NTEN: Change | September 2014

CHANGEA Quarterly Journal for Nonprofit Leaders · September 2014

FEATURES:Seeing is Believing: The Powerof Visual CommunicationsBy Nicole Lampe

Nonprofit Photography: Ethicsand Approaches By Margot Duane

Win or Go Home: LessonsFrom the Campaign TrailBy Andrew Rothman

Visual Media 101: New Tools forNonprofits By Jessica Williams

ADVOCACY & VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS:

HOW TO RISEABOVE THE NOISE

2 NTEN CHANGE | SEPTEMBER 2014

This quarter’s issue of NTEN: Changefocuses on the theme: Advocacy andVisual Communications. How cannonprofits get their message to riseabove the noise?

It can be an ongoing challenge tocapture the attention of supporters,funders, and the media, especiallywhen the issues that you’re workingon can be complex and hard foroutsiders to imagine. Years ago, thedocumentary filmmaker U. RobertoRomano gave me simple advice:Show them why they should care.

U. Roberto Romano, or “Robin,”was an inexhaustible human rightsactivist, and the images and videosthat he captured for his documentary,“The Dark Side of Chocolate,” wasthe first the world had ever seen –images of child, forced, and traffickedlabor in the West African cocoaindustry. These images and videoswere undeniable pieces of evidencethat helped to strengthen existingnonprofit campaigns, and providecontent for media outlets, such asCNN’s Freedom Project.

Robin passed away last November.This issue is a tribute to his vision,commitment, courage, and approachto changing the world. The articlesand interviews in this issue examinesvisual communications and advocacyacross a range of angles: ResourceMedia’s findings on the science

behind the power of images;humanitarian photographer, MargotDuane, on the ethical considerationsand approaches to nonprofitphotography; Blue State Digital’swinning political campaign strategiesthat nonprofits can incorporate intotheir work; an introduction to OmarVulpinari, the man behind some ofthe most successful visual campaignsout there; and much more.

Robin once said in an interview:“Pictures show us the world as itreally is, especially when what youare trying to show is ‘unimaginable’…How can anyone not react whenconfronted by that reality?”

We hope that these articles willinspire and reinvigorate yourorganization to think about howto show what your mission means,show impact, and show audienceswhy they should care.

Thanks for reading!

Letter fromthe EditorJOLEEN ONGMarketing &Publications Director,NTEN

“How cannonprofits gettheir messageto rise abovethe noise?”

ISSUE FIFTEENSEPTEMBER 2014

EditorJoleen OngMarketing & Publications Director, NTEN

DesignPhilip KraynaNKD – Neuwirth/Krayna Designwww.nkdesigngroup.com

Editorial Committee MembersJeanne AllenManager/Instructor, Duke University NonprofitManagement Program

Chris BernardEditorial and Communications Director,Idealware

Melanie BowerProject Manager, Social AccountabilityAccreditation Services

Tobias EigenExecutive Director, Kabissa—Space forChange in Africa

Sophia GuevaraSocial Media Fellow, Emerging Practitionersin Philanthropy (EPIP)

WiebkeHerdingManaging Director,On:Subject Communications

JoshHirschDirector of Development andMarketing,The Weiss School

Nicole LampeDigital Strategy Director, Resource Media

BonnieMcEwanAssistant Professor and Consultant,Milano-The New School & BonnieMcEwan.com

Rebecca ReyesCommunications Manager,Everyday Democracy

Cover Art: Ashley Cecilwww.ashleycecil.com

Advertising: Learn more aboutsponsoring NTEN:Change at nten.org/advertising/reserve

Permissions &Inquiries: Please givecredit to all referencedor re-published content according tothe Creative Common license:Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.Example Attribution text: “Firstpublished in NTEN:Change(nten.org/NTENChange), September2014, CC BY-SA 3.0(creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).” More informationabout the journal can be found atnten.org/NTENChange/Press

CHANGEA Quarterly Journal for Nonprofit Leaders

NTEN CHANGE | SEPTEMBER 2014 3

INSIDEFEATURES:

PAGE 14 VisualMedia 101:NewTools for Nonprofitsby JessicaWilliams, PrichardCommunications

PAGE 16OnlineMessagingAcross Geographies: Challengesand Considerationsby Cheryl Contee, Adriana Dakin,Abigail Simmons - Fission Strategy

PAGE 18 The Evolution ofAdvertising: Best Practices forAd Campaigns and SocialMarketingbyMegan Sigesmund, Ad Council

BEHINDTHE SCENES:PAGE 30 CitizenMedia:Rethinking the NewAgendaInterview with Ivan Sigal, Global Voices

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:

PAGE 32Mama's Day CampaignInterview with Eveline Shen, ForwardTogether

PAGE 34 Children by theNumbersInterview with Limarie Cabrera andAnnaWright, Westchester Children'sAssociation

EDITORIALCOMMITTEEPROFILE:

PAGE 37Melanie Bower

TECH SUPPORT:

PAGE 38 Using Storify toCapture Insights at Eventsby Paula Jones, N.C. Center forNonprofits and NCTech4Good

PAGE 40 Seven Tips to Build aCompelling Visual Libraryby Rebecca Reyes, Everyday Democracy

PAGE 42 Visualize a SuccessfulYear-end Fundraising Campaignby YeeWon Chong, Strategist, Trainer,and Consultant for Social Justice

PAGE 44 Sustainability FocusInterview with Darren Heiber,Free Geek

20

8

10

12 26


AT AGLANCENTEN:CHANGE JOURNALSEPTEMBER 2014

�Seeing is Believing: The Power of VisualCommunications - Page 8By Nicole Lampe, Resource MediaAttention spans and screen are shrinking, and imagery isthe most powerful shorthand that cause-basedorganizations have in their toolkits. Resource Mediashares its top five tips for effective visualcommunications, based on a year of intensive researchand fieldwork.

�Nonprofit Photography: Ethics and Approaches -Page 10By Margot Duane, Humanitarian PhotographerIn our modern and connected world, impactfulphotography is a powerful way to illustrate yourorganization’s successes and compel your constituents toaction. Internationally-published humanitarianphotographer, Margot Duane, outlines ethical and legalconsiderations as well as recommendations for suggestedapproaches to help ensure that your photography projectsare successful.

�Win or Go Home: Lessons From the Campaign Trail- Page 12By Andrew Rothman, Blue State DigitalThe speed and the stakes of a political campaign demanda level of dexterity and efficiency rarely seen in thenonprofit sector. Elements of the campaign mindset canhelp organizations of all kinds craft digital fundraising andadvocacy programs that cut through internal divisions andmove at the speed of the digital age — with a relentlessfocus on real results.

�Visual Media 101: New Tools for Nonprofits - Page 14By Jessica Williams, Prichard CommunicationsVisual media has become vital to a strong social mediastrategy. It has transformed the way organizations canengage and interact with their audiences. The growth inpopularity of Pinterest, Instagram, and Vine has sparked anew approach to digital outreach. Learn more about the

changing tide of social media, free tools, and tips on howto create compelling images.

�Online Messaging Across Geographies: Challengesand Considerations - Page 16By Cheryl Contee, Adriana Dakin, Abigail Simmons – FissionStrategyDigital campaigns for nonprofits are often global and canreach audiences everywhere with the right internationalmessaging, visuals, targeting, and channels. This articlegives nonprofits advice on running a successful visualcommunications campaign using multichannel outreachthat includes mobile texting, and understanding cultureand syntax.

�The Evolution of Advertising: Best Practices forAd Campaigns and Social Marketing - Page 18By Megan Sigesmund, Ad CouncilFrom doing the research and crystalizing your message,to creative execution across different platforms, get apeek behind the Ad Council’s curtain to learn howorganizations bring their campaigns to life. Using thesuccessful Children’s Oral Health campaign as a casestudy, discover the key steps to ensure that your messagebreaks through the noise.

CHANGEA Quarterly Journal for Nonprofit Leaders · September 2014

FEATURES:Seeing is Believing: The Powerof Visual CommunicationsBy Nicole Lampe

Nonprofit Photography: Ethicsand Approaches By Margot Duane

Win or Go Home: LessonsFrom the Campaign TrailBy Andrew Rothman

Visual Media 101: New Tools forNonprofits By Jessica Williams

ADVOCACY & VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS:

HOW TO RISEABOVE THE NOISE


�Change in Action | Putting Equity on the Map -page 20Interview with Scotty Ellis, Coalition for a Livable FutureEquity is a core component to achieve sustainabledevelopment, but it’s often left out of the conversation.The Regional Equity Atlas transforms data into a powerfultool to shape the conversation about equity, and ensurethat it’s central to public policy.

�Change in Action | Designing for Social Change -page 26Interview with Omar Vulpinari, Crossmedia Creative Director& Innovation Lab LeaderOmar Vulpinari has led the creative direction for some ofthe most powerful visual campaigns on issues rangingfrom child safety, anti-tobacco use, pedestrian safety, andmore. In this interview, Omar reflects on his successfulcareer at Fabrica, Benetton’s Research Center, his newpath ahead as a professor, and discusses the upside ofpushing the envelope.

�Behind the Scenes | Citizen Media: Rethinkingthe News Agenda - page 30Interview with Ivan Sigal, Global VoicesGlobal Voices is a nonprofit online citizen media initiative,where local perspectives and concerns drive the newsagenda. With an estimated 6,000 stories published peryear that are translated into as many as 35 languages,Executive Director, Ivan Sigal, explains how it’s done witha small core team and global volunteers.

Project Spotlight | Mama’s Day - Recognizing aProfound Act of Community - Page 32Interview with Eveline Shen, Forward TogetherThe Mama’s Day campaign is an annual event thatleverages a national “Hallmark” holiday to tell a visualstory of the mamas that are not traditionally honored orrecognized. From technology tools to impactmeasurement, get the lessons learned from ForwardTogether about running an e-card campaign.

�Project Spotlight | Storytelling with Data -A Children’s Tale - Page 34Interview with Limarie Cabrera and Anna Wright, WestchesterChildren’s AssociationData can inspire people towards advocacy and action.From a 300-page research report to an engaginginfographic and Children by the Numbers blog, theWestchester Children’s Association has transformed theirdata into stories that inform, engage, and empower theiraudiences to understand children’s lives in WestchesterCounty, New York.

�Editorial Committee Profile | Melanie Bower -Page 37Melanie Bower, Project Manager at Social AccountabilityAccreditation Services, answers six questions aboutnonprofit technology.

�Tech Support | Using Storify to Capture Insightsat Events - Page 38By Paula Jones, N.C. Center for Nonpro5ts and NCTech4GoodStorify provides an opportunity for nonprofits to curatecontent from various social networks. Paula Jones sharesfive tips that you should consider when using Storify foryour organization, using the recent NCTech4GoodConference as an example.

�Tech Support | 7 Tips to Build a Compelling VisualLibrary - Page 40By Rebecca Reyes, Everyday DemocracyUsing images can increase engagement and help spreadyour message. Building a visual library and integratingvisual content into your communications plan can helpyou be proactive instead of reactive, especially whenunexpected events occur.

�Tech Support | Visualize a Successful Year-endFundraising Campaign - Page 42By YeeWon Chong, Strategist, Trainer, and Consultant forSocial JusticeAs has been noted thousands of times, "a picture is wortha thousand words." It is particularly true in this day andage. Get the scoop on the tips and tools that nonprofitsare using to create compelling images, and how you canapply them to your year-end fundraising campaign.

�Sustainability Focus | How Recycling ComputerEquipment Can Support a Community - Page 44Interview with Darren Heiber, Free GeekAll organizations must eventually deal with oldtechnology, but what to do with it? Free Geek recycles itall, from computers to cables and cards. But social andenvironmental responsibility aren’t just their mission,they define Free Geek’s internal culture as well.


ABOUT THECOVER

AS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION, IT MIGHT BEHARD TO BELIEVE THAT A LARGE PART OF IT– THE COVER – IS ACTUALLY HANDMADE

Ashley Cecil is the artist who helps NTEN transform thethematic elements of the Journal into the face of thepublication. These photos offer a behind-the-scenes lookinto the work that Ashley put into creating the cover…with not a computer in sight.

This edition’s theme is “Advocacy and VisualCommunications.” Coming up with the cover image forsuch a large topic can be daunting, but it was the powerof an icon and its role in advocacy and social movementsthat seemed to best embody the motif. JuanitaBaltodano, the president of the Fair Trade cacaocooperative in Costa Rica, continues to be a celebratedfigure on NTEN: Change covers, with a touch of Rosiethe Riveter’s can-do attitude – an attitude shown by somany in the nonprofit sector.

To learn more about Ashley Cecil, visitwww.ashleycecil.com


2014

M I A M I

2015NONPROFIT

TECHNOLOGYCONFERENCE

MARCH 4-6, 2015AUSTIN, TEXAS

MYNTC.NTEN.ORG#15NTC

Connect, learn, and change the world. The 15NTCis the largest gathering of nonprofit professionals thattransform technology into social change.

The NTC is the nonprofit industry’s signaturetechnology event, bringing together more than 2,000nonprofit staff, vendors, and consultants. Join us inAustin, Texas from March 4-6, 2015 for three days ofsharing knowledge, networking, and Texas Hold’em!


Oxford English Dictionary dubbed2013 the year of the selfie.Experts predict nearly a trillion

photos will be taken in 2014. With acamera in every smartphone, and thenumber of Snapchat and Instagramusers growing rapidly, one mightthink that technology was fueling thisphoto boom. But our passion forpictures is as old as time. Selfies arejust today’s version of the cavepainting.

People are hardwired to respondto imagery: The visual cortex is thelargest system in the human brain.While reading is a skill we must learn,

picture processing is an ability we’reall born with, and the language ofpictures is universal.

Despite heaps of brain science andsocial media statistics pointing to thepower of visual communications,many nonprofits still give imagesshort shrift. I have seen countlessgroups agonize over every word in abrochure or blog post, and then dropa stock image into place, almost as anafterthought.

You need look no further than yourFacebook newsfeed to understandwhy this is a mistake. In this era ofinformation overload, we’ve all

become skimmers and filterers.Words run together on the screen,but pictures draw the eye.

At Resource Media, after fifteenyears helping cause-basedorganizations get their messagesright, we decided it was time todeepen our practice around visualcommunications. We pored overcognitive research, interviewedmarketing professionals, and sharedour top takeaways in a report calledSeeing is Believing, available fordownload with many other resourcesat www.visualstorylab.org.

Here’s what we learned:1. Emotions rule, and photos are

a great way to tap into them: Brainscans have shown that the emotionalregion of our brain is super activeduring decision-making. This explainswhy stories are so powerful. Anyfundraising professional can tell youthat stories move supporters in a waythat facts and figures never will.Pictures work in a similar manner:

SEEING IS BELIEVING:THE POWER OF VISUALCOMMUNICATIONSBY NICOLE LAMPE, RESOURCE MEDIA

PHOTO: JAMES BALOG, ExTREME ICE SURVEY


rather than engaging our rationalminds, they touch our hearts.

