My name is Lisa Chipetine and I am a Portfolio Manager at the Institute of
International Education.  I collaborate (with a colleague)to investigate and
report on cutting edge technologies that will improve our services of
grants/student and scholar management,as well as internal processes (see
http://www.iie.org we administer the Fulbright Program). I have a special
interest in networking with individuals in the academic/educational fields- as
we have common goals; but appreciate input from all non-profit sectors.

I am a Business Process/Project Management specialist and am happy to share my
expertise in this realm.  I have extensive training/educational experience and
have multiple multiple complex wiki content management systems.

Thank you and Happy Holidays to all!
Lisa Chipetine
Portfolio Manager
IIE.org

-----original message-----
From: Lisa M Chipetine <lchipetine@...>
Date: Tue, Dec 22, 2009 at 1:41 PM
Subject: [NTEN Discuss] Assistance Required: Special Research IT Systems Report
To: nten-discuss@...

Dear Members:

I would appreciate any assistance or suggestions you can provide to
me.  I have been charged with creating a collective report on the IT
Systems being utilized by not for profit organizations; I work for the
Institute of International Education and we are performing a gap
analysis on what technologies we should incorporate into our portfolio
in order to remain on par/cutting edge with the academic and/or
Non-Profit communities.

I would like to perform short interviews with individuals on your
current technologies; if you are willing to participate (I promise no
more than 15-20 minutes); I can schedule a time in January to call you
to discuss.  My email is lchipetine@... and my cell number (since
I am on the move!) is 516-857-3228.  My deadline for reporting back to
my boss is 1/29/2010.

Additionally, are there any students in this group who are presently
utilizing Hobsons Enrollment Management Technology and if so, what do
you think if it? (Special request for me to find out asap).

I am excited to belong to this community and if I can reciprocate in
any way, please let me know.

Happy Holidays!
Lisa Chipetine
Portfolio Manager IT-PMO
IIE.org

Dear ISF friends,

Does anyone have useful information or thoughts on the merits of including
"action" links in email signature files.

I'm thinking of links to petitions, requests for donations, etc.

The allure of weighing down sig files with all manner or interesting contact
sounds intuitive, since email is a very constituent-forward communication
device, but it is possibly counter-intuitive as an effective tool.

Thanks and happy holidays!

Daniel Karp

Howdy friends,

Happy holidays to you all! Here's looking ahead to 2010...

Are technology projects a source of frustration, confusion, or excessive
cost within your organization? Are you curious about whether you're
following best practices and selecting the best tools as you apply
technology in your programs and operations? Would you like to meet
others solving similar problems and facing similar challenges?

Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects is an event series designed to
help you better manage technology projects in your nonprofit or as a
consultant to nonprofits.

Aspiration and Community IT Innovators are hosting the fourth Nonprofit
Technology Project Management event in Washington, DC on Monday and
Tuesday, February 8th and 9th, 2010.

Complete details are at
http://www.aspirationtech.org/events/mntp-dc/2010

And you can register directly at
http://bit.ly/4q1AgC

PLEASE blog it, Tweet it, Facebook it, forward it, and otherwise let
folks know about this unique event.

Hash tags: #mntpdc, #aspirationtech, #citidc

Facebook event (please invite folks!):
http://www.facebook.com/#/event.php?eid=212032756903&ref=mf

A detailed agenda for the event is also available at
http://mntp.aspirationtech.org/index.php/Event_Agenda.

The agenda will continue to evolve up to and during the event, as we
dialog with participants and strive to meet specific needs in the domain
of technology project management for nonprofits. We invite participants
to both request and propose sessions.

Informal, information-rich, discussion-based sessions will allow
participants to compare processes, tools, successes, and lessons
learned. We will discuss areas such as team collaboration, project
planning, software selection, migration, and project roll-out, and map
out the software tools – from project management packages to
collaborative communication to issue tracking and more – that support
successful technology projects.

We look forward to seeing you there!

thanks & peace,
gunner

--

Allen Gunn
Executive Director, Aspiration
+1.415.216.7252
www.aspirationtech.org

Aspiration: "Better Tools for a Better World"

Dear ISF Colleagues:

Just a reminder and an invitation - I'm creating a directory of online
tools that assist nonprofits and philanthropies with capacity mapping
and resource matching.

If you have an online tool or online data set that fits into this
category, you're welcome to follow this link and enter a little bit of
information about it:

<http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDFyNDg2Wk1pTGZ3MDJER2lqQ\
nZ5dEE6MA>

The purpose of this directory is to help an informal brain trust of
nonprofit, philanthropic, and technological professionals think about
ways to bring our sector's resources and needs together as seamlessly
as possible.  Now that we are living the the age of date interchange
and XML formatting, it's not necessary for everything to have a single
owner, a single platform, or even a single host.  (However, a single
login for all such tools would certainly be a blessing.)  We want to
be sure that we aren't <jargon alert> building silos or reinventing
the wheel </jargon alert>.  We want to explore collaborations,
consolidations, and mash ups.  If you think that your online resource
should be in the mix, please add it to our quickly growing compendium.

Thank you very much!

Best regards from Deborah

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Strategist and Consultant
Technology for the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Email: deborah_elizabeth_finn@...
Blog: www.deborahelizabethfinn.com
Skype:  Deborah909
Twitter: Deborah909
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah909
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Deborah.Elizabeth.Finn

I bring resources and needs together for nonprofits and
philanthropies, mostly through strategic use of information
and communication technologies.

Over at the Educational Technology Debate, there's a lively discussion around
the learnings and failings from One Laptop Per Child - the $100 laptop for
education programme from Nicholas Negroponte:

   What Have We Learned From OLPC?
   http://edutechdebate.org

There's both positive and critical analysis of its impact on both technology and
education, and builds on the earlier discussion we had with Atanu Dey around ICT
sustainability in Indian schools:

   At $12 Per Student, How Can ICT4E in India Be Sustainable?
   http://bit.ly/olpc-in-india

Thanks for your attention,
Wayan

(Dear ISF Colleagues: Some truly awesome nonprofit technology
professionals have taken their first steps on the nptech ladder
through this program.  Please consider host a Corps member at your
nonprofit organization.  By way of full disclosure, I should explain
that I have no financial ties to the Tranmission Project.  I'm just  a
fan.  Best regards from Deborah)




------original message-----
From: Belinda <belinda.rawlins@...>
Date: Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 6:20 PM
Subject: [CTCNet-listserv:407] Transmission Project now accepting proposals
To: CTCNet-listserv <ctcnet-listserv@googlegroups.com>



Apply now for capacity building support from the Transmission Project.
Feedback provided for early applicants; final deadline March 15, 2010.

