Jennie Bourgeois

I attended this workshop on 6/19/09 presented by David Dombrosky with Carnegie Mellon University. He gave some really terrific information in this workshop. I will try to summarize some of the information and share some of the resources he provided.

• Need to try and increase capacity with free and low cost solutions

• Web 2.0 – provides many things as free services now. There 3 types of “free”

1. Freeware – software loaded onto your computer – no fees ever
2. Freemium – partially free for a limited version, but have to pay for full version or access
3. Open Source – code for software provided free and programmers agree to build applications using this code and provide the applications for free as well.

• Examples of Freeware

1. Irfanview - views and converts graphics, images, videos, etc.
2. Aviary – free web-based program similar to Photoshop
3. Firefox - free browser
4. Thunderbird – free e-mail client

• Examples of Freemium

1. Quickbooks – gives simple version free, can upgrade for full version
2. Huddle – free collaboration, project management, live conferencing, document sharing, etc. but has a version that provides additional options for a fee and removes ads
   
3. YouSendIt – Can send larger files that are too big to go through e-mail. It is free for a limited basis, but has a paid version with more options.

• Open Source Example

1. Open Office – the largest open source program available. Does everything MS Office does but for free.

• Free does not always mean easy to use – may have to relearn somethings when using a free version.

• Also -free versions usually have inadequate tech support available. May provide forum for members of community to help each other.

• Open source code requires someone who knows code to manipulate and update it.

• Tech Soup – provides DEEP discounts on hardware and software for non-profits. For example, MS Office was advertised on Tech Soup for non-profits at $20.00 and a refurbished laptop computer was advertised at $288.00. Only 501(c)(3) non-profits are eligible. Tech Soup does have some limitations such as may only be able to purchase from a vendor once per year, etc.

• Tech Foundation – connects you with software and technical service providers. Has Geeks for America program. Works with non-profits in placing a Geek with them for 1-2 years and they are paid for by Tech Foundation for their time working with the non-profit.

• CTC Vista Project – pays technology individuals to work and to be hosted by individual non-profit organizations usually for 10-12 months. Requires a small match (less than $5,000).

• Google is known as the “King of Free” Google can:
  

1. Provide e-mail with your own domain name for a professional look
2. Provide additional things for free that specifically for non-profits
3. Share and collaborate in real-time on documents with team members which streamlines the communication process.
4. Produce Google Wave which will be coming soon and will have a huge impact on how we work and collaborate. Will have bugs at first to work out.
5. Offer Google Groups to share e-mails, documents, calendar, etc. Similar to a listserv
6. Google Grants – for non profits – allows you to advertise on Google for FREE. You have the ability to select your own keywords that when people search on your topic, your organization will pop-up for them. You can pick all the keywords that applies to your non-profit. Google Grant provides you up to $10k per MONTH of ad words advertising for free. This maximizes the ability for people to find your organization. One non-profit saw a 3x monthly increase in their web traffic with the use of advertising on Google through their Google Grant. Great utilization to advertise the site, special events, fundraisers, etc.
   
7. Google Checkout – free pay system. It is cost effective and can process donations or purchases online in a secured format. It is more cost effective and some people fee more secure using Google than Pay Pal for some reason.

• E-Mail Service Providers (ESP) - Non-profits can send out under 10k e-mails per month for FREE through Vertical Response. No need to pay for the other service providers such if sending 10k or less e-mails per month. If sending over 10k per month, non-profits would only pay the amount for those that go over 10k.

TIP: Don’t send out e-mails to people with more than 20 people. Yahoo, AOL and others will automatically label your e-mail or entire domain name as spam and will not allow any future e-mails to go through. When you use an ESP service you don’t have these types of issues because they can mass e-mail out and not be flagged as spammers.

• Donor Management System - maintains information on all donors, history of gifts, contacts of donors, provides reports, etc.

• NonProfit Technology Network (NTEN) and Idealware – You can join NTEN for a small annual fee (about $50.00) and have access to a multitude of non-profit information. They survey thousands of non-profit organizations all over the country. They created a consumers guide on donor management systems for non-profits and also provide recommendations based on price, usability, etc.

