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News for November 2008
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 25 November 2008 |
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24 November 2008 |
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| Email Newsletter Reinvention & Improvement Seminar Now Available On Demand |
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The latest addition to our On Demand Seminar catalog is Email Newsletter Reinvention & Improvement. Our "reinvention & improvement" model of seminars are two part, hands-on workshops designed to create the maximum opportunity for change. Email newsletters are a flagship issue for us and they are increasingly the mainstay of many an organization's communication with their stakeholders. Very few newsletters achieve the outcomes of which they are capable, but in the coming downturn they will need to do so. This workshop, with that one-on-one consultation that's included, will help bring you the vision and the practice that you'll need to bring your newsletter to its full potential.
Posted: 11/24/08; 4:00:29 PM # |
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23 November 2008 |
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| Conversational Marketing: Fact or Fiction? |
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Sean Carton's explanation of how the Obama campaign enrolled its supporters in the creation of its brand is worth careful consideration. In Conversational Marketing: Fact or Fiction, he pushes us in the direction of looking for hybrid models for working with our stakeholders. We must neither abandon the conversation, nor quash it, of course. But organizations play a unique roll in turning conversations into collaborations. Good reading.
Posted: 11/23/08; 9:46:38 PM # |
| Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009 |
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It astonishes me how often people in civil society organizations, caught up with their particular issue, are as subject to the distortions of mainstream media as anyone else. Because I believe we need to know about the world we're trying to save, I recommend to you Project Censored's Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009: (1) Over One Million Iraqi Deaths Caused by US Occupation, (2) Security and Prosperity Partnership: Militarized NAFTA, (3) InfraGard: The FBI Deputizes Business, (4) ILEA: Is the US Restarting Dirty Wars in Latin America?, (5) Seizing War Protesters’ Assets, (6) The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, (7) Guest Workers Inc.: Fraud and Human Trafficking, (8) Executive Orders Can Be Changed Secretly, (9) Iraq and Afghanistan Vets Testify, (10) APA Complicit in CIA Torture, (11) El Salvador’s Water Privatization and the Global War on Terror, (12) Bush Profiteers Collect Billions From No Child Left Behind, (13) Tracking Billions of Dollars Lost in Iraq, (14) Mainstreaming Nuclear Waste, (15) Worldwide Slavery, (16) Annual Survey on Trade Union Rights, (17) UN’s Empty Declaration of Indigenous Rights, (18) Cruelty and Death in Juvenile Detention Centers, (19) Indigenous Herders and Small Farmers Fight Livestock Extinction, (20) Marijuana Arrests Set New Record, (21) NATO Considers “First Strike” Nuclear Option, (22) CARE Rejects US Food Aid, (23) FDA Complicit in Pushing Pharmaceutical Drugs, (24) Japan Questions 9/11 and the Global War on Terror, and (25) Bush’s Real Problem with Eliot Spitzer.
Posted: 11/23/08; 9:41:39 PM # |
| The Art of The Finish |
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I have started a lot of projects over the years. (I even had a business card for a while that read "Professional Beginner", of which I was inordinately proud.) I have a character flaw that I think is shared by many in civil society: I don't always know when to finish, wrap up, quit. I'm a lot better about this than I was a decade ago or even just a few years ago, but that's an ongoing lesson for me, without a doubt. I want to share with you Keith Robinson's 2006 article on The Art of The Finish, a great compendium of ways to get into wrapping things up. I've been fortunate enough to partner with people who are great at finishing, but he shows that that's not the only solution.
Posted: 11/23/08; 9:37:04 PM # |
| Economic Effects on Philanthropy |
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We're all writing about how the economic downturn will affect the sector. (This seems second only to telling President Elect Obama what he should do in office.) Naturally, lots of people are worried about the effect on giving. So, Robert Weiner collected nine links to articles and reports on the Economic Effects on Philanthropy at TechSoup.
