Nonprofits looking to start using social media as a marketing tool will find a wealth of sound advice online, but putting the pieces together into a solid strategy? That's the real challenge. No one simple strategy will work for every nonprofit group. (In fact, trying to give step-by-step ''one size fits all'' directions for using social media is ...

First-time nonprofit managers can often use a bit of guidance from more experienced colleagues, as well as the answers to specific questions. The problem is, there just aren’t enough mentors to go around, and perhaps this is especially so in the nonprofit sector where resources are stretched to the limit. What’s the solution? Well, Third ...

Internet users are getting used to — and expecting, even demanding —  greater levels of interactivity in the websites they visit. They're looking for websites that are much more than a simple digital publication. Websites that engage them in some active way, even if it’s simply to leave a comment on a news item, subscribe to get updates or ...

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 ...

NTEN Office Hours puts the experience and skills of nonprofit technology experts at your service in an on-going series of free online question-and-answer sessions. The expert volunteers cover a wide range of tech topics of special interest to nonprofits: IT Staff Communications Fundraising Program Leadership This all takes place ...

Since the earliest days of world exploration, maps have told compelling stories to people who may never see the places depicted. Topographical lines on paper only go a small way to recreate the traveller's experience, however, and the rest depends on the viewers' imagination. Now, personalized and interactive maps are stretching those ...

It seems like a dozen different social-media sites start up every day, so it can be a challenge to know where to put your online outreach efforts. Twitter is one real-time networking platform that’s clearly floated to the top of the social-media pool, however, and it's a great place for any nonprofit to dive in. If you’ve been using Twitter ...

Did you catch the buzz? Today is Blog Action Day, when bloggers around the world are asked to bring attention to one social issue. Last year it was the environment; this year, it's poverty. It's the kind of easy feel-good meme that the Internet loves -- and that can reward participating blogs with a boost in web traffic -- but what are the ...

Media outlets need to enrich the syndicated wire service stories with local content if they are to attract readers and advertisers — but few have the budget, these days, for a cadre of local reporters to seek out and report on the ''local angle'' of a story. Nonprofits working on the ground in a community do have that local content to ...

The original intention of sites such as Twitter may have been purely social, but like many Web 2.0 tools, it has evolved in the hands of its users. This time last year, the Canadian Marketing Association saw Twitter as a new toy for the tech savvy Millennial, “an easy, non committal way to keep tabs and staying emotionally close to our ...