Why did you go to work today? What keeps you going back? I was having one of those very Monday mornings this morning and my motivation for heading to the office was low. Not for any particular reason or anything to do with NPower. Just because for a moment I lost track of my passion for what we create in the world and my contribution to the collective effort. The low point came as I watched my daughter head off for her first day of jump roping camp and suddenly I wanted to go and watch her tackle the challenges of double dutch. I juxtaposed that with an image of me sitting in front of my computer screen culling through my inbox and all of a sudden the world of work seemed so…monotonous, irksome.

Then I remembered something I’d heard at the Friends of the Orphans luncheon in Seattle months ago and the flame of passion and verve that a bad case of “the Mondays” had almost squelched suddenly sparked brightly. The spark was a quote by Father Wasson, the founder of the organizations that now offers hope and a helping hand to thousands of orphans in Central and South America. He said, “You may only be one person in the world, but you may be all the world to one child.” All the world.

So here I am, in front of my computer on Monday morning. Because what I do at NPower matters. The money I raise and the community connections I foster are connected to the work that community partners like Friends of the Orphans do. Yes, there are monotonous and irksome moments. And I wade through those moments because I hold for the bigger picture of a thriving nonprofit sector that houses families, educates kids, grows gardens, encourages clean energy use, and keeps us all healthy and inspired.

Thank you Friends of the Orphans and all of the community partners that NPower has the honor to support!

– Peg Giffels

Our fellow nonprofit capacity builder, Executive Service Corps (ESC) escwa.org, in collaboration with the United Way of King County, is recruiting volunteer technology consultants for database and other small scale technology projects with local food banks and feeding programs to amplify their use of volunteers.

Up to 5 consultants are needed for projects requiring 6-10 hours a month between July and the end of September. If you are interested in volunteering please go to escwa.org/volunteer and sign up.

When Windows 7 launched in October 2009, Microsoft made a special extra donation of it or Windows Vista available to nonprofits and public libraries through TechSoup. The Microsoft Software Donation Program allows organizations one opportunity to place a donation request each year. This special extra donation lets eligible organizations place another donation request outside of the program limitations as long as the request includes only Windows 7 or Vista. If you have not yet used your special extra donation opportunity, you have until June 30, 2010, to do so. For details, see Special Extra Donation of Windows 7 or Windows Vista.

Also, in case you were not previously aware, the TechSoup admin fees for many of Microsoft’s most popular software offerings, including Windows and Office products, will be increasing effective July 1, 2010.  For example, the admin fee for Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007, which is currently $20, will increase to $31.  So if you are planning to upgrade or add any Microsoft products over the summer, you can save money by placing the requests this month. And if you have been waiting for Office 2010, it is now available through TechSoup.

NPower Seattle staff had the good fortune to sit down this afternoon with three representatives from the services industry for a discussion about the business of consulting. Panelists Kevin Mackey (Point B), Matt Joe (POP) and Ali Piyarali (Accenture) fielded questions about how to open the door to a productive relationship with customers, how to close the door when necessary, and how to incorporate new technology or processes. Thank you Kevin, Matt and Ali for joining us and for sharing your experience and suggestions!!

In closing, each panelist was asked to share one tip or piece of advice for NPower consultants. Here are the highlights from the closing remarks:

• Remember the mission of the organization you’re serving and let that guide you. Always come back to what it is they’re trying to accomplish and remember that when your work is on target, it will contribute in some way to accomplishing the mission.
• Technology is a tool. Start with the people. Technology plays a big role, yet consulting is essentially a people business.
• Trust your instincts.

NPower colleagues, please add your comments to fill in the details and share the highlights for you from today’s discussion.

As a continuation to Alison’s post on Working Wikily, I am moved to share my top three take-aways from attending a webinar offered today by Heather McLeod and Diana Scearce, keepers of the Working Wikily blog and consultants at the Monitor Institute.

Peg’s Take-Aways from the Working Wikily webinar on June 8, 2010:
First, I am clearer and more able to take in the advice of experts like McLeod and Scearce thanks to a couple of reminders about the true significance of terms that get tossed around a lot:

1. Social network: people connected by relationships. Note: connected primarily by relationships, not by technology tools. McLeod and Scearce echo Clay Shirky’s advice to remember that’s it’s about people assisted by technology. I can get behind that. We certainly echo that advice at NPower Seattle, where we start every website and database project by mapping the relationships and communication needs that the technology will support.
2. Working Wikily: this one I’m making up a bit based on the examples offered by McLeod and Scearce. I think it’s an emerging way of relating and communicating whose key ingredients are greater openness, transparency and decentralized decision-making. Emerging means I get to practice, learn from mistakes, and try again, right? I can get behind that.

Secondly, I’m clearer about why I am challenged by working wikily. You bet I am. Scares the daylights out of me some days because I’m used to working with defined teams and I’m used to holding decisions kind of private until they’re “fully baked.” In fact, I place a value on more controlled and private processes as being responsible. Another challenge is that it seems to take lots of time. McLeod and Scearce shared a whole list of reasons why it’s hard, including:

• Brand and message control
• Privacy concerns
• Dealing with information overload
• Learning and leveraging new technologies

Thirdly, I see the value of working wikily. If there’s value, I’m willing to try it. I desire to make the shift not only because I am newly convinced that working wikily works, but because making the shift to relating and communicating “wikily” is what will keep the organizations I’m involved with current instead of becoming irrelevant, or worse, extinct. Thanks to McLeod and Scearce , I see that working wikily has a positive side that I’m excited about, including this list of potential outcomes shared on the webinar:

• Weaving communities
• Accessing diverse perspectives
• Building and sharing knowledge
• Mobilizing people
• Coordinating resources and action

Interested in learning more? You can follow the conversation about working wikily on the Working Wikily blog, and browse a summary article at the Stanford Social Innovation Review blog . And NPower’s Social Media training is a great starting point to learn more about the technology tools and how to use them effectively.

I’d love your comments, questions and thoughts here. What do you think? Can you become a convert like me and get behind working wikily? How would you describe the role of technology in social networks – is it primary or secondary to relationships?

Does your nonprofit need better technology? Wish you had the latest version of that pricey software? Or sturdier hardware? NPower recommends TechSoup’s product donation program as a great resource.

Learn more about TechSoup’s product donation program and how to get started with a free webinar on Thursday, June 10, 11 a.m. Pacific time. Join TechSoup, get registered, learn what it means to be qualified and eligible for different donation and discount programs, and start requesting donations.

This webinar will walk you through all the steps of getting started and help you get on your way to low-cost, high-quality technology to help your organization run smoother and meet your mission. This webinar is best for people brand new to TechSoup or whose organization may be registered but are just not sure how to get started. TechSoup’s donation programs are open to eligible nonprofits and public libraries.

Register now!