• Customer Relationship Management System – This is different than the donor management system. This system includes ANYONE in contact with your organization such as media outlets, donors, funders, volunteers, clients, and all others. It is an All in One management system.

The following 2 Customer Relationship Management Systems are Free for Non-Profits:

1. CiviCRM
2. Sales Force (provides up to 10 licenses per non-profit)

• Content Management Systems – allows you to manage your website without knowing code. It is based on modules that will do certain things. They have a catalog of features available. This eliminates the bottleneck of waiting to update text or to use a web master for editing tasks.
  

There are 4 Open Source Content Management Systems available:

1. Word Press – easiest to use, but most limitations
2. Joomla
3. Drupal
4. Drone

NTen also has survey results on the different open source services that are available as well.

• NPower – provides consulting to non-profits about technology.

TIP: Always ask companies if they have a non-profit discount available. Many times they do, but don’t advertise it.

David was kind enough to provide his entire Power Point training available online. You can access a copy of his workshop slides here.

This was really a wonderful training with a wealth of information and resources provided.

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This workshop was the second workshop presented on 6/16/09 by David Dombrosky for non-profits. The topic of of this training focused on the use of social media. Here is a summary of the presentation.

- Create strategy with social media
- Social media is a tool, not a magic bullet
- You don’t have to use it all, but try a few before deciding what works best for you
- See how much you can do, and do well — the use of social media needs to be consistent

Web 2.0 was a shift in Internet theory. People now not only read, but are multi-directional in their communication and provide user generated content.

Many software moved from being hosted on your own machine to being through the Internet with the use of web apps.

Much more content sharing is available as well as publishing. (i.e., N.Y. Times can directly e-mail an article or share it with other people).

We can also share our own content such as audio, video, podcasting, etc.

Social Networking links content to people. Online directors, peer reviewing (i.e. Netflix), etc. to provide recommendations to other people.

Blogging – Blogger, WordPress, Live Journal, etc.
MicroBlogging – Twitter
Photo/Video Sharing – Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, DivShare
Podcasting & Audio - iTunes, DivShare
LiveVideo Stream – Livestream, Ustream

Web 2.0 is not about marketing, it is about engaging people in conversation. It is a dialogue, not a monologue. It can lead to marketing results.

Need to have transparency about how things work. Need to share information and be engaging, not try to sell to people. That turns them off.

Some content management systems also inlcude a blog module.

Microblogging has a 140 charcater limit (Twitter) and this is based on text messages from cell phones.

To follow someone on Twitter means that when they make updates, you can see that in your Twitter feed.

A 140 character message = Tweet

When you forward a Tweet = (RT) ReTweeting

Sending a private message on Twitter = (DM) Direct Message

1992 – we did not do e-mail
1981 – we did not do voice mail

People will adopt to technology or be left behind.

Need to select the right tool for the right type of engagement.

Mr. Tweet looks at followers and finds critical mass. It finds other people who are similar to who you are already following.

Consistency is important. If you want to maintain awareness.

Consistency does not equal frequency. Restrain from sending out 30 messages a day. Your messages will feel less important when so many come through a day.

Non-profit organizations can have a YouTube channel. This allows you to have your own branding, logo, look and feel of the page. It customizes to your organization and hosts all of your videos.

Vimeo is first to use HD. Some are starting to use this instead of YouTube.

DivShare allows you to post up to 10gb a month. You can do photos, videos and audio. Will automatically create for you a player that you can put on your web site without having to create a podcast.

Podcasting on iTunes is available. Individuals can subscribe to it and they are generally free. It automatically updates when new information is available in the podcasts you are subscribed to. It is easy to put into an Ipod as well. Individuals are not tied to listening on a computer or through a website only. If not during regularly scheduled audios on a consistent basis you may not want to set it up as a podcast.

Live Video Streaming - this is free and only requires a camera. You can set up your own channels through a service such as LiveStream or UStream. It allows people to comment and ask questions. It is used for conferences, meetings, etc.