2. Show the feelings you wantto inspire: We’re all equipped withmirror neurons that help ussympathize with others. We see pain;we feel pain. And if we’re shownimages that are too unpleasant, wewill often look away to protect againstthe discomfort they elicit. Thisunderscores the importance ofbalancing positive, aspirationalphotos with those that show theproblems you are working to address.

3. Don’t rely on your gut, testimages just as you wouldmessages: As advocates, we areoften too close to our work to be ableto judge content objectively. Somephotos that resonate with you andyour colleagues might leavesupporters cold. Consider the twowolf photos below. Wildlife groupsmight feel the first conveys majesty,

but testing reveals it actually inspiresfear in many people. The mama wolfand cub photo is less threatening, andmore relatable. Based on theexperience of our friends in wildlifeconservation, it’s also more likely tobe shared. Our method of choice foraffordable image testing is Facebookadvertising. For $250, you can get1,000 new fans and invaluableinsights into the kinds of photos mostlikely to make target audiences click.

4. Pair pictures with words formaximum impact: Studies show thatboth comprehension and recallincrease when people take in visualand verbal information at the sametime. Again, consider your Facebooknewsfeed. Those text-over-photomemes are catchy and memorable.And they have the added advantageof a message that’s baked right intothe image. For websites and blogs,spend a little time writing descriptivecaptions: they tend to get read morethan other copy on the page.

5. Invest in good photos, andkeep them organized. Whether it’s asmartphoneography training for staff,a day of shooting with a professionalphotographer, or a contest where yousolicit snapshots from supporters,commit to building your photo library.

And by photo library, I don’t meanrandom folders on your personalcomputer. Flickr is our platform ofchoice for storing and sharing photos.Organize into albums by subject orevent, and use descriptive namesand tags.

We know capacity is a bigchallenge for nonprofits working tobuild their photo libraries anddevelop more visual content. Thegood news is that technology hasmade it possible for communicationsdepartments to share the work.Smartphone cameras now takeperfectly serviceable photos andvideo, which means every organizerand volunteer can help documentevents. Technology has also madeit easier than ever to crowdsourcephotos, and to collect real-time dataabout the ones that generate themost engagement.

One trillion photos in 2014 addsup to a lot of visual noise in yoursupporters’ online worlds – thatmakes it all the more importantto have a strong image strategy.Remember that emotions andauthenticity are the name of thegame, and take advantage of clickand share metrics to refine yourstrategy over time.

NICOLE LAMPE is Digital StrategyDirector for Resource Media, anonprofit communications firmhelping partners navigate thechanging media landscape. Wedevelop and implement smart

communications strategies for the environment andpublic health. Nicole has worked in nonprofitcommunications for over a decade. She believes themobile and social media revolution makes visualcommunications more important than ever.

“WHILE READING IS ASKILL WE MUST LEARN,PICTURE PROCESSING ISAN ABILITY WE’RE ALLBORN WITH.”

TOP ROW: Resource Media worked with Power PastCoal to test both messages and photos for acampaign to block coal exports in the PacificNorthwest. These photos of open rail cars and coaldust pollution drove home the public health impactsin a way words alone could not. BOTTOM ROW: Testingimages is crucial. For example, testing revealedthat while wildlife groups might feel the first wolfphoto conveys majesty, it actually inspires fear inmany people. The mama wolf and cub photo is lessthreatening, and more relatable.


The first moon landing. TheVietnamese ‘napalm girl’, runningnaked and in agony. The World

Trade Centers falling.As we know, photography carries

the power to inspire, educate, horrify,and compel its viewers to take action.Images evoke strong and often publicemotions, as people frequentlyformulate their opinions, judgments,and behaviors in response to visualstimuli. Because of this, photographycan wield substantial control overpublic perception and discourse.

Moreover, photography in ourdigital age permits us to delivercomplex information about remoteconditions which can be rapidlydistributed and effortlessly processed

by the viewer. Recently, we’vewitnessed the profound impact ofphotography coupled with socialmedia: together, they have fueledpolitical movements and broughtdown a corrupt government.

Photography can – and has –changed the course of history.

Ethical ConsiderationsThose who commission and createphotography of marginalizedpopulations to further anorganizations’ mission possess atremendous responsibility. Carefulethical consideration should be givento all aspects of the photographysupply chain: its planning, creation,and distribution.

When planning a photographycampaign, it is important to examinethe motives for creating particularimages, and their potential impact.Not only must a faithful,comprehensive visual depiction of thesubjects be created to avoid causingmisperception, but more importantly,the subjects’ dignity must bepreserved. Words and images thatelicit an emotional response by theirsheer shock value (e.g. starving,skeletal children covered in flies) areharmful because they exploit thesubject’s condition in order to generatesympathy for increasing charitabledonations or support for a givencause. In addition to violating privacyand human rights, this so-called‘poverty porn’ is damaging to those itis trying to aid because it evokes theidea that the marginalized are helplessand incapable of helping themselves,thereby cultivating a culture ofpaternalism. Poverty porn is alsodetrimental because it is degrading,dishonoring, and robs people of theirdignity. While it is important toillustrate the challenges of apopulation, one must always strive totell stories in a way that honors thesubjects’ circumstances, and (ideally)illustrates hope for their plight.

Legal IssuesLegal issues are more clear cut whenimages are created or used in stablecountries where legal precedent forphotography use has been established.Image creation and use becomes farmore murky and problematic incountries in which law and order isvague or even nonexistent.

Even though images created fornonprofit campaigns aren’t beingcreated or published for typicallycommercial applications, it’s stronglyrecommended that precautions aretaken around permissions. If creatingimages, one should obtain modelreleases whenever possible, especiallyif there is a chance that the personpictured may experience negative

NONPROFIT PHOTOGRAPHY:ETHICS AND APPROACHESBY MARGOT DUANE, HUMANITARIAN PHOTOGRAPHER

THE GIRL POWER PROJECT IN UGANDA. PHOTO: MARGOT DUANE/MARGOTDUANE.COM


consequences as a result of havingtheir photo used. If the subject isn’table to read the release or sign his/her name, an interpreter should bemade available to explain the intendeduse of the photography. If stockphotos are being used, one shouldconfirm that the proper releases arein place; make no assumptions.

Approaches to SuccessfulPhotography CreationFirst, it is recommended that thosewho commission or use imageryshould create a policy to guide theirorganizations. You may wish to referto the International Guild of VisualPeacemakers’ Ethical Code forinspiration – see box below.

Also, adequate planning andan intimate understanding of theconditions on the ground areessential. Following are someconsiderations and suggestions:1) Will sending a photographer todocument potentially delicatesituations negatively impact thereputation of your organization?2) What if your subjects aren’t willingto have their photographs taken?Can you illustrate your messages withimagery that doesn’t identify them?3) What is the most compelling wayto tell your story? Should you create aseries of hard-hitting, beautifulportraits, day-in-the-life moments,a combination, or another approachaltogether? Engage the photographerin your planning; their input could beinvaluable.4) It may be vital to have a “fixer”on the ground who can overcomelanguage barriers, makeintroductions, explain the intentionfor the photography to the subjects,facilitate the signing of releases, and,ultimately, help your team establishtrust. Trust is a critical element inmaking great photography happen.5) Is the environment safe for aphotographer? What would they needto be protected and secure?6) For many marginalized people,having their photo taken

professionally may only happen oncein their lifetime. It is a big event tothem! If you’re able to print imageson the spot for them, this will go along way in gaining their trust andinspiring their cooperation.7) The way that the photo sessions areconducted should also be carefullyconsidered. One should never bribesubjects to feign despair, anger, orother emotions, or seek to influencethe “slant” of the photography in anyway. Also, sometimes it works well tophotograph subjects from behind sothat only their activities, and not theirfaces, can be seen. For example, theface of the doctor who is performingan eye exam may be shown, but notthe patient’s face. This not onlyprevents the patient from gettingdistracted, but also protects theirprivacy. It is important to be humble,considerate, and respectful, especiallyduring private moments of grief. Inthis case, one should try to captureimages from afar without beingintrusive. One should not to be analoof stranger, but rather attempt tofoster a relationship of mutualunderstanding with the subject.8) It is important to ensure that thecaptured images document what you

believe is the real situation of yoursubjects. Photos must be carefullyand faithfully edited (there should beminimal digital manipulation and nofancy embellishments) to avoidmisrepresentation. Also, thephotography should not stereotype ormake false generalizations. Forexample, a single photograph of astarving African child is notrepresentative of the situationthroughout the continent. Usecaptions to properly contextualizevisual images. Careful considerationof the media used to deliver theimagery is also recommended, as thiscan affect its intended messagedramatically.

Photography gives us the power toconnect people from all walks of lifethrough the language of visualunderstanding. We must never forgetthat it is an honor and privilege to bein the position where we canrepresent the underrepresented, andgive voice to marginalized.

MARGOT DUANE is dedicated tomaking an impact throughhumanitarian photography. Herimages of people and modern culturehave been published worldwide.Visit: www.margotduane.com

ETHICAL CODE FOR VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS1. We research and respect the culture we are documenting.2. We value our subjects by taking measures to interact with or involve them, and bytreating storytelling and image-making as a collaboration.3. We use discernment in candid photography and videography, and all publishedmaterial, because another’s dignity and honor matters to us.4. We inquire about how others are impacted by our images, examining the actualresults of our best intentions.5. We are intentional about highlighting common humanity through images andstorytelling.6. We explore both macro and micro factors that affect a place or people in an effortfor multidimensional coverage.7. We refrain from making an image if asked not to.8. We foster the courage to delete some images that may reinforce destructivestereotypes, or publish them only along with other images that tell a more completestory.9. We refine and upgrade our own vision, because well-crafted images have greaterpotential for effective visual peacemaking.10. We live generously by helping others around us, wherever we are, and byvolunteering to support the visual peacemaking movement with our talents andresources.Source: http://visualpeacemakers.org/about/ethical_code/

ANDREW ROTHMAN is Director ofCommunications at Blue State Digital.His team designs and executes strategiesacross email, social media, web, andmobile. With artful storytelling andtactical optimization, they craft results-

oriented programs that build communities and mobilizethem to take action. Andrew was an early member ofBarack Obama’s digital team during the 2008 primaries,and since then he’s served as a bridge between thecampaign’s revolutionary digital program and dozens ofnonprofits, causes, brands, and cultural institutions.

Joe Rospars, the CEO of my firm and the chief digital strategistfor Barack Obama’s two presidential bids, often says that apresidential campaign is a billion-dollar organization built to goout of business after 18 months.The same can be said for all political campaigns. They’re

complex but ephemeral. Right from the start, the clock ticks downto Election Day, when success is defined in the starkest terms: youwin or you go home.The speed and the stakes of a political campaign demand a

level of dexterity and efficiency rarely seen in the nonprofit sector.So for the past seven years at Blue State Digital, I’ve worked toimpart elements of the campaign mindset into organizations of allkinds, helping them craft digital fundraising and advocacyprograms that cut through internal divisions and move at thespeed of the digital age – with a relentless focus on real results.When applied thoughtfully, this “win or go home” mentality

can go a long way for a nonprofit, so here are three lessons fromthe campaign trail that will help your organization use newtechnologies to make the most of your limited time and resources.

1. USE DIGITAL TO BREAK DOWN SILOSIn 2004, Howard Dean’s presidential campaign revolutionizedpolitics by using the Internet to organize, recruit volunteers, andraise lots of money. Ever since, digital has been at the center ofsuccessful political campaigns, helping everyone from fieldorganizers to finance directors do their jobs more efficiently.The most successful nonprofits are following suit. They’ve

moved beyond repurposing print newsletters as eye-glazing


WIN ORGO HOME:LESSONSFROM THECAMPAIGN

TRAILBY ANDREWROTHMAN,

BLUE STATE DIGITAL

e-blasts and treating their websiteslike online brochures. Instead,they’re connecting online andoffline donor files to optimize thedonor experience. They’re usingonline video to tell vivid storiesabout their volunteers and thepeople they’re helping. They’rereinventing their business modelsbased on peer-to-peer fundraisingand online recruitment. Andthey’re creating powerful, digital-led initiatives that let peoplecontribute to the substance of theirwork – for example, visit the U.S.Holocaust Memorial Museum.But to be effective, a digital

program can’t be bolted on toexisting efforts. It needs to beinfused throughout theorganization, frommarketingto development to programming.It should inspire (and sometimesforce) collaboration amongdisparate departments, generatingnew ideas and joint initiatives thatweren’t possible in the traditional,siloed nonprofit world.For one of the most successful

digital programs I’ve worked on –in which we’ve grown onlinefundraising by 60% and brought inthousands of new donors – my teammeets weekly with representativesfrom the marketing, development,membership, and programmingdepartments. Before we partneredwith them, these people rarelyworked together, but today they’rein constant contact and doingbetter work than ever before.

2. GET ALIGNED AND BE DIRECTOn the campaign trail, the finishline looms large: Election Day.Campaign staff understand theultimate goal and coordinate theirefforts accordingly. The mostsuccessful campaigns develop aclear narrative that distinguishesthe candidate from the field andultimately leads to victory at the

polls. Supporters also get thissingular message and mission – sothe campaign can communicate ina very direct, action-focused way.Nonprofits can be a different

story. While mission statementshelp align everyone at a high level,the precise goals are often missing.This leads to internal confusion,which reflects itself in their public-facing programs.So ask yourself: What story is

your organization trying to tell?What are you ultimately trying toachieve? Articulate your objectives,then develop and constantlyreinforce your organizationalnarrative. Don’t be afraid to talkdirectly with your supporters aboutwhat you’re trying to accomplishand how you’ll get there.At the ground level, this means

two things: 1. engage yoursupporters with a simple message,repeated often but in dynamicways; and 2. activate them at keymoments with direct, goal-focusedactions. At the end of June youlikely received a flood of politicalemails citing the urgent need fordonations before the end-of-quarter deadline. It’ll happen againat the end of September.They do this because it works.

Directly asking for donations –with deadlines, goals and othertransactional tactics – consistentlyproves to be the best fundraisingtactic. Virtually every test we’verun has supported this approach.For one nonprofit client during the2013 year-end season, a single goal-focused email raised more than twostory-focused emails sent duringthe same week combined. That’sbecause we were being direct withour audience, and they understoodthat at that moment, fundraisingwas our singular priority.