The Transmission Project amplifies the power of public media and
technology. We place Digital Arts Service Corps members in support of
capacity-building projects for organizations working to bring
individuals and communities out of poverty through developing
opportunities and resources necessary to contribute and participate
fully in our economy and democracy.

We consider Public Media and Technology to include organizations and
projects that use media and technologies to inform, educate, and
encourage communities to act upon issues important to them. This broad
definition includes broadcast media and technology (e.g. pubcasters,
PEG, CTCs, etc.) and others working to encourage broadband adoption,
increase community storytelling, facilitate institutional transparency
or engage their community through innovative means.

Interested organizations are invited to submit proposals for capacity
building projects. If accepted, the organization and the Transmission
Project work together to recruit a Digital Arts Service Corps member
to work with the organization for one year. With a successful
placement, the Transmission Project provides approximately $20,000 for
the member's living expenses, relocation and professional development,
in addition to other non-cash support. The partnering organization
contributes $4,000 and budgets $1,000 for the member to attend one
national conference during their year of service and additional funds
for living assistance.

Full eligibility guidelines and application are available at
http://www.transmissionproject.org/apply

--

The Transmission Project
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA
http://transmissionproject.org
http://digitalartscorps.org

Amplifying the power of public media & technology.

--

Dear ISF Colleagues,

As some of you know, I'm am working with an informal brain trust of
nonprofit, philanthropic, and technological professionals on the
development of online tools that assist mission-based organizations
with capacity mapping and resource matching.

The scope of capacities and resources that interest our group is
pretty wide; it includes human resources, expert knowledge, tangible
objects (such as equipment), social capital, data sets, office space,
geographic mapping, peer mentoring, volunteer teams, training
opportunities, ratings of services offered by organizations, funding,
gifts in kind, and other assets.  The common thread is that online
tools have been (or will be) developed to help ensure that needs in
our sector don't go unmet, and that resources don't go unused.

We are doing our best to maintain cross-awareness and collaboration
within the group, and to adhere to the commandment "thou shalt not
build yet another silo."  To help us stick to these goals, we've
decided to create a directory of relevant projects, for use by members
of the group.

If you have a project that falls into the category of an online tool
that helps nonprofits and philanthropies with resource matching and
capacity mapping, and you would like to have your project included in
this directory, you are very welcome to follow this link and fill in a
few fields:

<http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDFyNDg2Wk1pTGZ3MDJER2lqQ\
nZ5dEE6MA>

Here are a few guidelines:

- Projects that are still in the planning stages are eligible - they
don't have to be fully realized to be included.

- The only required field in the directory is "Name of project."  If
you don't have the information requested in a field, just go on to the
next.  We will be able to revise and edit this directory later.

- At this time, you will be able to add your project, but you will not
be able to see the other directory entries.

Thank you very much!

Best regards from Deborah

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Strategist and Consultant
Technology for the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Email: deborah_elizabeth_finn@...
Blog: www.deborahelizabethfinn.com
Skype:  Deborah909
Twitter: Deborah909
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah909
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Deborah.Elizabeth.Finn

I bring resources and needs together for nonprofits and
philanthropies, mostly through strategic use of information
and communication technologies.

Dear ISF Colleagues,

Please check out this Idealware article by esteemed ISF member Peter Campbell:

<http://www.idealware.org/blog/2009/12/get-ready-for-sea-change-in-nonprofit.htm\
l>

What are your thoughts?

Best regards from Deborah

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Strategist and Consultant
Technology for the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Email: deborah_elizabeth_finn@...
Blog: www.deborahelizabethfinn.com
Skype:  Deborah909
Twitter: Deborah909
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah909
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Deborah.Elizabeth.Finn

I bring resources and needs together for nonprofits and
philanthropies, mostly through strategic use of information
and communication technologies.

Dear ISF Colleagues,

Did you know that the Information Systems Forum has an unmoderated version?  You
can post anything you like there at any time.  There are no restrictions
whatsover.

To view the unmoderated ISF's message archive, please go to
<http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Information_Systems_Forum_UNMODERATED/messag\
es>.

To join the unmoderated ISF, please send a blank email to this address: 
<Information_Systems_Forum_UNMODERATED-subscribe@yahoogroups.com>.

To post a message to the ISF, please send it to this address:
<Information_Systems_Forum_UNMODERATED@yahoogroups.com>.

Many thanks and best regards from Deborah

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Cyber-Yenta
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
deborah_elizabeth_finn@...
www.cyber-yenta.org
Skype:  Deborah909
Twitter: Deborah909
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah909

"Everybody can be great...
because everybody can serve."
- Martin Luther King jr. (1929 - 1968)

Hi everyone,

We provide a free web-based application to participant-directed long-term care
programs (usually Medicaid, Area Agencies on Aging, or Veterans Health programs)
to help them manage caseload, communicate among agencies, provide participants
with the tools they need to direct their own care, and provide administrators
with the info they need to oversee the program.

We give the source code and user manuals to administrators and coordinate the
development of updates, but we don't provide support. I would like to improve
the ease the process of installation and customization for all our users by
beefing up the technical documentation.

To all you information officers out there, what would be the ideal documentation
you would need to take source code and run with it. To all you developers, what
would be the ideal documentation you would need to customize and add on to the
code?

Buddy Rutzke, MSW

Consumer Direction Module (CDM) Technology Manager
rutzke@... <mailto:rutzke@...>
617-552-6814
National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services Boston College
Graduate School of Social Work





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

-----original message-----
>>This is quite possible if you want to target a Facebook Ad. I recently was
able to target the 1,100 FB members within 50 miles of Ann Arbor, MI who have
"disc golf" as an activity interest.>>




Details, details??? (tools, apps, language, etc)

Gracias.

Jim Cory

--
Jim Cory
Horizon Mapping
http://www.horizonmapping.net
jcory17@...

