue area, including fighting the anti-immigrant ballot measures this fall, the effects of gentrification on North Portland, youth activism, the anti-war movement, homelessness, the environment, prison industrial complex, feminist and queer issues, and so on.
Volunteer
To ensure that the camp is as successful as possible, they are looking for eager and excited volunteers to help in a variety of ways including:
Yesterday was the April 501 Tech Club brown bag lunch event and we focused on some of the best parts of NTEN's NTC which took place last month.
It was a great chance to talk between conference goers about highlights and questions and even more exciting to have folks who hadn't been to the conference ask questions to start conversations. Some of the areas that we touched on include:
Do you use any Salesforce CRM software? Well, these two groups have recently joined forces to provide a complete working package for organizations looking to streamline and integrate their work.
Here are some of the ways that Google's tools merge with Salesforce for you:
Both of these tools are freely available to nonprofits so check them out if you are looking to explore new ways to handle your organization's software needs.
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)This week we had the April Net Tuesday here in Portland. We had Heather Cronk with us from PledgeBank to talk about online campaign building (both with PB and the general topic). It was quite a lively discussion, answering questions and leaving participants with others to think about in their organizations.
Some of the main take-aways from her presentation and our discussion are summarized below:
A great place to start your conversation about online organizing is to think about offline organizing. Successful offline campaigns include activities like:
With online organizing, successful campaigns can include activities like:
With 'web 2.0', supporters don't just read your messages, they can create their own content, interact with your content or with other supporters. Content can now also include:
Pledgebank and other similar sites offer a way for an individual or group with a good idea to create change, to make a commitment with the support of others. But, do people follow through on their pledges? PB did a survey of money-based pledges and found that about 75% of pledgers followed through. Of that 75%, they pledged anywhere from 75% to 150% of the amount they pledge.
It is easy to think 'too big' at first. You may want to march on Washington about your cause. It could be very difficult though to successfully mobilize thousands of people to show up and march with you. Instead, you could start with a petition and working to many people to sign it. Then, encourage people to call their representatives personally. Once you are able to successfully mobilize people to do that, you can work on local organizing events, and so forth. Build up to the march on Washington by building a quality, active membership first.
Some tools and resources include:
I recently had the opportunity to interview Heather Cronk of PledgeBank to ask her about the campaign building site before her visit here to Portland to present at Net Tuesday about online campaign building.
What IS PledgeBank? PledgeBank is a conditional pledging tool for collective action. Let me re-word that in English: PledgeBank is a way to say publicly that you'll do something (hopefully something that will improve your neighborhood/community/world), but only if others will promise to do the same thing. It's a way to take that notion that there should be more streetlights, or that someone should clean up the local creek, or that it's not too hard to raise money for new playground equipment at the elementary school and make those ideas a reality by including more people in the process. The site follows a simple formula: you create a pledge (i.e. "I will do X action, but only if N number of others will do the same"), you publicize the pledge (we give you tools to email your friends, post to your blog/website, organize on Facebook, or automatically generate flyers to post in your community), the pledge succeeds, and you give instructions to pledge signers for how to follow through. Easy as pie.
What has been the most interesting campaign to see grow/succeed? My favorite example is the Bakul Foundation's pledge (found at http://www.pledgebank.com/Bakul-Library). They basically saw that a huge problem in their community was the lack of access to books for children, and had the crazy idea of building a children's library locally. Rather than just hammer away on that project with a few other people, they mobilized their social networks in India and beyond -- and ended up getting over 1000 people to pledge their support with time, money, books, and sweat. The library just celebrated their first anniversary last week and the children's library is going strong, rather than still being a crazy idea in someone's head.
