NTEN Change Issue Four: December, 2011

chanGeinsidethisedition:

Feature: MultipleConstituent Groups, OneDatabase? How To TrackEveryone Who’s Anyoneto You

CASE STUDY: TrackingConstituents in One SystemFight ColorectalCancer

PAGE 18

CASE STUDY: TrackingConstituents in TwoSystems Sarah’s... An Oasisfor Women

PAGE 20

CASE STUDY: TrackingConstituents in ManySystemsEarthjustice

PAGE 22

PAGE 12

ISSUE FOUR · DECEMBER, 2011

A Quarterly Journal for Nonprofit Leaders

feature story: fromoutcomes to impactPlus: A Case Study from Greenlights for Nonprofit Success[PAGE 4 ]

inside:

All content is producedand submittedindependently from,

and without influence by, sponsors oradvertisers. All content is published underthe Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.

PAGE 29

DIY Nonprofit TechnologyNTEN experts translatebest practices into step-by-step directions

PAGE 17

The “Ask Deborah” PodcastThe CTK EducationalSeries presents DeborahElizabeth Finn

PAGE 25

Tech Across Your OrgInspiration and examplesfor the expanding role oftech at your org

PAGE 36

Leader ProfilesHow do you lead your orgthrough change?


plus:What’s Hot/What’s This?:Google+, Theory of Change,Livestreaming pages 16, 19, 21

Infographic: Mapping YourWebsite Ecosystem page 23

Leadership Cheat Sheet:Calling Dr. Nerd? page 43

Community Question:Is Your Org Failure-Friendly?page 41

Feedback: HowAreWeDoing? page 30

Infographic: The 2011Nonprofit Industry page 45

Video: Cloud for Nonprofitspage 35

Tech Tips for EDs: 5Must-Have Tools page 40

And we’re doubling our data every two years. This issue ofNTEN:Change provides some strategic guidance for howyour nonprofit can turn all that data into impact.In our feature article fromJulieMacalik andGreenlights

forNonprofit Success, you’ll get direction for, well, turningyour data into direction. The article tackles the questions:how can youmake sure your organization is achieving yourdesired outcome? How can your data help you make betterorganizational decisions? And Idealware’s feature articlewill help you work through the tough decisions about col-lecting and tracking data about your constituents: who doyou need to collect data about?Who else? Should you trackthem all in one place? You’ll even get an exercise to use foryour own organization’s decision process.The data theme continues in some of the other sections

of this issue as well, including the DIY articles on takingcontrol of your data and turning data into stories about yourcause; and don’t forget to read the case studies of how threeorganizations are collecting and tracking data.But this issue isn’t just about data. Be sure to read what

our Leadership Academy graduates have to say about

managing change at their organizations,and youwon’t want tomiss theLeadershipCheat Sheet. Find inspiration in our TechAcross Your Org articles, and give youreyes a rest while listening to the askDebo-rah podcast. And there’s even more!Thank you for subscribing to NTEN:

Change, A Quarterly Journal for NonprofitLeaders – and if you have a few minutes,please tell us what you think of it.If you found your way to this journal on

the web or from a friend and want to learn more and sub-scribe (for free!), please visit us online here:http://nten.org/NTENChange

Annaliese Hoehling, PublicationsDirector, NTEN, [email protected]

from the editorThere has been a lot of talk lately about howmuch datathe world is producing and consuming now—in this yearalone, we’ll have created the equivalent of 57.5 billion32 GB iPods worth, according toMashable.

WELCOME by ANNALIESE HOEHLING

NTEN: CHANGE · DECEMBER 2011 · PAGE 3

Discover NTEN: ChangeDiscover a wealth ofvaluable information fornonprofit leaders

OReadOnline: Bookmark thispage in your browser now!

ODownload & Print: Find the button to downloadthe issue to PDF, or use the button to print up!

OAccess on YourMobile: Open the url on your smart-phone ormobile device—use “zoom”mode to helpwithreadability!

THE NONPROFIT TECHNOLOGYLEADERSHIP ACADEMY IS A 9-WEEK ONLINE TRAINING PROGRAMDESIGNED TO HELP NONPROFITLEADERS UNDERSTAND HOW TOMANAGE TECHNOLOGY TO BOTHMEET THEIR BASIC OPERATIONALNEEDS AND MEET THEIR MISSIONS.

Each participating organization is represented by the Execu-

tive Director (or non-technical Leadership staff) and one

technology-responsible staff person. In this section we hear

from Academy participants in their own words.QUESTION: How much of the technology at your

organization is focused on helping you meet your

mission vs. just keeping your organization running?

What obstacles are in the way of technology that can

help you achieve your mission?I t’s difficult to say how much technology is focused on help-

ing us meet our mission vs. just keeping our organization

running. We depend on email for day to day operating, while

our website and social media keeps us in touch with our net-

works. Our organization’s operating budget is minimal, but

I’ve come to realize that finance is not the limiting factor—

since we are a 100% volunteer organization working from our

homes, it is time that is the limiting factor. We are a young,

growing organization, and we need to constantly evolve our

use of technology. The Tech Academy has helped me realize

that one crucial factor is training, which will help adoption of

new technology, and ensure there are more skilled people in

our organization to take responsibility for our technology use.

Kate Skegg, Social Media ManagerDare to Dream: Get Educated! Latina ConferenceL ike many others, our technology mainly keeps the org

running. As we build foundation we are looking to the

future for technology that can improve our systems, commu-

NONPROFIT TECHNOLOGY LEADER PROFILES

NTEN: CHANGE · SEPTEMBER 2011 · PAGE 28

their articles’ URLs and then track these links to see

how many people clicked on them.“In my mind, I need lots and lots of people to care

about the press and build that audience to get to that 10

percent,” she said. “Honestly, at this point we’re just

watching our followers go up.”What content is working to inspire people to follow

them, or click to see more? To analyze that more in-

depth, the organization assigned an intern to research it

by comparing the SF Public Press’s activity on Facebook

and Twitter with that of similar organizations and media

outlets.“We wanted to watch our competitors—I’m using that

term loosely—to see how many times they were posting,

how many times they were retweeted, how often they were

retweeting others’ content, things like that,” she said. “We

found that hot-button topics and open-ended polls got more

traffic. For whatever reason, people don’t seem to respond

to some other topics. I wanted to sort of quantify what the

others were doing, and the numbers we recorded reinforced

what we thought was happening.”The organization is still trying to decide how to act on

the data that’s been gathered. “We have a couple of people

on our social media team, and I’ve asked them to have some

conversations about that to help us decide what we’re going

to do differently,” she said. “A lot of what we’re seeing oth-

ers do, we are doing already. We just maybe need to tweak

it a little.“On Twitter more than Facebook, for example, we’ve

been posting content from other news orgs or other local en-

tities we think would be of interest,” she said. “We’re using

the informationto try to figureout what wouldbe the bestbalance—at whatpoint do people get confused about what’s com

We don’t want to overwhelm our followers.”

While this is a good start, LaHood said she kn

much more data she could be tracking and mea

wish we had a better sense of what and how to

said. “But it’s purely resources that keep us fr

more.” In particular, it would be particularly useful

ure how many people come to events—or ultima

nate—who found the organization through social m

“We exist because we’re serving this mission

public interest journalism,” she said, “but we can

without funding. We want the content to inspire pe

give.”

CASE STUDY BY CHRIS BERNARD, IDEALWARE

NTEN: CHANGE · SEPTEMBER 2011 · PA

MeasuringYour Social MediaSuccessBy Andrea BerryDirector of Partnershipsand Learning for Idealware

NTEN CHANGE SEPTEMBER 2011 · PAGE 14

FEATURE


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Share with Colleagues:• Use in the upper-right on the top navigation bar to

open the drop-down menu of your share options

FromOutcomesto Impact


FEATURE

A bird’s eye view of the nonprofitsector gives us a two-dimensional viewonly: inputs and outputs. Raisingmoney and spending money. If we dugdeeper, however, we would see thatthere has been a shift in emphasis onwhether nonprofit programs are reallymaking a difference.

By Julie MacalikA Case Study

provided by Greenlights forNonprofit Success

Plus:

Efficiency and effectiveness are indicators of success, butthey cannot replace true impact. Outcomes focus onwhether programs are really impacting the community.Outcomes measurement is an excellent tool to measureprogress towardmeeting yourmission, butwhat if youwereable to take that one step further and position your organi-zation for long-term success?A nonprofit can track its outputs by counting the num-

bers of people served or the numbers of units of service pro-vided.While critical and valuable, outputs tend to focus onthe actual “outputs” that come from organizational activi-ties (e.g. numbers served) and are only one type of metric.These are themost basicmeasures ofwhat a nonprofit does.An example of an output is “48,000 different individualsreceive emergency food assistance from the Capital AreaFood Bank in any given week.”There are many uses for the data generated from output

measurement; however, many organizations track thisinformation because they are required to and because it isfairly simple to collect. Nonprofits are often accountable tofoundations and other grant-making organizations thatmeasure this information for program reporting require-ments. But in order to better tell your story, everyone inyour organization should understand how these numbersare related to the overall effectiveness and quality of yourprograms.An example of an outcome for Capital Area Food Bank

might go something like this: “Our programs and servicesreduced the number of families who went hungry by pro-viding food and grocery products to more than 355 PartnerAgencies in 21 Central Texas counties.” Thismetric focuses

more on the degree to which the meals served by the foodbank reduced hunger in the population served by the foodbank and partner agencies. The output iswhat the nonprofitagency did; the outcome is the ultimate result they achievedat the end of the day: in other words, how the world is dif-ferent because they exist.This type of measurement allows organizations to

increase their capacity to evaluate the extent towhich theyare achieving their intended results and create a plan tomeasure their programs. Outcomes evaluation looks at theimpacts and benefits to clients during and after participa-tion in your programs.

