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News for September 2008
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 29 September 2008 |
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| Blog Action Day 2008: Focus on Poverty |
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I was impressed with last year's Blog Action Day on the Environment and so I want to recommend to the hundreds of bloggers who read Nonprofit Online News to dive into this year's Focus on Poverty. The concept is simple: On the same day as everyone else who is participating, add your unique perspective to the conversation about poverty. Blog Action day is October 15 and as of this moment there are 4,821 weblogs signed up. An added recommendation: If you are involved in any of the many thousands of organizations whose very mission is to end poverty and you are not already blogging, take the plunge and launch your blog on that day.
Posted: 9/29/08; 5:57:26 PM # |
| Nonprofits Must Gear for Tough Economy |
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In Nonprofits Must Gear for Tough Economy, Todd Cohen makes some well-informed, conservative predictions about the impact of the recession (or whatever government propagandists are calling it right now) on nonprofit funding. His insights, which don't touch much on social change organizations, include: (1) Art funding may be harder hit than social services, (2) Foundations are likely to try to keep giving stable, (3) Government funding could go more than one way, and (4) Demand for many services may increase. As I see it, his overarching recommendation is to focus on organizational capacity building in order to maximize flexibility in the face of the crisis and opportunity ahead.
Posted: 9/29/08; 5:53:29 PM # |
| I'm Not Rockefeller: 33 High Net Worth Philanthropists Discuss Their Approach to Giving |
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An organization I follow called The Center for High Impact Philanthropy has released a report entitled I'm Not Rockefeller: 33 High Net Worth Philanthropists Discuss Their Approach to Giving (32 page PDF). It's a fascinating read that is more of a study of the self-image of the philanthropists than an analysis of giving methodologies. Start with the subtitle, where in keeping with the systematic denial of class in the U.S., the people in the study can't simply be called "wealthy", or better yet "rich". Then consider the quote that gives the report it's title - "The word 'philanthropist' still cracks me up because it sounds so hoity-toity... I'm not Rockefeller" - which to me reveals how even the rich compare themselves mostly with the even-more-rich. By the way, these are folks who are not just millionaires, but rather who have the capacity to give a million dollars a year. All of my arch commentary aside however, this is wonderful, charming, humanizing reading and I highly recommend it.
Posted: 9/29/08; 5:39:24 PM # |
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25 September 2008 |
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| Final Week of Online Fundraising Cultivation & Stewardship Survey |
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Due to a partnership with The Nonprofit Quarterly and the viral assistance of the readers of Nonprofit Online News, we are pleased to say that we are reaching an adequate sample size for our Online Fundraising Cultivation & Stewardship Survey. Cultivation and stewardship are conceivably the greatest of the opportunities presented by online fundraising and this is the first survey that attempts to look at nonprofit practices in this way. The survey will close in one more week and we're making a final push to build up our sample size. If there is any way you can help us in this final push, please do so.
There are three things you can do: (1) Please take the survey if you haven't already. (2) If you have a blog or social network page or social bookmarks or a small list of people to whom you forward things, please post a link. (3) If you are in any way affiliated with a publication that reaches nonprofits, please contact us.
Posted: 9/25/08; 11:58:51 AM # |
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23 September 2008 |
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| Trust me, I'm a Fundraiser: How to Respond to the Eroding Confidence in the Sector |
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Writing at Professional Fundraising, Steve Andrews looks at an issue that's been of great interest to me for many years: Confidence in the sector is falling. What can fundraisers do? I appreciate that he doesn't shy away from this issue or treat it as strictly a messaging problem, the way so many people do. While I don't think he takes this matter nearly as far as it needs to be taken, he does have five meaningful suggestions that can be put to use by fundraising professionals: (1) Up front transparency. (2) Explain your motives, especially those related to money. (3) Stop sending mail to dead people and to people’s old addresses. (4) Develop tangible programmes for people to give to. (5) Use third party endorsements, such as teams of donors reporting to other donors.
Posted: 9/23/08; 5:22:17 PM # |
| Resource Kit For Creative Community Engagement |
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The Australian Flexible Learning Framework has published a web-based Resource Kit For Creative Community Engagement, which is effectively a compilation of materials for e-learning on a shoestring. The site is divided into Planning, Tech & Tools, Activities, Case Studies, Networks & Mentors, and Useful Links. The longer I explore this wonderful compendium, the more useful stuff it turns up, so I suggest that you just keep clicking. I recommend this to most small and medium sized organizations and certainly any community based group.
Posted: 9/23/08; 5:12:00 PM # |
| America 101, by Eric Lane in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas |
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I tend to think that nonprofits spend too much time figuring out how to squeeze another ask out of their fundraising list and too little time figuring out whether the fundamental underpinnings of their work are eroding. In America 101 Eric Lane looks at how desperately we in the U.S. need some basic civics lessons. Most organizations have spent the last eight years acting like the assault on civil society didn't concern them and so, as much as I agree with Mr. Lane, I fear it may already be too late.
