Friday, October 11, 2013

How Bad Website Design Leads to Distrust

How Bad Website Design Leads to Distrust: Look, I like a good cognitive challenge as much as anyone. But I want it in a good way, not a waste-my-time kind of way.

And that is what many websites are creating for their users. But, bad website design is not just causing impatience and irritation for your visitors, it's actually causing them to lose trust in your organization.

Comic Relief offers gift aid software to other charities

Comic Relief offers gift aid software to other charities: Comic Relief will offer its gift aid claim software to other charities for free from next week, after some charities revealed they might miss the deadline to update their systems.

The HMRC-accredited Gift Aid Interface Linked software will be available to other charities from 18 October on an open source basis, and IT managers should be able to integrate the software into their existing systems.

Sandee Jackson | The Most Exhaustive Guide EVER to free photos for your blog

Sandee Jackson | The Most Exhaustive Guide EVER to free photos for your blog: If there’s a question I’m always asked about blogging, it’s this one –

Where do I find free photos for my blog?

It’s a great question. Not all of us have the means to fork out the money for paid stock photography, and many of us also don’t have the time or the means (or even the interest) to take photos ourselves. If you’re swiping images you find through Google searches and adding them to your blog, you’re not linking with love, and you could be breaking the law!

The state of social media in associations and what to do about it – XYZ University

The state of social media in associations and what to do about it – XYZ University: We hear over and over again that associations are struggling to recruit, retain and engage young members in their organizations. And, according to Marketing General’s 2013 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, 74% of responding associations indicated that increasing member engagement is a top membership goal. Yet, according to the report, among the top three reasons cited for members not renewing is lack of engagement with the organization.

Let the games begin | The NonProfit Times

Let the games begin | The NonProfit Times: During the 2013 Bridge to Integrated Marketing conference, Jeremy Ryan of Lipman Hearne offered the idea of making fundraising fun, by applying gamification.

Gamification sounds like one of those words people make up to express some kind of bizarre concept. Actually, the word comes from an Englishman named Nick Pelling, a computer programmer and inventor, and means the use of game thinking and game mechanics in a non-game context to engage users and solve problems. It is used in applications and processes to improve user engagement, return on investment, data quality, timeliness and learning.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Social Media Gets Word Out, Rumors Still Fly | The NonProfit Times

Social Media Gets Word Out, Rumors Still Fly | The NonProfit Times: When Hurricane Katrina hot New Orleans and ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005, Twitter was still a few months from being born and Facebook was still a crawling infant. There were smartphones but they too were not yet real mobile devices.

Still, technology helped provide better communications among rescue workers and public safety officials through ad hoc wireless networks, voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP)-based phone networks, and solar- and battery-powered equipment that provided police radio capabilities.

Much has changed since then.

Skills-Third Sector launches first skills website for charities | Charity Digital News

Skills-Third Sector launches first skills website for charities | Charity Digital News: kills-Third Sector, with co-investment from UKCES Growth and Innovation Fund, is due to launch an interactive online skills platform to help charities find training to develop their workforce. It will be the first comparison site for the sector, giving charities the chance to source skills, compare offers and find training.

The first version of the platform went live this week, asking users to register

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Social media, crisis mapping and the new frontier in disaster response | Global Development Professionals Network | Guardian Professional

Social media, crisis mapping and the new frontier in disaster response | Global Development Professionals Network | Guardian Professional: Social media, crisis mapping and the new frontier in disaster response

During a crisis the large amounts of data produced can be overwhelming to analyse. Microtasking could help solve that problem by harnessing the power of the crowd

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

The move to mobile apps is bad for Do Not Track

The move to mobile apps is bad for Do Not Track: The last few years have seen a heated argument between the advertising industry and privacy advocates over Do Not Track, a technology that allows nternet users to indicate that they wish not to be tracked online. But as users increasingly access the Internet via mobile apps rather than Web browsers, the curren

How data science is helping charities save lives and their budgets — Tech News and Analysis

How data science is helping charities save lives and their budgets — Tech News and Analysis: The problem is that many of these efforts have been of the volunteer variety. Sometimes, they’re a relatively short-term affairs. A meaningful, sustained effort by nonprofit agencies to optimize their operations with data is likely going to require a serious investment in both people and technology. To butcher the old proverb: Even if they learn to fish with data, nonprofits still need to buy the right gear and get out on the water.

