According to a new report by web measurement firm Hitwise, in the past two weeks visits to Gmail have been consistently higher than popular Google-owned video site YouTube. Additionally, these two sites have been contending for the #10 spot overall since the week ending January 10, 2009. Historically, the same top 10 sites have been fixed in their positions, so this shift represents the first big change in quite a while.
For fundraisers, 2008 was a year of change and challenge. Plummeting endowments, budget cuts and other lows added pressure to bring in new money while spending even less than before.
The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today unveiled ASPCAAmbassadors.org, an new online network which will give ASPCA supporters across the country the chance to become an “ASPCA Ambassador.”
The Centre for Social Innovation in connection with TechSoup Global, Microsoft Canada Co., and the Information Technology Association of Canada today launched the TechSoup Canada portal — offering Canadian non-profits access to technology donations.
President Barack Obama has called on Americans from all walks of life to embrace a new spirit of change and community service. This Valentine's Day, Americans have an opportunity to heed this call by joining the ranks of GlobalGiving Cupids — special individuals who give back to those in need and inspire others to do the same.
If you’re a fan of dance, you’ve probably heard of Mark Morris. His witty, inspired choreography is celebrated for its thoughtful relationship with musical accompaniment and exceptional craftsmanship. Morris’ work is accessible to the dance novice but sophisticated enough for the aficionado. He frequently choreographs for arts institutions around the world, but his own dance group and center are located in my backyard — fabulous Brooklyn, New York. Today we’ll be examining his organization’s Web site: www.markmorrisdancegroup.org. The Mark Morris Dance Group includes the company and a school. The site’s homepage showcases both, plus its location (the Dance Center building),
Nonprofit staff and board members share a common passion for their organizations’ work and often speak to each other as “insiders,” using jargon or shorthand for the programs and issues they work on. For instance, social service organizations might talk internally about “at-risk” audiences or “partner organizations.”
This month we’re looking at seedco.org, the Web site of Seedco, a national nonprofit that creates new and sustainable economic opportunities for low-income Americans. We anticipated a site that reflects the organization’s principles of community, progress and results. What we found was one that offers solid information about the organization itself, but lacks some of the more compelling aspects of online engagement that inspire a donor to invest.
The Web is fast-paced and dynamic. Blogs, YouTube, social media, RSS feeds and online communities are changing the way nonprofit organizations engage their constituencies. But it takes time and resources to maintain an organization’s Web site — let alone implement Web 2.0 strategies. And the progression of Web-based tools for constituency engagement leaves some professionals scratching their heads.
With just the click of a mouse, shoppers can buy nearly any product online — from groceries to cars, from insurance policies to home loans. And potential donors can form intimate relationships with the nonprofit organizations of their choices — getting information, registering for events and responding to other calls to action, and, ultimately, making donations or, better yet, signing up for automatically deducted monthly giving programs.
