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News for October 2008
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 28 October 2008 |
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| Seminar on Delivering Online Seminars, Live Dec. 10, 2008 |
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Although we're in our fifth year of doing online seminars, I think that the coming year will see a broad maturation of the medium. A number of factors will contribute to this, but in part I think it will involve a combination of economic pressure (cutting back on in-person training) and growing frustration with telephone-based, proprietary solutions. In Delivering Online Seminars, I teach the practices we've developed over the last few years, along with a model for planning out a similar program for your organization. If you're in the business of sharing knowledge, I think you'll find this useful.
Posted: 10/28/08; 12:53:07 PM # |
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27 October 2008 |
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| New Metrics for Success: What I Learned from the Drudge Report |
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Holly Ross of NTEN took the step of discussing her organization's website traffic right out in the open in an article entitled New Metrics for Success: What I Learned from the Drudge Report. The title comes from the insight that the (rather horrific, in my opinion) Drudge Report has influence that far outstrips it obvious traffic numbers. This illustrates how easy it is for the things we can measure to be somewhat disconnected from the things we should measure. Many of us are in the business of influencing various communities of practice, but how do we go about coming up with good metrics for that? In my own work, I suggest that we invest up front in network centric listening tools and practices, so that we know what those communities are saying, where they are going, and what their dynamics are. Holly suggests we tie deeper organizational outcomes to the more tactical metrics. Good stuff, worth emulating.
Posted: 10/27/08; 4:47:56 PM # |
| Measuring the Effects of Social Media Marketing |
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In his piece on Measuring the Effects of Social Media Marketing, Colin Delany echos some themes from my own article on The Quest for Metrics. Most importantly, he makes a plea for organizations to develop clear goals, because that is the only way to create meaningful yardsticks. This also keeps us from just measuring the things that the Internet makes easiest for us and helps us measure the things that matter. Honestly, I think the best social marketing an organization can make is in up-front goals and metrics, and the information gathering workflow to go along with them. And yeah, I am suggesting you do this before you make any meaningful investment in outbound messaging.
Posted: 10/27/08; 4:40:04 PM # |
| In Defense of Raising Money: A Manifesto for NonProfit CEOs |
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Sasha Dichter is sick of apologizing for being in charge of raising money and he captures this eloquently in his Manifesto for Nonprofit CEOs: In Defense of Raising Money (for some reason, a 5 page PDF). He identifies four possible reasons for people's fear based response to the notion of raising money: (1) People think that asking for money is all about asking for money. (2) People think that storytelling is a gift, not a skill. (3) Money = Power. (4) They are afraid they will be told 'no'. While I do think that nonprofit fundraisers have made something of a bad name for themselves with the public (possibly shaping the view that asking for money is all about asking for money, for example), I think this is a very valuable manifesto. A lot of what's going on here is anxiety and dysfunctional relationships to money, and Dichter's manifesto contributes mightily to the cause of unraveling that.
Posted: 10/27/08; 4:32:07 PM # |
| Nonprofit Policy Priorities for the New (U.S.) Administration |
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Lester Salamon and Stephanie Geller have published the results of their survey on Nonprofit Policy Priorities for the New Administration (17 page PDF). I confess I am disappointed but unsurprised by the results. Overwhelming respondents put funding issues at the top of their list of concerns for a new U.S. government. There was also some interest in capacity building and workforce development in the sector, but those interests were definitely a distant second. After the Bush administration's unprecedented transfer of society's wealth to the rich (through the tax code, privatization, wars, and other spending) and in the context of today's financial climate, I can hardly blame nonprofit leaders for their focus on money. But it's very sad to me that the massive erosion of the basic enabling infrastructure of civil society (key liberties, privacy and so on) are nowhere to be seen. I think this may be as much the fault of the researchers as of the respondents.
Posted: 10/27/08; 4:22:11 PM # |
| A Few More Words on Edupunk |
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In a brief post on the topic of "edupunk", Asher Bey makes a really interesting point: Old ideas are made new by the changing circumstances of the world. In this case, it's not participatory pedagogy that is new, but rather that the material and technical opportunities for pursuing it are.