3. TEST AND RESOLVEElection season is no time for

hand-wringing. Decisions need tobe made quickly, and they needto be based on results.That’s why iterative testing is

so critical – and pays off soimmensely. Develop a few smartideas, use digital technologies tosee which one works best, and thenturn those learnings into new ideasto test again. Sometimes that cyclecan happen in a matter of hours oreven minutes. Everything acampaign does must bring tangibleresults; otherwise, it’s wastingprecious time and resources.Nonprofits are typically filled

with deep and deliberate thinkers.In many ways, that’s a huge asset,but that deliberation needs to betempered by a willingness to testand evolve – to let the data makethe decisions. It’s about beingopen and nimble, taking advantageof the speed of these amazing newtechnologies at our disposal.Of course, this doesn’t mean

veering off-brand. The brashformatting of some political emailswouldn’t fly at most nonprofits.It’s important to maintain the rightorganizational voice, but withinthose bounds there is stillenormous opportunity to try newideas and learn what works.The success of digital

campaigning, led by BarackObama’s game-changing efforts,has reset people’s expectationsabout how organizations of allkinds, from campaigns tononprofits to brands, communicatewith their audiences. As thepopulation grows morecomfortable with thesetechnologies, it’s critical fornonprofits to keep up – not just tomaintain their status quo, but totake advantage of the limitlesspotential of digital to help themreach new audiences and growtheir impact.



Visual media is revolutionizing theway we do social media across allplatforms from Facebook and

Twitter to Instagram and Pinterest. Ifa picture is worth a thousand words,then a visual on social media can bethe difference of thousands of peopleseeing your content instead of onlydozens. For these reason, in order foryour mission to rise above, it is vitallyimportant that you understand howto use visual media in a strategic way.

Social Media 1.0When you think of visual media, it’s

likely that YouTube comes to mind,and rightly so. YouTube is at theforefront of video sharing and with itsconnection to Google (Google ownsYouTube), it remains king of video.

However, while YouTube is a greatplatform for uploading and sharingvideo, it lacks the social mediaprowess of Facebook.

The founders of social media –Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn –have something that YouTube willnever have – the power of socialnetworking. For example, Facebook,

Twitter, and LinkedIn are built forsocial networking. It doesn’t matterwhat you share – a status update, aphoto, or a video – these platformsare meant to make it easy to engagethrough the use of sharing,commenting, and posting whatevermedia you choose!

At Prichard, we consider this kindof social media, social media 1.0.

Social Media 2.0If you combine the power of YouTubeAND Facebook, you would have eachnetwork’s individual bestcharacteristics – compelling visualscombined with active communities.

The birth of platforms likeInstagram, Pinterest, and Vine is thedawn of a new approach to socialmedia–one in which visual is prizedabove text, information is easy todigest, and target audiences are

VISUAL MEDIA 101: NEWTOOLS FOR NONPROFITSBY JESSICA WILLIAMS, PRICHARD COMMUNICATIONS

IMAGE VIA UNSPLASH.COM, BY JAY WENNINGTON


compelled to take action by visualasks, not just words. This is socialmedia 2.0 – mobile based, highlyvisual, and easily sharable.

Video Just Got SimpleThe cool thing about these pioneersof visual media is that they makevisual media easy, in part becausethey use mobile platforms to connectwith users. It’s so much easier tomake and share video on Instagramor Vine than YouTube.

All you need is to download theapp to your phone and from there youcan create, post, and share thecontent across different platforms.Once you’ve published the video onyour Instagram or Vine profiles, youcan share directly to your Facebook orTwitter feeds. It’s that simple.

Create Compelling VisualsA single image can be just aspowerful as well. Take this examplefrom charity:water (a nonprofitpioneer in using visual media toadvance their mission).

Adding simple text to an imagecan convey a powerful message, it’seasy to create visual media like this,using the app Over.

Take a photo on Instagram andthen use Over to overlay text and funimages to create a compelling visual.From there you can share it onnetworks like Facebook, Twitter, andPinterest.

Brand Your ImagesIncorporating your brand style andcolors into your visual media contentis a great way to build brandawareness and to take advantage ofsocial media platforms like Pinterest.

You can brand your photos withyour website address or companyname, and even use your brand’s fontand colors to overlay text.

For example, when Mac’s List, aservice of Prichard, posts images onits blog, they’re branded with thewebsite address and company namein the bottom corner. Then thesephotos are uploaded to Facebook,Twitter, and Google +, and pinned tothe Mac’s List Pinterest boards.

Tips to Remember• You don’t have to be a professional

photographer, researcher, ordesigner to create compellingvisuals – capitalize on third-partytools like those listed in the sidebarto help you deliver top-notch resultswithout years of experience.

• Authenticity is the key to growing athriving community that getsexcited by the information youshare, be it a service you’reproviding or an idea you’re trying toadvance.

• Engage! Visual media networks areexactly that – networks, not one-way news delivery services.Communication on these networksshould be two-way.

• Don’t do visual media for the sakeof doing visual media…do it becauseit makes sense for you, your brand,or your organization. Think

strategically and figure out whichtools work best for you before youtake on new endeavors.

• Adhere to the individualconventions of each community. Payattention to what the best practicesare around hashtags, tagging,sharing, and creating content foreach platform.

Free and Low Cost ToolsBelow are some tools to help youcreate compelling visual content thatcan set you apart from otherorganizations on social media andonline.• Over: For just $1.99, you can

download this app and createcompelling text over your images.

• Canva.com: This is a greatPhotoshop substitute to easilycreate images for free or as cheapas $1.00 and download straight toyour computer.

• Unsplash.com: This Tumblr has tonsof Creative Commons licensedphotos for you to download anduse. The best part is that these arecrisp, artistic, and professionalphotos for free.

JESSICA WILLIAMS, an AccountDirector at PrichardCommunications, leads work onsocial and digital media for granteesof the Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation and for “Mac’s List,”

a service of Prichard. Jessica has a B.S. inCommunications from Wake Forest University andan M.S. in Strategic Communications from TheUniversity of Oregon. She has over 10 yearsexperience working for a variety of brands andclients and was the 2012 recipient of the MarketingAwards of Excellence Rising Star Award. You canfind Jessica on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest@JessicaJoEllen.

“INCORPORATING YOURBRAND STYLE ANDCOLORS INTO YOURVISUAL MEDIA CONTENTIS A GREAT WAY TOBUILD BRANDAWARENESS.”


Digital campaigns for nonprofitsare often global and can reachaudiences everywhere with the

right international messaging, visuals,targeting, and channels. Challengesmay arise with outreach to diversepopulations due to differences inlanguages, cultures, and practices intechnology. How can organizationssucceed in messaging to aninternational audience? Let’s look atthe example of a live campaign thatwe’re working on at Fission – theVarkey GEMS Foundation’s GlobalTeacher Prize. This Prize hopes to dofor K-12 education what the NobelPrize has done for science & humanrights. One special nominated teacher

will be selected for an award of$1 million.

Visuals are VitalWhen targeting an internationalaudience, images are vital to helpbridge the language gap. Fission’sCreative Director, Martha Ormiston,says: “Images have become anecessity for successful onlineengagement. Users are turned off byhuge walls of text and image postsdo the best in social media.Basically, to put it even simpler: theinternet is boring without pictures.”

However, organizations often donot have a stockpile of great imagesneeded to run a whole campaign.Luckily, you can source images

through Creative Commons (see ourblog post on this to learn aboutattribution licenses so that you makesure you are sourcing visuals legally.)

Your narrative arc and timeline fora campaign should have imagesplanned for moments that touch thewider cultural zeitgeist beyond yourorganization. In these CreativeCommons-sourced visuals below, wecelebrated Malala on Malala Day, andWorld Cup coaches and players duringthe 2014 games – the largest volumeof social traffic ever.

On a technical note, make sureyou include the image attribution insmall text, and overlay text (a quote,for example) short enough to fitinside Facebook’s 20% grid rule forpromoting visuals. You’ll make themost of the work on your images bypromoting them from your Facebooktimeline or with Power Editor, whereyou can even target by role (such as“teacher” for the Global Teacher Prizecampaign), and on Twitter viapromoted posts.

Perhaps you’re already making themost of online ads and want to gofurther – using a tool likeActionSprout can help you engagevisually while also offering youraudience one-click easy engagement.This tool also creates high qualityemail lists – every time someone likesor comments on an action, their emailis captured. Once you have a greatemail list, upload it to Attentive.ly(disclosure: our sister company!) tosee whom your strongest influencersare, what they care most about, andto ask for their help!

Multichannel Includes MobileTextingHow can nonprofits effectively createa campaign that is appropriate for anaudience that may have low mediaskills or for populations with varyingInternet access? The use of socialmedia in one region may be vastlydifferent in another, so balancing theright messaging channels is essential

ONLINE MESSAGINGACROSS GEOGRAPHIESCHALLENGES & CONSIDERATIONSBY CHERY CONTEE, ADRIANA DAKIN, ABIGAIL SIMMONS, FISSION STRATEGY

IMAGE VIA UNSPLASH.COM, BY SYLWIA BARTYzEL


in outreach strategy. Since the GlobalTeacher award is for teachers from allover the world, we have taken amultichannel approach. In order toensure that people around the worldapply, we have launched internationaloutreach through social media,online ads including a Google Grant,blogging, individual blogger pitching,influencer outreach, interaction onsocial media with the prize’sprominent Academy members, andemail messages.

In this campaign and others,strategic use of mobile outreach viaSMS and texting apps can increasethe participation and virality ofcontent for a nonprofit’s campaign,especially in areas where Facebookand Twitter are not used widely, oroutside of Twitter’s limitedadvertising geography.

Mobile messaging in thedeveloping world is on the rise,making it particularly important ininternational campaigns – e.g. Africahas more mobile users that the US orall of Europe. Mobile messaging appslike WhatsApp, Line, and Wechat, arestill relatively unpopular in the U.S.,but are popular in Asia and Africabecause this messaging is simple,

instantaneous, and not dependent ona good internet connection.

Mobile is becoming moreimportant in content sharing thanTwitter worldwide: across manydifferent countries, views of Twittertimelines declined while “usage ofmobile messaging apps explodedbetween the end of 2012 and theend of 2013” with many of thesemessaging apps thriving particularlyin Asia.

There are some simple ways tomake the most of mobile messaging.Set up an account on each of theserecommended mobile apps (e.g.WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, etc.) andplatforms to understand how eachworks in your target audience.Harness the goodwill of voluntarylocalized leadership of digitalevangelists who can reach their ownnetworks on the platforms they usealready. Grow this cadre of volunteerevangelists by reaching out to theirnetworks, and provide outreachmaterials.

Culture and SyntaxAnother challenge that nonprofitsface in reaching internationalaudiences includes differences inlanguage and culture. Humor in social

media or other outreach content topromote an issue can be powerfuland viral. Everyone loves to laugh! Yethumor that is easily translatable toone audience may be confusing,bizarre, or even offensive to anotheraudience.

In order to navigate culture andsyntax, organizations often choose toallow local staff and/or culturalnatives to take a strong role indirecting culturally-specific andeffective internet strategy.Alternatively, they may entrust theirmessaging to translators and well-informed consultants who researchdetails about the messaginggeography. Despite this, someorganizations experience difficultyfinding team members who bothunderstand how to ensure that yourmessage is translated well, while alsokeeping the integrity of thenonprofit’s brand. You may run intosome fails, but that’s quite alight.Borrow some tips from Silicon Valley’sstartup culture: fail fast, testaggressively, and learn quickly.

In order to better understand howto connect with audiences acrossglobal language and cultural barriers,it’s often helpful to work withagencies that have the experience ofdesigning and implementingcampaigns that span multipleaudiences. Marketing analysis showsthat regionally customized contentwill statistically reduce the risk ofhaving messaging that is not wellreceived by 30%-40%.

How is your nonprofit navigatingits message across multiple cultures?What are some of your challenges?

CHERYL CONTEE(@ch3ryl) is CEO of FissionStrategy & Co-Founder ofAttentive.ly, and ADRIANADAkING (@apdakin) is

VP of Digital Strategy & board member of YoungWomen Social Entrepreneurs. Written with ABIGAILSIMMONS, New Media Intern. Fission Strategyworks with the world’s leading nonprofits andfoundations to create the tools & campaigns thathelp them win on today’s most important issues.

Most engaged post by being willingto stand up for a contentious issue –education for girls in Pakistan andelsewhere – with a visual, quote, andpaid boosting.

58k reach, 2000+ likes, 20+shares,80 comments

Highly engaged post by showing aplayer photo with his quote at theright moment during the 2014 WorldCup games, the largest social mediaevent in history.

50 likes, 16 shares, 20+ comments


THE EVOLUTION OF ADVERTISING:BEST PRACTICES FOR ADCAMPAIGNS & SOCIAL MARKETINGBY MEGAN SIGESMUND, AD COUNCIL

Since I first joined the Ad Council in 2008, I’ve seen the worldof both paid advertising and social marketing evolveexponentially. While this growth has resulted in countlessopportunities to spread the word, increase engagement anddrive social change, it can be challenging at times to breakthrough all of the noise and clutter. We follow best practices tohelp ensure that our campaigns will have the greatest impact,which may be helpful as you implement your owncommunications programs.

DO YOUR RESEARCH – KNOW THE ISSUE AND TARGETBefore developing a communications strategy, make sure youunderstand the issue at hand. Be as comprehensive as possible(within reason and budget, of course) and work as much of thefollowing into your initial research phase:• Conduct an audit of issue-related data and past campaignsaddressing the issue (including any research findings fromprevious campaigns); consult with experts throughout theaudit.

• Conduct interviews with the target audience to get a bettersense of their current mindset, existing barriers, andpotential motivators.

• If possible, also conduct interviews with experts. This is agreat opportunity to hear from those close to the issue whomay have varying perspectives.Take our Children’s Oral Health campaign for example. Our

assignment was to develop a national public service campaignthat would educate underserved parents about the importanceof good oral care, and motivate them to help their kids havehealthy mouths.Through our initial literature review of the issue and

discussions with our campaign partners (the leading dentalorganizations throughout the country), we learned keybackground information that spoke to the breadth of the issue.For example, there are currently an astonishing 16 millionchildren in the U.S. suffering from untreated tooth decay.Our challenge was to find a way into the lives of these

extremely busy, overwhelmed parents, and get this issue ontheir radar. In addition to doing an extensive audit of the issue,we conducted comprehensive exploratory research to learnmore about the target, which included:• One-on-one interviews with lower income parents• Quantitative message testing• Interviews with pediatric dentists

IDENTIFY ONE SIMPLE MESSAGEWhile the world of advertising and marketing haschanged significantly over the years, the fundamentalsthat are the foundation for driving social impactremain the same – take an extremely complex issuelike fighting obesity or reducing the high schooldropout rate, and create a single-minded message thatmotivates people to change their behaviors.Using key learnings from our research, we work

with our volunteer agencies to develop creative briefsfor each campaign that ultimately leads us to that onesimple message. For Children’s Oral Health, weidentified a clear call-to-action that was backed by ourpartners, the oral health experts – “make sure yourkids brush their teeth for two minutes, twice a day”or “2min2x.”

DEVELOP COMPELLING CONTENT– USE HUMORWHEN APPROPRIATEWe find that “fear” tactics aren’t always motivating.Don’t use shock for shock’s sake. But the creativeneeds to be compelling in order to be memorable.With our Oral Health campaign, our ad agencies

Grey andWing came up with a few different creativeapproaches. We ended up delivering the Oral Healthmessage by driving home a key insight that’s bothentertaining and highly relevant to parents: Kidsspend time doing all sorts of silly things like watchinggoofy online videos or dressing up their dog, Spike. Ifthey have time for this, then surely they have the timeto brush their teeth. These charming PSAs acted asthe foundation for a fully integrated campaign.

