RSS Feeds
Email Template Shortcut Buttons
A client of ours got frustrated with having to click on Send an Email, then Select a Template, and finally Select the right Contact(s) before hitting Send on a very common type of email. The email was still sent on a discretionary basis by staff so we couldn’t automate it with a workflow rule. The client [...]
Deleting Guides from Your InDesign Document
I know that lots of use work with Graphic Designers. We can’t all be design experts. Or you may have inherited InDesign documents from a previous staff member, etc. And lets just say that the way the did things doesn’t quite mess with your style. One of those migh, just might, be the use of guides. I’ve opened up some documents where the author had gone whole hog with the guides. I mean they were everywhere! I could hardly see the content on the page through the forest of guides. Now if this has ever happened to you, let me share a little trick that the folks over at ...
TXT Messaging Isn't Just for the Kids Anymore
Flickr Photo: BrownpauIn November, I was lucky enough to sit on a panel on text messaging for advocacy at the Convio Summit. My co-panelists, Matt Wilson from Mobile Commons and Kristin Kich of NARAL Pro Choice America both had some great case studies about using mobile to build lists and generate actions.There were lots of great questions during the session, including the very appropriate one about just who is texting anyway. Much like social media, there's an assumption out there that the only people who are texting are kids. That was probably true as recently as 2006/07. But it's ...
Office Greening for the Holidays: Closing Up Shop
If your organization is like many other offices in the U.S., your office will be closed for several days during these next two weeks. Here are a ten items to check off your list while shutting down for those days. In addition to helping the environment, you will also save money on electricity and prolong the life of many of your office electronics. 1. Shut down all computers; don't just put them in sleep mode. Computers in sleep mode still use a lot of energy. 2. Consider turning off servers that will not be used. Obviously, you can't shut down the server running your Web site or email, but ...
Microsoft Office at Macworld
Sad as it is for some Mac fanatics, Apple's decision to pull out of the Macworld conference after 2009 is probably a good sign. It shows that Apple has grown beyond its niche, trade-show market. I hope that the company will grow in other ways too: redoubling its focus on building secure, elegant software and hardware, possibly at the expense of a few gimmicky "One more thing..."-style announcements. One of my favorite things to come out of last year's Macworld was Microsoft's A Day at the Office. Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (MacBU) hosted a day-long presentation of the new ...
10 Resolutions to Green Your Technology
1. Set a green goal for the year & encourage everyone in your office to do the same. This year, our chief operating officer, Manning Sutton, asked each staff member to set a green goal for themselves and each manager to set a green goal for their department. These could be something as small as remembering to turn of their monitor each night to something as large as cutting the department’s printing in half. We have found that providing incentives or making it a competition between departments resonates with our staff members. Check out our forums for other green goals that we have ...
Online Learning Spotlight: GrantStation, Community Technology, Storytelling and Social Media
Are you too busy to leave your desk to learn a new skill or idea? Is your budget so tight that covering the cost of traveling makes attending training sessions impossible? If this describes you and your organization this list is for you! Take advantage of these low cost training solutions that you can participate in from the comfort of your own desk. If you offer online seminars and would like to be included on this list, contact ols@techsoup.org for more information. How Nonprofit Organizations Can Utilize Web 1.0 on a Shoestring, hosted by DIOSA | Communications Tuesday, January 6, 10 a.m. ...
Today Only - QuickBooks Pro 2009 Free
Our contact at Intuit just let us know that today only (Monday, December 22), QuickBooks Pro 2009 is free after rebate at Staples. You can purchase the product at your nearest Staples store or online.
This is good news for any organizations that aren't eligible for an Intuit donation or have already received their donation for the year and need another copy of QuickBooks.
Project for Awesome
I am a child of a certain time and place, a time and place where "dude" and "awesome" were considered perfectly acceptable words. I've weaned myself of "dude" -- except in reference to The Dude, of course -- but I can't kick my "awesome" habit. Fortunately, neither can the vlogbrothers. This week, they're launching the second Project for Awesome, in association with YouTube. Your challenge? Make a video asking your friends, colleagues, college roommates, and people on the street to support a cause you care about. The brothers will be ...
NTEN Leadership Series with John Kenyon
If one of your New Year's resolutions is to hone your skills on nonprofit technology, then here's a series to help you accomplish that goal. John Kenyon, a nonprofit consultant and overall technology guru, is holding a bunch of webinars in the early new year on topics from basic-level understanding of what's what, to more advanced training sessions on exciting topics like budgeting. OOOH!
Here are more details from the host himself:
John Kenyon is repeating his hugely successful series of webinars on technology for nonprofits in January and February of 2009.