Tricking Out Your Donation Form | npENGAGE

Tricking Out Your Donation Form | npENGAGE: he following article originally appeared in The NonProfit Times Live from bbcon newsletter. To subscribe to a future newsletter, visit http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/enewsletters/

A donation form is one of the most important parts of a nonprofit’s website. A minimum of 7 percent of donation should come through an organization’s website. Many organizations are missing out on some good opportunities to capture online gifts.

Baltimore GiveCamp's "Code for Charity" Weekend Helps 30 Nonprofits | Virtual-Strategy Magazine

Baltimore GiveCamp's "Code for Charity" Weekend Helps 30 Nonprofits | Virtual-Strategy Magazine: his year’s Baltimore GiveCamp, an annual marathon weekend of “Coding for Charity,” will take place from Friday, October 18th through Sunday, October 20th, 2013 at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Campus in Baltimore, MD. More than 230 professionals will volunteer to help 30 nonprofit organizations accomplish technical projects that would not have otherwise been possible. Baltimore GiveCamp is the largest volunteer technology event in Maryland.

NPower Honors Top Tech Leaders at 2013 Gala - WSJ.com

PRESS RELEASE

NPower Honors Top Tech Leaders at 2013 Gala - WSJ.com: More than 500 business and nonprofit leaders joined together on Thursday night at NPower's 2013 Gala, An Evening of Powerful Connections. NPower helps nonprofits, schools and individuals build technology skills by harnessing the power of the tech community. The gala celebrates the social impact of this great work.

Monday, October 07, 2013

5 Items to Include in Online Content Posted BEFORE Your Event - Jenise Fryatt Bio | Cvent

5 Items to Include in Online Content Posted BEFORE Your Event - Jenise Fryatt Bio | Cvent:

'via Blog this'

Britons spend one in 12 waking minutes online, pushing ad spend to record high | Media | theguardian.com

Britons spend one in 12 waking minutes online, pushing ad spend to record high | Media | theguardian.com: UK web users spent an average of one in every 12 waking minutes each day online in the first six months of 2013, with advertisers spending a record �3bn targeting them with marketing messages, according to new research.

UK companies increased the amount spent on internet, smartphone and tablet advertising by 17.5% year on year to �3.04bn in the first half of the year.

New Crowdfunding Site ‘Survive the Streets’ Helps Prevent Homelessness Through Early Intervention - Press Release - Digital Journal

 PRESS RELEASE

New Crowdfunding Site ‘Survive the Streets’ Helps Prevent Homelessness Through Early Intervention - Press Release - Digital Journal: New crowdfunding website Survive the Streets (http://www.survivethestreets.org) launches to help the nearly homeless in the U.S., where the need is immediate and the payoff results in moving people towards self-sufficiency. Focusing its efforts on ‘directed giving’, where donors can pick the exact family or individual they want to help after reading their stories and seeing their faces online, Survive the Streets uses the power of technology and social networking to rally a community of donors to crowdfund items and services needed by someone facing homelessness. Working in close collaboration with existing nonprofits who submit and verify all candidates, all requests featured on Survive the Streets have been identified as an immediate obstacle that when eliminated could help prevent a downward

College students devise apps for nonprofits | The Columbus Dispatch

College students devise apps for nonprofits | The Columbus Dispatch: The OSU students were among about 70 from 11 colleges participating in the event sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co. at the bank’s massive McCoy Center at Polaris.

Chase started “Code for Good” in February. It brings together college students who major in computer science, engineering and other technology fields to devise computer software solutions to problems that social-service organizations face.

Tech nonprofit AIM finds a fit with a crowdfunding operation for artists - Omaha.com

Tech nonprofit AIM finds a fit with a crowdfunding operation for artists - Omaha.com: The crowdfunding site that supported her book about her family's experience with Alzheimer's disease has now been acquired by an Omaha organization that expects to expand its influence nationwide. AIM, a nonprofit that promotes technology careers and education, has acquired and renamed the former USA Projects, now Hatchfund, which lets donors give to artists, helping them complete projects like books, films, albums and plays.

The Stelter Company :: Social By Stelter Resources

The Stelter Company :: Social By Stelter Resources: Social by Stelter Resources

Case Studies

The George Washington University
Read how Social by Stelter created a month-long social campaign to enhance GWU's 2012 Alumni Weekend. This campaign helped build momentum for the event while creating a virtual experience for those unable to attend in person.
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