Measuring ImpactThe first step in starting to measure your impact is to iden-tify themajor outcomes that youwant to examine. In orderto be successful in this step you will need full managementsupport and a dedicated key project lead for your team. Thispersonwill take the helm on laying out tasks in a sequence,

informing other staff of theirroles and assignments, andproviding assistance to peo-ple as they complete theirparts of the evaluation. Thestandard nonprofit datapoints come from fundrais-ing, communications, pro-grams, and finance, soconsider these sourceswhengathering your team. For


output isWHAT YOU DID.OUTCOME ISWHAT HAPPENSAS A RESULT OFWHAT YOU DID.

OUTCOMES TO IMPACT

example, a representative from the fundraising departmentcan make sure you consider when your funders’ reportingcycles are so that you are producing outcomemeasurementresults at a time that aligns with their requests for infor-mation about your programs. Also, those most directlyaffected should provide meaningful participation, so don’tforget about your front-line staff directly involved in pro-viding services.Next you will want to select the outcomes that you want

to examine and prioritize them. For each outcome, specifywhat observable measures, or indicators, will suggest thatyou’re achieving that key outcome for impact. After youhavemade your selection you can then identify what infor-mation is needed to show these indicators. There are manytypes of technology and other management tools availableto assist in this process, and now is the time to take stock ofyour technology and the tools you are going to use to trackyour data. Decide how information can be efficiently andrealistically gathered utilizing the different methods thatare best for your organization including:

Surveys - Consider what fea-tures youwill need. If you’re justlooking to get your feet wet witha quick survey, one of the manyfree or low cost online tools willdo the trick. In fact, a moresophisticated survey package could be considerably moredifficult to use. On the other hand, if you’re looking for sur-vey software to support rigorous research, the moreadvanced packages aremore likely to have the features youneed.

Interviews and focus groups - The desired outcome ofthis type of method is to solicit data without any influenceor bias. This also allows you to develop a relationship withclients or other key stakeholders and get a full range anddepth of information. One benefit of focus groups is theability for participants to feed off each other’s energy andbounce ideas off one another. Consider using an outsidefacilitator to help develop questions and protocol and tohelp identify themes from your data.

Documentation Review - Looking at internal recordslike applications, forms, procedures, and finances allowsyou to get an impression of how programs operate withoutinterruption and identify newmethods of collection.

Databases - Nonprofitscan use these tools to trackdata in real time and reporton results. Internally theycan assist in managing per-formance at the departmen-tal or affiliate-level usingdashboards and benchmarkprogress over time.After the data is collected,

organize the informationinto similar categories (i.e.concerns, suggestions,strengths, etc.). From here you can identify patterns andthemes to help you categorize and analyze data according tothe indicators for each outcome.


Oread this articleabout creatingyour nonprofitdashboard

Oview this recordedwebinar aboutdata, dashboards,and tracking andreporting on youroutcomes

Ofind out moreabout onlinesurvey optionshere.

OUTCOMES TO IMPACT

Develop a PlanNow that you’ve gathered and analyzed your data, you canbegin to develop your strategic plan. When it comes tobrainstorming goals, keep it simple. Four to six meaty,well-defined goals will be plenty to keep your organiza-tion busy (with meaningful, impactful work, of course)over the next three to five years. It’s healthy to dream bigwhen goal-setting, encouraged even, but when it’s time toput pen to paper (or perhaps more accurately, fingers tothe keyboard), SMART goals are best.

ImplementationWith your strategic plan in hand, teeming with SMARTgoals, you’re nowwell-positioned for the implementationphase. In short, implementation equals action. This does-n’t mean that you have to lose the thoughtful, intentionalquality of the planning process. A plan that outlines spe-cific objectives and tasks toward achieving your goals is aplan that will position your organization for long-termsuccess. The process of data gathering and long-termplanning can be an intense one, but there is an opportu-nity to build on that momentum during the implementa-tion phase. Below are several keys to success forimplementation

Hold each other accountable.Many nonprofits chargea subcommittee of people with leading the planningprocess. This group is not responsible for all of the plan-ning; rather, they are responsible for keeping the processmoving forward. Implementation is no exception. A smalltask force gives board and staff a primary point of contactfor both questions along the way and progress reportingtoward your goals.


SSpecific

MART

Measureable

Achievable

Realistic

Timebound

Goals that are specific are far more likely to beachieved than general ones. Know the answers to thefollowing questions (among others): What resourceswill be needed to accomplish this goal? Who will beinvolved? How will this impact other programs andservices?

For each goal, include specific criteria for measuringyour progress and ultimately, achievement. Concretemetrics help reassure you that you’re headed in theright direction and, more importantly, give you aclear indication of when a goal has been accom-plished.

Set goals that you can actually accomplish in a finiteperiod of time, but don’t sell your organization shortwhen it comes to goal-setting. Encourage “stretchgoals” that will require you to grow and develop inorder to achieve them.

Realistic goals are closely linked to achievable ones.Think about the likelihood of your goals actually beingcompleted in the timeframe you have designated,not only in terms of resources available, but also con-sidering your current board and staff capacity.

If your answer to, “When can we realistically accom-plish this goal?” is, “Someday…” then your goal is nottimebound. Set goals with a specific target end date,as well as check points along the way to maintainexcitement and momentum.

OUTCOMES TO IMPACT

Implement in increments. Planning for your organiza-tion’s future can be exciting, and often organizations findthemselves tasked with completing 80% of the work fortheir 3-year plan during the first year. Don’t be a hero!Strategic plans are long-term for a reason. Space out yourobjectives and tasks in a way that makes sense, and imple-ment incrementally. Also, consider sequencewhen plottingout tasks related to your goals. For each objective ask:“What needs to happen first before we can move forward?

Stay flexible. Long-term planning is valuable, but thereality most of us face in the nonprofit sector is one thatincludes frequent change and many moving parts, fromgrant funding cycles to legislative changes. Know that yourplan is a blueprint for moving forward, but just as you’refree to decide that you don’t really need that fourth bath-room, so too are you free to update your organizationalblueprint to accommodate changes that come your way.

Measure success as you go.Keep track of your progressalong the way, both in qualitative and quantitative ways.This is helpful for keeping your board and staff engaged andinspired along the way, and it’s also a great way to commu-nicate with your funders, the community, and other keystakeholders.The bottom line is organizations need to set aside time to

gather data, learn from the results, and reflect on themeas-ure of progress. Doing sowill help the organization achievebetter results and assist in future planning. Preparation andplanning is a key part of the outcomemeasurement process.The better the planning, the more impact the outcomemeasurementwill have on your organization and your orga-nization’s impact.

CASE STUDY:IMPACT IN PRACTICE

As organizations continue to recognize the increasedimportance being placed on demonstrated impact, they areresponding to this shift by rethinking the way they do things.One example is Greenlights for Nonprofit Success, a Man-agement Support Organization (MSO) in Austin, TX, thatserves a five-county area in Central Texas. A nonprofit itself,its mission is to strengthen nonprofits for extraordinary per-formance and impact.

In its own strategic planning process in 2010, Greenlightsdeveloped a priority goal of increasing the impact and effec-tiveness of individual nonprofits and the Central Texas non-profit sector. As a step toward achieving that goal, theorganization has begun developing a consulting practice areain performance measurement and impact evaluation as a wayof helping other nonprofits measure and communicate theirimpact to key stakeholders.

Explore Austin, a recent client of Greenlights, is an organ-ization that immerses at-risk inner-city youth into a six-yearprogram that combines mentoring with outdoor explorationto build confidence, character, and a sense of responsibilityfor themselves and their communities. Their consistent focuson program success had led to success for participants quicklyafter its 2006 founding, but the organization’s own opera-tional excellence was not on their radar.

As Explore Austin matured and started reaching more youngpeople, it recognized a need to begin focusing on developing


OUTCOMES TO IMPACT

the organization itself, and accordingly asked Greenlights toconduct a comprehensive evaluation and assessment and makeaccompanying recommendations to provide objective, usefuldata upon which to base key decisions that could strengthenthe program model and guide the development of infrastruc-ture that needed to be in place for future growth.

Greenlights presented a diagnostic report, logic model, andproposed evaluation model to Explore Austin, which usedthese materials as a guide moving forward. Within months,they drafted and approved new board member roles andresponsibilities prior to recruiting new board members. Alsobased on the recommendations, Explore Austin implementednew risk management policies and procedures, redesigned itsWeb site and promotional materials, and created a formal com-munication structure with its partners.

Explore Austin hired new staff, moved into a new office, andadded database/fundraising infrastructure and necessary pro-grams. In addition, the organization created a comprehensive,building-block curriculum and enrolled staff in appropriatetraining. All of these decisions were based on the data and theplan they developed through the assessment and strategicplanning process.

Explore Austin now has over 65 boys in the program, a 90%increase from previous years, and the board has also commit-ted to starting a program for at-risk girls. In addition, the num-ber of volunteer mentors has increased by 30%; the board ofDirectors has doubled in size; and donations have increased byover 50%.

Most importantly, however, parents, teachers, and studentsreport a higher level of confidence, satisfaction, and effec-tiveness in the program. That is impact in practice.