What has been the most inspiring so far? To me, the most inspiring pledges are small ones with a big impact. For instance, a recent inspiring pledge is "undies4liberia" (found at http://www.pledgebank.com/Undies4Liberia). One person saw in her travels through Liberia that a huge problem in that country was at orphanages -- those centers were operating with few resources and little capacity to pay attention to details. So Ashley created a pledge to collect new, clean underwear that she would deliver to the orphanages on her next trip over. While she certainly could have bought 20 or so pairs of underwear herself, including others in that process yielded 753 pairs of underwear for children at those orphanages, and many more people aware of and interested in Liberia. I think that's pretty inspiring! (See Ashley's success story at http://www.pledgebank.com/success#undies)
How do you see campaign building relate to the uprising in peer-to-peer fundraising and social action networks online? Well, what we try to do at PledgeBank is create ways for anyone to be an organizer, regardless of experience or training. The old way of organizing said that those who were *trained* as organizers went into a community and solved problems. The new way of organizing says that everyone is an expert in what needs to happen in their community to make it better, safer, and more just -- and PledgeBank offers tools to do that by creating localized campaigns that mobilize a person's own social network. In much the same way that peer-to-peer fundraising and social networking build on the capital one has generated through relationships, PledgeBank offers a way to "cash in" on that capital through positive peer pressure -- "Since we know each other, and you care about the things I care about, I hope you'll sign my pledge to actually get something done about a community problem." PledgeBank is a fundraising tool, an action tool, a campaigning tool, and a social tool -- all wrapped up in one site.
What is the hardest part of the campaign in your opinion? Well, the hardest part of running a pledge on PledgeBank is actually taking the first step of reaching out to your networks to find pledge signers. Once pledge creators take that first step of saying, "This is something I care about and think is a good idea," it's relatively easy to keep the momentum going. A friend of mine created a pledge and became obsessed with watching the number of pledge signers go up -- it was really rewarding for her to get that affirmation that others cared about the same thing and were willing to publicly support her idea. But it's sometimes difficult to take that first step.
How many countries have used PB so far, in how many languages? Well, users in 99 countries have created pledges, and we have pledges running in 13 languages (English, Welsh, Belarusian, German, Spanish, Esperanto, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, and Chinese)...with a few more in process. The site translations have all been done by volunteers, mostly using PledgeBank to get the job done (i.e. "I will translate 10% of the PledgeBank code into Ukrainian, but only if 9 others will each take on a different 10%).
If someone doesn't want to be involved in a specific pledge, is there any other way to support the work of PB or its users? Well, the beauty of PledgeBank is in the site's diversity. If your friend sends you a pledge they've created to raise money for a political candidate, but you're not so sure you support that political candidate, you're completely free not to sign the pledge. In fact, you're completely free to create a pledge to raise money for a rival candidate, or to create/sign a pledge about something else altogether. One of the things I love about the site is that we try in many ways to put opportunities in front of users that they might not have known to look for, but that they end up finding interesting -- we encourage users of the site to connect with other users, regardless of whether they personally know one another.
You can hear more from Heather about PledgeBank and online campaign building in person, if you are in the greater Portland area, at the Portland Net Tuesday. You can find out more about the event here, and sign up to join Portland Net Tuesday events each month.
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)As I said earlier, I had the awesome opportunity to attend NTEN's NTC a couple weeks ago. One of the many interesting take-aways for me was the idea of connecting your strategies and communications with your mission. The blurb I gave before said:
At the end of the day, everyone in the nonprofit wants to accomplish the mission of the organization and service the need or population addressed, regardless of our job title. So, too, should all of our goals and strategies within departments, even the tech department. This means designing benchmarks for ROI in your tech strategies that help you evaluate if you are meeting the organization's mission!
The Web 2.0 ROI: Are All These New Tools Really Delivering Value to the Sector?
- You can download the PowerPoint presentation used in the session which walks through a case study of the Humane Society of the United State's campaign against animal fighting (and the Michael Vick news)
- You can also link to Beth Kanter's wiki for Social Media Metrics, Measurement and ROI
My highlights:
- Integrate your campaigns across platforms online and offline
- Remember that outcomes are both intangible and tangible
- Build in ways to capture visitor's email addresses when participating in polls, voting, comments, etc.
