Archive for October, 2007

Netsquared coming to the UK

A new UK initiative for web-enabled social innovation began last week with a discussion to set up Netsquared in the UK, loosely based on the US Netsquared conference and community, which has now led to a host of meetups and other activities through which tecchies and activists find common cause and do good stuff for social benefit.
Read the full story at David Wilcox’s Designing for Civil Society website.

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Using Twitter for conferences and consultation

I first met Tim Davies, whilst completing the 31 Days to a Better Blog challenge and also on Twitter. He regularly writes about his work in young people’s participation, non-profit technology and social change on his blog site.

Whilst completing the challenge, and connecting with other new friends also doing the challenge tasks, I learn’t about how others were using Twitter to a new level at conferences. I now use some of the learning I discovered in being able to participate in new ways with events using Twitter as my tool to be able to connect with others even if I am located on the other side of the globe.

Last week Tim wrote an article on his blog about using Twitter as a tool for texting and consultation at a recent conference to collect and share instant feedback throughout the event direct from people’s mobile phones.

On Tims blog he wrote about how he used Twitter at the conference for feedback:

“We set up a conference twitter account, and asked delegates to follow our account via mobile phone (by sending two sign-up text messages).
Throughout the event we were able to send instant text messages to all delegates - letting them know about what was coming up next, and inviting feedback. And delegates were able to text in their reflections, questions and feedback - with their views instantly appearing on the ‘twitter wall’ projected up on the main room, and on tickers running along the top of each powerpoint presentation being given.”

Tim also wrote about how twitter can be used for consultation and participation. Do head over to Tim’s Blog for the full article where you can read the fully story and also download a briefing paper for using Twitter at conferences. Don’t forget to check out his other articles too, especially the new series of simple social media sheets he’s created.

Twitter is one of my favourite networking tools, and I hope to see it being used more widely for conferences, events, participation and consultations here in the UK further.

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Will organisations use Facebook here in the UK?

Newspapers and radio seem to be covering the growth of Facebook almost daily, the social utility networking tool which enables you to connect with friends and join in with interest groups.

How many voluntary and community organisations here in the UK are using Facebook as a tool to connect and share good practice with others?
Paul Webster from the ICT Hub has been pondering how we can get more involvement and participation with social media and networking tools amongst the nonprofit sector here in the UK. I look forward to seeing his ideas as they unfold.
Later in this article, there’s a useful link to a new group especially for nonprofit organisations using Facebook in the UK.

I use Facebook to connect with like minded colleagues and old friends and also as a resource to ‘micro-blog’ useful news and websites of interest. I wrote about my early experiences of Facebook in an article back in August which has some useful links to adopting tools like Facebook within your organisation.

Yesterday, the Newsweek website published an article about Facebook-ing Philanthropy - A viral application on the popular social networking site hints at the future of giving. It details the growth in nonprofits using Facebook as a way to reach and connect with supporters using Facebooks ‘Cause’ application.

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Wired Fundraising - technology making fundraising ‘good to go’

Network for Good has produced a new study report - The Wired Fundraiser: How Technology is Making Fundraising Good to Go (downloadable as a PDF document). The article gives a great insight into what a ‘wired fundraiser’ is and how fundraisers and those passionate about a cause can use the internet to help raise awareness and funds.

Fundraising for non profits can be achieved by using technology to spread the word about your cause. Beth Kanter recently and very successfully used social networking tools with the aim of sending two young people to college in Cambodia (you can still donate!)

Key findings from the report:

• When Wired Fundraisers Talk, People Listen: The messenger matters even more than the message.
• Not Every Wired Fundraiser Is a Champion: The successful Wired Fundraiser has a relatively rare combination of true passion and a means to lend a sense of urgency to their cause.
• Technology Makes a Difference: Widgets and social networks make existing personal fundraisers more effective.
• Smart Charities Embrace the Wired Fundraiser: And they find their own, “inner” Wired Fundraiser.

