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Current News

Building Peace through Information and Communications Technologies

Idealware has published a wide-ranging overview of the use of IT for anti-war activism, by Skip Cole and Teresa Crawford, entitled Building Peace through Information and Communications Technologies. Using a number of great examples they look at how IT has helped movements in six ways: (1) providing information, (2) helping people process information, (3) improving decision making, (4) reducing scarcity, (5) supporting relationships, and (6) helping people understand each other. I highly recommend this to anyone working in large scale community based advocacy of any kind. Posted: 6/25/07; 10:14:55 PM #

Mobile Phones in Fundraising Campaigns

NTEN has been doing such great work in the last year. I'm particularly excited about the organization's support of various research initiatives. Along those lines they have published MobileActive's third strategy guide, on the topic of Mobile Phones in Fundraising Campaigns. The report identifies eight lessons learned: (1) Mobile carriers worldwide need to be pressured to lower their fees to charities. (2) NGOs should pilot mobile fundraising among existing donors. (3) NGOs should pilot selling mobile content among existing supporters. (4) Mobile fundraising is a unique tool for urgent fundraising appeals. (5) Mobile fundraising is a unique tool for fundraising in places where people are away from their computers, such as at music concerts, political rallies and sporting events. (6) Corporate and media partnerships are proving extremely valuable to maximize the success of mobile fundraising campaigns. (7) Mobile phone users should try out mobile fundraising when it's presented to them as a giving option by either a carrier or a charity. And (8) fundraising professionals need to learn about the potential of mobile phones to impact giving. Posted: 6/25/07; 9:52:21 PM #

E-mail is Not a Platform for Design
	Jeffrey Zeldman is a well known author and lecturer on web design and the publisher of the excellent e-zine A List Apart. In a time when it seems most nonprofit ideas of an email newsletter is basically sending people a big web page, it's good to see someone of Zeldman's stature laying out why e-mail is not a platform for design. Posted: 6/25/07; 8:07:31 PM #

Truthout 2007: Freedom and Democracy Awards
	Truthout has announced their first Freedom and Democracy Awards. They are awarding all three to people associated in some fashion with the US military: Cindy Sheehan, who needs no introduction; Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse to serve in Iraq; and Ann Wright, who resigned her foreign service post to work for the end of this disastrous war. Posted: 6/25/07; 7:36:38 PM #