(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 Colleagues and Friends,

I was recently asked by CDS-Global <
http://www.cds-global.com/industries/nonprofit/> to give a talk and
facilitate a discussion among some of their nonprofit clients; my talk was
on tech trends in our sector.

An except has been posted to my blog:

"Technology trends in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector"
<http://ow.ly/33eZW>

All of the charts shown were built from completely spurious data, in the
absence of reliable and valid information about the future.

What are you thoughts about these trends in the nonprofit sector, and about
the many trends not mentioned in my article?

Best regards from Deborah

P.S. Special thanks are due to Netsuite, for the great video <
http://www.netsuite.com/portal/landing/hairball/video.shtml> mentioned at
the end of the article.

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.


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

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I just heard today from my good buddy Martha Moore (director of the
Resource Center for Philanthropy at Associated Grantmakers) about
Guidestar's DonorEdge:

<http://www2.guidestar.org/rxg/about-us/donoredge/index.aspx>

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who is using it or has been
involved in the development.  What do you think are its strengths?
How do you think it will be affecting the nonprofit technology
landscape?

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.

Hey There: Thought this upcoming webinar would interest you all about Lessons
from the US Campaign 2010: Innovations in Online Fundraising and Organizing from
the Mid-term Elections - http://goo.gl/28Vi

The 2010 mid-term election campaign saw unprecedented fundraising from both
traditional political players like the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee, and new, secretive conservative entities like American Crossroads.
Political campaigns have proven to be amazing laboratories for experimenting
with new online fundraising and organizing tactics, from the Dean Campaign and
Meetup, to mybarackobama.com. So what can online fundraisers and campaigners
learn http://goo.gl/28Vi from this year's experiments? Join http://goo.gl/28Vi
Taryn Rosenkranz, Director of Marketing and New Media for the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee, and Teddy Goff, Associate VP of Strategy at
Blue State Digital and Director of New Media for the battleground states on the
Obama 2008 Presidential campaign on November 9th at 2PM EST as they look back on
the 2010 campaign and explore the new tactics and trends that worked, and the
reliable techniques that no winning candidate can go without. The webinar will
be hosted by Eric Rardin, Director of Nonprofit Services at Care2.

Participants will learn the following: 1) What strategies and tactics worked and
flopped for raising money online? An email list? Facebook Ads? 2) How was 2010
different and which new trends had an impact this year? 3) Tips for list
building, frequency of messaging, asks that work, integration with offline, etc.

When: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 2PM Eastern Time. We have a limited amount of
teleconference lines, so please take a moment to sign up now. It's free.
http://goo.gl/28Vi

On another note, I have been really impressed with the work Autism Speaks has
been doing with their highly personalized fundraising pages for Autism Speaks U
headed up by Marc Sikrin. Marc says that this is going to be the future of
online fundraising. http://goo.gl/6XLH5 Autism Speaks U was built to give
students a collaborative way to raise funds and awareness for Autism Speaks,
while supporting their local autism communities. The website which integrates
personal fundraising templates lets ?students be creative instead of us being
prescriptive in terms of what they can do, and how they can do it," said Sirkin.
?That said, I also wanted to give them an easy to use the platform that would
handle credit cards, registration and avoid them having to write a single line
of html to launch a killer fundraising or awareness web page.?? Some interesting
work being done and an example of a nonprofit trying to innovate.

Do you think that highly personalized fundraising pages is the future of online
fundraising? http://goo.gl/6XLH5

Cheers,
Allyson


Cheers,
Allyson
Allyson Kapin
Partner, Rad Campaign
Check out our website!
http://www.RadCampaign.com
Rad Campaign
Web Design & Development I Online Marketing I Strategy
240-475-3362
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/womenwhotech
Care2�s Frogloop Blog
Blogger-In-Chief
http://www.frogloop.com
- -
Women Who Tech
http://www.WomenWhoTech.com

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

Dear ISF Colleagues,

I'd like to encourage you to check out the TSNE blog
<http://tsne.wordpress.com>. Their communications team has been
posting some short videos that address questions frequently asked by
nonprofit managers.

