Technology for the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector

Ten things (just ten!) that every nonprofit executive needs to know about information technology

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:46:55 -0400

1. Very little technical knowledge is required in order for nonprofit CEOs to participate actively in strategic IT planning.

As long as you thoroughly understand your organization's overall mission, strategy, and tactics and (are willing to learn a little bit about the technology), you can keep your information technology infrastructure on target...

eHope: I'm not just a fan!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:06:08 -0400

When I first heard about eHope, over a year ago, I was excited! Here was yet another great example of how face-to-face relationships, online networking, and heightened awareness of the importance of social capital could be combined in powerful ways. Jeffrey Wood, eHope's founder, is a visionary who is bringing all this together to help communities support people who are facing life-threatening illnesses. I lost no time in calling him up and arranging for him to be a featured guest at the Ethos Roundtable. He came down from Maine to Cambridge for the Ethos session, and impressed us all not only with the wisdom of the eHope model, but with his own spiritual depth.

As many readers of my blog know, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1999. There was no such thing as eHope at that time, so I got by with a lot of help from my wonderful and supportive friends, but the coordination involved was an extra source of stress.

For ten years, there's been no recurrence of cancer, but recently tests confirmed that I have a minor malignancy, and will need surgery. I'm one of the lucky ones - my condition is not at all life-threatening. However, I've been worrying about all the logistics involved in surgery and after care. Yesterday, it occurred to me that I should ask my buddy Jeffrey for some coaching about how I could set up an eHope "Lite" version for myself, so that I could do some of the coordination online. He very graciously called me up today, and offered to work with me to set up a full-fledged eHope community; it turns out that I'm eligible, even though I'm not based in Maine and am not facing a terminal illness.

So now, I'm not just a fan - I'm going to be a client! This is not just a boon for me, but an opportunity to bring eHope to the greater Boston area and raise a wider awareness of what it offers.

Thanks to Yves Dehnel, Easy Peasy provides a solution, although not as easily as I would have thought

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:29:42 -0400

Yves Dehnel of Tech Networks of Boston is my new hero.

As readers of my blog know, I bought an Asus Eee PC 900 in July, but have run into obstacles in trying to use it in my habitual way.

After Twittering about it, blogging about it, going online to various nonprofit technology communities, posting a plaintive request for help to GetSatisfaction, and - yes - even after checking with Asus customer support, I still couldn't install any new drivers or applications on my Asus netbook, and therefore I couldn't use my AT&T mobile broadband with it.

Several people suggested that the version of Linux that comes installed on the Asus Eee PCs as an operating system (Linux Eee PC 1.1.0.66) is very tightly locked down, and that I should replace it with a version of Ubuntu for netbooks called Easy Peasy.

Well, I tried, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I'm one of those folks who thinks that "computer literacy" in any generic form is a myth, and I try to be brave and admit it when an IT-related task is beyond me.

Having admitted that I couldn't get Easy Peasy installed on my Asus, I took the radical step of mentioning my problem in a face to face conversation. The ever-helpful Tuan Pham of Tech Networks opined that he could probably find someone, and that someone turned out to be my buddy Yves Dehnel, also of Tech Networks.

It turns out that installing Easy Peasy is a three-step simple process, albeit a slight different one than what is described on the download page:

Drop off your Asus at Yves's shop.

Take a phone call from Yves a couple of hours later, so that he can inform you that he's done it. (Don't forget to thank him profusely.)

Return to his shop, and spend a few minutes with him, tweaking the settings so that your Sierra 881 USB connector card works with the Asus. (Don't forget to thank him profusely, once again.)

For me, the real work began at that point: settling down to the effort of acclimating myself to the Easy Peasy operating system and an Asus keyboard.

Now that I'm using that Asus Eee PC 900 for extended periods (and not just for fun), I find that it really does take some acclimation. The Easy Peasy operating system is not much of challenge, but the physical set up of the Asus is. As a touch typist, I have to acquire a new kinesthetic sense of where each key is, and there's something about the touchpad action that's very different.

When I first wrote about my Asus notebook, I said:

"If I had to make the purchase from scratch today, I'd probably choose a newer, cheaper model in the Asus Eee PC line, and I'd opt for Windows XP as the operating system, just to ensure ease of connectivity ."

This is still true. I would never recommend an Asus with a Linux operating system for use in a nonprofit where the staff members weren't burning with curiousity to see for themselves what open source platforms are all about. It's too much trouble for folks who have enough to do with nonprofit programs and operations. An Asus loaded with XP as an operating system would do the job.

But speaking just for myself, I'm glad to have the opportunity to live and work with an open source operating system, especially if colleagues and buddies such as Yves are willing to get my back.

(Full disclosure of financial relationship: TechNetworks of Boston is a client of mine, and I bartered my services in exchange for Yves's. Had I been a paying customer, I would have been charged about $150, which I consider very reasonable.)

Online capacity mapping and resource matching for nonprofits

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:26:39 -0400

Having served as a co-convener of the Ethos Roundtable since 2006, I have finally scheduled myself as a presenter for June 2009:

Tuesday, June 16th
4:30 - 6:00 pm
Charles Hotel
1 Bennett Street
Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Featured guest: (yours truly)

I was first inspired to think about one giant web-based tool for capacity mapping and resource matching for nonprofits by a conversation in 2003 with my buddy Tim Gassert. Since then, I've looked for ways to make it happen. Within the last year, some sort of tipping point occurred, and all sorts of esteemed clients and colleagues started pulling me into conversations about pet projects that were closely related to the pipedream that Tim and I had.

I've been actively working on the big picture, and bringing together these folks who are converging on the concept, for about six months. It's clear that this could be a tremendous asset to nonprofits, philanthropies, and communities in the region - at a time when money is tight, it's important to ensure that surplus assets, capacities, and resources do not go unused. It's also clear that this could be many separate projects with clever mash-ups and data interchanges. In the age of XML, it does not have to be a monolith with one owner, one web host, and one platform.

This session will not be a nuts-and-bolts discussion of technical specifications or organizational arrangements, but an exploration of the big picture. Hard times can give us an incentive to collaborate and consolidate in new ways. What if we had web-based tools to help mission-based organizations use every possible resource and meet every possible need? If you're interested in this question, please come and brainstorm with us.