This is quite possible if you want to target a Facebook Ad. I recently was able
to target the 1,100 FB members within 50 miles of Ann Arbor, MI who have "disc
golf" as an activity interest.





-----original message-----
>>I'm wondering, is there any easy way in Facebook (and LinkedIn) to send a
message to just those of your friends who are in a certain city, state, or
region? And if so, how?  Think leveraging such functionality could also be very
helpful to many non-profits. Thanks!>> >

(Dear ISF Colleagues:  Please help us get the word out to nonprofit
technology professionals in Rhode Island and southeastern
Massachusetts!  Key words:  raffle prizes, free food, free beer, free
wine, parking validated. Many, many thanks from Deborah)



-----original message-----
From: Kathleen Malin <KMalin@...>
Date: Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Subject: December 501 Tech Club Meeting
To: Kathleen Malin <KMalin@...>


Join us for the next 501 Tech Club Monthly Meeting Wednesday, December 16, 2009

At The Rhode Island Foundation One Union Station, Providence

Parking will be validated

Featuring two special presentations:

5:01 pm VMware Virtualization with CompUtopia

6:30 pm Social Networking with Tech Club Member Shana Masterson and
Envision Technology Advisors

Free food, drinks and prizes

Next Meeting Wed. Jan. 20, 2010

Featuring a Windows 7 demo with Microsoft

Don’t forget to RSVP so we can plan the refreshments.

RSVP kmalin@...

For more information call 401.427.4047

Join Online: http://groups.nten.org

Directions: http://www.rifoundation.org/AboutUs/ContactUs/tabid/391/Default.aspx

I hope to see you there,

Kathleen

Kathleen Malin
Director of Technology
The Rhode Island Foundation
One Union Station
Providence RI 02903

The University of Michigan School of Information (SI)
<http://si.umich.edu/careers/students.htm>  is seeking host organizations for
its annual Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program
<http://si.umich.edu/outreach/asb.htm> .

Host organizations are able to submit one or more hands-on, practical projects
related to the areas that are being studied at the School of Information. In
return, organizations are matched with fully-funded students who come to you the
week of spring break to work on this project. We have over 125 interested
students in the 2010 program who would like to assist your organization during
our week-long experience from Monday, March 1 through Friday, March 5, 2010.

Note that we are seeking organizations that are non-profit, cultural,
government, ore ducation institutions and are in the New York, Washington, D.C.,
Chicago, and Detroit metropolitan areas.

Ideal projects are related to our core areas of study in library and information
services, archives and records management, and human-computer interaction
(usability). We are also hoping to receive projects that are oriented around the
development or use of social media tools, information policy research and
analysis, strategic analysis of technology, and information analysis and
retrieval, amongst other information management issues. Our students'
information management, web, organizational, communication, and technical skills
are substantial and their energy levels high. And as a bonus, they are
fully-funded and free to you!

Ifyou are interested in participating as a host organization or would like to
learn more, contact Kelly Kowatch a kkowatch@...
<mailto:kkowatch@...> .For more information about past participating
organizations and projects, please visit the SI-ASB website at
www.si.umich.edu/pep/asb/ <http://www.si.umich.edu/pep/asb/> .

Feel free to share this opportunity! If you know of any non-profit,
educational,government, or cultural organizations that would be interested in
participating, please forward this message or send their contact information to
kkowatch@... <mailto:kkowatch@...> .

Sincerely,

Kelly A. Kowatch,

University of Michigan School of Information
Alternative Spring Break Coordinator
Assistant Director, Career Development Office
734.936.8735
kkowatch@... <kkowatch@...>
404CWest Hall
Followus on Twitter: @SI_Careers <http://twitter.com/si_careers>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I may stand corrected on this, however I believe Facebook did once support this
sort of communications by demographiclocalisation, however in the interests of
"better supporting the Facebook Community", this facility was discontinued...

Don





-----original message-----
>>I'm wondering, is there any easy way in Facebook (and LinkedIn) to send a
message to just those of your friends who are in a certain city, state, or
region? And if so, how?  Think leveraging such functionality could also be very
helpful to many non-profits. Thanks!>>

I'm wondering, is there any easy way in Facebook (and LinkedIn) to send a
message to just those of your friends who are in a certain city, state, or
region? And if so, how?

Think leveraging such functionality could also be very helpful to many
non-profits. Thanks!

- Gordon Strause

Dear ISF Colleagues,

I am writing to you on behalf of my client, International Physicians
for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).

IPPNW is a federation of national medical organizations in 62
countries, representing tens of thousands of doctors, medical
students, other health workers, and concerned citizens who share the
common goal of creating a more peaceful and secure world freed from
the threat of nuclear annihilation.  It is the only international
medical organization dedicated to preventing war and abolishing
nuclear weapons. IPPNW's national affiliates represent a wide
diversity of organizational size (from a handful of active members in
Malaysia without staff, for example, to one of the largest peace
organizations in Germany), technical competence, financial strength,
and, of course, language and culture. IPPNW's approximate operating
annual budget is $500,000.

IPPNW is now seeking to redevelop its web site so that enables the
general public, its national affiliates, its donors, and and its
allies to interact more effectively with its central office staff in
Somerville, Massachusetts and with each other in research, education
and advocacy to prevent  armed violence and abolish nuclear weapons.

IPPNW is now asking respected colleagues in the nonprofit technology
community to review its web development requirements, as a preliminary
step toward circulating a request for proposals. If you or your
organization are interested in this project, I'd like to ask you to
write me a two page letter, outlining the following:

1. What platform and overall strategy you would employ to deliver the
desired outcomes, and why it is the best choice for IPPNW.

2. A very rough estimate of the cost of the project, as well as time
frame (estimated time to complete and your availability to work on
it).

3. Your background and qualifications for successful execution of this project.

Please email your letter to me, rather than to IPPNW.

As a way to confine your letter to two pages, you are of course
welcome to provide URLs to web pages that display your resume and
portfolio.

At this stage in our outreach, IPPNW will be posting this query to a
few carefully selected online communities, and we ask that you also
refrain from posting it publicly in any other forums.  However, if you
feel that this project is not a good match for your own talents, but
know of an individual (or team) that is highly qualified, I'd like
encourage you to pass this along via private email to me.

Many thanks and best regards from Deborah

P.S. More details about IPPNW’s strategic requirements will be found
below the signature block in this email.

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Strategist and Consultant
Technology for the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Email: deborah_elizabeth_finn@...
Blog: www.deborahelizabethfinn.com
Skype: Deborah909
Twitter: Deborah909
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah909
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Deborah.Elizabeth.Finn

  I bring resources and needs together for nonprofits and
philanthropies, mostly through strategic use of information and
communication technologies.



===========


The over-arching goals of the site are for it to:

-Be the primary resource for people thinking about war and armed
violence as threats to both public health and the environment.

-Enable and nuture the kinds of interactions that lead to financial donations.

-Offer navigation that is intuitively easy for all web site users and
content creators - not just for those who speak English fluently and
are based in the global north.

-Be designed so that affiliates outside the USA who are operating with
erratic web access and low bandwidth can easily add content and
maintain their own sections of the web site.

-Be reliant on an underlying technology that is both flexible and
extendable, as well as affordable for a socially-oriented
organization.

-Allow the central staff to easily add photography, audio, video, and
other social media components.

-Be relatively low maintenance for the IPPNW central staff in
Somerville, by enabling affiliates and friends to update their own
information through the web site.


Audiences for the web site (list is in general order of priority):

-IPPNW members and activists around the world (physicians, students,
health professionals).

-Existing and potential donors and grant makers.

-Activist and NGO communities, ranging from decision-makers to
grassroots activists.

-Health care professionals and students who are not yet part of our
organization.

-National and local policy makers and various level of government;
officials and staffers of the United Nations and its related agencies
Media professionals, bloggers, citizen journalists, and other social
media enthusiasts.

-Academics and policy analysts actively working on issues ranging from
global nuclear disarmament to local prevention of gun violence.


Technical Requirements

- Ability to create and manage a large amount of categorized text.
There will be a great deal of content that needs to be categorized (by
subject area, geographical region, country, organization, issue,
event, date, IPPNW program, etc.) on the site.

- Granular user management and permissions system. Users should have
access to create and manage content, depending on the permissions they
have been given. This authorization system should include
authorization by content areas that cuts across standard navigational
categories and sections.

- Users who are permitted to update and add content to the website may
be doing so from an internet cafe, or by using shared computers. This
should be possible without a need to download special software onto
shared computers.

- Blog capability; the platform should either be able to integrate
seamlessly with IPPNW's current Wordpress blog, or offer a superior
blog module.

- Ease of use in embedding or browsing multi-media items and data mash
ups.  For example, IPPNW staff members and affiliates may wish to add
videos, audio recordings, interactive maps, and RSS feeds.

- We do not want this system to be written from scratch. We want this
to be built upon a mature, feature-rich, well supported CMS platform
with an active user community, building modules/applications on top of
this platform. Since any platform chosen will require additional
customization, we would prefer an open source platform, so that the
acquisition cost of the platform itself won't be a cost factor.
However, if a commercial system provides compelling features or value,
we will consider it.

- We would like any customizations to be written as modularly as
possible, to act as true modules/apps on top of the CMS platform, so
that they are portable to other contexts.


The ideal web development team would be:

-Experienced in working with small nonprofits and international
federations of nongovernmental organizations.

-Composed of professionals with superlative communication and coaching
skills, with technical skills to match.

-Willing to work with clients who have already engaged in a lengthy
process of strategic planning for their web site.

-Based in the greater Boston area.


===========


Possible Use Cases


Donor/Email Responder

A long-standing IPPNW donor, Mary, enjoys the information she receives
in the IPPNW eUpdate. Sometimes she wishes the stories and links in
the eUpdate were more relevant to her primary concern, nuclear weapons
abolition. One particular eUpdate release was very relevant to Mary's
concern and she opted to read more about the lead article by clicking
a link that directed her to IPPNW's website. When the page loaded on
Mary's computer she was able to read the full article and was provided
with highly visible links to information that she would likely find
interesting based on the similarity to article she just read. Inspired
by the compelling nature of one of the articles, Mary selects to
forward the page to her friend, John, a doctor in Canada who has been
wondering if any new medical research has been completed on regional
nuclear war. Three days later, Mary receives an automated email
message from IPPNW thanking her for "spreading the word" and shares a
short list of exciting things IPPNW is doing in the next few months to
abolish nuclear weapons. It ends with a donation request, to which
Mary is happy to offer.

Staff from IPPNW's Central Office

Dan, an IPPNW staffer, connects with activists in dozens of countries
through the email newsletter. Not all of the people who receive email
from IPPNW are members of local affiliates. In the hope of inspiring
action, support for local affiliates, and recognition for providing a
niche service, Dan launches an "Act Locally" section on IPPNW.ORG.
Under that section, Dan updates a listing of upcoming opportunities to
take action which can be organized at a national or regional (e.g.
European, Asian, African region) level. Working in partnership with
affiliates, IPPNW's website would provide this information both on
request via search fields or through links on the eUpdate.

Physicians in early stages of their careers

David is young doctor in France who learned about IPPNW though twitter
and signed up to receive email. In one email newsletter, David notices
the table that tells him to click here to find local events and
opportunities to abolish nuclear weapons in France. He clicks and when
the page loads he finds himself on IPPNW's webpage where he is reading
about what IPPNW is doing in France including any resource documents
that might be relevant to the French Affiliate.

Medical Students

A medical student from Nigeria attends a conference where she is
introduced to a large amount of information on nuclear famine and
small arms prevention work.  She is working on a research project at
the Kano Hospital and wants to read existing papers/research and see
how her research might be informed and inform the findings of the
IPPNW research.  After getting in touch with the Nigerian affiliate
and working with them for a number of months, she is asked to update
one small section of the Nigerian affiliate pages. Since her only
internet connection is on a shared public computer at an internet
cafe, she can't download software onto the computer, but is able to
update the small section of the website using a password protected
online interface.

Former members of the medical student movement who are now physicians

A thirty-something young doctor who was previously active as a medical
student is finding that he has about 5 hours a month available and
wants to see how he can plug into IPPNW's activism. He doesn't have a
lot of time to work on planning or executing events with medical
students, but also isn't in a place to submit papers or posters
either.  He wants to receive the online newsletter, read the blog(s)
and stay connected until he has more free time.  If there are local
events, he wants to make sure those notices show up on his radar.  He
also looks for any IPPNW material including an online badge so that he
can place it on his facebook page and his personal blog.

Affiliate members

Dr. Williams, of MAPW (the Australian affiliate) attends the NPT
conference and presents a paper on Nuclear Famine. He also needs the
pdf's of the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention to give to an Australian
delegate who is also attending the conference. After the conference,
he'd like to see photos and his presentation (powerpoint and
transcript) up on IPPNW.ORG.

Affiliate representatives

Sachiyo, a staffer of the Japanese affiliate JPPNW hears that Dr.
Usui's contact information has changed and also has an updated photo
of him for the board directory.  Dr. Usui is older and doesn't speak
English, so Sachiyo - as the go-to person for JPPNW - is asked by Dr.
Usui to take care of updating the information on IPPNW.ORG.  Later
that month, Japan holds a major conference in Hiroshima, and
immediately posts the English translation of the press release on the
JPPNW section of the IPPNW website, followed by conference
presentations and photos.

Media professionals

As the Senate prepares to vote on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, a
Post journalist goes to the IPPNW website looking for background
information on the history of nuclear testing for a series she will
write as the debate unfolds.  In a few clicks, she finds what she's
looking for - a referenced overview of nuclear tests worldwide and a
medical assessment of the health and environmental impact.

Potential member

Josefina, a physician from Brazil, visits the website with the
interest in joining IPPNW.  She is led through a process that first
explains what membership is. i.e we are a federation of organizations
not individual members. It then leads her to click on the map or
section that shows who the current members are.  Next, it leads her to
the next step of discovering how the governance works so that she
knows what members exist in her region, which is South America.  After
that, Josefina is lead to contacting the Regional Vice President to
establish contact and start a dialogue about her interests.  Finally,
the web site displays a page that explains what the standards for
membership are and how one becomes a member.

Board member

A Board member wants to get information about a resolution that was
passed at the last Congress.  Minutes and resolutions from meetings
are proprietary information but there should be a place where IPPNW
leaders can find reference information about governance such as former
Congresses and Board meetings.  Currently we have set up a governance
site at google with a password.  But there needs to be something
comparable on our current website since that is the natural place
where members will start to look.

Conference organizer

Jack is organizing a conference in Canada on nuclear disarmament.  He
goes to ippnw.org to try to read more and see if there is a potential
speaker who might be a good fit for the conference.  He reads through
the newsletters, and news items, skims the blog and looks for contact
information for the Central office.


===========

Hello All-  I feel like I just found a diamond when I learned about this group.
My lucky day. I reviewed the conversations that are taking place here and I am
very impressed with their relevance, quality, and depth. I look forward to being
able to contribute and learn.   I read some guidelines for posts provided
earlier that said that an introduction is OK. I'm a PhD (University of Texas at
Austin, Communications) and an LCSW (MSW, University of Utah). I now work with
ClientTrack, a software solution designed specifically for social service and
non-profit organizations. My research has primarily been about how to improve
learning in computer-based instruction. I have some experience creating various
digital media (e.g., 3-D Animations, Photoshop, Videos), and have been a
professional Social Worker for 7 years.   I've participated in a few online
forums over the years, and I know that I have been a "taker" of great advice,
suggestions, and help many times. In this forum, I hope I can be a "giver" as
well. As a peace-offering of sorts, I've written a white-paper on 5 Things Every
Non-Profit Must Know in 2010
<http://www.clienttrack.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=bcn_HC5uKEg%3d&tab\
id=152&utm_source=Yahoo-Bulletin&utm_medium=Social-Media&utm_campaign=5%\
2BThings>  (the 5th point is to get a technology solution if you don't already
have one!). Part of the claim I make is that file folders and filing cabinets
are a funding liability in today's non-profit world, given that most donors
require accountability that demands efficiency that only technology solutions
can provide. I'd be interested to hear your feedback. If I can be of any
service, please let me know.  Thanks- Scott AndersonMy Blog
<http://www.clienttrack.com/wordpress/?utm_source=Yahoo-Bulletin&utm_med\
ium=Social-Media&utm_campaign=MyBlog>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

We've been using drop.io that we've purchased space on for transferring large
video files online, as well as creating a public drop that other organizations
can offload video capture files to us through.  We like it's relatively easy Web
integration.

I've also got several staff, including myself, using the free Dropbox accounts
(2GB) - the client works on Macs and Windows with minimal background intrusion,
and its synchronization features are especially helpful for those of us with a
desktop and laptop computers.

From a security perspective, both drop.io and Dropbox have encrypted storage
and, I believe, file transmission. I'm not certain how a Fortune 500 IT
department would feel about having its users with either, but for nonprofit use
it seems adequate to keep frequently-accessed files in sync.

I wouldn't go as far to say that either would be a complete replacement for a
server-based file repository and backup system, however, for far-scattered staff
or highly mobile staff, they've been helpful supplements.  Depending on how much
you trust "The Cloud" when it comes to long-term storage and file
archiving/backup, using one or both could get you at least part of the way there
- which is far better than no backups.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Friends --

The Concord Indies [concord independent business alliance] needs help with our
website. We recently implemented a new wordpress template [which can still use
some tweaking]. see:

http://www.concordindies.org/blog/

Most importantly, at this point, we're looking for a content manager to just
help us keep current. We're looking to pay an hourly rate and anticipate a load
of about 4 to 5 hours per month. And, we expect that this opportunity may expand
over the next year.

Anyone on the list who may be -- or can recommend someone who may be --
interested in helping us?

Of course, don't hesitate to advise of any questions...thanks for your help,

kim novick
VP, Concord Indies

novick:creative
brand strategy + experience design
ph: 978.318.0949
kim@...
http://www.knovick.com
novick.blogs.com/

(Guidelines for posting to the Information Systems Forum are posted
periodically for the edification of all.)




Dear ISF Colleagues,

Welcome to the Information Systems Forum, an online discussion for
nonprofit professionals who are interested information and
communication technologies to increase organizational effectiveness.

This is a moderated, flame-free email distribution list that is open
to anyone who is interested in the topic and willing to adhere to the
idea of civil society.

Here are a few tips for making your contributions to the list more readable:

o Write about subjects that pertain to information and
communication technologies for nonprofit organizations. Readers
subscribe to the list because they are interested in this specific
topic. If you stray too far from it, other members of the group are
likely to ignore your messages.

o Trim, trim, trim! Unnecessary repetitions of previous posts,
list footers, and signature lines are tedious for other members to
negotiate. If you're replying to a previous message, please trim away
everything but the essentials of that message and your response to it.
If you don't trim your post down, and I think that it would benefit
from trimming, then I edit it myself. This means extra work for me,
and a trim job for your message that you (as the author) may deem
unduly harsh.

o Clean up jagged margins; readers tend to get so discouraged
by them that they skip your message and go on to the next one.

o Double-check your subject line, and make sure that it
summarizes the topic. If you subscribe to the digest format of the
list, then the subject line will automatically be something like
"Digest Number 123." Please change it to something more topical. It's
also helpful to trim away clutter from previous generations of
forwarding; "FW: Funding for nonprofit technology" is much more
readable than "Fwd: FW: Re: [Other Listserv] RE: Funding for nonprofit
technology."

o Avoid using all capital letters. In email, this is equivalent
to shouting, and considered an insult to one's readers.

o Write for an international readership. If you say that an
event is happening tonight at "the Firehouse in J.P.," the Bostonians
will know that you mean "the Firehouse Multicultural Art Center in
Jamaica Plain," but maybe the folks in Thailand won't. And if they
need to fly in from Thailand to attend, it's probably a good idea to
give them more than a few hours' notice.

o Frame your message in the language of civil discourse, and
avoid inflammatory rhetoric. The rule of thumb is to assume that
others are motivated by the best intentions, even when you think that
they are gravely mistaken.

The following kinds of posts are always unacceptable for posting to this group.

o Flames, or rhetoric that might incite flames. Sometimes
members of the group have perfectly good points to make, but choose
language that is inflammatory. Posts that are simply attacks on
someone else's religion, operating system, ethics, ancestry, internet
service provider, or attitude are usually deleted without comment.

o Advertisements of products or services. As the group
moderator, I delete the blatant spam before the rest of the group ever
sees it, but there are some borderline cases. For example, each
newcomer is invited to introduce him/herself to the group upon
joining, and it's appropriate to mention any products or services that
he/she sells to the community. That's fine, but thereafter it's best
to let your satisfied customers recommend your product or service.
Another borderline case is announcements about conferences and
workshops. These are fine if they are specifically tailored to the
needs of our community. Bulletins about workshops and conferences
given by nonprofits are usually approved; posts about for-profit
organizations that offer these events are approved on a case-by-case
basis.

o Solicitations of cash donations for organizations or
individuals. Requests by nonprofits for in-kind donations of either
products or services are approved on a case-by-case basis.
(Legitimate offers of cash or in-kind donations are acceptable.)

o Off-topic questions, out-of-office auto-replies, and personal
messages that were never intended to go to the whole list. I try to
catch these before they go out, and they are usually deleted without
comment.

Please note that the moderator (Deborah Elizabeth Finn) and alternate
moderator (John McNutt) reserve the right delete any inappropriate
messages without circulating them to the group, or to bar disruptive
individuals from membership in the group. While I will do everything
possible to encourage community building, fruitful dialogue, and free
expression, the moderators remain the only arbiters of appropriate
content for this community.

Thanks for your attention to these guidelines.

Best regards from Deborah

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Information Systems Forum moderator

Cyber-Yenta
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
www.cyber-yenta.org

Dear ISF Colleagues:

This question came up in a meeting I had recently with the
communications point person at a small nonprofit that works nationally
on advocating for environmental sustainability:

         What are some examples of nonprofit advocacy
         groups that do a great job of using social media
         to cultivate relationships with grantmakers and
         donors?

Please note that the question is not about online fundraising or other
quick ways to make a buck with social media; it's about building long
term relationship by using social media well.

What organizations come to mind? What are they doing that impresses you?

Many thanks and best regards from Deborah

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Strategist and Consultant
Technology for the Nonprofit and Philanthropic Sector
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Email: deborah_elizabeth_finn@...
Blog: www.deborahelizabethfinn.com
Skype:  Deborah909
Twitter: Deborah909
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah909
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Deborah.Elizabeth.Finn

I bring resources and needs together for nonprofits and
philanthropies, mostly through strategic use of information
and communication technologies.

(Dear ISF Colleagues:  I haven't tried the new Change.org petition
tool yet, but this looks interesting, and so I'm passing this along.
I have no financial relationship with Change.org; I'm merely a fan.
:-)  Best regards from Deborah)



-----original message-----
From: Rachel Murray <remtheory@...>
Date: Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 6:31 AM
Subject: [progressiveexchange] Free Webinar: How to Start an Online
Campaign on Change.org
To: Discuss@...


Good morning all,

Not sure if you've heard about Change.org's new petition tool
(http://www.change.org/petition), but it's pretty cool. They're
offering free webinars here, the first one on Wednesday:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/874385600

Quick, straightforward review of the tool here:
http://futuremediachange.com/2009/11/change-new-petition-tool-review/

Happy Tuesday :)

Rachel

(Dear ISF Colleagues:  This was sent to me individually, but it seems
like a great query to pass along to the group. My personal favorite
for web meetings is <http://dimdim.com>, but I've never used it for a
virtual focus group. Best regards from Deborah)


-----original message----
From: Liana Kleeman <lkleeman@...>
Date: Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 11:05 AM
Subject: Virtual Focus Groups
To: Information_Systems_Forum-owner@yahoogroups.com

Our organization is interested in conducting a few virtual focus
groups with local civic leaders. What technology would you recommend
using? Also, if you have held virtual focus groups in the past, do you
have any specific recommendations or lessons learned to share?

Thank you in advance,

Liana Kleeman
Program Coordinator, ConnectNetwork
809 South Cathedral Place
VCU PO Box 843062
Richmond, VA 23284-3062
www.connectnetwork.org
P: (804) 827-2168; F: (804) 827-2166

(Dear ISF Colleagues:  As many of you know, a lot of my professional
focus these days is in online tools that help nonprofits and
philanthropies with resource matching and capacity mapping.  I'm very
excited to see this terrific online tool, NPO Connect, launched here
in Massachusetts.  Kenny Weill, Gavin Murphy, and I are all part of a
brain trust that is working together and sharing knowledge about such
tools for our sector.  The brain trust started out as a regional one,
but now has a more national scope.  More about this as it develops!
Best regards from Deborah)



-----original message-----
From: Kenny Weill <kweill@...>
Date: Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 9:57 AM
Subject: (MBM) NPO Connect Launched in Metrowest!
To: "Mission-Based-Massachusetts@yahoogroups.com"
<Mission-Based-Massachusetts@yahoogroups.com>


On behalf of Gavin Murphy, President of Annkissam, and myself, I am
pleased to announce the launch of NPO Connect,
http://mnn.npoconnect.org<http://mnn.npoconnect.org/>, a new peer
mentoring service for non-profit professionals, which we are piloting
through the Metrowest Nonprofit Network (MNN).

Through this free, online service, participants connect to a peer who
offers a specific skill set, such as fundraising, volunteer
management, evaluation, operations, marketing/communications, and
more. Once connected, the peer mentorship develops offline-over
coffee, over the phone, or over a worktable-at the participants'
convenience.

Participants may choose to become a mentor, to find a mentor, or both.
When registering online, participants identify the skills they are
seeking and/or the skills they are offering. They also choose the
number of hours they can commit each month as well as the duration of
the mentorship.

Eligibility is currently limited to staff, board members and other
volunteers serving nonprofits in the Metrowest region, an area roughly
bordered by Routes 128, 295, 2 and 109.  Nonprofit professionals
located just outside of these Metrowest borders may contact the
Metrowest Nonprofit Network at
peermentoring@...<mailto:peermentoring@...\
>
to determine eligibility.

Beginning January 2010, we plan to launch a parallel pilot in
partnership with the Young Non-Profit Professionals Network - Boston.
We then hope to expand NPO Connect throughout Massachusetts,
continuing to grow the site based on participants' feedback.

Other nonprofit professionals or networks with questions or interest
in future participation may contact me at
kweill@...<mailto:kweill@...> or
617-680-2672.

Please note: consultants representing their own firm rather than a
specific nonprofit organization, and any others seeking financial
gain, are not eligible.

Kenny Weill
K. Weill Consulting
Tel: 617-680-2672
Fax: 617-232-1577
www.kweillconsulting.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

=================

"Mission-Based Massachusetts" is an email distribution list for topics
of general interest to people who care about nonprofit, philanthropic,
community-based, grassroots, and other mission-based organizations in
the Bay State.

It is a moderated, flame-free email distribution list that is open to
anyone who is interested in the topic and willing to adhere to the
basic principles of civil society.  The name of the group was chosen
to encourage inclusion of persons from all sectors and demographic
categories, rather than just nonprofit and philanthropic
professionals.

To post a message to the entire group, prepare a regular email and
send it to Mission-Based-Massachusetts@yahoogroups.com .

To join the Mission-Based Massachusetts group, send a blank email to
Mission-Based-Massachusetts-SUBSCRIBE@yahoogroups.com .

To leave the Mission-Based Massachusetts group, send a blank email to
Mission-Based-Massachusetts-UNSUBSCRIBE@yahoogroups.com .

To send a message to the list administrator (Deborah), email it to
  Mission-Based-Massachusetts-owner@yahoogroups.com .

To view the message archive, go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mission-Based-Massachusetts

To read the groups messages in RSS format, go to
<http://rss.groups.yahoo.com/group/Mission-Based-Massachusetts/rss>

To view a map of the group's membership, go to
http://www.frappr.com/missionbasedmassachusetts

To follow the group's Twitter feed, go to http://twitter.com/missionbasedma

Hi Everyone:

Care2 and Network for Good are teaming up for this great webinar on year end
fundraising. Did you know that 40 percent of all online donations come in during
these vital end-of-year campaigns? You cannot afford to miss out. Fortunately,
with some quick tweaks to your website, as well as incorporating marketing and
communications best practices, you will have all the tools you need
http://web.networkforgood.org/np911120309  to take advantage of the season.

Join Alia McKee and Mark Rovner from Sea Change Strategies, as well as Kathryn
Powers of Conservation International, and moderator Eric Rardin of Care2 on
December 3rd at 2PM EST for a great discussion on 11 critical action steps for
mobilizing your donors and raising money.
http://web.networkforgood.org/np911120309

Participants will learn the most successful fundraising strategies including:

* How to create compelling fundraising campaigns that motivate web visitors to
make a donation on your website. * Which easy fixes you can make to your
donation page, so that donors complete the donation process. * How to
communicate with donors before, during, and after they donate money online to
your nonprofit and build long lasting relationships.

The Procrastinator's Guide to Year-End Fundraising Presented by Care2 and
Network for Good

When: Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 2PM Eastern Time.

We have a limited amount of teleconference lines, so please take a moment to
sign up now at http://web.networkforgood.org/np911120309 It's free.

In case you're not familiar with Care2 (www.Care2.com), we're an online social
community of more than 12.5 million socially conscious and civically minded
consumers.  Since 1998, we've partnered with close to 500 nonprofit groups to
grow email lists, recruit activists, and find potential donors.  We're a
B-Corporation (for-benefit, for-profit) company.  Our nonprofit partners pay for
the results-guaranteed, online campaigns that we build and market for them.

Thanks,
Larissa

Dear ISF Colleagues,

Did you know that the Information Systems Forum has an unmoderated version?  You
can post anything you like there at any time.  There are no restrictions
whatsover.

To view the unmoderated ISF's message archive, please go to
<http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Information_Systems_Forum_UNMODERATED/messag\
es>.

To join the unmoderated ISF, please send a blank email to this address: 
<Information_Systems_Forum_UNMODERATED-subscribe@yahoogroups.com>.

To post a message to the ISF, please send it to this address:
<Information_Systems_Forum_UNMODERATED@yahoogroups.com>.

