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February 2006 Edition

Nonprofit Online News Journal

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Feb. 15th, 2006: We have six articles this month. The first two -- "Seven Knowledge Management Mistakes", and "The Knowledge Sharing Approach of the UNDP" -- continue our exploration of nonprofit knowledge management issues. David Greiner's "Email Design Guidelines for 2006" will prove very popular for their practicality. The Opera browser company has consented to share their blogging policies, which have a caution and sensibility that should please the most conservative nonprofit. In "Spirit Rising", Michael Nagler addresses an issue of enormous importance -- the building of a movement for spiritually motivated people with progressive values. Finally, Alan Rosenblatt suggests that nonprofit communication be regarded as an important pillar of the media and calls it "Us Media". The Quicksheet this month is devoted to the topic of weblogs and the source of their marketing success, attempting to map out the systems forces that enable a blog to succeed. We have reviews of three particularly powerful books and thirty one news items, several of which relate to the continued erosion of the basis of civil society in the United States and beyond.

Table of Contents

 
Letter From the Editor ... 8
Contributors ... 9

Articles:

Seven Knowledge Management Mistakes ..... 10
By Michael C. Gilbert
As KM has become popular among nonprofits, predictable patterns of dysfunction have emerged, including: 1. Let's Go Shopping! 2. Taxonomy Too! 3. Mixed Messages. 4."Best" Practices. 5. Documental Illness. 6. Another Thing to Read. 7. The Work of Art.

The Knowledge Sharing Approach of the UNDP .....14
By Kim Henderson
The UNDP approach to knowledge management is an excellent introduction to the concept of "communities of practice", especially in far flung networks.

Email Design Guidelines for 2006 ..... 27
By David Greiner
Campaign Monitor's guidelines are a great example of practical, user centered design. They focus entirely on what users see and do in their typical email applications and what that means for your email messages.

Opera Employee Blogging Policies ..... 33
From Opera Software
Does your organization have a policy for employee blogging? It should. Here is an example from a browser company that is sensible and clear.

Spirit Rising ..... 35
By Michael Nagler
Michael Nagler describes "A Hundred Flowers in Search of a Garden", his metaphor for the many progressive, spiritually motivated people who lack a coherent movement within which to do meaningful work at the scale of which their numbers would suggest they are capable. He believes it will happen.

The Them Me Us ..... 39
By Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D.
There is a third alternative, beyond corporate media and the dramatic rise of personal publishing. Rosenblatt calls it "Us Media" and it includes the newsletters, magazines and email alerts published by associations, non-profits and advocacy groups.

Other Resources:

Weblogs, Marketing, and Communities of Practice Quicksheet ... 42
News ... 43
Book Reviews ... 70
Classifieds ... 72

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