Software/Technology

When you think of YouTube, perhaps it’s the do-it-yourself entertainment of lonelygirl15 or the mysteriously faceless Pachelbel’s “Canon” guitar whiz that comes to mind.

You probably know Facebook as a social-networking site that allows people to connect with friends, co-workers and classmates; upload photographs; share links and videos; and join community networks that mirror their interests.

But Facebook now is stepping into the fundraising field by allowing users to buy virtual gifts or icons to send to their friends to benefit charity.

Feeling kind of limited by the communications, networking and advocacy-building capabilities of the real world? Never fear … plenty of opportunities abound in the virtual one.

Second Life, for example, is a three-dimensional virtual world built and owned by users — now numbering more than 4 million worldwide — that some nonprofits have begun to use in innovative ways to expand their reach and programs.

Nonprofit organizations can create customized, multi-lingual community toolbars that supporters can download to their browsers to increase campaign awareness, encourage community participation and drive fundraising.

Toolbars — offered and hosted free of charge by marketing platform Conduit — can include features such as one-click donation buttons, RSS-driven action alerts, news tickers, weather updates, links to community chat rooms and podcasts, and e-mail alerts. Toolbar Web searches are powered by Google and, according to Rena Jadhav, chief marketing officer for Conduit, 50 percent of the revenue Conduit generates through searches goes to the nonprofit.

Someone 20 years old, or 30 or 40 — even 50 — might never become a direct-mail donor. He or she probably will give online from the beginning. And there’s evidence that online donors might act quite differently than their direct-mail responsive parents and grandparents.

In early December 2006, Network for Good launched the beta version of its Charity Badge fundraising widget, which allows individuals to raise awareness and money for a cause on their personal blogs, social-networking sites or Web pages.

Online message boards can transform your Web presence from a one-sided mouthpiece for your organization to a place for interactive dialogue that allows visitors to communicate with you and with each other. Message boards not only encourage communication, but they foster community and accessibility. Message boards offer a specific location where constituents can gather, allow almost real-time communication and easy navigation through message threads, and archive conversations, writes Susan Tenby, online community manager for TechSoup, online provider of nonprofit technology services that include news and articles, discussion forums, and discounted and donated technology products, in her white paper “Using Message Boards to Build Community.”

There is a new voice being heard on nonprofit Web sites. It’s the voice of Web site visitors stepping up, speaking out and taking part in their own online community spaces — blogs, discussion groups and more — and it’s changing the way nonprofits think about their Web sites, and about their strategic approaches to reach out and engage their constituents and supporters. Many nonprofits have “brochure” Web sites with pages that present read-only information about an organization’s goals, activities and accomplishments. These sites may be attractive and informative, but they don’t actively engage the Web site audience. Because of this, they are giving

Online message boards offer myriad benefits to constituents in search of support, information and community. Key to the success of a message board is a core group of people that can be relied on to keep conversations moving. The Alzheimer’s Association, a voluntary health organization dedicated to finding prevention methods, treatments and a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, offers constituents a host of online message boards and chat rooms where they can share their thoughts and experiences, ask colleagues questions, and make friends. The message boards are grouped by topic and include a board for people living with Alzheimer’s disease, a forum for caregivers,

AUSTIN, TEXAS (January 17, 2007) Convio, Inc. – a leading provider of online constituent relationship management solutions (eCRM) for nonprofit organizations – today announced that it has executed a definitive agreement to acquire GetActive Software, Inc. Convio and GetActive are widely recognized as the two foremost eCRM software and services vendors within the nonprofit sector. The acquisition is expected to significantly strengthen Convio’s ability to provide the most innovative Internet solutions that help nonprofit organizations build high-impact fundraising, marketing and advocacy campaigns. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of