Social media can be useful to your organization… but how useful?  For what?  What tangible results are people seeing from it?  Created in partnership with the New Organizing Institute, the Decision Guide walks you through a step-by-step process to decide what social media channels make sense for your organization via a workbook, guide, and the results of more than six months of research.

> Download the guide

The 2010 eNonprofit Benchmark study has been released by M+R Strategic Services and NTEN.  This rolling yearly study is one of the most significant trend-tracking resources available to the sector.  The 2010 report surveyed 31 nonprofits about their online fundraising and advocacy to reveal what is working, what is not working and what long-term trends are evident that can help nonprofits with their forward-looking strategies. This year’s report includes studies focused on Mobile/Text Messaging and on Social Media.

Steve Peretz, Senior Analyst at M+R Strategic Services, offers this summary of the highlights:

• The average study participant sent 4 emails per subscriber per month, but Environmental nonprofits sent their subscribers 5.2 emails per month, while Health nonprofits sent just 2.1 emails per month, on average.
• Email fundraising response rates were .13%, and email advocacy response rates were 4.00%.
• The average gift size for a one-time online gift was $81.33.
• Annual email file churn was just under 17%.
• Online fundraising grew overall by 4.5% between 2008 and 2009.
• For half of the nonprofits in our study, online revenue either held steady with 2008 or declined.  This decline was driven by a drop in the average gift size.

> Visit the report website

“Email newsletters, action alerts, or fundraising emails can be a very cost effective way to communicate with your supporters, but it can be complex to send and track thousands of emails. We talked to eleven nonprofit technology experts to find out what eNewsletter tools have worked well for them.“

This handy one-pager offers essential advice on selecting a Broadcast Email vendor.  Topic covered include:

• Tools You Already Have
• Online Mass Emailing Tools
• For the more Technically Inclined
• How to Decide

> Read idealware:  A Few Good Broadcast Email Tools

A joint study by Convio, Edge Research and Sea Change Strategies analyzing mobile trends and adoption rate across Gen Y, Gen X, Baby Boomers and Mature donors.

This report includes findings from a national survey of US charitable donors that was conducted the week after the earthquake in Haiti occurred and during intense fundraising efforts for emergency relief. This data indicates that mobile philanthropy, while not universally accepted is gaining traction with younger generations, and the text-to-gift efforts around Haiti could be the tipping point for greater adoption.

Download the full report to see the data behind the rapid adoption of mobile giving and the implications for nonprofits that want to use this channel.

The nonprofit sector works hard to maximize the effective use of
technology. Organizations face difficult challenges –from insufficient data and lean budgets to
overworked staffs — just trying to keep up with changing technologies
and trends, and with the rest of the sector.

To help them cast an analytical eye on technology decisions, NTEN and
The NonProfit Times came together to create the Nonprofit IT Staffing
and Spending Survey. It gives us a good look at the state of nonprofit
staffing, and helps us provide organizations with information to help
evaluate the state of their IT spending.

> Get
the Report. It’s Free!

Social Media for Nonprofit Organizations (4,209 members)
This Group is for anyone interested in how nonprofit organizations are utilizing social media. Members can post resources, share information and/or ask questions or seek advice.

Facebook for Nonprofit Organizations
This Group is for anyone interested in how nonprofit organizations are utilizing Facebook. Members can post resources, share information and/or ask questions or seek advice.

YouTube for Nonprofit Organizations
This Group is for anyone interested in how nonprofit organizations are utilizing YouTube. Members can post resources, share information and/or ask questions or seek advice.

Twitter for Nonprofit Organizations
This Group is for anyone interested in how nonprofit organizations are utilizing Twitter. Members can post resources, share information and/or ask questions or seek advice.

Google Products for Nonprofit Organizations
This Group is for anyone interested in how nonprofit organizations are utilizing any of Google Products [Buzz, iGoogle, Reader, News, Maps, Groups, Google Grants, Mobile, etc.]. Members can post resources, share information and/or ask questions or seek advice.

Web 2.0 Webinars for Nonprofit Organizations
This Group is for anyone interested in finding or posting Web 2.0 Webinars for Nonprofit Organizations.

There are generally a two different styles of benchmarking:

1. Internal benchmarking: where results are compared internally over multiple different activities, time periods, geographical areas, etc.
2. Peer Benchmarking: where results are compared between organisations in the same sector

Furthermore, benchmarking can either be:

1. Quantitatively-oriented: where metrics are calculated and compared e.g. what is a good performance level and who was closest/furthest to it. This is generally data-right (more initiatives compared) but context-poor (less information about each initiative being compared).
2. Qualitatively-oriented: where processes and perception is critiqued and compared  e.g. what “best” looks and/or feel like and who was closest/furthest to it. This is generally data-poor (fewer initiatives compared) but context-rich (more information about each initiative being compared).

> Read the full post

“Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission”
Written by and for nonprofit technology staff and nonprofit leadership staff, this collection of case studies, analyses, and guidelines shows how technology can be strategically deployed in their organizations to better accomplish a nonprofit’s mission.

> Learn more and order the book here

Online Nonprofit Technology Conference – Sept 16/17
The online conference will cover what Tech and IT Leaders need to know to hone their skills and understanding in order to make better informed technology decisions. Those who attend this conference will leave better able to act as leaders in managing the intersection of mission and technology unique to their organization.

> Learn more and register here

I bet many of you are using a form of cloud computing without knowing it. Current examples are Gmail, Yahoo mail, Google Docs, Salesforce, and Microsoft Office Live Workspace. They are often called Software as a Service (SaaS). A company provides access to their software applications over the Internet and you access it through your web-browser. If you are using email hosted by a company, like one of those mentioned above, you and your staff don’t have to manage an in-house email server like Exchange. You simply sign up for the accounts and all the back-end stuff is handled for you.

Jaegar outlines a variety of aaS (“as-a-Service”) options for nonprofits to consider for moving hardware, software and data management to a virtual environment, and ends with some practical advice:  “Not every IT function should be migrated to “the cloud,” so you should discuss your situation with your IT staff or a consultant. The concept may be a bit scary for some, but once you get over that hurdle and realize that you are already using cloud computing, I think you will start seeing other ways you can use it to help your nonprofit get your work done efficiently.”

> Read the full article on TechSoup

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