I have a kid. She's five. We travel a lot together, so we're used to that safety speech on the plane where they tell you that, in case of a loss of cabin pressure, you should put your own mask on before assisting your mini-me. I think it's an appropriate metaphor for parenthood. Sometimes, if I want to be a good mom, the best thing I can do is spend some time alone to recharge, no matter how much I think I should spend every waking moment with the kid.
It's the same for our sector: every once in a while, we nonprofits have to take a break from saving the world and make sure we're taking care of ourselves.
Right now, our oxygen mask is the Internet. It's part of every aspect of our work, from communicating with our stakeholders to managing our donor records. Almost everything we do travels over those magical tubes -- which is why we should be very worried.
Recently, a federal court told the FCC that it couldn't prevent Internet service providers like Comcast from hindering access to certain kinds of services on the Internet. Essentially, that means that if your provider thinks your site is objectionable in any way, they are free to slow or block access to it; they can do the same for your email and other web traffic as well under this ruling. Or, they could decide that content THEY produce should be accessible at higher speeds than content produced by others, like your organization.
The good news is that there's a great opportunity for us to band together and do what we do best -- create the change we want to see.
Here's what I want you to do:
- Sign the Nonprofit Letter to the FCC!
- Spread the word to the other nonprofits you know. Here's some text you can use in your Facebook status and on Twitter: Save the Internet, Save the World! The Internet is essential to your nonprofit, tell the FCC to protect it: http://bit.ly/8YukFR
- Tell your stakeholders to join you. It's their Internet too! Send them to the SavetheInternet.com petition.
Bonus points! Add a badge to your blog or change your profile pics. Here are a couple of ideas to get you started:
If you're looking for more information, check out our Ask the Expert session with Vince Stehle, Apruna Sridhar, and Wendy Harman.