TEST! GET FEEDBACK FROM EXTERNALCREATIVES AND YOUR INTENDED TARGETAgain, the more research and input, the better. Tryleveraging your organization’s board members whomay have contacts in the advertising or creativeindustries to gain outside feedback during the creativedevelopment phase. And, if budget permits, conductfocus groups or one-on-one interviews with the targetto ensure that the creative idea is clear andmotivating.In the case of our Children’s Oral Health campaign,

the creative idea and messaging were all backed by anadvisory panel of creative executives in theadvertising industry and by consumer qualitativetesting. So, we were confident that our creative wouldresonate.

LEVERAGE PLATFORMS THAT REACH ANDENGAGE YOUR TARGETWith the growth of digital and social media,opportunities to communicate your message are

endless. Determine whether you want to go far andwide, or narrow and deep – or both! We have foundthat surrounding the main target so they areconsistently exposed to the main message gives us thegreatest chance to move people.With our core message, “Brush 2 minutes, twice a

day,” we expanded the Children’s Oral Healthprogram to various touch points ideal for generatingbroad exposure as well as reaching our core target.These have included developing in-schoolcurriculum, creating a mobile game app called“Toothsavers,” an SMS program, working, and withcelebrities. who resonate with our target, such asLaila Ali. In addition, parents are having a dialogueabout children’s oral health every day on ourFacebook and Twitter communities, and we’recontinually developing and sharing content that botheducates and inspires them.

ESTABLISH KPIS AND EVALUATE REGULARLYOur evaluation framework includes measuringexposure, recognition, engagement, and impact.While the framework is consistent across campaigns,the KPIs are unique to the goals and objectives of eachinitiative. There’s a ton of data out there, but we doour best to identify the most relevant, and establish aregular review process that meets the needs of eachcampaign and allows us to apply learnings in a timelymanner.We look at a number of variables for Children’s

Oral Health, including results for each individualprogram within the campaign. Our ultimate goals areto increase the duration and frequency of brushing –which tie back directly to the call-to-action. We fieldpre and post wave tracking surveys to measure thesekey goals. And the good news, in just one year, we’realready moving the needle.Our campaign website has received over 1.6 million

visitors, and people are spending almost 6 minuteson the “Watch and Brush” page where they can play2-minute videos for their kids while they brush.Over half of all parents we surveyed had seen or heardour ads. And, most important, we’ve significantlyincreased the percentage of parents in our target whoreport that their child is brushing at least twice a dayand for 2 minutes.

MEGAN SIGESMUND is a Campaign Director at the Ad Council,responsible for overseeing the development, implementation, andevaluation of several fully integrated PSA campaigns, websitesand social media programs. In her position, she works with thecampaign team, federal government agency or nonprofit sponsorand volunteer advertising agency to guide strategic and creativedevelopment and the day-to-day management of each campaign.


Interview with SCOTTY ELLIS,Equity Program Manager,

Coalition for a Livable Future

Equity is a core component to achievesustainable development, but it's often

left out of the conversation. TheRegional Equity Atlas transforms data

into a powerful tool to shape theconversation about equity, and ensure

that it's central to public policy.

PUTTINGEQUITY ONTHE MAP


CHANGE IN ACTION: COALITION FOR A LIVABLE FUTURE



Q:How did this project getstarted?The Portland region is widelyrecognized as a leader insustainable development.Deserved as this reputation maybe, it has a soft underbelly: likemost places, the Portland region’splanning approach tends to focuson places rather than people. Theconsequence? Too often, “success”results in physical improvements –pretty buildings, great parks, newtransit, places to gather and soforth – that some people can enjoy,while other people get left behind.In other words, questions of equityget ignored.The Coalition for a Livable

Future (CLF) initiated the originalRegional Equity Atlas project in2002 in response to its members’assessment that equity and itsrelationship to sustainabledevelopment was not generallyunderstood by the public andpolicymakers. Yet, all agreed thatequity is a core component ofsustainability and should be aprominent element of our regionalapproach to managing futuregrowth and development.

Q:Who are the keyaudiences for thisproject? How do you definesuccess, and how do youmeasure impact?The target audience for theRegional Equity Atlas is diverseand multi-faceted. It includesgovernment agencies, electedleaders, advocacy organizations,and community-basedorganizations. With such a wide-ranging audience, CLF had tomake the Regional Equity Atlasrelevant and accessible to laypeople as well as a useful tool for

technical experts.The original Regional Equity

Atlas was the first of its kind in theUnited States. Many groupsaround the country are using it as atemplate to develop an equity atlasfor their own areas andcommunities. To support theseefforts, we have provided guidanceand technical assistance to variousgroups over the past years.Currently, there are four equityatlases in the U.S.: Portland,Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles,with one more currently underdevelopment (Washington D.C.).

Q:What was the strategybehind the shift from a200-page book to an onlineatlas? Can you discuss how thisdecision links to the project’soverall sustainability?The first Regional Equity Atlas wasa book with maps and analysis. Itreceived national attention for itsgroundbreaking analysis ofdisparities affecting the Portlandmetro region. The maps revealedpervasive disparities in historicallydisenfranchised populations’access to the resources necessaryfor health and well-being. Byilluminating the region’s“geography of opportunity,” theEquity Atlas transformed localconversations around equity andprovided concrete information toguide local advocacy and policymaking to promote greaterregional equity.Since the Regional Equity

Atlas’s publication in 2007, CLFand its partners have used itsfindings to secure concrete changesin regional planning and investmentdecisions, and local governmentshave relied on the Equity Atlasmaps to shape their understandingof the region’s needs.

With advances in technology,CLF wanted to build on thissuccess by developing the seconditeration of the Regional EquityAtlas on a platform that wouldprovide greater analyticcapabilities. Moving from the bookto the online format allowed CLFto create a foundational mappingtool that can be sustainablymaintained and improved overtime. Because the corefunctionalities of the mapping toolhave already been developed, CLFcan focus future efforts onimproving usability andfunctionality. For example, thecurrent mapping tool does notfunction on mobile devices. We arenow working to ensure that thenext iteration of the RegionalEquity Atlas is compatible withmobile devices.The online mapping tool gives

the users the capability to createmaps to strengthen their ownequity conversations. Not only canusers create their own maps, butthey can also generate graphs andcharts, download data, zoom inand out to specific locations, andstatistically analyze levels of accessfor different geographies andcommunities.

Q:What are some projectmilestones?The second iteration of theRegional Equity Atlas has beenused to shift policy and practice ona wide range of issues in thePortland metropolitan region. CLFhas provided strategic guidanceand technical assistance on someof these projects, and in others, theorganizations have used theRegional Equity Atlasindependently.Here are just a few examples:



• Institutionalizing an equity lenswithin local government:Portland’s regional government,Metro, is using the RegionalEquity Atlas to help itincorporate equityconsiderations into its planningand decision making related toregional transportation, regionalgrowth management, andclimate change.

• Shaping investment priorities:The Portland Bureau ofTransportation (PBOT) used theRegional Equity Atlas data toinform the development of EastPortland inMotion. This five-year implementation strategy foractive transportation projectsand programs is focused east of82nd Avenue, home to nearly165,000 people where activetransportation features likesidewalks, bikeways, and frequenttransit are harder to find.

• Guiding program and systemdesign:Multnomah County’sSchools Uniting Neighborhoodssystem is using the RegionalEquity Atlas maps to assessshifting demographics in thecounty in order to guide thesystem’s planning and design ofwrap-around services to meetthe needs of low-incomefamilies.

• Informing location decisions: TheWashington CountyWomenInfants and Children (WIC)department used the RegionalEquity Atlas transit anddemographic maps to inform thelocation of a newWIC office toensure that low-income mothersand children have access tonutritious food.

• Supporting advocacy campaigns:OPAL Environmental JusticeOregon is using the Regional

Equity Atlas maps and theproducts of their work with theEquity Stories project to supporttheir communications andadvocacy work to increase accessto public transit.

• Changing organizational culture:Oregon’s Health CO-OP, a newmember-driven nonprofit healthinsurance plan, is using theRegional Equity Atlas as atraining tool with their customerservice staff to raise awareness ofthe impact of the socialdeterminants of health on theirmembers’ health status.

• Tracking change over time: TheCully Park redevelopmentproject is using the RegionalEquity Atlas maps to track

chronic disease, compareneighborhood outcomes overtime, and educate communitymembers and leaders abouthealth disparities.

Q:What are some of thechallenges withcollecting data, and how do youaddress this?While maps can play a powerfulrole in illuminating disparities,there are important aspects ofequity and opportunity that arenot effectively addressed throughmaps because the data is notavailable at a high enough level ofgeographic resolution, theinformation isn’t mappable, orbecause the issues are not spatialin nature. Therefore, CLFcomplemented the secondRegional Equity Atlas project withother elements, including:• Storytelling: CLF worked withpartner organizations to engagecommunity members who arepersonally affected by thedisparities shown in the EquityAtlas 2.0 maps in using photos,videos, and personal narrativesto tell their equity stories. Thestories provided the qualitativesubstance that maps and analysisalone are unable to provide.

• White papers: The Equity WhitePaper Series provides a platformfor local issue experts toexamine key equity issues ingreater depth, incorporateadditional information beyondthe data that could be mapped,and place the Equity Atlas withina broader policy context.

• Links to other research: TheRegional Equity Atlas websiteincludes links to externalresearch reports, case studies,and other relevant projects that

Fast Facts• Project Name: RegionalEquity Atlas

• Project Budget:Approximately $800,000

• Funders: The BullittFoundation, KaiserPermanente CommunityFund, Meyer Memorial Trust,Northwest HealthFoundation, and the RobertWood Johnson Foundation,with in-kind contributionsfrom PSU’s Institute ofPortlandMetropolitan StudiesandMetro

• Full-Time StaffMembers:3.5 staff members

• CoalitionMembers:Over 90

• Cities That Have Replicatedthe Project: Los Angeles,Denver, Atlanta, WashingtonD.C. (in progress)


provide insights into the RegionalEquity Atlas findings as well asindicators that couldn’t be mapped.

Q:How does technologyplay a role in supportingthe coalition tomeet its mission?CLF works to unite a diverse arrayof organizations and individuals topromote healthy, equitable, andsustainable communities in thePortland-Vancouver region.Technology is key to enabling us toengage and succeed in this work.The Regional Equity Atlas is thebest example.From urban planning to

education, equity is a criticalcomponent of all fields anddepartments. The Regional EquityAtlas is the linchpin that bringsthese diverse communitiestogether to unite them in thecommon cause of addressingregional disparities. By providingan online source for regional data,groundbreaking mappingcapabilities, and data analysis, itprovides the tools necessary for

many to start the discussion withother departments or partners onhow to begin this joint effort.

Q:Version 3.0 of thisproject is coming soon.What should audiences expect?We are very excited about the nextiteration of the Regional EquityAtlas. It is currently in its infancybut we expect it to have a morestreamlined online mapping tool.It should be easier to use andavailable on mobile devices. Thechallenge is creating a mappingtool that is very cutting edge andpowerful while keeping it simpleand accessible for our wide varietyof users. I think we are well on ourway toward finding that balance.To complement the next online

mapping tool, we are working tobuild a regional data hub wherelocal partners (governmental,nonprofit, academic, and private)can upload data that would feeddirectly into the Regional EquityAtlas, allowing all users to accessand download it. This hub wouldessentially democratize data,saving time and money by allowingfor greater data sharing and lessduplication of data.

Scotty Ellis, Coalition for aLivable Future – Equity ProgramManager: Through hisbackground in both communityplanning and public health, Scottyhas developed expertise in public

participation and health advocacy. Over the pastthree years, Scotty has collaborated with severalagencies and organizations on publicengagement efforts that have focused on issues ofequity, health, and planning. He has also workedwith the Oregon Health Authority and theOregon Public Health Institute in statewide andnational efforts to expand the incorporation ofhealth considerations into all levels of policy.Scotty is a graduate of Portland State University’sSchool of Community Health and School ofUrban and Regional Studies as well as theUniversity of San Francisco.

Learn more about the Equity Atlas on NTEN'sblog: http://bit.ly/equityatlas


Sample maps from the Reqional EquityAtlas project website: Single parentfamilies (top); Proximity tosupermarkets in Portland, (bottom);minority home ownership gap (page 21)

ABOVE: CLF worked with partner organizations toengage community members who are personallyaffected by the disparities shown in the Equity Atlas2.0 maps.



Interview withOMAR VULPINARI,Crossmedia CreativeDirector & Innovation

Lab Leader

DESIGNINGFOR SOCIALCHANGE


CHANGE IN ACTION: OMAR VULPINARI

After a successful career as theCreative Director

of Visual Communications atFabrica, Benetton’s ResearchCenter, where he worked oncountless campaigns for the likesof UNICEF, AmnestyInternational, and more - he’schartered a new path. Currently, asa professor at the IUAV Universityof Venice-University of SanMarino, he focuses on socialimpact, design agitation, and newtechnology related strategies.Omar shows us how it’s done, andthe upside of pushing theenvelope.

Q:Can you tell us moreabout your story, andwhat you’ve been up to?My first important socially-drivenproject with my Universitystudents goes back to 2005 when Iguided my students in designing amulti-author series of stampscelebrating the International Dayof Planet Earth. SanMarino isglobally famous for its stamps andcoins, so I thought that would havebeen a very interesting medium toget an important social messageout to the world.Recently, I was nominated

President of the Content andDesign Advisory Committee of theBureau in SanMarino, and willcontinue to give young creativesthis rare visual advocacy learningopportunity. In my most recentcourse, we collaborated with BBM,a Berlin-based art collective. Weworked together on their ongoingENQuETE ART project, which is

an EU-funded initiative focusingon the global financial crisis. Theproject engages artists fromaround the world to createawareness on the causes of thecrisis, but also to develop creativesolutions. Social media plays a bigrole in terms of advocacy andcreating highly valuable user-generated media.

Q:Given your long roster ofvisual campaigns – youmust have this down to ascience.What would you say isyour core approach?The primary functions of visualcampaigns are first, to fightindifference by informing andraising awareness, and second, toinduce a positive action or changeindividual behavior that’sdamaging to society.Nonprofit visual

communication must be direct,with message components (imagesand text) highly focused on acentral theme. It must also have anemotional impact: The messageshould catalyze strong emotionalreactions like fear, disturbance,surprise, and laughter, which willthen lead to reflection andmemory retention.Nonprofit campaigns very often

address broad target audiences –opinion leaders, legislators, andthe general public – which isanother reason to be direct, simple,and clear – which doesn’t meancliché and obvious. If the messageis distributed globally, it must betranslatable and effective across allcultures.

