Web Geeks For Social Change

Making virtual meetings interactive

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Sun, 03 May 2009 22:34:00 +0000

Or... "how to avoid this"
<--- (Photo credit)

I recently started managing my team's weekly meetings. We typically have 9 people calling in from 5 different locations, so I've been experimenting with different ways to make the meetings productive and interactive despite their 'virtual' nature.

I've primarily been relying on these tools (all free!):

Skype: Group instant messaging (+ does calls and video conferencing over the internet)
Google docs: Web-based word docs, powerpoint, and spreadsheets that multiple people can edit at the same time
Free conference call: Gives you a free number that you can access anytime

Though they have their kinks, I'm a big fan-- particularly since they're all free.

Uses of Skype:

A few minutes before the meeting begins, I send everyone an invitation to join a group chat. Now that we have 9 people on our team, people don't speak up as much as they used to. Skype allows a lower-risk way to get one's thoughts heard. As the facilitator, I also use Skype in the following ways:

When I want to do a quick check for understanding or check if people are ready to move on, I ask for a "thumbs up". (Shortcut is "(y)"). This is like our virtual head nod, to make sure everyone's on the same page. People also give thumbs up when another person says something they agree with.
I test certain ideas by asking people to rate how much they agree with a statement, usually on a scale of 1-7 (strongly agree). People include comments on their rationale, and I call on people to speak based on their thoughts.
When we end a call and people have lingering thoughts/questions, they type it in the box. I take note of them and figure out follow-up later.

Uses of Google docs:

I found that it was difficult to make sure everyone participated during a group discussion when we relied just on the phone, so I now use Google docs in the following ways:

Using slides or spreadsheets, I assign everyone a space where they can write their responses. (I initially tried using a word doc, but found it got messy and people would accidentally edit over each other). In a short period of time, everyone can provide their thoughts. I then call on specific people to discuss their responses-- sometimes those with a dissenting opinion, or people with an innovative idea.
I take quick surveys. Google spreadsheets can do formulas just like Excel (basic functionality). If I want to figure out which issues are the meaty ones, I'll give people a few minutes rate a few survey statements. The spreadsheet will automatically calculate averages, etc., and we can quickly see where to hone in during the discussion.
I link to webpages. For example, this week we're doing an exercise where we explore different web portals. (We're in the process of building some knowledge sharing portals for our network of partner nonprofits, so I want people to see what others are like.) I've embedded links into a slide that say things like "Click here to enter Bridgestar's COO portal". Works just like that link does here.

Challenges

We've had 2 main issues:

People may be speaking up even less (out loud), now that they can rely on the tech and be heard 'virtually'. While we can cover more content by capturing people's ideas in Skype/docs, we miss the opportunity to hear each others' voices. I'm trying to mitigate this by delegating more speaking time out to others.
Tech glitches. For most people on my team (almost all, actually), using collaborative technologies is new, and at least one person has some minor tech problem each meeting. So, I'm instituting a mandatory 'dry run' with facilitators-- at least in the short-term-- and we have designated a "tech help" person on our team who is going to help people that have issues during the meeting, so the facilitator doesn't have to stop the meeting to help.

Overall, I've found that using these technologies improves our meetings significantly, despite the challenges. I think it's also been pushing our team to think about how they can creatively improve their other work and stop relying on static attachments and one-to-many presentations.

Will it sprout?

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:29:00 +0000

I recently went to a NYC tech meetup where a few entrepreneurs demo their ideas, one of which was Sprout Builder. Sprout builder helps code-challenged people like me create widgets with multimedia, something like a mini website that you can embed onto other pages. It seems like the biggest benefit is that you can get viewers that aren't ready to commit to clicking through to a new page (they can view the content from whatever page you embed it into). I'm not sure how useful this really is.

Here's my test widget. It's fake, but it links to (unrelated) real content just to test how it works.

