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NTEN: Integrated into your environment. If you like what you read, support us by becoming a member. INTRODUCTION Each month, we pick a theme for NTEN Connect. Since November is Member Appreciation month, our theme is YOU. We asked you to contribute your articles and ideas for this newsletter, and apparently, you have just one thing on your mind: the economy. It's true that things aren't going to be easy in the near future. But it's equally true that you are exactly the remedy we need. While many of you are worried, you're also taking bold steps now, investing in technology to create efficiencies and maximize your effectiveness, so you can create more change in your communities when they need you most. Of course, we'll talk about fundraising, but we also cover the investments that will have the biggest payoffs for your organization, using data to make better decisions about who, when, and how you serve your communitites, and where social media fits into all of this. This month also marks my first anniversary as Executive Director of NTEN. To all our NTEN members, thank you for your participation, inspiration, collaboration, and the many laughs. You are the reason I love coming to work every day. (That and the fact that it's quieter in the office than my house.) I look forward to what we'll accomplish in the next year. If you're not a member, what are you waiting for? Best, Holly
With the global financial crisis at its peak and a recession looming, many nonprofit managers are probably asking themselves, "How will my nonprofit raise money next year?" I suspect fewer fundraisers are asking themselves, "How will my nonprofit raise the money it needs four years from now?" Current best practices will serve nonprofits just fine in 2009. Between email solicitation, direct mail, major donors, and grant-writing, the vast majority of nonprofits will weather the economic hard times. But a shifting communications environment and changing donor demographics could render those best practices ineffective at best, and obsolete at worst, as early as 2012. So how should your organization prepare for the changes that are afoot?
Today's challenging economic times mean a lot of nonprofits are looking for new ways to raise money. Many organizations realize the Internet presents a huge opportunity, but most have achieved limited success. If your organization has yet to experience strong results raising funds online, the coming year provides an ideal window to experiment with new approaches. A good first step is dismissing some myths about online fundraising that may be standing in the way of your success:
A bad economy can be one of the best things to happen to a marketing professional. That may seem paradoxical, but times of constraint -- when revenues fall or simply do not meet budgeted expenditures -- force hard decisions that do not even seem like options during periods of prosperity and largesse. As Samuel Johnson, the celebrated 18th century English author, once said, "There is nothing like the prospect of being hung in a fortnight to concentrate a man's mind." There is a powerful opportunity here. With the limitation of lower revenues and the pressure to cut costs, this is an ideal time to innovate around your operations and systems costs while still funding programs and activities and, yes, increasing investment in donor development.
The weakening economy has created a ripple effect across all types of businesses, including the charitable sector. Due to funding uncertainties, many nonprofit organizations and government agencies are more hesitant about expenditures, and keeping a closer eye on budgets and cash flows. Yet, they are under growing pressure to do more with fewer resources. Typically, systems are in place to help each department meet these challenges and work effectively. Key staff members enter, manage, and report on this data -- but it can be difficult to pull together snapshots of progress quickly enough to make real-time course corrections. To help relieve these demands, many organizations are turning to Business intelligence tools to retrieve, organize, and share knowledge for analysis and guided decision-making. By having precise, up-to-date information at their fingertips, nonprofit professionals at every level can gain a deeper insight that allows them to strengthen stewardship, improve agility, and, ultimately, secure the success of their organization.
In case you hadn't heard, we've been celebrating NTEN Member Appreciation Month all November, with NTEN prizes and giveways, special offers from our discount partners, free programming, and even a CRM and consulting give-away contest that provided $4000 worth of donated services to an NTEN member. And we still have more to give away, including a complimentary NTC registration! I'd like to thank the providers who donated prizes, time, and services so that we could convert our appreciation for our members into free stuff for you: I'd also like to thank all our members for the work you do throughout the year for your organizations and your communities. We're proud of the work you're doing and the contribution you make to this community of nonprofit technology professionals with your questions, answers, resources, tips, stories, reviews, and moral support.
Your guide to the resources that will help you put technology to work for your cause.
Write for the Web First, you need to understand how people read on the web. (Hint: they don't.) Eventually, higher resolution screens and devices like Amazon.com's Kindle will make it easier for human eyes to scan e-text, but for now, make the bullet point and the <strong> tag your best friends. Then, check out the recording of our webinar, "Writing for the Web: Less is More". Usability expert Jakob Nielson has a lot to say on the subject. You might also consider taking some advice from a 67-year-old blogger. Then, if you haven't already, jump on the Cluetrain: be open, honest, and direct. Humor helps, too. While you should be wary of anybody promising to teach you how to make people laugh, some of the advice itself can be pretty funny. Finally, if you're really into words, you should check out The Global Language Monitor, where you can learn that "obama" has entered the English language as a root, as in: obamacize, obamanomics, and (our favorite) obamarama. Design for Web2.0 Apparently, it's simple: cheerful colors, rounded edges, and "Free, as in beer (not kittens)". We also recommend some advice from "web design from scratch", but with reservations: their web site isn't as pretty. You've also got your step-by-step guides, from buttons to headers to sites templates. Don't forget to take your users into account! Of course, to follow all this advice, you need to know your way around PhotoShop (or its open source equivalent, the GIMP). Important topics: layers, masks, and the clone tool. Need more? Here are 60 advanced tutorials. Let us know when you can make our office building appear to be somewhere, in, oh, let's say Djibouti. (No, really: say "Djibouti". It'll cheer you up.)
A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.
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RENEW TODAY!Member Appreciation Month has seen us give away thousands of dollars in prizes to our members, and it's not over yet: we still have a pass for unlimited 2009 webinars and an NTC registration to give away. Even if you don't win, by renewing today, you'll be able to buy our Webinar Season Pass at a 10% discount -- in addition to all the other NTENny goodness that comes with Membership. NTC REGISTRATION OPENS DECEMBER 1stNTEN Membership also saves you money on the Nonprofit Technology Conference, the biggest, most fun nonprofit technology event of the year ($200, to be exact). Registration opens December 1st. We hope your eagerness to get in on the action crashes our web site. (Well, not really. We're just sayin'.) IT STAFFING SURVEYIt's time for our annual IT Staffing Survey, and we need your help! If you make technology decisions for your nonprofit, please take the survey. Then pass it on to a colleague. It only takes 10-15 minutes. When you're done, check out last year's report to find out if you're being paid enough. UPCOMING WEBINARS
NTEN members save up to 50% on our topical online classes. Upcoming webinars include:
MEMBER DISCOUNTSYour NTEN Membership lets you save on a host of products and services: ReadyTalk Jossey-Bass/Wiley Publishers |
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NTEN CONNECT is the monthly e-newsletter of the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN). |
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Peter Deitz, 
Thon Morse, 
Randy McCabe, 
Krista Endsley, 
Annaliese Hoehling, 