Connections : NTEN

2009 NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference - Day 3

Steve MacLaughlin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:40:00 GMT

It's the last day of the 2009 NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference is in San Francisco. Yesterday's plenary session by Clay Shirky was amazing. Read Chad Norman's 15 Clay Shirky Quotes That Blew My Mind at NTC blog entry.

Blackbaud has two speakers on today's agenda. Here are the details on these don't miss sessions:

What's It Worth? The Value of Online Fundraising
Allison Van Diest will be discussing what we believe to be the financial value of email, online event fundraising, websites, and social networks. Tuesday, April 28, 10:30 a.m.

Nonprofit Radio - How to Make Podcasts that Engage Supporters
This is THE session if you want to learn about podcasting. Chad Norman and Corey Pudhorodsky will be discussing how to produce a podcasts using free tools and from scratch, including pre-production, recording, editing, processing, rendering, and marketing (details). Tuesday, April 28, 10:30 a.m.

NTEN NTC Links:
Blackbaud at NTEN: http://www.blackbaud.com/nten
I'll be live blogging at: http://nten.org/ntc-stevemaclaughlin
Twitter Hash Tag: #09NTC

2009 NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference - Day 1

Steve MacLaughlin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:01:00 GMT

This year's NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference is in San Francisco and it's sold out. About 1,450 attendees will be here over the next three days for some great sessions, speakers, and lot of talk about technology.

NTEN is a membership organization of nonprofit technology professionals that share the common goal of helping nonprofits use all aspects of technology more effectively.

Blackbaud is a diamond sponsor for this year's conference. We have a few surprises in store for today's Science Fair and Opening Reception. Not your typical booth. Look for some photos later in the day.

NTEN NTC Links:
Blackbaud at NTEN: http://www.blackbaud.com/nten
I'll be live blogging at: http://nten.org/ntc-stevemaclaughlin
Twitter Hash Tag: #09NTC

Internet Investments Survey

Steve MacLaughlin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:33:00 GMT

Blackbaud is conducting a survey as part of our State of the Nonprofit Industry (SONI) series.

This SONI survey on internet investments hopes to help nonprofits better understand how much to invest in online marketing and fundraising and what to expect in return. In short, the results of this survey will help nonprofits better answer the critical question: What is the monetary value of being online?

Please take a few minutes to help the nonprofit community quantify the financial value of email, online event fundraising, websites, and social networks. In return, you’ll be eligible to win one of three (3) $100 VISA gift cards and will receive a copy of the final report. Your responses will be kept confidential and will not be used for sales purposes. Take the survey here!

The survey closes on April 17, 2009, 5PM EDT to allow time to compile results for the live unveiling at the NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference on April 28, 2009. The report will be published to survey respondents directly following that event.

Can't Miss Conferences and Early Bird Deadlines

Steve MacLaughlin — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:30:00 GMT

There are a number of nonprofit conferences throughout the year. From an Internet and technology standpoint, two of the best conferences in the first few months of 2009 are:

Target User Forum
April 5 - 8 | Boston

The Target User Forum has developed a reputation as the conference for larger nonprofits engaged in advanced direct marketing, online innovation, and major gift fundraising.

The keynote speaker this year will be Josh Bernoff, co-author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. Josh is one of the most sought after speakers on the topic of practical, data-based strategies for getting results from social networks.

There will also be a number of tracks about online fundraising best practices, direct mail and direct marketing strategies, and several other topics. The early bird registration deadline is February 13th.

NTEN's Nonprofit Technology Conference
April 26 - 28 | San Francisco

The NTC brings together 1,200 people from across the nonprofit industry in one of the biggest and best conferences of the year. The sessions, the speakers, the networking, and the chance to engage with peers from across the sector make the registration price a steal.

NTC's opening plenary speaker is Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody and a well respected writer and thinker about trends in social media and technology.

The session topics for NTC cover a wide variety of areas including online fundraising, advocacy, integrated marketing, technology infrastructure, Web 2.0 and social media, and much much more.

The early bird registration deadline is January 31st. And remember that NTEN members save $200 on their NTC registration.

NTEN Adds to Board of Directors

Steve MacLaughlin — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:35:00 GMT

NTEN has announced their new Board of Directors members and I'm very honored to have been asked to join the organization. NTEN plays a critical role in facilitating both the growth and professionalism of the nonprofit technology field as well as building knowledge and information sharing capacity throughout the sector.

I've gotten to know both Holly Ross, Executive Director of NTEN, and Lynn Labieniec, Board Chair of NTEN and CEO of Beaconfire Consulting. They have done a great job of growing the organization and increasing the impact it makes in the nonprofit technology world.

There are three other new faces on the NTEN board: Rusty Burwell from the American Lung Association, Tom Krackeler from Convio, and Nancy Schwartz from Nancy Schwartz & Company. I look forward to working with them and the other board members on initiatives related to the nonprofit sector.

NTEN is a great organization that makes a real difference in what we do. NTEN offers both individual and organizational membership programs that help support conferences, events, webinars, surveys, and other important resources. Sign up for the NTEN newsletter, attend some Office Hours, register for a webinar, attend an event, or join one of the Affinity Groups like the popular NTEN Discuss group.