There seems to be a lot of kinks still in the system... got a lot of error messages, now having problems getting it to auto-update... but seems like it has promise

What we can learn from how Kindle is going to transform the book business

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:28:00 +0000

Seth Godin wrote a great post the other day where he makes some game-changing suggestions about Amazon's Kindle. Worth a read, as it gets the creative juices flowing.

This particular comment struck me:

Many book publishers look at this new medium and ask, "how can I use it to augment my current business model." I'd like Amazon to challenge that thinking and say to the world, "how can you use this platform to create a new business model?"

This question sparked an "aha!" moment for me as I reflected on how nonprofits (and companies) have a tendency to learn just enough about Web 2.0 tools in order to copy and paste their current content into new platforms.

In the same way the Kindle will transform (quite quickly, if they listen to Seth) the book business, new online tools can transform the way nonprofits raise funds, provide services, and interact with their supporters. Obama showed it was possible, and that was only the tip of the iceberg.

Photo credit: libraryman

The curse of high expectations

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 05:37:00 +0000

Photo credit: cp

Last week I was one of the millions of people watching live streaming of the inauguration on CNN / facebook. It worked well for awhile-- that is, until a million too many people joined and my streaming sputtered through the historic moments. I was bummed.

In retrospect, I realize that I had pretty unrealistic expectations. After all, Facebook-- awesome. CNN-- reliable. Add in the mad publicity around their inauguration partnership and BAM! I assumed smooth sailing.

The reality: an unprecedented number of people tuned in, and unfortunately, servers couldn't handle it. Millions tuned in, millions disgruntled. (Though the excitement of the day still kept spirits high!)

The takeaway? People's expectations are much higher than ever before. People want things fast and high quality-- and they don't want to pay for it. The internet has so many tools and resources available for free-- many of which have loyal followers but limited revenue streams. People are now expecting superb service in exchange for their attention and engagement.

What does this mean for nonprofits? First off, you can't have a crappy website. (Note: I have been slacking on revamping this website-- but no kids lives are on the line, so I'm giving myself more leeway). Before you even think of playing around with any fancy widgets, make sure your website is up to snuff.

Websites are cheap. Making a website look professional and be functional is doable for nonprofits of any size. If you can't afford to pay someone, find a volunteer. These days anyone who is interested in your organization will eventually look at your website; for many, it will be their first or second impression. Ask yourself, "Could a teenager make this website?" If "yes", you can do better than that. Sadly, there are a lot of nonprofit websites out there that don't pass that test.

Secondly, you can't have a crappy whatever-else-you-are-doing-digitally. Newsletters, surveys, blogs, etc. By "crappy" here I mean external audiences cringe because it's such poor quality. The content could be stellar but if the digital package is obnoxious, it will not have the desired effect. Allowing your digital presence to be crappy is just being lazy, and your customers (clients, funders, potential staff) take notice. Do it well, or don't do it at all.

Ideally, you'd go beyond the "not crappy" hurdle. I'll write more about analytics and usability tests in an upcoming post.

Nonprofits to follow on Twitter

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:50:00 +0000

I've been curious to know what nonprofits have been using Twitter. It's all the rage in Web 2.0 world, though it's less clear what immediate benefits there are for nonprofits. But, for nonprofits with tech-curious staff, there are many reasons that make it worth a try.

Here are the nonprofits I have found so far. ** indicates a few that I recommend to help you get started.

Did I miss anyone? Comment or tweet me.

Do you work at a nonprofit that uses Twitter? Let me know if you have any best practices to share.

(P.S. I am having issues with formatting in Blogger. Any tips?)

If your website was a person, who would it be?

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:01:00 +0000

What's your website's personality?

Is it inspirational, bold, educated, and trustworthy?

Photo credit: SpreePix-Berlin

Is it friendly, warm, and a bit (or very) cheesy?

Photo credit: Jen SFO-BCN

Is it unpredictable, fun, and all-over-the-place?

Photo credit: Joannaire

Now consider: who is your primary audience?