After the core creative conceptand message are nailed down, butalso during the creative process,we use nonconventionaltechnology- related solutions(local guerrilla interventions,internet viral videos, online/offlineparticipatory user-generatedinitiatives, action kits) to integratewith traditional strategies.Unfortunately, given the budgetrestraints of nonprofits, oftenthese proposals don’t go beyondthe presentation even if the ideasare appreciated.

Q:At the same time, somuch of this boils downto art and creativity. In yourwork, how do you guide yourstudents and clients to thinkcreatively?Millennial students are not fans ofhierarchal structures, they prefertransparent, horizontal settings.First they need to “own” thecontext inside and out, meaningthey have to have all theinformation there is on the projectecosystem. So in the initialresearch phase I start by givingthem all the resources possible,along with advice to help themfind their own voice. After that, it’sabout stewarding them through alearning-by-doing process on bothreal and speculative projects.Together we have sessions wherewe do mindmapping,brainstorming, brainwriting, visualbrain dumping, as well as critiquemeetings where we analyze allthese processes in order to makeinformed decisions.


CHANGE IN ACTION: OMAR VULPINARI

The client is very importantfrom the start, especially ifthey’re dealing with complexhumanitarian matters. I make theclient become part of the teambecause they can also be verycreative, and at the same time giveus actionable insights about theend-user that we cannot reachdirectly.

Q:You’re not shy aboutpushing the envelope.Can you describe one of yourfavorite visual campaigns, andhow it met its intended impact?In May 2013, when I was still atFabrica, I was the CreativeDirector for the Pedestrian Safetycampaign for the UNWHOWorldRoad Safety Day. Five posters werededicated to the 270,000pedestrians that die on the world’sroads each year. This was a globalawareness-raising campaign on thefive crucial issues regardingpedestrian safety: magnitude ofdeaths; positive environment andhealth impact; safetyinfrastructure; visibility; andenforcement of laws related tospeed and alcohol. The posterswere based on photographs of lifesize pictograms of the pedestrianin different situations. The mostinteresting surprise came fromAzerbaijan during the UNWHORoad Safety Week, where groupsof supporters created their ownlife-size pictograms to carry outpublic street performances. It wasfantastic to see how the audiencewas activated by our creativity andtook inspiration from it.

Q:Is there a commonthread that you seeacross each successfulcampaign?

The common thread is visual andemotional impact. Frommyexperience working withUNWHO, UNICEF, UNESCO,Reporters without Borders,Teachers Without Borders, andmany more to raise awareness, thesuccess came from the high visualand emotional impact of themessage. This was alwaysintentional because nonprofits donot have enormous marketingbudgets, so success depends a loton virality (audience viralty andmedia coverage), which can easilyfollow when you’re deployingpowerful image strategies.

Q:How has technologychangedthewayyouwork?Technology has blown open thewindows of strategic and creativeopportunity. Multichannelcommunication and big data areprobably the biggest game-changers. These factors make itpossible to create different and

sophisticated campaigns across arange of devices and channels,reaching audiences in infiniteways based on their personalbehaviors and preferences. GoogleAds is a great example.In terms of creative media,

video is increasingly the mostpopular visual communicationform, because of its highstorytelling potential. Thistranslates into the viral videophenomenon, the success ofYouTube videos, and recently Vine’s6-second looping video channel.Technology has also enabled

visual communication to become ashared discipline for participatoryengagement, enabling user-generated content that has anenormous value in terms of socialimpact.

Q:How do you see visualcommunications shapingthe nonprofit world in the nearfuture?Images are universal – we’re allborn with the ability to understandimages. They’re very powerful increating awareness, changingbehavior, and moving people toaction across cultures. Whilenonprofits may hire visualcommunication professionals toconceive a specific mediacampaign, they can overlook thecosts of staff time to maintain thecampaigns via social media. This isa big mistake that makes for a greatloss of impact and growth.The “infographic” is a form of

visual communication that isbecoming very popular andcompelling as well. While imagesinspire, infographics can convincebecause it taps into the left side ofthe brain that processes data.Infographics can condense hard to

“Technology hasalso enabled

visual communicationto become a

shared discipline forparticipatory

engagement, enablinguser-generated

content that has anenormous value interms of social

impact.”


digest numbers into one clear visual.For a nonprofit, being able to showcomplex figures in one beautifulimage to a busy potential donor canmake a great difference.

Q:For nonprofits gettingstarted, what piece ofadvice would you give to them?Pinning down business objectives,goals, KPIs, targets, metrics, andknowing your target audience iscrucial. Frommy perspective as acommunicator, getting your brandingright is an important issue becausepeople are still moved by brandperception. Going to the extremehere, I’d suggest to look into real-time content design, also known as“reactive design.” This requires a“war room” setting where acommunity management task forcegenerates content in anticipation andreaction to community engagement.Omar Vulpinari is a crossmedia creative director,innovation lab leader, and academic. He is dedicatedto integrated communication design that developsnonconventional creative strategies for business,culture, and social change. At Fabrica, the Benettoncommunications research center in Italy, for 16 yearshe directed multidisciplinary teams of artists andtechnologists exploring new hybrid forms ofcreativity related to emerging technologies onprojects for UNWHO, UNICEF, UNESCO, TheWorld Bank, Witness, Amnesty International,Reporters Without Borders, Teachers WithoutBorders, and many more.

Images, clockwise from top left:

Keep Kids Safe campaignFor: UNWHO, UNICEFAgency: FabricaArt Direction: Valerie GudenusCreative Direction: Omar Vulpinari© Fabrica 2008

Show the Truth campaignFor: UNWHOAgency: FabricaArt Direction: Namyoung An, Gabriele RivaCreative Direction: Omar Vulpinari© Fabrica 2009

Make Walking Safe campaignFor: UNWHOAgency: FabricaArt Direction: Matteo Di IorioCreative Direction: Omar Vulpinari© Fabrica 2013

Q:How is Global Voices(GV) structured, andhow does this approach supportyour broader mission?We are a virtual organization withlegal registration in theNetherlands. We have a small coreteam, roughly 20 part-time editors,and a large community ofvolunteer writers and translators.Our editorial structure is driven bylocal perspectives and concerns.Community members who knowlocal issues and stories find storiesthat they think should matter to

global audiences. Having adistributed community withdifferent kinds of expertise andpart of many networks around theworld mimics the structure of theInternet, and helps us to find andamplify stories that deserve moreattention.

Q:Can you describe GV’snewsgathering process?Local writers will find stories thatmatter to them or are part of thepublic discourse in their countriesand regions. These stories might

not get much attention globally, ormight be misrepresented. Our goalis to explain why those storiesdeserve attention, and bring themto the world in a compelling way.We also translate those stories intoas many as 35 languages. Volunteertranslators decide which storiesare likely to be interesting to theirlinguistic community, andtranslate on that basis.

Q:As the GV teamworksremotely in virtualoffices – what technology toolsare central to getting the workdone?We are constantly experimentingwith different tools andtechnologies to facilitate our work.We have come to understand thatpeople are our focus, andtechnology is there to serve our


CitizenMedia:Rethinking theNewsAgendaInterview with Ivan Sigal, Executive Director,Global Voices

BEHIND THE SCENES: globAl voiCes

Journalists protesting in front of Myanmar PeaceCenter. Photo by Kyaw Zaw Win, Kyaw Lwin Oo.From the Facebook page of RFA Burmese.

needs. Each sub-community(language, topic, region) will usetools that they like, and that alsovaries over time. The site itself isWordpress. We use Google andRiseUp lists and groups, Facebook,Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, and othersocial media. We pick up thephone/ VOIP all the time. We useGoogle Hangouts for communityconversations, a range of securitytools for private talks (TOR, GPG,Adium, Jitsi, etc). We use Kanban/Trello boards for project workflow,and Podio for scheduling.

Q:What is the potential ofcitizenmedia foradvocacy, and do you thinkGlobal Voices has reached it?Citizen media – we define this,broadly, as the use of media forcivic ends. Our approach isempirical, and we do not believethat there is a functionaldistinction between online andoffline worlds. We experimentwith different kinds of advocacyefforts, evaluate their success orfailure in different contexts, andseek to understand whetherspecific kinds of advocacy can beused elsewhere. We recognize thatbecause the underlying technologyis changing and communities arealso dynamic, that it is difficult toestablish models that will workover time.

Q:What are some citizenmedia lessons thatnonprofits could integrate intotheir organization?An important lesson for us is thatour network is relatively open. Weget many people joining every year,and they introduceus to their worlds.This allows us togrow on the basisof a networkstructure ratherthan through acentralizedhierarchy. Many ofour best ideas forprojects have, overthe years, comefrom peopleoutside the coreteam, andsometimes peoplewho aren’t evenpart of ournetwork. We try to remain open tothe idea that no one of us is likelyto have the answer to everyproblem, and to seek ideas andsolutions through our networks.A second idea that is very

powerful is that we operate on thebasis of volunteerism. Because ofthat we know that when peoplecontribute it is because they areself-motivated. This keeps ourcommunity focused and active,and also creates an incentive forthe core team to always beresponsive, humble, and availableto the community – becausewithout volunteers GV wouldn’texist.

Q:You’ve come across a lotof stories in your dailywork – is there one story thatis/was particularly meaningfulto you that stood out? If so, why?Hard to say that there is one story.One I can point to that’s especially

compelling is the work of ourTunisian community members in2011, who were instrumental inoverthrowing the censorshipregime of President Ben Ali andwere active participants in thedigital activism in the years

leading up to theArab uprisings. Thenarrative that weknow about thoseevents is verydifferent than themainstream – as thecommunities ofactivists had beenworking in somecases for 10 years toaffect change. Morebroadly, we’vewritten more than10,000 stories aboutdigital activismsince our inceptionin 2004.

Q:Is there anything that wedidn’t ask that you’d liketo share?One of the greatest values ofworking with Global Voices, forme, is starting with the idea thatevery person deserves to betreated equally, regardless oflanguage, country of origin, orother identifier, and then trying tobuild a news agenda to reflect thatworldview. Starting with thatframe forces you to challengemany assumptions you might havehad about power, equity, and howthey constantly condition humanrelations.

Ivan Sigal is the executivedirector of Global Voices, a non-profit online global citizen mediainitiative. He is a fellow at theBerkman Center for Internet &Society at Harvard University. He

is a media producer who works on long-termphotography, multimedia, and writing projectsand is the author of “White Road” (Steidl, 2012),based on eight years of photography and writingabout Central Asia and Russia.


Fast Facts• Annual Budget:Approximately $1 million

• Number of Core TeamMembers: 10

• Stories Published PerYear: 6000

• Stories Translated PerYear: 15,000

• Number of VolunteerWriters: 800+ writersand translators in 2013

• Number Budget: 35

“Having adistributed

community...mimicsthe structure of theInternet, and helpsus to find and

amplify stories thatdeservemoreattention.”

Q:Tell us about theMama’sDay campaign – what’sthe project’s core message?For the past four years, ForwardTogether has led an online Mama’sDay campaign with our partners inStrong Families, a nationalnetwork of over 125 organizationsand thousands of individualschanging policy and culture so thatall families can thrive. StrongFamilies is staffed and led byForward Together.Through our Mama’s Day

campaigns, we leverage a national“Hallmark” holiday to build a newstory – one that explodes aculturally narrow, white, straight,and middle class narrative with

stories and images by and for themamas in our lives who are nottraditionally honored orrecognized: young mamas,immigrant mamas, mamas of color,low-income mamas, and queer andtransgender mamas.Our goal is to shift culture by

replacing the idea that mamasneed to change, with the realitythat the system needs to change.We are lifting up mamahood as aprofound act of community. So wewant to celebrate the many waysthat mamas “lean on” theirnetworks of support and buildmomentum for policies that createthe conditions for all mamas tothrive.

To advance this culture shiftstrategy, Forward Together hasworked with more than 20 artistsin the past two years to createoriginal, customizable e-cards tocelebrate loved ones. In addition tothe cards, our Mama’s Daycampaign includes digitalstrategies to disseminate Mama’sDay memes, individual stories, andexperiences of “mamahood” onour blog, media placement of Op-Eds and articles, and collaborationwith policy advocacy groups to usethe images and memes to furtherpolicy shift campaigns.

Q:Who are the targetaudiences for theproject, and why did you use thee-cards, images, andmemes asthe format for communicationand engagement?For Mama’s Day, we have two mainaudiences. The first is the StrongFamilies network of individualsand organizations that participatein Mama’s Day through e-cards,social media, and blogs. In doingso, they connect not only with thecampaign itself but also with theirfamily and community networks.Our second audience is broadlydefined – i.e. potential individualand organizations would besupporting us if they knew wewere here. Mama’s Day has beenour most successful outreach toolfor three years running.

Q:At the center of thisproject is the artwork –how is it selected? How do theartists play a role in the project?We are committed to recognizingartists as critical actors in creatingmeaningful social change. As aresult, we pay for the art and werespect the vision and skills of theartists we work with. We have


PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: MAMA’s dAy

Mama’s Day:Recognizing a ProfoundAct of CommunityInterview with Eveline Shen, Executive Director ofForward Together, on how their partnership with artistshelps to shift culture through a “Hallmark” holiday.

built relationships with artistswhose work aligns with the valuesof Strong Families. As we developour themes for Mama’s Day, weconvey these to the artists and inturn, the artwork they createinfluences our final campaignmessages and memes. To supportour communication with artists onboth the content and the technicalaspects of the project, we contractwith Micah Bazant as our designerand art director. He is the primarydesigner of Forward Together’scollateral as well as a Mama’s Dayartist himself.

Q:How do you track impacteach year when yourtargets keep shifting?We set goals that measure bothbreadth and depth of engagement.While we value quantitative datasuch as our social media reach,media circulation, number ofe-cards created, the growth of ourlist – we also assess the ways inwhich the culture shift collateralthat is created for Mama’s Day isutilized by individuals andorganizations to liftup their ownstories, to celebratetheir chosenfamilies, and toarticulate thepolicy changes thatare required formamas to thrive. In2014, 81organizationsutilized the cardsin some way toraise the visibilityof the issues theywork on – fromimmigrant rights,to health careaccess, to LGBTequality. Settingthese types of goalsensures that we are

not only building Strong Families,but that we are supporting theoverall movement for socialchange at the same time.

Q:What technology toolsare you using to run thiscampaign?The mamasday.org customPHP/MySQL website was built forForward Together by RadicalDesigns and is the primary techvehicle supporting the campaign.We drive traffic to this site byusing a range of digital platforms(Facebook, Twitter, eblasts) as wellas through earned media.

