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This Month's topic: New Tech Ideas for Nonprofits
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My New Book on Generation Change Is Available!
 Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime for Your Nonprofit,
is available for review and purchase at the Fieldstone Alliance
website. I'm really excited about the reaction to this book, and I know
that the issues covered in it are affecting your nonprofit and will
continue to in the coming years. Check it out.
Here's what people are saying about the book:
“Helpful ideas for immediate action! Great insight into the
different generations in a practical way that lends itself to clear
thinking about how to most effectively engage people. Easy to
understand and engaging—a pleasure to read.”
“An invaluable guide—it will be a frequently consulted resource.
Brinckerhoff’s ‘Six Big Actions’ provide an excellent operational
framework to plan for generational change.”
—Joan M. Twiss, M.A., Executive Director, Center for Civic Partnerships, Sacramento, CA
Take a moment and check out the book--I think you'll see that it applies to your organization.
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Another Free Fieldstone Resource: Check out the the Fieldstone Alliance’s “Tools
You Can Use” E-newsletter. Delivered to your in-box about every three weeks,
each issue features a free management tool or idea to improve the effectiveness
of you and your organization. The tools are collected on Fieldstone
Alliance’s website in several topic categories including “Boards,” “Finance”
and “Management and Leadership.” You can subscribe to “Tools You Can Use” by
clicking here.
| This Month's Topic: New Tech Ideas for Nonprofits |
Sites of the Month
Each month, this area provides with a number of my favorite and most helpful sites regarding the topic of the month.
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Management
Tip of the Month
Each issue, I start with a discussion
of my management perspective on the month's topic, and give you a few hands-on
ideas to consider.
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Recommended Publications
Here, I provide you with my
recommendations on the materials available that can help you
become more mission-capable through technology
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Technology
I provide you with some good ideas for new tech ideas for your nonprofit
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Marketing
Tip
So much to say, so little space to say
it.....
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Next
Issue
In May, we'll cover the second in my series on Generation Change: Generation Change and the People You Serve
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Past Issues:
You can see the topics of past Mission-Based Management Newsletters, and then view those that are of interest to you, by scrolling to the bottom of the newsletter, or by clicking here. |
Websites of the
Month
Here are my recommendations for websites of interest
on this month's topic: New Nonprofit Tech...
| www.techsoup.org |
Techsoup: Info, discussion papers, discounted software, and a free weekly newsletter. |
| www.npower.org |
NPower: Putting technology know-how in the hands of nonprofits. |
| www.nten.org |
Nten: The association of nonprofit tech professionals. |
| www.nonprofitmatrix.com |
Nonprofit Matrix: The Online Guide to Commercial ASP and Portal Providers. |
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Management Tip of the Month
New Tech Ideas for Nonprofits
The last time the Mission-Based Management
Newsletter dealt with tech and nonprofits it was June of 2005, so
nearly two years have passed, and both tech and nonprofits have come a long way. Time for an update.
Technology is certainly on everyone's radar. Most books on nonprofits
deal with tech in some way, as do regular periodicals. My new book on generation change and nonprofits has an entire chapter on the issues of technology as they intersect different generations.
In this issue, we'll talk about some key areas of change and ways that
you should be using them to enhance your mission-capability. And, I'll
just touch on the overall issues and then refer you to other great
sources (mostly from techsoup.org) to give you the complete information
you need to proceed.
So, what's new? Lots. Let's go through the key areas that I think affect nonprofits:
1. Peer Review/participation.
Buying something? If you are like millions of others, before you plop
down your cash or credit card, you go online to look at user reviews.
Whether at Amazon.com, RottenTomatoes.com
or thousands of sites that have sprung up just to provide user reviews
of products, music, services, etc. This trend is crucial to tap for
nonprofits but takes a bit of thought.
So what should you do? Develop a way for people to review your
services, their volunteer experiences, their donor experiences right on
your website. Why do this? First, it is essential to convince younger
volunteers/donors/staff to befriend your organization. Gen@ members
really count on peer reviews. Second, using a method of public peer
review shows a level of transparency and openness that the public craves
in nonprofits. Third, it can point out problems early on.
Another way to get participation is through the use of Wikis, which I'll talk more about in the Tech Tip.
2. Podcasts: Incredibly
cheap to develop, podcasts have revolutionized marketing and
education.Log on to ITunes.com and look at the array of podcasts that
you can download free, and there are more every day. Just last week, I
got an email from ITunes talking about educational podcasts on line
from Yale, Columbia, etc. What to do? I think you need to develop
podcasts on your key mission issues, and perhaps even some specifically
for staff, board, or volunteers as training tools. More on this in the
Tech Tip as well.
3. Instant Net feedback.
If you want to be aware of what's going on online (about your
organization, your issue, your mission, your funding) there are a
number of free tools to do that. First, there's Google. You can ask
Google to search for you for a variety of terms and give you immediate
feedback when that term or combination of terms. Recently I posted a
comment on my blog
about the book "Who Really Cares". About three hours later I had an
appreciative personal email from the author. I'm doing the same thing
with my new book, and I see reviews and comments on it as they appear
on the net with no searching on my part.
The second great tool is RSS feeds. This goes two ways, first you can
subscribe to RSS feeds for favorite websites and blogs and get new
information whenever its posted, saving you a great deal of time.
Second, your nonprofit can offer the same service very cheaply.
Yep, more on these in Tech Tips.
4. Blogs. "The
Blogpshere". What a term for a new century. But, blogs are a key way of
communicating and even if you don't want to write one, you should be
aware of what's out there. My suggestion is to go to blog search sites
such as Technorati.com and search for terms related to your issue.
