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News for July 2008
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 30 July 2008 |
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| Free Micro Seminar on Aug, 12, 2008: Online Social Networks Are Not Mailing Lists: But If Not That, What Are They? |
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Because of the interest generated by my recent article entitled Online Social Networks Are Not Mailing Lists, we've decided to make that the topic of another new online seminar format. In a rapid fire, ten to fifteen minute format I will build on the ideas from the article, address objections, and suggest a few alternative points of view. The workshop will be held online at 12:15 (PDT) on Tuesday, August 12, 2008. Because attendance is limited you still have to sign up. If you don't get into the live session, we'll make sure there is a back up option.
Posted: 7/30/08; 6:22:05 PM # |
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28 July 2008 |
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| Maryland Troopers Put Peace Activists on Terror Lists |
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I can't quite believe that I'm linking to the Washington Times, but they have good coverage of how Maryland troopers spied on activist groups and put people on lists marked with "crimes" such as "terrorism - anti govern(ment)" and "terrorism - anti-war protestors". These are people who attend meetings of small nonprofit organizations concerned with U.S. foreign policy. The focus in the article is on the state troopers, but don't we have to ask why these categories are even listed as "crimes" in the first place? There are over a million people on these lists now (no doubt you know and work with several people on them) and the utter political purpose of the lists has reached a level of absurd obviousness.
Posted: 7/28/08; 5:00:20 PM # |
| Helping the Almost-Journalists Do Journalism |
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As mainstream journalism continues its sad descent into cronyism, civil society organizations (either in partnership with the media or alone) are stepping up to the need for genuine investigation and analysis. While this does return us somewhat to the early days of partisan journalism, I'm not entirely sure this is a bad idea. And for those organizations that find themselves becoming a kind of investigative news operation, Dan Gilmorr has some decent advice. I also recommend you follow the link to Ethan Zuckerman's concerns about the sustainability of the current rise of nonprofit journalism.
Posted: 7/28/08; 4:54:03 PM # |
| The Web Will Not Kill Traditional Organizing |
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I have studied and taught traditional community organizing and I tend to think of the Internet as a powerful tool for those strategies. Thus I get a little frustrated by some of the arguments that suggest there is an inherent conflict between the two. Nevertheless, while it may not be inherent, there is indeed a conflict, with some arguing that online tools encourage disconnected individualism and others saying the old strategies are passe. I was pleased to read Michael Connery's The Web Will Not Kill Traditional Organizing, in which he shows pretty clearly that this is a false dichotomy.
Posted: 7/28/08; 4:39:13 PM # |
| Should Your Nonprofit Use Social Networking Sites? |
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My basic rule for whether a nonprofit should have a strategy for social networking sites is whether the organization's stakeholders are using such sites. In Should Your Nonprofit Use Social Networking Sites?, IdealWare's Brett Bonfield offered some additional advice, including these six signs that you should not be using such sites: (1) You're still trying to get a handle on your basic software infrastructure. (2) Your target audiences aren't using social networking tools. (3) You don't have time to experiment with something that might not work. (4) You're not willing to deal with technologies that don't work as well as they could. (5) You're not ready to invest in gaining a real understanding of the medium. (6) You want clear editorial control over your brand and message.
Posted: 7/28/08; 4:34:40 PM # |
| What obligation? Maximise what? |
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I'm no fan of the corporate model, largely because of the way that it insulates people from personal responsibility for their actions. In What obligation? Maximise what?, Daniel Davies has written a great rant on the topic of whether (for profit) corporate executives are obliged to maximize shareholder value at the expense of everything else. The facts appear to be that corporate leaders can pretty much get away with justifying anything (I won't end the sentence there) as being in the long term interest of their shareholders, including things that might actually be in the public interest. How fascinating.
Posted: 7/28/08; 4:27:59 PM # |
| Amnesty Int'l Focuses on Americans' Voting Rights |
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You know your democracy is in trouble when Amnesty International Starts focusing on voting rights in your country. What country am I talking about? The United States of America. Despite the best efforts of hundreds of civil society organizations, thousands and thousands of people across the U.S. (especially in so-called swing states) are being removed from the voting rolls. The mechanisms for counting votes are less and less transparent. The ballot box is one of the republic's insurance policies against violent change. (Nonviolent non-cooperation, an arguably still more powerful alternative, is increasingly suppressed by violence or the threat thereof in this country.) This makes me wonder if our policy is about to lapse.
