TechSoup Community

Blog Post: Online Community Meetup Recap: The Human-Centered Aspects of Community Management

Susan_Chavez — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:58:00 GMT

In April, the Online Community Meetup welcomed Marc Siegel, manager of customer and community at IgniteGT / Simraceway.

Siegel’s talk, Human-Centered Aspects of Community Management, looked at tactics communities managers can employ to bring a human touch to build and maintain online communities. Siegel's lessons for community management drew on his experience managing communities of all kinds, having worked with companies such as NASA and IBM.

Online Community Is About Relationships

Siegel began by outlining the basics of online communities, namely, that they grow out of interest in a topic and flourish because of relationships.

Online relationships are built if all interactions happen with the recognition that behind an avatar/handle lies a person. Building online communities requires giving members opportunities to talk openly about themselves and be recognized.

Providing “about me” forms with open-ended fields and recognizing unique, or newly updated profiles are ways to do this. Communities also grow because there is genuine communication between members, volunteer leaders, and community managers. Productive dialogue requires honesty, openness to constructive criticism, and inclusion.

Recognize Where Members Are and How They Can Participate

Members of a community are not all the same – they go through a cycle defined by their participation. Recognizing where your members are at, what their needs are, and encouraging their growth are important for community managers. The first level is the visitor, who has not fully committed to the community. Turning them into a novice, the next level, requires special treatment such as an official welcome or gift.

Welcoming new members is a good role for a regular – an active community member who can be entrusted to serve as volunteer leader. Over time, active members will become elders – members that should be especially recognized and respected. Elders are experienced members who help transmit the community’s culture and share knowledge to all other members.

Seed a Community

However, before you have active or elder community members you have to create the community. Our real world natures inform our online interactions – and like the buffet line at a wedding, no one wants to go first. To grow a new community, managers will have to seed the community. Seeding a community is possible through creating and answering questions in forums and/or creating dummy accounts to help spur initial discussion.

Creating some interaction eases comfort and encourages conversation. Providing open-ended answers, asking questions, and not responding immediately so members can help each other can also encourage conversation.

In a healthy online community, members can be relied upon for input. Community input can help make the community better, and even guide product design. However, community input doesn’t always tell the whole story – this is where analytics are useful.

Your analytics give an unbiased account of what resonates and what doesn’t work. Relying on analytics may seem counter-intuitive but is not because it gives a sense of how the entire community behaves. Relying solely on input can overshadow quieter or newer members of the community who don’t feel comfortable openly expressing themselves.

If you missed the this Online Community Meetup, please visit our online page and RSVP for a future meetup.

Blog Post: Nonprofits Live: Collaborative Storytelling Recap

Susan_Chavez — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:03:00 GMT

The TechSoup Digital Storytelling Campaign kicked off with a special edition of Nonprofits Live on the topic of collaborative storytelling. Collaborative storytelling refers to working with a team, sometimes distributed, to produce video.

Featured on this edition of NPLive were:

Aaron Bramly, Co-founder and Director of Communication/Education for Lights. Camera. Help
Windy Borman, filmmaker at DVA Productions
Thomas Grasty, Co-founder of Stroome
David Evan Harris, Founder and Executive Director of the Global Lives Project

Starting a Collaborative Project

Bramley spoke to getting a project off the ground, which can be difficult because of the many pieces that go into creating a video. Bramley suggests that a video project's stakeholders develop a video production grid to get everyone on the same page. A production grid outlines:

What will happen in a video from moment to moment
What will be required to create those shots
Where those pieces will come from

Some production teams will use storyboarding, but a production grid is helpful for teams that don't have illustrative or design skills. A production grid is easy to produce in a collaborative tool like Google Docs and is easily shared via email or file sharing.

Building a Team

Borman's experience has taught her that team building is important to collaborative storytelling. If you need to look outside of your organization for collaborators, look to your network. If you cannot identify anyone in your network who can help you with video production, ask someone in the network to introduce you.

When you recruit collaborators that you've never worked with for a project, look for people who have positive working relationships with other professionals. One valuable trait your collaborators should have is good communications skills. Video production requires that collaborators communicate what is wanted and needed and that they be realistic about those wants. Clear communication not only makes the task easier, it can also reduce production costs and time.

Working with Remote Collaborators

Grasty, who has a background in video production, often experienced the difficulty of collaborating with a remote production team. Grasty decided to help other video creators with Stroome, a collaborative video editing site. The site allows users to upload content — video, audio, and images — and invite others to put the pieces together. Users invite others to collaborate by creating a group; the group creator is designated the administrator. The site has social media integration to better facilitate sharing and collaboration.

The Story of the Global Lives Project

Harris rounded out the conversation on collaborative storytelling by sharing the story of the Global Lives Project. The Global Lives Project captured a day in the life of people from 10 countries. Harris was capable of traveling to only three of those countries and required collaborators for filming in the others. Working with his distributed production team required Skype, cloud storage, and email. The global production team included filmmakers, photographers, artists, architects, and designers, some of whom were volunteers.

Harris advises having patience with collaborators, especially volunteers, who all want to help and require good leadership and direction. Working well with collaborators requires playing to their strengths, as Harris did by asking multilingual volunteers to provide subtitles using the tool GotSub.

More Info

The hour ended with audience questions and links to digital storytelling tools, which can be found in the full recording. See more digital storytelling learning opportunities at the official TSDigs page.

Blog Post: Tag, You're IT! An Introduction for Technical Managers: Mentorship

Grant_Howe — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:45:00 GMT

Grant Howe is VP of research & development for Sage North America's Nonprofit Solutions business, based in Austin, Texas. Follow him on Twitter and read his first post in the Tag, You're IT! series.

I've heard a lot employees and managers talk about "needing a mentor." When I ask them what goals they are looking to accomplish with a mentor, most have no concrete answer. People find comfort in talking to others they perceive as "wise" when they are without direction or have lackluster solutions to their problems at hand. Folks want help and guidance but have trouble figuring out exactly on what.

What is a mentor and what do they do anyway? There seems to be a lot of confusion around this as well.

What Is or Isn’t Mentorship?

