I just added a Google Voice widget to my web site (on the Contact Us page).  When a caller clicks the icon s/he is prompted to enter a name and phone number.  Google Voice calls that number, then connects the caller to me as a free VOIP call.  Very cool.

The hardest part was figuring out how to embed the code on my site.  I first tried pasting it into the editor, but it showed up as raw HTML code.  I then tried using the Google Voice Widget Plugin but I could only figure out how to place the widget in a sidebar rather than on a page.  That's too bad -- it has some handy features, like setting hours when calls should automatically go to voice mail.  Finally, I found How to Use Google Voice on Your Website which had the handy tip that you need to use the HTML (source) editor, rather than the visual editor, when you paste in the code.  Duh.  Worked like a charm. 

Tags: Wordpress

I received the following email from a listerve.  The topic of closed alumni communities versus social media is on the minds of a lot of university staff, so I'm posting this along with my response.

I'd like to hear from anyone who is using the social networking function of Blackbaud Net Community.  We are purchasing Net Community for some of the other things it offers, and we're trying to decide if we should pursue social networking through it or use Facebook, etc.  What we see as a benefit is the thought that perhaps using the Net Community, it might be a little more professional than having a group on FB or MySpace.  A negative, though, is that most people are currently using one or more social networking sites - will they use this one too?  We are on Linked In and hardly any of the alums use it.

 Thanks for any feedback!

Here's my take:

This question is coming up a lot these days.  You need to weigh the benefits to your alumni that can only be obtained through the closed community (NetCommunity in this case).  What are you offering, and will they value it sufficiently?  And is there another way to offer those benefits without the closed community (e.g., a password-protected online alumni directory), perhaps at a lower cost and with fewer resources? 

It's not an either/or proposition.  You can also set up a Facebook page and/or group, and a LinkedIn group.  But you need to ask the same questions about these tools as NetCommunity: What value are they providing?  And will your alumni respond? (Have you asked your alumni what they want from your online community--whether that's on LinkedIn or NetCommunity?)

I'm not sure whether you're considering whether or not to buy NetCommunity, but if so, you should also consider the benefits it provides other than social networking: online donations, event registrations, mass emails, self-service for data updates, etc.  (There are other ways of providing most of those, of course.)

FYI, here's an article on using LinkedIn for alumni groups:

http://doteduguru.com/id706-linkedin-alumni-group-tutorial.html

Some of the key points are: What are your goals for the group?  How will you measure them?  How will you market the group? 
And here's a blog post from Andy Shandlain at Cal Tech about the subject:

http://www.alumnifutures.com/2009/10/private-label-online-communities.html

Cal Tech does not have a closed online alumni community, but they do have a password-protected online alumni directory. 

Tags: Alumni, Education, Social Media

I spent the last 3 days at the CASE District VII conference, for schools in AZ, CA, Guam, HI, NV, and UT.  Social Media was a big topic this year, with workshop titles like "Maximizing Social Networks and Online Resources in Alumni Relations", "Now That Facebook and Twitter Aren't Enough: Integrating Social Media into Your Advancement Toolkit ", and "Making Community Real in a Virtual World".  Speakers and attendees reported heavy use of Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube (the few times I heard mentions of MySpace were negative). 

Very few speakers or attendees reported using these tools for fundraising, though.  UC Berkeley talked about a badge that donors can post to their Facebook pages after making a gift ("I Feed The Bears").  This is the online equivalent of a window decal or bumper sticker, with the added benefit that one's friends can click the badge to make a gift.  It's not an explicit fundraising appeal, but they might start using fundraising badges for class campaigns in the future.  Peer-to-peer class campaigns (at least for recent classes) seem like a natural for social media, and I expect we'll start seeing them.

Tags: Fundraising, Online Fundraising, Social Media

The results of two new surveys paint a bleak picture of the effectiveness of social media for fundraising and volunteer recruitment. The first from Philanthropy Action, has the depressing title, "Social Networking and Mid-Size Nonprofits: What's the Use?" The survey is based on responses from about 200 mid-sized nonprofits (defined as having revenues between $1 and $5 million annually) between July 2008 and March 2009. It concludes that:

Social technologies are not delivering much in terms of fundraising or attracting volunteers. While the majority (of respondents) began using social networking with an expectation that it would help the organization attract donors and volunteers, results have been particularly disappointing in those categories. More than 70 percent of respondents indicated that they had raised less than $100 or did not know whether they had raised any money.

However, despite poor results to date, "the overwhelming majority of respondents... say they are going to increase their investment in the use of social networking."

A second survey, from the Cone communications agency, reached similar conclusions.

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I'm a member of several LinkedIn discussion groups, but my participation is lukewarm at best.  One of the biggest problems is spam--the noise is drowning out the signal.  There doesn't seem to be a way for moderators to review messages before they're posted or for participants to flag spam for review by moderators.  As a result, a group I belong to that's dedicated to discussions of nonprofit social media projects includes the following off-topic messages:

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I'm a forum moderator on TechSoup and we hosts spend a lot of our time reviewing messages and deciding whether they're spam (many are spammy but not quite over the line).  It can be a lot of work, but it pays off in a forum that's mostly signal.  Part of the solution is having decent tools for managing spam.

I got a press release today from a PR firm promoting its client's plans to raise $1,000 for Thanksgiving meals and $5,000 for families in need at Christmas. 

While these are certainly laudable goals, I had a strong negative reaction. First, the message is spam.  I have no connection to, and have never heard of, the charity or its PR firm.  Second, is this news?  What's special about a charity raising money for families in need at the holidays?  Why would any media outlet pick this up?  Finally, the goals seem pathetically low. 

I hope the PR firm is doing this pro bono -- otherwise, all the donations could wind up paying them.  Then again, if my reaction is typical, this campaign could wind up costing them.

Tags: Fundraising

The latest round of the America's Giving Challenge is on. This is a national competition to encourage people to use their personal and social networks to help win cash for their favorite nonprofit. The Giving Challenge is not focused on how much money you can raise, but on how successful you are at getting people to donate to your cause. The goal is to get as many unique daily donations as possible (minimum of $10), to your cause each day. The contest runs through November 6, 2009.

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Tags: Online Fundraising, Social Media, Web 2.0

Our friends at NTEN have launched a survey to examine nonprofits' data ecosystems. Your first question is probably "what is a data ecosystem?" NTEN describes it as follows:

The nonprofit ecosystem is a way of thinking about how data is shared by and flows across the different departments and activities in your organization. Similar to the interconnectedness in natural ecosystems (for example: marsh, birds, plants), we think of the data ecosystem as the interconnectedness of software tools and the data they hold. Thus, in a well functioning data ecosystem, tools are connected so that the information gathered from online donations, for example, is easily commingled with the information gathered from an event which is commingled with the information collected about other supporters. In a poorly functioning data ecosystem, each pool of data stands alone with little or no interconnectedness.

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Tags: Databases, IT Management, NTEN, Software

The Chronicle of Philanthropy isn't known for giving away money, but for talking about how to get it. They've come up with a contest to benefit a few lucky nonprofits. Here's the deal:

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Tags: fund, Fundraising, Marketing

What: Another in The Chronicle of Philanthropy's series of online discussions: How to Use Facebook Causes to Promote Your Nonprofit Group

When: Tuesday, October 13, at 12 noon, Eastern time

Where: http://philanthropy.com/live/2009/10/facebook/

How Much: Free

Description:

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Tags: Online Fundraising, Social Media, Web 2.0