Posted: 10/27/08; 4:10:05 PM # |
| The Basics of Email Metrics |
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IdealWare's article on The Basics of Email Metrics is a fine introduction to the topic of what you can measure in outbound email programs. (What you actually should measure is a far more idiosyncratic matter, of course.) It covers the three metrics that I consider most important today - clickthrough, response, and unsubscribe - as well as others and puts them all in reasonable perspective. Most important is the closing advise to avoid comparing these metrics to other organizations, but instead focusing on your own performance over time and across different campaigns. I also highly recommend an investment in tying these tactical metrics to more strategic ones that describe your overall relationship-building success.
Posted: 10/27/08; 4:08:14 PM # |
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21 October 2008 |
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| Visionary Budget Cutting: Enhancing Mission and Capacity in Hard Times - Live, Wed. Dec. 3, 2008 |
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Like many of you, I have been thinking about the impact of the recession on my organization and my work. (My first conclusion: More demand for online seminars. Less demand for me to travel. So far so good.) Also like many of you, I want to make the best of these times, no matter how hard they may be. So, I'm looking forward to sharing with you some methodologies we've developed and used with clients over the last ten years or so in a new seminar: Visionary Budget Cutting: Enhancing Mission and Capacity in Hard Times. It will be conducted live, online, on Wednesday, December 3, 2008. I'll be teaching a neutral method for auditing your programs and processes, so that you can look for opportunities for efficiencies that actually enhance your capacity to pursue your mission. If you're anticipating having to cut back in the coming year, I encourage you to take a look at the description and see if the material suits you.
Posted: 10/21/08; 4:37:40 PM # |
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20 October 2008 |
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| Poverty in Teaching |
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Asher Bey took the topic of poverty on Blog Action Day a bit further than the material, as I would have expected him to do. In Poverty in Teaching he asks us to notice how we allocate the most precious resource we have: our attention.
Posted: 10/20/08; 5:49:50 PM # |
| Working Toward Evidence-Based Process: Evaluation That Matters |
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I recently read Ailish Byrne's article entitled Working Toward Evidence-Based Process: Evaluation That Matters. It was an eye-opening experience for me in a number of ways. First, I confess I was disturbed by the title. You mean we're admitting that we do evaluation that is based on something other than evidence? Second, I was impressed by the political sophistication of the analysis. This is astute and useful material that reflects the notion that, in the world of development at least, we are working our way toward good evaluation. For a taste of some of the conclusions, here are six needs identified in closing: (1) to strengthen and equalise relationships and foster trust, (2) to develop capacity for integral, expanded learning within institutions, (3) to make evaluation and learning integral to wider organisational development processes, (4) to broaden accountability, and (5) to foster appropriate donor support, both conceptual and financial.
Posted: 10/20/08; 5:45:48 PM # |
| It's the Community, Stupid! |
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I've been involved in community building of one kind or another for decades. Thus I prefer to parse the phrase "online community building" as meaning community building that happens online, rather than some utterly unique entity that we primarily build through new technology. It's through that lens that I view the hundreds of tips and tricks people have published on this popular subject. Once every few months, a piece comes along that does more than just recycle a few vague ideas. Karine Joly's It's the Community, Stupid! does just that, with seven specific recommendations for online community building: (1) Don't think you know what your institution can do for your community members. Ask them what they want. (2) Ask yourself, what do we expect from this relationship? (3) Be unique (and irresistible) by providing exclusive content to your community. (4) Keep in mind that if you build it with them, they will come. (5) Identify and empower the most active and engaged members of your community. (6) Don't wait for their visit - call them back. (7) Meet your new bosses: Community members.
Posted: 10/20/08; 5:36:32 PM # |
| Blogging Becomes Mainstream |
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It's quite remarkable to me how many nonprofit leaders, particularly philanthropists, regard blogging as some sort of fringe medium, suitable for photos of kittens and either embarrassing or incomprehensible personal anecdotes. In Blogging Becomes Mainstream, Paul Verna runs a few numbers and, I hope, puts that notion to rest.
Posted: 10/20/08; 5:28:40 PM # |
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15 October 2008 |
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| Let's Just Say You Had $700 Billion to Spend |
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No exploration of the topic of poverty today would be complete without asking: How else might we have spent $700 billion? Alternative budget scenarios of this kind routinely break my heart, but I have now read dozens of these and they fill be with more grief than ever. The human suffering - not to mention environmental degradation and so many other problems - that could be aggressively alleviated by this kind of money is truly staggering.