- Important to evaluate if work was "worth it" - even if it wasn't, there is much to learn to make it worth it in the future
- You can download the presentation PowerPoint titled, "What Your Stakeholders Aren’t Telling You: How to use web statistics to read between the lines and build a better relationship!"
My highlights:
- Block your organization's IP address from your analytics so that you are really measuring visitors to the website (and not staff)
- Pay attention to who is linking to your site and how people are getting to you
- Take note of the languages people are using, you may want to translate more of your materials
Go to this entry | Comment on this entry (0)Adopting new technologies in your organization is difficult, granted. But it is still necessary! One thing to keep in mind as individual staff and the organization adapts to new technologies is that you shouldn't be a cheerleader for the specific accomplishments, but try to consistently cheer on the people and their work and the tools they are using!There are many more examples we can think of when there could be miscommunication between technology staff and the rest of the organization, or missed communication opportunities all together. When we are working in offices at nonprofits or other philanthropic organizations we need to approach conversations in a different way, to avoiding losing people in our techie conversation. How do you do that?
There is a great question for the Net2ThinkTank right now: "How can nonprofits and NGOs succeed in the online attention economy?"
First, what IS the attention economy, you may be asking. Well, Britt has a great post describing it, here is an excerpt of the definition:
Wikipedia defines attention economics as, "an approach to the management of information that treats human attention as a scarce commodity, and applies economic theory to solve various information management problems."
As more nonprofits, businesses and individuals create blogs, podcasts, rss news feeds, wikis, social networks, YouTube accounts, Twitter feeds, fundraising widgets, mashups, etc. what do you think nonprofits need to do to attract and maintain people's attention online?
First, you need to gauge what kind of resource you need/want as an organization. Is it staying on top of research or news in you sector? Is it providing a space for question and answer or collaboration? Or is it to create a space for collecting stories, media (photos, videos, etc.), or goals/progress in a public forum?
Whatever resource best fits with the organization's work, probably also fits with how you want to interact with your community. If you need to be on top of breaking news and the latest research, you probably want your constituents to be up-to-date as well.
Next, now that you know WHAT resource is best, you need to decide HOW to provide it. Does it make the best sense to transform part of your website into an information aggregator? Or instead to provide a wiki for staff, members, visitors to contribute to? Maybe it's designing parts of your website that can host videos and photos people upload and ways to collect feedback/comments and share stories?
Whichever path best fits your resource needs of the organization and the community, it is best that it is given dedicated staff time and attention for building, nurturing, and monitoring AND you have agreed on avenues for outreach (making sure the community knows the resource is available and that it is the best one for them). You are going to need to prove that, for example, instead of your constituents reading five different newspapers online and subscribing to updates from ten different organizations to stay informed of happenings in your sector, that they can instead just watch your news section to aggregate all the best information they need.
Last, you need to be sure you are constantly gaging the usefulness of your resource to be sure to stay on top (both on top of information competitors and on top of the potential of providing for your community). Are you seeing new blogs or news sites emerging with different and relevant information? - Add them to your aggregator! Are you seeing other communities popping up with discussions on your topic areas? - Invite them to your wiki/forum/community space! Are you finding that groups prefer to post their media on other sites? - Go where they are and create a dedicated community that supports them AND your organization!
Let's have an example: Let's say that you work for an environmental organization that works partly on climate change legislation, you are located in Lane county and besides the community of interest you serve you are also partnered with a student-run climate change organization at University of Oregon. In the climate change and environmental defense sector that is a bounty of resources, news outlets and other organizations all vying for your community's attention. There is a plethora of other places they could be going for information.
You probably want to become a resource of news, information, legislation changes, etc. This would be incredibly beneficial for your organization's staff, but by becoming the one-stop-shop for all the industry information with the added value of local/specific legislative information added in, you become incredibly beneficial for your community as well.
