Wikis, Skype and Webinars, oh my–Staff Development Solutions Part One

To many of those I network with online (either by reading & posting to blogs or via Twitter) –the three words in the title are routine: 

Wikis, Skype and Webinars. 

But for you nonprofit execs trying to manage agencies on a shoestring, one or more of these may be meaningless.  After all, these terms didn’t even exist a few [...]

Appeal of social media depends on fit with organizational goals–4 Areas of Focus

There’s a lot of discussion about whether “social networks” have seen their best days, citing things like declining unique visitors, time spent on site, and general grumbling (esp. about whether one can truly ever back out of Facebook) .  You might ponder what this portends, especially for nonprofits. 
If “Social Networking” means linking people to each other in [...]

When Wikis Trump Email

Glad I discovered Stewart Mader yesterday.  What drew me was a discussion of wiki versus email on Day 2 of his series, “21 Days of Wiki Adoption.”
Last month, I wrote how email might not be going away anytime soon, and I stick with that.  But having held jobs where I’d leave my desk for a meeting, returning to find 100 emails, I know there [...]

Risks, rewards involved in adopting new business models–even in Web 2.0

A couple of “down” days with a cold followed by watching the Superbowl led me to ponder new business models and web 2.0. 
As you recall, the Superbowl was played at University of Phoenix’s stadium.  UOP was one of the first educational institutions to adopt the distance learning model.  The upside to pushing the envelope is their phenomenal growth and still cutting-edge [...]

Social Media in Action 2: Pedal to the Metal for America’s Giving Challenge

On a post last week,  I reported on Social Media In Action, where Beth Kanter’s passion for kids in Cambodia stood to benefit from participation in the online fundraising contest sponsored by America’s Giving Challenge.   Beth’s passion is for The Sharing Foundation, which is benefiting from her networking on Twitter and her blog. 
The contest is intented [...]

Are “late” adopters “twits?”

At least I am. 
I confess, I’m “late” with getting on board with Twitter (ok…it launched in late 2006; only in the cyberworld is this late).  Lots of reasons: 

Concern with time management 

 Already have plenty of work flow interruptions

Too busy to take the time regarding how it all works. 

Not sure if there was anyone to tweet with [...]

Social Media In Action

I haven’t been blogging long, and although I have a depth of experience in communications and a “gut” instinct on what works, there’s still a lot to learn.  One great source has been Beth Kanter’s blog and wiki.  The great thing about social media is that this assistance comes “free” (okay, I retract that, there’s the [...]

BAM: Board Buy-in for Social Media, Part Two

In my previous post, you began to lay the groundwork for board signoff on your web 2.0 initiatives.  
It’s a myth that boards won’t support (increased) usage of web 2.0 technology.  They are simply unfamiliar with the potential of what exists.  They may have seen their teenager use MySpace or a school blog. Your job is to connect the dots. Ultimately, they are accountable for the financial well-being of [...]

BAM#1: BAM your Board of Directors

Yesterday, I made this comment in response to others on Ken Goldstein’s blog:
In a perfect world, even smaller nonprofits have some semblance of a strategic plan, signed off on by their board of directors. Web2.0 usage would be integrated into the plan (in general terms-I don’t want to indicate micro-management or, heaven forbid, sound too [...]

BAM, breaking down barriers that keep nonprofits from taking advantage of social media

In a swirl of links only the blogosphere could manufacture, Beth Kanter brought to my attention (aren’t feeds great?) a post by Ken Goldstein on why Web 2.0 is important to small nonprofits.  I couldn’t agree more, but posting a comment to his blog got me to thinking some deep thoughts.  
As I look around at [...]