Monthly Archive for June, 2008

Victory for open use from the Legislative Counsel Committee

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 26, 2008
in issues
. 0 Comments

Last week, I headed to our state capital to testify before the Legislative Counsel Committee along with Pete Forsyth and Bart Massey.  As I mentioned in the post from last week, we were participating as public testimony in support of representatives from Public.Resource.org and Justia.org stating that the LCC should not enforce copyright on the Oregon Revised Statutes and other materials created by the state legislature and thusly removing the ability for citizens and organizations to quote passages, numbers, titles, annotations, etc.

Well, we ‘won’:  After testimony from PRO, Justia and the three of us, as well as careful and open deliberation, the Committee unanimously approved the motion to stop claiming copyright over the ORS and to discontinue the charges with Justia.

We wrote a detailed wrap up that I encourage you to read on the WikiProject Oregon blog.  We included details about the hearing itself as well as links to download testimonies and listen to the recordings.  Check it out!

Twebinar, twhat?

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 26, 2008
in events and socialmedia
. 2 Comments

This morning I participated in the first Twebinar from Radian6.  A Twebinar is a webinar as you may have experienced before with a shared screen for slide show or video, a common question box, a video feed for the presenter, etc. + a live back channel on Twitter.  It was the first in a series from the social media team; this one focusing on game changing uses of social media by companies.

The speakers focused on large for-profit companies’ examples but that doesn’t mean the lessons aren’t applicable to nonprofits as well.  Here are some take-aways and thoughts I jotted down while listening in to both the videos and Twitter chatter.

  • Social media has an equalizing effect:  It can make large organizations seem small (personal) while making small organizations seem big (participating in the conversation).
  • Often, with certain social media tools like podcasts especially, you are able to put your information and messages in front of those who are looking for it/want it, without having to know where they are—opposed to a bulk mailing, for instance, where much of the cost is wasted in sending to many people who aren’t interested.
  • Simply adopting a social media tool or a social media strategy isn’t game changing, but the community around your organization or service can be.  If the constituency is already talking, interested, or its desires for connectivity are met with your tools then it can more easily be a successful switch.
  • Many organizations hear talk about using social media tools and think, “why?” The reason is simple: The conversation about your organization, your geographic area, your issue or project arena or policy effecting any of those things IS taking place, and it would only benefit you and your community to be part of that conversation.
  • It’s okay to give away your knowledge—actually, the more knowledge, lessons learned, and ideas you give away to your community, the more you establish your organization as a leader and an expert in the field (thus gaining more supporters, more donors, and more people engaged around your issue).

(You can read the responses from participants using the hashtag (#tweb) or title by look at this summmize.com page.)

I hope to expand on some of my thoughts from the Twebinar soon as well.  If you want to check it out and register for an upcoming Twebinar, check out the Radian6 Twebinar website.

What kind of questions arise for your organization when considering social media options?

More thoughts on Millenials

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 23, 2008
in socialmedia
. 2 Comments

Last month I shared some brief thoughts about the changing environment of nonprofits per the characteristics of Millenials.

A few weeks ago, Allison Fine participated in a live chat with the Chronicle of Philanthropy to discuss the topic of Engaging Millenials in Social Causes.  Quite a few people participated in the live discussion on the C of P website during the hour-long virtual event.  To reflect on some of the ideas and questions I raised in that previous post, I asked Allison:

How do you view the relationship between Millenials and older generations IN social media? Positive, negative, linear, hierarchical, leaders/followers, individuals, mentors/teachers, etc. And, do you think this relationship affects the conversations that nonprofits are trying to listen to, interact with, and learn from? Thanks!

I was thinking a lot about the way interactions and relationships between Millenials and those of older generations could effect the way organization adopt or integrate social media tools into their work.  Allison’s response was:

Hi, Amy, thanks for your question and the interesting thoughts on your blog last week. We provide astonishingly few opportunities for Millennials and older generations to use social media together. We’ve almost made it taboo, haven’t we? I would love to see younger people mentor older people on social media, what a great use of talents and skills! I think it would be a great way to unlock causes and organizations (again, back to provocative!) One of the most interesting aspects of Causes on Facebook is that there are so many causes for each issue. Take Darfur, for example. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Causes on Facebook dedicated to this issue. Before, in the proprietary age, people interested in this issue would have been largely locked into one or two organizations they knew about.

This is a long way to say that I think your interest in this area is right on the money and I would love to see more mentoring and more conversations between young and old people online or on Causes.org or even on Twitter (!) about issues that concern us all.

So, now I’m thinking about ways that organizations can use social media tools in a meaningful way that also allows all supporters (Millenials and beyond) to interact with each other.  How does your organization create places, on or offline, for supporters of all ages to interact or spread your work on behalf of the organization (fundraising, communications, etc.)?

You can read the other questions and answers from the Chronicle of Philanthropy live discussion with Allison Fine on the C of P website, here.

Report on mobiles used for activism

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 23, 2008
in mobile
. 1 Comment

MobileActive.org is a terrific resource for all things mobile in the nonprofit and activism sector.  They just released How to Use Mobile for Polling and Engagement.  My favorite part of this resource and some others is the great use of case studies to help illuminate the full picture.  Mobiles, especially in the US, are a new environment for nonprofit messaging, so these case studies really help put into perspective questions and answers, even before they come up, around costs, approaches, audience, etc.