(Full information about the session and directions to the Charles Hotel are available at the Ethos Roundtable's blog.)

Here are some organizations and projects that bear a really strong spiritual affinity to what I'm envisioning:

Here are some other blog articles related to this topic:

In the nonprofit sector, we need better knowledge management...of our knowledge management

Online social networking and knowledge management for nonprofits: How about a mash-up?

Is the Internet the New Social Welfare Delivery System?

Not that I am bitter

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:10:25 -0400

That headline is a lie. I'm not going to be able to attend NTEN's Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) next week, and I'm feeling pretty grumpy about it.

Fortunately, NTEN is doing a good job of providing channels for remote participation:

We can follow the NTC's Twitter feed, and look for tweets that are tagged #09NTC

We can follow the NTC Flickr photo stream

We can listen to NTC podcasts

There are also plans for offering conference sessions through webinars, live streaming, and live blogging. Kudos to the NTEN team, and to all the other folks who are collaborating to make that possible.

Still, it hurts to miss the conference, because not being there in person means that I can't engage in my favorite activity, which is standing around in the hallways and persuading people to talk to each other. When 1,000 or more of my favorite colleagues get together, I'm overwhelmed by some sort of inspiration or compulsion to introduce them to each other and to point out how it would practically be a crime if they failed to collaborate with each other.

Perhaps next year there will be a special Altruistic Busybody traveling fellowship for people like me. We do have our uses. I'm tempted to grumble "Hey, just try to have a successful conference without me. When you all go home this year, having failed to forge new professional relationships that permanently transform your lives, that's when you'll really miss me." However, I'm not that bitter. I really do wish NTEN and all the attendees a wonderful conference experience.

Your mileage may vary: Birthday etiquette and online fundraising

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:46:43 -0400

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about online fundraising campaigns tied to birthday gifts, and have been inviting my nptech colleagues to discuss the topic.

Lately, I've received at least one online solicitation a week from a colleague or acquaintance who would like to invite me to make a donation to a nonprofit in lieu of giving him/her a birthday gift. In almost every case, it's someone for whom I feel respect or even affection, and a cause that is extremely worthwhile. Oddly enough, I've never received one of these requests from any members of my circle of intimates, i.e., folks for whom I routinely buy birthday gifts.

This has led me to wonder how these online solicitations are received in cultures and sub-cultures where asking for a birthday gift is not customary. Are they seen as offensive and presumptuous? This is something that we need to think through, when we plan online fundraising campaigns, especially now that the internet allows us to communicate across national and cultural boundaries. If we encourage our organization's stakeholders and friends to use their birthdays as an occasion to go online to raise money, are we doing more harm than good? By going online to make these pitches for donations to our organizations, our friends and stakeholders may be inadvertently offending others with different cultural norms about gift-giving, and those others may end up blaming our nonprofit organizations as the instigators.

These reflections have also led me to inquire about the norms for the culture in which I live (i.e., English-speaking residents of the U.S.A.), but I am hardly the best person to adjudicate what's appropriate. Indeed, for years now, I've been marking my birthday by going on a silent retreat at a monastery. This only shows how out of step I am.

However, I consider Judith Martin (a/k/a Miss Manners) an excellent arbiter of gift-giving etiquette in this part of the world. Poking around her books and an online index of her columns, this is what I infer about American gift-giving traditions:

o Gift-giving is never obligatory on any occasion

o It is unacceptable for me to imply that I expect a birthday gift

o It is unacceptable for me to ask for cash (or anything at all) as a birthday gift, unless the giver asks what I would prefer

o Gift registries are acceptable, but potential gift-givers must not be directed to them unless they ask me about them

o A charitable cause is not an excuse for me to break any of the aforementioned conventions of etiquette

Now, I might decide to defy the conventions, or I might decide that Miss Manners is not a valid authority on these matters, but these do seem to be norms that I need to consider.

In my own case, I think it's a tremendous challenge to show ample courtesy and consideration for those with whom I interact face to face and who belong to my most intimate circle. When it comes to relationships that are conducted mostly - or entirely - online, I think it's etiquettically impossible for me to ask them for a cash gift to a nonprofit organization in lieu of a present to me. It's too much of a presumption on my part. I might go online to say, "I know that you care passionately about this cause, so I'm letting you know about an opportunity to support it financially," but I wouldn't tie it to my birthday or any other personal celebration. It's far too easy for me to give inadvertent offense in online communications.

I'm just sayin'. YMMV.

Perhaps there's no such thing as a free lunch - but thanks to the Data Collaborative, your nonprofit could have a free strategic technology consultation

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:11:03 -0400

The Data Collaborative, a database and web development firm in Massachusetts that serves a lot of mission-based organizations in the area, is a firm that consists of real mensches.

Earlier this year, they started underwriting a few free technology consultations by yours truly, so that small nonprofits in the Boston area could have some much-needed strategic assistance. I love doing these consultations, and am very grateful to Data Collaborative for making them a part of their service to the community. Organizations I have worked with at the behest of the Data Collaborative include Leadership Metrowest, the Parents Forum, and Chelsea Neighborhood Developers.

The Data Collaborative is now open to applications from more small nonprofits in the area that are interested in free strategic consultations. There are a limited number of slots available, so there are no guarantees that you will be selected, but the application process is very simple. It consists of three questions:

1. What does your non-profit do?

2. What are your technological challenges?

3. How do you think a consultation with Deborah could help?

Here's how the consultations themselves work:

A typical session kind consists of sitting down with me for an hour or two, alone or with key members of your nonprofit's team. If you prepare a list of strategic technology problems, concerns, or questions in advance, I'm often able to make recommendations on the spot. During these sessions, I can also walk you through a discussion that will help clarify how to subordinate your technology infrastructure to your mission.

In many cases, I can recommend products, services, and vendors that would be a good match for your needs. I do not ever take a commission on any products and services that I recommend, and will not make any sales pitches. In every case, my concern will be to ensure that your information and communications technology is helping you achieve your organization's programmatic goals.

Please note that I cannot provide hands-on tech support in these sessions.

After your consultation, I will be available to you by email and telephone for brief follow up questions. In some cases, I may do follow up research for you, and report back via email with additional information and recommendations.

