Flickr Photo: pedrosimoes7I'm working on my presentation for the Legal Services Corporation's Technology Initiative Grants Conference -- say that three times fast! -- where I'm scheduled to talk about the un-Wired nonprofit. There are so many amazing things happening with wireless around the country, and so many more amazing things happening with mobile, that I'm having a hard time focusing.

It's a real joy to think about and explore such fun stuff for a good cause. It's definitely my favorite part of my work: dreaming big and making connections. And now is a great time to dream big. With all the buzz about social media, we've entered another heady period in the history of technology. It's cool to be a geek again!

In the middle of all that big dreaming, I was brought back to earth with a thud by an email we got here at the office this morning from marketing professional at a small organization asking about scholarships for the NTC.

The Center for Biological Diversity announced this week that 100,000 free ringtones had been downloaded from its endangered species ringtone site. They've also given the site a make-over, and it's much prettier and easier to use now.

Curves magazine says, "This assortment of natural sounds is in sharp contrast to the jarring jangle of most electronica and an educational reminder about the extinction crisis." All I know is that the Mexican gray wolf on my wife's phone freaks our cat out every time she gets a call, an unexpected side benefit. You can also get the polar bear, blue-throated macaw, northern goshawk, California red-legged frog, and American pika, among others.

Download a ringtone yourself, and help get them started on number 200,000.

New York Times technology columnist -- and 2008 NTC Plenary speaker -- David Pogue thinks next year will be the year of the mobile phone:

"...if you think there was a lot of cellphone news this year, you ain't seen nothin' yet. The coming year is going to be the real Year of the Cellphone."

Mr. Pogue charts two big shifts -- in 3 parts -- with implications for nonprofit technology: increased openness from carriers and greater push-back from a fed-up public. On Google's new Android platform, he says:

"It's open source, meaning that programmers all over the world can improve it and expand it. If all goes well, Android-compatible cellphones will become little miracle machines, capable of running all kinds of cool new programs that we can't even imagine today, regardless of carrier... Nobody knows what's going to happen with Android, but it's guaranteed to shake things up. Should be an interesting ride."

With Android and Apple's (admittedly closed for the moment) iPhone leading the charge, nonprofits will be able to use mobile devices in unimagined ways to engage and activate their constituents -- people already looking for more flexibility and functionality from their cell phones.

For more information on using mobile phones to encourage social change, be sure to visit MobileActive.

The Houston Chronicle has a report about a project designed to reduce the digital divide among the elderly. The program, sponsored by AT&T, the OASIS institute, and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, is designed to teach senior citizens how to use cell phones:

"Marlene Matzner — the Houston director of OASIS, a national nonprofit designed to enhance the quality of life for older adults — said the program is part of the agency's plan to reduce the digital divide among the elderly."

Recent research has shown that text messaging works to get out the youth vote. Advocacy groups would do well to watch the success of OASIS's program, particularly as seniors are already those most likely to participate in U.S. elections.

OASIS plans to bring the cell phone education program to 21 other cities after Houston, and to teach computer and Internet skills to the elderly, as well.

NTEN's very own Executive Director, Katrin Verclas, filmed a short spot with ABC a few weeks ago addressing how nonprofits are making use of some cool technologies to further their missions.  Check out the Video Clip!

Jason Zanon, Democracy in Action
Republished With Permission at DemocracyInAction.org

Almost any thematic takeaway for the NTC would be a plausible one, simply because there were just so many different ways to look into the kaleidoscope. My personal version of the theme -- having hit sessions on screencasting, mobile, and radio both online and off -- was multi-channel engagement. It feels to me that the sector is straining against this membrane, looking for the next ah-ha moment, the next breakout into open country. Can we get Internet everywhere? Can we mate it with television, telephones, voice, thought, shoe leather? Can the multiplying tools and gizmos combine and connect? Can it get from niftiness and even effectiveness to really game-changing?

We catch glimmers. A citizen video flips control of the Senate -- hybridized data sets present the occasional but isolated dazzling perspective -- rumors circulate of flash mobs on distant shores. The Twitter froth, I suspect, emerges fundamentally from its hint of gathering blogging, texting and social networking into a bridge tenuously connecting meatspace and cyberspace identities.

Katrin Verclas, MobileActive.org

The mobile buzz is definitely on, and with good reason. There are 2.7 billion mobile phones in circulation around the world and these numbers continue to grow at astonishing rates, even in the United States where we are notoriously behind in the use of text messages and creativity in mobile applications. But with half the world owning cell phones, all organizations that want to communicate with their constituents and spread their message should be looking at mobile phones as a promising, new outreach tool.

Yes, using mobiles is still a novel idea for most nonprofits. The good news is that there are many resources available to help your organization enter the world of mobile communications. For starters, here are a few things to consider as you plan a mobile campaign.

• Mobile phones should be used as part of an integrated campaign. As sexy as mobile marketing and campaigning is, it can’t yet stand by itself.

• Texting campaigns, especially with short codes on a professionally run platform, are still expensive and will not turn into ‘profit centers’ any time soon.

MobileActive Guide #2 Released

NTEN and MobileActive.org are announcing the second MobileActive Guide, profiling strategies and civil society organizations using mobile phones in their work to make the world a better place. The second MobileActive Guide focuses on using mobile phones in issue advocacy. The guide features case studies from around the world, strategies for using mobile phones in advocacy work, and a how-to section for advocacy organizations considering using mobile phones to advance their causes.

Download the MobileActive Guide #2 here.

It is the end of the year, and everyone is talking about the highs and the lows of 2006. This has been an eventful and interesting year for me, for NTEN and for the NPTech communities. There is energy and conversation that makes me hopeful most days - it seems to be picking up steam. We, civil society technologists - techies for good as the media likes to call us -- are a field, here and increasingly globally as well.

So, for this week's round-up for the Nonprofit Carnival here are my picks for the week, in somewhat random order, following my currently jumbled musings in a brain that is screaming for some space and reflection.

First of all: I am thrilled to report that

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. With the turkey comes holiday decorations and, of course, the annual holiday fundraising season. To celebrate this ritual - the lifeblood of many organizations - and highlight some of the ways that technology plays a vital role in it, we are devoting this newsletter to online fundraising. Online fundraising - as all technology and management - must include an emphasis on good strategy, a hard look at return on investments, a bit of fearlessness to try new things, and a good dose of common sense, reality,