Techsoup
TechSoup's new blog offers news, tips, and highlights from around the Web to help your nonprofit get the most out of technology.
Updated: 5 hours 3 min ago
Free Webinar September 14: Training Volunteers and Staff Members to Ask
Join Andrea Kihlstedt and GiftWorks on September 14 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time for a free webinar on how to train people to ask for gifts. Andrea's book Capital Campaigns: Strategies that Work is a standard resource on capital campaign fundraising. Her new book, How to Raise $1 Million (or More) in 10 Bite Sized Steps makes the complex ideas of fundraising simple and engaging. Andrea is a well-known teacher, trainer, and coach. Her lively and personable style makes even webinars friendly and engaging. She is co-founder of Asking Matters, a web-based resource that teaches board members ...
In the Social Media Kitchen with TechSoup Chefs at NSAC 2010
We kicked off our tech kitchen with a presentation Social Media: Listen First. As we mentioned on the blog, TechSoup's online community staffers along with expert consultants presented at the NSAC (National Sexual Assault Conference) hosted by CALCASA (California Coalition Against Sexual Assault). The five of us social media "chefs" set up our TechSoup social media kitchen at the conference lounge, where folks could drop-in during the conference and get one-on-one help with their social media questions. Janet Fouts, Susan Tenby, and I discussed the most important part of any social media ...
Changes Coming to TechSoup
At TechSoup Global we've been working hard on a new round of improvements to the TechSoup.org website. I'm excited to update you on our progress and hear your feedback. A little over a year ago, we unveiled the first phase in a series of improvements to the site, including a new home page design and enhanced search functionality. Those visible changes to the site also represented significant improvement to our back end systems — both hardware and software. On September 13, we will be unveiling more changes to our site — most notably, the donation request process has been updated. ...
Connect with TechSoup at the National Sexual Assault Conference (NSAC)
This week TechSoup staff members and expert consultants are speaking at the National Sexual Assault Conference hosted by CALCASA (California Coalition Against Sexual Assault) National Sexual Assault Conference (NSAC) in Hollywood, CA. Susan Tenby and Megan Keane presented on a panel with Janet Fouts today on LISTENING online, engaging through finding, hearing and connecting with your greater audience.
How To Buy Used and Refurbished IT Equipment
This is Part 2 in TechSoup GreenTech's series on buying green IT equipment. See Part 1 here. We've spoken a good deal on refurbished computers over the years at TechSoup. Here's my general take on the topic: Buying and using refurbished computers is incredibly green. This is mainly because more than 80 percent of the lifetime energy consumption of a new PC occurs before you buy it. It takes huge amounts of energy and materials to manufacture a PC. The longer these devices are in use, the better for the environment. For more on this, see TechSoup's Refurbished Computer Initiative and the ...
What Does Your Organization Look Like from the Outside?
Rececca at Wild Apricot has a great post this week on what makes a good nonprofit website. She's assembled some tips from the MojaLink group on LinkedIn. Here are a few of my favorites: Defining the purpose of a nonprofit website is key. Is it to attract donations, or is it to provide information to the individuals and groups seeking your services? Who will use it, why do they use it, [and] what do you want them to do on it? How can design make this easy? Make key information easy to find. If website visitors want to get more detailed info, give them the opportunity, but don't make every ...
Free Webinar from GiftWorks September 9: The 14 Basic Principles of Fund Development
Join Simone P. Joyaux and GiftWorks on September 9 at 2 p.m. Eastern time for a free webinar on the 14 core principles of fund development. Simone (ACFRE, Joyaux Associates) is recognized internationally as one of the most thoughtful, inspirational, and provocative leaders in the philanthropic sector. She's an expert in fund development, strategic planning, and board development, working with all types and sizes of organizations. Simone teaches philanthropy at the university level, speaks at conferences worldwide, and her books and other writings receive rave reviews. She has over 35 ...
50% Discount for Innovative Giving Conference
The Innovative Giving Foundation is hosting the Innovative Giving Conference September 27-28 in Malibu, CA. The conference's theme is Mobile Giving Demystified, and the program looks very promising.
We've just gotten word from IGF that thanks to a donation from Mobilecause, anyone who hasn't registered yet can get 50% off the registration cost. Just use the promo code MC-IGF.
Symantec Backup Exec Story Contest: $30,000 Giveaway
If you're a current Symentec Backup Exec customer (whether via TechSoup's donation programs or elsewhere), tell Symantec how your datacenter has taken advantage of the benefits of the tool — helping your organization save time, money, and the environment, with a reduced environmental footprint through a reduction in tape and disk use. Here's your chance to get creative as your story could win your organization the opportunity to give back. Symantec will make a donation to a nonprofit organization of the winner's choice in the amount of $30,000 USD, and to the choice of the runner-up ...
Mapping with ESRI ArcGIS Software: Newest Version Now Available!