Our goal is to provide you with the greatest possible benefit from a single session on a pro bono basis, and in almost every case a one or two hour consultation is all that a small nonprofit needs.

If your nonprofit organization is small, based in the Boston area, and in need of some strategic technology assistance, please call Eric Segal, the Data Collaborative's point mensch for this initiative, at 781-777-1119.

Participatory journalism goes mobile

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:20:15 -0400

A message from Capitol News Connection:

Think about being able to use your iPhone, Blackberry or cell phone to hold lawmakers to account!	Can't get your U.S. Senator on the line? Whose call does your Congressman take: yours or the deep-pocketed lobbyist's? Democracy suffers when citizens have little meaningful access to or influence over elected officials. That's why we're asking for... your vote ... online, right now! Help Capitol News Connection build a mobile application ofAsk Your Lawmaker interactive widgets in this year's N2Y4 Challenge. NetSquared's Global Challenge will award$60,000 to the best mobile applications for social benefit.
Learn more about N2Y4 and participate!	VOTE now! It's easy...it only takes a minute! Create an account or login at www.NetSquared.org Add Ask Your Lawmaker to your ballot. Then visit theProject Gallery to add between two and four more projects. Double check that 'Ask Your Lawmaker' is one of your chosen projects. Once you have three or more Projects added to your Ballot, you'll see the "Cast Ballot" link. Click and you're done! Thank you!
The N2Y4 Conference taking place May 26 & 27 in San Jose, CA at Cisco Systems will bring together the 14 Projects selected in a NetSquared Community vote along with project teams from previous years, developers, nonprofits, corporations, funders, and others interested in the intersection of technology and social good. Last year 'Ask Your Lawmaker' was a finalist.	Don't forget to tell all your friends! Use this link http://tinyurl.com/coootw to Twitter it, send it to your Facebook or MySpace friends. How will your vote help us? Your support will let citizens can question their lawmakers directly from their cell phones and vote for the questions they most want answered.CNC reporters in the U.S. Capitol will be notified when users submit questions and again when each question gets enough votes. With their accredited direct access and regular 'face-time' with Senators and Representatives CNC reporters get citizen questions answered, and upload the audio and text directly to the web and the original questioners' cell phone, Blackberry or iPhone for them to listen, read, comment on and share with their friends. Giving citizens a powerful voice It's hard for a Senator or Representative to sidestep a question asked by 18,932 people in 26 states! Ask Your Lawmaker gives citizens a powerful voice, and with iPhone, cell and Blackberry applications, anyone will be able to participate anytime - any place - without need for a laptop or desktop.
	Whether submitting a question via SMS, finding out who your Congress person is via GPS or a street address, mapping a question, recording audio of your question on an iPhone, listening, sharing or 'truth-squading' an answer, CNC's proposed suite of mobile solutions will make lawmaker's ears as accessible as the phone in your pocket.

110 Maryland Ave NE Suite 201 | Washington, DC 20002 US

And now, back to your usual blogger...

As usual, I would like to make a full disclosure of financial relationship. I hope that everyone is 100% clear that I am beating the drum for one of my esteemed clients: Capitol News Connection (CNC), the nonprofit nonpartisan news agency. However, I am not just a consultant - I'm a fan.

CNC recently launched the "Ask Your Lawmaker" widget, and I am very enthusiastic about this mash-up of new era geekiness with a fine old American tradition.

The basic equation is:

Populism + Professional Journalism + Web 2.0 = Ask Your Lawmaker

In other words, everyone in the United States should have a role in holding our elected officials accountable, and professional journalists should make use of interactive web-based tools to enlist all of us in this enterprise. Fortunately, CNC's founder and bureau chief, Melinda Wittstock, has the experience, the credentials, and the vision to make an outpost of any computer that has internet access.

But wait, there's more!

As more of us rely on phones for news, information, navigation, and communication, it's become clear there's a need to develop web applications that are well-suited not only to desktop computers but also to mobile devices. (Fortunately, Melinda has been tracking this closely.) Organizations such as MobileActive have been innovators in the field of activism, advocacy, and organizing, and NetSquared, with its emphasis on "remixing the web for social change," has also become an important leader in this field. The latter has now sponsoring a Mobile Challenge, and Ask Your Lawmaker is in the running, along with an exciting array of other projects.

Ask Your Lawmaker is a somewhat unusual candidate here, in that many of the projects in the Mobile Challenge are pointed toward a specific kind of social change. Most of them are designed to further specific causes (health, environmental sustainability, human rights) or to eradicate specific social evils (human trafficking, sexual harrassment, violence against children). In contrast, Ask Your Lawmaker upholds an ideal of journalism in the public interest and provides a conduit for a crucial exchange between elected officials and those they serve. It seeks to strengthen journalism in the service of civil society, rather than to advance a particular cause, ideology, or agenda for action.

My contention is that responsible, innovative journalism is one of the factors that makes it possible for a responsible public to demand transparency from its leaders, and to deliberate on what policies are in the community's interest.

If you agree, please vote for the Ask Your Lawmaker Mobile Application!

To vote, you'll need to login or register on the Netsquared web site. (Registration is free.) Once you've registered, just go to the Ask Your Lawmaker Mobile Application project description page, and vote.

It was an inside job!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:03:51 -0400

Every so often, I just have to boast. One of my much-loved clients just launched a new web site, and I had hardly anything to do with it!

The Public Conversations Project (PCP) decided to develop their own Drupal web site in house, and they launched it last week. I gave them a little strategic coaching last summer, and then dropped out of rotation. They had outside help from Steve Backman of Database Designs Associates (who provided technical coaching), and from Rachel Stark, librarian extrordinaire (who catalogued the content of the previous site and provided invaluable guidance about usability and navigation). However, most of the development work was done by Andrew Park, their IT coordinator, with input from other members of the PCP team.

It's very satisfying and yet a little bit sad to work with PCP, because I keep rendering myself obsolete. I enjoy working with them so much that I'm sad when it's time to stand back and watch them go forward on a project without me. On the other hand, there's great joy in seeing clients really learn what they need to know in order to make strategic decisions and manage their projects. That's when I become obsolete, for the best of reasons. If I'm really lucky, they bring me back in when they're ready to go to the next level or take on a different challenge.