Posted: 9/23/08; 5:03:16 PM # |
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16 September 2008 |
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| Nonprofit Online Classifieds to Close (For Now) |
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Sunday was the last weekly mailing of our Nonprofit Online Classifieds. When we started the classifieds, we were hoping to open up a respectful channel between vendors and our readers and build some financial support for Nonprofit Online News. The results? It's been a bit useful to some people. It's been a bit annoying to others. On balance, we've decided that, in its current form, it's not worth the organizational resources we invest or the time and email bandwidth invested by our wonderful readers.
In keeping with the promise we made to our advertisers about the longevity of their listings, both the website and the link to it will remain up for a few months. As we look ahead to the coming year and continue to refine all our programs, we'll be keeping our minds open to ideas that are suited to the unique readership and tone of Nonprofit Online News. Your suggestions are welcome.
Posted: 9/16/08; 2:57:06 PM # |
| Identity Politics in Climate Change Hell |
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I am not remotely dismissive of what some people call "identity politics", but at the same time I have seen it unravel many a cause in which I had invested my heart. Affinity and personal experience are foundations of movements and yet we have to base our strategies around outcomes, not around whether they reassure us about our identities. As George Monbiot reports, Identity Politics in Climate Change Hell, the grand alliance that has come together to rescue large portions of the planet and human society from climate change may be a fragile one. Climate change may be the greatest opportunity for the practitioners of disaster capitalism that there has ever been. To a large degree, I share Monbiot's perspective that, without ignoring the differences in power that such coalitions reveal, we must be united if we are to avert this disaster.
Posted: 9/16/08; 2:48:39 PM # |
| New Voices at Idealware Blog |
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Idealware continues to be the place to go when you've done your thinking about communication and you're ready to choose software tools. (And of course, if you're just trying to get some independent views and evaluations of these tools, regardless of what stage of planning you're in. However you frame it, I'm a fan.) I'm excited to see that the Idealware Blog has expanded its range of authors to include Steve Backman, Peter Campbell, Heather Gardner-Madras, Paul Hagen, Eric Leland, Michelle Murrain, and of course, the founder, Laura Quinn.
Posted: 9/16/08; 2:42:22 PM # |
| Excerpts from The Search for Entrepreneurship by Paul Light |
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Social Edge has published nineteen substantial excepts from Paul Light's new book entitled The Search for Entrepreneurship. We have a fair number of notions associated with the idea of "social entrepreneurship" and some attempts at definition, but the concept is still quite vague. In this research, Light asks questions such these: Do entrepreneurs always work alone? Do they really think differently from other high achievers? Are their ideas always radical? Can social entrepreneurs create opportunities for change where none exist? Do their organizations have to be new?
These excerpts are filled with useful material and links to other resources. One of my favorite bits is Light's description of Young's Seven Types of Entrepreneurs. In fact, I think these are seven motivations, each of which can exist to a greater or lesser degree. Here they are: (1) Independents who seek small organizations in corners of the sector where new entry is relatively easy. (2) Searchers who want their freedom from cumbersome organizations and inflexible rules. (3) Power seekers who value the opportunities for advancement provided by large organizations. (4) Conservers who concentrate on large, stable, and mature organizations that provide security and established traditions. (5) Professionals who search for organizations with the resources to pursue their endeavors. (6) Artists who pursue organizations large enough to support their work, yet small enough to give them a chance to be recognized. (7) Income seekers, who have no goals other than to enhance their income potential, be it in a large organization or small.
Posted: 9/16/08; 2:29:39 PM # |
| Top 10 Worst Types of Blog Post (and how to fix them) |
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Robert Beschizza has written a list of his Top 10 Worst Types of Blog Post (and how to fix them). This list applies more to technology bloggers than to nonprofit bloggers (which is a list I ought to write), but there is plenty we can learn from it nonetheless. He describes each of these in some detail: 1. The Top List, 2. The Spec Bump, 3. Fake News, 4. The Third-Party PR Shot, 5. Look at Me!, 6. The Snark, 7. The Fisk, 8. The Image Macro, 9. The Reblog, and 10. The Blockquote Sandwich.
Posted: 9/16/08; 12:36:45 PM # |
| The Participation Divide: Content Creation and Sharing in the Digital Age |
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I have frequently expressed my frustration that the "digital divide" and other issues related to the "information society" are so often framed in terms of access rather than in terms of participation. That frame treats people as consumers of information, rather than as communicators. So I was pleased to read the Web Use Project's report on The Participation Divide: Content Creation and Sharing in the Digital Age (cover for 23 page PDF). It's by no means comprehensive, but it does adopt the frame of participation in regard to its study. The report's main finding was of substantial differences in sharing of content between the men and the women in their sample. More importantly however, is the discovery that, once you control for Internet user skill, that difference in participation disappears.
