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News for April 2002

29 April 2002

Orbiting the Giant Hairball

I'm reading a charming book called Orbiting the Giant Hairball, by Gordon MacKenzie. It's a book about how to thrive in the context of large bureaucratic organizations, written by a creative type at Hallmark, believe it or not. Aside from the sweet insight of his many stories, MacKenzie's central metaphor of orbiting is right on: It's a way to connect to a large institution and take advantage of its gravity without succumbing to it. Posted: 4/29/02; 9:39:28 AM #

Leadership versus Management
	Lazarus Consulting offers its take on the difference between leadership and management. Their take appears to be that leaders are change agents and managers are maintainers. I didn't expect this tired distinction to be thought provoking, but it is. Posted: 4/29/02; 9:39:18 AM #

28 April 2002

Roadmap for E-Government in the Developing World
	The Pacific Council on International Policy has published Roadmap for E-Government in the Developing World (PDF file). Among the report's various conclusions is a warning against complacency: Simply creating a government web site is not a solution to public involvement. Posted: 4/28/02; 4:45:23 PM #

Email Overtakes Post in U.K.
	According to a NetValue report, there is now more email sent and received from UK homes than letters. Posted: 4/28/02; 4:45:11 PM #

Database Death - What Lies Beneath the Surface
	Marc Osten and I see eye to eye on the idea of nonprofits taking control of the technology agenda. In Database Death - What Lies Beneath the Surface, he offers a few thoughts on the subject. Posted: 4/28/02; 4:44:55 PM #

Online Toolbox for Public Policy and Advocacy
	Earnie Ginsler is an organizational consultant in Canada. He has assembled an Online Toolbox for Public Policy and Advocacy. Posted: 4/28/02; 4:44:43 PM #

23 April 2002

New Orleans Luncheon
	We're announcing our third Tech Leadership luncheon of the year, focused on the growing challenge of making technology truly centered on Nonprofits. I'm pleased to say that we'll be in New Orleans on May 16. You can register online. Posted: 4/23/02; 9:46:32 AM #

22 April 2002

Censorship Wins Out
	I do not believe in technological determinism, either good or bad. Hence, while I still have hope in the democratizing focus of the Internet, in the end, everything is about people. In Censorship Wins Out, Andrew Stroehlein looks at how nasty regimes have won out around the world. Posted: 4/22/02; 9:27:23 AM #

IRS Oversight and Form 990
	In the midst of the Enron affair and other corporate scandals of extraordinary proporations, I find the current report on IRS oversight of charities to be oddly timed. And yet, I agree with the particulars, especially the weakness of Form 990 (the U.S. federal reporting form for nonprofits) as a tool for assessing nonprofits in many really useful ways. Posted: 4/22/02; 9:27:11 AM #

Community Friendly Advertising
	In Community Friendly Advertising, Derek M. Powazek looks at how some online discussion forums are supporting themselves. Posted: 4/22/02; 9:26:56 AM #

20 April 2002

Philanthropy Site Pledgepage Handed over to Nonprofit
	John Boudreau interviewed me and Michael Stein, among others, for his story on how the dot com Pledgepage was acquired by the nonprofit CharityFocus. I'm so glad Pledgepage found a good home. Posted: 4/20/02; 7:08:52 PM #

The Well Played Game

Bernie DeKoven's The Well Played Game is subtitled "A Playful Path to Wholeness." I'm not a big believer in competitive games (quite possibly because I can get very sucked into the competition), but Bernie turned a lot of that on its head for me. This book has enormous value for anyone whose job involves helping people have fun together, whether in work, or play, or in that ideal place where there is no difference. Posted: 4/20/02; 6:45:37 PM #

19 April 2002

Chaperoning: The Alternative to List Rental and Spam
	Ever since I started talking about Chaperoning as an alternative to list rental and spam, I've been asked for details. In my latest feature, I describe why it's an important technique and how to do it. Posted: 4/19/02; 10:23:38 AM #

Proposed Diversity Principles
	In Proposed Diversity Principles (in the current issue of Board Cafe), Jan Masaoke looks at the four reasons that drive a board of directors to seek diversity in its membership. Posted: 4/19/02; 10:23:20 AM #

17 April 2002

Working Better Together
	Working Better Together is a new report from the Independent Sector on the subject of collaboration and partnerships between government, business, and nonprofits. An executive summary is available online. Posted: 4/17/02; 5:22:58 PM #