Wikipedia tells us the following:

Mentoring is a process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and the psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to work, career, or professional development; mentoring entails informal communication, usually face-to-face and during a sustained period of time, between a person who is perceived to have greater relevant knowledge, wisdom, or experience (the mentor) and a person who is perceived to have less (the protégé).

Interestingly enough, the entry has the following tags and sums up our global confusion about what mentoring is.

Regardless of the issues with the entry, I do like the definition. As you might expect, I have some opinions to share about what it is or isn't.

Mentoring Is

A relationship that is built on mutual respect
A two-way exchange of knowledge
A safe and comfortable zone
A personal choice about growth
An opportunity to share ideas and receive expert feedback

Mentoring Is Not

A subservient relationship
A forum for communication of authority or direction
Assigned to an individual
Coaching or corrective action between a supervisor and employee
Necessarily what you want to hear as feedback or guaranteed validation of your ideas

What Do You Want to Accomplish Through Mentoring?

Why does someone want a mentor? We are driven to seek knowledge, advice, and comfort from people we respect, but to what end? The answer is growth.

How do you want to grow yourself? Do you want to improve your leadership skills? Would you like to refine your communication skills? Maybe you'd like to handle stressful situations better or resolve conflict easier? Often, soft skills are best learned from a mentor. It's hard to learn soft skills in a classroom setting because this growth is both personal and situational. It requires focus and one-on-one attention.

Before you seek a mentor, take some time to figure out what it is that you are trying to accomplish. I'd recommend sitting down and writing your pitch on a piece of paper. Revise it until it discretely sums up how you'd like to grow. Get comfortable saying it aloud!

You now have a goal and a pitch to recruit a mentor.

Advice on Picking a Mentor

Look for a mentor who demonstrates expert skills in the area in which you want to grow and whose work you respect. Look at your pitch and try to think of people whose skills in that area you admire and would mutually enjoy talking with you. If this isn't a "fun" and comfortable experience for both of you, it's going to fizzle out quickly.

Mentoring takes time. The mentor has to be interested in making an investment in you. Can you come up with "what's in it for them" as part of the pitch? Are you doing things that the mentor would find interesting? If you can articulate what you can bring to the table in return for the mentor's investment, your chances of getting a larger time investment from the mentor grow substantially.

Some Qualities of a Good Mentor

Good listening skills
Ability to give constructive and honest feedback
Reasonable availability
Respected and accomplished

Finally

Obviously, building a relationship with someone who is successful and who you admire is in itself career building. This person can help open doors for you in the future, but as with any long-term relationship, don't rush it. Focus on building trust first, and extra career help will come later, naturally.

Be genuine, be yourself, be prepared to grow.

Blog Post: Does Microsoft Office SmartArt Make You Smarter?

elliotharmon — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:19:00 GMT

I'll be speaking in a webinar, Creating Better Presentations with Microsoft PowerPoint, on May 24 at 11 a.m. Pacific time. It's free, but be sure to sign up ahead of time. It should be a great discussion.

One of the things we'll be covering is the SmartArt feature, which Microsoft introduced with Office 2007 and improved in Office 2010. SmartArt lets you quickly transform your bulleted lists into attractive visual designs.

I'd never really used SmartArt before, so I've been trying it out in preparation for the webinar. And it's brought me to a startling realization: over the course of my career, I've wasted a lot of time building visual aids for my PowerPoint presentations.

When you build a chart or diagram in Photoshop to insert into a PowerPoint deck, you can't change the text or color scheme without going back into Photoshop. You can't even resize it too much without making the text look blurry. And since the text is inside an image, you can't search it or include it in your session outline. In short, your visual aids are stuck. That's what makes SmartArt so cool. You can quickly edit the text or change the color scheme to match your PowerPoint template.

All of this comes with a big caveat, though. SmartArt won't make you smarter. As PowerPoint Ninja bluntly put it, SmartArt is dumb.

By "dumb" I don't mean "stupid." When I refer to SmartArt as dumb, I mean […] "Not having the capacity to process data." In other words, SmartArt is not going to intelligently guide you to a diagram style that is appropriate for your content.

Have you ever seen a diagram that doesn't make any sense? We all have. The danger in a tool like SmartArt is that you might get excited by the attractive designs and forget what you're actually trying to communicate. Oh look, arrows! Are those arrows denoting a causal relationship between points, or are they just decoration?

I hope you can join us for the webinar on May 24. In the meantime, here are some worthwhile resources on PowerPoint and SmartArt.

Learn More About SmartArt Graphics: This page is a great introduction to SmartArt. It shows how to format your lists to convert them to SmartArt and offers some common sense on choosing graphics.

PowerPoint Blog: There's a lot of good information and ideas on the official blog of Microsoft's PowerPoint team. Browse the SmartArt tag for SmartArt ideas and downloadable templates.

PowerPoint 2010: Choosing SmartArt Graphics: Easy video introduction to SmartArt.

Creating Your Own Custom SmartArt: If you're an advanced user and you'd like to see how SmartArt works under the hood, then this is an interesting read. Otherwise, steer clear.

Office 2010 (TechSoup): Browse TechSoup's Office 2010 resources and, if you haven't already, find out how to request a donated copy for your nonprofit or public library.

Blog Post: American Indian Resource Center: A TechSoup Youth Organization Profile

jimlynch — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:16:00 GMT

There is a wide array of nonprofit organizations that serve the 1.6 million Native Americans in the U.S. They address high poverty, a huge epidemic of diabetes, the high school dropout rate that is double the American average, and several other issues.

The American Indian Resource Center, Inc. in Oklahoma is one of the frontline organizations that addresses these and other issues in a very interesting way – starting with the children.

I spoke with them recently about how they've used the software donations received through TechSoup to help run their programs. They've benefited particularly from getting a whole host of donations from the Microsoft Software Donation Program and Adobe Donation Program through TechSoup.

Who They Serve

The American Indian Resource Center is located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, which is the capitol of the Cherokee Nation. Among the 564 Native American tribes in the U.S. the Cherokee Tribe is the second largest, nearly as large as the Navajo Tribe in Arizona and New Mexico.

The Cherokee Nation is the largest part of the Cherokee Tribe, spanning 14 counties in the northeastern part of Oklahoma. It is one of the tribal leaders in the Native American environmental movement. They have for many years led the Inter-Tribal Environmental Council.