As many of you know, this is part of TSNE's ongoing effort to make
accurate nonprofit management information freely available at any hour
of the day to anyone with internet access.  These videos will be
searchable in the forthcoming aggregation web site "Nonprofit
Management Resources" <http://www.nonprofitmanagementresources.org>.

Here are some sample questions (and answers):

"Can nonprofits lobby?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/can-nonprofits-lobby/>

"Can a nonprofit ever make a profit?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/can-a-nonprofit-ever-make-a-profit/>

"What’s the difference between nonprofit and not-for-profit?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/whats-the-difference-between-nonprofit-and\
-not-for-profit/>

"Why should nonprofits concern themselves with diversity?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/why-should-nonprofits-concern-themselves-w\
ith-diversity/>

"What are the benefits of nonprofits working collaboratively?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/what-are-the-benefits-of-nonprofits-workin\
g-collaboratively/>

"How do you reflect your constituents’ voice in your grant proposal?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/how-do-you-reflect-your-constituents-voice\
-in-your-grant-proposal/>

"What should managers think about to prepare for an audit?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/what-should-managers-think-about-to-prepar\
e-for-an-audit/>

"Why does fiscal sponsorship exist?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/why-does-fiscal-sponsorship-exist/>

"What are restricted vs. unrestricted funds?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/what-are-restricted-vs-unrestricted-funds-\
2/>

"What is IRS Form 990?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/what-is-a-990/>

"What kinds of businesses can nonprofits engage in?"
<http://tsne.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/what-kinds-of-businesses-can-nonprofits-en\
gage-in/>

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,

If you're doing good work in software development for the common good
(or you know someone who is), this is your heads up!

<http://www.pizzigatiprize.org/>

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 Colleagues and Friends,

The Ethos Roundtable <http://ethosroundtable.blogspot.com> is an
informal group of people who are interested in 1) measuring and
extending ethos, and 2) using technology for positive social change.
We meet once a month in Harvard Square (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)
for discussions and presentations. We'd like to invite you to join us
at our next session, but if you can't attend in person, a digital
audio recording by Josh Shortlidge will be made available on request.*

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
4:30 - 6:30 pm
Charles Hotel
1 Bennett Street
Harvard Square
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Featured guest: Georges Grinstein, Open Indicators Consortium, and
UMass-Lowell
<http://www.uml.edu/college/arts_sciences/cs/Faculty/Georges_G._Grinstein.html>
Topic: Launch of the WEAVE ((Web-based Analysis and Visualization
Environment) platform

Here's a little bit about Georges:

Georges Grinstein is Professor of Computer Science at the University
of Massachusetts Lowell, head of its Bioinformatics Program,
Co-director of its Institute for Visualization and Perception
Research, and of its Center for Biomolecular and Medical Informatics.
He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Rochester
in 1978.

His work is broad and interdisciplinary, ranging from perceptual
foundations of visualization to techniques for high-dimensional
visualization, with the emphasis on the modeling, visualization, and
analysis of complex information systems.

He has over 30 years in academia with extensive private consulting,
over 100 research grants, products in use nationally and
internationally, several patents, numerous publications in journals
and conferences, a new book on interactive data visualization, founded
several companies, and has been the organizer or chair of national and
international conferences and workshops in Computer Graphics, in
Visualization, in Visual Analytics and in Data Mining. He has mentored
over 25 doctoral students and hundreds of graduate students. He has
been on the editorial boards of several journals in Computer Graphics
and Data Mining, a member of ANSI and ISO, a NATO Expert, and a
technology consultant for various public agencies.