Would your primary audience want to hang out with your website's persona?

If not, they probably don't want to hang out on your website either.

Can thought leaders have (paid) fan clubs?

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:42:00 +0000

CDs don’t make much money. What music stars make money off of is the fan experience—going to concerts, buying the memorabilia, paying for “access”.

Nicholas Kristof, Thomas Friedman, and Maureen Dowd are celebrities. I don’t think we typically think of them that way because they're smart, and we like our celebrities stupid.

Newspapers don’t make much money. But they do have an incredible asset—really smart people that people trust and want to hear from. I have a brain crush on several New York Times columnists. Am I willing to pay as much money to get closer to my brain crushes as a pre-teen girl will pay to get to the Jonas Brothers? I think so.

I think the New York Times could make some money here. They could offer members-only clubs with perks like:

Exclusive content like “back stage videos”: I like the videos on NYT’s main page, but what would be an interesting supplement is Kristof with a handheld cam, telling me what it’s like to report from Cambodia’s brothels.
Front-of-the-virtual-line-pass to purchase tickets to in-person events: Is Friedman interviewing someone at the 92nd Street Y? I want to be the first to know. Is there a book signing? I’d like to be part of the small group that gets to chat with him before the line forms.
Access to other fans: I bet my fellow fans are smart and doing interesting things. Let us talk to one another, maybe even collaborate.
Invitations to occasional webinars: Members could vote on what questions the columnist answers. Let us hear emerging insights that haven’t made it into the paper yet.

These are just a few ideas off the top of my head. Cheap to implement, big potential rewards.

What do you think? Would you pay to join a fan club of a thought leader?
(I realize that since I'm from Orange County, I might just be unusually into celebrity-dom).

Photo credit Anirudh Koul

Should the New York Times be a nonprofit?

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:48:00 +0000

The New York Times is not doing so hot.

I like them a lot. It’s the only real newspaper I read. But I haven’t paid them for anything in 3 years. I used to have a subscription but found that even though I enjoyed holding the physical newspaper, I ended up reading it online 99% of the time and was tired of seeing the huge “to read” stack in my living room. So, I cancelled my subscription. On top of that, I don’t think I have ever clicked on an online ad from the NYT website.

The New York Times is dirt cheap. The Weekender only costs $3.45 per week. That’s how much my daily Starbucks costs (though I’m trying to cut down). But when I’m deciding whether or not to purchase the paper, this is the question I ask myself: are those 3 stacks of paper worth $3.45? They actually detract from my happiness. It’s the content I want, and I can get the content online for free.

The NYT needs to change the question customers ask themselves by changing their story.

One way to do this would be to take a nonprofit angle: invest in us because we are having important social impact and you want to be part of making it happen. The New York Times is a cultural institution. I want them to survive, to keep telling us the truth, to inform us of what is going on in the world that is worth knowing about. Readers cannot survive on the Huffington Post alone.

Would I be willing to pay $3.45 for a thick stack of paper? No.

Would I be willing to contribute $3.45 a week to the pursuit of truth and the continuation of a smart, free press? Yes.

[My friend Chris adds the good point: "it would likely put a real damper on the number of journalism jobs out there (How many NPR's would people support, after all?)"]

Photo credit: wallyg

How do you get people to talk about you?

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:40:00 +0000

Four key steps (likely not comprehensive):

(1) Find the people who like talking

(2) Inspire people to talk about you

(3) Make it easy to spread your message

(4) Keep giving them things to talk about

(1) Find the people who like talking

Seth Godin says you need to get to the people with otaku—the enthusiasts, the obsessed, the ones who are looking for things to talk about because they are so passionate about the topic. These are usually the early adopters who find and try things first.

Look at the base of supporters that you already have. How many of them are actively promoting your cause on and offline? Find out what motivates those that are already talking and what is holding back those who are not.