You'll be amazed by how many people out there are concerned about the
same thing. I regularly suggest that my client organizations start a
blog, using a younger staff member to write it. It can be internal,
just for staff and board, or open to the community. Make sure you allow
comments. The technology is free, the time commitment is not. Oh, and
make sure whoever writes the blog.....can actually write well! Again, check the Tech Tips.
5. Software.
There is so much more good software out there targeted at nonprofits
that I'll give you a link to a good listing or two. But more than that
is the rise of open source software, which is free (always a good word
for nonprofits), reliable, and usually much more feature rich than the
software you pay for. For example, I've used FireFox as my browser for
years, I'm writing this newsletter in Nvu, an open source HTML tool,
and I use Thunderbird for my email. I love all three. Open source has
come a long way since the first version of Linux 15 years ago. Check
out the links in Tech Tips.
My philosophy on technology is that of Jim Collins (the author of Good
to Great): it's a mission accelerator. It is not the solution to all
your ills. But you need to be paying attention to tech, and to ways
that it can help you deliver more mission, educate more people about
your organization, bring people to your cause, and be more efficient
and effective.
If
you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and
technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at
www.missionbased.com. Check them
out--they're free.
And, remember to take a look at the
Mission-Based Management
Blog.
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Print Resources
My recommendations for texts and other readings on Tech and Nonprofits are
shown below.
1. Accidental Techie; Supporting, Managing and Maximizing Your Nonprofit's Technology, by Sue Bennet, et.al.
2. Wired for Good: Strategic Technology Planning for Nonprofits, by Jodi Podolosky
3. Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime for Your Nonprofit, by Peter Brinckerhoff: Brand new, and includes a chapter on using tech to appeal to four different generations.
4. Mission-Based Management; Leading Your Nonprofit in the 21st Century, (2nd Edition) by Peter Brinckerhoff Note: One of my criteria of nonprofit successs is being tech savvy, and I devote an entire chapter to the issue.
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Technology Tip
Here are some higher tech (but still organization friendly) ideas for your nonprofit.
1. Wikis.
Wikis are sites that run software that allows for groups of people to
contribute to a project online and to track changes. The most well
known of these is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, but the
technology has great application to nonprofits as well. I've used a
wiki with a client who had board and staff all over the country to let
them craft a mission statement without calling a live meeting. Other
groups use it to allow membership to develop new tasks, or hone
marketing pieces, or work on policy statements. Here's some information on wikis from TechSoup:
2. RSS.
RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication, and it allows you to subscribe
to a blog or a website and be notified of new postings or information.
The key for you is that if your nonprofit wants to update your core
supporters regularly RSS is a great tool. Here's a set of good
information about RSS from Techsoup: www.techsoup.org/rss/page6662.cfm
3. Blogs:
Simple to start, but a discipline to keep up, blogs allow all kinds of
things to be put out in front o your audience: your plans, new
services, news from your field, anecdotes about your mission. They also
allow for comments from that audience, giving you quick feedback. Here
are some great examples of nonprofit organizations and their blogs (as well as follow-up information).
4. Software:
Better, easier, focused on nonprofits. If you haven't yet, you need to
regularly review the best tools out there for your organization. We are
seeing more and more business and accounting software for nonprofits,
not just fund raising or membership management tools. Business PlanPro SE, Quickbooks Nonprofit Edition are two good examples. Remember to check out the Nonprofit Stock at TechSoup.
Don't be afraid to step out a bit and expand
your use of technology--if you believe that it will enhance your
mission-capability!
If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more
management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at
www.missionbased.com. Check them
out--they're free.
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Top
Training Schedule for Peter Brinckerhoff
Below you'll see the date, location, and topics
of public training I'm scheduled to do in the next few months. For more
information on a particular speaking engagement, get in touch with the contact
person listed in the right hand column, or
email me.
For more information on my availability throughout
the next 12-18 months, available topics, sample agendas, and fees go to
www.missionbased.com/training.htm
Marketing Tip
Tech and Marketing
I think that the most important tech trend for nonprofit marketing is
inclusion....let people in to help you market. This means more options
for reviews and comments about your services and products, more
availability to post comments on the organizational blog, more polling
through online groups like SurveyMonkey.
Wikis, blogs, online commenting (all covered earlier) are a key to
getting the community involved. The area I think will see the largest
growth in the next few years is user reviews of nonprofit products and
services, right online in real time. This is the entry ticket for many
potential users/customers/donors/volunteers under 30 who are
considering getting involved with your organization. They want and
expect peer feedback before they try something. How will you get it to them?
Here's one more tool from TechSoup: Tech Savvy Communications: A Toolkit For Nonprofits
And, if you found this hint helpful, there are lots more
management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at
www.missionbased.com. Check them
out--they're free.
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Top
Future Topics for
The Mission-Based Management Newsletter....
| May |
Generation Change and the People You Serve |
| June |
Mentoring |
July
|
Better Cash Planning |
| August |
What if you are a (really) small nonprofit? |
| September |
Generation Change and Technology |
| October |
Crisis Management |
| November |
Generation Change and Marketing |
| December |
Signs of Organizational Trouble |
| January 2008 |
Reorganizing Your Board of Directors |
| Send me
your topic suggestions at: peter@missionbased.com |
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You asked, so here they are:
Past Single-Topic Issues of the Mission-Based Management Newsletter...
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Copyright 2007,
Corporate Alternatives, inc.
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