Tate Hausman, dotOrganize

Many of us mythologize the bleeding edge. We fill our minds with "first mover" success stories like the MoveOns and Dean campaigns of the world that make headlines for using brand new tools. We secretly dream that we too might get our hands on a bleeding edge tool that skyrockets us and our organization to success. And we feel a little ashamed and nervous when peers talk about Second Life, Frappr, and Meebo because we're still struggling with our email.

Dreams of breakthrough success drive innovation and experimentation. But when we prioritize the bleeding edge over basic needs, we do a huge disservice to our organization and our cause.

Katrin Verclas, MobileActive.org

The mobile buzz is definitely on, and with good reason. There are 2.7 billion mobile phones in circulation around the world and these numbers continue to grow at astonishing rates, even in the United States where we are notoriously behind in the use of text messages and creativity in mobile applications. But with half the world owning cell phones, all organizations that want to communicate with their constituents and spread their message should be looking at mobile phones as a promising, new outreach tool.

Yes, using mobiles is still a novel idea for most nonprofits. The good news is that there are many resources available to help your organization enter the world of mobile communications. For starters, here are a few things to consider as you plan a mobile campaign.

• Mobile phones should be used as part of an integrated campaign. As sexy as mobile marketing and campaigning is, it can’t yet stand by itself.

• Texting campaigns, especially with short codes on a professionally run platform, are still expensive and will not turn into ‘profit centers’ any time soon.

Ali Levine, NTEN Fellow for Special Projects

Working "on the bleeding edge" is exhilarating, but it can be nerve wracking too. Staff time and money are in perpetually short supply and ensuring the most efficient and effective use of resources is one of the most important tasks a nonprofit manager must undertake. Deciding to put those scarce resources into a new idea or tool can be a tough call. New ideas are, by their nature, largely unproven, and there is usually little data to go on.

Even when data does exist, it rarely tells you what you want to know. Most available data is captured by a single organization and tends to stay within that organization, where it's useful but doesn't offer a big picture look at the trends. And just because several organizations are using the same tool doesn't mean that they have the same goal.