Here's a little bit about WEAVE:

After two years of development at the University of Massachusetts
Lowell supported and guided by eight Founding Members, the Open
Indicators Consortium (OIC) will release the code for version 1.0 of
the data visualization platform Weave (Web-based Analysis and
Visualization Environment) free to public and nonprofit users. A hard
launch is planned for early 2011, by which time the Founding Members
will be showing new websites showcasing Weave's full capacity as
expressed by four states, four US regions and many municipal and
sub-municipal geographies.

Weave allows a range of users to explore, analyze, visualize and
disseminate data on-line from any location at any time. The platform
offers multiple levels of user proficiency from novices to advanced
researchers, advanced security features, and the ability to integrate,
disseminate and visualize economic, social and environmental data and
indicators at "nested" levels of geography-from micro to macro.

We will highlight the key aspects of Weave using partner indicator
projects examples and others. We will discuss Weave's groundbreaking
technologies making it one of the most flexible interactive
visualization system.

Partner indicator projects and planning agencies from Arizona,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Atlanta/Metropolitan Atlanta,
Boston/Metropolitan Boston, Metropolitan Chicago and Columbus/Central
Ohio invested substantial funds to create the Consortium and guide the
software development. Together with the UMass Lowell leadership (Dr.
Georges Grinstein, an internationally recognized expert in analysis
and visualization, and Dr. William Mass, a leader in the field of
regional and industrial economic development), they govern the
Consortium, support and shape design priorities and provide continuous
testing and feedback to advance Weave's software development.

At the conclusion of our Ethos Roundtable session, we will stroll down
the hall to enjoy the good company, charming venue, and free food at
the 501 Tech Club, which is generously underwritten by TechFoundation.
The 501 Tech Club is the monthly gathering of technology professionals
who work with nonprofit organizations.

All Ethos Roundtable attendees are welcome at the Boston 501 Tech
Club, and vice versa.

Please remember that there's never any need to make a reservation to
attend Ethos Roundtable events. Just come if you can, and feel free to
invite others! However, if you're planning to attend the Boston 501
Tech Club event at 6:00 pm, we ask that you send an email to Kathleen
Sherwin of TechFoundation (ksherwin AT techfoundation DOT org). Since
TechFoundation is providing the free food, it's both courteous and
prudent to let her know how much to order.

See you on November 16th!

Best regards from Deborah

* If you'd like a (free) digital audio recording of this session,
please email Josh Shortlidge (co-convener of the Ethos Roundtable) at
<josh@...>.

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 Colleagues and Friends,

Just a quick clarification about this event.

I've had a lot of queries about whether it is going to be webcast. I'm
so glad that so many of you are avidly interested! Unfortunately, we
don't have plans at this time to do a webcast, but as I mentioned in
my previous message:

   >>   If you'd like a (free) digital audio recording of this session,
   >>   please email Josh Shortlidge (co-convener of the Ethos Roundtable) at
   >>   <josh@...>.

We do hope that you'll join us in person, if you can.  Full
information about the session (including links to directions) may be
found at
<http://ethosroundtable.blogspot.com/2010/10/georges-grinstein-unveils-powerful-\
data.html>.

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 thought that you might be interested in this article:

"In praise of receptionists as information managers"
<http://ow.ly/36su4>

I've thought for a long time that secretaries and administrative
assistants are the lynchpins of the tech infrastructure of many
nonprofit organzations (see
<http://blog.deborah.elizabeth.finn.com/blog/_archives/2004/12/29/222355.html>),
but more recently I've been reflecting on the crucial role of the
folks who staff the switchboardi and welcome visitors who walk in the
door.

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:  Groundwire in the nonprofit technology
assistance provider previously known as ONE Northwest.  They are
incredibly generous in sharing what they've learned.  Check out this
report.  Best regards from Deborah)

-----original message-----
From: Jon Stahl <jon@...>
Date: Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 1:13 PM
Subject: [progressiveexchange] Groundwire's 2010 Website Benchmarks
Report is here!
To: "Discuss@..." <Discuss@...>


Hi All!