New York City Nonprofits Post-September 11
	Lessons from Crisis: New York City Nonprofits Post-September 11 is an excellent piece in the Nonprofit Quarterly by Dennis Derryck and Rikki Abzug. Posted: 4/17/02; 5:22:48 PM #

15 April 2002

Promote your Writing
	After twenty years of writing and seven of those to online audiences, I was tickled to compare my own experience with the advice offered by Tim Bete in Promote your Writing. Posted: 4/15/02; 10:14:05 AM #

14 April 2002

NTEN Conference
	Slow news week. I've been at the NTEN Circuit Riders Conference in, um, Orlando. The most signficant breakthrough, at first glance, is that a panel on standards and interoperability attracted four times as many people as a panel about online fundraising. In a very important way, that speaks to the growing vision and maturity of the nonprofit technology community. Posted: 4/14/02; 11:58:28 PM #

9 April 2002

Technology Support Index Assessment
	The Technology Support Index assessment looks like an interesting tool. It's limitations are obvious -- the focus on the educational setting and the technology centric planning model -- but it nevertheless looks like it has its place in a toolkit for nonprofit technology planning. Posted: 4/9/02; 10:22:21 AM #

Designing and Facilitating Online, Web-Based Events
	In Designing and Facilitating Online, Web-Based Events: A Very General Checklist, Nancy White takes you through the steps she uses to facilitate a time limited, online conversation. Posted: 4/9/02; 10:22:08 AM #

8 April 2002

Communities, Audiences, and Scale
	In Communities, Audiences, and Scale, Clay Shirky looks at, among other things, how the scale of the Internet changes the quality of community connections. Posted: 4/8/02; 10:22:47 AM #

The Rise of the E-Citizen
	The Rise of the E-Citizen is a Pew Internet and American Life Project's report on how people use government agencies' web sites. Posted: 4/8/02; 10:17:57 AM #

National Atlas of the United States
	National Atlas of the United States is an interactive tool for drawing maps of the United States wirth various data layers. It's also rather fun. Posted: 4/8/02; 10:17:46 AM #

5 April 2002

Five Year Anniversary of Nonprofit Online News

Nonprofit Online News was founded in early April of 1997. It was started as an outgrowth of our own organization's needs to stay informed about what was happening in the world of social change and social service organizations, and the community of people that make them succeed. In Five Year Anniversary of Nonprofit Online News, I celebrate this milestone with a look at our accomplishments and a preview of what's ahead. Posted: 4/5/02; 7:28:44 AM #

2 April 2002

Leading the way to ICT Success
	Leading the way to ICT Success (PDF file) is a report published by the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists in England. It draws a number of lessons from interviews with charities applying information and communication technology in their work. Posted: 4/2/02; 12:09:53 PM #

Impact of Democratic Deficits on Electronic Media
	Robin Van Koert looks at how the social, economic, and political context of rural countries can limit the potential of electronic media, in The Impact of Democratic Deficits on Electronic Media in Rural Development. Posted: 4/2/02; 12:08:38 PM #

Second-Level Digital Divide
	In Second-Level Digital Divide, Eszter Hargittai examines the impact of differences in people's online skills on access to information and resources. Posted: 4/2/02; 12:08:28 PM #

Big Vision Man
	Miriam Engelberg captures the tension between thinking big and starting small in her cartoon "The Adventures of Big Vision Man". Posted: 4/2/02; 12:07:46 PM #

Overcoming the Comfort Zone Syndrome

In Overcoming the Comfort Zone Syndrome, John Darling offers some advice about encouraging the adoption of new technologies. Although his advice is fairly sound, I'm also somewhat concerned. I believe that, when you really look carefully, you find that a lot of the resistance to new tools is entirely rational, worth respecting, and an opportunity for learning all around. Posted: 4/2/02; 12:07:29 PM #

1 April 2002

Nonprofitabletech Announces Two New Business Units
	Only a year ago, we introduced the world to Nonprofitabletech.com, the ultimate nonprofit technology provider. Today, we learn that the firm has announced two new business units, dedicated to lawsuits and press releases. Posted: 4/1/02; 3:43:05 PM #

The first month of Nonprofit Online News

Over the course of this month, we plan a series of small improvements and other celebrations in honor of our five years of continuous publication. I'm proud to realize that Nonprofit Online News predated and outlived the Dotcom boom and bust. In some small way, it is a more accurate representation of what the Internet promise is all about. Of course, in April of 1997, our first month of publication, we had a total of only five news items. Only two have suffered linkrot, which is not a bad proportion after five years! Posted: 4/1/02; 3:42:52 PM #