What we’re reading, week of 5/18

From Katya’s Non-Profit Marketing Blog…
What absolutely must go on your home page
In the continuing discussion of website essentials, Katya calls out the 10 most important things to display right up front. Our favorite is #3: “Clear, intuitive navigation that is organized according to the brain of the people who come to your website and NOT your org chart.”

From NTEN…
09NTC Session Materials – Now Online!
Didn’t get to attended the NTC this year? NTEN announces that over 120 of the conference sessions are now available online.

Also from NTEN…
Small is the New Big: 2009 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study Released
NTEN presents the 2009 eNonprofit Benchmark Study and an associated webinar – some great bits here for discussion and insight.

What we’re reading, week of 9/15

From The Raiser’s Razor…
Is it really the economy, stupid?
Another perspective (and a timely one indeed) on the impact of the economy on fundraising. Jeremy points us to this article from FundRaising Success on how nonprofits can respond to economic challenges.

From NTEN…
Vote Now for Your Favorite 2009 NTC Sessions
The nominees are in, and it’s now time for NTEN members to vote on member-submitted session proposals for the 2009 NTC. Voting is open until October 3.

From Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology…
Social Network Management Systems?
Michelle Murrain writes about private and public social networks for organizations, making the point that “People are getting more and more used to social networks as the vehicle for connecting to others, and this is one way to provide this in a private setting.” This point was explored in great depth earlier this week, in an excellent NiUG presentation by GoLightly – who would suggest that private social networks provide this type of connection even for constituents who made not already be accustomed to these types of tools. See Sarah Golightly’s article for more.

What we’re reading, week of 8/25

From A Small Change…
Cultivating Supporters
In part two of this series, Jason Dick explores ways organizations can turn their supporters into enthusiastically loyal community ambassadors.

From NTEN…
Submit a Session for the 2009 NTC
The NTC is happening a bit differently this year – interested speakers who are members of NTEN can submit their session proposals by September 12, followed by a one-week voting period where members can weigh in on the sessions they’d like to see. This sounds like a brilliant idea, and should enable some innovative and offbeat presenters (perhaps with less name-recognition) to make it onto the agenda by popular demand.

From Give & Take…
Fund Raising at the Speed of Twitter
Donors List Their Charity Pet Peeves
The Chronicle of Philanthropy is definitely listening to bloggers – see the above two items for their coverage of discussions happening with readers of Beth Kanter’s and Marc Pitman’s blogs, respectively.