Finding new enthusiasts is tricky. We all know someone who’s obsessed with food or technology or politics—people who are always promoting a certain restaurant, gadget, or politician. It’s harder to find people that are obsessed with nonprofits and actively promote specific groups.

One way to find them is through online social networks. In addition to the big players like facebook and myspace, there are several networking sites that have been built to connect people around social causes and organizations. I’ll do some research and follow-up on this in a later post. Subscribe through RSS feed here or sign up through email (look on the sidebar on the right) so you don’t miss it.

Do you know people with nonprofit otaku? Or __insert your cause here__ otaku? Tell us about him/her in a comment below.

(2) Inspire people to talk about you

There are many ways to inspire people. Today I’ll highlight “experiential marketing”. In their book F orces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits, Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant write that high-impact nonprofits “create opportunities for people to actively participate and to experience what the nonprofits do”. One example is volunteers building homes with Habitat For Humanity. It’s a fun, engaging experience for volunteers and something worth talking about to others.

Truly transformative experiences take a lot of time and energy to organize. Habitat working largely off the sweat of unexperienced volunteers is not the most “efficient” way to build houses; but, they’ve found it’s the most effective way to create and sustain the impact they wish to create. Not every nonprofit is structured in a way that allows for positive volunteer opportunities (vs. envelope-stuffing, which is decidedly uninspiring).

Fortunately, the internet allows for more opportunities for nonprofits to create online experiences. Take Kiva, for example. Kiva allows people to find individual entrepreneurs to provide a microloan to. I currently have a loan out to “Mrs. Tim Sopheap, a mother of three children [who] works as a pig raiser and farmer”.

I don’t know much about her—just a few paragraphs about her family, the hopes they have attached to the loan, and a picture. I get updates as the load is repaid, and this small experience has been enough for me to keep donating and to tell my friends to donate. Funds go to Kiva’s field partners, microfinance organizations that manage the loans. These orgs existed before Kiva, but I would never have thought to give to them before my Kiva experience.

(3) Make it easy to spread your message

(4) Keep giving them things to talk about

More of the same—even if you’re doing high-impact work-- is not remarkable enough. People don’t post and share “About Us” pages. They post news and ideas, especially ones that have implications beyond a single organization.

Do you have additional ideas for how nonprofits can use digital media to get people talking? Tell us in a comment

Photo credit luisvilla

Web 2.0 isn’t just a bunch of cool online tools

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 22:59:00 +0000

I realize that we haven’t written a post explaining what Web 2.0 is. Here’s how some of the experts describe it.

“The defining characteristic of Web 2.0 applications is that they ‘harness collective intelligence’… [it is] ‘the use of the network as platform to build systems that get better the more people use them’.”
- Tim O'Reilly

“[There is a] movement of people using online tools to connect, take charge of their own experience, and get what they need—information, support, ideas, products, and bargaining power—from each other."
- groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies

Web 2.0 is not simply the sum of the new, trendy online tools that are available now. It's easy to get lost amidst the wikis, blogs, virtual worlds, and networking sites-- but if you’re only thinking about individual tools, you miss the big idea.

The key to Web 2.0 is user participation. It is people connecting to people, providing information, opinions, and services to each other.

Tools will come and go. Nonprofits don’t need to understand every trendy tool that comes along; they’re not all relevant and many won’t be around for long.

However, the concept of user participation underlying Web 2.0 has shifted what people expect from organizations—for-profit and nonprofit—and that is something we all need to understand.

P.S. I edited this image from one I found on Flickr (photo credit Lars K. Jensen). A lot of very cool images are available on there for free. And, you can edit them here for free.

How Stanford can get me to donate money

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:29:00 +0000

I've never donated to Stanford, though they keep asking me to.