American Indian Resource Center’s mission is to develop culturally appropriate resources to meet the needs of Native American communities in the areas of education, health, and social services. The organization has multiple youth focused programs, has 10 employees, and supports several tribes in addition to the Cherokees in the U.S. The organization is mainly funded through federal grants from the U.S. departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services.

How IT Donations Help Meet Their Mission

I had a chance to chat with Heather Hale who is their web and publications director, and primary IT person in the organization. She is a classic accidental techie, having joined the organization 15 years ago straight out of high school. Because she had a knack for doing computer stuff, she became the de facto IT person and over time developed their infrastructure, which is now based on Microsoft Server 2008, with the help of consultants from time to time.

She mainly does marketing support though, running four web domains, running social media campaigns, and all their graphic and web design. She is a power user of Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver for her websites, InDesign for newsletters and pamphlets, and Flash for animations (all available to eligible nonprofits in the Adobe Creative Design Suite and some also individually available.)

Helping Native Kids, Using Tech

Heather is pretty proud of the work they’re doing on behalf of Native American children. Their Educational Talent Search program prepares middle and high school kids to prepare for going to college. Most Native American students do not go to college, so many Educational Talent Search kids are the first in their families to attend college.

The program serves 750 students in 14 rural schools. Heather designs Microsoft PowerPoint-based games, like the Jeopardy inspired one she did that prepares kids for OHLAP, which is a scholarship program for Oklahoma students to attend Oklahoma colleges and universities. The kids have a great time playing the games and learn about how to apply for college scholarships.

She also creates PowerPoint presentations, brochures, and flyers for their domestic violence and sexual assault prevention programs called ARRA Track and TRACES. Heather says that they are technology heavy programs.

Because they are national programs, Heather has to keep track of a traveling staff with complex scheduling. She uses Microsoft Outlook to coordinate this work, keeping track of travel and expenses for caseworkers and consultants. She’s a serious power user. She uses the other tools in Microsoft Office, but is one of those people that can do amazing things with Outlook.

Finally the other technology heavy program that American Indian Resource Center will be doing is called NATIVE, the Native American Teaming and Visual Empowerment project. This is a new program that will teach visually impaired Native Americans to use text readers and text magnifiers, which is a serious need in a high diabetes population.

It looks like Heather is right where she belongs doing this good work. Her advice to her teenage son is: “Make sure you really love what you do, and your work will not seem like a job.”

Share Your Story

What does your organization accomplish with the technology donations received through TechSoup and our donor partners?

Share your story about the impact of the donations you receive by emailing it to community@techsoup.org with "Community Story" in the subject line.

Blog Post: Upcoming Nonprofits Live on May 16: Gaming

alebez — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:15:00 GMT

Here at TechSoup, we believe game-based technologies can serve as powerful tools for advancing social action, civic engagement, and health for youth.

Come watch TechSoup get its game on in this month's interactive Nonprofits Live: Gaming webinar on Wednesday, May 16, at 11 a.m. Pacific time featuring experts and stories from organizations that have found new and innovative ways to catalyze social impact through digital games.

Featuring a lively mix of nonprofit technology guests sharing their unique perspectives on ways to harness the power of gaming as a catalyst for good, you'll hear how some organizations are using games as a platform for teaching leadership skills, problem solving, and global community building to youth.

RSVP today and join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag: #NPLive.

Expert Guests

Barry Joseph, Global Kids. Four months after Barry Joseph was born, humans first walked on the moon. Three months later, the Internet was born. The first brought us closer to the universe while the second brought us closer to each other. Barry has been pursuing the latter ever since.

Barry has directed the Online Leadership Program at Global Kids, Inc. since 2000, helping youth to acquire leadership skills and engage in efforts to address global issues through the production of digital media. Barry stopped by the Nonprofit Commons last month to discuss all the cool things he has been up to recently. You can catch the recap of that conversation here on the TechSoup blog.

Ben Stokes, Games for Change. Ben co-founded Games for Change and served as a co-director until 2007. He is currently a PhD student at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Santa Cruz, researching how digital media foster civic engagement, informal learning and activism. You can keep track of his work on his personal website.

Josephine Dorado, (@funksoup) is a social entrepreneur, educator, artist, producer, and skydiver. She was a Fulbright scholarship recipient and initiated the Kidz Connect program, which connects youth internationally via creative collaboration and theatrical performance in virtual worlds. She currently teaches at the New School and is the live events producer for This Spartan Life, a talk show inside the video game Halo. She is currently working on a curated mobile guide for alternative lifestyles.

Whether you're looking for ways to engage youth through games, or have questions about the tools and resources available to you, our guests will discuss best practices to follow in adopting gaming into your organizations ecosystem of change. We will answer your questions and share tips in a talk-show format. No high tech skills are necessary to participate: just a decent Internet connection and your curiosity!

RSVP to join today!

Blog Post: Upcoming Webinar on May 10: Creating Effective Reports

kylahunt — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:02:00 GMT

If you attended our previous webinar Explore, Report, and Share Your Data Online, you may remember that TechSoup is holding a webinar focusing on SAP's Crystal Reports.

This webinar, held on Thursday, May 10 at 11 a.m. Pacific time, will focus on how SAP's Crystal Reports 2011 can provide effective reporting solutions for your organization.

Crystal Reports reporting software allows you to create interactive reports via the web or embedded in enterprise applications. In this webinar, SAP's Jaclyn Churcher and Kenneth Li will walk you through the ins and outs of Crystal Reports 2011, including a discussion of mapping and visualization functions.

Have specific questions about Crystal Reports 2011 that you would like to see addressed in the webinar? Email khunt@techsoupglobal.org or ask them in the comments below.

Blog Post: Webinar Recap: Finding Funders for Your Cause

kylahunt — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:37:00 GMT

Did you miss last week's webinar, Toolkit Essentials: Finding Funders for Your Cause? You can now catch up on this informative webinar on the TechSoup YouTube page.

Foundation Center Resources

During this webinar, the Foundation Center's David Holmes walked us through various resources, including GrantSpace, a free information resource focusing on finding funding and grants.

There are many extremely helpful resources on GrantSpace, including a Finding Funders page as well as a list of sample funding proposals with cover letters, letters of inquiry, letter proposals, and proposal budgets.

