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News for September 2004

29 September 2004

The Corporate Weblog Manifesto

Robert Scoble has written The Corporate Weblog Manifesto (13 page PDF) and it applies as much to nonprofits who are considering weblogs as anyone else. Among his twenty recommendations, which are a little redundant in places, I particularly liked: Tell the truth. Post fast on good news or bad. Use a human voice. Have a thick skin. Talk to the grassroots first. Be the authority on your issue or organization. Posted: 9/29/04; 6:11:29 PM #

Cost of War

Last week I asked a question about the cost of war to civil society in the United States and the world. The National Priorities Project has addressed just that question on their Cost of War site, where you can compare the cost of the Iraq War to the cost of pre-school programs, children's health, public education, college scholarships, public housing, world hunger programs, fighting AIDS, and world immunization efforts. Posted: 9/29/04; 6:11:03 PM #

US Election 2004: Attention and Attitude of US Media Sites
	In our recent review of the Planetwork conference, we covered some interesting technology being used to monitor media attention on various environmental issues. It turns out that same technology is being applied to the U.S. presidential election. It's interesting to look at the top ten key words for each candidate. Posted: 9/29/04; 6:10:41 PM #

Around Me
	Around Me is open source, nonprofit oriented, social networking software developed by Barnraiser.org, a Swedish nonprofit organization. I'm very impressed. Posted: 9/29/04; 6:10:31 PM #

The Communication Initiative
	The Communication Initiative is a Canadian organization with a number of interesting international projects and a focus on improving communication practices. They are a rich resource and I recommend their newsletter, The Drum Beat. Posted: 9/29/04; 6:10:16 PM #

24 September 2004

Humanitarian Prize Nomination Process
	The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is currently accepting nominations for their 2005 Humanitarian Prize. The $1 million (U.S.) prize is awarded annually to an organization making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering anywhere in the world. Posted: 9/24/04; 4:27:31 PM #

20 September 2004

What we could have paid for with money spent on the Iraq War

It pains me to read how much money we're spending on the engines of destruction in the Iraq War and I'm not the only one speculating on what we could have paid for with that money. Among the experts quoated in this article, Jeffrey Sachs argues that, with money to fight tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria, we could save 20,000 lives a day for one eighth of what we are spending in Iraq. Posted: 9/20/04; 3:25:59 PM #

17 September 2004

PlanetWork Conference 2004
	Early in the Summer, my colleague Ali Woolwich and I attended the PlanetWork Conference in San Francisco. The event was both frustrating and thought provoking. We've written a conference review that's heavy in links to further resources on: social networking issues, the projects and pages of the presenters, and other resources. Posted: 9/17/04; 5:35:44 PM #

16 September 2004

Evolution and Ecology of Interacting Infohabitants
	The Evolution and Ecology of Interacting Infohabitants project was a European initiative to convince EU information system designers & researchers that the study of the ecology of infohabitants will give them valuable insights in system design. This is solid research in support of Communication Centered Technology Planning. Posted: 9/16/04; 11:44:12 AM #

The Duality of Knowledge

In their 2002 paper, The Duality of Knowledge, Hildreth and Kimble present a clear case about how many of the most important forms of knowledge cannot be captured and stored. A quick scan of their diagrams will give you an idea of their argument, but I recommend the paper as a whole. They go further than making the usual distinction beween tacit and explicit knowledge and show how that distinction argues in favor of a community organizing approach to knowledge management. Posted: 9/16/04; 11:44:01 AM #

Toward a Handbook of Organizational Processes
	In 1999, a team from MIT's Center for Coordination Science published Tools for Inventing Organizations: Toward a Handbook of Organizational Processes. It presents a methodology for comparing how different organizations get the same things done, in order to help improve processes. This approach could be very valuable in our sector. Posted: 9/16/04; 11:43:49 AM #

Ontology Development 101
	A lot of us who work with information spend much of our time categorizing things. If you want to learn how the experts recommend that you approach the processes of creating categorization schemes in the first place, I recommend Ontology Development 101. Posted: 9/16/04; 11:43:24 AM #

Innovation Diffusion Game

Lately I have been studying the subject of innovation, how it is nurtured and how it is spread. I believe that there are a lot of forces working against innovation in the nonprofit sector. In the course of this study, I remembered Alan Atkisson's Innovation Diffusion Game, which I played in the early nineties. It's a role playing game with a systems perspective, allowing participants to play out the various parts in the drama of innovaton, including Spiritual Recluse, Curmudgeon, Innovator, Iconoclast, Change Agent, Reactionary, Transformer, Laggard, and Mainstreamer. Posted: 9/16/04; 11:43:00 AM #

