October 3rd, 2009 by Ian
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A quick breakdown of the most important blog posts on technology for nonprofits this week:
23 Free Webinars in October (from Wild Apricot Blog). A great list of events this month that take up neither time nor budget.
Causes releases new toolkit for nonprofits (from Causes.com). The leader in social media for charities adds some really useful new functionality.
Fundraising is more effective when done by your supporters (from UStream). A video from the Case Foundation explaining one of the most important truths of social media, that your audience can turn around and be your advocate.
How nonprofits are (and are not) using social media (from Upleaf). A nice short breakdown of statistics on social media use by nonprofits. Is your organization behind, on or ahead of this curve?
September 30th, 2009 by Ian
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If you’ve spent any time on Twitter the past few days, or if you subscribe to any of the big tech blogs like Mashable or Wired, you have probably already heard your fill of the words “Google Wave”. Like with any shiny new technology, much of the hype surrounding the first public invites to Google Wave is just that – hype. But beneath all the glitter and noise is a product that could have a real impact for a lot of individuals and organizations, including your nonprofit.
» Read more: What is Google Wave, and Why Should Nonprofits Care?
September 26th, 2009 by Ian
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Every Saturday, I’ll try to break down the most important articles of the week past from around the web, the ones that I believe every nonprofit manager, webmaster, or technical lead should have read. This is what we were reading, talking, and tweeting about this week:
Don’t overinvest in your website (from WiserEarthBlog). It may seem a little backwards for me, as a tech blogger, to de-emphasize the web’s importance, but the fact is that this writer has it completely right. The web is a tool, but only in so far as it works for you.
Five Tips to Strengthen the Design of Your Nonprofit’s Website (from Frogloop). Jessica Teale was the Design Manager for Obama’s campaign. That means we listen when she speaks about better design.
Cool News for (Nonprofit) YouTube Users (from Peak Performance Philanthropy). If you have videos of your events or promoting your organization, don’t miss the new nonprofit features from YouTube.
101 5-Minute Fixes to Incrementally Improve Your Website (from InsideCRM). Some of these are obvious, but especially for beginners in the world of web design and SEO, this list is a great place to start.
September 25th, 2009 by Ian
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It’s a pretty well-established rule that nonprofits should not have advertising on their sites. If you need a good explanation of why not, there’s a Nonprofit SOS post from earlier this year that covers it pretty well. The short story is, it dilutes your message and implies endorsement of the products being advertised. But what if the products match your message, and you have no problem endorsing them? Is advertising still so bad?
» Read more: Amazon Associates Tips for Nonprofits
September 21st, 2009 by Ian
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So you’ve decided to start a nonprofit organization. Good for you. People like you, with passion and dedication to a cause, are exactly why this blog exists. There are a thousand decisions ahead of you, and, luckily, at least as many resources out there on the internet. We’ll be covering a number of different aspects of starting an online nonprofit here at CharityGeek, but for today’s post, I’d like to concentrate on something that should be one of your first steps – establishing a name and a brand for your organization. All that starts with your domain name.
» Read more: Online branding for nonprofits: What’s in a (domain) name?
September 20th, 2009 by Ian
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Hello, currently no one, and welcome to CharityGeek.com, the new blog with tech and web tips specifically meant for nonprofit organizations. Running a nonprofit on the web can have its own joys and challenges, often much different from those faced by other website operators. In addition to the differences in goals and often in resources, many nonprofits can’t afford full-time technical staff, and so don’t have the base of technical knowledge that many businesses do. This blog is here to try to help the operators of not-for-profit websites (and specifically, those serving as the web side of a certified nonprofit organization) by providing tutorials, product reviews, and tips for getting the most out of their website with the least cost and effort.
I’ll be blogging here as often as I can, and on the topics that I feel are most timely and important to online nonprofit organizations, but as a big believer in online community, I’m also expecting input. If you run a nonprofit website, please feel free to make suggestions on what you’d like to see covered on this blog. You can do so by leaving a comment on this post. I will respond to as many as possible. As we build this blog up, I hope to add a ton of community resources so that you can find as many answers as possible to your questions about technology and the web. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoy the site.
