The number of low-cost or free, web-based resources and tools available to nonprofits today is astounding. So much so that many nonprofit professionals are overwhelmed by the all choices – and as the Mobile Web and related start-ups continue to grow, prepare to be mind-boggled by all the new technology options available to your nonprofit in coming years. 1. 2dCode...
Foursquare recently launched the ability for brands to create Pages on Foursquare. Until then, nonprofits were limited to simply claiming their nonprofit’s Venue Page making it almost impossible to be proactive on Foursquare. However, in recent weeks the site has made a number of upgrades that have rendered the site and it’s tool set much more interesting and relevant...
The time is ripe for the early adopters in the nonprofit sector to embrace m-Advocacy, otherwise known as mobile advocacy. Odds are a year from now pitches to subscribe or join “Mobile Action Networks” will be commonly seen in Facebook Status Updates, Tweets, blogs posts, homepages, and e-newsletter subject lines. As social media taught us, those nonprofits who act...
Over the last 18 months I have subscribed to over 50 nonprofit text alert campaigns from a wide variety of organizations, but it wasn’t until this past April 28th that I finally received a text alert from a nonprofit that linked to a mobile website: That the text came from the Humane Society of the United States was not...
On the Mobile Web, it’s 1999 all over again. Those nonprofits that are pioneering mobile websites today will reap the benefits of Mobile SEO tomorrow. Mobile search engines like Google Mobile, Yahoo! Mobile, and Bing Mobile are hungry for mobile content, especially fresh content. That said, the uber vast majority of nonprofits have not even considered launching a mobile...
Many nonprofits are experimenting with text-to-give fundraising, but thus far results have been mixed. Nonprofits that have the resources or connections to tap into media, celebrity or large e-mail lists have done well, but many others are simply breaking even (or not). One reason may be that the online promotions of text-to-give campaigns have been mostly limited to text-only...
If you haven’t noticed QR Codes yet, after you read this post and browse the QR Codes on Flickr you’re going to start to seeing them everywhere. In magazines, on flyers, tabletops, and conference materials. So, what are they? QR Codes are two-dimensional bar code images that when scanned by a camera on a smartphone open a link to...
11/21 Update: Foursquare now automatically forwards your old URL to your new URL, but you should still update print materials and e-mail signatures. Just a quick note to nonprofits! It looks as though Foursquare has dropped “user” in its vanity URLs for profiles. I can’t find confirmation of this change site-wide on AboutFoursquare.com or on Foursquare’s Twitter account, but...
Using SwebApps.com, I quickly threw together and launched an iPhone App for Nonprofit Tech 2.0 in the fall of 2009. Once it was available in iTunes, I quickly moved on to other tasks and quite honesty, paid no attention to it for almost a year. Then when searching for “nonprofit” Apps in iTunes last month, I was surprised to...
9/20 Update: Make that 11 Essential Tools. Nonprofits should also be using Ustream for live-streaming while on location! The advent of the Mobile Web is slowly starting to permeate and transform nonprofit communications. Just like social media transformed the nonprofit sector and how it communicates with its supporters, so will the Mobile Web (even more so). The best new...
UPDATE :: After you verify your business/nonprofit, you are asked to merge your Official Page with your Places Page. I have sneaking suspicion that the merged example in this blog post is a glimpse of the new Pages that are launching this week. Hold off on #6 below until further notice. Many nonprofit communicators are now aware that Facebook...
While there are many great nonprofit bloggers, nonprofits that are utilizing social media and mobile technology should also be reading the five blogs listed below. Although they are primarily written for the private sector, their writers seemingly have direct communication with companies like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc. and often provide some of the best inside information about crucial updates...
One in five Americans now access the Mobile Web daily. Smartphones are transforming the Internet and how individuals access the Web. This means nonprofits and their web communication strategies need to transform as well. Desktop and laptop computers have become essential tools for nonprofit communicators over the last decade, and now we are entering the era of smartphones –...