In the case of the Public Conversations Project, one of the next challenges is social media. We've already kicked off a PCP Facebook page, and I can hardly wait for them to try Twitter. In some ways, this is an organization with the potential to be a powerhouse and a force for good in the world of Web 2.0. Their mission is to foster constructive dialogue about difficult issues, and to uphold civil society by helping folks who have different world views build relationships with each other. This is the kind of skill set that is needed just about everywhere in the world right now. They can help netizens go far beyond flamewars, and can in turn be helped by the internet's ability to minimize (some) geographic barriers to effectiveness.*

* Oh, and just by the way, the PCP team can serve as role models to staff members in relatively small nonprofit organizations that want to develop their own CMS-based web sites using open source platforms . How cool is that?

California Dreaming

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:14:37 -0400

I love my home state, and I love NTEN's annual Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC). This year, the conference will be in San Francisco, one of my favorite cities - however, I'm facing budgetary constraints, and won't be able to attend.*

However, I do want to urge encourage those who can to go! If you're interested in information and communication technologies for the nonprofit sector, this is the place to be. If you have the time, the money, and the opportunity - just go!

The most important thing you can do at the Nonprofit Technology Conference is to engage in conversation. The best ones will be unscheduled and introduce you to ideas, images, professional relationships, products, and services that you didn't even have on your wish list. You might also enjoy the formal sessions and plenary talks.

I always think the best event of the entire conference is the science fair and opening reception, when almost all the attendees are in the same room, talking and showing each other their latest projects. It's heaven for me; I usually spend it introducing people to each other and exhorting them to brainstorm together. Come to think of it, that's how I usually spend the entire three days. But the science fair is the setting most conducive to connecting folks who ought to be collaborating with each other.

And this year, I'll have to miss the whole thing! Dang!

If you go - and you really should go if you can - please be sure to post plenty of 09NTC blog articles, tweets, photos, and videos, for the sake of those of us who are languishing at home.

* It's been a very strange six months or so. I have wonderful clients and a full docket of fascinating projects, but my beloved clients have not all been able to pay me on time. This, combined with the possibility of some considerable medical expenses, means that I can't afford to travel right now.

A special note to those of you who have expressed concern about my health: thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers! I've been through five rounds of medical tests, and it's still not clear whether this is a recurrence of the thyroid cancer I had ten years ago. Whatever it is, it's very small, and not growing. I'm on track to have a second opinion, and perhaps another round of tests, but the consensus seems to be that even the worst case scenario is not life-threatening.

Ooops

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:59:59 -0500

Many thanks are due to Amy Sample Ward for the heads-up about this, along with apologies to Rachel Levine.

It turns out that Ms. Levine is not only a technology consultant but the author of "CyberYenta's Old-Fashioned Wisdom for Newfangled Times." She holds the trademark on the name CyberYenta, and therefore I should not be using it as a sobriquet.

I'm going to remove the name from my online and offline materials, and extend an apology to Ms. Levine. Trademarks should always be respected.

This means that I am now in need of a new sobriquet. I already have several, but none of them seem to be exactly right for my professional role. If you have a (non-obscene, non-degrading, professionally appropriate) suggestion, please follow this link to send it to me.

From Capitol News Connection: The "Ask Your Lawmaker" Widget

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:22:42 -0500

Before I start bubbling over with enthusiasm, I need to make a full disclosure: I serve as a paid consultant to Capitol News Connection (CNC). Reaching out to nonprofit advocacy groups, and urging them to use the Ask Your Lawmaker widget is part of what I'm paid to do.

That said, I need to tell you that I just love this widget! This is a geeky yet populist approach to strengthening participatory democracy.

Capitol News Connection is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism organization that is based in Washington, DC. Ask Your Lawmaker (AYL) is one of their cleverest initiatives: constituents from any district in the U.S. can pose questions to their senators and representatives by posting them to the web site, and then anyone who is interested in legislation and policy can go to the site and vote for the questions that he or she deems most critical. The CNC reporters are conveniently headquartered on Capitol Hill, and when a question garners enough votes, they go out and ask the legislator in question. The responses are recorded in broadcast-quality audio, and posted to the web. They are also made available to local public radio stations, which are often in need of quotes they can use back in the home district when they report on national issues.

Ask Your Lawmaker is now making a laudable move into Web 2.0 territory by offering nonprofit advocacy groups and individual activists a free widget that they can use on their own web sites or Facebook pages. What a great way to voice your concerns, and to engage your stakeholders in pressing legislators to address an issue!

A nonprofit advocacy group's cost to participate needs to be calculated in terms of the person hours that it will require. Use of the AYL widget itself is free.

Here's simple five step process for advocacy groups across the U.S. that want to give it a try:

1) Create your AYL widget, choosing your organization's signature issues from the checkboxes provided.

2) Add a single piece of code generated by AYL to your web site or Facebook page, so that the widget appears prominently.

3) Highlight your concerns by choosing a question and a lawmaker, and use AYL to submit it.

4) Send the AYL link with your question to your friends, stakeholders, and allies, asking them to help by voting for your question.

5) Track the results, reflect on them, and refine your strategy.

This widget is only the beginning! Capitol New Connection is working on many more ideas for making national news coverage more participatory and holding legislators more accountable to their constituents. In a time when every community activist can also be a citizen journalis t, and RSS feeds are making it easy to syndicate news selectively, Ask Your Lawmaker is poised to become a provider of tailor-made news streams for any advocacy group.

Adventures in vlogging with Third Sector New England: The online video reference tool for new nonprofit managers

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:39:55 -0500

The problem:

There are lots of first time nonprofit managers who need not only answers to specific questions but guidance and mentorship.

Third Sector New England has plenty of in-house nonprofit management mavens, but there still aren't enough hours in the day to provide mentorship to all the new nonprofit managers who would like a little advice.

Detailed and well-written answers to frequently asked questions are available through web sites such as the excellent Nonprofit FAQ on Idealist.Org, but some people learn more effectively by listening and seeing than by reading.

A partial solution:

Get the nonprofit management mavens of Third Sector New England in front of a video camera, elicit succinct answers to frequently asked questions, and post them to the web for all to see and hear...

