I recently conducted a little experiment with my work Inbox. When I left my position at Easter Seals, I had seven-plus years of research covering the field of nonprofits online flowing (more like gushing) in daily via email newsletters, listserve digests, etc. I felt guilty every time I hit delete without reading them, because I knew there was gold in them thar emails, but the sheer volume was more than any one person could consume.
When I set up my new Inbox here at See3 Communications, I decided rather than sit down for hours conducting a massive re-subscribe, I would wait and see what professional enewsletters I really, really missed. After three months, it’s been a cleansing experience (for my Inbox and my brain). But more importantly, it helped me identify the really great ones. If the topic of nonprofits online is also your bag, I hope you’ll make room in your InBox for these enewsletters that refused to be forgotten.
NPAdvisors e-Fund News: Thought provoking weekly articles on online donor development written by Rick Christ and Heather Fignar. If you’re responsible for online fundraising in any capacity, each email will either reinforce your efforts with well written points to use with upper management, or give you a good kick in the pants for what you need to be doing.
ASPCA: Oh, how many good ideas have I “borrowed” from ASPCA online over the years? I always keep one eye on these folks because they’re just so darn good at what they do. In my defense, I’ve adopted three rescue kittens in the past year. Or did the enewsletter make me do it?
Alertbox: Jakob Nielsen’s column on Web usability: Not for nonprofits only, his lessons on Web (and email) usability are universal. I’m an avid follower for his invaluable research on user-centric Web site creation, but I love him for his forthright use of the word “bad”. “Bad content, bad links, bad navigation, bad category pages… which is worst for business?” Go get ‘em Jakob!
All of these enewsletters share two key ingredients — they consistently bring me information I need and are very well written, so they’re worth my valuable time and a joy to read.
What enewsletters can you not live without, and why? There’s still room in my Inbox for something new….
Social Actions’ Change the Web Challenge is a one-of-a-kind online competition that aims to inspire third-party developers to build innovative tools that make it easy for people to find and share opportunities to make a difference.
See3 is a proud media sponsor of this event which will engage websites, programmers, bloggers and nonprofits around the world interested in using their skills and networks for social change. See the slideshow below for details about the contest (hint: there are exciting prizes!)
This year’s theme, “Everyone’s Doing It”, is meant to include submissions of all shapes and sizes, from organizational vlogs, to staff-produced web clips, to high-end, professionally produced videos.
According to Michael Hoffman, CEO of See3 Communications, “2008 was a great year for video, and we continue to see incredible growth each year in the number of nonprofits using video. With camera and equipment costs down, organizations have nothing holding them back from using video as a communications tool. We’ve seen some really innovative, powerful videos this year, and we hope the DoGooderTV Nonprofit Video Awards will highlight that.”
Last year, more than 160 entries were received from over 100 nonprofit organizations. The top winning videos were from the Humane Society of the United States, Greenpeace International, and the Center for Constitution Rights. The winning videos receive thousands of views and publicity online and offline.
Video submissions will be accepted until March 26, when a panel of judges will select the finalists in each category. The public voting period will open on April 7 and end on April 26. The winners will be announced at NTEN’s annual Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) in San Francisco, which takes place April 26-28, 2009. Winners will be featured on The Nonprofit Times website.
This week I had the pleasure of attending the Feminism2.0 conference in Washington, D.C. It was a one-day event packed full of panels and breakout sessions with leaders from prominent women’s organizations such as Feminist Majority, NOW and NARAL as well as feminist bloggers, artists and activists.
What I liked most about the conference was the diversity of people that attended. It was a great mix of races, genders, ages and because the conference was focused on organizing women online and off, there were techy and non-techy people present.
A major theme that came out of the conference was bridging the gap between old and new activists and using technology to engage the younger audience. Jen Nedeau, my fellow Women’s Rights blogger at Change.org, moderated the panel, “At the Crossroads: Organizing the Next Generation of Feminists Online and Off”. She emphasized in her presentation that young activists need to be engaged where they live online with customizable options to participate.
Here’s a video that Nerdette from NotMyGal filmed of that panel (yup, that’s me listening in the background):
Jen mentioned to me after the panel that NARAL Pro-Choice America is a prime example of an organization that is getting Web 2.0 right with their FreeWillPower campaign.
It was great to hear because See3 created the FreeWillPower campaign specifically to appeal to a younger audience and give them ways to opt-in based on their own interests. For example, participants can watch videos, get ringtones for their phones, submit a design to a t-shirt contest, take a quiz about reproductive rights and find information on an interactive map, among other things.
I think Jen is correct in her observation that young people aren’t necessarily going to search out a nonprofit’s website themselves but will be receptive to participating with the tools and social networks they already use every day.
I think a challenge that the feminist and reproductive rights movements face today is how to provide ways for young people to make the cause their own. Luckily, the internet is a great place to connect with this new generation in fun and creative ways.
