Nonprofit Bridge

A recent article in Philanthropy Journal described how nonprofits are using new media to engage constituents.  Major points:

• delivering information to cell phones will become increasingly popular
• using available web technology instead of ‘custom’ applications for needs that are not really unique
• through web based products, nonprofits now have access to the same technology as for-profits
• social network / viral fundraising can be done by allowing constituents to promote causes on their own web pages
• even small nonprofits can reach a large audience through technologies such as YouTube
• nonprofit staff responsible for information technology, communications and marketing tend to drive their organizations’ social-network campaigns rather than traditional ‘fundraising’ staff

Overall, while the tried and true ways to raise money and engage constituents still have value, it is the nonprofits that take advantage of the new strategies that will benefit the most.  Katrin Verclas, leader of the Nonprofit Technology Network which I’ve been involved in for years, says that organizations need to “learn to adapt to ways in which people are now expecting to participate.”

I think the most interesting observation is that fundraising is now a joint effort of multiple departments, not just the ‘development’ staff.  As a current member of an IT group who spends most of my time advising staff on how to do online fundraising, this is clearly a valuable direction for nonprofits that are still relying on more ‘traditional’ techniques.

Listened to an NTen sponsored call today with Sheeraz Haji and Tom Krackeler of GetActive and Gene Austin and Dave Crooke of Convio.  Both companies seemed very optimistic about their planned merger which will aim to take the best from both companies, e.g. online fundraising from Convio and advocacy / CMS from GetActive.  Time will tell how things will play out as current customers learn more about migration.

Meanwhile, the issue of how to connect data in different systems was squarely addressed in a comprehensive report on Open APIs by Michelle Murrain and Katrin Verclas, available free from NTen.  At my current organization, we’re struggling with two separate integration projects, one which involves two products from the same company.  Open APIs are important because then you don’t necessarily have to get everything from the same vendor.  While Convio & GetActive will make a good try, it’s hard for any one company to offer the best of breed for many different applications.