The report is only 8 pages long and gives some great examples with statistics of use of online giving tools such as SixDegrees, ChipIn, Firstgiving and JustGive.org, and shows the increase in response rate compared to traditional online fundraising methods.

The report also gives tips and inspiration, I recommend that you pass a copy of this report to your trustees and team to see and learn how using social media tools can help benefit your fundraising campaigns.

If you are in a non profit organisation and are planning to use social media tools or are already using them for fundraising, I’d love to hear from you to hear about your experiences. Leave a comment!

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How our information and knowledge management has evolved

For those that can access and watch video clips, head over to YouTube to see a short video exploring the changes in the way we find, store, create, and share information. Information R/evolution was created by Michael Wesch.
Thanks to Luis Suarez of the the Elsua Blog for spotting this!

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Women working in non-profit technology - are we visible?

A couple of days ago, Beth Kanter put a shout out to help her with a session she’s running at the forthcoming She’s Geeky Conference. Her session will be directed at women who might be working in the corporate or business sector and are thinking of switching to the nonprofit sector. Beth asked a series of questions including:

• What are the opportunities and challenges of being the techie in a nonprofit organisation?
• If you’re a techie in the nonprofit sector, how and why did you land in the nonprofit sector?

Head over to Beth’s article to see some interesting responses, you can add your comments there too, and I’d welcome any comments you may have too on my blog. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of the discussions that happen at the conference and hope to see events like this for women in technology over here in the UK one day soon.

Interestingly, the results of Web Design Survey which took place in April 2007. A List Apart and An Event Apart conducted a survey of people who make websites. Close to 33,000 web professionals answered the survey’s 37 questions, providing the first data ever collected on the business of web design and development as practiced in the U.S. and worldwide.

As soon as the results were published I was keen to see the outcomes. I wasn’t surprised to see the low numbers of women responding to the survey, and have seen some great conversations about women in web design and also the nonprofit angle about these results unfolding.

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New resource to help use the media to find your volunteers

With a rising interest in Web 2.0 and media skills amongst non profit organisations here in the UK, many groups are learning that there are a variety of ways available to communicate and market the work of their organisation to potential supporters and funders. One area which many small groups have difficulties with, is knowing how to find new ways to attract new volunteers for their cause.

Volunteer Genie is a bright and welcoming resource for organisations to help them to learn how to use the power of media to help find and recruit volunteers.

As well as information sections on understanding volunteers, and working with traditional media forms such as radio and with journalists, the website helps to guide you with inspiration to create your own campaign. The site shows successful case studies of charities who have used innovative ways to reach out to new audiences with a variety of media as their tools to find new volunteers.

The section on New Media Adventures is also really informative and well worth a look to understand how you can use social networking and blogs to share your stories. It also gives guidance to other web 2.0 tools so you can make your own news too.

I really feel that 2008 will be a great year to see lots of innovations with use of modern technologies to help with communications and information sharing for non profits here in the UK.

Many of the tools available can be used quickly and easily without lots of technical knowledge or cost which is a big plus. Small and under resourced organisations now have an ever growing supply of these tools, and communities to tap into for support and knowledge to help them to spread their message.

All they need now is a strategy to help guide them in what they plan to do and how to do it. Thankfully, the Volunteer Genie website offers advice in doing just that!

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Video’s of assistive technology in use

Take a look at the AssistiveWare website to see videos on assistive technology in use for computer accessibility. Providing a useful insight and understanding, the video’s show real life experiences by users using a wide range of technologies, enabling them to work, enjoy their leisure and manage their daily life with the use of computers.
Source: 456 Berea Street.

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My Environment - Blog Action Day

Across the globe, bloggers are writing articles for Blog Action Day. This years theme for the event is to write about the environment. I’m not going to write about global warming, carbon footprints, green technology, video conferencing or social communities on the net, but write a bit about ‘my’ environment instead.

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Bristol Wireless technology travels far…

After a plea for help, Bristol Wireless has sent a laptop to Sarajevo to help a young civil war victim to enable him to turn his life around and help him gain the qualifications to find work. Read the story to see how they are using free and open source software to help Amir.

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