This blog is for volunteers, webmasters and administrators of associations, clubs, charities, communities and other groups. We discuss issues and trends in modern web technologies that help your organization achieve more with less. This blog is sponsored by Wild Apricot membership software: a set of tools for membership administration, event registration, website management, online fundraising - with friendly and knowledgeable tech support. See for yourself how affordable and easy it is to use: - Take a tour!

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• 16 June 2008

  How to Set Up a Non-Profit Facebook Page 

  New features and other enhancements have been added to Facebook since Wild Apricot's Beginner's Guide to Facebook for Non-Profits , and nonprofits are learning more about making the best use of the popular social networking site. We've talked about setting up a Facebook account and Profile, and a bit about Groups. Let's take a quick look now at Facebook Pages for nonprofits. The first thing to know is that a Page is not the same thing as your personal account Profile. As Facebook says: Your personal Read More... Posted Monday, June 16, 2008 3:18 PM by Rebecca | 25 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, nptech, online community, Facebook, Non-profit Communications

• 06 June 2008

  5 Keys to Effective Knowledge Transfer for Nonprofits 

  Effective communication – and more precisely, the effective transfer or exchange of knowledge – is vital to any nonprofit organization. It lies at the root of everything a nonprofit does – from pitching your cause to donors and funding agencies, to delivering services to members and clients; and from seeking public support and the ear of decision-makers, to collaborating with other organizations in projects of common interest. Whether the movement of information is one-way (knowledge transfer) or Read More... Posted Friday, June 06, 2008 8:13 PM by Rebecca | 2 Comments Filed under: General non-profit interest, nptech, Best practices, Non-profit Communications, training, publicity

• 12 May 2008

  5pm offers Easy Online Project Management - with 50% discount for nonprofits 

  Project management software is a tough and competitive field. With so many excellent choices out there, it's hard to know what tools will work best for your organization's needs. Do you want web-based or desktop application? Which features will you really use? How long is the learning curve — and will everyone in your organization be willing and able to take on the challenge? For those who don't need the full muscle power of market-leaders like Basecamp and Wrike , the lighter-weight and user-friendly Read More... Posted Monday, May 12, 2008 5:30 AM by Rebecca | 13 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, nptech, Non-profit Communications, collaboration, event managment, project management

• 18 April 2008

  Making a Case for Social Media Marketing 

  Social media and social networking are hot buzzwords in the world of online marketing, but what do they mean in practical terms? Is social media marketing just a passing fad, or could it be a worthwhile strategy for your organization? In a survey done by Collactive of close to 200 organizations, those with a successful social media strategy performed 27% better in achieving their business goals than those with poor social media strategy. Most nonprofits are barely scratching the surface when it comes Read More... Posted Friday, April 18, 2008 3:01 PM by Rebecca | 1 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, nptech, Marketing, Web 2.0, Best practices, Blogging, Social networking, accountability, Non-profit Communications

• 15 April 2008

  8 Tips for an Effective Online Survey 

  Your organization may send out a feedback request with its appeals or reports to members. And perhaps you routinely ask those who attend your special events to fill out a quick survey. But if you need data quickly, or from a broader range of respondents, why not consider an online poll or survey? Here are 8 quick tips to help you get started: 1. Identify your goals. Online surveys can be an easy and cost-effective way to identify your constituents' needs and priorities, to learn what you're doing Read More... Posted Tuesday, April 15, 2008 4:51 PM by Rebecca | 10 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, nptech, Web 2.0, Best practices, Reader Polls, Non-profit Communications, surveys

• 12 April 2008

  NonProfits on Video: Using YouTube to Promote Your Cause 

  Conventional wisdom says that it is the small nonprofit organizations who stand most to benefit from Web 2.0 opportunities, where so much can be accomplished for such a small investment of time and resources. Online video, for example, puts multimedia broadcasting into the hands of organizations that could never afford to buy television air time. There's no charge to post an unlimited number of video on YouTube, for example, and a camera and computer are all the gear you need to get started. But Read More... Posted Saturday, April 12, 2008 11:54 AM by Rebecca | 4 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, nptech, Marketing, Web 2.0, podcasting, Video, Non-profit Communications

• 09 April 2008

  Is Your Nonprofit Risking a Communications Nightmare? 