I'm really pleased to share with you the fruits of some research the
team here at Groundwire has been doing over the past few
months--Groundwire's 2010 Website Benchmarks Report:

http://groundwire.org/resources/articles/2010-website-benchmarks-report
 (Need it shorter? Try http://goo.gl/rtuo4)

This first-of-its-kind-so-far-as-I-know report summarizes the website
statistics for 43 small/medium-sized environmental groups and links
these stats to groups' online behaviors.  I'm not even going to
attempt to summarize the results here, only to say that I think you'll
find them... interesting.

Extra-nerdy bonus: the report includes the full dataset so you can do
your own slice-and-dice, plus the source code for the Python script we
used to automate the gathering of data from Google Analytics!

Please feel free to discuss, share, tweet, blog, Facebook, etc.  Even
more than that, I'd love to hear about any "aha!" moments you have
while reading, or any questions you think should be part of future
research efforts along these lines.

:jon

----------
Jon Stahl
 Senior Strategist
 jon@...
 206.286.1235x15

Groundwire: You Are Connected
 http://groundwire.org

Online tools and stratgies for the environmental movement.  Sign up
for Groundwire News!
 http://groundwire.org/email-capture

Dear ISF Colleagues,

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the directory of WordPress
developers in the Boston area who work with small nonprofits!

I have finished compiling it, and you will find it here:

<http://ow.ly/38ebW>

Please note that:

1)  I have culled out individuals and firms that did not specify that
they a) are physically based near the greater Boston area, b) offer
WordPress development services, and c) have references from nonprofit
clients.

2)  While I have not worked with any of these individuals or firms on
projects, and therefore can't vouch for them personally, they are all
reputable.

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.

-----original message-----
From: Allen Gunn <gunner@...>
Date: Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 6:01 PM
Subject: [mntp-discuss] We're Excited! Schedule for 2010 Nonprofit
Software Development Summit
To: MNTP Discussion List <mntp-discuss@...>


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Hash: SHA1

Hey MNTP friends,

The up-to-the-minute schedule for the 2010 Nonprofit Software
Development Summit is now online at:

http://bit.ly/9Hi3wq

It is the richest and most diverse slate we've ever had, and we are
grateful to our ginormous facilitation team for offering so many
different perspectives and so much knowledge about creating and using
software to support social change efforts.

In addition, please feel free to check out:

* Event overview page: http://bit.ly/9SKOMd

* Sessions by thematic area: http://bit.ly/aBJ1E5

* Dev Summit Agenda partners: http://bit.ly/d2qhUM

* Event Registration: http://bit.ly/b03ElP

Sliding scale registrations and scholarships are still available!

We hope to see lots of you in Oakland :^)

thanks & peace,
gunner

- --

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

Aspiration: "Better Tools for a Better World"

Read our Manifesto: http://bit.ly/aspimanifesto

Follow us:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aspirationtech
Twitter:  www.twitter.com/aspirationtech

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Are you seeing longevity in adopting WordPress as a website model, or is it a
passing fad that means you'll have to redo and adopt something different next
year?

Sharon Walls
Office Admin.
UUA MidSouth District office

(Sorry for those of you who may be receiving this email twice)

Hello,

My nonprofit is looking for a good, reliable Flash designer to help us make a
fundraising campaign brochure that's already been designed and into something
more interactive and dynamic. The person doesn't have to be local (we're based
in Boston, although someone from the area would be nice). It's more important
that we find someone that is on top of things, knows what they're doing, and can
push out this project in the next couple of weeks.

We've had little success so far so I'm really hoping someone on this list might
have a few good recommendations.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Grace

Grace Lee
Acting Development Director, Emmanuel Gospel Center
o: 617.262.4567 x178 � f: 617.437.9706
glee@...

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

-----original message-----
>> Are you seeing longevity in adopting WordPress as a website model, or is it a
passing fad that means you'll have to redo and adopt something different next
year?  >>



Dear Sharon,

Good question!