Posted: 11/23/08; 9:05:45 PM # |
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18 November 2008 |
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| New Referral Program: A Simple Three-for-One Model for Free Online Seminars |
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One of our readers asked a great question recently: What happens if I refer people to you for training? We've taken some time since, and developed the simplest possible Seminar Referral Program we could manage. We looked at other programs and they all seemed kind of stingy, so what we decided was this: You refer three people to us, and you can get a free seminar. The details are predictable and please read on for them, but that is pretty much it. Thank you, Rebecca!
Posted: 11/18/08; 3:21:45 PM # |
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17 November 2008 |
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| Goldman Rips Off Non-Profits, Endowments, Foundations, And Charities? |
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I pay some attention to The Consumerist for grassroots information about customer service issues and similar matters. In a break from what he usually writes about, Ben Popkin shares the story of a Goldman Sachs trader telling him he constantly rips off endowments, charities, and foundations when they would call up and want to invest. He says he was told, "whenever I hear it's a non-prof, then you just ladle on the extra fees."
Posted: 11/17/08; 6:06:37 PM # |
| When It Comes to Social Change, The Machine Metaphor Has Limits |
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One of the things that the juxtaposition of information technology and civil society has done is affect the metaphors that we use to describe our work, our organizations, and our movements. As I see it, there are two conflicting categories of metaphors that have been encouraged: mechanistic comparisons that treat social systems as machines and organic metaphors that treat them as ecosystems. As anyone who reads me will know, I have always favored the latter. In When It Comes to Social Change, The Machine Metaphor Has Limits, Virginia Lacayo describes in very specific and practical terms why the former is so damaging.
Posted: 11/17/08; 5:55:14 PM # |
| It's Not What We Teach; It's What They Learn |
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I recommended the work of Alfie Kohn to blogger Asher Bey and he returned the favor by pointing me to Kohn's recent article entitled It's Not What We Teach; It's What They Learn. It's remarkable to me how many people would easily agree with this assertion and yet not let it change how they work in any way. Let me ask you: What are people actually learning from a quick visit to your website? Or from repeated receipt of your fundraising solicitations?
Posted: 11/17/08; 3:35:44 PM # |
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11 November 2008 |
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10 November 2008 |
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| Actions for Restoring America: How to Begin Repairing the Damage to Freedom in America After Bush |
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Everyone has their wish list for the Obama administration, a reflection of just how broad the destruction has been over the course of the reactionary era of American history and especially the last 8 years. Unfortunately, a wish list is not an organizing plan and I really hope to see more of those in the coming weeks. In the mean time, I'll share with you a wish list around which I know for certain there will be some serious organizing. The ACLU has prepared a document covering actions that can be taken immediately by the new administration and actions that could fruitfully be taken in the first 100 days: Actions for Restoring America: How to Begin Repairing the Damage to Freedom in America After Bush. As painful as it may be to read in one place even this slice of what's been done to us by the Bush cabal, we need to come together around it.
Posted: 11/10/08; 2:39:05 PM # |
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5 November 2008 |
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| It's Up to Civil Society to Make this a Transformational Presidency |
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In Transformational Presidency Katrina Vanden Heuvel of The Nation says that change in the U.S. is now up to civil society. Just as FDR was a centrist who was pushed by circumstances and grassroots pressure to do the right thing, so it must be with Barack Obama if this election is to be the "defining moment" he named it to be in his victory speech. The door to change has been opened. Now, in great numbers and with great determination, with our anger and grief tempered by opportunity, we must walk through that door.
Posted: 11/5/08; 8:19:03 AM # |
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4 November 2008 |
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| Online Community Organizing Seminar Now Available On-Demand |
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Because of Barack Obama's background, it's become fashionable in the American right wing to mock community organizing. I'll admit that this just deepens the sense of privilege that I have in supporting the people who do such work. We're continuing that support today by expanding our catalog of on-demand seminars with this addition: Online Community Organizing: Proven Techniques for Building Power, Leadership, and Connection. I firmly believe that 'community organizing' is a far more powerful paradigm for online communication than 'marketing' is, and in this seminar I teach the specifics that you can apply in your organization. As always with our on-demand sessions, there is a free coaching call included.