Many thanks and best regards from Deborah

Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Cyber-Yenta
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
deborah_elizabeth_finn@...
www.cyber-yenta.org
Skype:  Deborah909
Twitter: Deborah909
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah909

"Everybody can be great...
because everybody can serve."
- Martin Luther King jr. (1929 - 1968)

Drop box is great, really great, and growing. It has seamless Mac, PC and Linux,
and now mobile clients. Its probably my favorite tool thing of 2009.

basic vs premium: If you can live with 2 GB of storage, then use the standard. I
blogged about it on idealware.org but can't get the page reference now.

steve

steve backman - Database Designs - 617-423-6355 x115. Can't wait?
m:617-510-2561  - dbdes.com/blog/steve @stevebackman




-----original message-----
>>I'm working with a small nonprofit that needs to share files with its board.
The members of the latter are widely dispersed and many of them have only
intermittent access to a PC and the internet. The staff is thinking of using
Dropbox to share confidential documents.  I'm interested in hearing from folks
in similar nonprofits who have used Dropbox <https://www.dropbox.com/> for file
sharing. What are its strengths and weaknesses? Does the basic (i.e., free)
version suffice, or do you need the pro version? Have you found any superior
alternatives?>>

-----original message-----
>>I'm working with a small nonprofit that needs to share files with its board. 
The members of the latter are widely dispersed and many of them have only
intermittent access to a PC and the internet.  The staff is thinking of using
Dropbox to share confidential documents. I'm interested in hearing from folks in
similar nonprofits who have used Dropbox <https://www.dropbox.com/> for file
sharing.  What are its strengths and weaknesses?  Does the basic (i.e., free)
version suffice, or do you need the pro version?  Have you found any superior
alternatives?>>




Well.....ahem..

You know, one can get things like SharePoint as hosted services...

I use it for a number of groups of folks ('specially those I don't want to have
to muck about with on my own infrastructure). I regularly use a run-of-the-mill
commercial service for it all... generically called SharePointHosting.com (now
that's a branding piece of genius, eh?).

$20 a month gets you 1000 users, up to 500MB of shared storage, and all the
things of SharePoint (alerts, mobile access, templates, versioning, search, SSL,
daily backup, RSS feeds, document level security, links, tasks, calendars, gantt
charts, discussion forums, document and form libraries, surveys, off-link sync
to Outlook, etc)... In essence, it's a full SharePoint "site" -- with all the
attendant stuff, features, and overwhelming sort of set of possibilities.  My
first task is usually to delete most of the stuff.

Rambling on, ... here's my take -- SharePoint (and other hosted things) are not
quite the same as DropBox-ie  and other fileshare/filesync things.

Things like DropBox and Mesh are what I like to call C2P2P (Cloud to Peer to
Peer). It's fun to say that acronym. Go ahead.

Anyway, they combine cloud based storage with P2P folder sync.  You end up with
a copy of everything up on some web-accessible storage system, AND copies of all
the same stuff in folders on your various personal devices. Their beauty is
their brain-dead-ease-of-use. If you've got zombie users, they're the cat's
pajamas. (What a strange sort of mixed metaphor that is.. would zombies wear
pajamas?)

Moreover, they are great -- especially if you like to work at home in your
pajamas. They let you keep copies of stuff scattered across multiple machines.
(They do, on the other hand, piss off IT security people -- 'cause they zip
right through firewalls, just like nasty-napster P2P stuff).

As well, if, as you describe, access is intermittent.  C2P2P systems are
opportunistic -- syncing when there is bandwidth, and passing the time twiddling
their digital thumbs, when there isn't.  I've seen mine happily sync using only
a tethered blackberry, straight through the 4 foot stone walls of a 14th century
French monastery. (One must, of course question the wisdom of even turning on a
laptop when in a 14th century monastery.  Rest assured, I did have a bunch of
guys named Greg chanting on iTunes to ensure the global karmic balance.)

Because they provide P2P sync, when and if the connections come up, the client
will take the opportunity to sync everything. Mesh (my personal favorite) does
it pretty invisibly, and very efficiently.  I think most of the underlying tech
was grabbed from Groove. It's groovy Groove without the complications.  I have
found it flawless and have pretty much moved all my work into a variety of
Meshed folders.  And, I now force my friends to do the same.  I've got three or
four collaborative projects running, with folks from around the world, all
sharing and collaborating and other cool stuff through a simple set of blue
folders on my desktop. (mesh turns them blue).

On the other hand, if access is intermittent, version and change management
(contention) can be troubling.  In other words, if while I am disconnected I
touch and change every file, and you do the same thing, when we eventually
connect up again, the poor 'puter could be left scratching its collective head
over what versions win.  Usually it gives up, and tells you there is contention,
and leaves it to you to figure out.

Pricing here is cheap, but is usually storage based.  DropBox gets you 2gb, Mesh
gets you 5gb.

However, there are tricks (at least with Mesh) that effectively do away with the
limits.  Mesh is limited to 5gb in the cloud. But, you can get around that IF
you simply tell it not to sync a copy of any particular folder to the cloud.

You can simply set a particular Mesh folder to sync only between devices (taking
the cloud out of the mix). I am currently syncing 80GB between 3 devices (my
sorrowful collection of jazz and blues), as well as 40GB of pictures between my
home pc and my mother's pc (so she gets a nice set of photos on the screen
saver).  She thinks it is magic (which, of course, it is.) I'd be curious if
Dropbox would let you do the same -- bypassing the cloud-based copy of the
stuff.

SharePoint, on the other hand, is pretty much cloud-based storage (and lots of
other stuff too).  That *other stuff* can be daunting. However, the advantage
with SharePoint is in the rich feature set, including a workable (albeit minimal
set of document management tools, including automatic versioning).

Cloud-based things, however, are pretty worthless if you don't have access to
the net. SharePoint does do off-line sync (using Outlook). However, I find it
sort of flaky.

So, IF you are looking only to share files .. and that's the expectation, then
DropBox (and I would also look as Mesh -- it's free, with clients for PC, and
Mac, and someday soon, mobiles).

If there's a need, or an expectation of more, then you might want to consider
some sort of web-based thing.  Take a look at SharePointHosting.com -- you
needn't use them, but they have a free 30-day trial that will give you a good
feeling of the possibilities.

Resources:

SharePointHosting: http://www.sharepointhosting.com/index.html
Live Mesh: https://www.mesh.com
What my Mother sees on her Screen Saver:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gclabaugh

Regards

Gavin