I Just Got a Refund from Amazon

I have to admit, I still feel guilty ordering books from Amazon. While it's good for me - the service is SO easy to use, books arrive QUICKLY, they give me great RECOMMENDATIONS on what to buy next - I know I'm contributing to the commoditization of the book market and this means that I'm helping to put some smaller booksellers out of service.

This shows that I'm selfish. It also shows that I'm overwhelmed by my varied responsibilities and don't want to have to spend time buying the reference and entertainment materials I want.

Gosh, as if I wasn't feeling guilty enough, Amazon just sent me a REFUND. Talk about good business/good marketing. I didn't even know this REFUND was due to me. Now it will be EVEN HARDER to take my business somewhere else.

Do something REALLY nice for a client, donor, volunteer, partner, or customer today. I guarantee that it will make them feel more LOYAL to you.

Marketing in a Connected World

My friends at Network for Good put together LOTS of great slide shows and webinars and whitepapers to help us all get better at and remember the BASICS of good marketing. I was perusing some of the presentations that they've put out in Cyberspace for FREE and slide 50 in the presentation below caught my eye.

We Are Not the Best Messengers!

Think about it. When is the last time you trusted the advice of a total stranger? When is the last time you purchased a product or service simply because you saw it advertised on TV?

We're just too skeptical and too guarded and too overwhelmed to trust the advice of just ANYONE.

Much better than to rely on the advice, suggestions, and recommendations of our friends. This is what new social technologies enable us to do.

1. Send our ideas, thoughts, content, requests out to the world via the Internet through myriad vehicles - blogs, charity widgets, search results, Facebook pages, Flikr, etc.
2. Find and connect with folks that share our passions.
3. Develop relationships (aka communities) with like-minded folks.
4. Request and take collective action.
5. Hope and pray that others will also take up the charge and then LET THEM DO IT in their own more authentic, creative, funny, smart, ever-helpful WAY.

Again, We are NOT the Best Messengers. We are just stewards of information and - if we're lucky - sources of inspiration for others. This is marketing in a "Connected World!" This is good marketing period.

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Blogs in Plain English | What Will You Do With the Power to Create NEWS?

This is BRILLIANT! Kudos to Lee and Satchi LaFever at Common Craft!

Looking for Mr. Donor Right or Match.com for Nonprofits

Don't tell anyone, but before I got married, I spent some time on Match.com. "Match" as it's known by insiders (Did I write that?) is a social networking site for dating.

If success on Match can be defined by meeting lots of people, my experience was a SUCCESS! Here's what I learned that you can apply to your own "outreach" efforts. You'll have to e-mail me for the juicier details!

1) Have a good profile - As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousands words." Choose wisely!

2) Know who you are - This is easier said than done. Spend some time with your "inner brand manager" BEFORE putting forth your best face.

3) Know who you're looking for - There are lots of "donors" out there. But you're not looking for any old member; you're looking for Mr./Mrs. Donor Right! So be articulate, be clear, and get to the point!

3) Speak up- Similar to other social networking sites like Facebook and Care2, E-mail, IM (instant messaging), and Chat are THE way of life. So regardless of where you decide to "fish," be prepared to join the conversation.

4) Meet up - Let's face it, it's hard to truly know what you've landed online. So plan to meet up offline as well. In other words, suggest various ways for connecting to your new suitors!

Here's to getting lucky!

Jocelyn

Publish You!

Another cool new tool to share your organization's research, case studies, reports, i.e. nuggets of wisdom online.

Start here or here or here. Try it!

Blogs and Wikis and Widgets, Oh My!

I'm pleased to announce that my organization (NPower Greater DC Region) is launching the 2008 Technology Innovation Award tomorrow - May 1!

If you work for a nonprofit that is using technology to fundraise, communicate, advocate, operate, in short – change the world - then we want to hear from you!

Four finalists will get to present their innovations to and hobnob with our judges. Two winners will each receive $1,000 in cash and a software and consulting package valued at $35,000!

Learn more here or sign up for a FREE webinar with yours truly.

Tell a friend!

Kudos to Kiva

Kiva is a GREAT example of an organization that is capitalizing on the power of the Internet to connect people to people, do programming, and promote social justice.

How is your organization using the Net to:

- Reach donors;
- Connect members;
- Showcase corporate partners; and
- Do your programming?

Cheers! Jocelyn

If Not Now, When?

I get calls EVERY day from community leaders who are looking for assistance in developing new websites, choosing a new database, upgrading hardware and software, finding new fundraising solutions, etc.

After some back and forth on requirements and issues, I often here this refrain...

"Well, here's the real problem. I'm just not very tech-savvy."

Since I am a marketer I usually say,

"That's ok or you've come to the right place or we're tech-savvy so that you don't have to be."

And this is partially true.

But it's also true that while no one is suggesting you go back to school to get a degree in IT, it's NOT OK to be tech-backward anymore! IT is just too central to the success of our organizations and our LIVES for any of us to be tech-challenged any longer.

Once a technophobe myself, (Believe me, I still have trouble using our fax machine at home!) I now feel strongly that every executive must develop a basic understanding of how technology works and how it should and can be used to improve business operations.

Deb Finn has written this excellent paper which provides a summary of the 10 things every Executive Director MUST know about technology. In addition to reading her paper, I suggest you just dive in!

Pick two new technologies to master this year. Take a course on database development from Idealware, learn what you can do with new media tools like blogs and social networks from NTEN. Read up on online marketing at Fundraising 123.

Do it now. Because, as the saying goes, if not you, then who? And, if not now, then when?

Speaking of cloud computing…Here comes Microsoft Live Mesh!

Microsoft is trying to move into the cloud as well, as evidenced by "Office Live", and this new offering, called "LiveMesh", confirms their strategy of "software+services." Essentially LiveMesh is a collection of feeds which are synced with other Mesh-enabled devies. What does this mean in real life? Syncing News, File Updates, Friend Status, and Tweets (for example) all through the "cloud".

This is interesting in a nonprofit context because as more and more applications move to the cloud, you no longer need to worry about maintaining email and file servers in-house. Now everyone is relying on the same infrastructure. This is the key - if Merrill Lynch is using the same service your 5 person NPO is using, there is much more motivation for the provider to have 100% uptime. Of course, the downside of this reliance on the web is that reliable broadband access becomes paramount to your day-to-day activities.

I'm excited to see Microsoft making a strong "cloud computing" play because it signals where the corporate technology market is headed, and as nonprofits, we should at least be keeping pace with that, if not staying ahead of the curve!

Cloud Computing

What if you and your staff could access your data and documents anytime, from anywhere via any device?

What is you could run your nonprofit without software, in-house servers and hardware.

Google and Salesforce think you can and should. Here is what they have to say.

"Nonprofit organizations should not need to deal with the plumbing
of technology. They should be able to move ALL of their resources
on to the Internet (into the cloud) and concentrate their technical and creative
talents on making the world a better place. To date, this has been nothing
more than a nice idea. However, that all changed yesterday (4/13/08)."

Learn more here.

J