David also walked us through Foundation Directory Online, a resource that we heard a bit about during our previous webinar Mapping Philanthropy: How You Can Use Data Visualization to Do Good.

During both of these webinars, we heard about the Foundation Center's Cooperating Collections. These are libraries and resource centers across the country that provide free access to the Foundation Directory Online.

Looking for a Cooperating Collection or other Foundation Center resource near you? Take a look at the Foundation Center's Find Us page.

ONEplace at the Kalamazoo Public Library

An excellent example of a Cooperating Collection is ONEplace at the Kalamazoo Public Library. During this webinar, we had the privilege of speaking with Bobbe Luce, the director of ONEplace.

Bobbe shared with us the various resources that her center provides, and served as an inspiration for others wishing to become or improve a Cooperating Collection.

Want even more great information from the Foundation Center? Check out their whitepaper on the value of training!

Photo: Dollar in magnifying glass image from Shutterstock

Blog Post: Nonprofits Live: Green Tools and Technology Decisions Recap

Susan_Chavez — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:55:00 GMT

April was Earth Month but extending green habits all year-round not only benefits the planet - it helps your organization too. The April edition of Nonprofits Live looked at environmental policy, sustainable practices, and nonprofit sustainability case studies.

NPLive welcomed guest contributors Jon Lebkowsky, nonprofit web strategist and frequent WorldChanging contributor; Kevin Danaher and Zoey Kroll from the City of San Francisco's Department of Environment (SFDOE); and Jamie Henn, communications director at 350.org.

Watch the recording of the online event and read on for highlights.

The Triple Bottom Line

Lebkowsky started off the discussion by looking at some practices that organizations can take to help the planet and their bottom line. Lebokowsky talked about a shift by many types of business to meet the “triple bottom line.” The triple bottom line defines success by meeting economic, ecological, and social goals.

Adopting this approach means that success isn’t confined to soley benefiting the organization. Meeting the triple bottom line does require adopting green tech solutions. Adopting green tech tools, like online conferencing or using online collaboration tools, can also improve an organization’s efficiency. However, not all green solutions are high tech – going green can be as simple as printing less or allowing staff to telecommute.

Making Sustainability Profitable

Danaher and Kroll spoke next about their work bridging the nonprofit sector and government to create useful policy changes for the public. As part of their efforts to help the public live sustainably, the San Francisco Department of the Environment has created a special website with green tips and resources. The San Francisco Department of Environment also has a special guide, Making Sustainability Profitable, to help the business community, both for-profit and nonprofit, operate sustainably.

Danaher also recommends the resources available on GreenNonprofits.org for nonprofit and library leaders. Organizations that want to partner with their local governments to promote sustainable practices need not wait for government to contact them, Kroll advises. Kroll, who’s worked on urban farm issues before working for SFDOE, advises organizations to share their stories to develop relationships to promote sustainability community-wide.

Cloud Technology for Collaboration

Rounding out the discussion, Henn of 350.org spoke of the organization’s founding and how it lives its mission through sustainable business practices. 350.org has a staff scattered across the globe, three offices, and mobilizes numerous volunteers for grassroots actions to bring about positive environmental change. The organization uses its website and social media to organize offline environmental actions between staff, volunteers, and supporters.

To make this all possible in a sustainable way the organization relies on cloud-based technology. Cloud technology makes collaboration possible with tools for online document storage, web conferencing, and instant communications.

Henn believes that employees, volunteers, and supporters are an organization's greatest resource for adopting green practices – something 350.org proves true.

For more green tips and resources, make sure to check out the TechSoup blog's GreenTech section.

Blog Post: Youth Programs Featured in TechSoup Global’s Local Impact Map

jimlynch — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:37:00 GMT

TechSoup Global's new Local Impact Map is a trove of information on what lots of nonprofits, NGOs, and libraries around the world are doing with their TechSoup-procured-IT to further their missions.

By far, the biggest set of stories are the ones from organizations that serve youth and children. Here is just a sampling of what we have collected so far. Read on for a little Monday morning inspiration and then take a moment to tell us how donations you've gotten through TechSoup have helped you serve your community.

Support for Autistic Children in the U.S.

One that jumped out at me is the work that Anderson Center for Autism (ACA) in Staatsburg, New York is doing. It’s a place that provides educational and recreational services for autistic kids and also some adults. I have a soft spot for nonprofits that tackle really hard problems, and autism is certainly one of those.

It’s America's fastest growing serious developmental disability and the cost of lifelong care can be reduced by 2/3 with early diagnosis and intervention. Places like ACA are pretty important.

We found out about them through our Show Your Impact Program in which nonprofits describe how they’re using technology to support and further their work. ACA, like so many nonprofits, started out with almost no IT infrastructure and now has a very robust one, much of which is donated. They’ve made good use of TechSoup’s donation programs.

Because computers in classrooms are so important for disabled children, they make optimum use of the accessibility features in Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. Their IT supports the children and adults in various remedial learning capacities such as clinical, speech, occupational, and physical therapy.

They make very creative use of various Microsoft programs like Word, Power Point, and Publisher to help our children and adults communicate, so this has been one of the crucial doors to the world for autistic kids.

Orphans Getting an Elite Education in India

Ramakrishna Mission Students Home in India provides a home and education to orphaned boys from rural Tamil Nadu state in South India. Their tagline is “Palace For The Poor,” and their mission is to provide an elite education to very poor children. This NGO runs a primary day school, a residential high school, and a residential polytechnic college.

The school combines traditional Hindu education with modern technology under the care of monks of the Ramakrishna Religious Order. Currently there are over 700 students at the home, which runs exclusively on donations provided by philanthropic public and financial institutions.

They’re a great example of an NGO that really knows their IT. The kinds of donations they’ve gotten through the BiGTech Program, the TechSoup Global Network partner in India, support their infrastructure with things like Microsoft Visual Studio, Windows Server, and also Microsoft Office Professional.

Childhood Cancer Support in Canada

Finally, I liked the story of Candlelighters' Childhood Cancer Support Program in Ottawa, Canada. In this project, the Candlelighters CyberKids program provides young cancer patients with a laptop with Microsoft Windows and Office. The laptops provided to the children allow the child to stay engaged and interested in school, stay in touch with their friends, and also distracts them from the rigors of cancer treatment.

