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Nonprofit Online News Journal, August 2005

The August 2005 issue of Nonprofit Online News Journal is out and its contents are in keeping with my general preference for thinkers and writers who synthesize depth and practicality. As usual, there are the online resources (34 of them) and the book reviews (six of those). There is a new article by me on Nonprofits and Weblogs, a great guide to branding your organization through your web site, a ten year review of the state of online fundraising, and some fantastic thinking from a team at the Institute for the Future on cooperation between organizations. Posted: 8/9/05; 5:37:56 PM #

The Enduring Power of “The Gilbert Email Manifesto”

I seem to be a popular interview subject recently. Michael Stein of GetActive just published a conversation we had about The Enduring Power of “The Gilbert Email Manifesto”. We talked about putting strategy before tools and how email thinking can help you do that. I also laid out three recommendations for vendors who want to help nonprofits think critically about online communication. Posted: 8/9/05; 11:55:16 AM #

Myths About Online Volunteering

The very thoughtful Jayne Cravens has documented the twelve Myths About Online Volunteering, which are (in brief): Online volunteering is great for people who don't have time to volunteer! People who volunteer online don't volunteer face-to-face. People who volunteer online do so for organizations that are geographically far from them. People who volunteer online are mostly young, affluent and living in the USA. People who volunteer online are very shy and have trouble interacting with others. Online volunteers engage primarily in technology-related tasks. Online volunteering is impersonal. Interviewing potential volunteers face-to-face is much more reliable than interviewing people online. The Internet Is Dangerous and, therefore, online volunteering opens an organization and its clients up to many risks. The biggest obstacle to online volunteering is lack of Internet access. Much more needs to be done to get people to volunteer online. Online volunteering is a very new concept. Posted: 8/9/05; 11:50:01 AM #

Tzedakah

I have been recently charmed by the wisdom of Maimonides, especially the eight levels of Jewish charity called Tzedakah. It intrigues me first of all that while tzedakah is often translated as "charity", it's based on a root meaning "justice". I firmly believe it is critical to make that connection. The eight levels themselves are also interesting, ranging from unwilling giving at the bottom to empowering someone to become free of charity at the top. Posted: 8/9/05; 11:44:29 AM #

ICT and Training: A Proposal for an Ecological Model of Innovation
	Arthur Tatnall and Bill Davey have developed A Proposal for an Ecological Model of Innovation in the context of training in ICTs. They take a hard look at the social systems inside most organizations and propose some methods for improving the rate of adoption of new innovations and tools. Posted: 8/9/05; 11:38:28 AM #