Posted: 9/16/08; 12:27:02 PM # |
| al3x's Rules for Computing Happiness |
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Alex Payne has published his personal list of 25 Rules for Computing Happiness. I am recommending the list not so much because you should adopt it wholesale, but rather because coming up with your own list would probably be a very good idea. After all, how many hours a day do you spend using a computer in some way? Four of my favorites from his list include: Use software that does one thing well. Buy as large an external display as you can afford. Keep as much as possible in plain text. Do not buy digital media crippled by rights restriction technologies.
Posted: 9/16/08; 12:14:27 PM # |
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10 September 2008 |
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9 September 2008 |
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| Why Do You Teach? |
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Whether you write, manage, coach, lecture, or facilitate, many of you are teachers of one kind or another. I really agree with Asher Bey that one of the most important questions you can ask yourself is this: Why Do You Teach? He points out that knowing the less flattering reasons can often be the basis for dramatic improvement in your abilities. He emphasizes that these reasons might be barriers to your success, but I suggest that sometimes they may reveal the true source of your gift. Good reading. Good question.
Posted: 9/9/08; 12:22:23 PM # |
| There Is an Alternative to Corporate Rule |
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Mark Engler's adapted a section of his new book How to Rule the World: The Coming Battle Over the Global Economy into an article entitled There Is an Alternative to Corporate Rule. Although I think a lot of authors are engaging in wishful thinking when they describe movements that they think are taking shape that will save the world, Engler really does put his finger on one of the few clear, large scale collaborations across vast swaths of local and international civil society. As he puts it "Those who reject corporate and imperial models of globalization have a wealth of ideas at their disposal, a healthy internal debate to refine their strategies, and a vibrant, growing international network of citizens that see their efforts as part an interconnected whole. They also have very powerful enemies."
Posted: 9/9/08; 12:18:28 PM # |
| Community-Wealth.org: Strategies and Models |
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I've long advocated for models other than the traditional tax-exempt corporation as vehicles for public benefit work. At Community-Wealth.org, they've assembled a great table of Strategies and Models that describe many such alternatives. For each of the many ideas, they have links to deeper descriptions, practices, supporting organizations, and research. If you're tired of the endemic structure problems of the nonprofit sector (and are ready to try on some different problems), this would be an excellent resource. Even if you're not considering alternative structures, it's full of inspiration for leaders.
Posted: 9/9/08; 12:08:46 PM # |
| Development Communication Sourcebook: Broadening the Boundaries of Communication Public Disclosure |
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Paolo Mefalopulos has written a Development Communication Sourcebook (245 page PDF) for the World Bank. It's a treasure house of communication strategies and tactics, solidly based on participatory design. One of my favorite examples from the book is entitled "When a Perfectly Appropriate Technical Solution Does Not Make Much Sense" and illustrates why we need to pay attention to what people actually do in order to plan our technologies. The short version of the mistake used in the book's example is this: The experts did a so-called assessment and realized that women in the village in question were still taking an hour long walk to a river to fetch water, so in their judgment, a local well was needed. So they build them a well. But when they return a year later, they find that the well is hardly being used. Why? Because that walk to the river was one of the few moments that the woman had to visit with each other and take a break from the hard labor of their everyday lives.
Posted: 9/9/08; 12:03:31 PM # |
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4 September 2008 |
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2 September 2008 |
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| How Can I Improve This by Making It Social? |
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Although all his examples are commercial and I worry about the limits of his method, Augie Ray makes an excellent point when he looks at a series of online marketing techniques and asks of each one: How can I improve this by making it social? The overall message is a useful one: Don't be too worried about having some overall "Social Media Strategy". Instead, look at everything as an opportunity for social dimensions.
Posted: 9/2/08; 7:51:04 PM # |
| What Are People Actually Doing On The Web? |
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Melanie Lindner of Forbes summarizes a recent Forrester survey on the most popular online activities. The results are a little incoherent, especially in terms of the implications that the popularity of certain activities somehow correlates to the amount of time spent on them. Nevertheless, the overall lesson is the classic one: People are on the Internet primarily to interact, not just to consume. If you're treating them as mere readers, you're making a big mistake.
Posted: 9/2/08; 6:28:59 PM # |
| Brainstorming for Stories |
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Narrative is a powerful human force. On the one hand, stories tap into and reveal a great deal about people's quest for identity and affinity. On the other hand, stories can obscure the systems perspective that might allow people to break out of old patterns. So, it's with some interest that I read Jeffrey Baumgartner's excellent article on the use of narrative in brainstorming. If you're looking for some ways to spice up those events where you are bringing people together for innovation, I recommend that you include this in your toolkit.
Posted: 9/2/08; 6:01:25 PM # |
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