The patients use Windows Messenger to stay in touch with their teachers as well and Windows Media Player to watch movies and listen to music while undergoing treatment. Something as basic as a laptop is a lifeline to a child who is isolated on a cancer ward. Children from the second grade on get laptops in this program.

Blog Post: Upcoming Webinar on May 3: Jump Start Your Grant Seeking

kylahunt — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:05:00 GMT

Curious about GrantStation? Join us for Jump Start Your Grant Seeking, a free webinar on Thursday, May 3, at 11 a.m. Pacific time. This webinar is perfect for anybody interested in the upcoming special offer from TechSoup and GrantStation on May 8 and 9.

Join Jeremy Smith, GrantStation's communications and technology director, as he provides a short tour of the GrantStation website.

Jeremy will also talk about how a GrantStation membership can provide you with full access to the website, including a searchable database of thousands of private, corporate, and international grantmakers, as well as a list of current federal grant programs.

The tour will also include a sneak peek of Grants2020, a newly developed tool to help you build an effective grants strategy for years to come.

Blog Post: Learn to Use Adobe Software

patrickduggan — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:55:00 GMT

New to TechSoup — the Adobe Foundation's Nonprofit Training Program provides a series of donated online training courses for Dreamweaver, InDesign, or Photoshop to nonprofit staff. Donations from this program allow one user to access Adobe software training videos on lynda.com for three months.

Online Training Products

These training products are considered separate from main Adobe Donation Program, so eligible organizations may request training products without affecting their request limits for the main program. Check out the restrictions for the Adobe Training donations to see if your organization qualifies.

Many nonprofits or libraries need to bring in an outside graphic designer, or ask a tech-savvy volunteer or staff member to do the work on top of other duties. With these donated training courses, novice Adobe users can get the basics they need to help your organization, while more experienced users can learn to design stronger newsletters, websites, and pamphlets.

Online Training for Dreamweaver

Learn how to more efficiently create, maintain, and improve the quality of websites. Lynda.com offers 45 Dreamweaver courses. Adobe recommends starting with the Dreamweaver CS5 Essential Training course, which covers all the basics from the Dreamweaver interface to managing websites.

Online Training for InDesign

Learn how to more efficiently create and improve the quality of InDesign layouts. Lynda.com offers 56 InDesign courses. Adobe recommends starting with the InDesign CS5 Essential Training course, which covers all the basics from workspaces to packaging, printing, and exporting.

Online Training for Photoshop

Learn how to more efficiently edit and improve the quality of digital images. Lynda.com offers 126 Photoshop courses. Adobe recommends starting with the Photoshop CS5 Essential Training course, which covers all the basics from the use of Adobe Bridge to sharing images.

About the Donated Adobe Trainings

Donations consist of a three-month premium subscription to lessons on the lynda.com training website. Most courses run between 10 and 30 hours, depending on the product. Specialized lessons often run under one hour.

You or your staff can view video tutorials from any web-connected computer and also from iPhones or iPads with the lynda.com app. The premium subscription allows you to download the same files the instructor uses in the videos to then practice your new skills on your own computers.

Because this is a pilot program, you or your staff will be surveyed within six months of receiving your donation. Your responses will help TechSoup and Adobe understand if this program was useful, and how it could be improved.

Need Some Inspiration?

Check out these three great archived webinars for some ideas on how to get the most from your Adobe software:

Winning Campaigns with Powerful Collateral where Rebecca Kalin from Asthma Free School Zone and Chris Kitchener from Adobe talk about using Adobe products to create powerful collateral in this winning entry from the 2009 Show Your Impact contest
Roadmap for Creating a Successful Marketing Campaign where Lea Anne Armstrong of Everygreen, a Canadian nonprofit, talks about her organization’s successful use of Adobe products
Roadmap for Creating Successful Flash Video where Colin Carpenter and Lori Pottinger of International Rivers talk about using Adobe digital video tools to tell stories and get messages across

Evergreen and International Rivers were runners-up in the 2008 Show Your Impact contest.

Blog Post: Webinar Recap: QuickBooks Made Easy for Nonprofits and Libraries

kylahunt — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:43:00 GMT

Last week we had a spectacular turnout for our webinar, QuickBooks Made Easy for Nonprofits and Libraries! You can now view the recording of this webinar on the TechSoup YouTube page.

During this webinar, QuickBooks Made Easy instructor Gregg Bossen gave us an engaging and content-packed overview of the new updates to Intuit's QuickBooks 2012. You can find out more about QuickBooks 2012 on the TechSoup product page.

What Is QuickBooks Made Easy?

QuickBooks Made Easy is a training product specially targeted to specific industries. With the product geared towards nonprofits, the CD and accompanying handbook will provide insight on using QuickBooks in a nonprofit or library setting.

If you're interested in QuickBooks Made Easy, check out the product donation page onTechSoup. You can also read our previous blog post on the product, or visit the QuickBooks Made Easy website.

Want More Information on QuickBooks?

Read our previous blog series, Configuring QuickBooks for Use in a Nonprofit:

Blog Post: Use Your Donation on the Go with TechSoup Donor Partner Mobile Apps

agilbertknight — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:56:00 GMT

Want mobile access to the software your organization relies on to get its work done? Many TechSoup donor partners offer mobile versions of the products your organization already uses.

Learn how you can communicate, collaborate, create content, and manage data on-the-go with our guide to TechSoup donor partner mobile apps.

Microsoft

Office Mobile is built in to Windows phones, including the Dell VenuePro Smartphone available through TechSoup. Office Mobile includes:

Mobile versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, allowing you to view and edit Microsoft Office files using your Windows phone.
Microsoft OneNote Mobile for creating notes and to-do lists using text, checklists, pictures, and audio clips.
Access to SkyDrive, Microsoft's cloud-based file storage and sharing solution.
SharePoint Workspace Mobile supports editing Office documents and saving them back to your organization's SharePoint site.

Not using a Windows phone? Several Microsoft apps are also available on other platforms.

OneNote is available for Android and iOS devices. The free version allows you to create and edit up to 500 notes. You can then upgrade to unlimited use with an in-app purchase.
SkyDrive can be accessed via a free iPhone app or most desktop or mobile web browsers. A Windows Live ID is required to get started using SkyDrive.
The free Lync Mobile app extends Lync unified communications functionality across multiple mobile platforms, including iOS, Android, and other devices.