Instead of sending me relevant content based on the massive amount of data they have on me, they send me frequent emails about random Stanford updates. For example:

A video of an a capella group singing about donating to Stanford. Sorry, I don't care about a capella. I was never a member of a group, and they know that.
Emails from 5 members of my class, none of whom I know. Not my friends, I don't care that they think I should donate.
Generic descriptions of student groups that my donation would support. Student groups have always been around-- why is it urgent that I give now?
Reminder that it's my friend's (fellow alum's) birthday tomorrow. I already know that. Facebook told me when I voluntarily logged on this morning.

Stanford should have an awesome CRM system. They have the resources and the need. They should use the data they have and send me information that I find useful, instead of constantly asking me for money with weak, generic emails.

Here are some examples of how they could convince me to donate:

My department (International Relations) should tell me what they're up to. Are my former professors Terry Karl and James Fearon still there? What are they working on right now? I'd find that interesting.
I used to be involved in different environmental groups / causes on campus. What's Stanford been doing lately to be more green? Is there an environmental student group that is raising $5K to pilot using waterless urinals in an on-campus house? That's something that would get me excited to donate.
I work at an international nonprofit now. Stanford knows that because I updated my information online. If a professor at Stanford hosted a webinar like "Promoting Social Change in China", I would attend. Costs almost nothing to Stanford. Even cheaper-- Stanford already puts a lot of great content on Stanford iTunes. Why don't they email me a recommendation of 5 iTunes downloads that they think I would enjoy based on what they know about me?
Many of my friends probably donated this year-- but I don't know who and I don't know why. When they donated, Stanford could have had a "Post to facebook" link that said, "I just donated to Stanford, here's why:...". Lazy people could skip the why-- or, Stanford could incent participation, entering those who answer "why" to win something like lunch or a phone conversation with a Stanford professor of your choice.
I like giving my opinion (clearly). Ask me how I think Stanford should support their students becoming nonprofit leaders. Then give me an update on what program was developed. I'll feel like I was a part of it.

But, you're probably not Stanford. You don't have a big endowment, tons of wealthy alumni, and rich data on every person that's participated in your program. However, these takeaways still apply to you:

Use the data you have.
If you don't have data, start collecting it in a systematic way. (e.g., How did people hear about you? Why are they donating? What about you excites them?)
Send content that people are interested in.
Limit the amount of generic content you send out. Stuff that could be relevant to everyone probably isn't interesting to anyone.
Get people engaged before you need to ask for money.

Stanford-- if you're listening, know that I do love you. I just don't feel compelled to give you money.

Is this a good idea? Enlisting Web Geeks For Social Change

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:49:00 +0000

On JustMeans, a place to "talk to companies about their social & environmental impact", Seventh Generation is sponsoring a contest for an "idea to change the world".

"Tell us what idea in our Seventh Generation CSR Report inspired you and how you would use $5,000 to take that idea and make a difference. Application deadline is December 31, 2008."

Cool idea, good publicity for them. I submitted an idea (see below). If you think it's a good one, vote for it. The annoying thing is it's not a link to my specific comment. Right now I'm on Page 2 of the comments, Ctrl + F "Chiu" to find it.
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IDEA: To enlist web geeks as digital coaches for a cadre of exceptional nonprofits that will push the entire nonprofit sector forward in the Web 2.0 world.

INSPIRATION: Seventh Generation has managed to use the power of social media to reach its dual goals of profit and social justice.

RATIONALE: Nonprofits could significantly accelerate their impact if given the opportunity to tap into the digital marketing expertise of the web geeks of the world.

Seventh Generation's ideas spread organically (this contest is just one example) but not without technical know-how, knowledge of how to reach their audience, and models to draw from. Many nonprofits, particularly those with limited resources dedicated to direct programming, lack the technical knowledge, skills, and experience to spread their ideas.

By recruiting talented "web geeks"-- a group of people that already tend to volunteer time to contribute to the greater knowledge base-- and pairing them with exceptional nonprofits, we can accelerate the impact of these nonprofits while sharing best practices among the group and beyond.