Maps are everywhere these days. You can check them out in your car's GPS system, online, and on your smartphone. They make it easier for us to get around, see things with a different perspective, and understand places we may have never visited. For organizations, using your data to create maps to show your users, supporters, and funders is an important way to visually demonstrate a problem you're working to solve or your impact on a community. Geographic information system (GIS) software takes mapping to a whole new level. With a variety donated GIS software and learning resources from ESRI, ...
How to Buy (New) Green IT Equipment
I thought it was probably a good time to update everyone on what's new in the world of buying new, green IT equipment. Green IT equipment essentially means computers and other electronics devices that have reduced amounts of toxic materials that they're made with (like lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and PVC plastic), that require relatively less electricity to power them, and that have increased amounts of post-consumer recycled plastics and bio-based or biodegradable plastics. It's also good if they're easy to disassemble and recycle, are easily repairable, and have solid ...
CrowdConf 2010 Coming to San Francisco
CrowdFlower has announced CrowdConf 2010, a crowdsourcing conference that will take place in San Francisco in October. Presentation submissions are being accepted through next Wednesday, September 1. (via)
We've talked a lot on this blog about crowdsourcing. NetSquared winners like Ushahidi and Social Actions have been finding new ways to harness the power of the crowd for social change. It will be fun to see what buzz comes from the conference.
Innovative Geocoding Project Maps Aid Data
This post was written by GuideStar International communications manager Keisha Taylor and originally published on the GuideStar International blog. The people at AidData (a program of Development Gateway) have teamed up with the World Bank Institute to complete the first stage of a groundbreaking geocoding project (Mapping for Results Initiative). According to Wikipedia, Geocoding is "…The process of finding associated geographic coordinates (often expressed as latitude and longitude) from other geographic data, such as street addresses, or zip codes (postal codes). With geographic ...
Submit Your Projects to the FACT Social Justice Challenge at NetSquared
This announcement was also published on the NetSquared Blog. The French American Charitable Trust (FACT) and NetSquared are pleased to announce the second annual FACT Social Justice Awards. Submissions are now open for your innovative projects that leverage web and mobile technologies to foster collaboration around social justice issues. Learn more about the challenge and how to participate below. About the FACT Challenge FACT is committed to addressing the fundamental inequalities and injustices in our society by helping develop and sustain networks of community-based groups in the U.S. and ...
Community Organizers Handbook: Launching a Resource for NetSquared Local and Beyond!
This post was originally posted on the NetSquared Blog and was written by Amy Sample Ward. Over the last few years, the NetSquared Local network (a project of TechSoup Global's) has grown from just a few groups in only a couple countries, to 70+ groups in 21+ countries! Those local groups are organized by volunteers passionate about building community at the intersection of technology and social change. We support organizers with resources, assistance, and other connections, but we believe the most valuable resource comes from organizers having access to each other and sharing between ...
GreenTech Book Review: Green IT for Sustainable Business Practice
In our quest to shine a light on what's going on in green IT for nonprofits, libraries, and really anyone running or working in a small to medium sized office, we'd be remiss to not call some attention to a new book by UK-based author, Mark O'Neill called Green IT for Sustainable Business Practice. The Amazon blurb on this describes it as "a sensible, clear-sighted guide to emerging standards, rules, business processes and best practices in a complex and ever-changing sector." Essentially this small 158-page book is the latest in a somewhat small genre of books on the subject of green IT. It ...
Running Free: Seattle Free School at Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp
One thing I always enjoy about Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp is getting to know very small organizations. A lot of people stopped by our booth and told us about the challenges their one-or-two-person nonprofits are facing. It's an important perspective, and a big part of TechSoup's user base. Working with a tiny staff and budget brings a litany of challenges, but it brings some amazing opportunities too. The low-budget ethos is encapsulated no better than in the Seattle Free School. SFS doesn't accept donations and doesn't apply for grants. Volunteers teach free classes in rooms donated by ...
Top Ten Technology and Social Media Resources for Nonprofits
This post originally appeared on TechSoup's global partner, Connecting Up Australia's website and was written by Shai Coggins.
Everyday, we find great resources on the different uses of technology and social media in the nonprofit sector. We bookmark them, note them, share them, tweet or retweet them, and sometimes, we even blog about them. So, in this post, we thought we'll round up some of the most interesting resources that we think you might also find useful for you and your organization.
Free Webinar August 25: Three Ways to Know if You're Ready for Planned Giving
On August 25, 2010 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, our donor partner Mission Research (which donates its fundraising and donor management software GiftWorks to eligible nonprofits and libraries through TechSoup) will host a free webinar on planned giving with Scott Lyons.
From GiftWorks:
A/B Testing Is O/K
Which is better, "Join us" or "Sign up for updates"? "Gift" or "Donation"? Large photo and short fundraising blurb, or vice versa? We've talked a few times on this blog about the importance of testing how constituents respond to your website, but we've never really talked about how to run a test. If you think that testing a new web design or call to action requires an experienced web programmer, then you might be pleasantly surprised. A/B testing is a term for testing two different versions of any piece of collateral: a website, an email newsletter, direct mail, an advertisement — anything ...