Q:Looking at the past twocampaigns, what aresome lessons learned (good andbad) that’ll be integrated in nextyear’s campaign?Over the past two years, ForwardTogether has learned a lot aboutthe trade-offs between utilizingvarious online tactics. In 2013, wenoticed that we had a significantgap between the number of uniquevisitors to the mamasday.org siteand the number of cards made. We

determined acouple of reasonsfor this, including:a high percentageof visitors in 2013were accessing thesite through mobiledevices – yet, thewebsite was notmobile friendly;and, creating e-cards took multiplesteps so we werelikely losing somepeople in theprocess. So in 2014we made the sitemobile friendly andadded a point andclick feature forsharing e-cards

with pre-determined memes thatdrastically reduced the number ofactions that visitors needed totake. These decisions clearlyincreased the overall reach of thecampaign – but decreased ourability to build our list as visitorswere not required to provide anemail or other contact information.This will be a major decision pointin terms of our tactics for futureonline campaigns.

Q:What is a key piece ofadvice that you’d sharewith nonprofits interested in aholiday e-card campaign?It is critical to invest in thetechnology that is necessary toallow the true heart of thecampaign to shine through. ForForward Together, the true heart isart and stories. Our communitiesare hungry for beautiful andvibrant art that communicates thebeauty and strength of our livesand relationships, and the creativeand resilient diversity of ourfamilies. Each year, we are deeplymoved by the responses to theimages we share and the stories wetell during the campaign.Here is one response to Mama’s

Day: “I adopted my daughter fromfoster care; I’m the fourth womanshe’s called mom. So huge loss –not just love – are always part ofour Mother’s Day. But after seeingthe incredible images thatreflected her life, my daughterbrought tears to my eyes when shesaid, ‘I felt inspired to be myself.’”

Eveline Shen is the ExecutiveDirector of Forward Together.Since Eveline’s leadership beganin 1999, Forward Together hasbecome widely recognized for itsinnovative role in the

Reproductive Justice Movement. Women’seNews named Eveline one of their 21 Leaders forthe 21st Century. She was a 2009 Gerbode Fellowand holds a Masters in Public Health from UCBerkeley in Community Health Education.


Fast Facts• Project Name:Mama’sDay

• Project Budget: $25,000

• Full-Time StaffMembers: 16

• Number of ArtistPartnerships: 20

• Number ofOrganizationalPartnerships: 81

• Number of E-cardsCreated (2013-14): 6,000

• Facebook Reach(2013-14): 425,000

Q:TheWestchesterChildren’s Association’s(WCA) Children by theNumbers project has come along way since it first publishedits data in 2008.What was theimpetus for this project?Limarie Cabrera (LC):WCA hasalways used data to understandchildren’s needs and track theirwell-being. We realized, however,Westchester County data as awhole wasn’t telling the full storyof how children were doing ineach of our 43 municipalities. Datadisaggregated by community, byage, or by race and ethnicity washard to find. Our goal was todeliver current, accurate, anddisaggregated data to ouraudience: social serviceorganizations, school districtadministrators, local governments,and other child advocates. Weproduced a 300+ page book in2008, and a searchable onlinedatabase with 300+ indicators in2009.Soon after we launched the

database, we realized that ourefforts confused our stakeholdersinstead of informing them. We

found that when people are facedwith many tables and charts, aka“number vomit,” they frequentlyshut down, so we startedtransforming our data intoinfographics, which were at thetime an emerging communicationstool. Luckily, the software to createthem became affordable: WhenESRI started releasing licenses forArcGIS, a powerful mapping tool,through TechSoup, I did the happydance in my office.The blog was established as our

communication platform toexplain why we thought the datawas important, andto share it. Wedidn’t abandon ouroffline efforts, butwe significantlyreduced its cost.We reduced our300+ page bookdown to a six-pageaccordion flyerthat was allinfographics. Thefeedback has beengreat, and we’renoticing thatpeople are actually

using it. We get requests all thetime from organizations to sendcopies to their boards, and schoolsare posting the flyers on theirwalls.

Q:What are some of themost interesting orunexpected findings you’veobserved from examining thedata?AnnaWright (AW): Thedifferences in communities withinWestchester County. For example,College Readiness Rates rangefrom 7% to 89% within the county.I feel that residents don’t reallyknow just how vast thosedifferences are within theircommunity.LC: Sometimes familiar

indicators, such as poverty rate,don’t do a great job of addressingsome of the inequalities that existacross Westchester because of itshigh cost of living. For example,here it takes an income of about$57,960 (National Low IncomeHousing Coalition, 2014) to affordthe rent on a two bedroomapartment, and the federal povertylevel for a family of four is at about$23,850 (2014 HHS PovertyGuidelines). Other indicators, such

as median familyincome, can betterdemonstrate areasof need. That said,while thecountywidepoverty rate isabout 10%, we haveneighborhoodswhere the povertyrate approaches45%.AW: One of the

greatest advantagesof the increasingaccessibility of data


PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: CHildreN by THe NuMbers

StorytellingwithData:A Children’s TaleA conversation with LIMARIE CABRERA andANNAWRIGHT

from theWestchester Children’s Association about howthey take a data-based approach to identifying children’sneeds.

Fast Facts• Project Start: 2006

• Project Name: Childrenby the Numbers

• Funders:WestchesterCommunity Foundation,Curran Foundation

• Full-Time StaffMembers: 1.5

• Number of ChildrenRepresented: 225k

visualization tools is that smallerorganizations can startconversations about local data.People are more likely to engagewith the data at a local level.

Q:How doesWCA usetechnology to keep theproject going?AW:Most of the technology toolsthat we use are free! As you getfurther into data visualization, youmay decide that purchasing aprogram with more advancedfeatures is worth it, but we’ve beenpretty happy with the tools we use:•ArcGIS: ArcGIS is helpful forproducing printed and customgeography maps. It’s the only toolwe use that isn’t free, but you canget a discounted version throughTechSoup.

• Google Fusion Tables: All of ourinteractive maps are made usingGoogle Fusion Tables. Googleprovides useful resources to helpyou learn the ropes, and there area number of tutorials on YouTube.

• Infogr.am, Datawrapper: Thesefree, easy-to-use tools enable youto create visually appealing,interactive charts and graphs thatyou can embed on your website orblog.

• Social Media:Data visualizationsare well suited for social media –people love to share images andinfographics. Right now we’refocusing on Facebook andTwitter.LC: I’ve also used R, which is a

free statistical software, along withR Studio, which makes it easier tonavigate the R environment.Although it’s free, the learningcurve is quite steep. It took a coupleMOOCs (Massive Open OnlineCourses) to get myself acquaintedwith R. And although graphicdesign isn’t technology, utilizing the


38.2%

36.4%

16.5%

73.9%

8.0%5.9%

6.2%

6.0%

2.1%

6.8%

In Married-Couple Households

41.2%34.8%

16.5%

1.4%

6.1%In Single Male-Led Households

In Single Female-Led Households

Hispanic Non-Hispanic

21.9%

78.1%

48.7%

41.9%58.1%

51.3%

In Married-Couple Households

In Single Male-Led Households

In Single Female-Led Households

WhiteBlack or African American

Other Race Two or more races

Asian

30.6%are under

age 6

34.1%are ages

6 - 11

35.4%are ages

12 - 1728.7%

Hispanic71.3%

Non-Hispanic62.7%White

14.4%

12.0%

4.8%

6.1%

Black or African American Other Race Two or more races

Asian

ChildrenNumbersBY

THE2014

76%

225,231

U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community

Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B11003, http://factfinder2.census.gov

DEMOGRAPHICS

ECONOMICS

children under age 18

live in Westchester.

Single parent families

make up 30% of all

Westchester families

with children under 18.

of poor children live in

single parent families.

NOTE: The term “poor’ refers to people living at or below the

Federal Poverty Level (FPL) as determined by the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey

1-Year Estimates, Table B05010, http://factfinder2.census.gov

U.S. Census Bureau; American Community

Survey, 2012 American Community Survey

1-Year Estimates, Table S0901,

http://factfinder2.census.gov

Child Demographics by

Family Type

Westchester Children

% of Children in Household Type Median Income

68%MarriedCouples

$140K+

6%SingleFather

$60K+

26%SingleMother

$37K+

U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year

Estimates, Tables B19126 and S0901 http://factfinder2.census.gov

NOTE: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. These percentages refer to children living in households (224,109).

Children not living in households are classified as living in group quarters.

U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S0901, http://factfinder2.census.gov

U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B09001, http://factfinder2.census.gov

Race/Ethnicity

Age

CREDITS

Project led by Limarie Cabrera, WCA Director of Data Analysis.

Special thanks to WCA interns Kevin Kimiadi and Claudia Yannaco

for their assistance.

Design by James Protano and Tara Framer of Tara Framer Design.

Major support for this publication was provided by the

Westchester Community Foundation.

ALL DATA HEREIN PERTAINS TO WESTCHESTER COUNTY

“Childhood poverty islinked to many undesirableoutcomes, includingreduced academicattainment, higherrates of non-maritalchildbearing, and agreater likelihood ofhealth problems.”

POVERTY

$19,324 - 46,100

$46,101 - 63,190

$63,191 - 100,000

$100,001 - 200,000

$200,001 - 249,999

$250,000+

This upturn corresponds with the national increase in the number of people

receiving Food Stamps/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

benefits. The Congressional Budget Office attributes this increase primarily

to the recession, as well as to changes in the application process that made it

easier for people to apply and qualify.

NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance; Bureau of Data Management and Analysis; Welfare Management System, “Children and Youth Receiving

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits.” Data accessed through New York Kids’ Well-Being Indicators Clearinghouse, http://www.nyskwic.org

children in Westchesterlive in families at orbelow the poverty level.

1 in 4

U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 AmericanCommunity Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B17024,http://factfinder2.census.gov

1 in 8children in Westchesterlive in families at or below200% of the poverty level.

Magnuson, Katherine A., and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal. “Enduringinfluences of childhood poverty.” University of Wisconsin-Madison,Institute for Research on Poverty, 2008.

U.S. Census Bureau; AmericanCommunity Survey, 2008-2012American Community Survey 5-YearEstimates, Table B19125,http://factfinder2.census.gov

2012 HHS Poverty Guidelines. US Department of Health and Human Services,http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/12poverty.shtml

From 2008 to 2012, the percentage of children relying on Food Stamps

increased from 9% to nearly 15%.

Congressional Budget Office, “The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” April 2012.

Median Incomes by Census Tract(for families with children under 18)

0246810121416

9%

2008

11.5%

2009

13.3%

2010

14.3%

2011

14.9%

2012

%Re

lyin

gon

Food

Stam

ps

In 2012,1 out of 7childrenreceived

Food Stamps

Children in Poverty 2008-2012

Source: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table DP03,

http://factfinder2.census.gov

LOWHIGH

$19,324$250,000+

POPULATION2012Children under 5 years

16.40%Children 5-17 years11.00%All Adults (18 years and over)9.30%All Children

12.70%All People (Children and Adults)10.10%

Youngerchildren aremore likelyto be poor.

ALL DATA HEREIN PERTAINS TO WESTCHESTER COUNT

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Childrenunder 5 yearsChildren5-17 yearsAll Adults

All ChildrenAll People

%Li

ving

ator

Belo

wth

ePo

vert

yLe

vel

Magnuson, Katherine A., and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal. “Enduring influences of childhood

poverty.” University of Wisconsin-Madison, Institute for Research on Poverty, 2008.

The federal poverty level fora family of four is at or below $23,550

Bravve, Elina, Megan Bolton, Linda Couch, and Sheila Crowley. Out of Reach: America’s

Forgotten Housing Crisis. National Low Income Housing

$63,200The est. income neededto live in Westchester is

Children & Youth Receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits(SNAP - aka Food Stamps)

aesthetic decisions of our graphicdesigner, Tara Framer, for theinitial infographics streamlinedthe generation of our own latervisualizations while strengtheningour brand.

Q:Can you describe theinternal process behindhow staff collects the datawithin your organization?AW:We rely on communitypartners to help identify the mostessential data points they need forwriting grants and planningprograms….LC:However, people are

usually asking us what mattersinstead of the other way around. Inthe beginning, we wanted toremain very neutral, and we didn’twant to prioritize one data pointover another. We soon realizedthat people don’t have the time,resources, or knowledge to makethat judgment call. Since we dowork with this stuff daily, we’remore knowledgeable about

which data can effectively tell astory, and that’s especiallyimportant for infographics. Just asimportant, we strive to efficientlytell that story with less data asopposed to more.

Q:What would you say isthe biggest impact theproject has made thus far?LC:We just issued a City Snapshotseries, which features some of theWestchester municipalities, andpeople have been eating them up.The traffic generated in one blogpost equals, or even exceeds, thesix month traffic on our old datasite. Our traffic reports for theentire website show a 300%increase, and it’s exciting to see thenumber of Facebook shares/retweets generated – we werenever able to do that on our olddata site.Even as we’re jumping up and

down over website statistics, wemust remember – how can weleverage this increased traffic toachieve our goal, namely, betteroutcomes for children? In the end,

the increased web traffic andsocial shares are proxies we use toassess our ability to raiseawareness about our children.AW:Data visualization helps us

keep our audience engaged. Itkeeps us and the children ofWestchester County on their radar.It also builds our reputation as aresource. People know that theycan turn to us for data about aparticular children’s issue, andthat means that we can bolster theefforts of our nonprofit andgovernment partners as theycontinue to make a difference forchildren.From a fundraising perspective,

the data project adds another toolto our development staff ’s toolboxas they communicate our missionto our donors. Many supportersare excited about our data work;this project has increased ourcredibility. Our effortsdemonstrate that we have areliable, data-based approach toidentifying children’s needs. Keepin mind that we’ve been able to doall of this with just 1.5 staff people– so you don’t need a large staff tohave a real impact!

Limarie Cabrera has beenthe Director of Data Analysis atWCA since October 2007. She hasled management, training, andmarketing initiatives in theprivate, nonprofit, and

government sectors. Previously, she worked atthe public health organization, Public HealthSolutions, in New York. Limarie received herBachelor’s of English from BrynMawr College,and her MPA from Columbia University’s Schoolof International and Public Affairs.

AnnaWright is the Research &Administrative Assistant at WCA.She joined theWCA team in 2014to provide support to the Directorsof Data and Development. Annaholds a bachelor’s degree in

Intercultural Studies fromHoughton College andlives in Mount Vernon, NY with her husband.Anna holds a bachelor’s degree in InterculturalStudies fromHoughton College and lives inMount Vernon, NY with her husband.


CHILD WELFARE

YOUNG ADULTHOOD

Children NumbersBYTHE2014

2007 2011 CHANGE

Foster Care Admissions 369 238 -35.5%

Foster Children in Care 802 609 -24.1%

This decline has been attributed

to greater awareness about child

abuse and the implementation of

preventive programs. However,

some experts suggest that stricter

parameters for substantiated

child abuse case and budget

cutting staff reductions may have

produced an under-reporting of

child abuses cases as well.

Young people who do find jobs are often forced to take up

low wage, low skill positions. Historically, workers who face

unemployment and low wages at the beginning of their careers

end up with a lifetime of lower earnings and lower expectations.