Home for the Holidays: NTEN Office Closed, Dec. 22 - 26
Flickr Photo: Trey Ratcliff
All three of our bustling offices will be closed the week of December 22nd. For Karl and Annaliese, I assume that means closing a door and ignoring their computers -- or at least their in-boxes.
Here in Portland, we've already had our snow, so we're looking forward to the cooking, and the overeating, and the enjoying of life with friends and family.
Happy holidays from all of us to you and yours.
Consider LED Holiday Lights this Season
If you are going to use strings of holiday lights this season for your home or office, please consider using newer LED versions.
- They are greener because they save electricity, which means a lower carbon footprint
- They are safer since they are cooler
- You will save money on lower electricity costs ($0.54 vs. $24) and replacement costs since they last longer (est. 20x)
- So even though the initial cost is higher, it should be off-set by these lower costs.
Beloware some calculations to help you do the math on the electricity costs:
Webinar Series: Storytelling and Social Media
Stories that wrap your audience in and keep them listening will do wonders for your work. What is a story if it isn't heard? The magic of the social Web is making it easier and easier to get our stories out to more than our core audiences and allowing us to drawn in potential new listeners like never before.
Perhaps, you have heard a podcast or overheard someone talking about tagging or social bookmarking, but do you know how to make these tools work for telling your story?
Adopt a Computer Program for Public Libraries
On the MaintainIT blog, guest blogger Bess Haile has a delightful story about her library's new approach to budgeting for public computers. Her library's Adopt-a-Computer program is a simple way for friends of the library to show their support for free computer access.
Even more important than the program was the realization that led Bess to it: that if public computers could stay as a permanent part of the library's services, maintenance and upgrades needed to budgeted for, not just handled on an emergency basis.
Should you get Salesforce Certified?
Many Nonprofit System Administrator level users are wondering if they should get Salesforce Certified. This is actually a tricky questions because the Certification definitely carries value to the individual holding it, however, it can also prove to be of great value to the organization in validating the skill levels of their administrator(s).
Before you jump into [...]
Inbox N'at
Flickr Photo: DunechaserI'm shovelling my way out of both snow and email this week. The snow part has been humorous (because Portlanders don't do snow). The email in-box project has also been surprisingly fun: I found quite a few tidbits -- or this n'at, as Pittsurghers would say -- worth sharing. Here are some of the things I came across that you might also enjoy: Batgirl fights for equal pay. This is a great example of nonprofit video done right. Congrats to the Center for American Progress. The Security Quiz. I'll admit, I couldn't answer a few of these. Bad Geek! ...
So What Exactly Is an MD5 Signature?
Update: Added instructions for Mac OS users. No, it is not an ultra-secret wing within Britain's MI6, but it definitely has to do with making the Internet safer. Quite simply, it is a method by which a "key," in the form of a 32 digital hexadecimal number, can be generated for any given file. When you need to download a large file, such as some of the donations offered on the TechSoup Stock, you want to make sure that the downloaded file is exactly how it was offered and not compromised in any way during its transport. This also would deter and prevent hackers from attempting to ...
Greening Your Holiday
When I started to explore tips and ideas on green gift giving and greening up the Winter holidays, I couldn’t believe the amount of information out there on this subject. Here are some of the sites and gift ideas that I liked that can also help reduce our impact on the environment. Waste Less this Holiday Season Green Christmas Ideas: Celebrate Holidays in Less Commercialized Ways by Sandra Williams. This is a lovely article that has common sense tips on green gift ideas like "give an herb garden kit to a favorite gardener, make your own gift certificates that give someone a free ...
Geeks + Bacon + Volunteering = Awesome
You may have read about my intense love of all things bacon. I talk about it some(all the)times. Imagine my great joy upon learning that Reddit is hosting a fantastic resource to connect volunteers of all stripes with organizations that need them this holiday season -- and those volunteers could win some BACON! The Feed a Need project is pretty simple. If you're interested in volunteering, just fill out the form to be entered into the database of awesome. If you are a nonprofit, you can add yourself to the list of orgs that volunteers can serve. By volunteering 2 hours before Feb ...
Firstgiving: Fundraising as Conversation
The thing I find myself repeating again and again on this blog is that new media and social networking are not ends in themselves. Your nonprofit's goal isn't to make the coolest advertisements or to have a presence on the most social networking sites. Your goal isn't to gain the most email subscribers; it's not even to receive the most donations. Your goal is to carry out your nonprofit's mission as effectively as you can. Or, as Holly put it more succinctly a few weeks ago, it's not about Twitter. It's about friends. A donation should be the beginning of a conversation, not the end. That's ...
