Robert L. Weiner: Nonprofit Fundraising Technology Consulting » Web

Pinterest and privacy

Robert — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:00:03 +0000

I was planning to check out Pinterest to see what the buzz is about, but their privacy policy gives me the creeps. I can only sign up by linking a Pinterest account to my Facebook or Twitter account. The description on the Twitter link page says this allows them to:

Read Tweets from your timeline.
See who you follow, and follow new people.
Update your profile.
Post Tweets for you.

It's really no consolation that the app doesn't:

Access your direct messages.
See your Twitter password.

The Facebook signup page isn't nearly as informative. I couldn't figure out exactly which data the app would have access to or how it would use that data. The signup page says "We NEVER post without your permission." Either they do post Tweets for me or they don't. That should be simple to explain.

I don't want an app following new people for me, or posting on my behalf. The author of this article says "when I used my Facebook account to create my profile, Pinterest used my personal information to automatically have me start following common connections." I have to agree wholeheartedly with her when she says "Pinterest broke a basic tenet of online privacy: To not invasively use my online information."

What am I missing here? Or missing out on by not using Pinterest?

Predictions for Nonprofit Fundraising Technology in 2012

Robert — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:25:00 +0000

NTEN published my somewhat snarky predictions for nonprofits' use of fundraising technologies in 2012. My overall predictions are that most things will be pretty much the same as last year (and 2010 and 2009, etc.): many nonprofits will struggle with out-of-date systems. No surprise -- many will also lack the funding to replace them. But others will fail to see that technology, and people who know how to support and use technology, are necessary investments.

On the other hand, many organizations (and this by no applies just to nonprofits) will throw money and time at trendy projects without thinking about whether they're the right tools, with the right strategy, investment, support, or marketing behind them. By all means, try new things. But do it smartly. Do your homework, test, learn from others, learn from your own failures, and get better at it over time. And don't neglect what's already working for you.

Getting RSS Feeds Via Email

Robert — Sun, 16 May 2010 18:35:11 +0000

Do you want to be alerted when certain blogs or Twitter feeds are updated? The surest way for me to be sure see new items is to have them delivered as email messages.

Some blogs offer email subscriptions, but most don't. However, I found a way to do this even for feeds that don't offer email delivery by playing with these instructions for setting up a Google FeedBurner subscription for one's own web site: http://wordpress.jdwebdev.com/blog/feedburner-email/

1) First, you need to go to FeedBurner and set up an account. Once that's set up, click the My Feeds link in the upper-right corner.

2) Next, you need the RSS feed address for the page you want to track. Open a new tab or browser window, find the page you want to track and look for an RSS logo or link. I'll use Leah Garchik's Twitter feed of public eavesdropping as an example. On her Twitter page http://twitter.com/leahgarchik there's a link in the lower right corner saying "RSS feed of leahgarchik's tweets". Clicking on that link takes me to http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/70746464.rss

3) Copy the RSS feed URL, go back to FeedBurner's My Feeds page, and paste the URL into the box labeled Burn a feed right this instant. Click Next.

4) You should see a page saying Welcome! Let us burn a feed for you. Click Next.

5) You should see a page saying Congrats! Your FeedBurner feed is now live. Click the link that says Skip directly to feed management.

6) Click the tab at the top of the page that says Publicize.

7) On the left side of that page click the link that says Email Subscriptions.

Click the button that says Activate.

9) You should see a panel labeled Subscription Management. Now comes the tricky part. FeedBurner's instructions are designed for someone posting an RSS feed link on a web site. But you can skip that part by clicking the link in the middle of the page that says Preview Subscription Link…. Paste your own email address into the Email Subscription Request box and enter the wavy CAPTCHA letters. You'll get a confirmation email at the address you entered.

10) Click the verification link in the email and you're done. You'll start getting email notifications when new content is published on this feed.

Feed My Inbox — RSS feeds by email

Robert — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:44:07 +0000

Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks: I like to get information by email. I prefer listserves over online forums and email to IM. And I don't like having to look at a web page/feed reader every day to find out whether anything new has appeared on an RSS feed. I want information to come to me -- I don't want to seek it out.

I'm testing a solution that will deliver RSS updates to me via email: Feed My Inbox I'm starting with a few sites I want to track, but that are only updated occasionally. I hope that it finds the updates accurately and doesn't overwhelm me with tons of email. And I hope it stays in business -- it looks like many competitors have gone under.

I also think that www.feedburner.com (now owned by Google) will do this, but I found the instructions impenetrable.

