Join TechSoup on November 12 for a free online tour of their fabulous technology resources for nonprofits and libraries:

Learn How TechSoup Can Help Your Organization — November 12
Thursday, November 12, 11 a.m. Pacific time

Join TechSoup.org content creators, community leaders, and customer service support for a tour of how your organization can use all that TechSoup has to offer to improve your technology and help you reach your mission. We’ll walk you through the process of registering and requesting donated and discounted products from 40 donor partners like Microsoft and Adobe. We’ll also take you on a virtual tour of TechSoup’s free educational resources for nonprofits and public libraries.

Register now!

I’ll be joining a panel discussion at the Puget Sound Grantwriter’s Association conference in Seattle on 10/16 to share suggestions for some smart investments that may help your nonprofit raise capital or provide you with resources that go beyond a large check. In other words, how to engage corporations in assisting nonprofits in ways that are useful and that reflect the new reality of tightened corporate giving budgets.

Here are some suggestions I have heading in, thanks to some help from my friends here at NPower Seattle. I’ll be sharing these thoughts at the PSGA conference, and I’ll write again with new ideas gained from that discussion.

Doing More with Less Suggestions

Account for all the costs in grant requests to limit the budget-breaking “hidden costs” to your organization. (This may seem counterintuitive in a “Doing More with Less” list because it drives the overall project budget UP, but it’s better in the long run to ask for what you need to cover your costs.)

For example:

• the “soft” costs of technology like software, training, set up and maintenance
• Temp help to cover for staff who attend training

For technology projects, get cost estimates from a recognized IT provider to add credibility to your request.

• Contact an IT service provider, like NPower Seattle, to get a proposed scope of work or estimate for your workstation, server, database, Web site or other technology upgrade. Include the estimate in your proposal.

Be creative about identifying matching and in-kind contributions. Include things like:

• The value of your own staff and volunteers’ time that’s not covered by grant funds
• The value of your IT provider’s time for providing a free estimate or any pro-bono services
• The difference between the retail value and a discounted rate you receive (through TechSoup, Microsoft, Google, NPower…) for software, hardware and training. For example, NPower has negotiated with some nonmember groups to charge our discounted member rate for our services, and allow them to apply the difference as an in-kind contribution from NPower in a grant proposal.

Be convincing about the need for infrastructure upgrades and support.

• Pitch the idea of a progression from a Stable and Secure Foundation to Effective Use to Innovation. You can’t get to the fancy stuff without reliable work stations, internet access, email, etc.

• See NPower’s Tech Impact profiles for an example of how one local organization, Treehouse, benefits from scheduled support services to keep their technology infrastructure stabel and secure – visit http://www.npowerseattle.org/about-us/tech-impact/

TechSoup – self-serve information and discounted technology products

• online information and resources at the Learning Center– visit http://home.techsoup.org
• the weekly “By the Cup” e-newsletter
• Discussion Forums where nonprofit staff connect with each other and with technology experts who chime in. Visit the Discussion Forums main page at http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/forums/
• a product philanthropy service called TechSoup Stock – visit http://www.techsoup.org/stock . Nonprofits can access donated and discounted technology products, generously provided by corporate and nonprofit technology partners. Partners include Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Grant Station…
  • For example, Microsoft Office software purchased through TechSoup comes with a 2-year software assurance agreement for free upgrades. This is a significant savings.

Microsoft - free software and training resources

• Software donations

Through a partnership with TechSoup, Microsoft and NPower, agencies who are NPower customers may be able to get their Microsoft software at zero cost as part of the Microsoft Direct Donation Program. Please check with NPower for more details.

• NGO Web site

The Microsoft NGO Connection site at www.microsoft.com/ngo offers free curriculum and training materials for nonprofits to use for internal staff training or for public training with clients.

Salesforce – free licenses and a growing nonprofit community

• Free licenses

Licenses for the first 10 users are provided free to nonprofits, thanks to the Salesforce.com Foundation. Some organizations have been granted additional licenses at no charge, and additional licenses are available from the Foundation at a deep discount.

• Implementation of your Salesforce CRM is made faster and less expensive by the nonprofit template developed by NPower Seattle. Contact NPower for details.
• See NPower’s Tech Impact profiles for stories of how two organizations (Arts Corps and Friends of the Orphans) have benefited from free Salesforce licenses and assistance from NPower – visit http://www.npowerseattle.org/about-us/tech-impact/
• One other draw is that the nonprofit community of users is large (hundreds of nonprofits use Salesforce) and a source of free advice and peer support.
  • There’s an active discussion group on the web (search Google Groups for “npsf”).
  • Seattle Nonprofit User Group: Whether you’re just exploring Salesforce, a beginning user, or an expert with tips to share, you’re welcome to attend the monthly Salesforce Nonprofit User Group hosted by NPower Seattle. Join us at the NPower Seattle offices on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 8:00 a.m. Visit http://usergroups.salesforce.com/nonprofits_seattle/ to register for the Nonprofit User Group and to check out the Salesforce Nonprofit User’s blog.

Google – free applications, ad words and video hosting

• Google apps like Google docs and Google calendar
• Google ad words – free to nonprofits for key words up to $1 per click
• YouTube’s charity initiative allowing nonprofits or any YouTube user to post their cause driven video with an added overlay link. Learn more at http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/06/youtube-videos-getting-off-site-overlay-links.html

Misc. cost-saving or no-cash ideas

• Social media for reaching out to and inspiring donors and volunteers (Facebook, Twitter, FlickR, YouTube…)
• Tips for online fundraising from the NTEN blog, like Raise Money on Facebook: Four Strategies You Need to Know About, at http://nten.org/blog/2009/09/24/raise-money-facebook-four-strategies-you-need-know-about
• Communications expertise and tips via webinar and blog from Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com
• Tech tool comparisons and guides from Idealware
• Private training at NPower Seattle – if you have at least 7-8 people to train at the same time, it’s less expensive to schedule a private group session than to register individually. See details here.
• Protect yourself from cyber theft – set up a dedicated work station for online banking. See the recent post by John Joynt on NPower’s blog for details: http://community.npowerseattle.org/npowering/cyber-theft-p1/

Your thoughts? What have I missed?