NYS Office of Children and Family Services; CONNECTIONS as obtained through the New York State Kids’ Well-Being Indicators Clearinghouse. http://www.nyskwic.org

NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services as obtained through the New York State Kids’ Well-Being Indicators Clearinghouse.

http://www.nyskwic.org

Unemployment Rate by Age Group, 2012

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

75 yearsand over65 to 74

years55 to 64years45 to 54

years25 to 44years20 to 24

years16 to 19years

4.9%5.7%6.4%7.2%7.3%

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32.4% 31.8%32.4%

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Child Abuse Substantiation Rates in New York vs. Westchester 2007-2011

%of

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children in care have declined in recent years as

a result of policies that favor other approaches to

protecting children and treating family dysfunction.

Fang, X., Brown, D. S., Florence, C. S., & Mercy, J. A. (2012). The

economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States and

implications for prevention. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36(2), 156-165.

NYS Office of Children and Family Services; CONNECTIONS as obtained through the New York State Kids’ Well-Being Indicators Clearinghouse.http://www.nyskwic.org


2009-20112008-20102007-20092006-20082005-2007

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NYS Department of Health; NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, as obtained through the New York

State Kids’ Well-Being Indicators Clearinghouse. http://www.nyskwic.org

Motor Vehicle Crash – Hospitalization Rate, Ages 15-24

(Three-Year Average)

Young Adult Arrests, Ages 16-21The decline in motor vehicle crashes

in New York State is attributed to the

introduction of the Graduated License

Law, which increased supervision, limited

driving times, and limited the number of

passengers for younger drivers.

Cheng, J. D., Schubmehl, H., Kahn, S. A., Gestring, M. L., Sangosanya, A., Stassen, N. A., & Bankey, P. E.

(2012). Impact of a graduated driver’s license law on crashes involving young drivers in New York

State. The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 73(2), 457-461.

CHILD HEALTH

Low birth weight (about 5 lb., 8 oz., or less than 2,500 grams) isclosely associated with fetal and infant mortality, inhibited growthand cognitive development, and chronic diseases later in life.2009 Maternal Data: New York State Department of Health as cited by Westchester County Department of Health, 2011 Annual Data Book: VitalStatistics, Table 7, Page 33. http://health.westchestergov.com/images/stories/pdfs/databook_vitalstats2011.pdf

New York State Department of Health, Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS),as cited by Westchester County Department of Health, 2011 Annual Data Book: Hospitalizations, Table 5, Page 47.http://health.westchestergov.com/images/stories/pdfs/databook_hospitalizations2011.pdf

Asthma ER Visit Rate (per 10,000) for children ages 0-14 by Zip Code,New York State Department of Health.http://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/ny_asthma/ed/zipcode/westc_t2.htm

In 2009, Black mothers were more likelyto give birth to babies of low birth weight.

Asthma ER Visit Rate per 10,000Ages 0-14 by Zip Code (2008-2010)

Number of Westchester Children Relying onPublic Health Insurance, 2008-2012

The number of children relying on public healthinsurance has increased steadily over 5 years.

Top Three Reasonsfor Hospitalizations by Age Group

Rates per10,000 population

0 - 46.10

46.11 - 96.80

96.81 - 165.60

Children NumbersBYTHE

2014

More ER visits due toAsthma occur in low-income communities.

Child Health Plus Enrollment by Insurer, New York State Department of Health. http://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/child_health_plus/enrollment/Medicaid Enrollees and Expenditures by County, New York State Department of Health. http://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/health_care/medicaid/eligible_expenditures/

Under Age 1

RespiratorySystem (other thanAsthma)

CongenitalAnomalies

ConditionsOriginatingin Perinatal Period

Ages 1 - 12

RespiratorySystem (other thanAsthma)

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Ages 13 - 17

Mental DisordersDigestive SystemInjury & Poisoning

0

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LOW HIGH

10597in Lewisboro

Waccabuc P.O.

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Low Birth Weight Babies by Race/Ethnicity, 2009

ONE THIRDof Westchester’children rely on

public healthinsurance.


PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: CHildreN by THe NuMbers


What is your connection with the“nptech” (nonprofit technology)community?In 2003, my first job out of collegewas working at the Museum of theCity of New York. The museum wasexploring the ways in whichtechnology could change manyaspects of operations, but there werestill a lot of folks who didn’t quiteunderstand how technology hadanything to do with history!

For years, the Museum’scollections were documented usingold-fashioned card catalogues. Wetransitioned to a web-basedcollections database, and this reallychanged things! It meant thatinformation about the museum’scollection could be accessed byanyone, anywhere, at any time. Itallowed the museum to curate onlineexhibitions, and draw in virtualvisitors. It broadened the museum’saudience considerably. It was excitingto see how history and technologyworked together seamlessly.

Why do you think it’s importantfor nonprofit leaders to thinkabout technology strategically?I believe that technology can helpnonprofits maximize limitedresources. But it’s crucial to take astrategic approach, I think manynonprofits think of technology as thedomain of the IT department, while inreality all staff should be engaging

with technology and thinking abouthow it can empower them in theirjobs. But taking this approachrequires leadership to be committedto embedding technology throughoutthe organization.

Was there an “ah-ha” moment foryou when you learned somethingnew or realized something aboutthe role of technology in themission-driven work that you do?I currently work for a smallorganization that oversees severalwidely used social auditing systems toimprove working conditions infactories worldwide. The scope of theorganization’s work has grownexponentially over the past ten years,but our technological systems havenot. I think the a-ha moment for me

was when I realized that technologywould not only make it easier for usto do our jobs; it would increase ourcredibility with external stakeholders.But at the same time, we weren’tengaging with technology because wewere all too busy doing our jobs. Ithink this is a paradox that manysmall nonprofits face.

How has nonprofit leadershipchanged (if at all) as a result oftechnology, from yourperspective/experience?Technology has sped up nonprofitcommunications and has blurredboundaries. Today’s nonprofit leadersneed to understand effective systemsand networked, open approaches toengagement. In organizations withbroad or blurry missions, this canbe a huge challenge as complexityincreases. New organizations oftenexcel by focusing their contributionsand building in data-informeddecision-making from the get-go.

Why are you serving on theEditorial Committee – what makesyou want to volunteer?I think the Change Journal is helpingtechnology break out of the silo of theIT department. Successful nonprofitsunderstand that technology is not theexclusive domain of the CIO or the ITmanager, but that technology shouldbe central to all aspects of operations.NTEN: Change provides nonprofitswith tools and knowledge to usetechnology effectively.

What’s the one technology toolthat you wouldn’t want to gowithout in your daily work?Probably Skype – I work close withabout a dozen field staff that arebased in different parts of the world.Skype is a simple tool, free, andinvaluable tool that allows me to stayin touch with my colleagues.

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE PROFILE

MelanieBowerProject Manager,Social AccountabilityAccreditation Services

“Technology hassped up nonprofitcommunications andhas blurredboundaries. Today’snonprofit leadersneed to understandeffective systemsand networked, openapproaches toengagement.”

The way you interact with youraudience has changed forever.The days of the monologue havepassed. People expect to beengaged in real worldcollaboration and conversationthrough the social web. It is inthese conversations that youdiscover trends, and gain an honestunderstanding about youraudience’s experience with you oryour organization, such as whatpeople like about an event, how aspeaker made them feel, or whatthey think about your services.All of these honest interactions

and reactions are important, notonly because you’re better able toserve them, but because you’realso building relationships andcreating exposure for yourorganization. This “user-generatedcontent” can tell a broader storythat’s needed to help you betterserve and meet your mission. Thequestion is: What do you do withthis user-generated content? Howcan you interpret it? Whether ornot you capture or listen to thiscontent, people will create it. Tonsof it! That’s where tools such asStorify come in.

What is Storify?Storify is a free online tool thatallows you to tell stories by

curating content from your socialnetworks and from the web. Youcan use searches and hashtags tofind the most important tweets,posts, videos, links, and otherrelevant online media to create avisual story with context to whyit’s important for your story. Itcaptures the voice of thecommunity by compiling people’sreactions to a speaker at an event,news story, disaster, trend, or othershared experience.Additionally, Storify offers

flexibility in how you share yourcurated story. In addition tosharing it across social mediachannels, you can also embed it onyour website or blog, which is agreat feature if your audiences arenot on social media.

Case Study – NCTech4GoodConferenceAfter this year’sNCTech4GoodConference, our organizers weredetermined to find an easy way to

curate the greatest moments fromthe annual conference. The goalwas to collect the conversationsthat happened around theconference so they could be sharedwith participants and those whowere unable to attend. We hopedto preserve the authenticity of theattendees, the spirit of theconference, and the passion ofthose involved in our nonprofittechnology community.Participants were encouraged

to use the Twitter hashtag, #nct4g,when they posted content relevantto the conference. This helped usto streamline all content in onechannel by having one location,which we could tap into furtherwith Storify. We chose to use thistool because of its ease of use andability to curate content acrossmultiple platforms. It was the firsttime we used this tool for an event,so we sought help from RyanBoyles, Global Social MediaStrategist and Digital MarketingLead at IBM (@therab). After hisdemonstration of Storify to our501TechClub, I created these fivetips to help as you consider Storifyfor your organization.

1)Encourage onlineengagement: You mustprovide a way for participants toshare pictures, tweets, posts, orstatus updates in an easilyidentifiable way. Prior to the event,establish the hashtag and includeit on all materials such as slide

TECH SUPPORT

Using Storify toCaptureInsights at EventsBy Paula Jones, N.C. Center forNonprofits andNCTech4Good


“This ‘user-generated content’can tell a broader story that’s neededto help you better serve and meetyour mission.”


decks, program guides, andsignage to encourage attendees touse it. You can also plan ahead tohave designated volunteers whoare responsible for live tweetingthroughout the conference toencourage engagement and to helpcreate content.

2)Be selective when choosingcontent: You’ll need todetermine a way to pick out therich content because it’s unlikelythat you’ll include everything thatwas shared throughout the event.If you have a lot of content, youcan do keyword searches to helpidentify tweets or posts that aremost relevant to include. Whenchoosing between items, be sure toinclude the content that clearlycommunicates what the event hasto offer. Pick a variety of elements(status updates, pictures, videos)that will best illustrate your story.

3)Organize the information:Inventory the content that’savailable and think about how youraudience will consume theinformation you plan to share.Should it be in chronologicalorder? By session? Or, would it bebetter to group by type of content?Storify allows you to decide whatis best for you, so think about thegoals and key messages that you’retrying to tell.

4)Build your story: In Storify,simply connect to the socialnetworks you’d like to curate yourcontent from, such as Twitter,Facebook, Instagram, blogs, orother webpages. You’ll seeavailable content and you can thendrag and drop it into your story.It’s important to remember thatsome content, like tweets, are onlyavailable for a limited time. So it’sbest to begin building your story

during the event or soon afterbefore the content expires. Thestory is editable at anytime, so youcan continue to add new contentas it becomes available.

5)Add narration andwrite forSearch Engine Optimization:If it’s important for your Storify torank high in search results, then besure you add text that includeskeywords or phrases that areimportant. You can do this byadding a sentence or two of textabove videos or pictures that youinclude in your story. Thisnarration will help provide contextand perspective to the items you’veshared and will fill any gaps for thereader.

Learn fromWhat You CreatedWhat good is the content fromyour event if you don’t dosomething with it? So, what canwe learn?NCTech4Good is using our

story to gain significant insightabout our conference and evaluatethe conference experience as awhole. We can identify topics thatresonated with attendees so wecan plan future meetings that willbe useful to our community. And,our leadership can use it to debriefon what worked or didn’t to helpwith planning and logistics fornext year’s conference.The conference is a springboard

for people to connect and buildrelationships. But, we want themto engage after it’s over, too. Theposts and pictures in our story willhopefully encourage our attendeesto connect with each other andcontinue the conversations theystarted in person.Our story will help with post

event engagement to encouragefolks to participate in other

NCTech4Good programs that takeplace throughout the year. We canuse conference wrap-up emails toattendees and those who wereunable to attend to share theconference experience, engagethem in conversation, and promotethe value of the conference to ourcommunity.The story also serves as a

permanent, historical record forattendees and the public toreference year round – long afterTwitter search content has expiredor the data has been deleted.

ConclusionNonprofits are successfullyengaging their communities onsocial media. But, it’s hownonprofits use that data that willhave the greatest impact on theirability to serve their community.Whether you choose to use Storifyor a similar tool, I encourage youto listen, engage, and learn.It’s my hope that you have a

better understanding of whatStorify is, how it can help yourorganization curate contentaround your events (or otherprograms), and how you can usethe content to further your missionand serve those in your community.Check out the Storify created at

our NCTech4Good meetup to divedeeper. It includes video of RyanBoyles demonstrating how to buildyour own story for those lookingfor additional help.

Paula Jones is director oftechnology at theN.C. CenterforNonprofits. She has more thanten years experience in nonprofittechnology. Paula serves as anorganizer for NCTech4Good and

is a board member for PIN, Inc./RTPnet.Paula has also served on the editorial boardofNTEN: Change. Follow her on Twitter at@pgjones00.


Think about the last time youshared something on social media.Maybe it was a photo of yourhiking adventures, the latestcelebrity selfie or photobomb, oran infographic related to an issueyou care about. Chances are it wassomething visual.You’re probably already aware

that visual media is dominating theweb: Posts with visual contentreceive more visits andengagement. Images are easier toprocess than text alone, andthey’re easier and more fun toshare. With so much informationstreaming in frommany differentsources, images can help cutthrough the clutter.Having visual content on your

nonprofit website, blog, and socialmedia pages is critical to gettingyour message out, and should bepart of your communications plan.The key is to be proactive insteadof reactive. Taking the time tobuild and utilize a visual librarywill help to increase engagementonline, and will also make youmore prepared to respond tounexpected events like a naturaldisaster or the death of a leader inyour field.

1)First, create an organizationsystem and take inventory:Gather all your photos, graphics,publication cover designs, videoscreenshots, and any other visualcontent you have. Think abouthow to organize your content.At Everyday Democracy, we

work across the country so we sortour images by location. That maywork for you as well, or you couldorganize them by other categoriessuch as program type, year, orevent.

2)Use tags to make searchingeasier: Since we organize ourphotos primarily by state, it’sdifficult to find specific pictureslike a staff member presentingunless we memorized all thecontent in our library. This can beresolved by tagging, which is a wayto categorize content into multiplecategories. We use Picasa’sdesktop application, which Irecommend if you have a sharednetwork drive and if it’s importantto tag specific people. You can alsouse Flickr, which is a good optionif you frequently upload photosfrommobile devices and if youwant to quickly share your images.To make tagging useful, go

beyond obvious tags like people orlocation. Also include tags like“looking at the camera” or“smiling,” which can help furthersort your images. Make a list ofcommon tags so you and yourfellow teammates use the sameterms. For example, if one personsays “pair” and someone else says“two people,” then you’ll only see afraction of the images when yousearch one of the terms.Additionally, use tags like “edited,”“collage,” or “illustration” to helpdistinguish between differenttypes of content.

