Looking for free online tools to help you collaborate with teams and communicate with stakeholders?  Wish you could access those tools across different devices (home computer, smartphone, and work computer)?  

Check out this free webinar from Microsoft Community Affairs:  Free Online Tools for Nonprofits on March 16

This free webinar will highlight free online tools from Microsoft that help nonprofits communicate and collaborate with ease.  Attendees will learn to:

-          Set up an online site for your group with a shared calendar, file- & photo-sharing (25 GB free!), and online discussions

-          Create online workspaces to manage projects and facilitate Board or committee work

-          Easily create blog content and publish it toWordpress, Blogger, TypePad, Windows Live and many more

-          Create movies and slide shows from your photos and videos and share them with your supporters on YouTube or DVD

We’ll look at free tools available to any organization.  While we won’t have time to go into detail on each tool, you’ll get a good overview of what’s out there and how to get started. 

WHEN: March 16^th, 10am - 11:30am PST

Attendance is free, but space is limited, so register today!

NOTE: Webinar is open to nonprofit staff and volunteers.  It is NOT technical in nature and there are no pre-requisites to attend.  Nonprofit organizations need not be eligible for Microsoft software donations to use the tools featured in this webinar - they are freely available online.

Thank you Microsoft, host of this webinar and Presenting Sponsor of NPower Seattle’s Powerful Connections event 

Our friends at NTEN are offering a series of trainings designed to help organizations who participate in the Google Grants program to use thier grant and AdWords more effectively.

The cost for the series is $100 for NTEN Members / $200 for Non-members

Sessions Include:

• Setting Goals and Setting Yourself Up for Success (02/25/2010)
• Evaluating Performance and Monitoring Your Google Grants Account (03/04/2010)
• Optimizing Your Google Grants Ads and Keywords (03/11/2010)
• Optimizing your Google Grants Campaign and Maximizing Your Online Initiatives with Google Nonprofit Offerings (03/18/2010)

> Register Now for Google Grants Advanced Series!

Not quite ready for the advanced series? NTEN also offers the Google Grants Beginner Series: Learning to Use and Maximize Your Google Grant.

In a recent post, Kivi Leroux Miller at Nonprofit Marketing Guide shared that her recommendations to nonprofits today compared with 10 years ago are like night and day. Take a look at what she considers to be the default starting point for a discussion about newsletters:

Does your newsletter look more like 2000 or 2010? If your newsletter has more in common with the left column than the right, it’s time to rethink your newsletter strategy.

A key question to ask yourself: Does your newsletter work in world that prefers communications that are fast and friendly (2010)over fat and formal (2000)?

Look for more tips Kivi’s forthcoming nonprofit management guidebook, coming out next year.

Social media is a big topic right now for nonprofits, with lots of tools and tips and big promises floating around. Having seen people’s eyes begin to swirl from the hype, I thought I’d chime in with a reminder about the basics of good communication and relationship-building. Whether you’re blogging, tweeting, updating on Facebook, or writing on parchment with a quill, these tried and true guidelines stand the test of time:

1) Identify your target audience: Technology tools emerge and fade, but your audiences and the desire to communicate endure. Getting clear about who you want to reach as a first step will save you lots of time and missed targets.

2) Design you message for your audience: Be sure to be clear about you want them to do as a result. Some options are:

• nothing, because you are simply informing them
• replying or commenting, because you are asking for a response
• taking action (signing up for a class or calling their legislator), because you have called them to do something specific

3) Pick the best communication channel for your audience and your message. For example:

• Is your message a short and sweet call to action and your target audience is using mobile technology? A tweet or an update to your Facebook fan page is a good match.
• Is your message mid-length with some solid information about a topic your audience prizes, and the stats show that people in your target audience read your enewsletter? Try a blog post linked from your website and enewsletter.

4) Nurture your relationships in other ways: remember that social media technology tools are a vehicle for communicating, but relationships are people-powered. Social media tools do not replace thank you notes, phone calls and in-person gatherings.

Suggested social media resources

• For ideas on writing engaging blog posts (including selecting provocative topics/titles – how’d I do?): From ProBlogger: 13 Types of Posts that Always Get Lots of Comments
• For an introduction to the Technology Hype Cycle and opinions about text message giving: From Beth Kanter’s blog: Nonprofits Should Consider SMS Fundraising with Eyes Wide Open
• For pointers to social media resources and updates for nonprofits, follow NPower Seattle on Facebook: facebook.com/npowerseattle

Is your organization still trying to figure out how to use social media tools like blogs, Facebook and Twitter to communicate with clients, donors, funders and community members?

