There is no end to the challenges of social media for nonprofits. How can we keep our personal and professional lives separate online? How can we identify the “influencers”? Which social media tools are best? Here, Paul Adams, Senior User Experience Researcher at Google, shares his team’s insights into how people actually connect and behave online….(read more)

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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of participating in Twitter chat series #socialmedia.   It’s been a one-hour  weekly chat on Twitter for the past 10 months  organized and hosted by Marc Meyer and Jason Breed.     The way it works is they invite a “host” to ask 3 compelling questions, 20 minutes each, that revolve around a topical subject within the business of social media, but that play to their strengths or backgrounds.

As host
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The buzzwords of business-speak have evolved, in part, as a shorthand way of letting us refer to complex ideas with just a few words. Annoying as the overuse of jargon may be, the specialized language of the nonprofit sector may actually serve a useful purpose….(read more)

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The Red Cross is hosting the Emergency Social Data Summit today Thursday, August 12, 2010 from 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM (ET).   This is a hybrid event which means you don’t have to be in Washington, DC to participate.

You can participate remotely.  There are two ways:

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Are you looking for a way to help your website visitors easily find relevant related information online? The folks over at ReadWriteWeb have just added a great new search feature to their site, courtesy of Apture.com . When you highlight any word, phrase, or even a part of a word on any page on the website, a small “speech bubble” appears with the word “search”; click on that, and you’re given a small window with
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Flickr Photo by Sugarpond

Note from Beth: Last month I had the pleasure of presenting on a panel at Association of California Orchestras with Marc van Bree, an arts and social media blogger I met in 2007.   After Marc finished reading the Networked Nonprofit, he was curious about crowdfunding and free agents, chapters in  our book.  This was also about the same time as the flood in Nashville.   This terrible flood didn’t spare the Nashville Symphony Orchestra (NSO), an event that he first learned about through his social networks. The orchestra’s damages were approximately $42 million and after insurance and support from FEMA, the remaining financial gap could be as much as $10 million.  He wanted to raise some money to  help the local orchestra and test some ideas.   Here is what he learned.

Guest Post by Marc van Bree

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While there are many great nonprofit bloggers, nonprofits that are utilizing social media and mobile technology should also be reading the five blogs listed below. Although they are primarily written for the private sector, their writers seemingly have direct communication with companies like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc. and often provide some of the best inside information about crucial updates and The Next Big Thing:

About Foursquare :: www.aboutfoursquare.com
@aboutfoursquare
facebook.com/aboutfoursquare

All Facebook :: www.allfacebook.com
facebook.com/allfacebook
Twitter N/A

Mashable :: www.mashable.com
@mashable
facebook.com/mashable

Mobile Marketing Watch :: www.mobilemarketingwatch.com
@mobilemw
facebook.com/mobilemw

TechCrunch :: www.techcrunch.com
@techcrunch
facebook.com/techcrunch

What do you think? What blogs from the private sector are great reads for the nonprofit sector? Please post links in comments below. Thanks!

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In January, after the Haiti Earthquake struck, if you were participating on social networks, you couldn’t help but notice the many, many Tweets and Facebook status messages about the Haiti Earthquake.   The messages included pleas for support or retweeting the news, but beyond that the stream included pleas from people on the ground in Haiti asking for emergency assistance or letting loved ones and friends know they’re okay.

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GreatNonprofits.org’s 2010 Science and Technology Campaign, in partnership with Guidestar, NTEN, TechSoup Global, Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, Association for Women in Science, Inveneo, and Tonic, seeks top-rated nonprofits who are making a difference in the fields of science and technology. Does this sound like your nonprofit? …(read more)

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