Tuesday, February 4, 2014

eNews:Keep yourself busy through winter

Idealware: Helping Nonprofits Make Smart Software Decisions

January 2014

What a month! January has flown by for us at Idealware, as we're sure it has for many of you, while winter, on the other hand, seems like it's been here forever. We're inching closer to spring with every passing day, but for much of the country, there's still plenty of winter to be had. Since Idealware is based in Maine, we get winter, and wanted to throw together a number of good resources to help you pass those days until warmer weather and clearer skies return. 
We'd also like to ask a favor. We recently sent out our 2014 Community Survey, which closes tomorrow, January 31. If you haven't completed it yet, we'd love it if you would. It should only take five minutes of your time, but it will tell us more about what you think of our reports, trainings, emails, or any of the other ways we interact with you and help us to serve you better. You can take the survey here.
Last week we kicked off our first course of the year, From Audit to Redesign: The Complete Nonprofit Website ToolkitThis five- session class is spread out over 10 weeks, and covers all the high-priority issues you face when considering a website redesign. Though the class is under way, there's still time to sign up. As with all of our webinars, every session is recorded, so you can catch up and review at your own pace. Not your cup of tea? We've got six more intensive courses planned out between now and July that might be more to your taste, starting with The Social Media Policy Toolkit right around the corner.
Earlier this week, we released our newest report, a look at how every day nonprofits in the human services field are evaluating their programs. The report is the result of a survey of our constituents and site visits to several local organizations here in Portland, Maine. The results were fascinating, and shed some light on the often misunderstood topic of nonprofit impact-measurement. Download it here for free.
To cap things off, we recently updated an article on phone systems, are hosting a 90-minute class on boosting your social media engagement, and have a whole lot more for you to pass those chilly days. Read on to see what we've got in store.

Reports and Articles

The Reality of Measuring Human Service Programs: Results of a SurveyThe public conversation about measuring programs is often theoretical, focusing on what organizations could or should do rather than on tactics for success. At Idealware, we were curious about the opposite—what specific tactics are organizations using to measure their programs? What are the barriers? To find out, we created and distributed a survey to human service organizations on our own mailing list—generally small to mid-sized organizations—to learn how they were actually using technology to measure and evaluate the outcomes of their programs. 
To augment survey results, we selected three organizations local to Idealware for site visits and interviews with them to understand their strategies for measuring programs.
Download the Free Report>>>
Phones on a Shoestring BudgetNewly updated for 2014. If your organization is considering a new phone system, should you go with traditional service or Voice over IP (VoIP)—and what does VoIP even mean in this context? Should you buy hardware to manage multiple phone lines, or one of the growing number of other software-based solutions? 
We talked to a number of nonprofit IT specialists about the best choices for affordable, reliable phone systems and compiled the information and recommendations they shared in this article to help you decide.
Read the Free Article>>>

Training 

The Social Media Policy ToolkitWednesdays, 02/19 - 03/05 1:00-2:00 PM (ET)
As social media transparency and two-way conversations become the norm, many nonprofits are racing to develop social media policies that govern who does what, what's OK (and not OK) to say on behalf of the organization, and how to handle sticky situations. But even more than legislating these details, the process of creating such a policy can help you and other leaders in your organization engage in important discussions that will mature your organizational culture and better position you to take advantage of the tools and opportunities at your disposal.
In this new course based on our popular Nonprofit Social Media Policy Workbook, we'll explore why the process is as important as the product, how to make these conversations productive and strategic (and maybe even fun), and why a social media policy is an important milestone of digital maturity. We’ll also spend an entire hour on each of the following topics: responding to comments (especially negative ones), your social media values, and personal voice vs. professional voice. Throughout this course, we’ll rely heavily on conversations and examples to help you see the results of creating your own social media policy.
Read more or register >>>
Getting Beyond the Like: Social Media Engagement
Thursday, 02/20 1:00-2:30 PM (ET)

People “like” you, but what is that actually doing to support your organization’s bottom line? We’ll talk critically about how you can move constituents up a ladder of engagement from a simple “like” to actually get them to do something for your organization. Sign a petition, attend an event, join a movement and yes, even donate—it’s possible to get your constituents to do all of these things as a result of social media actions, but it’s not easy. Armed with case studies, industry research and plain old common sense and experience, we’ll work together to recalibrate your social media mindset in order to provide more value and cultivate a deeper commitment.
Read more or register >>>

On the Horizon

Just because we've had a busy January doesn’t mean we don’t have a busy February, March, April, and May planned out. For starters, as soon as our Social Media Policy Toolkit wraps up, our next course,Mastering Your Mix: A Practical Approach to Integrated Communications, begins. Based on our popular workbook, this course will help bring some of those conceptual ideas into reality for your own organization. Not only will we walk you through the process of integrating your communications, but you’ll have personalized guidance from one of the workbook’s lead authors.
Outside of the training realm, we are putting the finishing touches on a brand new report that looks at the landscape of apps for the Salesforce.com platform. This report will break down the full, complicated app marketplace to what is most valuable to nonprofits. Co-written by the same team that brought you the Consumers Guide to Donor Management Systems, and featuring the same accessible guidance, it won’t be much longer until you have your own roadmap to meeting your needs by building on top of Salesforce.com. We're also including a directory of consultants who specialize in Salesforce.com for the critical step of implementation. And our latest-and-greatest update to the Field Guide to Software for Nonprofits is under way, with a publication date of early spring. 
As always, be sure to keep an eye on our TwitterFacebook, andblog to keep tabs on what's going on at Idealware. Things move fast around here, and we want to make sure you get the resources you need right away. Stay warm.



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