Veterans Day Reflections

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:44:49 -0500

I actually think that my beloved sister, Stephanie Landers, has summed it up much more eloquently than I ever could, so please read her blog article on "Veterans Day in San Jose"...

Two...Four...Six...Eight! NPtech can aggregate! Let's hear it for Social Actions!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:40:42 -0500

As readers of my blog know, I complain fairly frequently that we need to use nptech to make it easier to bring resources and needs together. All the information that's online needs to be mashed up so that, even if there is more out there for mission-based organizations and their stakeholders, we can have that information distilled for use in a timely and effective way...

The virtuous cycle: That's how they roll at Good2gether

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:29:17 -0500

Good2gether is another one of those ideas, such Modest Needs and Freecycling, that seems simple and obvious - but only after some genius has come along and thought of it...

Twitter Redux

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:10:46 -0500

As I've previously mentioned in my blog, I was definitely underwhelmed when I first heard about Twitter. But on further reflection, I thought that Twitter might be a good tool for use in emergencies or for locating folks at the Nonprofit Technology Conference. But on an everyday basis, it seemed like TMI.

That was 18 months ago. Of course, I now use it all the time...

Why you need to read "Philanthropy Reconsidered"

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:13:57 -0400

It's crucial that all of us who care about philanthropy and mission-based organizations (especially those of us who are nonprofit technology assistance providers) need to hearken to the wisdom of George McCully in Philanthropy Reconsidered...

One Laptop Per Adult?

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:52:42 -0400

A while back, my boring but reliable Dell Inspiron laptop crashed, and fearing that resuscitation would be time-consuming and expensive, I decided to buy an Asus Eee PC 900 via Amazon.com...

Civil discourse and ownership issues in online communities

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:24:56 -0400

I've been doing a lot of thinking about civil discourse lately, because it was recently an issue in one of the online communities that I moderate. The discussion took the form of off-list email, in which the question arose as to whether specific messages posted the group succeeded or failed in meeting a minimal standard of civility.

This is a complicated question, and I will be pondering it for a long time. Those off-list emails were quite thoughtful and challenging! This comes as no surprise, since the focus of the group is on mission-based organizations,which are highly invested in the ideals of civil society...

My blogging guilt trip

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:21:49 -0400

I've been very negligent about blogging lately. (Bad blogger! No sushi!)

I'm not sure whether I'll be able to circle back and cover these topics, but here's a list of blog articles that I have (thus far) failed to write:

Highlights of the Nonprofit Technology Conference in New Orleans

Highlights of Penguin Day in New Orleans

The quest for a web-based meeting tool for International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, an organization that has something like 25 board members in 14 time zones

Remedial web site development for a nonprofit, when the firm that designed it disavows it 18 months after the fact

First steps in vlogging for a nonprofit management support organization

How Social Capital Inc is using online tools to increase face-to-face civic engagement

The brilliance and versatility of the free online tools that Art Bushkin and the Stargazer Foundation has developed for emergency preparedness, and the shocking difficulty that the foundation is experiencing in giving the tools away

How, at last, there's a Web 2.0 tool that almost any nonprofit can and should use: Good2gether.com

Why I'm excited about attending the Netsquared conference next week

How I plan to spend a day or two in San Francisco after Netsquared, using the San Francisco Nonprofit Technology as my home base

Improving my working conditions and staving off madness with a little help from the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:14:16 -0400

As most readers of my blog know, I don't like working from home. Although I love my clients and the projects I do with them, there's a downside to being a solo practitioner. I yearn for an office to go to, a nonprofit environment, a sense of continuity with a team.

Fortunately, the good folks of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War have some spare office space and a need for an online strategy adviser, so they have very good-naturedly offered me a barter...

Test driving the 2008 NTC Widget

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:35:55 -0400

I'm not sure whether the 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference widget is going to work with my Blogware platform, but I'm giving it a shot. (If you see a big block of white space above this paragraph, then it hasn't worked.) I wish that there were a version of this widget that would fit into the righthand column of this page.

Ethos Roundtable - what a line up!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:00:26 -0500

Ok, I just have to boast. At the Ethos Roundtable, we have some exciting featured guests scheduled...

Search engine optimization for nervous nonprofit novices

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:55:09 -0500

Some colleagues of mine, fellow nonprofit technology assistance providers, recently asked me to draft a guide to search engine optimization strategy for their clients. They very kindly granted me permission to publish a version of it to my blog. I am eager to elicit feedback from SEO mavens, and would like to encourage readers to post comments here...

Feet on the street with the Gentilly Project

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:10:08 -0500

Photo at left by RubyJi; photo at right by SteveGarfield

What's not to love? They are using geographic information systems to facilitate the rebuilding of a New Orleans neighborhood that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina...

Oops! I did it again!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:05:32 -0500

Photo by democracyinaction.org

I have just been notified by Annaliese Hoehling of the Nonprofit Technology Network that I will be receiving another NTENny Award this year at NTC...

The Information Systems Forum at NTC

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 15:14:27 -0500

For the first time in its nine year history, the Information Systems Forum will meet as a face-to-face affinity group at the Nonprofit Technology Conference!...

NTC in New Orleans

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:28:08 -0500

Here are some items on my Nonprofit Technology Conference wish list...

Happy birthday to a social media goddess

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:59:33 -0500

Today is Beth Kanter's 51st birthday, and she's taking this opportunity to raise money online for The Sharing Foundation. Her goal is to persuade 51 people to give $10.00 each...

What technophobic social workers can teach geeks

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 17:27:59 -0500

Two words: community organizing...

Q: Are the social media needs of nonprofits all different or all the same? A: Yes.

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:02:24 -0500

Beth Kanter has tagged me with the topic, "Four Lessons Learned: Social Media and Nonprofits Meme"....

Remembering Wayne Glynn

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 10:56:47 -0500

Wayne F. Glynn junior, esteemed colleague and friend, died on Monday, November 26th, 2007. This is a terrible blow for his partner, family, friends, and colleagues.

May his memory be a blessing to us all...

Keith Taylor: Beyond distributed philanthropy and into micro donor advised funds

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:41:33 -0400

On October 30th, the Ethos Roundtable had the incomparable privilege of playing host to Keith Taylor of the Modest Needs Foundation...

