Emerging Technologies

Re: RE: How do you organize your NPO's photos?

pawsfarm — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:29:49 GMT

The problem we had with Flickr is that it's only a discount for the first year, and then it's full price afterwards. So it's almost like a teaser rate, which is very different than most of the products on techsoup. So that was a little disppointing after we had used it for a year, having to pay full price from then on. So we just went to a different vendor. There are other free solutions that will work just as well for us, if we're going to have to pay full price for Flickr after the first year.

Re: RE: How do you organize your NPO's photos?

elliotharmon — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:49:28 GMT

Hi etcnepal,

Thanks for posting this. Is the blog post yours?

The issue of Flickr suspending the account because of suspected activity is unfortunate. Without having any more information than is provided in the blog post, it sounds like Flickr made a mistake.

The issue of organizational accounts is a little more nuanced. It is true that Flickr accounts are intended for individual users, not organizations. This is explained in the product description for Flickr's donation at TechSoup, and it's also the reason why the donated accounts come in bundles of two and five.

More importantly, using one account for an organization really isn't the best use of Flickr. A group page is a much more elegant use of the technology. The group page allows volunteers and other friends of your nonprofit to add their own photos of the work you're doing. The group also includes a discussion board and other social networking features. You can moderate groups too.

The blog post says, "I could not find anything to show they have done this to a large or well known organization such as several of the Children’s Hospitals, and large congregation churches however when it comes to small groups with little to no national recognition they seem to not care." I certainly hope that this is not true. I suspect that many of the larger organizations the person was referring to were using organizational groups rather than organizational accounts.

Hope this helps,
Elliot

Re: RE: How do you organize your NPO's photos?

etcnepal — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:26:44 GMT

Be careful if you choose flickr. Apparently it is based only on individual accounts. Even though they are promoting themselves to non-profits, the organization is not the owner of the account and big problems can arise from this. This blog post explains: http://www.blasiblah.com/2009/05/flickr-a-horrible-solution-for-groups-and-non-profit-organizations/

RE: How do you organize your NPO's photos?

MeganKeane — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:36:00 GMT

TechSoup blog has a great example of how the Humane Society is using Flickr as part of their campaign to protect baby seals. Today is the last day to submit your photo caption to the contest, but even if you miss the deadline, be sure to check out the photo captions and campaign.

--Megan

RE: How do you organize your NPO's photos?

matthewart — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:58:00 GMT

It is very similar to Flickr. I don't know about SmugMug. You can upload photos, put together sets and so forth.

RE: How do you organize your NPO's photos?

MeganKeane — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:17:00 GMT

TechSoup blog has some more detailed examples and stories about how we're using Flickr here at TechSoup.

I'm also using the photo-sharing site, SmugMug. It's very user-friendly and I really like its attractive interface. This isn't a free option (it has a low yearly fee for membership) and the user community isn't as large as Flickr, but it's another option.

Matthew, have you used Picasa? I'm not too familiar with this platform--how does it compare to Flickr, SmugMug, etc.?

--Megan

RE: How do you organize your NPO's photos?

matthewart — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 04:58:00 GMT

I've used Flickr for years, both for nonprofit use and for personal use. Another option is to use Picasa (http://picasa.google.com/) a Google offering.

Personally, I have invested too much in Flickr to switch now--I have nearly 14,000 images there.

RE: How do you organize your NPO's photos?

MeganKeane — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:51:00 GMT

TechSoup has been using Flickr to share photos for all of our TechSoup projects including MaintainIT, NetSquared, and Nonprofits in Second Life. TechSoup blog has the scoop on the new Flickr program we now have available for nonprofits through TechSoup Stock. This entry also has a handy short video with tips on organizing your photos on Twitter.

You can see our photo stream. If you're a Flickr user, be sure to join our TechSoup Group and the NetSquared group.

--Megan

How do you organize your NPO's photos?

wcook — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:53:00 GMT

How does your nonprofit organize and share photos? In computer files? On your Web site? On an online photo-sharing community like Flickr? Tell us what has worked best for you.

Interested in learning more about Flickr? Check out TechSoup's article How Nonprofits Can Get the Most out of Flickr, which offers tips for uploading, organizing, and sharing your photos online. If you're already using Flickr, be sure to share your own tips here.