Posted: 7/28/08; 4:01:17 PM # |
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21 July 2008 |
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| Communities in Control: Real People, Real Power |
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Communities in Control: Real People, Real Power (cover page for 157 page PDF) is the report of a U.K. government agency charged with identifying means of pushing power down to the community level. It's recommendations - intended for both government and citizens - are framed in terms of U.K. structures, but are applicable to the U.S. and other countries as well. For example, the idea that there could (and should) be an "obligation to respond" to petitions by the government entities at which their directed, could move petitions from being a list-building tool used by fundraising organizations to a legitimate form of public input.
Posted: 7/21/08; 5:11:37 PM # |
| Invoking the Memory of Mandela the Freedom Fighter |
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Leadership and its recognition are critical elements of civil society and social change. There are two related ways in which mainstream media and culture treat leaders that disappoint and concern me. The first is the way in which robber barons who, in their later years, turn some of their attention to civil society, are accorded enormously more recognition than those who have devoted their lives to it. The second is the way in which truly world-changing leaders are accorded positive attention only after they have in some way accommodated traditional ruling interests.
In her article on Invoking the Memory of Mandela the Freedom Fighter, Fazila Farouk honors the great man, as he was before he was accorded the respect of mainstream culture. I invite you to read this and then turn your attention to honoring those who are doing now what Mandela did then.
Posted: 7/21/08; 5:05:12 PM # |
| 10 Tips for Naming Your Company, Product, or Service |
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Although I get a little frustrated with Biznik's cliched promotional copy, with references to the "secrets" of this or that, they are nevertheless slowly becoming a good source of content for small scale entrepreneurs. Christopher Johnson's recent advice on 10 Tips for Naming Your Company, Product, or Service is entirely applicable to nonprofit circumstances. In short, his ten tips are: (1) Quantity and diversity yield quality. (2) Selection is as important as creation. (3) Try different types of name. (4) Use collective intelligence. (5) Use linguistic resources. (6) Do exercises to explore connections to relevant concepts. (7) Pictures are important, even when you’re just thinking of words. (8) To avoid embarrassment in other languages, ask the experts. (9) Forget etymology. (10) Know when to let go.
Posted: 7/21/08; 4:27:50 PM # |
| Boards of All-Volunteer Organizations |
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Jan Masaoka's latest Blue Avocado article is on the topic of Boards of All-Volunteer Organizations. I've been involved in a number of these myself, as I suspect have many of you. I've also endured the challenge of trying to shepherd such organizations into being staffed, when the opportunity for dramatic growth has presented itself. No easy task. The "family feel" of all-volunteer organizations is both a great asset and a serious burden. As usual, Jan has realistic advice to offer.
Posted: 7/21/08; 4:21:56 PM # |
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17 July 2008 |
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16 July 2008 |
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| The "Are You Listening?" Quick Guide Now Available in Practical Hard Copy |
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As we've invested our efforts in scaling up our seminar catalog, we haven't made a lot of changes to our available publications. That will start changing soon. First, we're going to continue to roll out our existing publications in hard copy form, especially where such a form is very practical, as with our hands-on Quick Guides. I've become more and more convinced that scaling up listening is the key to nonprofit success online, and so I'm happy to announce that, in addition to the existing PDF, the "Are You Listening?" Quick Guide is now available in paperback.
Posted: 7/16/08; 4:04:40 PM # |
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15 July 2008 |
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| A Theory of Social Change and Implications for Practice, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation |
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Much has been made in recent years about the notion of "theories of change" in the context of strategic planning and evaluation. I thoroughly approve of this trend. But unfortunately, many so-called theories of change - that I read in plans or proposals - are quick and dirty causal models that often lack a larger theoretical context. The larger context really matters and that thrown together model hides deep assumptions that would be better off revealed. You can help reveal them by reading Doug Reeler's A Theory of Social Change and Implications for Practice, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (35 page PDF). He examines three different views on how change happens: the Emergent Change model, which sees change as a result of day-to-day patterns of unfolding; the Transformative Change model, in which change comes about as a result of crisis and unlearning; and the Projectable Change model, in which change is a result of plans. His key contribution is his look at the relationships between these models and how they affect leadership, our ability to read change, planning & evaluation, and donor practice.