You could create a news section on your website that is separate from the press section—keep press releases, press packets, team bios/pictures, etc. in a separate place of your website to avoid confusion. Next, create an aggregator of RSS feeds (what are RSS feeds?) of traditional news outlets like the Oregonian, the New York Times, and so on, as well as 'new media news outlets' or blogs that have strong, sustained communities and value like It's Getting Hot in Here and the Huffington Post. Because of your legislative interest, you are going to also want to incorporate press releases and legislative updates into your aggregator. You should include a 'suggest a resource' link in the news section so that readers can let you know of other blogs or sites that they think are valuable to be included, keeping you on top of the market for information. Lastly, you will want to be sure that you have an RSS feed for that news page as well so people that want to stay on top of your updates can do so from your website or in their preferred RSS reader.
Now that it is built, you need to advertise it to your community. Include a link and a call to action (like, Check out your new resource for climate change news and legislation!) in the footer of your emails, in the side bar or call-out box of your e-newsletters, and on the home page of your website. It is important that you also notify your community when it is built with a specific email only about the new resource. This message should be tailored differently when sent to the partners at the University so that it stresses the usefulness of the resource to their campus work and to encourage them to spread the news of its availability to students outside the organization as well.
You can continually gauge the quality of your news outlet as a resource by polling your members, asking for feedback from your University partners about what needs are on the campus and with students that could be built in, and by asking staff what would help them stay on top of news and do their jobs better. Remember, you are serving your community with this tool, but you are also serving your own staff.
There is so much possibility that it is easy to get lost in the information overload yourself! Here are the major 3 steps
As I said in the original post, I had the awesome opportunity to attend NTEN's NTC a couple weeks ago. One of the many interesting take-aways I had dealt with the fact that many of us in technology positions in our nonprofits didn't "intend" to be techies. The blurb I gave before said:
Many "techies" in nonprofit organizations don't have an extensive background, or training in technology. Instead, we/they/you are called "accidental techies," meaning that the circumstances were such that it was necessary to have a tech person fix something or help someone and that person, for whatever reason the universe held, was us/them/you. And thus began our/their/your career as a NP techie. BUT, the "accidental"-ness of the position, in no way lessons the legitimacy of the position!
So, what does that mean? Let me expand that thinking...
Often, nonprofits have a small staff and the positions that are held do not include a specific technology associate or officer, etc. Instead, technology problems (installing software, fixing the printer, you know the like) are dealt with by the staff volunteer who feels the most comfortable or confident or willing to tackle them. So, guilty by association, right? Once you installed some software, you became the person who could trouble-shoot that software, then the rest of the operating system and so on. Technology responsibilities became so much of your job that it actually became your job and thus the techie position at your organization was born.
That's the way it happens for so many of us and there is nothing wrong with it! But, not having a rounded or deep background in technology developments/usage/structure can lead to a lot of stunted tech adoption for the organization. There are two things you can do now, and every day, to avoid stunting your own work and the work of the organization you serve:
Personal usage = personal learning: Start using new tools on a personal basis. This is the best way to gain a perspective on how developing technologies could be used in your organization. Don't just use the tools though, stay on top of developments and what the larger community is saying about tools, software, hardware, etc. You might have to use some personal time to work on this personal use project, but hopefully you love technology and it isn't a pain to be learning something new!
Isolation = burn out: Make sure you remember that you are not alone! You may be the only one at the organization that has familiarity with something, or an opinion on a product, or even knowledge of a development; this does not mean you are alone though, as there are tech folks at all of those other organizations feeling the same way. Plug into the communities that support your work.
A couple weeks ago, I had the chance to travel to New Orleans for NTEN's NTC (Nonprofit Technology Conference). It was an excellent opportunity to meet people outside of their 100x100 pixel selves and for spontaneous, interesting conversations.
I attended sessions, heard some great plenary presentations, and even got to see a bit of the work local nonprofits are doing for the post-storm rebuild. Here are a couple interesting and compelling ideas shared in sessions and conversations that I will expand on in the coming days:
I covered three of the sessions I attended with CoverItLive. You can read the transcripts here:
If you don't already know about Google Grants, they allow qualified nonprofits to use Google Adwords for the low, low price of free.
Get the whole story on NTEN's website.