Seventh Generation explicitly seeks to influence the business community, understanding the effect a few leaders can have on a sector. This idea could develop the digital leaders of the nonprofit sector and change the trajectory of the sector as a whole.

Fundraising using social media: a success story

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:00:00 +0000

Today I watched a video presentation of Beth Kanter explaining how she manages to raise thousands of dollars using social media.

This is impressive stuff, especially given most nonprofits are small (<$250K in revenue), so I recommend checking it out. She basically uses various social networking sites to ask the hundreds of people in her network to give small donations. That said, some things to keep in mind before you get too excited about using this technique yourself:

It took Beth a lot of effort and social capital. She warns of "donor fatigue" after soliciting her networks multiple times
Beth already has a strong network that she has built over many years
Beth has a compelling personal story to tell about the cause she supports (she has two adopted children from Cambodia and her cause supports Cambodian youth)

Beth recommends you start small. With a limited online presence, you may only be able to raise a few hundred dollars.

I'm not sure that I agree with this approach, mainly because:

If you have limited goals, you're only going to achieve limited results. Big, ambitious goals are what drive innovative thinking
If you have a limited online presence, should you be asking for money already? E.g., if you're a nonprofit with 20 twitter followers, will they tell their friends to follow you if you're asking for money and not yet providing much value?

Also, Beth is one of the top voices in the nonprofit / social media world, and her networks raise thousands of dollars. For nonprofits that are looking for major growth capital (talking millions), will fundraising using social media get them there?

Can you inspire sustained, consistent, and major donations from an "ask" on Twitter?

When should nonprofits use Twitter?

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:30:00 +0000

Twitter is pretty awesome. I don't want to overhype it, so check out the state of the Twittersphere. There are 4-5 million users, but about a third of them aren't truly active. A lot of nonprofits are curious about Twitter, and a few have taken the plunge.

Why I like Twitter:

Everyday, interesting people draw my attention to interesting new ideas and stories (Do I talk about Guy Kawasaki too much?)
I get an "insider" perspective into famous people (I follow NYTimes writer Nicholas Kristof who gives me a peak into the stories he is working on, written with a personal touch)
I get to see what others are saying about organizations that I care about (For example, I've searched tweets for "Teach For India" and "Teach For America")
Organizations that I mention actually respond when I have a question or request
I get to share ideas with others that choose to follow me

When nonprofits think about using Twitter, they're usually thinking about #5 and maybe #3. In other words, it's about them. How can they get you to donate money? How can they increase their brand awareness? How can they increase traffic to their website?

Not the right way to think about it. Related to the last post on the dangers of shameless self-promotion, it can't just be about your organization. Ask yourself:

What value can you bring to readers that isn't already on your website?
What are articles / events / posts that you think your readers will be interested in, even if you didn't write it? Even if it's not about your organization?
What about your organization first drew in your readers?
What is something new, interesting, and exciting that people want to be the first to know about? (note: It's not just updates to your "upcoming events" page)

Back to the original question: When should nonprofits use Twitter?

When you have supporters and / or staff that are already using Twitter or are planning on signing up for their own interests. These people are much more likely to develop a natural following and to promote your organization WHILE sharing other interesting thoughts with their readers.

You want people to talk about you in an authentic way, with an emotional point-of-view. It's what differentiates a tweet from a press release.

Have you read or written any great nonprofit tweets? Tweet me about it

Social networking: What Not To Do

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:27:00 +0000

There are 2 major no-no's that you can commit on social networking sites:

You shamelessly promote you or your cause constantly, OR
You don't say anything about the cause or organization you care about

Shameless self-promotion is the much more obvious, obnoxious problem. Tamar Weinberg wrote a great post,"The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook", where she outlines a number of annoying things people do on social networking sites, most of which have to do with people talking about themselves all the time. For example:

"Turning your Facebook profile photo into a pitch so that you can gather leads through your Facebook connections. Thanks, but no thanks. Facebook is about real friendships and not about business — at least not to me."
"Consistently using your Twitter stream for nothing but self-promotion and ego."
"Submitting only your own articles and posts to social media sites."