Adobe

These Adobe mobile apps put the power of Adobe image editing software in the palm of your hand, including:

Basic image editing with Adobe Photoshop Express, a free image editing app for Android and iOS devices. Shoot photos directly from the app or import photos from your mobile device, then edit them using a simple touch interface.
More advanced image editing with the paid Photoshop Touch app, which offers core Photoshop features optimized for Android and iOS tablets.
Companion apps for Photoshop users are paid iPad apps that integrate with and extend the functionality of Photoshop. Mix custom colors using Adobe Color Lava, paint pictures and add effects with Adobe Eazel, or control Photoshop features and functions using Adobe Nav for Photoshop.

See what else Adobe offers on the Adobe mobile apps page.

Acclivity

If you're using Acclivity AccountEdge, the free AccountEdge Mobile app allows you to record sales, enter expenses, and more using your iOS device, then sync changes with your AccountEdge desktop software. The mobile app works best if you're using the most recent version of AccountEdge Pro or Basic.

Citrix Online

Citrix Online offers free mobile apps for GoToMeeting and GoToMyPC:

Attend a GoToMeeting session and view shared content using the GoToMeeting iOS or Android apps. No GoToMeeting account required.
The GoToMyPC app provides remote access to your Mac or PC via your iOS device or Android tablet. A GoToMyPC account is required.

DonorPerfect

Get mobile access to your DonorPerfect Online donor management system anytime via iOS or Android devices using DonorPerfect Mobile.

Flickr

If you have a Flickr account, you can manage, organize, and share images using the free Flickr mobile apps for Android, iOS, and Windows phone. Have a different smartphone? You can also access Flickr's mobile site using almost any smartphone browser.

Also check out Flickr's App Garden, where developers showcase their own Flickr-based apps.

Huddle

Already using Huddle? Get Huddle's file sharing, collaboration, and project management tools in the palm of your hand with Huddle's enterprise collaboration apps, available for a variety of devices.

ReadyTalk

Attend ReadyTalk web conferences, view shared content, and chat using ReadyTalk Mobile for iPad. A ReadyTalk account is not required to use the app.

SAP

Get SAP business intelligence software and services on your mobile device with these free apps:

Explore your organization's key data - wherever you are - using SAP BusinessObjects Explorer for iOS and SAP BusinessObjects Mobile for iPad.
SAP StreamWork for Mobile provides secure access to SAP StreamWork, so you can collaborate with your team and give feedback via your mobile device. It works with iOS and Blackberry devices.

Note: using these apps may require some configuration by your IT staff to enable mobile access.

SlideRocket

The free SlideRocket Player app for iPad allows you to import and play your SlideRocket presentations on the iPad. No iPad? You can also view and play your SlideRocket presentations via a mobile web browser.

Getting Connected

Mobile apps are great, but you may need Internet access to really take advantage of all their features. If you need mobile Internet access, take a look at Mobile Beacon's 4G mobile broadband devices for nonprofits, schools, and libraries. With a Mobile Beacon portable USB modem or mobile hotspot, you can stay connected even when you're away from the office.

What About You?

Are you using mobile versions of any desktop software? If so, what are your favorites? Please tell us about it in the comments.

Learn More

Photo: Oleg

Blog Post: Blackbaud + TechSoup = Like

FrankBarry — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:25:00 GMT

Blackbaud and TechSoup recently expanded their partnership to focus more on the technology needs of small nonprofits. It’s an exciting partnership that’s growing in four major ways.

1. Expanded Focus on Understanding Tech Needs of Smaller Nonprofits

One of the way’s we’re working together is by placing more focus on figuring out what’s important to nonprofits with annual revenues of less than $1 million dollars on their technology needs.

You can help us by taking the short survey we’re running. The survey will remain open until April 25 and results will be available this summer.

2. Broadened Product Donation Program

In addition to focusing on learning more about the technology needs of smaller nonprofits we’ve also expanded our product donation program with TechSoup – a program that has helped countless nonprofits over the years.

“Blackbaud has been a longtime, valued supporter of TechSoup through our product donation program,” said Gayle Carpentier, TechSoup Global’s chief business development officer. “This expanded partnership will bring additional donations of nonprofit expertise and refurbished computers to provide nonprofits with the tools and knowledge they need to further their missions.”

3. Capacity Building and Education

TechSoup is sponsoring a webinar series, produced by Blackbaud, and co-presented by Blackbaud partner Constant Contact, entitled Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together. The series offers sessions on social media, marketing, communications and fundraising topics. Learn more at www.blackbaud.com/puzzle.

4. Refurbished Computer Initiative

Blackbaud will also participate in TechSoup’s Refurbished Computer Initiative (RCI) Program, donating hardware to nonprofits. The first nationwide refurbishing program geared strictly to nonprofits, RCI also provides an environmentally friendly alternative to used equipment disposal.

“We are proud to deepen our partnership with TechSoup Global, a leader in enabling nonprofits with technology,” said Mary Pat Donnellon, Blackbaud’s vice president of marketing. “Together, there is so much we can do for nonprofits – this is just a start.”

Blog Post: Introducing the 5 Winners of the SlideRocket Nonprofit Presentation Contest

BeckyW — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:56:00 GMT

This post was penned by John Rode of SlideRocket and originally appeared on the SlideRocket blog. Their web-based professional-grade service for creating and sharing presentations online is available to eligible nonprofits and public libraries through TechSoup. Marnie Webb, one of TechSoup Global's CEOs was a judge for their contest, where winners are highlighted below.

Congratulations to the five winners of the SlideRocket Nonprofit Presentation Contest! Well done! Please take a few moments to view and share the winning presentations below. And a big congratulations to all the presentation contest participants. It really was a close race!

The first place winner will receive a $10,000 donation from SlideRocket, and each of the other four winners will receive a $5,000 donation. To process your donation, we will contact you directly via the email you used to register for SlideRocket. If you are one of the winners and have any questions or concerns please email contest@sliderocket.com.

The judges made their selections of the best presentations based on unique views, best storyline, composition and compelling cause. So, without further ado, here are the winning presentations!