Posted: 11/4/08; 12:04:06 PM # |
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3 November 2008 |
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| Research Showing Nonviolence Twice as Effective as Violence |
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In conversations that I have about change and resistance, I often find myself defending nonviolent strategies. Despite the fact that I adopt this position because I think it's smart, it can get dismissed as sentimentality and unrealistically lofty morals. So it's encouraging, especially in these days of endless war, to come across research such as that published by Maria J. Stephan and Erica Chenoweth in International Security. Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict (38 page PDF) is based on the study of over 300 violent and nonviolent resistance campaigns over a period of over 100 years. They found that major nonviolent campaigns have achieved success
53 percent of the time, compared with only 26 percent for violent resistance campaigns. The two main reasons offered in their analysis are well understood: First, nonviolent strategies increase international support and pressure. Second, they decrease the depth and breadth of violent suppression.
Posted: 11/3/08; 5:39:36 PM # |
| The 14 Peculiar Social Media Users |
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I stirred up some interesting reactions in July with my piece on Online Social Networks Are Not Mailing Lists, in which I advocated, among other things, that we learn to see ourselves as others see us, when we step into online communities in which we are strangers. Eric Brantner's article on The 14 Peculiar Social Media Users is a great adjunct to this advice: (1) Sir Spam-a-Lot, (2) Clueless Self-Promoter, (3) Mr. Rain on Your Parade, (4) The Know it All, (5) Crazy Political Extremist, (6) The Guy with No Spine, (7) Casual Observer, (8) Average User, (9) Good Samaritan, (10) Sheltered Person, (11) Wide Eyed Enthusiast, (12) Second-Tier User, (13) The Bragger, and (14) The Elite. Which of these are you?
Posted: 11/3/08; 5:26:03 PM # |
| When to Quit |
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I have a very hard time giving up and I defend this trait as determination. Of course, sometimes it's mere attachment. I can think of several times in my life when I could have used some solid, disinterested peer advice on the topic of When to Quit, such as the one going on right now at Social Edge.
Posted: 11/3/08; 3:51:26 PM # |
| Got Your Ears On? How to Listen to Your Audience Using Social Media |
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In a trend that is sadly rare among associations, the Nonprofit Technology Network has become progressively more visionary and has balanced its service orientation toward its stakeholders with something of a leadership stance. In my desire to do everything I can to support that, I want to point you to an article on one of my favorite hobby horses ("scaling up listening") by Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer: Got Your Ears On? How to Listen to Your Audience Using Social Media. I think they undermine their point a bit by referring to stakeholders as an "audience" and their tactics are not as personal or granular as I would suggest, but these are quibbles. This article is a fine guide to getting started with the opportunities provided by the Internet for us, as organizations, to pay attention better.
Posted: 11/3/08; 3:42:25 PM # |
| Social Media Metrics |
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Developing good communication metrics is an intelligent intersection of what we are able to measure with what we ought to measure. One of the fascinating things about online communication is how much larger this intersection is. Nevertheless, most organizations are not taking advantage of this fact and are not investing enough thinking in the paths of engagement of their stakeholders - which is what will help determine what should be measured. Nevertheless, I am recommending Rachel Happe's long list of possible Social Media Metrics. She's divided her metrics into five categories: Activity Metrics, Survey Metrics, ROI Measurements, Individual Metrics, and General Internet Tracking. It's inspiring.
Posted: 11/3/08; 3:29:52 PM # |
| Ode Magazine : Nominate your Favorite Intelligent Optimist! |
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Ode Magazine has this phrase they use - "intelligent optimist" - which I have to admit bothers me a little, because I feel that it buys into our cultural notion that pessimism is a more "intelligent" stance in regard to life. Nevertheless, I am an avid admirer of the magazine. For the first time, they are taking nominations for intelligent optimists for the cover of an upcoming issue. I would love to see Nonprofit Online News readers suggest folks!
Posted: 11/3/08; 3:15:42 PM # |
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