This past weekend, a group of progressive communicators from around the Midwest gathered in Chicago to kick-off PCN Midwest. The event was organized with the help of the national PCN organization and Chicago-based Community Media Workshop.
I was thrilled to represent See3 at the event and get a chance to spend two days with the diverse and talented activists and organizers that gathered there. Below are some tips I shared with the participants about producing web video on a budget.
3 Things You Should Know About Web Video:
1. Good audio is critical – viewers don’t mind if the picture is fuzzy as long as they can hear what’s going on
2. What kind of camera should I get? Here are some suggestions:
Price Range: $130- $300 Flip is good for minimal shooting but has no external mic input so you need to stay close to your subjects to pick up good sound.
Price Range: $600 – $1,000 Canon VIXIA HV30 is the best value for a consumer camera of its kind and is easy to use. It also comes with an external mic input so you can improve your sound quality with better microphones.
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3. Where should I upload my video? YouTube vs. Vimeo
YouTube – quantity
YouTube has a lot of traffic and its videos can be embedded easily on most blogs & websites
Vimeo – quality
Vimeo looks great, both the player itself and quality of video (check out the See3 Guide to Online Video for an example)
Here are two examples of humorous and effective nonprofit videos that I shared with the group:
“Is it ok to torture?” – Amnesty International
“Insurance Company Rules” – Health Care For America Now
Thanks to the hard work of John Kenyon, the nonprofit technology community now has a professional code of conduct. In the next few months look for the launch of a logo and way for all nonprofit tech professionals, like us here at See3, to formally adopt this code.
Non-Profit Technology Professionals Principles/Code of Conduct
We, as technology professionals serving nonprofit organizations, pledge to:
1. Do No Intentional Harm to Data or Devices Containing Data
2. Appreciate, Respect and Adapt Our Approaches Appropriately an
Organization’s Culture, Mission, Context and Resources
3. Focus On Solutions Appropriate in Both the Short and Long Term
to An Organization¢s Culture, Mission, Context and Resources
4. Explain/Demonstrate Technology Strategies and Tools Using Clear,
Non-Technical Language
5. Understand and Communicate the Applicable Excellent Practices,
Legal and Technical Requirements Related to Our Work
6. Engage in Continuous Learning Practices to Maintain Our Skills
and Knowledge
7. Regularly Participate In and Share Our Knowledge With Our Community
8. Maintain Ethical Practices and Declare Any Conflicts of Interest
9. Provide Recommendations and Not Directives, Communicating the
Reasoning Behind those Recommendations, Ensuring the Decision is
Always the Clients
10. If We Charge for Our Services, to be Transparent About Product
Pricing and/or Project Costs
1. Tell a story.
If you want your audience to identify with your mission, you need a compelling story that connects your work to real people. If a story moves you, it will likely move others as well—and become the foundation for deeper involvement.
2. Be relevant.
People respond to what’s going on around them, so try to relate to the news or the calendar as much as possible. You’ll also have a better chance at success if you’re pitching your video to bloggers or other websites—they’re always looking for something current and fresh.
3. Tell them what you want.
You have their attention, now tell your viewers how you want them to engage, whether it’s donating money, visiting a website, or volunteering. They won’t know to give unless you ask for it.
4. Be brief.
Few people are watching your 7-minute online video—that only works when you have them locked in a room. Try to get everything out in 2 minutes or less.
5. Videos don’t raise money by themselves.
Your organization should think of online video as one of many tools to fit into your fundraising program. Adopting video into your organization is critical, but it has to be a means instead of an end.
6. Embed video on your donations page.
The distance between the “play” button and the “donate” button should be short. Also, give your viewer the right web tools. Can the viewer forward the video to a friend, subscribe to your RSS feed, get involved, and sign up for your newsletter right there on the spot? If not, they should.
7. Put video at the center of a campaign.
Video is often best used in the context of a campaign. A campaign can be raising money for a particular village, trying to reach a specific goal, or giving limited to a specific timeframe.
8. Empower your viewers.
Ever heard of peer-to-peer fundraising? Encourage your audience to pass your videos along. Make the embed code easily accessible within your page so your video can reach a broader audience.
9. Create a media library.
Start gathering your footage now—you might have all the ingredients already! Building a media library is a valuable long-term asset for your organization. Have a camera ready for every important event. Ask volunteers to document their work and make it available for future events, trainings, and online use. Using existing footage you get more bang for the buck.
10. Test.
You don’t know if something works unless you test it. Send out emails with video and some without, and measure the results. Each nonprofit will have different nuances, and you’ll want to know when using video is most effective.
11. Know when not to use video.
Truth is, your strongest donors will likely donate with or without online video. They have been already, right? They don’t need any extra convincing. Use online video for attracting new audiences, for driving specific campaigns, for empowering your membership to spread your story or for deepening or expanding existing relationships.
I recently conducted a little experiment with my work Inbox. When I left my position at 
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