#1 Waste Ventures = $10,000

Waste Ventures created a truly engaging presentation that highlights the challenge of corrupt and unhealthy trash collection, and the poverty it perpetuates, in many developing countries. In their presentation, Waste Ventures provides both an awakening to the problem and inspires the viewer to believe they can solve it. Powerful images, great use of fonts, and an engaging storyline motivated the judges to select this as the best presentation in the contest.

#2 Operation Asha = $5,000

Operation Asha garnered by far the most presentation views in the contest. Operation Asha seeks to solve the challenge of drug-resistant tuberculosis in developing countries. And their presentation reflects the weight of the problem with emotional music, moody colors and images, and an overall design that draws the viewer in. It’s no surprise the folks on Twitter and Facebook voted this the best presentation via their tweets and likes.

#3 Muttville Senior Dog Rescue = $5,000

Muttville Senior Dog Rescue knows how to market. One of the best presentations in terms of creating an identifiable (and lovable) brand, Muttville entertains the viewer and pulls at their heart strings at the same time. The judges loved Muttville’s visuals, particularly the backgrounds, coupled with giant, easy to read fonts that build with just the right tempo. And of course a fun music track keeps you watching.

#4 National Children’s Cancer Society = $5,000

A child who is diagnosed with cancer is a tragedy. But when a family is unable to make ends meet financially to properly treat the child, it’s heartbreaking. The National Children’s Cancer Society seeks to help families close the financial gap. NCCS’s presentation drew crowds every time I played it. The music is a fantastic hook and the innocent look and feel of the presentation gave it a very personal and emotional tone. Well done!

#5 Innovative Humanitarian Products Organization = $5,000

The Innovative Humanitarian Products Organization is a testament to the power of creative engineering and philanthropy. IHPO has created an incubator of great ideas that can make a big impact in the world, starting with the development of a water purifier for people in the developing world. IHPO’s presentation is a simple story, it’s straightforward in asking for your help, and provides a positive, inspiring vibe throughout. Without even saying it directly, IHPO inspires you to be believe they can, with your help, put a big dent in the world’s water crisis.

Blog Post: 2011 Online Giving Grows 13%! Are You Prepared to Get Your Share?

FrankBarry — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:19:00 GMT

Blackbaud recently released its 2011 Online Giving report. In it you'll see findings from The Blackbaud Index of Online Giving along with additional multi-year giving data to provide the most comprehensive analysis of online giving trends in the nonprofit sector.

The findings include 24 months of online giving data from 1,895 nonprofit organizations, online major giving data from 2,397 nonprofits, and both online and offline data representing $5.1 billion in total fundraising from 1,560 nonprofits.

One key finding: Online giving is up 13% year-over-year when you exclude large International Affairs organizations.

According to Chuck Longfield, Blackbaud’s Chief Scientist, “Total U.S. charitable giving appears to finally be back to its pre-recession levels. Fundraising remains challenging but hopefully the worst is behind us, and nonprofits will continue to see positive growth in 2012.”

Medium-sized organizations, those with annual total fundraising between $1 million and $10 million, grew more than large or small organizations for the first time since Blackbaud began reporting on this trend.

In 2010, these organizations had the slowest growth rate in the sector and were still feeling the effects of the recession. One year later, medium organizations accounted for more than 40 percent of all online giving.

Download the full 2011 Online Giving Report to gain more insight into online giving trends and so that you can get a better idea of how your organizations online giving performance stacks up against the rest of the industry. Once you know where you stand you'll be able to use the insight and guidance in the report to improve your online fundraising program.

Blog Post: Moments in Mobile - Featuring Muttville Senior Dog Rescue

alebez — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:02:00 GMT

There are easily more than 4.6 billion mobile telephones being used on the planet. Over 1 billion of those are smartphones. “In 2014, mobile Internet usage will overtake desktop Internet usage,” according to recent statistics released by mobiThinking. And already in 2011, “more than 50% of all ‘local’ searches were done from a mobile device.”

We “tweet,” we “like,” we “check-in,” we “scoop.it,” and we “pin” with fervent gusto, having gone app crazy just as soon as they became available. We have evolved into a society that shares moments and milestones with the swipe of our fingertips, or the click of a QWERTY, pretty much 24/7.

So, if you haven’t had your own “Holy mobile, Batman!” moment like Ben Rigby from Sparked, now’s the time!

Nonprofits and Mobile Technology

More nonprofits and libraries are using mobile technologies to educate, activate, and engage audiences and constituencies of all shapes and sizes. Mobile-friendly campaigns are raising awareness for issues that certain populations may not have access to otherwise, such as youth or minority groups.

Current trends in mobile fundraising, such as text-to-give (micro-giving), mobile wallets, and text2donate (major-giving) are allowing nonprofits and libraries to interact with their donors in creative ways. These things allow for more sustainable dialogue, contribute to long-term engagement, and add channels to network offline and opportunities for further community building.

Capturing Moments in Mobile

As nonprofits and libraries begin to make concerted efforts in baking concrete mobile strategies into their outfits, we here at TechSoup want to be there to encourage, assist, and capture. We recently began offering Mobile Beacon mobile hotspots for connecting to the Internet on the go, as well as 3G Windows Venue Pro smartphones (admin fee: $31) from the Dell donation program, for one.

The Venue Pro’s 4.1 AMOLED screen is a beauty for sure, and lends itself quite nicely for video and photo capture. With its 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 16GB of internal memory, and a 5-megapixel camera, this phone can keep up with the rest of the pack without hiccup.

In fact, my recent interview with Marie Macaspac of Muttville Senior Dog Rescue was shot entirely using my Windows Venue Pro phone. You can see for yourself how clean and clear the picture quality is in the video below.

Marie Macaspac is the marketing wizard behind Muttville Senior Dog Rescue’s mobile strategy. For her, a healthy combination of Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook apps combined with daily nonstop coverage of Muttville happenings and adoptions, is the current sweet spot for Muttville mobile.

Watch my interview with Marie below. And stay tuned for more TechSoup moments in mobile.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Blog Post: TechSoup's Refurbished Computer Initiative: You've Come A Long Way Baby

jimlynch — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:57:00 GMT

TechSoup’s Refurbished Computer Initiative (RCI) has provided warrantied refurbished computers and other IT devices to nonprofits and libraries for seven years now.