15 September 2004

Communication Centered Technology Planning

We're very pleased to announce our newest and largest publication: Communication Centered Technology Planning. It includes a new ten page guide to our planning techniques, along with 122 of the best communication centered technology planning resources, organized into fourteen categories, including Communication & Collaboration, Communities & Networks, Knowledge Management, Stakeholders and Systems Thinking. It's written for people who have to make decisions about nonprofit technology. It's available for sale today! Posted: 9/15/04; 5:51:08 PM #

13 September 2004

Achieving Impact Without Giving Cash
	In Achieving Impact Without Giving Cash, Lee Draper explores seven assets that foundations have to offer: information, staff talent, networks, visible advocacy, facilities, in-kind contributions, and program related investments or collateral. Posted: 9/13/04; 12:17:37 PM #

Donor Treatment - The Real Impact of the Internet
	I'm not the only one saying that cultivation and stewardship is the real contribution of the internet to fundraising. In Donor Treatment - The Real Impact of the Internet, Vinay Bhagat makes much the same point and includes an appeal for a commitment to metrics and a framework for measuring success. It's a good read. Posted: 9/13/04; 12:17:05 PM #

Nine Things to Test In an Email
	NPAdvisors suggest 9 things to test in an e-mail: 1) The "from" address, 2) the subject line, 3) the drop day and time, 4) the ask, 5) the copy, 6) the offer, 7) the list, 8) The format, and 9) the landing page. Posted: 9/13/04; 12:16:20 PM #

Friendly Favors
	I'm not a member, but the Friendly Favors network looks very interesting. It's a network for sharing our know-how, connections and resources that seems to have a smart model for building trust and good will through referrals and expressions of gratitude. Posted: 9/13/04; 12:16:03 PM #

10 September 2004

Aid Agencies Say They May Pull Out of Iraq
	NGOs like the International Red Cross and Medecins sans Frontieres have already left Iraq because of the increasing danger to aid workers. The recent kidnappings are accellerating this withdrawal. Posted: 9/10/04; 5:34:07 PM #

Top 25 Censored Stories of 2003 - 2004
	Most nonprofits do their work in obscurity. There are sports pages in the newspaper, but no nonprofit pages despite being 10% of the U.S. economy. So it's no surprise to me that Project Censored's Top 25 Censored Stories of 2003 - 2004 looks like a laundry list of nonprofit missions. Posted: 9/10/04; 5:33:56 PM #

Advokit
	Keep an eye on Advokit during this election season. It's an open source, Voter ID/Get-Out-The-Vote Web application available for free to any organization doing community organizing. Posted: 9/10/04; 5:33:45 PM #

185 Cutback Strategies
	185 Cutback Strategies is an excerpt from Coping with Cutbacks: The Nonprofit Guide to Success When Times Are Tight, a book from the Wilder Foundation. I know a lot of organizations who could use these ideas right now. Posted: 9/10/04; 5:33:34 PM #

9 September 2004

Keystrokes Seattle Workshop 2004

Last year, we ventured in a new direction with the innovative Keystrokes Writers Workshop, which was very popular. We're pleased to announce that the workshop is back and that, in a joint venture with Thriller Doctor, we are spinning Keystrokes off as its own enterprise. Stay tuned for many new announcements from that organization. In the mean time, check out the upcoming Seattle workshop, on October 23 & 24, 2004. Posted: 9/9/04; 7:05:06 PM #

2 September 2004

Retreat:Renew:Rebel!

Whether you're an artist, a human service provider, an educator, a community organizer, or an activist, the pressures these days are immense. There is a need for renewal, in our lives, our work, and our organizations. With a staff of gifted instructors, I will be hosting a retreat in the little seaside town of Yelapa, Mexico, December 1st - 5th, 2004. It's called Retreat:Renew:Rebel! Posted: 9/2/04; 6:40:09 PM #

Activists Turn to Blogging as Art
	Marguerite Reardon writes about some innovative international weblogging happening on the side of New York buildings as part of the protests against the Bush administration during the Republican National Convention. Posted: 9/2/04; 4:42:12 PM #

Email is a Victim of its Own Success
	Steve Ronksley says that Email is a Victim of its Own Success and explains the case for reliable identification of the source of inbound email. He leaves out a number of critical issues however, such as the value of anonymous email in many political environments and the need for identity systems that are not owned by private interests. Posted: 9/2/04; 4:41:36 PM #

Search Engine Marketing: Technical White Paper
	While it's never been a focus of mine, search engine marketing is important to those organizations for whom the direct marketing opportunities of email are not appropriate. The Association for Interactive Marketing has published a technical white paper on search engine marketing (5 page PDF) that's an introduction to the basics. Posted: 9/2/04; 4:40:47 PM #