Calling all NPTech Knights to the RoundTable!

Flickr Photo by Trainer62You may have noticed there's a lot going on at the NTEN court as of late -- new nten.org (just look around), release of the NTEN Data Ecosystem Report, NTC Scholarship Campaign, the NTC, and a great line-up of webinars!

Along with the many ways to engage and learn, we still want to continue to give NTEN Members the opportunity to talk with their colleagues who might be struggling with the same issues they are.

Why My Mom Is My Fundraising Guru

Flickr Photo: Mez LoveYou may have heard by now that we're raising money for scholarships to the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference.Last year was the first time we ran the campaign, and while we met our goal, it was a stretch, and we almost burnt ourselves out.

Introducing the New NTEN.org

After what seems like months of work, we've finally implemented our web site redesign.

NTEN Member Buzz Round-Up: February 5th

(Note: This is a weekly round-up of NTEN members doing and sharing their nptech awesome. Members are in bold. Tag your own news with "nten member" or "nptech" to help us find your awesome online, or contact Annaliese with your updates.)

The Overhead Question: What's Our Role?

Flickr Photo: tylerdurden1Ask any nonprofit to describe how they feel about their overhead percentage, and you're most likely to be met with groans, sighs and rolls of eyes. None of us like the fact that the percentage of income we spend on "overhead" is the primary measure of our effectiveness.

The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle aptly summarized the problem with the overhead measure this summer. Then, in December, some of the sector's top rating agencies, including Guidestar and Charity Navigator, agreed that a new measure is needed.

Thanks to our Day One Scholarship Donors!

As usual, the generosity of the NTEN community shines through! We opened our scholarship campaign yesterday to a fantastic show of support. We've only got until February 17 to meet our goal: raising $10,000 to send another 50 folks to the #10NTC! Dozens of you contributed to get us out of the starting gate with over $2,000 raised. A GIANT thank you to:

Things We Like (to Do at the Nonprofit Technology Conference)

1. Get our collective groove on.
2. Show off awards bling.
3. Catalog the swag. (Feel free to use a spreadsheet. You know you want to.)
4. Play with toys.
5. Get personal with some penguins.
6. Rock out.
7. Chill out.
8. And, of course, help out.

(Yes, we learn a lot, too, but pictures of people sitting in conference rooms just aren't that exciting. The excitement comes later, when you start to apply what you've learned to make the world a better place.)

Things We Like (January 2010)

A monthly roundup of our favorite nonprofit tech resources. Read more posts on our blog.

1. They're ba-aaack. Kika has given birth to 5 brand new Shiba Inu puppies, and you can watch them grow, live, online.
   Seriously, anytime you think the world is against you, check in with
   these pups for 5 minutes, and you'll be ready to go again.
2. With the Ustream app for iPhone,
   you can not only use the puppies as a way to ignore strangers on the
   bus, you can stream your trip to the world. Privacy concerns have never
   been so cool.
3. Besides, privacy is so 2009.
4. Network for Good has just released the "Online Fundraisers Checklist".
   It works like one of those quizzes in the personality magazines -- you
   know, "Do You Ace a First Date?" or "Is Your BFF Really on Your Side?"
   -- only it's helpful. (And, while we swear we didn't make those quizes
   up, we will deny reading those magazines to our dying breath.)
5. Controlled serendipity.
6. Primary Pad
   is like Google Docs for elementary school students. "Alright, who
   inserted 'Bobby is a doody head' into my essay on climate change?"
7. While we're still disappointed the flying cars all those science fiction movies promised we'd have by now haven't been built, at least NASA is working on it.
8. Automatic voice-to-text translation. We have heard the future and it is incoherent. Hilarious, though. Apparently, technology isn't always the answer.
9. List segmentation.
10. The Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest. (And not just because the winner will be announced at the 2010 NTC.) But hurry! The nomination process closes February 1st.
11. Hey, we're also mentioned in Allyson Kapin's "Best Campaigns of 2009"! How will we top Holly's "Single Ladies" remake? Hmmmmm...
12. Crisis Commons. Those folks are doing good things.
13. A great American philosopher once toasted, "To alcohol: the cause of and solution to all of life's problems." Now, there's a very detailed schematic (PDF) to help you construct most any cocktail for your own toasts. Where do these people find the time?