3)Make sure your photos areup-to-date: You may have alot of photos in your library, but ifthe photos look particularly dated,with fashion or hairstyles from adifferent decade, you probablywon’t want to put them in yournew promotional materials.However, they can be great imagesto demonstrate how far yourorganization has come, or for a#ThrowbackThursday series onFacebook.

4)Think about what kinds ofimages you need for each ofyour communication channels:You may want images for yourwebsite articles, donation pages,social media pages, or printpromotional materials, but it’s

TECH SUPPORT

7 Tips to Build aCompelling VisualLibraryBy Rebecca Reyes, Everyday Democracy

RESOURCES FORFINDING FREE IMAGES:• Freeimages.com• Dreamstime’s free images• IconFinder• Flickr Creative Commons• Wikimedia Commons

Each website has instructions forattribution when necessary, so besure to give credit where credit isdue!

important to be specific – do youneed updated pictures of a certaininitiative? Do you need horizontalimages for your Facebook banner,or vertical ones for Pinterest?Thinking this through in advancecan help your staff prepare forphoto opportunities during a bigevent or program visit, with themedium in mind.

5)Identify areas where youneedmore images: Compareyour list of images needed withyour current visual library. Whereare the gaps?For example, we help people

talk and work together to createinclusive communities. We haveplenty of photos of people sittingin circles and talking to each other.However, it would be helpful tohave more photos of peopleworking on action ideas after thedialogues such as plantingcommunity gardens, talking withtheir mayor, or establishing afterschool programs. Since we knowwhere the gaps are, we can focusour efforts on gathering specificimages instead of capturing everymoment at every event.Ideally, when you have an event

or visit a program, there is oneperson whose only job is to take

photos. Due to budget or staffcapacity, this is not alwayspossible, so it’s important to setrealistic goals. Choose 2-3 timesduring these occasions to takepictures, so you can focus on othertasks the rest of the time.

6)Hone your photographyskills: You don’t need to be aprofessional photographer or havean expensive camera to takephotos. In fact, in delicatesituations an expensive camera canmake people feel uncomfortableand unwilling to be photographed.Whether you’re using top-of-the-line equipment or your smartphone,remember to practice basic skills:• Pay attention to lighting:Fluorescent lighting isn’t veryflattering, so use natural lightfrom windows or go outdoors ifpossible. Make sure your subjectis facing the light source from awindow or the sun. This helpsavoid backlight, which causesyour subject to appear dark. Ifit’s a bright sunny day, takepictures in the shade to avoidsquinting and to create a moreevenly toned photo.

• Think about how to frame theimage: Including thebackground can show context,

while a close-up of one personcan show emotion. See theexample on this page fordifferent ways to frame an image.

•Watch out for clutter: A tablewith half-eaten food or a busybackground with piles of paperscan make a great shot lookmessy. Pay attention to yoursurroundings and zoom in,remove the clutter, choose adifferent backdrop, or take thepicture from a different angle tocreate a cleaner image.

• Take a variety of photos: It’seasy to get comfortable takingpictures from one spot in theroom, but if you don’t movearound all your photos will looksimilar. Get close to the action:take photos of groups,individuals, people in action,people posing for the camera,and written materials such asflyers, signs, or informationpackets. It’s easier to tell thestory about your event orprogram if you have differentkinds of photos to work with.

7)Use tools to edit and remiximages:Once you have yourlibrary, you’ll probably find thatthere are a small group of photosyou use frequently that show offyour projects. Be careful aboutoverusing them – that’s exactlywhy you need to continue buildingyour visual library. Free tools suchas Canva, PicMonkey, orPixlrExpress are easy-to-use toolsto create collages or edit photos.

Rebecca Reyes is theCommunications Manager atEveryday Democracy, usingtechnology and tools to connectpeople, build relationships, andmake everyone’s life easier. She

has experience building and managing websites,leveraging social media, developing onlineoutreach strategies, and creating online trainings.


More and more, nonprofitorganizations utilize multi-channel fundraising strategies forsuccessful year-end campaigns.Images are essential in makingyour messages stand out in most ofthese channels and can powerfullyconvey your impact that willconvince people to donate.As has been noted thousands oftimes, “a picture is worth athousand words.” It is particularlytrue in this day and age. Considerthis fact: 93% of the most engagedposts on social media containvisuals.In August 2014, close to 700

grassroots activists and organizersconverged at theMoney for OurMovements (MFOM) conferenceorganized by the GrassrootsInstitute for Fundraising Training.Chris Tuttle of TuttleCommunications, Joleen Ong ofNTEN, Nadia Khastagir of DesignAction, Tomas Aguilar ofProgressive Technology Project,and I presented the panel, “VisualCommunication: Create Pictures,Videos & Presentations Quickly,Easily and Affordably.” We sharedsome of our favorite tools and tipson how to use them well. Here are

ways you can apply these visualcommunication tools to your year-end fundraising campaign.

1)Prime your audience for theask: Be sure that your donorsand prospects know about yourimpact and achievements. Design

Action used online image searches,free fonts, and vector programs tocreate a poster of transgenderactivist, Cece McDonald, whenshe was released from prison.Many activists, from Laverne Coxto Marc Lamont Hill, worked onexposing the unjust treatment ofMcDonald during the legal processand her imprisonment. This image(with permission from theorganizers) was posted on socialnetworks to celebrate this victory.Public domain and Creative

Commons license images like theones Design Action used can befound on websites such as GoogleImages, Noun Project, Compfight,Flickr, and Think Stock.FontSquirrel.com is a good sourceof free fonts. Design tools such asPixlr, VectorSnap, and Inkscapeare good alternatives to expensivetools like Adobe Design Suite.

TECH SUPPORT

Visualize a SuccessfulYear-end FundraisingCampaignByYeeWonChong, Strategist, Trainer& Consultant for Social Justice

CeCe isFree!

Design Action used stock images, freefonts, and vector programs to create agraphic of transgender activist,Cece McDonald, when she was releasedfrom prison. Credit: Design Action


Phoster, an iPhone app, is also agreat poster creation tool. Anddon’t forget to add your message orcall to action, hash tags, and URLto your organization when creatingsharable social network images.

2)Teach your peer-to-peerfundraising volunteers:Online tools are making it easierfor organizations to mobilizevolunteers for peer-to-peerfundraising. But getting all yourvolunteers in the same room at thesame time is difficult anddownright impossible if they livein different parts of the country.Progressive Technology Projectused video screen capturing toolssuch as Screencast-o-Matic andJing to create tutorial videos fortheir PowerBase CRM users.These kind of videos enabledgrassroots groups such as JustaCausa to guide 40 volunteers tocreate individual fundraisingpages. They successfully raised$40,000 in five days, exceedingtheir goal by $10,000!

3)Make your ask via video:If you have not consideredmaking a video ask, perhaps thefact that six billion hours are spenton watching YouTube videos eachmonth around the world is aconvincing argument. With therise of mobile usage, creating shortvideos is easier than ever. HeatherMansfield of Nonprofit Tech forGood captured 15-second longInstagram videos of 11 differentnonprofit professionals to sharesocial media and technologyadvice with their followers.Instead of sharing tips that you’vewritten, you can use this videoformat to ask for donations. Othereasy to use and affordable videorecording and editing tools includeVine, Animoto, and iMovie.

After creating your short videobe sure to add an URL hyperlinkusing YouTube annotation. Theconvenience of one click at the endof the video is crucial in convertingvideo viewers to donors as itprompts them to take action rightin the moment, without any delay.

4)Update donors andprospects about yourprogress: A fundraisingthermometer is a tried-and-truevisual image that shows theprogress of your fundraisingcompared to your goal. By usingGoogle Spreadsheet and Dataviz,you can embed a thermometerchart into your website, which willupdate the visual as you updateyour spreadsheet.Whether it is a profile or cover

image on Facebook or a header inTwitter, these places in your socialnetworks are prime real estate. Anonline graphic design tool, Canva,has made it very easy to createimages to the various dimensionsof these social networks.Other online image editing and

cropping tools that makes this task abreeze includeBeFunky, PicMonkey,and Social Image Resizer Tool.As you try these visual tools and

techniques for your year-endfundraising, keep in mind that 65%of emails are first opened on amobile device. Attractive visualsthat load quickly on relativelysmall screens mean the ability tograb and keep people’s attentionwhen they read your message.

Mobile users are also twice aslikely to share social media posts,and 30% of traffic to all websitescomes frommobile devices.What does this mean to the way

we fundraise online? Havingresponsive design websites andemails, where the design of thewebsite responds to the size of thedevice, make it easier for donorsand prospects to interact with yourmessage, but switching toresponsive design takes carefulplanning. If you do not utilizeresponsive design, here are twotips to consider for your year-endfundraising:• Use donate buttons in yourmessage instead of using only“click here to donate now”hyperlinked text in fundraisingmessages.

• Create donate buttons that are atleast 44 by 44 pixels, the size ofan average thumb, so thatpotential donors don’t have topinch and zoom in just to get toyour donation page.With these easy to use,

affordable, and time saving tools, Ihope that you can visualize a moresuccessful year-end fundraisingcampaign than the year before. Formore information, view the slidesfrom this panel presentation atbit.ly/mfom14visual.

YeeWonChong is a strategist,trainer, and consultantspecializing in creating moreinclusive and integratedorganizational culture. Follow YeeWon on Twitter at@YeeWon.

“Images are essential in makingyour messages stand out...and canpowerfully convey your impact thatwill convince people to donate.”


Free Geek’s mission is to recycletechnology and provide access tocomputers, the Internet,education, and job skills inexchange for community service.How is this mission reflectedinternally with your team?Walking around the various parts ofFree Geek you’ll see how staff andvolunteers find ways to reuse all sortsof donated materials in fun andinteresting ways. We’ll use cables thatwould otherwise be recycled holdingup signs, floppy disk holders to sort

tested RAM, and the plastic shells ofolder Macintosh systems as donationcollection stations. When someonegives us a printer with paper inside,we’ll often set that out for ourvolunteers to use for smaller printjobs or art projects. Sometimes we’llreceive large materials that don’t fallwithin our normal refurbishing andoutputs, like a smart board or serverrack. Rather than default to recyclingthe materials right away, staff willsend out an organization-wide call forlikely grants recipients or buyers who

might be interested in reusing these.

What are some social andenvironmental practices that FreeGeek has adopted?I like to point out that our Sortingarea, where volunteers help us decidewhat, of the massive piles of materialdonated daily, will be reused, ethicallyrecycled, or sent to the landfill, hasthe smallest trash can in the entireorganization. Any garbage can that isnear recyclable material, includingprinters, photocopiers, and ourkitchen, also has a recycle bin rightnext to it, to encourage best practices.We also have a considerable compostbin in our kitchen that we have toempty at least once a week. Becausealmost every area of Free Geek hasvolunteers who may only spend a fewhours with us, we try to ensurethere’s signage that encouragesrecycling over landfilling.

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS: FREE GEEK

A lot can happen in the technology afterlife.In this interview, Free Geek’s Darren Heiberexplains how recycling computer equipmentcan support an entire community.INTERVIEW BY EILEIGH DOINEAU, NTEN


Technology's second life. Images,clockwise from left: Mac Classic IIrepurposed as a donation collectionstation; Free Geek’s logo; recyclingsign; former floppy disk holdershelp to sort tested RAM. Credit:Darren Heiber.


We are currently examining theadvantages of taking many of ourpaper-based tracking systems, likevolunteer onboarding and HRmaterials, digital, so we can reducepaper waste. A local tech companyhas an inspiring sign-in board andvisitor standards sheet that’s builtright into a scanner. After a personsigns to show consent with theorganization’s expectations, they scanthe transparency overlay, erase thedry-erase signature, and are ready toprocess another guest without usingany paper. Of course, increasing ouruse of digital options like these, andthe considerable testing we do everyday, requires a lot of energy output.Our closing procedures in all areasinclude shutting down any and allequipment that doesn’t need to beon overnight.

What can you recommend forfolks in cities that do not have aFree Greek equivalent?You have a few options to ensurethat any e-waste you bring to arecycler is handled ethically andenvironmentally. If they haveResponsible Recycler (R2) or e-Stewards certification, you can bepretty sure they’re adhering to the

highest standards when it comes totheir target materials. We’re alsocurrently going through the processof getting R2 certified ourselves, aswe understand how important thiscertification is becoming forindividuals, businesses, andgovernment entities.

One of the main reasons we firststarted was because people didn’tknow where they could bring items tobe ethically recycled, so you knowwe’re committed to handlinghardware at the highest standards.

What advice would you give tononprofits on how to createsustainable change in their office,especially if they don’t have theenvironment in their mission?So many individuals in organizations,nonprofits especially, understand thatwe need to do everything we can tobe responsible environmentalstewards. I would recommend thatorganizations find ways to make it aseasy and fun as possible for reticentcommunity members to get involved.Rather than make a person walk anextra few feet to find a recycle bin, ora place to reuse an item, give themthe receptacles they need right in thesame place where they were alreadygoing. Like any new direction,decision-makers need to engage theirstaff in the beginning and throughoutthe process of implementing theprogram to get feedback about what’sworking, as well as encourage newthinking about those things thataren’t being achieved.

How can people outside ofPortland get involved with yourmission?We’re not the only nonprofitorganization focused on decreasing e-waste and increasing access totechnology. I recommend searchingfor a local e-waste nonprofit to see

what they’re doing, and how you canhelp. If you can’t find one in yourarea, it may be time to talk to yourlocal government entities or largerbusinesses about starting upsomething that can provide manyamazing benefits to the community.Our Director of Operations, who hasbeen with Free Geek almost since dayone, says: “We would recommendfinding a partner who can seed yourorganization with plenty of hardwarewhile you get started, and thenstriking out to make the biggest andbest impact you can.”

Of course, as a self-fundedorganization, monetary donationshelp as well!

DARREN HEIBER, the Director ofPublic Services, oversees FreeGeek’s education, hardware grants,outreach and sales departments. Hestarted his professional life as a highschool English teacher and then

pursued a career in libraries before joining Free Geekas Education Coordinator in 2011. He is deeplycommitted to inspiring all forms of literacy in others.

“ANY GARBAGE CANTHAT IS NEARRECYCLABLE MATERIAL,INCLUDING PRINTERS,PHOTOCOPIERS, AND OURKITCHEN, ALSO HAS ARECYCLE BIN RIGHT NEXTTO IT, TO ENCOURAGEBEST PRACTICES.”

FACTS & FIGURES:• Annual budget: $1.4 million• Funding Sources: 13% -

contributions from individualsand large and small institutions;65% - refurbished equipmentsales; 20% - sale of recyclingmaterials; 2% - other sources.(2013)

• Number of full time staffmembers: 27

• Number of computersrecycled: 18,174 (2013)

• Number of computers givenback to the community: 2,958in distributions to volunteers andnonprofits, 3,496 in sales to thepublic. (2013)

• Number of volunteers(in 2013): 2,886 over the year

Documents

NTEN: Change | September 2014