In building a strategy for the use of social media, it is referred to as the Pyramid of Engagement. There are levels of engagement moving up the pyramind.

Curators – moderate a forum for social media content; offers contents, etc.
Producers
Commenters
Sharers
Watchers – largest group

We should be targeting our social media efforts on the Watchers and Providers and provide information that the Watchers want to know.

Social Networking – connects people online to share personal or professional information.

74% of nonprofits have presence on Facebook. Facebook is based on friends concept and connecting people. Highest number of Facebook users are between the ages of 35-50.

Some of the kids are moving to things like Meebo and Penguin.

Not many non-profits are on Myspace.

Some associations are on Linkedin. This is more about colleagues and professionals and has a look and feel more like a resume concept.

Using Facebook

Profiles are for People
Pages are for Institutions and Organizations (has fans as followers)
Groups are more membership controlled in who can participate and join and take part in discussionsm

If a non-profit wants a presence then they want a Page or a Group

When using Causes on Facebook, they are limited in their ability to communicate with people who are following them. Causes can create a badge and can show how much money the Cause has generated.

Some Causes will only get visability and some will get donations. For example, Keep the Arts in Schools has 1 million fans and they raised $17k. It identifies a specific purpose, and activity that people can donate towards.

To generate donation with Causes on Facebook you have to be very clear about what the funds will be funding … specifically what project.

Pages look and feel like Profiles. You can do some different things through Pages. Pages can automatically be updated when there is a new post made to your blog. It can connect directly to your blog so that you don’t have to replicate that process.

Pages provide areas for discussion. You can add applications that are relevant. You don’t have the ability to do that with Groups.

Anyone can be a fan with a Page and can engage in a Page.

To control who can post and participate use a Group.

If you want to talk to a specific group of people, then you can invite them to a Group. Access is limited to just those people and is limited in what it can do.

Pages have more capacity to do more things.

Events in Facebook – you can create an event and can invite people to attend and people can then RSVP. This does not always work for all people. Free events it tends to work really well. The higher cost the cost of the event the lower the return.

Facebook ads are becoming more relevant. Can target users by geography, age group, keywords in their profiles, etc. May use ads for major fundraising drive. The cost of their ads is approximately $.20 per click on the ad. No Grants are available for Facebook ads.

You can build your own social network in a program such as Ning, Groupsite or Socialgo. In these programs you can change the look and feel with your own branding and logo. However, you are not using an already established user base and it will take a lot of effort to build your user base. You can make better use of an already established user base.

You can add a Share This Widget to your website so that people can send by e-mail, text messaging or Facebook your articles and site information.

You can create your own widget for people to put on their sites that can then link back to your site.

You can build widgets in Google.

Be sure to share your own content across all of the social media platforms that you are using. Maximize you connections with people. Promote through all devices being used.

RSS – Really Simple Syndication – feeds are pulled together with readers (i.e. Google Reader). Can easily scan articles quickly.

Most media sources have feeds available. If you use Blogger, you can create a feed. Some use it as alerts so when someone uses my name or product or brand, I can manage what people are saying about our products or services.

You can generate an RSS feed for most anything including a calendar, blog, web site, etc.

Feedburner with Google will generate a feed for you.

Google Analytics is free to use. It tells you information about who is accessing your site and where the are, how long they stay and what sites are they coming from to your site. You can track your Facebook ad and it will chart its success for you.

If you have pages that no one uses or that readers routinely stop on, you will notice those patterns in the reports and you will see what is working and what is not working on your website.

By 2012 people will be accessing the Internet by mobile phones more than by the use of laptops and desktops. We must design for mobile web. Mobile web is more action/task oriented and not much reading based.

David was kind enough to offer his entire Powerpoint presentation for this session as well. You can access it by clicking here.

Beth Canter has a terrific blog for nonprofits on Social Media.

There are free monitoring tools to see what people are saying about your organization as well.

This was another excellent presentation and I am very glad that was able to attend.

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Such a wonderful idea!  Simple make some homemade cookies or brownies.  Put a couple in a ziplock baggie and then print out these wonderful thank you cards and staple over the top of the baggie.  Cute Cute!

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