Posted: 7/15/08; 10:08:56 AM # |
| Video for Change Training Guide |
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The international human rights organization Witness has released a Video for Change Training Guide, which is in large part available online, free of charge. (As usual, I think diverse formats can complement each other, so I recommend the hard copy as well.) The chapter titles reveal a lot about what this guide has to offer: (1) Using Video for Advocacy. (2) Safety and Security. (3) Storytelling for Advocacy. (4) Video Production. (5) Editing for Advocacy. (6) Video as Evidence. (7) Strategic Distribution. The Video Action Plan that they include with the guide - a questionnaire that assists with the strategic planning of a video project - is a fabulous resource all on its own, and is also tightly tied to the rest of their content. Fantastic work!
Posted: 7/15/08; 9:52:34 AM # |
| Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves: Ethical SEOs and Search Engineers Narc Out SEO Fraud |
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We all want more traffic on our websites and there are plenty of people out there willing to sell it to us. Although the organizations that are most vulnerable to being conned are those who themselves are looking for some kind of shortcut, it still pains me whenever I learn of another nonprofit spending its money on Search Engine Optimization fraud. In Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves, a number of consultants and engineers explain what's going on and how not to get cheated.
Posted: 7/15/08; 9:30:12 AM # |
| No-Ask Fundraising: Six High-Impact Jobs for Board Members |
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"No-Ask Fundraising" - what a great phrase. (And I thought Frictionless Fundraising was a great brand.) In my ongoing quest to open people's eyes to the power of real cultivation, I want to recommend Gail Perry's article on this topic, subtitled Six High-Impact Jobs for Board Members. It's amazing how rarely these straightforward ideas are implemented: (1) Make Friends for the Cause. (2) Identify Your Organization's VIP Friends. (3) Open the Door with Advice Visits. (4) Gather Friends with Small Socials. (5) Become a Tour Guide—And Show How We Change the World. (6) Acknowledge Donors' Generosity.
Posted: 7/15/08; 9:20:58 AM # |
| People Don't Hate Change, They Hate How You're Trying to Change Them |
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From over 40 research studies on organizational change, we learn that the success rate of corporate change programs is 33%. In thousands of quietly furstrated conversations, the change agents are blaming people.
If you are as tired as I am of how the conversation about change (particularly technological change) in organizations is framed, I recommend Michael Kanazawa's online pamphlet People Don't Hate Change, They Hate How You're Trying to Change Them (available as a 13 page PDF designed for the screen). One of his closing remarks captures the consulting philosophy I've followed for over twenty years: "If you believe that people thrive on change and that your job is to unleash it, you will tap into a limitless source of ingenuity, energy and drive that will allow you to consistently take your big ideas into big results."
Posted: 7/15/08; 9:15:16 AM # |
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10 July 2008 |
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| Email Newsletter Reinvention & Improvement: Live Online Seminar on Aug 20 & 27 |
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Email outreach is the core of online marketing for most nonprofit organizations and email newsletters are in turn the core of that outreach. So, I'm pleased to announce one of our two-part, hands-on workshops: Email Newsletter Reinvention & Improvement, to be held on Wednesdays, August 20 and 27, 2008. We help you to fix your newsletter's most damaging mistakes, to build on your newsletter's greatest strengths, and more. As always, we strike a balance between long term and short term plans, strategic and tactical thinking.
Posted: 7/10/08; 4:45:09 PM # |
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8 July 2008 |
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| Rights Like Free Speech Don't Always Extend Online |
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If you've tried to speak out in a mall, through signs or leaflets perhaps, then you know that free speech doesn't exist in private spaces, no matter how public they may appear. More and more of our public commons are in essence being subject to the same enclosures that drove people and their farm animals off of shared pastures during the industrial revolution. And as much as we may feel that there is more free speech online than off, in most of the large online services, this is not so true. In the newswire article entitled Rights Like Free Speech Don't Always Extend Online, we get a vivid sense of just how much like a mall many online forums actually are.
Posted: 7/8/08; 4:54:55 PM # |
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2 July 2008 |
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