I think it certainly has the potential to serve nonprofits well - not
just as blogging platform, but as a content management system for an
entire web site.

Whether that potential will be realized is impossible for anyone to
predict to 100% accuracy.

Meanwhile, I'd like to call your attention to the Nonprofit Open
Source Initiative <http://www.nosi.net>, which is a great place to
learn more about how nonprofits are using WordPress and other open
source platform.  They have a terrific general interest list, with
lots of developers who are very willing to answer questions from
nonprofit professionals.

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.

>> Are you seeing longevity in adopting WordPress as a website model, or is it a
passing fad that means you'll have to redo and adopt something different next
year?  >>



If it's a passing fad then my organization would be in real trouble: all of our
sites are now or soon will be running in WordPress. That said, one never knows
what is around the corner that might make things better.

Jon Ford
Associate Director, Communications
St. Luke's Health Initiatives (SLHI)
2929 N Central Ave, Ste 1550
Phoenix, AZ  85012
(o) 602-385-6508
(c) 480-650-8997
www.slhi.org<http://www.slhi.org/>
www.arizonahealthsurvey.org<http://www.arizonahealthsurvey.org/>
www.tapslhi.org<http://tapslhi.org/>
www.healthworksaz.org<http://www.healthworksaz.org/>

Dear ISF Colleagues,

Please check out this new WordPress plug-in, Compassionate Comments:

<http://compassionatecomments.com/>

Rick gave me a demo of this plug-in recently, and it looks to me like
a good way for nonprofits to foster constructive conversation among
folks to visit and comment on their blogs.

Full disclosure of financial relationship:  Rick does not pay me to
say nice things about this plug-in.  I am merely a fan.

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.

What I think is promising about many open-source projects, including WordPress,
Drupal, Joomla and Plone, is that they all make it possible (not necessarily
easy -- but possible) to export your data should you ever want to move to
another system.

More generally, these projects all use databases that YOU set up and control,
meaning you always have your data to pull out and do what you with. That's
something that hosted systems like Blackbaud, Groundspring (Network for Good),
eTapestry, Salsa (Democracy in Action), and Wild Apricot can't ever 100%
promise. That doesn't mean they're not sometimes good solutions -- in particular
for complicated niche services like online advocacy or donation processing. But
with WordPress, as with these other open-source projects, your data is always in
your possession.

All that said, I think WordPress is most definitely here to stay. Of the four
projects I mentioned above, I'd put money on WordPress above all the rest in
terms of longevity. They're solid.

--ivan

--
Rootwork: Powering grassroots
networks from the bottom up

ivan@...
http://www.rootwork.org
phone: 202.730.9465

Skype: rootwork
Twitter: rootwork



-----original message-----
>> If it's a passing fad then my organization would be in real trouble: all of
our sites are now or soon will be running in WordPress. That said, one never
knows what is around the corner that might make things better.>>

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

Dear ISF Colleagues,

I thought that you might be interested in this blog article:

<http://ow.ly/390Qi>

Are your impressions similar to mine, that women dominate the social
media scene in the nonprofit sector?

Please share 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.

To play devil's advocate, it really depends what sort of timeline one
expects a "passing fad" to be on, and what a "lasting solution" is.
Nearly every Internet phenom has been a passing fad in the grand
pet-rock scheme of things, but on Internet time, some of those lasted a
very long time indeed.  Perspective is important.

The note below assumes a non-hosted version of
drupal/wordpress/joomla/plone, but the point is good.  If you need to
get your data out, make sure you have a way to do so, at least for the
important stuff, no matter what solution you go with.

Ramblings aside, it is my personal belief that wordpress has legs
specifically because it is both easy to use for n00bs and easy to extend
for pros.

