What We’re Reading, Week of 9/14

From NTEN…
IT Alignment Is Mission Alignment
An interesting article discussing ways in which IT departments can “realign” themselves to better ensure that they are well placed and helping to achieve a myriad of goals across the company.

From Beth’s Blog…
Dear Causes: Please Share Your Cause Exit Survey Data With Nonprofits
Beth Kanter takes a look at Facebook causes and a surprising feature that should prove useful to organizations who do outreach through causes.

From Acronym…
Why should members join?
Acronym from ASAE poses the questions for readers to sound off on, “Why should members join?” See what people have to say.

From The Chronicle of Philanthropy…
Followers and Friends Not the Only Measure of Nonprofit Success Online
Are non-profits using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook successfully? This is the charge posed by marketer Seth Godin, though Peter Panepento (the author of the post) disagrees.

What we’re reading, week of 10/27

Two on social networking, two on nonprofit IT staffing.

From A Small Change…
Trouble with Facebook
Jason Dick inquires about readers’ successes and failures with the Facebook Causes application. In the comments, our own Sarah Hoddinott offers her insights on the strengths of social networks versus nonprofits’ own websites.

From A Small Change…
LinkedIn & LinkedIn Groups
Earlier, Jason discusses how development professionals can use LinkedIn to cultivate relationships with colleagues and donors. We can relate, as we’ve found the site very helpful in generating ideas and contacts for iOn!

From 1cent Thoughts on NPTech…
Info on hiring tech staff
1cent discusses the unique considerations nonprofits need to take into account when hiring tech staff.

Meanwhile, from NTEN…
How Much Are You Paying Your IT Staff?
NTEN is conducting an anonymous survey of nonprofit IT staff salaries. Its hould be interesting to see the results of this!

What we’re reading, week of 9/22

From 1cent Thoughts on NPTech…
Evolution of an accidental techie
1cent revisits the nuances and complications of being an IT staffer for a nonprofit, and the frequent lack of strategic thinking around that role. “Each day we learn more about our jobs, we develop new skills and refine old ones. We improve the way our org works, we get new tools and our jobs mature. But do we ever take the time to make sure our org will be able to support itself when you leave?”

From Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology…
SaaS vs. Open Source
Michelle Murrain discusses the sometimes conflicting nature of the relationship between SaaS vendors and the open platforms upon which their offerings are built. “SaaS vendors are taking good advantage of open source software, and, in many situations, not giving a whole lot back.”

From onLine…
Mobility is Moving In
Matt Blasi writes about the potential for mobile technology in advocacy and fundraising. This is something we’ve discussed before as an upcoming trend, but we’re wondering – exactly how prevalent is mobile tech in organizations’ current tech strategy?

What we’re reading, week of 9/1

From NTEN…
Ten Common Objections to Social Media Adoption and How You Can Respond
As an interesting counterpoint to our discussion about when nonprofits should not pursue social media, this post examines ways organizations can overcome the objections that are getting in the way of constituents’ adoption of a social media strategy.

From AFP…
Students Flock to Microfinance to Learn Real World Skills
Another example of microlending in action, this is the story of student groups that are making organized efforts to fund microfinance projects for community impact and entrepreneurship alike.

From 1cent Thoughts on NpTech…
I have been without tech for 2 months.
1cent discusses a recent layoff and job search in the context of nonprofits’ inadequate or inaccurate role descriptions for IT staff. “I think when it comes to technology, more specifically technology strategy and staff, nonprofits don’t plan for it, they just let the existing staff grow into it.” With an increased emphasis on nonprofit transparency, will technology strategy become something for which organizations start to feel more accountable? 

What we’re reading, week of 8/4

From Don’t Tell the Donor…
Convio decides not to take company public
DTTD discusses Gene Austin’s announcement this week that he does not intend to take Convio public. “Simply put,” he says, “good companies don’t go public in bad markets.”

From Non-Profit Tech Blog…
Read about Convio’s decision to not go public
Allen Benamer comments on the situation, discussing Convio’s financial successes and policy stumbles, and the sad state of the market for tech IPOs.

From AFP…
The Purposeful Techie: Nonprofit IT with Intention
AFP links to an onPhilanthropy article concerning the phenomenon of “the accidental techie” in nonprofits, and how nonprofits can approach their IT staffing needs with more intention.

From The Fundraising Coach…
Would you help me with Technorati?
A friendly request from Marc Pitman to help give his blog some visibility on Technorati. It just requires one click to “favorite” The Fundraising Coach. We like his blog a lot, so we’re doing it!

What we’re reading, week of 6/2

From TechSoup…
Selecting and Managing IT Vendors
Chris Peters has put together an incredibly thorough guide for nonprofits to work successfully with IT vendors. Each of the ten steps he outlines is supported by other great articles from TechSoup. Comments are open for readers to discuss Chris’ suggestions.

From the AFP blog…
Contagious Causes: Is Social Networking the Next Big Thing?
This post points to an article by John Skendall about the untapped potential of social networking. Many of his points are right in line with one of Philip King’s recent posts, Is Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Dead, or Just Getting Started?

From The Fundraising Coach…
Fundraising Secret #19: Make it easy!
Marc Pitman outlines the things nonprofits can do in their appeals in order to make giving ridiculously easy. Some points are obvious, but still surprisingly common mistakes! This ties in with Sarah and Shane’s point about making sure not to lose the key message.