Nonprofit Technology Conference 2010 - Using social media to engage supporters
The conference title makes most people think it deals with technology, servers, and computers, but the real buzz of the conference is using new social media tools for fundraising and publicity. That is, how can technology be used to support decision-making and communications.
Some highlights of my conference attendance, include the following :
Sessions on "networked non-profits" with authors Beth Kanter and Alison Fine. This session was jam-packed in a mid-size conference room. There was a noticeable amount of excitement around the session with Kanter and Fine -- both are very active in social media and studying organizations. Kanter emphasized that "something fundamental is changing with social media," meaning it facilitates democratic, non-geographic change; social media powers social change. Fine mentioned there is a movement to open up organizations and turn them inside out through social media. They highlighted parts of their upcoming book The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change, specifically around how organizations can overcome the fear of social media. They shared examples of organizations using social media, like Union Rescue Mission, Charity:Water, and Surfrider Foundation. They provided large ideas about how social media, done right, can transform an organization, as well as practical tips to start or grow social media efforts. One example they discussed that could help a nonprofit start up: "step away from the fear with small, incremental" efforts, that is, develop a proof-of-concept where nothing bad can happen.
Keynote address by Atlantic journalist Andrew Sullivan. Much of his talk followed his important "Why I Blog" piece written in November 2008. Sullivan spoke about his groundbreaking effort at writing for his "Daily Dish" blog for atlantic.com, starting in 2000. He shared his experience of posting to the blog twenty times per day, five days per week with a gazillion people following his moves. He highlighted several keys to blogs, like how a blog is a "broadcast," not a publication. He emphasized how "it has to move or it dies." He mentioned finding new material is difficult, exhausting, especially since he produces twenty blog posts each day from morning until late at night. He also said that blogging is an "accelerated form of letting go." He found that when he changed his style to conversational, though it included incomplete shards, it allowed him to "let go," which is the opposite of publishing stories the old way, where readers are asked to absorb a story.
Session on constituent relationship management (CRM) system. One successful, growing CRM system is CiviCRM, an open-source system that has many advanced features. While CiviCRM is a “free,” open-source system, there are 13 full-time employees that develop and support the product. Some of the organizations that have adopted CiviCRM as their CRM application include: Frontline Defenders (Ireland), Wikipedia (managed $875K in contributions), Amnesty International, Creative Commons, and National Association of Soil Scientists. The session focused on case studies from several developers, as well as an update on new features. Case studies include those from HiDef Web Solutions, Civic Actions, See3, and Rayogram.
Some highlights of my conference attendance, include the following :
Sessions on "networked non-profits" with authors Beth Kanter and Alison Fine. This session was jam-packed in a mid-size conference room. There was a noticeable amount of excitement around the session with Kanter and Fine -- both are very active in social media and studying organizations. Kanter emphasized that "something fundamental is changing with social media," meaning it facilitates democratic, non-geographic change; social media powers social change. Fine mentioned there is a movement to open up organizations and turn them inside out through social media. They highlighted parts of their upcoming book The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change, specifically around how organizations can overcome the fear of social media. They shared examples of organizations using social media, like Union Rescue Mission, Charity:Water, and Surfrider Foundation. They provided large ideas about how social media, done right, can transform an organization, as well as practical tips to start or grow social media efforts. One example they discussed that could help a nonprofit start up: "step away from the fear with small, incremental" efforts, that is, develop a proof-of-concept where nothing bad can happen.
Keynote address by Atlantic journalist Andrew Sullivan. Much of his talk followed his important "Why I Blog" piece written in November 2008. Sullivan spoke about his groundbreaking effort at writing for his "Daily Dish" blog for atlantic.com, starting in 2000. He shared his experience of posting to the blog twenty times per day, five days per week with a gazillion people following his moves. He highlighted several keys to blogs, like how a blog is a "broadcast," not a publication. He emphasized how "it has to move or it dies." He mentioned finding new material is difficult, exhausting, especially since he produces twenty blog posts each day from morning until late at night. He also said that blogging is an "accelerated form of letting go." He found that when he changed his style to conversational, though it included incomplete shards, it allowed him to "let go," which is the opposite of publishing stories the old way, where readers are asked to absorb a story.
Session on constituent relationship management (CRM) system. One successful, growing CRM system is CiviCRM, an open-source system that has many advanced features. While CiviCRM is a “free,” open-source system, there are 13 full-time employees that develop and support the product. Some of the organizations that have adopted CiviCRM as their CRM application include: Frontline Defenders (Ireland), Wikipedia (managed $875K in contributions), Amnesty International, Creative Commons, and National Association of Soil Scientists. The session focused on case studies from several developers, as well as an update on new features. Case studies include those from HiDef Web Solutions, Civic Actions, See3, and Rayogram.
- Civic Actions (www.civicactions.com) focuses on development of Drupal CMS web sites with CiviCRM applications. They presented how they were able to customize event templates for EcoTuesday, a group of business leaders dedicated to sustainable development. Civic Actions is also able to measure email traffic using CiviCRM, though they acknowledge that other email providers like Vertical Response and Constant Contact provide better analytics than CiviCRM.
- TJ Cook with HiDef Web Solutions (www.HiDefWeb.com) shared their work building web sites for non-profits, including Canadian Bible Society and Faith Comes By Hearing organizations. HiDef has customized the Donation page to filter and display other fields. They also acknowledged the importance of CiviCRM having multiple payment processors for donations and e-commerce applications.
- Allen Burstyn with See3 Communications (www.See3.net) did concentrated work for Friends of the Family, a nonprofit providing family services in Maryland. This organization used CiviCRM to build a custom training solution to track training for hundreds of employees at 30 centers.
- An emerging module referenced during the session includes CiviSchools, a module within CiviCRM to manage a K-8 school interaction with staff, parents, and students
- The NY State Senate presented a case on building a system to manage interactions with constituents. In September 2009 developers looked at 16 different CRM systems used for tracking constituents and constituent cases. They chose CiviCRM and are customizing the CiviCase module. Senate employees can track their daily activities and enter interactions with constituents. They worked with the CiviCRM team on customizations. The development will be used to extend CiviCRM.
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