  Could your organization get a message to all your members within 48 hours? One small assocation thought so -- until last week, when an unexpected event revealed a major flaw in how the group was communicating with its members. This is a real-life example of a real nonprofit organization: a small interest-based nonprofit with a very small budget, run by volunteers working a few hours a month from their own homes. Does this sound like any group you know? Read More... Posted Wednesday, April 09, 2008 3:32 PM by Rebecca | 3 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, nptech, case studies, Non-profit Communications, membership

• 01 April 2008

  Campaign Maps: How 3 Nonprofit Organizations use Online Maps to Send a Message 

  Maps have come a long way from the traditional classroom wall map that many of us grew up with. Online, maps have taken on added dimension with multimedia mashups and a new level of interaction: the information they can deliver goes far beyond topographical features and geo-political boundaries. Here are three maps from three different nonprofit websites: all deal in some way with food sources, but each sends its message in a very different way. Read More... Posted Tuesday, April 01, 2008 2:29 PM by Rebecca | 6 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, nptech, Web 2.0, Google, case studies, Non-profit Communications, maps

• 19 March 2008

  Non-profit Web 2.0 Survey 

  If you work with a nonprofit and use Web 2.0 technologies in your work, or to benefit your organization in some way, Dave Crusoe wants to hear about your experience. As a follow-up to questions posted to several major discussion lists, he's posted a short (2-page) Nonprofit / Web 2.0 Survey that's intended to gather more concrete and quantifiable information about how others are making the most of Web 2.0. Once the results are in, the data will be shared through a website and mailing lists, so that Read More... Posted Wednesday, March 19, 2008 1:45 PM by Rebecca | 0 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, nptech, Non-profit Communications

• 18 March 2008

  Google Portal for Non-Profits Launched 

  Billed as a "a one-stop shop for tools to help advance your organization's mission in a smart, cost-efficient way," the newly launched Google for Non-Profits portal offers quick links to the most commonly used tools in the Google suite of services. It also highlights some cost-saving benefits that are available only to nonprofits. Read More... Posted Tuesday, March 18, 2008 11:58 PM by Rebecca | 4 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, nptech, Web 2.0, Google, Non-profit Communications, websites

• 17 March 2008

  LOLseals taps Pop Culture Trends and Web 2.0 Tools 

  For an example of how simple web tools and social networking sites can be used to raise awareness of a nonprofit's cause, LOLseals is worth a close look. It's a new photo caption contest from the Humane Society of the United States, blending pop culture trends and web 2.0 tools in a low-cost campaign that practically begs to go viral. Read More... Posted Monday, March 17, 2008 6:51 PM by Rebecca | 1 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, Humor, nptech, Marketing, Web 2.0, Non-profit Communications

• 13 February 2008

  Give Them Something to Talk About 

  Your nonprofit organization may buy advertising space to take a message to the general public, send out newsletters and email blasts to reach your membership, and run a website and blog to do both. But all of that, in the end, is simply “talking about yourself” – a strategy with very limited powers of persuasion. How can you encourage other people to talk about your cause? Read More... Posted Wednesday, February 13, 2008 4:00 PM by Rebecca | 3 Comments Filed under: General non-profit interest, nptech, Marketing, Non-profit Communications

• 11 February 2008

  Does Your NonProfit Website Need a Privacy Policy? 

  If your organization collects information from the users of your website — and the odds are that it does, if little more than the IP addresses scooped up by your site statistics package — have you posted a site privacy policy? Should you do so? In the service of those web users who are increasingly concerned with issues of data protection, a clear and simple privacy policy posted on your organization's website can go a long way to building trust. Who Cares about Protecting Personal Data? A new study Read More... Posted Monday, February 11, 2008 11:59 PM by Rebecca | 2 Comments Filed under: General non-profit interest, nptech, Best practices, Non-profit Communications

• 06 February 2008

  How to Use Mail Merge to Create Custom Membership Cards 

  Spend just a half-hour in a nonprofit office, and you're likely to be all too familiar with MS Word's mail merge feature -- or at least, with the sheets of peel-and-stick mailing labels that can quickly be generated with it! And where would a nonprofit be, without mail merge to help quickly create those direct mail pieces and personalized newsletters? But those routine tasks are just the start of many ways that mail-merge can save time and effort in the office. Take membership cards, for example. Read More... Posted Wednesday, February 06, 2008 9:36 AM by Rebecca | 6 Comments Filed under: Non-profit technology, General non-profit interest, nptech, Non-profit Communications, membership, office