In taking stock of things this Earth week we thought we’d take a look at how far we’ve come. Just the environmental benefits alone are surprising, not to mention how well computer refurbishment has caught on in other parts of the world.

How It All Started

In 2004 we published our Islands In The Wastestream study, which measured the demand for low-cost computers among U.S. nonprofits, schools, low-income families, and small microenterprise businesses.

The study also estimated the supply of PCs coming from the noncommercial refurbishment sector and also the potential for corporate donations of PCs. Our survey of large companies found a robust interest for donating PCs. It made us think about ways we could bring good dependable low-cost computers to nonprofits and libraries.

Thinking about things alone is one thing, but being a pretty typical collaborative type of nonprofit we pulled in the New Sector Alliance and some UC Berkeley Haas Graduate School of Business volunteers to really help us think through this.

When all was said and done, we received a 2005 seed-funding grant from Full Circle Fund and launched the Refurbished Computer Initiative program. At the time, we had a very limited selection of offers, comprised only of desktops and laptops, most of which had Pentium III processors (you get the idea).

In the first couple of years we distributed around 100 PCs per month. And then the program really got going with a major grant in 2007 from California Emerging Technology Fund to scale up RCI in California.

Fast Forward to 2012

With a catalog spanning desktops, notebooks, LCD monitors, desktop/monitor bundles, servers, and printers with a variety of performance characteristics, we’ve now distributed a bit over 30,000 refurbished IT devices through RCI.

We have served more than 10,300 nonprofits and libraries across all 50 U.S. states, and we estimate that we have have saved organizations somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.8 million, based on what they would have paid for retail equivalent products (including the software). Our average monthly distribution of PCs (and other IT devices) is now up to around 700 units per month.

All of our RCI-refurbished PCs come with either a Windows XP or Windows 7 operating system, and all come with Office 2007. Several models also come with Symantec Norton Antivirus 2012 with system restore capabilities. You can check out our entire catalog of refurbished IT equipment.

How Green Is Refurbished IT Equipment?

Using the U.S. EPA's Electronics Environmental Benefits Calculator, here are some interesting stats that help to quantify how the TechSoup RCI program – and our participating recipient organizations – have done the Earth some good by extending the life of and reusing RCI equipment:

Energy – we’ve saved enough electricity to power 6,250 households in a year
Greenhouse gas reduction – equal to removing 2,731 passenger cars from the road per year
Solid waste – equal to removing the solid waste generated by 121 U.S. households in a year
Hazardous waste reduction – equal to the weight of 18,239 bricks
Toxic material reduction – equal to the weight of 485 bricks

The RCI program also has a free end-of-life takeback program, in which anyone with an RCI computer can call and get free shipping when the PC is ready for recycling. The RCI equipment is then processed according to e-Stewards or R2 (Responsible Recycling Practices) standards by one of our two refurbishers, Redemtech or InterConnection.

Our RCI Refurbishment Partners: Redemtech and InterConnection

Redemtech has been with us since the beginning of the RCI program. One of their most current philanthropic projects is Connect 2 Compete, which in a big new digital inclusion program that aims to provide a PC and broadband Internet in every U.S. low-income household.

Redemtech will be a major supplier of low-cost refurbished PCs for low-income families. The Connect 2 Compete program will also supply free training on how to use computers via Best Buy’s Geek Squad, Microsoft, and other providers. Computers For Youth will supply educational resources for low-income students. The program is scheduled to launch in late 2012 or early 2013.

InterConnection is our Seattle based nonprofit refurbisher. One of their newest projects is to be part of the 20 years | 20 ways campaign, a year-long effort by Microsoft to build better careers and better lives for aspiring IT professionals and students around the world. They’re urging everyone to donate their discarded laptops to InterConnection as part of this work.

InterConnection is one of Microsoft’s primary charity refurbishers. One of the more recent donations of Microsoft surplus equipment went to TechSoup’s Czech Republic partner, Charta 77, that supports people with disabilities.

InterConnection received the computers from Microsoft, installed Windows 7 Pro and Office 2007 (Czech language version of course), and shipped 157 computers by sea. There were no costs incurred by Microsoft for the donation.

The computers are now serving more than 9,200 individuals from 13 different nonprofits across the Czech Republic. InterConnection is also doing a big Microsoft Earth Day collection event. They’re a busy place.

Refurbished Computers in the TechSoup Global Network

NGOs and libraries all over the world need good dependable low-cost computers and several of our global partners run successful refurbished computer initiatives. To be specific, they are our partners in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy, India, Poland, and Romania. Our French and Italian partners run their own in-house refurbishment programs.

We believe that a well-developed computer reuse field could help solve two pressing social issues: toxic waste and the digital divide.

TechSoup Global continues to work in this field to foster a high functioning electronics refurbishing/reuse field that decreases the aggregate of toxic waste from electronics in to the environment and also supplies tested working electronic equipment to NGOs and libraries, as well as schools and low-income families in the U..S and everywhere else.

Blog Post: Blackbaud and Constant Contact Team Up: 5 Free Webinars on Effective Nonprofit eCommunication

FrankBarry — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:25:00 GMT

Ever wonder if you’re saying the right things to your constituents at the right times?

Or if you are you tailoring messages to your supporters correctly?

What about figuring out how often to send emails to donors?

Don’t worry. These questions and many more like them are asked by nonprofit marketing, communications and fundraising professionals on a regular basis.

To help answer these questions as well as much more about effective ecommunication industry leaders Constant Contact and Blackbaud have teamed up to offer you a series of free webinars (sponsored by our partners Techsoup and NTEN).

We’ve lined up five sessions with two still to come. For any sessions that have already occurred you can grab the slides below.

Webinar Series Details

A communication Plan and Tactics to Engage Supporters (recording/slides)
2011 Online Giving & 5 Tips You Can Implement Today (recap and slides)
The Anatomy of Engaging Email Campaigns – April 19 at 3 p.m. Eastern time (slides and recording should be available soon)
Effective Marketing Tips and Tricks for Clicks – May 16 at 2 p.m. Eastern time
Making the Most of Email Marketing – June 14 at 3 p.m. Eastern time