Along those lines, I recently wrote a calendar plugin because the one
that comes with sucks. Mine, admittedly, sorta sucks, because I didn't
really put much time into it.  Any suggestions? :)



On 11/12/2010 4:36 PM, Ivan Boothe wrote:
> What I think is promising about many open-source projects, including
WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and Plone, is that they all make it possible (not
necessarily easy -- but possible) to export your data should you ever want to
move to another system.
>
> More generally, these projects all use databases that YOU set up and control,
meaning you always have your data to pull out and do what you with. That's
something that hosted systems like Blackbaud, Groundspring (Network for Good),
eTapestry, Salsa (Democracy in Action), and Wild Apricot can't ever 100%
promise. That doesn't mean they're not sometimes good solutions -- in particular
for complicated niche services like online advocacy or donation processing. But
with WordPress, as with these other open-source projects, your data is always in
your possession.
>
> All that said, I think WordPress is most definitely here to stay. Of the four
projects I mentioned above, I'd put money on WordPress above all the rest in
terms of longevity. They're solid.
>
> --ivan
>

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)

Don't women dominate the not for profit scene in general?

--
Cathleen Kelly, CRS, CIRS
www.CDKConsulting.com
Unlock your potential...
914-629-4972

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

Dear Cathleen, and other esteemed colleagues:

I suppose that it depends on what you mean by "dominate."

There's a difference between a numerical majority and a concentration
of power.  As I pointed out in my article, it appears to me that:

- women are in the numerical majority of nonprofit jobs

- men are in the numerical majority of nonprofit technology jobs

- men hold a disproportionate number of nonprofit executive jobs

Meanwhile, more women than men are prominent in nonprofit sector-wide
roles as social media evangelists.

As I mentioned in my article, I don't have hard data on these trends
and what they mean, and would welcome news of any reliable and valid
research!

Best regards from Deborah

P.S. If you'd like to read the blog article yourself, you'll find it
at
<http://blog.deborah.elizabeth.finn.com/blog/_archives/2010/11/12/4678593.html>.

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.



On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 10:19 AM, cathleen kelly <catkelly13@...> wrote:
> Don't women dominate the not for profit scene in general?
>
> --
> Cathleen Kelly, CRS, CIRS
> www.CDKConsulting.com
> Unlock your potential...
> 914-629-4972
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> =========================================
>
> The Information Systems Forum is an opt-in, low-traffic, flame-free
distribution list for discussions of information technology for nonprofit
organizations.
>
> To post a message, prepare a regular email and send it to
Information_Systems_Forum@yahoogroups.com
>
> To join the Information Systems Forum, send a blank email to
Information_Systems_Forum-SUBSCRIBE@yahoogroups.com
>
> To leave the Information System Forum, send a blank email to
Information_Systems_Forum-UNSUBSCRIBE@yahoogroups.com .  Please note that there
may be a lag (of hours or days) between the moment that you send the command and
the moment that you stop receiving messages from this group.  Your list
administrator apologizes for this flaw in the YahooGroups configuration, but has
been unable to shorten the lag from her end of things.
>
> To send a message to the list administrator (Deborah), email it to
Information_Systems_Forum-owner@yahoogroups.com .
>
> To view the message archive, go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Information_Systems_Forum
>
> To participate in the unmoderated version of this email distribution list, go
to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Information_Systems_Forum_UNMODERATED/
>
> To view a map of the group's membership, go to
http://www.frappr.com/informationsystemsforum
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

There is Canadian data on this - a workforce study by Community Development
Halton showed this pattern quite well. 80% of the social sector workforce is
women but 80% of senior management (and higher paid positions) are men.

Women are quite marginalized in this sector with low pay and contract work being
more prevalent than secure well paid permanent work.