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You don't need to be a reporter to be out covering a hot story live. CoverItLive is a new blogging tool that lets you do real live blogging. It works inside your current blog or website and lets readers follow along with you, play by play.
But, does live coverage seem like something you wouldn't actually use? Think about these options:
What really makes CoverItLive dynamic, is that those following along with you, can instantly connect with you to ask questions, contribute input, or participate in polls. Plus, it's free.
Next week, I will be attending NTEN's Nonprofit Technology Conference and will use CoverItLive to bring you into some conference sessions with me! Be sure to follow along!
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Wow, it's March already! With a new month, we have another 501 Tech Club Brown Bag lunch event for those interested in nonprofit technology, this time focusing on online advocacy.
Jeanette Russell, of Democracy In Action, will join us to explain that online advocacy is not just about sending mass emails to congress. It’s about growing and strengthening your support base, fundraising and integrating online and offline tactics to influence decision makers. This brown bag offers practical advice to organizations who want to begin, or ramp up, their online presence. We'll provide visual examples of how groups of all sizes are finding success using online communication. We will also touch on how DemocracyInAction's new "Actions 2.0" tool is leading the way in effectively delivering your message to Congress and other decsion makers.
Details:
Presenter: Jeanette Russell, DemocracyInAction
Location: Northwest Health Foundation
221 NW 2nd Ave, Suite 300 (in Bamboo room), Portland, OR 97209 (Map)
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Food: Bring your own lunch and we'll bring some goodies!
I will be there taking notes and live-Twittering. I hope to see you there!
Also, if you haven't already, you can join the Portland 501 Tech Club online to stay in the loop about the brown bag events and more.
More on the speaker:
Jeanette has been a leader in the national environmentalcommunity for the past 15 years and brings extensive knowledge of online communications, fundraising and grassroots organizing. She currently serves at the Western Field Director for DemocracyInAction, a nonprofit organization based out of Washington DC, that provides online fundraising, advocacy and communication tools to over 450 progressive organizations. Jeanette provides strategic and technical support for clients and organizations from her office in Missoula.
The February meeting of the 501 Tech Club in Portland happened recently. We piggy-backed with another area event to share the presenter and it was SO much fun! We shared space, discussion, and goods at the Lucky Lab with representatives from HumaniNet, Personal Telco Project, and One Laptop Per Child News.
I have heard of, but never met with, HumaniNet and am happy to have had the opportunity. HumaniNet is an organization "founded in 2002 by a group of volunteers in the United States who recognized the acute need for technology assistance to humanitarian organizations. Since then, HumaniNet has grown to become a cooperative network of over 100 field organizations, several supporting technology businesses, and a group of expert volunteers who help with research and analysis, finding the best practices, and sharing field results in global information and communication technologies, or ICT." If you are an organization working in the field of emergency response, remote field/medic crews, or other widely dispersed teams, you should really talk with the great folks at HumaniNet about their work and ideas! One project that Executive Director Gregg Swanson shared with us, is the development of a system to connect folks in the field with breaking news and information via the internet and internet capable tools. Great work they are doing!
Something that I brought up at the gathering and want to share with you all as well is that Net Squared's Mashup Challenge deadline is just a few weeks away! N2 is awarding a share of $100,000 in prize money, and a trip to the NetSquared Conference, to the top 20 winners of the NetSquared Mashup Challenge. You don't need to have tech expertise to submit a project to the Challenge, just an idea for a change you want to make that could be facilitated by a mashup.
You can see the ideas submitted so far on their site and even provide feedback on the proposals to help refine the projects, changes can be made up to the deadline! Do you have an idea for information that would help tell a story for your organization, community, constituents, or funders? Why not submit that idea to the Mashup Challenge and make the idea into a real product! Some examples of great mashups include: Maplight.org, ChicagoCrimes.org, ActiveTrails, and the Tunisian Prison Map.
If you have questions, ideas, comments, or anything else about the 501 Tech Club meetings, HumaniNet, or Net Squared's Mashup Challenge, I'd love to hear it!
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