Is Facebook becoming the default front end for nonprofits?

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:21:21 -0400

I like online social networking, and I like e-philanthropy, but I'm not crazy about Facebook...

Hire these Boston Technobabes!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:49:39 -0400

Really and truly - I'm not a professional headhunter or employment broker. However, I do like to see nonprofit organizations find the technology staff that they need. And when it comes to the Boston Technobabes, you can hardly do better...

Technology assistance for people who are smart about other things

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:56:57 -0400

We often deal with executive directors who cope with technology by groveling and apologizing for their ignorance, or by developing elaborate rationales for why they shouldn't need to know this stuff. My sympathies are entirely with them. Nobody is born knowing this stuff, and executive directors are often busy figuring out entirely other stuff. I laughingly suggested that we need a series of technical reference books that are titled, "...For People Who Are Smart About Other Things"...

Ok, it isn't exactly life in hell, but I don't like working from home.

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:50:36 -0400

Perhaps I can persuade a nonprofit or philanthropic organization that it's worth it to have me around, so that they can pick my brains for free?

There aren't enough hours in the day to track all the nonprofit tech jobs out there

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:23:54 -0400

It's beginning to seem like one of those good news / bad news jokes. I'm glad that there are lots of jobs out there in our field, but it's getting to be more than I can handle by myself...

Chatting about e-philanthropy with the monks of the 21st century

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:40:17 -0400

Can you visualize Anglican monks as poster boys for ePhilanthropy?...

A shameless plug for a free online fundraising opportunity

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:09:15 -0400

I am far from objective about ChangingThePresent.Org's model for channeling online donations. In fact, I think it's one of the greatest concepts in ePhilanthropy that's come down the pike, comparable in brilliance to ModestNeeds. (Which, for me, is saying a lot!)

It's now possible for nonprofit organizations in the U.S.A. to register without charge for an enhanced account with ChangingThePresent.Org, and I want to urge them to do it...

Traveling extensively in Boston

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 09:52:21 -0400

"I have traveled extensively in Concord" - Henry David Thoreau

Although it doesn't quite have the cachet of Thoreau's boast about Concord, I can at least report that I have been traveling extensively in Boston...

The Ethos Roundtable meets SocialMarkets.Org

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:14:45 -0400

Jeff Tuller and Allan Benamer were in Cambridge yesterday to give a presentation about Social Markets.Org at the Ethos Roundtable, to schmooze it up with the Boston 501 Tech Club, and to visit with some nonprofits that might become pilot programs for their initiative. Oh, my - such naches for the cyber-yenta!...

Uh-oh, Cyber-Yenta comes to town

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 14:17:54 -0400

New York Cit y will be my destination next week, and I'm hoping to have some face time with some of my delightful nonprofit technology colleagues there...

Good online meeting tools with weird names: Yugma and DimDim

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:04:47 -0400

Two very interesting online meeting tools that fall into the "Inexpensive, Moderately satisfactory" category are Yugma and DimDim...

Caturday

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 08:47:47 -0400

I would just like to point out that the internet meme of Caturday is alive and well in the nonprofit sector. Enjoy!

A sustainable nonprofit: It's what we all want, right?

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:17:25 -0400

Pat Weaver of Mission Research recently called my attention to Sustainable Nonprofit, a web site that her organization has been developing. I've been surfing through it, and here are my questions...

Good news: I'm available for new projects!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 18:47:09 -0400

As I've previously mentioned in my blog, I've been devoting nearly all of my professional time to Third Sector New England. At the end of July I'll be scaling back to just a couple of exciting projects there, and will be available to take on some new initiatives. My reason for scaling back at TSNE is the best in the world...

Competition and online social giving and outcomes measurement - oh, my!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 23:32:55 -0400

SocialMarkets.Org is a very cool idea that will probably upset a lot of veterans in the nonprofit sector...

E.One.Caribbean, online tools, and the immigrant diaspora

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 07:50:17 -0400

"The E.One.Carriban project seeks to connect the human, intellectual, and financial resources of the region and global Caribbean diaspora with Caribbean nonprofit organizations in order to help them address growing community needs..."

The Mass NPtech plot thickens

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:18:47 -0400

Our newly formed nonprofit technology conspiracy for Massachusetts had its first face-to-face gathering on Tuesday evening...

Is the web ready for lol nptech?

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 07:57:32 -0400

Original photo by Wayne Glynn

"LOL" is a common internet abbreviation for "laughing out loud," and a bunch of web sites have emerged to display funny photographs of cats, presidents, walruses, and other inherently humorous animals. The photos are accompanied by highly idiomatic captions.

I find myself speculating about the next development: a lol nptech web site...

Beth Kanter uses social media to explain social media

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 21:00:46 -0400

Photos by Beth Kanter

Beth Kanter's workshop on social media for nonprofits was a high point of the Boston Nonprofit Technology Conference on Tuesday...

Online tools for dialogue and deliberation

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 31 May 2007 13:45:41 -0400

I'm doing some scouting on behalf of Third Sector New England, which is looking for a good web-based tool for conducting meetings. I say "meetings" rather than "trainings," because a lot of the courseware that TSNE has considered is tailored to the needs of teacher/student interaction rather than the needs of peers to discuss and decide...

I'm underwhelmed by LinkedIn For Good

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 27 May 2007 19:08:37 -0400

LinkedIn For Good is nice, but not an innovative mash-up of social networking and e-philanthropy...

The Meebo Nonprofit Technology chat room

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 21 May 2007 22:43:58 -0400

For reasons that I have previously outlined in my blog, I really, really don't like live online chat - nevertheless, I'm quite fond of Allan Benamer. When I found out that Allan had created a chat room dedicated to the topic of nonprofit technology on Meebo, my kneejerk grumpiness went to war with my bias in favor of any project that Allan takes on...

Deepening our local NPtech conspiracy

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Wed, 16 May 2007 18:11:06 -0400

At Tuesday evening's Boston 501 Club event, a few of us began to talk seriously about spinning off a working group for those who are interested in the future of tech support for nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts...

The New England School for Circuit Riders

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 10 May 2007 21:57:29 -0400

We need a training program for hands-on tech support providers who serve mission-based organizations...

Arthur Prokosch, wordsmith and online strategist

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:00:00 -0400

This year, my Third Sector New England colleague Arthur Prokosch and I decided to co-present a workshop on "free or cheap web-based organizing and collaboration tools," which was also very well received by the attendees, mostly (in my opinion) because Arthur added a great deal of usable content to the handouts that I had previously developed...

One Laptop Per Child: How is this going to work?

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 06 May 2007 06:00:00 -0400

I'm starting to become excited about the potential impact of the "One Laptop Per Child" project on the field of nonprofit technology and on the digital divide movement. Nevertheless, I find all the breaking news about this project very confusing...

Should nonprofit organizations be managed in the same way that for-profit organizations are managed? (Redux)

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:15:10 -0400

This is a question that is being vigorously debated by members of the Information Systems Forum.

It's not really the sort of question that can be resolved by taking a vote, but I thought that a survey would be interesting. This is also an opportunity to try out a free web-based survey widget that I've never used before.

So, dear readers, please give us the benefit of your opinion. Naturally, you're welcome to post comments, particularly if the option you ticked off was "this question is missing the point." If you're interested in my reflections, you're welcome to read my previous blog article on this topic.

I cannot tell a lie - Michelle Murrain is the right woman for the job, and I am not

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 10:56:07 -0400

This week, a staff member from wonderful nonprofit in Massachusetts that focuses on environmental health approached me for assistance...

Karen Schneider gets it right about "free" technology: that's "free, as in free kittens"

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:28:31 -0400

In the realm of information and communications technology, "free" is one of those difficult words. Fortunately, Karen Schneider, the fabulous Free Range Librarian, has summed it up perfectly: free as in free kittens!...

Declining to connect on LinkedIn, and other etiquettical dilemmas

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 21:09:54 -0400

I belong to any number of online social networking sites (such as Change.Org), but LinkedIn strikes me as the one that is really about professional credibility. They have such solemn guidelines for accepting an invitation to connect...

On to Serenic Navigator with JMT Consulting

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 09:57:57 -0400

Third Sector New England's quest for applications that will meet its needs for fund accounting, workflow management, and document management continues...

Information wants to be free, but it also needs to be sustainable

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 08:20:35 -0400

I've been thinking a lot in the past few days about the new Journal of Information Technology in Social Change...

I missed a chance to meet Trish Perkins

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:54:31 -0400

Photo by Beth Kanter

Trish is only one of several colleagues that I longed - in vain - to behold at the Nonprofit Technology Conference. Attendance has grown from about 200 to about 1,200 since I showed up at the conference's precursor in 2001. We need to make the large turnout a strength rather than a weakness. We need to do a much better job of making sure that attendees find each other and have opportunities for substantive conversations...

The NTEN day of service: Don't deny yourself the pleasure of participation

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 17:23:56 -0400

Photo by Beth Kanter

It's possible to be perfectly miserable as a result of doing something that is not only virtuous but extremely useful. Feeling fulfilled is no guarantee that mission-critical outcomes have been achieved.

However, I had a great time at this year's NTEN Day of Service, and I want to urge as many people as possible to participate next year, on the grounds that it is so much fun...

It was a joke!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 21:52:43 -0400

Photo by democracyinaction.org

I am very pleased to report that the NTEN "award" that I received at the Nonprofit Technology Conference on Wednesday was strictly a joke...

Debriefing after the Nonprofit Technology Conference

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:36:11 -0400

Flickr photos by Beth Kanter, Picnetinc, and Jon Stahl

Now that the 2007 Nonprofit Technology Conference is over, I'm sorting out my impressions...

Happy Google Fools Day!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 06:00:00 -0400

Today is April 1st, so I won't attempt to report on the state of nonprofit technology, lest you think I'm perpetrating a hoax.

However, I'd like to point out that our friends at Google, ever eager to offer free online services to all, have launched two new products today: Gmail Paper and Google TiSP.

Anonymity isn't bad; bad behavior is bad!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 06:05:48 -0400

Now that cyberbullying is being widely discussed in the blogosphere, I'm reading a lot about the notion that online anonymity is a bad thing...

Today is "Stop Cyberbullying Day" - we need to to balance free speech with civil discourse

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:24:28 -0400

I'm an ardent believer in both free speech and civil discourse, and I recognize that it's a never-ending struggle to balance these two...

In Technobabe solidarity

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:12:32 -0400

Kathy Sierra, author of the brilliant blog, Creating Passionate Users, has cancelled her public appearances in response to mysogynistic death threats via the internet.

My heart goes out to her. I want to take this opportunity to urge everyone to do his or her part to ensure that the internet is a safe place that promotes civil society.

We need to mobilize a league of tech-friendly executive directors

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 15:47:59 -0400

A buddy and I recently discussed the huge difference it makes for an IT manager at a nonprofit to have an executive director who is curious and even enthusiastic about what technology can do for the organization, even if he or she is not an expert in the field...

Laura Quinn delivers the news on content management systems for nonprofits

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 14:14:56 -0400

Photo by Beth Kanter

Laura's workshop on content management systems easily fulfilled and exceeded expectations. She has the great gift of being able to identify what nonprofit profit decision-makers need to know, and of being able to explain it vividly and usefully...

Just don't let me make a speech

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 17:20:13 -0400

The good folks at N-TEN informed me this week that, along with some other nonprofit technology professionals, I'm going to receive an award at the upcoming Nonprofit Technology Conference...

My blog was down for three terrestrial days - that's equivalent to three blog years

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 17:50:18 -0400

This morning, I started to think about dog years and blog years. My blog was down for three days this week because it had exceeded its allotment of bandwidth - as you can see, it is now up again. This has been happening about every six or eight weeks, and I've been speculating about how this affects the continuity and readership of my blog. My current hypothesis is that one terrestrial day is roughly equivalent to one blog year...

Let's add OpenID to the nonprofit technology mash-up

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:44:30 -0400

Now that Twitter is my latest obsession, and I'm experimenting with ideas for how it can be used by the nonprofit technology community, it's becoming clear that we need something like OpenID in the mix. Having already spent plenty of time identifying my friends and colleagues on a widget such as MyBlogLog, I don't want to repeat the whole exercise with Twitter...

Too much information and too much transparency? Or a smart tool for disaster response?

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:36:06 -0500

My interest in text-messaging is feeble at best. However, when my buddy Andy Carvin starts to speculate about the potential to use Twitter to save lives during emergencies, that commands my attention and respect. I continue to worry that folks in the field of nonprofit technology aren't doing enough advance preparation for disaster recovery...

WayneGeist

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 08:06:37 -0500

As I've previously mentioned, Wayne Glynn, an esteemed colleague and friend, has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. This week, Wayne, who is Third Sector New England's director of information systems, is preparing to take a medical leave in order to undergo stem cell therapy. In a manner that is totally typical of his pro-active, life-affirming personality, he is not only fighting (and winning) his battle against this disease, but also working to help raise money so that other people can benefit from the latest research and treatment. Meanwhile, it's a difficult moment for TSNE's information systems team...

Give and take at the Chronicle of Philanthropy

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:13:13 -0500

The good news is that the Chronicle of Philanthropy is now covering nonprofit blogs. It's an official news beat for the leading journal of the philanthropic sector!...

In which I acknowledge that I am not "All-Good"

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 16:00:58 -0500

Fortunately, the universe has its ways of helping me stay aware that I have great, um, scope for improvement...

I've been blogtipped!

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 13:21:04 -0500

Apparently, the latest thing in the blogosphere is blogtipping: brief reviews of blogs that include both praise and tips for improvement...

Testing, testing, testing

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:57:22 -0500

I'm live blogging as the Third Sector New England's fiscal sponsorship team tests an integration of Microix workflow and MIP fund accounting...

Geek heaven: A Games For Change salon at M.I.T.

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 13:02:39 -0500

It seems to me that the next step for me and my fellow nonprofit techies is to think about how to bring together our colleagues who are engaged in electronic advocacy with members of the Games For Change movement...

Another volume for the nonprofit technology bookshelf

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 17:07:56 -0500

Paul-Brian McInerney sent me an email, to let me know that a new book is out: Nonprofits and Technology: Emerging Research for Usable Knowledge.

It's edited by Michael Cortés and Kevin Rafter; I'm not familiar with the work of the latter two gentlemen, but am keenly interested in reading any book on nonprofit technology that can boast of chapters by Paul-Brian, Dale Fitch, Peter Dobkin Hall, and the inimitable John McNutt.

I'm particularly looking forward to reading Paul-Brian's chapter, "Geeks for Good: Technology Evangelism and the Role of Circuit Riders in IT Adoption among Nonprofits." He wrote his Ph.D. thesis on this topic as a graduate student at Columbia, and I was one of the folks that he interviewed on the history of the circuit rider movement. (My buddy Gavin Clabaugh reports that he was extensively interviewed, which is great, because Gavin was definitely present at the creation.) I couldn't help Paul-Brian with any eyewitness accounts of the movement's earliest days, since I came along in the second or third wave of riders, but it was certainly delightful to find that someone was taking a scholarly interest in the subject.

I hope that this book can help us to keep our eyes on the goal of combining the best insights of researchers and nonprofit technology practitioners...

Ronald L. Cohen, outstanding teacher

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 11:42:56 -0500

My friend Ron Cohen is a candidate for the outstanding teacher award of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to him. Unlike the rest of this blog, this article isn't directly focused on information and communication technologies for the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, but if you keep reading, you'll see that it all ties into the work I do...

Boston's other idealists

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 07:55:30 -0500

Although I do my share of worrying about career ladders for young techies in the Boston area who want to work in the nonprofit sector, I'm also aware that there's a whole other contingent of idealists whose professional aspirations we should be considering...

Where have all the developers gone?

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 07:44:26 -0500

These days, it seems like the constant refrain in the Boston area is, "Deborah, can you find us a database and web developer who is highly qualified and willing to work with small nonprofits?" It's really difficult right now, but I'm not surprised, because it's part of a larger trend that I started to worry about two years ago...

Online social networking and knowledge management for nonprofits: How about a mash-up?

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 06:29:00 -0500

I still think that in the nonprofit sector, we need better knowledge management of our knowledge management. It isn't enough to have a wonderful social networking web site that can help you cross-reference social change goals, organizations, individuals, and actions. What we badly need is a mash-up that gives us one-stop shopping for all sorts of information and resources...

More about spirituality and nonprofit technology: Let's have an interfaith seder at the upcoming conference

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 08:02:44 -0500

This year's Nonprofit Technology Conference in Washington, DC coincides with some major religious festivals, such as Easter and Passover - and it occurs to me that this is an opportunity to share an ecclectic, improvisational, interfaith seder with N-TEN colleagues...

Nonprofit watchdogs get their own blogs

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 18:33:14 -0500

I monitor the NPtech del.icio.us tagstream with avid interest, and notice that there are now several blogs devoted to harsh critiques of the nonprofit sector...

Organizational culture eats strategy for breakfast

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:14:15 -0500

If you work in the field of nonprofit technology, then you know it's true...

Social networking and nonprofit technology resources: Why I love Social Source Commons

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 17:27:20 -0500

There's a vast array of technology tools, widgets, products, and services available out there to nonprofit organizations. Some of them were designed specifically for our sector, and many of them are available online for free. However, not all of them are plausible choices for nonprofits that have modest budgets and no one on staff who serves as a full time chief technology officer...

Spirituality and nonprofit technology, Or "how did you get so far off track?"

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 20:17:15 -0500

One of the things that inspired me to reflect on the topic of spirituality and nonprofit technology was my dear old friend Michelle Murrain's recent blog article on "Spirituality and Technology."

However, it's probably no use listening to me talk about the relationship between spirituality and nonprofit technology, unless you have reason to believe that my opinions will have some entertainment value for you...

"I thought I knew, but I had no idea" (Is this good news or bad news?)

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 15:15:29 -0500

Photos by Steve Garfield and Ruby Sinreich

I can't figure out whether it's good news or bad news that there's far more happening in the world of electronic advocacy and political organizing than any one mind can comprehend...

Pracademics: A great concept that goes by an ungraceful name

Deborah Elizabeth Finn — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 23:26:01 -0500

The value of nonprofit "pracademics" seems self-evident to me. Highly effective practitioners in our sector and rigorous researchers in the academy should be able to communicate with and learn from each other...