So put your hands up and stand up / Then sit yourself down / 'Cause it's hard to read if your head isn't level with the screen. If you like what you read, support us by becoming a member.

A VERY BRIEF PRIMER: MEASURING THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT OF NONPROFIT TECHNOLOGY

Beth Kanter, Beth's Blog

ROI -- or Return on Investment -- is a pre- and/or post-evaluation process and analysis of three factors: benefits, costs, and value of a specific technology purchase over time. ROI can help your organization avoid a technology purchase that is a huge mistake -- or avoid not investing in a technology that could return many dividends.

But if you approach ROI as just a financial analysis, you're missing the point.

ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS THAT DON'T SUCK

John Kenyon, Jennie Anderson, AIDS.gov, and William Neuheisel, DC Central Kitchen

Imagine producing online communications you're proud to share with the world and that garner praise from funders, donors, and other stakeholders.

Well, I am here to tell you that in general they are actually, um... pitiful. Dreadful. While there are exceptions, most have a lot of room for improvement.

And while social media and Web 2.0 are great, if you don't have an effective website and email communications, you are largely wasting your effort trying to engage new audiences online.

LEVAR BURTON, FUNDRISING GURU? (or JOIN! RENEW! GIVE! GET!)

Marc Ruben, M+R Strategic Services

In a packed room at the 2009 NTC in San Francisco, LeVar Burton loomed large. Well, not LeVar in the flesh, but rather his metaphorical presence, in the form of the famous adage from his "Reading Rainbow" TV series: "Don't take my word for it."

All those tried-and-true strategies you read about in case studies, blogs, and, yes, this venerable online publication? They may not work for your organization.

You've gotta test things for yourself.

CLOUD COMPUTING 101: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Rem Hoffmann, Exponent Partners and Rob Jordan, Idealist Consulting

Everyone has come across the term "cloud computing", but what exactly does it mean? What relevance does it have to a nonprofit organization like yours?

The short answer: Cloud computing levels the technology playing field for nonprofits. It no longer matters whether you have a sizeable budget or a shoestring budget: With cloud computing, sophisticated technology solutions are more accessible because all you need is access to the Internet.

EFFECTIVE FUNDRAISING WITH FACEBOOK CAUSES

Susan Gordon, Causes

Facebook provides an unprecedented opportunity for nonprofits: 200 million monthly active users, about half of whom are signing in and communicating with their friends on a daily basis, is an organizer's dream.

But can nonprofits fundraise effectively using Causes?

Our top fundraising cause is the Nature Conservancy who has raised $262,984 to date, and we've seen another 15 nonprofits raise over $50,000 so far. Across the platform, users have donated over $9 million in 24 months and our daily donation total is up 10x over the past 12 months.

We're not promising a magic bullet for fundraising. But we have developed some excellent tools that, when combined with your knowledge of fundraising and messaging, can bring in donations from new donors who you have never before reached.

VIRTUALIZATION: THE REVOLUTION IN SERVER MANAGEMENT AND WHY YOU SHOULD ADOPT IT

Peter Campbell, Earthjustice and Matthew Eshleman, Community IT Innovators

This year's Nonprofit Technology Conference offered a good chance to discuss one the most important -- but geeky -- developments in the world of computers and networks: server virtualization.

In a nutshell, virtualization technology allows many computers to run concurrently on one server, each believing it's the sole occupant. This allows for energy and cost savings, greater efficiency, and some astounding improvements in the manageability of your networks and backups.

Most of the discussion related to virtualization has been centered on large data centers and enterprise implementations, but a small network can also take advantage of the benefits that virtualization has to offer.

THINGS WE LIKE

1. Clay Shirky thinks the Iranian election protests are "the big one" for social media.
2. Notice how we used quotation marks to, you know, quote somebody? That's what they're for. Everything else ends up on the "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks.
3. Someday soon, you'll be able to type ON your hand, not just with it. And figure out if a brand of toilet paper matches your green ideals -- by pointing at it. The folks at MIT are up to some crazy stuff.
4. What the heck is this thing? It looks like a giant face with feet. Sure is cute, though.
5. Ever wonder what the Cloud everybody keeps talking about actually looks like? Turns out it's really heavy -- and consumes more electricity than Sweden.
6. Michelle Murrain's up to something interesting: she defriended all of her nptech acquaintences on Facebook. She doesn't mention whether she installed Whopper Sacrifice first.
7. The underground comedy movement on Amazon.com. Check this out. No, not the shirt (though it is quite splendid): the reviews of the shirt. They're hilarious. Then, go to the "Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed" section to follow the writers to other products. One guy wrote a complete parody of Poe's "The Raven" to review a gallon of milk!
8. Speaking of putting your excess free time to "good" use [Ed. note: Don't provoke me...], here's the Google Analytics interface laid out in wireframe on a single page, with links to descriptions of each report.
9. Network for Good just came out with a new guide, "7 Steps to Better Email Fundraising and Communications". And Wired has the "Top 10 Ways to Provoke a Geek Argument". Bonus points to the first person to combine those memes. (Bonus points may be redeemed for one of our free webinars.)
10. Two animal-themed links in one month? You lucky readers! There was just no way we could not link to video of apes laughing. If you don't feel good after watching that, you may be a curmudgeon.

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