Posted: 10/15/08; 7:19:46 AM # |
| Making Money Off the Poor |
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I highly recommend either watching or reading the transcript of Bill Moyers'The Poverty Business. Unlike right wing attacks on nonprofits that take government and private money to help alleviate poverty, this is an examination of the businesses that would like to get rid of those nonprofits, so that they can squeeze every last penny from the unique market that is poor people.
Posted: 10/15/08; 7:15:44 AM # |
| Will the Word "Poverty" be Used Even Once in Tonight's Presidential Event? |
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Presidential "debates" in the United States are really simulated events, with elaborate rules designed by the major parties to prevent actual debate, but to look as much as possible like one to the public. It should therefore come as no surprise that terms and issues that don't suit the rhetorical strategies of the candidates don't even come up. The word "poverty" was apparently not mentioned in the first debate at all and I'll be interested in finding out if it is mentioned tonight.
Posted: 10/15/08; 7:11:58 AM # |
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14 October 2008 |
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| How to Write a Book in One Year: The Keystrokes Book Plan Workshop Now Available On Demand |
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Writing is something we pretty much do alone. So, I think it's about time we released our seminar on How to Write a Book in One Year as an on-demand workshop that you can watch and work through on your own schedule. Using the Keystrokes Model of writing discipline, the workshop helps you develop a plan for a year long book project. More importantly we focus on the key practices that will help you actually maintain that discipline over time. If you have a book in you that isn't coming out as fast as you would like, you might want to register for this one.
Posted: 10/14/08; 1:02:27 PM # |
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13 October 2008 |
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| The Best of the Guru's Handbook: Year Two |
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Asher Bey is the most prolific of the bloggers in the Gilbert Author's Network and thus it's helpful to have an accessible introduction to his work. In Another Year's Reflections, the author of The Guru's handbook points to several titles, including: What is a Teacher, Exercises in Listening, Teaching a Colleague, Teaching by Speaking Honestly, Taking Breaks, Teaching with a Clear Signal, and Why Teach if it has Already Been Taught.
Posted: 10/13/08; 4:13:34 PM # |
| Spying on Activists Discussed at Forum |
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It seems that anyone with the potential to stand in the way of the current U.S. regime is subject to dirty tricks. Whether it's demonizing ACORN because they register poor people to vote or spying on a wide range of activists, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there weren't thousands of U.S. nonprofits that are on some kind of enemies list or another.
Posted: 10/13/08; 4:09:41 PM # |
| Networking Begins with Listening |
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A lot of organizations seem to think that they will get more mileage in their work by talking rather than by listening - that they will raise more money and engage more stakeholders if they push messages out to people, rather than paying attention to those people. This point of view neglects both the risks of failing to respect a community and the considerable influence that listening itself can have. In Networking Begins with Listening, Dennis Stevenson frames this strategic insight as "How can I make someone else better?"
Posted: 10/13/08; 3:54:41 PM # |
| You Don't Need a Home to Vote! 2008-2009 Voting Rights Manual |
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The American right is currently engaged in an enormous voter suppression campaign in an attempt to "win" the upcoming election. There are thousands of organizations whose stakeholders are the very people they are trying to disenfranchise. Given that one of the core suppression tactics involves raising doubt about residency by sending certified mail to potential Democratic voters, I'm happy to see that IssueLab has published a 2008-2009 Voting Rights Manual, You Don't Need a Home to Vote!
Posted: 10/13/08; 3:46:16 PM # |
| The Top 50 Mailers |
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Target Marketing Magazine has published their report on The Top 50 Mailers (5 page PDF) in the U.S, based on volume. Unfortunately, they don't actually report on that volume! There are 4 large nonprofits among these, a couple of which are profiled in the report narrative.
Posted: 10/13/08; 3:42:16 PM # |
| Effective Advocacy at All Levels of Government |
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The Kellogg Foundation hosts Effective Advocacy at All Levels of Government, a handbook for nonprofits prepared by the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest. In addition to sample advocacy plans and a list of advocacy resources, the handbook addresses these five questions: (1) Why should your nonprofit try to change public policy? (2) Is it legal for nonprofits to advocate policy change? (3) How does the policymaking process work? (4) What policy issues should your nonprofit address? (5) How can your nonprofit influence public policy?