ONLINE RESOURCES• More overview and resources from Civic

Partnerships on Strategic Planning and Measurement• More resources on measuring outcomes from The

Nonprofit Outcomes Toolbox• Free Assessment and Planning tools from the

Innovation Network• Understanding the difference between Outcomes

and Outputs (a diagram and overview fromUniversity of Wisconsin Extension)

• An Example of a Strategic Plan (ManaganceConsulting)

• Another Sample/Template for a Strategic Plan (fromthe Strategic Planning for Dummies book)

OUTCOMES TO IMPACT

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Multiple ConstituentGroups, One Database?How to Track EveryoneWho’s Anyone to You

By Laura Quinn, Idealware

FEATURE

SINCE MOST ORGANIZATIONSDON’T TRACK JUST ONE TYPEOF CONSTITUENT, THE IDEAOF A SINGLE DATABASE FORALL OF THEM—DONORS,VOLUNTEERS, CLIENTS, EMAILSUBSCRIBERS, ADVOCATESAND EVERYONE ELSE—ISSOMETHING OF A HOLY GRAIL.

The ability to easily see how all your constituents interactwith your organization, and with each other, makes for anattractive, ideal vision of what a database should be.In reality, a single constituent database usually means

some sort of compromise. If your nonprofit tracks a widevariety of constituents but doesn’t need very deep func-tionality in any particular area, it’s feasible. But if you needto keep tabs onmore complex data—like tracking stock giftsfrom donors, matching volunteers with volunteer opportu-nities based on interests and availability, and the case notes,histories and outcomes of the mental health services pro-vided to clients—you’re not likely to find a single system tofill all your needs.If there’s not much overlap between particular con-

stituent groups (for example, your clients aren’t likely to bedonors, and your donors aren’t likely to become clients),

theremay not be enough of an upside to a single database tomake it worth your while. For many organizations, multi-ple systems can be a better fit.But howdo you determinewhich is the right solution for

your nonprofit?We’ve designed a short exercise to help youdecide.

Know Your AudienceThe first step is to identify all the constituents you deal withon a day-to-day basis. These are the people you need totrack. It’s likely you’ll have not just donors and clients, butvolunteers, alumni, event attendees, partners, press con-tacts and other groups. Include them all.Then, choose the constituent group that’s most impor-

tant for your organization to track—we’ll call them your“Critical Constituent.” For most organizations, this willprobably be either donors or clients. (If you have two orthree key constituents, you can repeat the exercise for each,but choose one to start with.)For each of the other constituent groups you identified,

determine:• Their relationship to your Critical Constituent—how likelyare people in one group to be in the other? Might theymove between them?• The complexity of the data you need to track for them inaddition towhat you’re already tracking for Critical Con-stituents—the basics, like name, address and contact infor-mation, is probably the same for both, but there’s likely tobe additional information.Using donors as the Critical Constituent for our exam-


TRACKING EVERYONE


TRACKING EVERYONE

ple, let’s compare them tovolunteers as the other con-stituent group. Are volun-teers likely to becomedonors, or vice versa?Might a volunteer also be adonor? Neither scenario isunusual formany organiza-tions, sowe could call thesetwo constituents highlyrelated. As we considerother constituent groups—press contacts, for example,or legislators—we’re likelyto find far less overlap.

Next, let’s consider thecomplexity of the datawe’llneed to track for volunteersthat we don’t already trackfor donors. This might include the types of projects they’dlike to help with, when they’re available, and their historyvolunteeringwith the organization. Because there aremorethan a few additional fields, this falls somewhere betweenmedium- and high-complexity, depending on the specifics.

Once you’ve defined how complex and related each con-stituent is, plot your constituent groups on a chart for a lookat your overall constituent picture.

Read Between the LinesLet’s say your groupsmostly cluster toward the right side ofthe chart. This means you don’t have extensive additionalneeds on top of what you already track for Critical Con-

stituents, and tracking them allin a single database almost cer-tainly makes sense for yourorganization. You should beable to customize a databaseoptimized for your Critical

Constituents to fit everyone else, too.But what if you have a clus-

ter down in the lower left handcorner that shows you havesome difficult-to-track con-stituents that aren’t particu-larly related to your CriticalConstituents? You’re unlikelyto find a system that effectively supports substantial func-tionality for both types of constituents, and given how littlethey relate to each other, there may not even be much ben-efit in trying to shoehorn them into a single database.

In this case, you’re probably better off with more thanone database—but how many do you need? Remove theCritical Constituent from the equation and repeat this exer-cise just for the constituents grouped together in the lowerleft hand corner. Are they related to each other? Do youneed to track similar data for each of them? Again, if theydon’t overlap significantly, more than two databases mightmake sense.

Things get more complicated if you have constituentsfloating in the middle of the chart, or even worse, in theupper-left corner. If that’s the case at your organization,


IF THERE’SNOT MUCHOVERLAPBETWEEN YOURCONSTITUENTGROUPS, IT'SPROBABLY NOTWORTH IT TOHAVE ONEDATABASE.

TRACKING EVERYONE

start weighing the possibilitiesand tradeoffs. It might provedifficult to incorporate theseconstituents into the same sys-tem as your Critical Con-stituents. Is it worth the effortand expense? Considerwhether multiple systems can

be integrated so key data flows from smoothly between themthrough an automatic data feed. Integration is often expen-sive and complicated, but it can be a great solution to thornydata problems like this.

Wrapping it UpThe vision of a single database is attractive, but the realitymight be neither practical nor cost-effective for your organ-

ization. Should you track allyour constituents in the samesystem? Only if it makes sensefor your particular situation. Atthe end of the day, that’s not easyto know.If there’s a compelling reason

to combine everything, and thebenefits outweigh the risks andcost, the dream of a single data-base is a viable possibility. Butachieving that dream requiressome strategy and forethought—otherwise, your dream of a sin-gle database might just becomean implementation nightmare.


a sinGleDATABASE ISATTRACTIVE,BUT THEREALITYMIGHT NOTBE PRACTICALOR COST-EFFECTIVE.

TRACKING EVERYONE

livestreaminGLivestreaming events is increasingly becoming apopular way to share content with remoteaudiences. It is surprisingly simple and affordable.There are three main parts: the source, or camerathat you use to capture video and audio; theencoder, which is software that you use toproduce the live video; and the player thatviewers will watch the video on.

your source can be as simple as a mini-dv digitalcamcorder, or even a webcam that you canconnect to a laptop via USb. There are many freeand low cost options for encoders, a simple websearch should pull up various options.

When searching for a player, we suggest youstart by checking out Livestream.com, a great sitethat allows you to produce a livestream on theirchannels, or embed a player on your own website.Ustream.tv is another great option for nonprofits;much like youTube, it allows users to set up a“channel,” with specific programs that are thenarchived for post-event viewing as well.

While livestreaming educational content is anobvious choice for many nonprofits, a livestreamof events or fundraisers can also help yourorganization broaden its reach. Livestreaminggives your community of supporters another wayto participate if they can’t make an in-personevent, or something to share with their networkswho may not otherwise participate. Learn moreabout livestreaming options for nonprofits here.

Wh

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’st

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CLICK THE BAR TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST (AND SIMPLY TURNTHE PAGE TO STOP LISTENING).

askDeborah Podcast: Whatis HIPAA and How Does itAffect My Organization?

The CTK Educational Series presents DeborahElizabeth Finn as she dives into her vast net-work of nonprofit and technology profession-als to answer complex questions in simpleterms and help nonprofit organizationsincrease their capacity through technology.

In this episode, Deborah goes to colleagueGavin Murphy. Gavin Murphy is the co-founderand president of Annkissam, a professionalservices firm dedicated to helping mission-dri-ven organizations with their operations andtechnology.

Annkissam has grown steadily since itsbeginning in 2007, and has worked with about50 clients in a dozen states. Mr. Murphy hasspent his career consulting to a wide range oforganizations, with a focus on designing anddeveloping systems for nonprofit health andhuman services organizations.

Answers are delivered in 5 minutes in acandid and informative tone. Find moreaskDeborah episodes and other educationalmaterials at www.communitytech.net

“We’re the squeaky wheels for colorectal cancer,” saidJudi Sohn, VP of Operations for Fight Colorectal Cancer,summing up the organization’s mission succinctly.In terms of critical constituents, donors are extremely

important to the organization. Sohn said staff want to knowas much as they can about them. But there are, in fact, twoother major audiences they track in parallel.“One is the patient community looking for resources,”

she said. This includes people who have or have had coloncancer, aswell as thosewho have known peoplewith it. Theother is the healthcare providers that are the sources ofinformation for them.“There’s some overlap between them, butmostly they’re

completely different groups in terms of what we’re track-ing,” Sohn said. “For patients, it’s interactions, questionsthey’ve asked, their participation inwebinars, communica-tion history, healthcare history, and things like that.

“For providers, we’re trying to track their com-munications with us—how they are referring,how they’re participating in resources, things likethat—and connectingwith themon that level.Wedon’t have quite asmuch to track, because they’rethe means to get to the patient, and that’s ourcore goal.”To a lesser extent, the organization also tracks

volunteers. “We don’t do straight volunteering somuch, just a yearly event—a lobby day—and any-one who registers or interacts with us is in [thedatabase],” she said. “There’s also informationabout advocacy action—but if someone goes tothe website and wants to ask an advocacy ques-

tion, it goes through a different process than if they ask amedical question.”Because the information collected about providers was

far less complex than that for patients, Fight ColorectalCancer chose tomaintain their collection of data about theirdifferent constituent groups in a single database, Sohn said.The organization uses Salesforce.She cited the application’s ubiquity, as the enormous user

community means an equally healthy support community.While the vendor targetscorporate users more thannonprofits, it’s still well-suited for her organization’sneeds. “It’s easy to workwith,” she said, “and easy tofind developers toworkwithit. It’s such a large universe.”

trackinG constituentsin one systemTrue to its name, the Alexandria, Virginia, basednonprofit supports patients and their familiesas they navigate dealing with colorectal cancer,and pushes for changes in policy that improveresearch.


