Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Children's Museum Uses Smartphones to Educate Adults - Social Philanthropy - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Children's Museum Uses Smartphones to Educate Adults - Social Philanthropy - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "If Karen S. Coltrane, chief executive of the Children’s Museum of Richmond, had her way, one of the museum’s education experts would accompany every family that walked in the door. But while she laughs at the thought that the Virginia museum would ever have that kind of money, Ms. Coltrane thinks she might have found the next best thing—with a decidedly lower price tag.

The museum has incorporated QR codes—a barcode that smartphones use to link to online information—into four of its main exhibits. And even though the organization has no technology workers, its marketing staff members figured out how to create the codes and make the idea work."

Monday, May 23, 2011

Colorado Nonprofit Offers Aerial Views of a Changing Landscape | Paul Andersen | Travel & Outdoors | NewWest.Net

Colorado Nonprofit Offers Aerial Views of a Changing Landscape | Paul Andersen | Travel & Outdoors | NewWest.Net: "But thanks to a new partnership, not everyone has to pay for a coveted spot, limited to four at a time, in EcoFlight founder Bruce Gordon’s single-engine Cessna.

Gordon’s “virtual tours” will soon provide links to Google Earth that he says will convey the impact of being on board.

The collaboration with Google Earth began in 2009 between Gordon and Wally Macfarlane of Geographics in Logan, Utah. Their first application focused on a survey of Montana’s beetle-infested white bark pine. A subsequent aerial study of pollution and trash in the lower Missouri River expanded the approach, coupling aerial photos with GPS locations."

12 Social-Media Best Practices, Part 2 : Page 1 of 2 : FundRaising Success

12 Social-Media Best Practices, Part 2 : Page 1 of 2 : FundRaising Success: "reate meaningful relationships
Now that you’re building a nice-sized following and engaging with the right crowd, you should focus on building relationships that are useful to others. Sticking with the disaster-relief example, if you were engaged in helping those affected by a natural disaster in New Zealand, then you could help others by providing them up-to-the-minute news, pointing them to resources that would allow them to help or participate in the relief efforts, and creating conversations with others that help draw attention to the cause. By being a resource to your community and helping others, you quickly build a great reputation online."