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Current News

Meaningful Acts of Appreciation for Boards and Staff

The nonprofit web magazine Blue Avocado is off to a great start. It's got small tidbits in a blog format, with a weekly mailing - so what's not to like? I recommend you just go ahead and subscribe, but in the meantime I'll get you started with a link to a very useful little piece. I'm a big believer in the power of authenticity, as you probably know, so I found the article on Meaningful Acts of Appreciation for Boards and Staff to be very worthwhile. If you have ever sent or received one of those robotic, generic messages that substitute for mindful gratitude these days, then I think you'll enjoy this piece. Posted: 5/5/08; 5:29:19 PM #

What We Don't Know about Open Access: Research Questions in Need of Researchers

Over the course of the last year, I've repeatedly found myself stuck in regard to my own progress in thinking through the logic and business models of open access in regard to the two journals we've launched recently. Of course I want to implement it. I also want it to be sustainable. I know all of the quick and dirty answers to the obvious questions, but there is a decided absence of deeper research. Turns out I'm not alone. In the recent issue of the Open Access Newsletter, Peter Suber, the foremost advocate of open access, has written a detailed piece entitled What We Don't Know about Open Access: Research Questions in Need of Researchers. I would love to see nonprofit tech folk who are advocates of open access take on some of these. The most obvious one would be an up to date comparison of the software platforms available for open access deployment. Posted: 5/5/08; 5:22:11 PM #

2008 eNonprofits Benchmarks Study

The 2008 eNonprofits Benchmarks Study is out, covering the 2006 to 2007 time frame. I worry a bit about how benchmarks are used, but people really want to know how they are doing in the tactical mechanics of communication, in comparison to other organizations. The authors define their key 2008 findings as: (1) Email open rates, click-through rates and response rates have fallen from 2006 to 2007. (2) The average nonprofit in the study sent an average of just over 4 emails per subscriber per month. (3) The annual churn rate dropped from 21 percent to 19 percent. (4) The total amount raised online increased by 19 percent. (5) The average advocacy email response rate was 7.5 percent. (6) The average fundraising email response rate was .13 percent. (7) Although less than 1% in numbers, $1,000+ gifts made up 20 percent of the amount raised online. (8) Almost 60 percent of subscribers did not take any online advocacy actions over the course of the year. (9) Subscribers taking 6 or more online actions in a year, made up just 5 percent of list size but accounted for 42 percent of organizations' total actions. Posted: 5/5/08; 5:13:03 PM #

The South African Civil Society Information Service

I'm incredibly excited to see the launch of The South African Civil Society Information Service. I remember conversations with the SANGONeT leaders a couple of years ago in which the notion of such a service was clearly starting to come together. The implementation looks top notch and they couldn't have a better leader than Fazila Farouk. I'm looking forward to following it closely - I believe this project will be broadly influential and eminently replicable. Posted: 5/5/08; 3:46:51 PM #