CASE STUDY by CHRIS bERNARD, IDEALWARE

at-a-Glance:fiGht colorectalcancerO$1 million budgetOseven staff

They’ve been using it since 2006 to track allconstituent data, all financial data, case man-agement, advocacy organization contacts,email lists and statistics, and more.“We do webinars andmove the information

we got from the webinar to Salesforce to tracksign-ups and surveys and other information,”she said. “We do have information thatmay livein other places, but 99 percent of the time, it’sonly there because that’s where it first went in.Then it goes into Salesforce, which is our data-base for nearly everything.”There is a limitation to the single database,

and Sohn said they use a separate e-commercesystem for people who purchase fundraisingbracelets or awarenessmaterials. “We do trackin Salesforce that someone purchased some-

thing, but thesystem we usehas a not-very-robust Salesforceintegration, sothings like salestax managementand inventory istoo weak and notworth the effort.As long as we arenot duplicatingany information,it’s not an issue.”



GooGle+Since it’s late June 2011 launch, Google+ has become one of thehottest buzz words in Nonprofit Technology. Google+, thenewest social network to join the scene, offers basic socialnetwork features (like video, image and thought sharing), buthas a few unique features as well.

Most notably, Google+ lets you place your friends in “circles.”Users can create multiple circles and place individuals in asmany circles as apply. When posting to a stream, simply selectwhich circles to share that information with, allowing usersmore control over who is able to access the information thatyou post: audience segmentation.

Another great feature of the platform are “hangouts,”essentially: free group video conferencing. by clicking the“start a hangout” button on the side of your stream, you’retaken to a second screen where you can add specific circles orindividuals to your hangout. Note that you’re limited to 10participants at a time.

Google+ has also launched a feature that could have multipleuses for non-profits called “ripples.” Clicking on the upperright corner of a post brings up a drop drown menu; if the posthas been shared you’ll have the option to “view ripples.”Clicking this link brings you to a graphic representation of howthe post was shared across networks. When you hover over aspecific user’s name, you’ll also see what they said whensharing the post. It’s a great way to identify not only why folksare sharing your content, but who shares most frequently andhas the most influence: nonprofits can identify the members oftheir community who are championing their cause.

you can read more about how nonprofits are using Google+here, and here.

Wh

at

’sh

ot

?“We haveinformationTHAT MAY LIVEIN OTHERPLACES, BUT ITEVENTUALLYGOES INTOSALESFORCE.”

Always at capacity, the nonprofit’s 29 residents come fromsuch difficult life situations as domestic violence, war, tor-ture, and displacement from their home countries.Associate Director Hilary Otey said the organization

works with a wide range of community partners to providethe services its residents need rather than providing them inhouse so that “when they move on, which is the goal, they’llhave those connections, support systems andempowerment.”In all, staff tracks 23 different “person types,” Otey said,

including the residents, volunteers, community organizationsand partners, financial donors, and others. The nonprofit isaffiliatedwith the Sisters of St. JosephCarondelet, and thereare other faith-based organizations with which it maintainsrelations—and therefore needs to also track.“An important constituent—I’mnot sure I’d call them ‘crit-

ical,’ because we have so many groups that are important—would be a donor,” she said. “About 80-90 percent of our

revenue relies on donors, and the rest isearned income. We’re tracking their contactinfo, their gift dates, their participation inevents.”Until recently, staff tracked everything in

Excel. Or at least, they tried to.“That didn’t work well,” Otey said, being

diplomatic. “There were no email addresses,really, no regular newsletters, no givinghistory. We had zero ability to really figureout whowas giving and how to customize orspecialize messages or asks or anything likethat.Nodirectmail campaignor anything likethat.”About a year ago, Sarah’s underwent a

leadership change, and both the executivedirector—which is more of a services-focused position—andthe associate director positions changed hands. Both Oteyand the new executive director have seen the value of tech-nology in their careers, andmade it a priority to bring Sarah’smore in line with current capabilities. They researched andevaluated options for a donor relationshipmanagement data-base and a separate system to manage the direct advocacy

and referral services theyprovide.“Becausewehad such var-

ied needs and a strong desirefor a high level of customiza-tion, aswell as a goal tomoveeverything to a web-basedformat,wedecided to gowithBlackbaud’s eTapestry and

trackinG constituentsin tWo systemsIn St. Paul, Minnesota, Sarah’s is a home for womenin transition—sometimes referred to as a “supportivehousing program” that provides housing, a community,safety and the basic necessities of life—as well asreferral and direct advocacy services—for the womenwho live there.



at-a-Glance:sarah’s… an oasisfor WomenOless than $500,000

budgetOfour staff

Community TechKnowledge’s Apricot,” Otey said. “We’re inthe process of getting those up and running now, sowe aren’tfar enough along to determine the pros and cons.”Staff use eTapestry for donor relations and communica-

tion management—basically, tracking all contacts, relation-ships and gifts, and sendingelectronic newsletters. Apricotserves as a “resident managementsystem” she said—basically, a casemanagement database.“It’s not completely set up yet,”

Otey said. “The big benefit is thatit’s totally customizable, but ittakes so much staff time to createall the user-defined fields. With ahandful of staff, it’s tough to getthat up and running.”The two systems aren’t inte-

grated at all, and there’s no needfor them to be.“The only need I would see for

that is, when a resident who isbeing tracked in Apricot moves out, then she would be putinto the eTapestry,” she said. Former residents are still valu-able to the organization in many ways, and receive emailsand newsletters and sometimes act as volunteers or donors.However, with just 29 residents living at Sarah’s at any onetime, it’s not difficult to enter the appropriate informationmanually.“I’m sure our trackingwill becomemore complex, andour

reportingwill becomemore sophisticated as I becomemorecomfortable.”



theory ofchanGeWhat is a “Theory of Change”? It’s a road mapthat articulates the perception an organizationhas around what the required building blocks areto reach a complex goal. While we approachevery goal with a theory of change, thecomplexity of the goal is what determines theneed to formalize it or not. There is no need todocument a theory of change for sending outthat newsletter, but more complex mission-oriented goals such as alleviating poverty orhealthcare for underserved communities canbenefit from it.

A theory of change includes ideal outcomes,an assessment of current reality, and theelements needed to bridge the gap betweenthe two. More importantly, it makes explicitthe values and assumptions that shape theunderstanding an organization has for thetheory. A lack of clarity of the values andassumptions behind an informal theory ofchange increases the potential for differing“understandings” to impact an organization’sability to cohesively implement the actions of amore tactical document such as a strategic plan.Explicit values and assumptions also make iteasier to communicate with partners andstakeholders around your work.

Find more information and examples onlinehere.

Wh

at

’st

his

?

untilrecently,STAFFTRACKEDEVERYTHINGIN EXCEL.OR ATLEAST, THEYTRIED TO.

While he likes the idea of a single database that tracks somany different groups comfortably, Earthjustice currentlyuses separate systems.“We use disjointed systems to track them,” he said. “On

the fundraising and advocacy side, we use Blackbaud andConvio, but they’re notwell-integrated. Blackbaud’s ECRMproduct doesn’t support the advocacy functions that werequire. On the legal side, we use an archaic legal case-man-agement system that was designed to support commerciallitigation, not our less-structured mix of clients and cases.We end up tracking the contacts that aren’t in ourdonor/ECRM databases in Outlook Exchange.”One of his previous employers, a Goodwill, used Sales-

force as a single database for all constituents, but the com-panymodel there supported it. “At Goodwill, we tried to seepeople holistically, as a vendor could also be an employer, ora customer could also be a donor,” he said.“At Earthjustice, there’s less natural crossover among our

constituents, so the holistic view is desirable, but not ascompelling.”

“Blackbaud CRM and Convio don’tintegrate seamlessly,” Campbell said.“Right now, we have to do a lot of manualsynching. “We put the most effort intotracking donors, and I think that’s for acouple of reasons.“One is that there are good systems for

tracking donors, and it’s expected that anorganization of our size, which dependson donations, will use them. Litigation ismore of a document-management chal-lenge, so prioritizing CRMon the program

side has been, historically, of lower importance,” he said.Campbell is hopeful that Earthjustice will evolve in the

area of data management. “Our current strategic planningprocess is highlighting the need for more production ofmetrics and better data management,” he said. “There arecases to be made for CRM to play a larger role in our legalwork, as, when you boil it down, all of our work is people-centric. But we have a lot of work to do beforewe tackle thedream of doing it all in one database.”He said he feels his organization faces many of the same

issues as other mid-sized nonprofits. “There are a lotof smaller organizations strugglingmore than us becausewe

have sufficient budget andstaff to address the problem,”Campbell said. “We recog-nize that we have to be data-centric, and we’redeveloping the plan to getthere.

trackinG constituentsin many systemsPeter Campbell, IT Director for the environmental lawfirm Earthjustice, said his organization sees both clientsand donors as key constituencies amongmany, includinglist subscribers, advocates, legal contacts, vendors,trustees and other groups.



at-a-Glance:earthjusticeOBudget: about $25

millionO200 staff, 10 offices

Your Internet PublicSomeone Googles you or enters your URL in a browser.