Optimize Your Web Pages

Robert — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:59:02 +0000

Do you know about Google's Website Optimizer? It's a free tool that allows you to test how different versions of the same web page perform. The Chronicle of Philanthropy published a brief article (subscription required) describing how the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program used Website Optimizer to determine which of three versions of a web page was most effective in persuading people to sign up for information. Arcadia Campaigns' Matt Howes, writing on Care2's Frogloop blog, described the testing process:

To use [Google Optimizer], you create a web page and variations of that page that you'd like to test (for example, you might want to test if people respond better to a picture of a polar bear or a happy child on your donation page). You then set up an "experiment" on Google Optimizer where you tell it what the test pages are and what the conversion page is (such as the "thank you" page if you're testing your donation process).

If this sounds intriguing, check out the detailed instructions posted on the Wild Apricot blog and read Matt Howes' description of some of the pitfalls you might encounter (such as testing 41 shades of blue) and tips on how to avoid them.

Go forth and test!

No One Likes Your Web Site

Robert — Tue, 19 May 2009 08:59:02 +0000

Seems like everyone's taking potshots at nonprofit Web sites these days. A few weeks ago I wrote about Jakob Nielsen's study of nonprofit Web site usability. He found that 47% of the sites studied had problems relating to page and site design; users couldn't find where to make a donation on 17% of the sites; and 53% of the sites suffered from unclear or missing information and confusing terms.

Now ForeSee Results, which describes itself as a customer satisfaction measurement firm, has published the results of a study based on 2,000 respondents who rated nonprofit Web sites. Their key findings:

Jakob Nielsen Thinks Your Web Site Sucks

Robert — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:59:02 +0000

Well, maybe it doesn't exactly suck, but potential donors can't figure it out. In a recent study of nonprofit Web sites, usability guru Jakob Nielsen asked participants "what information they want to see on nonprofit Web sites before they decide whether to donate?" The most heavily requested information was:

Anatomy of My Web Site

Robert — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:22:03 +0000

Several friends who have decided to explore WordPress have asked how I built my site. Here are the steps I went through:
1) I hired a designer, Robyn Smith (http://dubbahdesign.com/). Robyn installed WP on my existing web host (dotable.com). Fortunately, they offered support for WP, since I was paid up for the year. I decided to install WP rather than use their hosting because it seemed like that gave me more control over the design and plug-ins.

2) I chose a theme. That took some research, and was easier once WP was installed in a test environment. Once WP was running on my web host I could upload a new theme and instantly see what it would look like. You can find themes at
http://wordpress.org/extend/themes
http://www.themelab.com/free-wordpress-themes/
http://www.amazingwordpressthemes.com/
http://www.wpfreethemes.com/
http://wpthemeshop.com/
The theme I liked best was a free one from wpthemeshop. However, I wanted to tweak it, so I paid them for the right to customize it.

3) I worked with Robyn to customize my chosen theme, choose colors, fonts, design the navigation, tweak the layout, etc. It went quickly. I now know enough to tweak the site myself, but sometimes need guidance from Robyn. Robyn also installed, or pointed me to, widgets that added new features, like the search box and a plug-in that pulls my blog posts from TechSoup into my site.

4) Robyn created a banner using a photo I bought from iStockPhoto.com

5) Robyn copied the content from my old site to the new one. I could have done that myself had I been more comfortable with the WP tools, and I've done all the content creation since we went live.

6) Over time I've added more features, like the blog. (While many people use WP exclusively as a blog, I'm using it for overall content management). WP isn't always intuitive, but generally the Help files or other blogs get me through it. I've had to ask Robyn for help a few times.

It's not 100% WYSIWYG - at least the way I use my site. I still need to use HTML to manage my Resources page and sometimes to tweak pages. But most of the time I use the visual editor.

Fundraising Survival Guide

Robert — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:21:53 +0000

Network for Good recently published The 2008 Online Fundraising Survival Guide: 12 Winning Strategies to Survive & Thrive in a Down Economy. This 45-page guide includes sections on avoiding "the four most common fundraising mistakes," answering the four questions required to get a donation (Why Me? Why Now? What For? and Who Says?), optimizing your web site and donation page, building your email list, and writing effective email appeals.

New Book: Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission

Robert — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:59:03 +0000

You can place your order now for Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission: A Strategic Guide for Nonprofit Leaders, which will be published in March 2009. The book was edited by NTEN's Executive Director, Holly Ross, former ED Katrin Verclas, and Special Projects Fellow Allison Levine. The authors are NTEN members (with one chapter contributed by regular bloggers and TechSoup staff, Kevin Lo and Willow Cook).

The book looks to be filled with useful and insightful information from leading experts, consultants, nonprofit managers, and technology strategists who work with nonprofits and social benefit organizations. I imagine it will be a staple on the bookshelves of nonprofit technologists, accidental techies, and IT managers for years to come.

Here's a preview of what's to come from the table of contents: