Comments on: What I Learned about Nonprofits at the NC Conference

By: Randal Mason

Randal Mason — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:16:48 +0000

Interesting. Do you ever encourage nonprofit staff to use Web 2.0 tools on a personal level first, as a way to familiarize themselves with what’s possible?

While it may not alleviate all of their fears, experimenting with their own personal social networking account, for example, may help them see the potential for their organizations more clearly.

By: Sam Davidson

Sam Davidson — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:51:35 +0000

Great recap, Kivi. Thanks for sharing. After recently leading a nonprofit workshop in Nashville on viral marketing via new Web 2.0 tools, I received much of the same feedback about fear, concern, privacy, etc.

One thing I remind NPs is that these tools need to be a part of an overall communications strategy, and don’t necessarily stand alone. Thus, it’s important to think about what you want to say, to whom, and why, and then find out which tools you’ll need.

Thanks again for being an important voice on this topic.

By: donna

donna — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:43:25 +0000

Photos Your Way is a photo sharing website that may be of interest to you. You get 7Gb of free storage to store and share your photos. You can keep them private to share just with certain friends and family or choose to make them public for the world to see.

You can also choose to sell downloads of your photos. If you do, your images will be licensed for use in print, brochures, websites and more! By doing this you are upgraded from 7gb of storage to unlimited storage!

They also have a program in which non profit organizations earn money by referring friends and family. The non-profit organization earns $1 for each person who registers and upload photos. Here is a link to check it out.

http://photosyourway.com/non_profit_request.aspx

By: Katya

Katya — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:12:52 +0000

Thanks for the great time watching the debate — and debating over how to help nonprofits. You’re a great asset to our field and the work of nonprofits everywhere!

By: Elizabeth Turnbull

Elizabeth Turnbull — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:41:01 +0000

Kivi,

Thanks for the shout out! I had a blast at the conference, and, like you said, I got to meet interesting people face to face. For the record, you’re one of my favorite bloggers. In fact, you’ve inspired me to take a slightly different turn with my No Bull Fundraising blog. I’ll keep you posted on the developments. Keep up the good work!

By: John Haydon

John Haydon — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:15:55 +0000

Kivi,

Thanks for posting this. I was curious to learn more about your experience when you tweeted “Nonprofits are completely obsessed with people posting negative comments, bad photos, and being ugly based on all the questions.”

I’ve gotten the same sense from the NPOs I work with directly and those that I communicate with on Twitter and LinkedIn.

John

By: Brent MacKinnon

Brent MacKinnon — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:40:30 +0000

I enjoyed your post as it helped me understand the resistance of non profits to using social media to reach constituents. It’s partly ignorance, lack of experience, fear of the unknown, being closed to becoming vulnerable, doubts about technology and much more. I’m working with non profits who want to use these tools but have all of those issues.. One step at a time and use familiar language to get people engaged is a good starting point.
Thanks, love your site.

By: Michelle Murrain

Michelle Murrain — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:05:36 +0000

Hi Kivi,

This is great on the ground info about Web 2.0, and the things that nonprofits are thinking about. I think one thing that is a shift in culture/consciousness is the increasing focus on transparency. What if something bad is said? How do you respond? What affect does that have? All great questions to ponder.

By: leandra

leandra — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:54:58 +0000

Thanks for the shout out, you found me so quick on Thursday, I didn’t even have to look for you!

I think this post is a great summation of the reactions to Web 2.0 at the conference. It is important to remind folks that not all of these tools are relevant to their organization and everything gets easier with a little practice.

By: Kivi Leroux Miller

Kivi Leroux Miller — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:45:19 +0000

Angela – I’m so glad you commented. I meant to link to your slides in this post and then spaced it! Editing now. Thanks for a great summary at the conference — and your fabulous sense of humor definitely helped put people at ease with this “scary” stuff!