Posted: 10/13/08; 3:15:10 PM # |
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9 October 2008 |
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| A Triumph of Trust: Five Principles of Nonprofit Social Media Strategy |
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Twenty five years ago, in the context of lobbying for environmental and consumer organizations, I had my first significant experiences with a press corps. I didn't have the power to influence the press by controlling access and I didn't have the experience to apply standard public relations formulae. So, I did the one thing I knew how to do: I treated the press corps like human beings. It turns out that the lessons I learned from that experience translate into some pretty powerful strategies for the emerging challenge of social media. I write about that in a new feature article entitled A Triumph of Trust: Five Principles of Nonprofit Social Media Strategy.
Posted: 10/9/08; 8:14:26 PM # |
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7 October 2008 |
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| Nonprofit Technology Consulting Skills Seminar, Now Available On Demand |
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As part of the ongoing development of our on-demand workshop catalog, I'm pleased to announce that Nonprofit Technology Consulting Skills is now available. This is a very substantial seminar, delivered in three major blocks of three segments each, with roughly 30 minutes per segment, not counting exercises and homework. The major topics covered are the skills and tools for communication centered planning, technology promotion and change management, and the common causes of project failure and how to address them. It's a lot of solid, strategic material, with plenty of first steps to give you immediate hooks into it.
Posted: 10/7/08; 11:49:36 AM # |
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6 October 2008 |
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| Content Management Vs Knowledge Management |
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I always look skeptically at articles written by software vendors, but I have to say I was impressed by Nav Chakravarti's analysis of the difference between Content Management and Knowledge Management. What's important about his piece isn't just that there is a distinction or even what it may be in theory, but rather some of the specifics that distinguish these practices. For example, I agree completely with the observation that knowledge management is distinguished by high granularity of information and high frequency of updates. This brings information into the scale of how people actually produce it, consume it, and work with it. It's a really excellent distinction.
Posted: 10/6/08; 4:34:21 PM # |
| In Praise of Small and Mid-size Nonprofits |
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Don Griesmann's In Praise of Small and Mid-size Nonprofits is a thank you note to community based nonprofit organizations. Reading Blue Avocado, hearing Jan Masaoka discuss its mission with passion and acerbic intelligence, and reading this piece, reminds me that the ecology of civil society can survive without the big players, but not without the smaller ones.
Posted: 10/6/08; 4:28:16 PM # |
| The Tenth Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association: Open Call for Papers |
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I get dozens of announcements for conferences and calls for papers each month, but I only pass on a few of these to readers of Nonprofit Online News. The Tenth Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association is worth looking at for two reasons: First, they are taking applications for papers from far outside academia and have a track record of accepting such. Second, civil society needs to be represented in this discussion. "Media ecology" is the study of media environments - the idea that "technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication play a leading role in human affairs". (Take a look at the link for examples and inspiration.) In my opinion, there is nowhere this is more worth studying than in the context of civil society. Papers and session proposals should be sent by January 15, 2009.
Posted: 10/6/08; 4:23:54 PM # |
| Measuring Human Development: A Primer |
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The United Nations Development Programme's primer on Measuring Human Development (173 page PDF) somehow manages to straddle the gap between comprehensive and accessible in addressing a highly political and important topic. The notion here is fundamental, expressed in the very nature of the the term "human development" - the welfare of human beings is the purpose of development work. Given how many traditional metrics function to obscure this, the ongoing global struggle to create, promote, and utilize new metrics is a critical one.
In the narrow sense of development for development's sake, you may not see your organization as being involved in such work, especially if you are located in a rich country. But I encourage you to take a look at this primer nevertheless. In the coming crisis, building bridges in both vision and method is more important than ever. You'll find practical value throughout the guide, but most certainly in the section on Advocating for Change with Human Development Data, which includes information on data sources, data skills, communication practices, media plans, and long term advocacy.
Posted: 10/6/08; 4:15:50 PM # |
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2 October 2008 |
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