Are you wondering if it makes sense for you to blog or tweet about your services, news and events?

NPower has teamed up with Philanthropy Northwest to help you explore how Social Media can support your organization’s communication and advance your organization’s goals. Join us for the first offering of this exciting class on Wednesday, February 24th.  In Social Media for Building Community, you will:

• Articulate your organization’s goals, identify messages, and explore social media tools.
• Evaluate the time needed to employ new communications tools vs. their value for your organization.
• Learn practical strategies for effectively connecting with various constituents using Web 2.0 tools.

Join us for Social Media for Building Community on Wednesday, February 24th. Learn more and register to attend at npowerseattle.org/socialmedia

Last week, I linked to a study which questioned if nonprofits are using social networks to their fullest potential. Today, I came across a very informative report which shows actual statistics of how nonprofits and their fans are interacting on social networks, and it provides good advice on how to use that data for yourself. This report would be great for organizations debating which social networks to start using and to figure out how to set them up once you do.

In addition to the Nonprofit Social Media Benchmark Study, you may also be interested in this post which boasts “20 Mind Blowing Social Media Statistics“, which shows information about how many people are using Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and how much they have grown recently.

Much like how it became required for nonprofits to have a website about 10 years ago, it’s now becoming standard for every nonprofit to have a presence on social networks – typically more than one. But similar to how just having a website wasn’t enough to bring clients and donors in the door,simply having a Facebook page or Twitter feed isn’t enough to cultivate relationships.

Yesterday, we came across an interesting article on nonprofit social networking, from Social Media Certificate, which points out that few nonprofits are fully taking advantage of the interactive nature of social networks. They cite a study which found that nonprofits tend to post pictures and news stories to their social networks, but then refer those looking to get involved to an email address or back to their regular website.

On one hand, I think that this article picks on nonprofits while ignoring the fact that many for-profits are doing the exact same things. On the other hand, I think it presents us with a good launching point for discussion on how we are using social networks. What goals did you have when you set up your nonprofit on one or more social networks? Why have you hesitated? What successes are you seeing?

We have been recommending VerticalResponse for a while now, because they give 10,000 emails every month for free and they integrate so well into Salesforce. Now they have made it very easy to post your emails to your Twitter and Facebook feeds as well. Here they provide a video on how to use this new feature. We’ll have to give it a try with our February newsletter – let us know what you think.

The New York Times ran an article earlier this week indicating that 20% of online users choose a simple, easily guessed password to protect their data.  Imperva, a data security vendor, examined a list of 32 million passwords that were stolen from a social network software company.  According to their analysis, the five most popular passwords are 123456, 12345, 123456789, password, and iloveyou.

While it is preferable to have a different password for each Web site or account, this is difficult for most to implement and track.  To help minimize the risk of a stolen password, experts suggest “at least two different passwords — a complex one for web sites where security is vital, such as banks and e-mail, and a simpler one for places where the stakes are lower, such as social networking and entertainment sites.”

For more information on establishing good password policies and practices, check out the following resources:

• TechSoup’s Security Corner: Tips, articles, blog posts, and resources on securing your information.
• NTEN: Suggestions and resources for creating strong passwords and establishing a password policy.  (Although this is an older post, it still offers relevant advice.)
• Microsoft Security: Tips and resources to keep online activity as secure as possible, including a password checker.
• Slate Magazine: General password tips and an algorithm for developing strong passwords.
• Vassar Computer Center: Basic rules and examples for creating strong passwords.

The New York Times article is available on their website.  In addition, you can read Imperva’s full analysis in their white paper on Consumer Password Worst Practices.

Sharing this note from our Greater DC Region affiliate. We at NPower Seattle agree - Idealware is a great resource.

We are big fans of Idealware, a nonprofit website, which provides candid Consumer-Reports-style reviews and articles about software of interest to nonprofits. We find their product comparisons very useful and recommend them to you when you are selecting software solutions for your nonprofit. Topics covered include constituent databases, websites, email and advocacy, and a broad range of office productivity tools. They also have frequent webinars—cost is $40 for a live seminar and $20 for a recorded session. You might find some of the upcoming sessions of interest. Check out the Idealware site for more information —www.idealware.org.

Comparing Open Source CMSs: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Plone
Thursday January 28th, 10:00 - 11:30 PST

Getting Started with Online Conferencing
Thursday February 4th, 10:00 - 11:30 PST