START HERE!

Website AnalyticsA website analytics tool, like Google Analytics, helps you un-derstand what’s working on your site and what you can improve.

Broadcast Email Even if you use a differ-ent vendor for broadcast email, you should still be able to let people sign up

for it through your website.

Online PaymentOnline payments are often handled by pages that look like your website, but are actually created by another vendor.

Constituent ManagementWhen someone takes action on your site, you’ll want to keep track of them in a Constituent Management System.

Social Media Social media—like Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter—can let you pull news and pictures into your site and potentially let you start a con-versation.

Content ManagementSystem (CMS)…and posts them to the website through a Content

Management System.

Website HostYour website lives on a server—a secure computer connected to the internet —that’s typically provided by a website host for a

monthly fee.

Website Content Here You publish content from your CMS. It shows up in one or multiple places across your web-site according to rules you’ve pre-established in your CMS.

Your Writers and EditorsYour visitors come to see interesting stuff, so your staff comes up with compelling articles and photos…

Domain RegistrarYou setup your web address with a domain registrar—like Network Solutions or GoDaddy. The registrar points people looking for your site to your web host.

Your CMS might provide integrated email, payment tools or other features that live on the same web host—or you might use separate vendors for those.

Mapping Your Website EcosystemWhat does it take to build a feature-rich website? Every website is different, but here are some of the players and types of software you’re most likely to encounter.

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“I want to be sure that we do more than just teach you something – we show you how to apply it to your day-to-day work.”

—Andrea Berry, Director of Partnerships and Learning

What do you want to learn today? This is Andrea. In the coming months, she’ll lead trainings on donor management systems, email fundraising and social media decision making, just three of the many courses Idealware offers. All of our trainings—like our articles and reports—are packed with original research

decisions about software.

To register for online trainings, commission us to train your network, or just to learn more about Andrea and the rest of the Idealware team, visit www.idealware.org.

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WHY I.T. GOVERNANCEIS IMPORTANT FORSMALL NONPROFITSA commonmisconception is that IT governance is only forbig enterprises. In the nonprofit world, technology can beboth boon and bane. Sometimes it feels likewe are beholdento it, sometimes it enables us to accomplish wonders thatwe would have never thought possible in the past.

Ensuring that there is a strategy for technology selectionand adoption, as well as an assessment of the potential risksassociated with the technology or data it will handle, arecore elements of IT governance for small organizations.Technologies should be selected based on their ability tosupport the strategic objectives of the organization, notbecause they’re “cool” or “the newest thing.” The increasingease of access to technology by the public, and decreasingresistance to usage, make it easier for us to leverage tech-nology-based solutions and have them adopted by our con-stituents and donors.

However, we also have to balance the benefits of newtechnologywith the risks it may pose to our financial, oper-ations, or compliance activities. These are the risks that ulti-mately impact our programs and ability to achieve ourmission. So the risksmust be assessed andmitigated by exec-utive leadership and programmanagers in conjunctionwithyour IT staff/service providers. Strategic selection, adoption,and riskmanagement are core, and don’t have to be complex,for small nonprofits. If your organization, big or small, isusing technology and you don’t have good IT governance,you can’t say that you have good governance. This doesn’tmean that you have tomicro-manage your IT staff and serv-ice providers. It justmeans that you need to have better over-sight of their activities to ensure that your IT is alignedwithyour mission—and that you are maximizing your ability toleverage IT to contribute to achieving your mission.

When strategically governed, IT shifts from an operatingcost to a strategic investment.When effectivelymanaged, ITcosts can be minimized and the risk of IT failures miti-gated—whether associatedwith an individual project or ourcore operating infrastructure.When efficiently deployed, ITenables us to accomplish more with the same limitedresources and to provide new and innovative services with-out a huge capital outlay. When synergistically integrated,IT extends our reach to our donors, constituents, and vol-unteers, making them feel more a part of our organizationand enabling us to better achieve our mission.

Donny C. Shimamoto, CPA/CITPIntraprise TechKnowlogies, LLC


TECH ACROSS YOUR ORG: IT GOVERNANCE

ENGAGING MAJORDONORS WITH NEWMEDIAAfter 25 years of traditional fundraising, I was well-versedat communicatingwith donors using standardmail, printeddocuments, telephone, and ultimately by composing andsubmitting detailed grant proposals. I was reluctant to payattention to social media, which seemed frivolous to methree years ago.Using social media for major gift fundraising and

planned giving has been viewed somewhat skeptically bythe traditional fundraising community.Major gift fundrais-ers—including planned giving professionals – tend to focuson older individuals whose careers are established: theirchildren have left home, their financial obligations arereduced, and they have the means to consider making sig-nificant charitable gifts.As social media use began to increase among older gen-

erations approximately two years ago, however, using socialmedia to communicate with them about nonprofit projectsand issues started to makemore sense. No longer viewed asa “toy” for young people, socialmedia and new technologieshave truly become a communications lifeline for all ages.My first invitation to create a Facebook page and be

“friended” came from a donorwhose family has contributedsignificantly to several of my nonprofit projects, in theseven-figure range, in fact. After considering how impor-tant this person is to me and my nonprofit projects, I tookthe leap. I haven’t looked back since.

Jamie Carracher of EdelmanDigital notes, “older peopleare among the fastest-growing demographics online. Socialnetwork use among Internet users 50 years old and olderhas nearly doubled to 42% over the past year …. in the U.S.alone there are nearly 16 million people 55 and older usingFacebook” (Mashable Social Media, April 6, 2011). JimJansen of Pew Internet &American Life Project reports that“95% of those in households earning over $75,000 use theInternet and cell phones” (November 24, 2010).So how should we reach major gift donors? The tech-

niques are similar for donors at any level. “Cross-pollinate”:be sure yourwebsite, e-mail andprintedpublications includelinks to your social media venues. Develop a thoughtfulsocial media communications strategy to regularly discussyour nonprofit’s mission, financial needs and most press-ing issues. Consider developing cause-specific apps for evengreater depth of discussion. Actively seek donors out andask them to “like” your Facebook page, or to join groupsyou’ve established using other forms of social media.The bottom line: donors are receivingmore requests than

ever.Whilewaiting for that critical, in-personmeeting, con-sider informing and engaging them using social media andnew technologies. In the end, these methodsmake life eas-ier on everyone – grant maker and grant seeker. For moreinformation, you might enjoy reviewing a workshop pres-entation that Holly Ross of NTEN, Kristen Schultz ofCrescendo Interactive, Inc., and I created for Charity-Channel (October, 2011).

CarolynM. Appleon, CFREcarolynmappleton.wordpress.com


TECH ACROSS YOUR ORG: MAJOR GIFTS FUNDRAISING

This is the pink ribbon.

This is the pink ribbon that was worn by the survivor.

Who shared her story on Facebook.

So that friends and family would donate.

Through a social fundraising page.

That was powered by

COMMON GROUND™

Behind every bit of good your organization does, there’s a story of what made it possible.

www.convio.com/missionpossible


TECHNOLOGY IS NOTA MAGIC BULLETIt’s a tale as old as time. No matter what area your organi-zation focuses in, no matter how many people work there,nomatter howmuchmoney is coming in the door, one thingremains the same across the board: there’s always toomuchto do, and never enough time or resources to get it all done.Sound familiar? It’s a common frustration shared in ourcommunity.With that in mind, and with the incredible breadth and

depth of tools available to us in 2011, it’s often tempting tothink of technology –whether it’s outward facing, like socialmedia, or internal infrastructure, like a CRM– as a magicbullet. It’s the buzz word that leaders always want to hear,and often throw around without much thought as to whatit actually means.At the Iraq andAfghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA),

our mission is to better the lives of the over 2 millionnew veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. With such a geo-graphically and demographically diverse population, there’sonly so much we can do from our two offices and 40 staffmembers.Two years ago, we faced a dilemma as we entered into a

new partnership that would provide thousands of vets tick-ets to baseball games, NASCAR races, and more. Up untilthen, tickets and gives like that had been a one-off thatwould involve an email to the local area and a staff mem-ber’s time sorting through responses, RSVPs and requests.It just wasn’t a sustainable process – andwe needed to turnit on its head.

After studying how other businesses and organizationsdistribute large quantities of goods, and after weeks ofbrainstorming and strategizing, the Rucksack was born. Atits core, the Rucksack is essentially a Ticketmaster for vets.Our members log on, see what’s available, claim theirrewards, and then get to have a great afternoon at a ballgame – and it’s all auto-mated, thanks to the dataand constituent manage-ment behind the website webuilt with Salesforce.The Rucksack has truly

revolutionized how IAVAworks, and it continues toevolve and change as ourneeds do. It’s technologythat allows us to do whatwe already do, but betterand faster.Technology for the sake of itself will not get you very far.

Sure, you might end up with a flashy Facebook app, or adatabase solution that does the bare minimum you need,but is that improving the work you do on a daily basis or isit only adding more work to your plate? It’s a question thatneeds to be asked from the ExecutiveDirector’s office downto the cubicles in Intern Alley.Without a strategic goal iden-tified before diving headfirst into something new and flashy,you won’t be doing you or your cause any favors.

Meghan Teich, Director of Digital EngagementIAVA

TECH ACROSS YOUR ORG: PROGRAM INNOVATION

Oclick here toview the recordedwebinar aboutiava’s innovativeproject (ntenmembers access itfor free, or, find theslides under the“materials” tab).

