Last week, Idealware.org put on a free online seminar called “Online Communication on a Shoestring.” In the webinar, presenter Laura Quinn led the participants through a discussion of best practices and low-cost tools, talking through how “websites, email blasting, and social media can provide a small organization with big benefits without a huge investment.”

Ashley Messick is a big fan of free webinars — “the opportunity cost is minimal,” she points out — and blogged her response to participating in the “Online Communication on a Shoestring” webinar:

The main overall takeaway that I gained from the webinar was a clearer understanding on how to cohesively present an online communication plan. I think that sometimes the more deeply embedded you get within any one topic the more difficult it can be to present it clearly to those who are not as involved. It is easy to think that everyone knows what Twitter is all about or what a Facebook page looks like. Yet very often some of the upper management or board members at nonprofits don’t have the time or sometimes interest to be as connected with some of these tools; a lot of times these are the people though that need to have buy in to online strategy.

To be perfectly honest it is even more than that — you need buy in from everyone at the organization in order to make the strategy most effection.

At her blog, Glorysgirl, you can read more of what Ashley learned from taking part in the communications webinar.

Online seminars can offer a terrific option for professional training. In addition to Idealware’s webinars, browse the upcoming nonprofit tech webinars at  NTEN, too, for topics of special interest to your group. There is normally a charge for participating in webinars — and even with free webinars, you’ll still have to cover any long-distance telephone charges.  Still, this is affordable training, ideally suited to nonprofits who don’t have the travel budget to send staff and volunteers to major conferences and workshops.

It’s a chance to tap directly into the experience of some of the brightest lights in the nonprofit sector — all you’ll need is a Web connection and a phone.