We probably don't need to convince you that mobile's becoming increasingly important to the nonprofit sector. I mean, at least 43.5 million people use their phone to check email on a daily basis and almost 7% of U.S. web traffic now comes from mobile devices.

So we're excited to hear Kelly McIvor's perspective. He's been in the business for 19 years, focused on the creation and marketing of new mobile products and services. We've engaged him to talk about the key elements of "Creating a Mobile Strategy".

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Today, I’m live blogging a few sessions from the 2011 Millennial Donor Summit. This session focuses on how to successfully get started with mobile technology, with Tonia Zampieri from Smart Online presenting.

Last week, we asked our Facebook community what tech goodies they hoped to receive this holiday season. The most popular answer? The iPad of course! In case you were lucky enough to get one of these goodies recently, I thought you might like a couple of tips about how to turn the best mobile movie and book machine into something close to productive as well.

I got an iPad last summer, and after six months of heavy-duty use, I have a few suggestions for apps you can actually use to get work done.  In no particular order, my favorites:

Flickr: visit~ fingerlakesWhere I come from, there's a lake, and every year on the Saturday before Labor day when the sun goes down, everyone who lives on that lake turns off their house lights, lines their waterfront with lit red flares, and builds a bonfire. This is how we mark the end of summer (high tourist season) and the beginning of a new year. For the past few years, I've been in Portland, OR, far away from this tradition -- which may explain why it feels a bit like September has smacked us over the head, as it walked unannounced into our summer party.

Regardless of how it got here, it's already September and before we know it, October, November, and December will soon follow. In preparation for your end-of-year campaigns, NTEN has devoted September to talking about fundraising. I thought I'd do my part with a few of 2010's best resources (so far).

Corinne Ramey, MobileActive.org

Although nonprofits in the United States have been slower to embrace mobile phones for some purposes than the rest of the world, mobiles are catching on as a way to reach diverse populations across the U.S.

Nonprofits and government agencies are using mobiles for purposes including monitoring, education, and instant alerts and communication.

Lack of knowledge is a bigger problem preventing adoption than cost. Nonprofits interested in mobile need to think outside the box in terms of creative message content and new ways of reaching their audiences.

Karl Hedstrom, NTEN

Every year at NTEN's annual Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC), one of our major goals is to collect enough feedback from you, the attendees, to make our future conferences even better.

Historically, we've accomplished this through the tried and true method of paper evaluations. At the 2009 NTC, we decided to give this system a major tech overhaul by implementing a mobile text messaging version of this: the Mobile Evaluation.

We're fairly certain that if an organization with 5 full-time employees can pull off a full-scale mobile program in just one month, you can, too. Here's the skinny:

In November, I was lucky enough to sit on a panel on text messaging for advocacy at the Convio Summit. My co-panelists, Matt Wilson from Mobile Commons and Kristin Kich of NARAL Pro Choice America both had some great case studies about using mobile to build lists and generate actions. There were lots of great questions during the session, including the very appropriate one about just who is texting anyway. Much like social media, there's an assumption out there that the only people who are texting are kids. That was probably true as recently as 2006/07. But it's not anymore! Nielson Mobile has just released statistics that indicate that EVERYONE is now texting. In the last quarter of 2007, the number of text messages consumers sent outpaced the number of calls they make and receive. According to 160Characters, the number of text messages has been steadily increasing: Qtr 3, 2007: 226 calls / 193 texts Qtr 4, 2007: 213 calls / 218 texts Qtr 1, 2008: 207 calls / 288 texts Qtr 2, 2008: 204 calls / 357 texts Of course, it's still heavily skewed towards the kids. Teens age 13-17 send and receive an average of 1,742 text per month, compared to "just" 231 calls. But the dominance of text messages is clear in several age categories: All Subs: 204 calls / 357 texts 12 & Under: 137 calls / 428 texts Ages 13-17: 231 calls / 1742 texts Ages 18-24: 265 calls / 790 texts Ages 25-34: 239 calls / 331 texts Ages 35-44: 223 calls / 236 texts Ages 45-54: 193 calls / 128 texts Ages 55-64: 145 calls / 38 texts Ages 65+: 99 calls / 14 texts So if you've been thinking that text messaging wasn't a good way to reach to your audience, you may want to think again. The President-Elect doesn't have a mobile strategy for nothing.