GROWING YOUREMAIL LISTI’m often asked questions about how to build an email list ofdonors, supporters and members to communicate to. Whileyou may put together the best looking and most compellingemail campaigns ever, without a permission-based list ofpeople to receive them, your messages can go unseen.Fortunately, there are a number of simple ways to build andmaintain your email contact list so you can reach the peopleyour organization covets the most: your loyal donors,supporters and members.

1 Ask in person: When your donors or members comeinto your nonprofit or attend one of your events, areyou asking for their email address? Letting them walk

out the door without asking is equivalent to losing a valuableasset. Why not ask?

There are multiple ways to do so. One way is to give yourstaff an incentive to ask. I recommend creating a contest tosee how many email addresses your organization can collectover a given time period. Everyone likes to win, so make agame of collecting email addresses and get your entire organ-ization involved.

You should also advertise the availability of your newslet-ter at events. At your event, ask people when they check-in orregister if they would like to be added to your email list.

2Add a Join My Mailing List box: Make the Join MyMailing List box a key feature on your website so thatit appears prominently on just about every page.

Through search engine queries, you never know where peo-ple may land on your site. Adding the box to every pageensures that no matter how a visitor finds you, he or she willhave an opportunity to join your list.

3Link to your signup page: Going beyond your web-site, put links to sign up for your newsletter in theemails you send and in the signatures of your staff email

accounts.

4Promote upcoming issues of your newsletters viasocial media: Another way to get people to sign upfor your mailing list is to provide a teaser for an upcom-

ing mailing on your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts.A quick “Want to know more about Topic X? Sign up for ournewsletter” with a link to your signup page will compel peopleto join.

DIY NONPROFIT TECHNOLOGY


5Set expectations: Whether you’re asking for an emailaddress face-to-face or online, it’s important to setexpectations for the person signing up. Give people

a visual so they can see what they’re signing up to receive.An easy way to accomplish this is to show supporters a recentemail, either with a color printout of your newsletter orthrough links to your email newsletter archive.

When asking someone to join your list in person, phrase thequestion like this: “Would you like to sign up for our monthlynewsletter for upcoming events and other information?” Thissets the expectation that those signing up will receive some-thing from you on a monthly basis.

A similar effort should be made online. Tell people whenthey’re signing up exactly what they will be getting and howoften. This way, subscribers are not surprised when your firstemail arrives. I also recommend that you send a confirmationemail to new subscribers joining your email list. The messageshould reiterate what the recipient has signed up for andinclude a special “thank you” for being such a loyal supporter.

6Contacts are a valuable asset: Your list isn’t going togrow magically without prodding. Make sure you engagesupporters and members whenever and wherever you

come in contact with them – be it in your office, at an event, onyour website, in your regular email correspondence or on yourFacebook Page. At every turn, you, your staff, and your digitalpresence should be directing supporters to join your email list.Find more list-building tips in our Learning Center.

ALEC STERN, VP STRATEGIC MARKET DEVELOPMENT,CONSTANT CONTACT, @ALECSTERN



FEATURE STORY: BOOSTING

BOARD COLLABORATIONIdealware's Chris Bernard takes us through the

considerations and the options for getting your board

collaborating. With the right tools, the sky's the limit

for the work you can do together. [PAGE 4 ]

CHANGEINSIDE THIS EDITION: PAGE 19

CASE STUDY: BoardCollaboration at NPowerMichiganEven a tech-savvy boardwill need time and training

to adapt a new tool

What 1.9 MillionDonors Tell Us AboutOnline FundraisingFrom Network for Good'sKatya Andresen

CASE STUDY: End-of-YearFundraising CampaignM+R Strategic Servicesshares lessons learnedwith Oxfam Americaduring 2010 PAGE 23

PAGE 11

ISSUE ONE · MARCH, 2011


CHANGEINSIDE THIS EDITION:

PAGE 21

CASE STUDY: SF Public Press

On measuring social media

for outreach

Nonprofit Green IT

Jennifer Woofter

provides a roadmap for

guiding your team to a

greener office—and

bottom line

CASE STUDY: Measuring

Engagement

Idealware's Chris

Bernard documents one

org's Facebook

campaign PAGE 25

PAGE 5

ISSUE THREE · SEPTEMBER,2011


FEATURE STORY: MEASURING

YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS

Idealware's Andrea Berry explains what and how to

measure for your mission. [PAGE 14 ]

FEATURE STORY: FACEBOOKFOR VOLUNTEERSIdealware's Chris Bernard tackles the tough question ofwhether Facebook can be an effective volunteerrecruitment and engagement tool. [PAGE 5 ]

CHANGEINSIDE THIS EDITION: PAGE 23

CASE STUDY: A Multi-ChannelOnline CampaignTechSoup shares lessonslearned from their DigitalStorytelling Initiative

Show Me the WorldMake this the year youharness video foryour cause, say See3’sMichael Hoffman andDanny Alpert

CASE STUDY: FacebookRecruitment at AVPIdealware’s ChrisBernard takes us behindthe scenes

PAGE 19

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ISSUE TWO · JUNE, 2011


CHANGEINSIDETHISEDITION:

Feature: MultipleConstituent Groups, OneData Base? How To TrackEveryone Who’s Anyoneto You

CASE STUDY: TrackingConstituents in One SystemFight ColorectalCancer

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CASE STUDY: TrackingConstituents in TwoSystems Sarahs... An Oasisfor Women

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CASE STUDY: TrackingConstituents in ManySystemsEarthjustice

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FEATURE STORY: FROMOUTCOMES TO IMPACTPlus: A Case Study from Greenlights for Nonprofit Success[PAGE 4 ]

HOWAREWE DOING?This journal is a new resource fromNTEN for non-profit leaders, and we want to make sure we’redelivering content that is relevant, helpful, andeasy to access. Please take just a few minutes totell us what you think:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NTENChange1

TAKE CONTROL OF YOURORGANIZATION’S DATADecentralized data entry is efficient and is the only practicalapproach at some organizations. But the more people you haveentering data the more problems you’ll have with quality con-trol. If no one’s in charge of quality control, you’re going tohave a database full of garbage.

It’s a tough problem. Here are a few approaches (other thanlocking down data entry):

1 Policies. You need clear data entry standards. Forinstance, do you spell out “Boulevard” or abbreviate itas “Bl” or Blvd”? Do you use punctuation (N Main St or

N. Main St.)? If your database has a separate “sort name,” whatare the rules (does The William and Flora Hewlett Foundationget sorted under Hewlett or Foundation or…)?

Some of those standards should be managed by your database.For example, it shouldn’t allow AA as a U.S. state code or letyou make up titles for people (e.g., it should allow “Mr.” butnot “Mister”). You can find sample data entry policies onlinehere or by doing a web search like “data entry manual”.

2Security. You need to control who can make changesand what they can change. Who can change a mailingaddress? A phone number? An email address? (And no

one should be able to modify or delete a gift after it’s beenposted.)

3Training. No one gets access to change data withouttraining on your policies. Training should be targeted torole. You don’t need a week of training to enter a con-

tact report.

4Monitoring. Someone (or multiple someones) needsto review new and changed entries.

5Retraining. When people make mistakes, bring it totheir attention. Some organizations make that personfix the mistake. If they continue to make mistakes, you

need to retrain them and be prepared to take away their dataentry access.

6Automation. You should at least run reports regularlyto look for errors. You may be able to automate somefixes. You might also use vendors to perform cleanups

like merge/purges on duplicates.

7Acceptance. Some things have to be fixed by youroffice or by Development Services. No one is going tofire an effective fundraiser because she’s bad at data

entry (although they might get her an assistant who will han-dle the entry). Also, don’t forget that some things are out ofyour control: donors will give online and misspell their ownnames, or leave the caps lock on.

ROBERTWEINER, ROBERT L. WEINER CONSULTINGTWITTER: @ROBERT_WEINER



TURN DATA INTOSTORIESData is so much more than a stack of numbers or a server filledwith client outputs. It can justify the work that your organiza-tion is doing, help others understand why it is critical, and offerexciting new ways to motivate others to help solve the prob-lems your organization is working on.

Here are 3 ways to tell your stories with data.

1 Speak With Numbers: Sometimes, it’s best to just letthe numbers speak for themselves. Numbers are auniversal language. You can make a big impression

just by presenting them clearly, and in context with your othercontent.

Charity Water, an organization that raises money to buildwells in Africa has learned the lesson. Look how elegantly theytell the story of the need for fresh drinking water, and the dif-ference their programs are making.

2Tell your Story, Literally! Sometimes the best way toexplain your data is to do just that - explain it. Usingvideo explanations of even simple charts and graphs

can help website visitors quickly get the big picture - and armsthem with an understanding of the data that lets them exploreand discover more confidently on their own.

Hans Rosling, the dutch economist famous for his TED Talksthat reveal the insight we can gain from data, has popu-larized the approach. And even better, through his collabora-tion with Google, he’s made his data visualization softwareavailable to everyone through GapMinder.com, and nowthrough Google Spreadsheets Widgets.

3Reveal Change: Many of the stories we’d like people tounderstand are centered on revealing the real, long-term impact of a problem or a solution over time: what

is the trend you want to stop, or what is the change you’remaking?

The impact can become obvious when you reveal thesignificant change in data in a visual way, whether you arerevealing conditions that are worsening, attitudes that arechanging, or the improvements your organization is making.



EditorAnnaliese HoehlingPublications Director, NTEN

DesignerPhilip KraynaNeuwirth/Krayna Design

Editorial Advisory BoardDebra AskanaseCEO and Engagement Strategist,Community Organizer 2.0

Chris BernardSenior Editor, Idealware

Britt BravoBig Vision Consulting

Barbara BuswellExecutive DirectorPEAK Parent Center

Gavin ClabaughVice President & CIOCharles Stewart Mott Foundation

Martin DooleyIT & Operations ManagerCenter for Resource Solutions

Deborah Elizabeth FinnNonprofit Technology Strategistand Consultant

Paula JonesDirector of Technology andAdministration N.C. Center forNonprofits

JohnAKenyonNonprofit TechnologyEducator & Strategist, John A KenyonConsulting

Kivi LerouxMillerPresident, Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com

JulieMacalikMembership & EngagementManager, Greenlights

JohnMerrittVice President of MIS,YMCA of San Diego County

Laura QuinnExecutive Director, Idealware

Amy SampleWardMembership Director, NTEN

Ash ShepherdProject Strategist, NPower Northwest

Michael SteinSenior Account Executive, Donordigital

Advertising: Contact Holly Ross, NTEN’s Executive Director,regarding advertising in NTEN: Change

Permissions & Inquiries: Please give credit to all referencedor re-published content according to the Creative Common license:Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Example Attribution text:“First published in NTEN: Change (http://nten.org/NTENChange),SEPTEMBER 2011, CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).” More information about the journal can befound at http://nten.org/NTENChange/Press

chanGeA Quarterly Journal for Nonprofit Leaders


My favorite example of this technique is the Descry Project’sObesity Epidemic visualization. By using the simple metaphorof t-shirt size to represent a US State’s obesity rate, and makingthem “grow” over a two decade period—we can quickly see howAmerica’s waistline has ballooned since 1987.

Read the expanded version of this article – with more tipsand examples online here.

KURT VOELKER, CTO, FORUM ONE


WHAT DOES THE CLOUD MEANFOR NONPROFITS?AN NTEN MINI-DOCUMENTARY

CLICK TO PLAY


This fall NTEN helda Nonprofit Cloud Summitin San Francisco, whereattendees discussed theopportunities andchallenges that cloudtechnology solutions offerto nonprofits.Watch thismini-documentary to hearfrom attendees, who camefrom local nonprofits.

the nonprofit technoloGyleadership academy IS A 9-

WEEK ONLINE TRAINING PROGRAM

DESIGNED TO HELP NONPROFIT

LEADERS UNDERSTAND HOW TO

MANAGE TECHNOLOGY TO BOTH

MEET THEIR BASIC OPERATIONAL

NEEDS AND MEET THEIR MISSIONS.

Each participating organization is represented by the Execu-tive Director (or non-technical Leadership staff) and onetechnology-responsible staff person. In this section we hearfrom Academy participants in their own words.

QUESTION: How has your organization dealt withchange in the past? What challenges or stumblingblocks did you encounter? What are things you thinkyou can do in the future to help staff adopt technologychange?

our organization has dealt with change in a few differentways in the past. Some of the challenges that are faced

are finding the expertise to guide some of the changes andtrusting vendors to set realistic goals andfollow through.

In the future, things we can do to help staff adapt technol-ogy change include doing small pilot projects (if it fails, it failssmall, if it succeeds, do a full deployment), keeping it as sim-ple as possible, and clearly communicating how the technologychange will help us achieve our organizational and personalgoals.

jason shim, director of the BoardWaterloo film Group

When I came to our organization five years ago, Ibelieved that folks were in tune with what was needed

in using technology for a variety of tasks. I made a big mistakein thinking that if the organization provided the time for train-ing and offered professional training that staff would be excited



about the opportunity. Only one staff member took advantageof the training in word processing, spreadsheets and email.The rest plodded along using the computer as a glorified type-writer.

Fast forward to today . . . we made knowing how to use tech-nology an integral part of our application and hiring process.The addition of new staff members willing to utilize the toolsgave others the freedom to take risks as well.

The most important thing that I have learned is that youwork with employees where they are and move them alongthe continuum in using technology. Training is just in time andin the manner the employee determines works for them.

elaine roberts, executive directorsouth dakota parent connection, inc.

it’s hard to comment from a historical perspective, since I’veonly been here at the WCBA since January. I can tell you

that “Change” has probably been the key marker of my timehere, and the staff has been incredible with accepting it.

I think the most important parts about change are:• Getting excited about it: remember what the end result is

going to be, not the process to get there• Compiling input from various sources: experts, member/vol-

unteers, and the staff who will be utilizing the change on adaily basis. Make sure that all stakeholders have a chance tothink, consider and offer feedback

• Be ready for a few hiccups or failures along the way, anddon’t let them define the entire project.Whitney von haam, executive directorWake county Bar association

We are moving our database functions to a custom web-based application, which will be very different for our

entire organization. We are trying several techniques to mini-mize the stress caused by this change and increase buy-in:1) involving the staff in the process by meeting with them mul-

tiple times to gather their input2) providing gift cards to staff that offer written feedback

(either positive or negative) about the project3) providing t-shirts to staff as their department “adopts” the

new application4) asking staff to complete a post-implementation survey as

new modules are rolled out5) reporting progress in periodic emails to all staff6) reporting progress in monthly staff meetings

dayna delavergne, director of itfoundations for laity renewal

We are a very small organization so our changes havebeen pretty smooth. While it depends on the particu-

lar people involved and their resistance to change, in general,I think smaller organizations have the flexibility to adapt morequickly or easily. Either way, communication is critical: ensur-ing everyone’s feedback is heard and considered, taking timeto plan implementation and providing support along the way.

hilary otey, associate directorsarah’s . . . an oasis for Women

over the past few years, we have been through a tremen-dous amount of change—from a complete board



transition in 2008 to havingto lay off 68% of staff in2009 (due to recession). Itook on this position rightafter the layoffs happened.Staff were a little shaky afterall of that because they feltextremely vulnerable. I havehad to really work withthem to ensure they areconstantly getting informa-tion and feel they have a fulland transparent picture of what is going on. It has not beeneasy but we have slowly gotten back on our feet and are strongagain as an organization. We have a great board and a strongteam of staff. Key to helping them embrace change is reallycommunicating relevant and timely information to them andinvolving them in discussions.

With regards to technology change, it is similar. The key isworking with them to understand the change, how it impactstheir work and our mission, and helping to alleviate any fearsor concerns they have. As with any change, some people reallystep up and help lead it, some take a while longer, and a fewmay never fully embrace it.

marisia Geraci, executive directorheifer international – south africa

We try to be as proactive as possible when change iscoming. That means sending out advance notice

emails, holding staff meetings to talk about it, and goingthrough training when appropriate. The biggest stumblingblocks are when people don’t buy-in to a new system. Changeis always difficult since it’s different. Until people accept thenew system, they are constantly fighting it. The best thing is topromote the benefits of the new technology. People need tosee that it’s not just better for our organization, but it’s betterfor the individual user.

adam pomerantz, director of finance and adminis-tration, WinGs for kids

the biggest technology change that the Foundation hadsince I’ve been here was implementing a completely

revamped website. In the process of developing the project,all program staff were asked how we see our website becom-ing more effective. I thought this was a very good way to dealwith change. However, this process was only conducted indi-vidually with each staff. I think it could have been even morebeneficial if there was also an open dialogue between every-body to bounce some ideas around and get feedback fromeach other.

Right now, we are in the middle of deciding on a new grantmanagement system. This time, we asked everyone individu-ally what they expect and think about the project but alsoinvolved all staff, along with the executive director and presi-dent, in one conversation about how we foresee the differentuses of the system as a team.

phuong pham, communications coordinatorthe vilcek foundation



staff needTO SEE THATIT’S NOT JUSTBETTER FOR THEORGANIZATION,IT’S BETTER FORTHEM.

MUST-HAVE TOOLSFOR EXECUTIVEDIRECTORSfrom holly rossnten’s executive director

As an Executive Director, I especially love talking to other lead-ers about technology. No matter what prompts the conversa-tion though, it almost always circles back to the same place:productivity.

For the ED, the ultimate win fortechnology comes when we geteven 1% more efficient. That’s all ittakes. See how easy we are toplease? So, for my fellow nonprofitleaders, here are the technologytools I can’t live without.

1 Evernote – As the leader,I have a lot of things to keeptrack of – from human

resource to program to fundraisingto, well, technology. It’s exacerbated by the fact that it’s a 24/7job. I have some of my best ideas while washing dishes, and Ifind some of the best sites while on the train. Evernote lets meorganize files, web sites, pictures, audio, and notes, from anydevice. If I see conference signage I want Anna to use at thenext NTC, I snap a picture and save it in my NTC notebook. If Ifind a great article on IRS cell phone reimbursement policies,

I can clip it straight from the browser into my Operations note-book. I can retrieve these items from my phone, my tablet, mylaptop, or any computer with a browser.

2Dropbox – Did I already mention that this is a 24/7job? Another resource that lets you work on the filesyou want, when you want, is Dropbox. I save all my pre-

sentations into Dropbox, so I can download and edit them onany computer or tablet. I can also email a link to the file to any-one else, like a collaborator on the document or a staff mem-ber that needs a copy.

3Expensify – No more lost receipts – and automagicalexpense reports! That is all, and that is enough.

4Tripit – If you travel more than once a month, youneed TripIt. TripIt organizes all your travel informationinto a cohesive file for each trip, keeping your confir-

mation numbers and locations all in one place. It works on acomputer, tablet, or on your phone. It can even send you textmessage travel updates and reminders.