~Peg Giffels

Apple recently released Snow Leopard, an updated version of their Mac operating system.  One of the new features with this version is integrated support for Microsoft Exchange Server using Apple’s Mail, Address Book and iCal applications.  Before you get too excited, keep in mind that Snow Leopard only supports connecting to Exchange Server 2007.  If you are connecting to  Exchange Server 2003 (or earlier), Snow Leopard offers IMAP support, but you will not get the same integrated experience.  However, for users who need to connect to a mail server running Exchange 2007, this may be reason enough alone to upgrade.  For more information, check out the links below:

• Apple - Mac OS X Snow Leopard
  
• Snow Leopard and Microsoft Exchange First Impressions
• Snow Leopard In Depth: Exchange

Many of the TechSoup Stock donation programs allow eligible organizations to receive a fixed quantity of discounted hardware, software, and online service offerings between July 1st and June 30th of each year (their fiscal year).  Check out TechSoup’s website for a list of donation programs affected by the fiscal year end.  Eligible organizations can maximize their TechSoup benefits by submitting your donation request before Tuesday, June 30th and then become eligible once again on July 1st.  Please note that the Microsoft Software Donation Programs are NOT affected by TechSoup fiscal year end.

Brett over at NTEN included a really cool application in his post of Things We Like (May 2009). It’s called UMapper and is a way for you to add interactivity on top of a map. I checked it out and see lots of potential for nonprofits. You can see for yourself how it works at http://www.umapper.com/.

Boy this has been a hot topic for me lately. I presented at a conference with 2 of my coworkers last month and at a local association as a favor for my ED of the board I’m currently on.

Here at NPower we’ve received plenty of nonprofits asking about Social Networking such as Twitter & Facebook. There are so many options out there! One of the presentations we gave at the conference was Strategic Planning for Online Communications. We focused on those two services and the importance of being strategic in choosing and using Social Media as part of your online communication strategy. 

For the conference; we had 3 local nonprofits in a panel session where they talked about the Social Networking tools they use, why they selected them, and how it’s worked. It was great to hear from the front lines, so to speak. One of the participants, Sarah with the ACLU of Washington, was kind enough to tape the session. It included her, Zan from the Pride Foundation, and Jessica from Treehouse. They all provided some fantastic insight into how their organizations were using Facebook and Twitter. You can check out the video at http://sarahdavies.cc/2009/05/28/video-social-media-for-nonprofits/ (be warned, it’s about 40 minutes but well worth the watch).

Sarah also recommended a great resource that’s local, Common Craft. They produce really cool educational “video’s” on a variety of topics that you can watch free on their sight. You can also buy copies to use in your educational efforts or presentation. I’m serious looking at some of them for us here at NPower. I really liked the one on Social Networking, it hits the nail on the head. They also cover RSS, Twitter, Blogs and a lot more.

Have I mentioned how much I love NTEN lately? If not, here goes!

Holly has a great post today on Open Source and nonprofits. I think she makes numerous points that are spot on. Here at NPower we gravitate toward Plone, an open source content management system for websites. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a great product; but many of Holly’s points about open source definitely apply.

My favorite quote from her in this post is about collaboration.

“Collaboration, quite frankly, sucks: It’s hard, it’s messy, and it’s very uncomfortable. “

Boy do I agree! I’ve had the “pleasure” of being directed by a funder to collaborate with another nonprofit on a project. Almost 2 years later (it was a 1 year project at most), the project still isn’t done.

So what’s the point here? As with many thing around NTEN, it’s go check it out! They are such an amazing resource for the nonprofit community. They have several posts today, all around Open Source options.

Have you wanted to be able to take advantage of Symantec’s product offerings available through TechSoup Stock, but have not been able to because you are you a library or school?  Well want no more, as all Symantec products are now available to qualifying libraries and 501(c)(3) schools.

Also, a reminder for all qualifying nonprofit agencies that the current fiscal year for Symantec product donations is coming to a close on June 30th.  So if you have need for any Symantec products and have not taken full advantage of their TechSoup enterprise and desktop offerings (two products from each class), make sure to do so soon.

For more details regarding the Symantec Donation Programs, check out the TechSoup website.

If you are looking for help with your fundraising for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, then make sure to check out GrantStation’s special offer available through TechSoup.  On Tuesday, May 19th and Wednesday, May 20th, qualified nonprofits can receive a one-year GrantStation membership for a $99 Admin Fee – that’s $300 off the regular fee.  Make sure to register your organization ahead of time to make sure that you can take advantage of this offer.  For more information regarding this offer, please visit TechSoup.

Google has some great services. It hit me today, as I was preparing to write this entry, how many of their services I use!

• Gmail
• Docs & Sheets
• Reader
• Maps
• Search for web, images, products
• Google Checkout

And I know that us nonprofits like and use a lot of their services too. In fact, I use several of the above strictly for my nonprofit duties as a board member. We’ve discovered some innovative ways to use these services to either show the great work we’re doing in our communities (such as tying our service data into Google Maps), online collaboration (using Docs, Sheets, and Calendars), to connecting with our constituents (Blogger anyone?).

But there is even more ways that we can take advantage of these services. Even just using Search. The folks over at GraphicMac have a nice post on other ways you can use plain old search to find information, other than just searching other web pages. Check it out and be sure to read the comments, there are several additional tips there.