5 Questions: Data Data Everywhere: Drowning in a Sea of Analytics (Part 2)

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Marissa Goldsmith, Beaconfire Consulting

Session: Data Data Everywhere: Drowning in a sea of Analytics

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

Analytics integration and interpretation. A web site is no longer your only (and in some cases, primary) presence on the Internet. To measure success, you need to see big picture data from every corner of the Internet, and know how to interpret all these numbers, even if they seem all over the map.

2. Why do you think your session topic is important for nonprofits to address?

Many nonprofits consider analytics an afterthought, and when they do have data, they get bogged down in visits, pageviews, and other minutiae. For a nonprofit, it’s important to make the implementation of an analytics package part of implementing a web presence, and the know-how to read the numbers, identify trends, and take specific actions to ensure success.

5 Questions: Data Data Everywhere: Drowning in a sea of Analytics

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Dan Michel, Feeding America

Session: Data Data Everywhere: Drowning in a sea of Analytics

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

Integration. All nonprofits have had presences in many different tools serving different audiences. The next step is to integrate all tools and strategies together.

2. Why do you think your session topic is important for nonprofits to address?

My session is about measurement, and one of the ways to get management to “buy-in” to technology initiatives is with understanding what the general public is doing with  technology.

What the Third Sector Can Learn from the Public Sector

Flickr Photo: h.koppdelaneyTransparent. Participatory. Collaborative.

Those are the values President Obama cited last December in his Open Government Initiative. Are those words you usually associate with your government? Even non-conspiracy theorists would likely have a hard time summoning up "transparent" as one of the top three adjectives to describe our government. We would all likely agree that it's a shame: our government should be transparent.

Now let's think about our sector. 

Transparent. Participatory. Collaborative.

What do you think? Do those words describe the nonprofit sector? How about your nonprofit? 

5 Questions: Anatomy of a Video

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Michael Hoffman, See3

Session: Anatomy of a Video: Confessions From Organizations Big and Small 

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

The widespread adoption of social media is clearly the most important trend for nonprofit technology in 2010. While there are still complications about measuring ROI, and best practices are still being developed, we are seeing clear signals that web traffic is being driven from Twitter and Facebook, fundraising and advocacy outreach through social media is having impact, and a smart strategy of using YouTube contributes greatly to search engine optimization.

5 Questions: Bringing Community Organizing Into Online Campaigns

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Debra Askanase, Community Organizing 2.0

Session: Bringing Community Organizing Into Online Campaigns

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

To sum it up: the rise of mobile technology. I think that the rate of smartphone adoption worldwide will continue to grow tremendously, and with that, the rise of smartphone mobile apps and use. I believe that nonprofit organizations should begin to plan now for how they will utilize the mobile web for good (such as smartphone apps, mobile text campaigns, mobile fundraising strategy, and so much more). Understanding the implications and opportunities in the areas of mobile search, use, and technology will be important for nonprofit organizations in 2010, and beyond.

Activate Your YouTube Audience (Free Session with Ramya Raghavan of YouTube!)

There are a whole host of new tools available through YouTube that can help you engage your audience.

You can drive sign-ups and donations straight from your videos, find skilled video-makers through the Video Volunteers program, and even create choose-your-own-adventure style videos.

In partnership with YouTube and ReadyTalk, we've enlisted Ramya Raghavan, Nonprofits and Activism Manager at YouTube, to run you through the possibilities at our (free for everybody!) 2010 NTC preview session, "Activating Your YouTube Audience". You should join us!

> You should register for this FREE workshop here.

2010 NTC Preview: Jocelyn Harmon and Allyson Kapin on IT Diversity

Allyson Kapin       Jocelyn HarmonYes, the iPad is small, lightweight and slim. But can you swim with it?

You remember the flap over the iPad, right? Most women certainly do. It's a clear reminder that technology is a man's world.

Of course, it shouldn't be, especially in the nonprofit sector. Our workplaces should reflect the values we're working for -- because it's the right thing to do. It's also the sensible thing to do. Diversity in your teams will ensure you're not alienating the very people you're trying to include.

What's the right way to approach diversity in our tech teams? Lucky for us, Allyson Kapin and Jocelyn Harmon put together a great session for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference: "Diversifying Your Tech and Online Communications Teams". I had a great chat with them where we covered everything from "the masses" to "quotas."

Take a listen:

5 Questions: Working with Open Source Software and Vendors

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Gregory Heller, CivicActions

Session: Working with Open Source Software and Vendors

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

Free and Open Source Software. Whether it is on the desktop like Firefox and Open Office or the Ubuntu Linux operating system, or on servers (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) and running CMSs and CRMs (like Drupal and CiviCRM). I think that many nonprofit organizations are looking at these open source tools as they have really matured and been adopted by government and big companies including many fortune 500s. The late 2009 release of the Open Government Directive is really exciting and I'd like to see an analog in the nonprofit community -- an Open Nonprofit Directive if you will, to encourage transparency, participation and collaboration. Of course Twitter and social media in general will continue to be big, and we may see advanced collaboration tools like Google's Wave gain adoption in 2010 as people figure out how to use it.

5 Questions: Superheroes of Online Fundraising: Become a Data-Driven Strategist

Ed. Note: As we prepare for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference, we wanted share a wee bit of the wisdom our speakers will be serving up, so as not to overwhelm you when you get to Atlanta. We're asking them all to share their answers to five very important questions.

Speaker: Sarah DiJulio, M+R Strategic Services

Session: Superheroes of Online Fundraising: Become a Data-Driven Strategist

1. What's the most important trend in nonprofit technology for 2010?

I think the most important trend this year is multi-channel convergence: using mobile, email, web, broadcast, print, twitter, etc. to maximize your impact. Email alone isn't as effective as it used to be, and given the media clutter these days, the only way to stand out is to get your message out via multiple channels, so that your constituents are hearing from you from all angles. Some initial testing of mobile text has shown that, while direct response is relatively low (unless you are the Red Cross!), complementary text messages can significantly improve email response rates. While it's harder to conduct a scientific A/B test, the same appears to be true for channels like Facebook and Twitter.