5Spotify – OK, it’s not about productivity, per se. Butstreaming KClark’s new album always makes me worka little faster.

As a nonprofit leader, what technology tools make you moreproductive? Share your suggestions with us!

TECH TIPS FOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

5

FLICKR CREDIT: LOVEBUGSTUDIOS


Leave your comment on our blog and mention you’re anNTEN:Change reader – and we’ll pick one lucky commenter to wincomplimentary membership from NTEN for 2012!

“Failure is success if we learn from it.”—Malcolm Forbes

Failing informatively – deliberately learning from experi-ences in order to guide decisions – can help a nonprofit bet-ter meet its mission. The challenge of failing informativelyis really about shifting the game: expect to fail, and planahead so that failures are small, early, and frequent, ratherthan big, late, and disruptive.The nonprofit sector is, generally speaking, reluctant to

discuss failure. This reluctance is symptomatic of a largerproblem: the inability to have a learning conversation withall the key stakeholders, including funders and programofficers, nonprofit field staff, and executive leadership,about the failure of a specific program or project. Avoidingadmitting failure is a natural human instinct. However,unless organizations are able to talk about failure in anopen, honest space, they will be doomed to repeat the mis-takes of their past, and possibly themistakes of other organ-izations aswell. Case in point: we put out a call to theNTENcommunity to share nonprofit technology failure stories,and got exactly zero responses.

Failure is key to learning and growth. Of course, not allfailures are created equal. Experimenting with a new con-tent management system by migrating your whole websitebefore testing it can be a recipe for disaster, for example.But there is such thing as a good failure. In our experience,a “good nonprofit technology failure” is a learning experi-ence that provides the basis for future growth, efficiency,and impact, without negatively impacting your organiza-tion.As a rule of thumb, fail early and often. Work with peo-

ple who are open to failing, and embrace the idea of risk-taking. Take educated risks early on in a project, knowingthat some of themwill fail.When they do, acknowledge thefailures, make a point of reflecting on what you can learnfrom themwith a minimum of judgment, move on, and tryagain.The only way to never fail is to never try anything new.

Technology changes are by definition new – whether it’s

COMMUNITY QUESTION


hoW do youencouraGe your orGto fail informatively?

new to thewhole organization, to one department, or just toa handful of individuals. And taking on that new thing,whether it’s starting to use social media or implementing anew donor management system, involves some risk. Thereis no way to completely eliminate any possibility of failure.So what’s a nonprofit to do?The best way to address thepossibility of failure is to trytomitigate it somewhat, butmostly to embrace it.What that means is that

you have to create safespaces to fail in your organ-ization, and safe spaces totalk about failure. You cantry this in small ways at first:hold a departmental meet-ing and make it clear that any information that is divulgedat themeeting a) stays with the participants in themeetingand b) won’t be used punitively. In fact, you can evenprovide an award for the greatest failure—provided that thestory of the failure is accompanied by an explanation oflessons learned, and howwhatever caused the failurewon’tbe repeated.Once you start to make it clear that your organization

won’t punish informative (early) failures, you can start toencourage people to share their lessons learned morebroadly within the organization so that others can learnfrom small, early failures.

Creating safe spaces to talk about failure:• Safe spaces are judgment-free. It’s about the lessons

learned, not assigning blame.• Model discussing failure. Be the first one to talk aboutfailure openly. Make sure to share a key lesson learned.• Root cause analysis: try to get beyond the symptoms andget to the heart of the failure. Try using a “fishbone dia-gram” or the “5whysmethod” to identify the various fac-tors that went into your failure.• Maintain confidentiality when necessary, but trans-parency is best. Don’t air dirty laundry unnecessarily, butshare lessons learned broadly in your organization and inthe sector at large.• Stakeholder involvement. It’s helpful to have all partiesinvolved at the table so the discussion can be productiveand substantive.Imagine a nonprofit sector in which technology failures

and lessons learned were shared broadly so that no twoorganizations ever had to make the same mistake. Whilethat vision might be utopic, you can start by creating safespaces within your organization to talk about technologyfailures and what you have learned from them.Marc Baizman, My Computer Guy NonprofitTechnology Consulting, @mbaizmanDahna Goldstein, PhilanTech, LLC, @philantech

COMMUNITY QUESTION


How does your organization encourage “failure-friendliness”? Please email [email protected] withyour answers. (We’ll keep them anonymous if you like!)

Or: Share your tips, examples, and questions athttp://facebook.com/nten.org

CREATE SAFESPACES TO FAILIN YOUR ORG,AND SAFESPACES TO TALKABOUT FAILURE.

nonprofit technoloGyleadership cheat sheet:

CALLINGDR. NERD?

Grant howe, @geekbyte

Keys to having a meaningful “officevisit” with your IT staff or consultant.

Talking to a technical solutions specialistis like going to see the doctor. Mostpeople have a preconceived notion ofwhat the treatment should be. However,the best solutions usually come frommeaningful dialog about the problem anda discussion of the treatment options.Here’s how you can help me help you.

NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP CHEAT SHEET


Tell me where it hurts. “Doctor, I need some antibiotic” isprobably the most common conversation kick-off that patientshave with their doctor. Just like antibiotics often aren’t the bestcourse of treatment, the best technical solution to your issuesmay not be what you think.

Focus your initial discussion on the symptoms of your prob-lem. Is it performance of technical assets? How slow? Whendid you start noticing this? Tell me about the businessprocesses and workflow and how this fits in. Do your best tohelp me understand your current state so that I can comparethat with the desired results you will be telling me about next.

Tell me what your desired results are post treatment.“I want to play tennis three times a week without knee pain”is a good example of a desired end state. Seek to articulatewhat you will be able to do and how you will do it after asolution is put in place.

Looking for a collaboration tool? How will it work with yourusers? How do they expect to access it? Do you have remoteand on-site users? Do some users need more access rights thanothers? I think you get the gist, but the more you can tell meabout what you want to be able to do, the better I can narrowdown to a set of solutions we can talk about. Like any goodphysician, we’re likely to have to do some tests to get somequantitative data on the issues you are seeing.

Discuss and choose a treatment. “Your MRI shows you havea slipped disc in your lower back, here are our options…” Obvi-

ously not great news, but most problems have a variety of solu-tions. Let’s talk about the top three I have thought of first andwe’ll come up with more or tweak them if we need to while wediscuss it.

Ask questions about each solution:• What will this cost (in time, resources, and money)?• How does this solution compare to my original desired end

state?• What other “side effects” can I expect from the solution,

good or bad?• What is the risk of something going wrong or causing dam-

age? Is there a mitigation strategy?• What are the skills required to implement, and have you

done this before? How many times?Write down the pros and cons of each solution and compare

them. Then make a choice based on your analysis. Please walkme through your thought process of making the choice. I wantyou to be successful, and if you’ve forgotten to consider some-thing, I’ll discuss it with you.

You are also entitled to seek a second opinion and talk toothers about the solutions. I encourage you to do so.

Take your medicine. “Take these, 3 times a day…” Many peo-ple go through all the effort to make an appointment and visittheir doctor, but don’t follow the prescribed treatment. Thesepeople usually don’t get results and neither will you if we don’tfollow the plan we’ve laid out together. Solutions are holistic;often we see poor results from not following the full plan.

NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP CHEAT SHEET



About NTEN:A CommunityTransformingTechnology IntoSocial ChangeWho We AreA community of nonprofit professionals,we aspire to a world where nonprofitgroups of all types and sizes usetechnology strategically and confidentlyto fulfill their missions. Together, theNTEN community helps members puttechnology to work so they can bringabout the change they want to see in theworld.

What We DoNTEN connects members with oneanother and offers many opportunities forlearning and professional development—all so you can focus on achieving yourgoals and meeting your mission.

How We Do ItNTEN helps members, with their diversejob functions and levels of tech comfortand expertise, share best practices, andglean insights from one another bothonline and off: training, research andindustry analysis, regional meet-ups, oursignature Nonprofit TechnologyConference. As a member, you gaininstant access to a supportive communitythat shares your passions and challenges,as well as to valuable resources forprofessional development.

ConnectOnline Networkingwww.groups.nten.orgWhether you’re a webmaster, marketer,executive director, fundraiser, blogger,program manager, or play another role inthe nonprofit sector, connect with yourpeers online. Join our Affinity Groups andsocial networks, browse the MemberDirectory, post in our online forums.

Events / www.nten.org/eventsNTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conferenceand local meet-ups bring nonprofitprofessionals together to share ideas andbest practices. Get to know colleagues.Develop a support network. Talk shop.Vent. Congratulate. Collaborate. Thepossibilities are endless.

LearnNTEN Webinarswww.nten.org/webinarsChanging the world isn’t easy. NTENmembers are always looking to learnmore about how to use technology tofurther their missions. Gain a wealth ofknowledge without ever leaving yourdesk through NTEN’s extensive scheduleof live webinars and archived events.

NTEN Researchwww.nten.org/researchNTEN collaborates with renownedindustry, academic, and nonprofitpartners to conduct research on keysubjects related to nonprofit technologylike IT staffing and spending, salaries,social networking, and data ecosystems.Our reports and benchmarks studies offeractionable data and invaluable insiderinformation.

ChangeNTEN Connect newsletterwww.nten.org/signupRead how NTEN members are fulfillingtheir missions and changing the world—and how you can too. The free monthlyNTEN Connect newsletter brings you solidadvice, success stories, and best practicesrelated to technology and the nonprofitsector.