Pop quiz, hotshots: On a scale of one to ten, how important is the Internet to your organization's ability to meet its mission? 

It's pretty high up there, right? A nine? A ten? In less than one generation, the Internet has gone from sci-fi to central to our daily lives. As nonprofits, we rely on the Internet to find and communicate information and build relationships with our supporters. 

Millions of emails. Millions of page views. Millions of Twitter updates. Not to be overly dramatic, but they are all at risk.

In case you were wondering, we don't like the digital divide here at NTEN. In fact, we like it so little, we think every nonprofit has a responsiblity to work against it. It's an issue we care about deeply, so we're really excited about all the administration's moves to widen broadband access in the U.S.

We want you to be excited too, so we're going to try to make sure you know what's going on and how you can take part. To that end, we hosted a community call last week with Misty Perez from FreePress and Sheldon Mains. There are oodles of great links and resources below about everything from BTOP to Net Neutrality.

Peruse and enjoy, then take some action:

Flickr: HowiePoonNTEN has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last few years, in both membership and programming, and we have a few new free sessions you should take advantage of this month:

Flickr Photo by Chi KingThe Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comment on how to draft America's national broadband plan. It's essential that they hear from us.

If you're an NTEN Member -- or have been lurking around for awhile -- you know that Universal Broadband Access is an issue we care deeply about.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside $7.2 billion for broadband stimulus. It also requires the FCC to begin drafting a national broadband plan. The plan will help determine the future of Internet access across the country.

As organizations with a stake in the future of communications, we must ensure that the commissioners hear our call for fast, affordable, ubiquitous, and open Internet access.

You have until Friday, June 8, to file comments online at the FCC website.

I learned about the public comment period in an email from Free Press. They're doing some fabulous organizing around universal access and have provided some basic talking points for comments to the FCC. Read the quick facts below, see Free Press for more info, and comment today!

Check out this event taking place in San Mateo next month. It's free for nonprofit staff!

TPS: Broadband Innovation, taking place May 11, 2009 in conjunction with the 3rd annual Tech Policy Summit conference, is designed to assist community and business leaders by offering best practices for improving Internet access and adoption. Produced by Tech Policy Central, the daylong event will provide an in-depth look at state and federal efforts to improve broadband deployment and the call to develop a comprehensive national broadband strategy.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) will keynote the summit, which will also feature policy experts from AT&T, Comcast, One Economy, Connected Nation, Level 3 Communications, IBM, The Children's Partnership and the California Emerging Technology Fund, among others.

Registration is free to nonprofit, academic and government employees and the corporate rate is $195.

View the agenda and sign up online at http://events.techpolicycentral.com

Access to the Internet is one of the issues we care about most here at NTEN. The United States is a lowly 15th in the world when it comes to broadband access, and that's almost certainly having an adverse effect on how thousands of nonprofits are able to serve their clients and stakeholders.

It's so bad, FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps has admitted, "America's record in expanding broadband communication is so poor that it should be viewed as an outrage by every consumer and businessperson in the country."

What are we going to do about it?

As a pretty competitive person, I was motivated by the Communication Worker's of America's newest campaign, Speed Matters. The campaign tests your Internet connection and compares it to the communities around you, as well as the rest of the world.