Trudy

--
Trudy Beaulne
Executive Director
Social Planning Council of Kitchener-Waterloo/ Community Information Centre
of Waterloo Region
300-151 Frederick St.
Kitchener ON N2H 2M2
Phone: 519-579-1096 Ext. 3006
Fax: 519-578-9185
Email: spckw@...
Community InfoLine: 519-579-3800
Outside Waterloo Region, call: 1-877-579-3859
Website: www.waterlooregion.org
Cultivating community knowledge to advance social justice.
Bring your neighbours together to get to know one another and build a
stronger community....
Be part of the Festival of Neighbourhoods Kitchener- for more information go to
http://www.kitchener.ca/award_prog/festival_neighbourhoods.html




-----original message-----
>>I suppose that it depends on what you mean by "dominate."   There's a
difference between a numerical majority and a concentration of power.  As I
pointed out in my article, it appears to me that:
- women are in the numerical majority of nonprofit jobs
- men are in the numerical majority of nonprofit technology jobs
- men hold a disproportionate number of nonprofit executive jobs
Meanwhile, more women than men are prominent in nonprofit sector-wide roles as
social media evangelists.  As I mentioned in my article, I don't have hard data
on these trends and what they mean, and would welcome news of any reliable and
valid research!  P.S. If you'd like to read the blog article yourself, you'll
find it at <
http://blog.deborah.elizabeth.finn.com/blog/_archives/2010/11/12/4678593.html
>.>>

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

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I'd like to call your attention to some introductory videos that have been
posted by Josh Shortlidge, founder of the InterEthos project.  You will find
them at:\

<http://interethos.net/>

This is an open source project, so you can also download the code at:

<http://github.com/swithin/interethos>

Here's the mission of the project:

"To create an interoperable cataloging system for collections of data and
content, so that those collections can be more easily accessed by internet
users. Our focus is primarily on the human services sector."

This will be of great interest to those folks in the social sector who are
concerned with topics such as outcomes measurement and community impact, and
have to work with data sets from multiple sources.

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.


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

Hi, Deborah,

I see your invitation to us to visit the unmoderated version of this group
occasionally.  Today I clicked through to it and found that the latest message
posted was in September.  Am I getting to the right site?  I have really
benefited from this group and want to take this opportunity to thank you for
making it possible.

MC Brown

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

-----original message-----
>>I see your invitation to us to visit the unmoderated version of this group
occasionally.  Today I clicked through to it and found that the latest message
posted was in September.  Am I getting to the right site?  I have really
benefited from this group and want to take this opportunity to thank you for
making it possible.>>



Dear MC, and other esteemed colleagues:

Yes, you've got it right!  The unmoderated version of the Information
Systems Forum may be found at:

<http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Information_Systems_Forum_UNMODERATED/>

It has extremely low traffic, and only 54 members, in comparison to
this (moderated version) of the Information Systems Forum, which has
more than 5,300 members.

It's a source of some amusement to me that so many people have voted
with their feet in favor of the moderated forum - when I think of
times in the past when members of this group have expressed outrage at
the less-than-total freedom of speech practiced here.  The unmoderated
version was created so that anyone could post a message on any topic
at any time without any constraints, and very few people choose to
participate by joining or posting to that group.

At the same time that I find this amusing, I also consider the
implications to be material for serious reflection.  You can read more
some of those reflections here:

<http://blog.deborah.elizabeth.finn.com/blog/_archives/2008/10/20/3940895.html>

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 Info Systems Forum Members,

Are you interested in implementing social media into your organization's
outreach methods? Do you have a backlog of archival collections that need to be
processed? Could your website be updated or assessed for usability? Does your
organization just need some help with information management? Do you want to
give back by providing a student with an enlightening service experience all
while benefiting your organization?

If so, then you are an ideal host for the University of Michigan School of
Information's (SI) annual Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program.

SI ASB is an opportunity for non-profit, cultural, government or educational
institutions in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Detroit to host one or
more master's students to participate in hands-on information-related projects
during the week of Monday, February 28 through Friday, March 4, 2011.

Participating host organizations submit hands-on, practical projects related to
the areas that are being studied at the School of Information. Often, these
projects are technology or information-management oriented projects that staff
don't have the time, knowledge, or resources to complete. Organizations are then
matched with fully-funded students who travel to you the week of spring break to
work on this project. In the past, students have worked with organizations to
develop internal library systems, perform research and analysis on information
policy topics, update websites and perform usability analysis, and develop and
implement social media solutions, amongst many others (see
http://asb6.cms.si.umich.edu/projects to see the 2010 program's project
offerings.)