Another great highlight:

Mobile Polling Campaign in 10 Steps:

1. Decide if you will hire a mobile vendor or go the do-it-yourself method.

2. If using a vendor, they will provide you with a short code and its platform that lets you track poll results.

3. Design your polling question and answers carefully.

4. Test the poll.

5. Craft a mobile marketing strategy to advertise the poll.

6. Integrate the poll with your website and current campaigns.

7. Set up your web site and test it.

8. Share the results.

9. Follow-up with people who responded to the poll.

10. Evaluate results.

11. Repeat.

Read more about these 10 steps and about using mobiles for polling and engagement on the Mobile Active wiki.

Networking for Success: Beth’s turn!

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 23, 2008
in community and events
. 1 Comment

A couple weeks ago, I had a chance to mentor for the Networking for Success project which helps teach African women about web 2.0 tools and how they can utilize the Internet in their work.  It is a great opportunity to facilitate learning using the very tools they are learning about!

This week is Beth Kanter’s turn as mentor with the topic of Effective Networking Online.  You can check out her post and follow along during her week.

Beth is a terrific mentor for the topic and the project.  Her first post on the Networking for Success blog for this week is a great online networking primer for anyone to refer to.  I recommend you check it out and stay tuned this week as the participating women learn more and engage via the blog with their own thoughts, questions, and ideas.

Have you ever participated in a learning process which required you to utilize the very skills you were learning?

The philosophical side of connec+ipedia

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 23, 2008
in otherblogs and wiki
. 0 Comments

June 10th saw the public launch of connec+ipedia, a wiki+database tool that I have been working on for the last 18+ months with the Meyer Memorial Trust.  As much as I enjoy talking about the functionality and possibilities that exist with this new kind of wiki, I think it is also important to recognize such a tool has been offered to the community for free by a private foundation.

It’s great to see more and more foundations adopting policies around open source software and grantmaking and using/developing with open source themselves.  I wrote about some of the decision-making around connec+ipedia as a guest spot over at Tactical Philanthropy.

Head over there to read and comment on what you think about this process and project.

Survey Monkey now accessible

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 23, 2008
in survey
. 1 Comment

Have you used Survey Monkey to create online surveys before?  I have myself and have seen nonprofits use the free tool to survey members about programs, priorities, and ideas, poll website visitors about a topic, or even better understand the field.

Survey Monkey just announced that it is now 508 compliant!  This means that the surveys you create are accessible by those with disabilities.  You can read more about the 508 law here.  Survey Monkey is the only free survey tool to meet these standards.

Have you ever used the tool? Do you have a constituency that would benefit from this new functionality?

Testifying for the public domain

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 18, 2008
in issues
. 3 Comments

Tomorrow I will be headed down to Salem with many others to testify in front of the Legislative Council Committee. A friend working hard on this issue, Pete Forsyth, has a great explanation on the current situation:

The topic: whether or not the laws that we, the people of Oregon write are in the public domain, or whether the State can prevent their republication by insisting on licensing arrangements.

You can read the rest of his post here.

This all came about a few months ago when a website that publishes state laws free of charge (not even any advertising) in a standard format was issued a take down notice from the LCC, citing a law that gives them authority to decide ownership of various works of the state government, and local governments within the state, including the Revised Statutes. A California-based nonprofit (Public Resource) is leading the advocacy counter and will be at the hearing tomorrow.

If you are an Oregonian and want to weigh in, feel free to contact members of the Committee with your thoughts, or leave comments here for me to relay tomorrow.

Thanks!

Office hours

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 16, 2008
in events
. 0 Comments

Did you ever visit a teacher during their “office hours”— when they were prepping for class but available for questions, ideas, conversations, etc.? I did, on a few occasions, and it really changed my perception and relationship with those teachers away from traditional and hierarchical towards a friend, peer, ‘real person.’ When it comes to technology or new media questions, many people are intimidated to jump in the conversation and be THAT person who asks the ‘dumb’ question.

Well, just like using office hours in school, where no question is dumb and real friendships are made, NTEN is offering virtual office hours for your technology needs!

I operate online office hours during the day for my employer and have enjoyed the questions and opportunity to share ideas and help. I have encountered things from using a tool to conducting a video contest. It’s been a treat!

You can drop by an office hour that fits your question area and get real-time answers. Check out the schedule!

Let me know if you have questions, comments, ideas, or anything else - this blog is kind of like a 24/7 office hour, too!

Foundations should tell a different story

Published
by
Amy Sample Ward
on June 16, 2008
in storytelling
. 0 Comments

Last week, I read a post from Inside Philanthropy called Foundations need to tell their story better.  It discusses the idea that foundations aren’t doing a good enough job telling the world about all the wonderful and diverse things they do.  It is a good idea and one that applies to many, many organizations, not just foundations.  I think the best part, though, didn’t come until the very last sentence: “foundations must do a better job telling their story, and helping the groups they support tell their own story.”

I think that if foundations want to really show the diversity and greatness of their investments (grants, PRIs, MRIs, etc. are all investments in one way or another), they should tell the story of those they are investing in—the nonprofits.

A great way to start telling the story of foundation grantees is to create a virtual tour of your programs.  Instead of text-heavy program descriptions, incorporate photos and videos of funded programs to highlight success as well as provide examples of the funding areas.  Many foundations list grantees on their website; if yours does, there should be links to the program/project/organization and a way to follow up with the program/project/organization contact so others looking to do similar work or get an understanding for the foundation’s focus can contact grantees.

Just a couple quick thoughts.  I’d love to hear yours!  Do you work for a nonprofit that has been featured in some way by a granter?  How did it feel?  What effect did it have on the organization or the foundation (to your knowledge)?