These kinds of actions abuse the privilege your readers have given you. The social media marketplace will respond appropriately, your readers will go away, and your social networking friends will tune you out.

The silent killer is the 2nd mistake: You don't say anything about the cause or organization you care about.

For example, I told Tamar about a friend of mine who is a teacher at a low income high school. She had a donation request on DonorsChoose.org (a website where teachers request donations for supplies for their classrooms), but she didn't tell anyone about it. Her facebook page is all about personal hobbies and not her work, so none of her hundreds of facebook friends knew she was even looking for donations. Needless to say, none of us gave.

Compare that situation to this one: I included information on my facebook profile about a small nonprofit that I am a big fan of-- MataHari: Eye of the Day. I only included this brief description:

I work with an amazing nonprofit called MataHari: Eye of the Day that works with survivors of human trafficking, domestic and sexual violence, and labor exploitation. (http://www.eyeoftheday.org)

Let me know if you'd like to get involved... and / or donate at http://www.eyeoftheday.org/donate.html

A guy I knew from elementary school randomly found me on facebook, we hadn't talked since we were kids, and after seeing my blurb, he donated $500. I didn't even ask him directly!

Asking people for money is inherently awkward, but it clearly has its rewards. I always donate whenever any friend explicitly asks me to donate to an organization that they support. I donate not because I necessarily think that nonprofit is at the top of my list; I donate because I want to support their engagement in that organization. My friends are also smart, so I trust their judgement.

The point is you NEED TO ASK. Top 3 reason why people don't give blood: "No one ever asked me". If I am your friend or colleague and I CHOOSE to read what's on your profile, what's your status update, what your latest tweet is, I WANT to know what you care about. I WANT to know what organizations you recommend. I WANT to know ideas you think are worth listening to.

But you have to tell me!

Where to get started with Web 2.0?

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 18:10:00 +0000

You.

It starts with you. Simple as that. I've chatted with a bunch of people who are curious about what this "Web 2.0-social-new-media-tech-networking" stuff is all about. They don't know how it works, but they know it's getting big (or already is), and they think they don't want to be left behind. At the same time, I hear "no" to questions like this:

Do you read any blogs?
Do you have a facebook account?
Do you know what Twitter is?

Here's the rub: you can't force yourself to like it. Nor can you really force others in your organization to like it. Getting and staying engaged takes time-- and requires a level of authenticity of interest in order for anyone to want to engage with you.

So, here are a few first steps to dip your toe into the murky Web 2.0 water:

Read about what is going on: Sign up to RSS feeds. I like using Google reader. A few good blogs to start with-- Seth Godin, Robert Scoble, Guy Kawasaki.
Join facebook: Friend your friends. It's not just college kids anymore; you might be surprised to see who's on. If you're someone who "just doesn't want to be found", you're probably not into the basic premise of social media, and you might want to skip to the bottom of the post. It's easy to remove your account though, so just try it and jump ship if any high school bullies actually do bother you.
Make facebook status updates and read those of your friends: Tell people what you're up to in a sentence. Share a link with them. Read their posts. If you're finding it fun and / or useful...
Join Twitter: I've been on Twitter for less than a month, and I've turned into a believer. I was skeptical at first, thinking "Why do I care what people (particularly strangers!) are doing at random times of the day?" Seeing it for yourself is much more powerful than me describing it here-- to get started, follow some of the top 100 most followed. Send me a message.

You're never really going to understand the potential of Web 2.0 unless you explore it yourself. So, if you decide it's not for you, find someone at your organization-- an "internal evangelist" (Micah Baldwin highlights Zappos' and Ford's)-- who can and wants to engage as an individual and possibly as a representative of your organization.

Or, just stay curious.