Ideal projects are related to our core areas of study in library and information
services, archives and records management, and human-computer interaction
(usability).  Additionally, we are also hoping to receive projects that are
oriented around the development or use of social media tools, information policy
research and analysis, and information analysis and retrieval, amongst other
information management issues.

Beyond arranging for a project to be completed by a student, organizations are
asked to provide a brief orientation to the students at the start, and to invest
some time to share information about the organization, the greater purpose of
what the project is, and to talk about career-related opportunities with your
student(s) at some point throughout the week. There is no cost for participation
and students' expenses are covered by fund raising through the School of
Information.

Comments from past participating organizations include: "All SI students I've
met have been amazing: they not only are smart but their ethic of work and
professional approach are impeccable." "We find that each student we've hosted
has brought a new wealth of information. They are always great to work with and
really inject life into our work."

We have over 100 interested students for the 2011 program who would like to
assist your organization during this week-long experience. By working with you,
the students get to apply their skills and knowledge in a real-world
environment, network with you and your colleagues, and try out city-living for a
week.

Our graduate students' information management, web, organizational,
communication, and technical skills are substantial and their energy levels
high; therefore, we seek challenging projects that are at a professional level
and would provide significant benefit to your organization. And as a bonus, the
students' expenses are fully-funded and consequently they are free to you!

If you are interested in participating as a host organization or would like to
learn more, contact Kelly Kowatch at kkowatch@.... For more information
about past participating organizations and projects, please visit the SI-ASB
website at www.si.umich.edu/pep/asb/. Common questions and answers about the SI
ASB program can be found at http://siasb.cms.si.umich.edu/orgs 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@....

Sincerely,

Kelly A. Kowatch, Assistant Director
University of Michigan School of Information
Career Development Office
kkowatch@...
3360 North Quad
(734)936-8735

I've been happy using WordPress for my blog, which is my main website. While
Drupal seems to be the clear CMS leader today, WordPress offers a great balance
between ease of use and functionality and I don't see it going away any time
soon.

Norman H. Reiss
nhr@...
646-827-0635

ePhilanthropy for Nonprofit Organizations
Bridging Technology, Communications & Development
Blog - www.nonprofitbridge.com


-----original message-----
>>Are you seeing longevity in adopting WordPress as a website model, or is it a
passing fad that means you'll have to redo and adopt something different next
year?>>

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

(Dear ISF Colleagues:  Here's an interesting look at the state of
technology among grantmaking foundations.  Best regards from Deborah)


-----original message-----
From: <info@...>
Date: Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 3:45 PM
Subject: TAG Announces Release of Foundation-Wide Technology Survey Report
To: deborah_elizabeth_finn@...


Hello Deborah Elizabeth.

TAG is pleased to announce the release of the 2010 Grantmakers
Information Technology Survey Report and Executive Summary.  Both
reports are available to the public via TAG's web site at
http://www.tagtech.org/?page=ITSurvey2010.

In addition, TAG members can download the survey data reports and
anyone who participated in the survey can create their own customized
reports.

Some of the report highlights include:

-More than half of the participants reported their technology adoption
as "lagging behind”.

-The implementation of online grants management systems/online donor
information continues to be the primary technology challenge sited.

-Leading-edge adopters of technology are moving toward paperless
offices by implementing online grants applications and document
management systems but foundations overall continue to be slow to
adopt these technologies.

-Foundations with custom in-house grant management software or
non-MicroEdge products have adopted online grant applications at a
much greater rate than those foundations using MicroEdge products.

-Technology planning continues to be a challenge, as most foundations
are far more likely to have a disaster plan than to have a technology
plan.

Please share these reports with your colleagues.  Thank you!