UPDATE: I read this great post by Chris Brogan entitled "If I Started Today". Has some additional first steps in creating an online presence

Make it easy to spread your message

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:22:00 +0000

Organizations can't make their messages spread virally (it's called spam). People make messages spread virally.

Here's 3 examples of how to do this:

AddThis produces code that allows you to put a button on your site that links to different social networking sites. See the "Share" button on the sidebar of this blog.
Change.org asks people to vote on the "best ideas for how the Obama Administration and Congress can turn the broad call for "change" across the country into specific policies". The page I linked to supports Citizen Schools. It's set up to easily allow readers to spread the message to their friends through emails, social networking sites, and their websites.
SlideShare offers a range of quick and easily buttons for readers to share presentations. For example, "Post to twitter" automatically creates a tweet for me to share with my "followers" (my twitter is also linked to my facebook status, so it also reaches my facebook friends). I'm not sure if many nonprofits are using SlideShare, but they should if they have any presentations worth sharing.

How is your target market using social technologies?

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 03:24:00 +0000

I've been reading Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (courtesy of my thoughtful secret santa!). It's a great Social Technologies 101 for those that need a broad overview.

Appropriately, it also has a website. Check out their tool for classifying different people's level of involvement in social technologies. The authors-- and their firm, Forrester Research -- recommend companies use this info to "determine what kind of relationship you want to build with [your target audience], based on what they are ready for".

The current functionality on the website only lets you filter by age, country, and gender. It categorizes people into 6 groups from "inactives" to "creators" and allows for comparison with the country's online population. See the presentation for more detail.

Social Technographics Explained

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: social media)

YouTube "channels" with nonprofit videos

jchiu05@gmail.com (Jen Chiu) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 22:51:00 +0000

I'm surprised more nonprofits don't have their own YouTube channels.

Check out Amnesty International's

It's a great way to house videos that your organization creates and to showcase ones that your supporters make (see Example). The latter is much more powerful, esp. if they spread.

It's currently only available for nonprofits in the US and UK. Here's more info

Top 10 Cloud Computing Predictions for 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy & Nara) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Everyone loves a Top 10 list. This one's on what will happen with cloud computing in the next year. Wonder if non-profits will begin to migrate more to the cloud (if it's not happening already!).

Cool office (not tech related, but I still wanted to post!)

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy & Nara) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:04:00 +0000

Along with a bunch of tech blogs in my Google Reader, I subscribe to Design Sponge . Today, I came across this great office space. Check it out! Maybe when Teach For All is big enough where we have to move to a new space, we can use this as inspiration.

Junior achievement adds social network component to website

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:13:00 +0000

At the recent Teach For America Alumni Summit (I'm not an alum, though I often wish I was), I met an alum who works at Junior Achievement,

She told me about their MyAchievement website, "a social networking web site for celebrating, connecting and sharing the achievements of Junior Achievement New York".

Great example of a nonprofit facilitating their supporters to build a community around them.

Seth Godin's advice to nonprofits

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:06:00 +0000

Listen to Seth Godin (marketing guru and top blogger) talk about how nonprofits can get more support

A few key points:

Create something that's worth talking about
Get your key supporters to talk about you to others ("sell to people that are listening and tell them to tell their friends"/ "inspire people to be inspiring")
Don't send "selfish" emails that are just about getting $, you have to have something to offer the reader so that they want to keep reading

He also notes that he doesn't think any nonprofits have had real success on facebook, reasoning that people go to facebook to connect with friends not with organizations. Anyone disagree?

Interactive advertising on facebook: "not your father's banner ad"

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:38:00 +0000

Great blog post with 2 short videos

Companies are making apps to advertise on social networking sites that take advantage of the interaction people are having with their friends

Save website clips for later

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:11:00 +0000

You can clip any site to the web using web-clipping tools like Google Notebook (info+instructions)

There are other tools like: http://clipmarks.com/ and the http://evernote.com/. Evernote does lots of clever note-taking+clipping and can be synchronized across machines+web.