PCI Compliance Webinar

Steve MacLaughlin — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:30:00 GMT

This Friday, NTEN will be hosting a webinar called "PCI Compliance: What's All the Fuss?" that you can register for FREE online. Blackbaud worked with NTEN to put this session together and the webinar begins at 2pm EDT / 11am PDT.

If you are new to NTEN, create a visitor login by completing a short registration form. Then, select “Take A Webinar” from the LEARN menu (left nav bar), select the PCI session, click Register Today, and log in with your visitor account. Select Blackbaud in the "How did you hear" field. Click Add to Cart to complete the registration process.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements developed by the major credit card companies to enhance credit and debit card data security. Starting October 1, 2008, all organizations that require new merchant IDs will have to demonstrate PCI compliance. By July 1, 2010, all organizations that process, store, or transmit payment card data must follow the PCI DSS requirements or will risk losing their ability to process credit card payments.

Join Bob Russo, General Manager of the PCI Security Standards Council, as he explains how these requirements impact non-profit organizations. Following that, Mark Banbury, Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Plan Canada, will discuss his organization’s approach to compliance and the importance of these measures to the security of both NPOs and their constituents.

Blackbaud is a member of the PCI Security Standards Council and has made significant investments in our products to make them compliant for our nonprofit customers. You can learn more about Blackbaud's PCI DSS efforts here.

Random Interactions and Connections

Steve MacLaughlin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:33:00 GMT

Today's blog entry is a random collection of worthwhile and useful links. Enjoy!

NTEN's Donor Management Software Survey
Cast your vote. Take the time. Speak your mind. NTEN is now doing a survey of Donor Management Software that I really hope you'll spend a couple of minutes to complete. The feedback benefits the entire nonprofit community. Past NTEN surveys about CMSs and CRMs are also useful sources of comparative information. Blackbaud scored very well in those surveys.

The Baudcast - Episode 15
This episode cover disaster fundraising, Beth Kanter's Gnomedex experiment, real-time social fundraising, people to people fundraising, non-numeric web analytics, social actions widget, Google Grants, and more. The panel discussion includes Chad Norman (Internet Marketing Manager), Allison Van Diest (Blackbaud Interactive Marketing Manager), Melissa Dodge (Public Relations and Media Coordinator), and myself.

Introducing the Blackbaud Payment Service
Have you heard of PCI DSS? Has your technology vendor? If you handle credit cards, either online or offline, then you need to understand what PCI DSS compliance means to you and your organization. Learn more at Blackbaud's PCI FAQ or blog. From October of 2008, any organization that requires a new merchant ID from the credit card companies must be PCI DSS compliant. In October of 2009, all organizations must be PCI DSS compliant to process credit cards.

Accessibility and Blackbaud NetCommunity
BBNC v5.5 had some significant and important improvements on the accessibility front. There's a new article on Blackbaud Labs that explains how to build an accessible UL-based menu and the sample code to do it. Keen observers will also notice that the website is running a prototype of article building functionality, including tagging, within BBNC.

Listening to the Nonprofit Tech Social Media Stream
Beth Kanter has posted a great list of links, listings, and listening posts for people to get in tune with the nonprofit tech space. So many nonprofits always ask me what to read / listen / follow and she's put together some very helpful resources here. This is a good place to start.

Random Samples and Signals

Steve MacLaughlin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:43:00 GMT

This is a busy travelling work week for me. So here are some things of note and some tunes for a Tuesday:

We Are Media
NTEN's Social Media curriculum project where the community is the curriculum. Each week there will be a new theme related to social media and nonprofits. One of the goals of the project is to help identify the best existing resources, people, and case studies that will give nonprofit organizations the knowledge and resources they need to use social media to change the world. This week's theme: Dealing with Resistance

The Baudcast - Episode 11
This episode's panel discusses the Target Index of National Fundraising Q1 2008 findings, CAN-SPAM rule changes, the NTEN We Are Media project, PCI compliance, eTapestry in Spanish, the Kintera acquisition, the iPhone 3G, increased volume levels, and more. The panel discussion includes Chad Norman (Internet Marketing Manager), Melanie Milonas (Public Relations Manager), Jamie Holiday (Internal Communication Coordinator), Chris Harris (Email Services Specialist), Nigel Tufnel, and me.

Building Your Presence on a Budget
The Chronicle of Philanthropy's latest live discussion is today and it's all about building your online presence on a budget. Beth Kanter, nonprofit social media guru, and The Nature Conservancy's Jonathon Colman are the guests on this panel discussion. If you can't join in at 12pm today then just wait for the transcript to be posted.

The Workin' Man
What does it say about the influence of gaming when Rock Band helps to unearth a never released guitar solo on the classic Rush song Working Man? Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson did an interview where the hidden track came from. You can give "the vault" version of the song a listen on YouTube. Next stop could be re-releasing the song on iTunes.

NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference - Day 3

Steve MacLaughlin — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:32:00 GMT

Wait a minute! What happened to Day 2? I got so caught up in the sessions, the hallway chats between the sessions, and the sessions after the sessions that I never got a chance to blog about the day. Check out some of what some other bloggers have been saying here. I'll sum up Day 2 in a few words: Piano. iPhone. ROI. Integration vs. Interface.

This morning I sat in on panel discussion about the grassroots efforts of nonprofits in the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Some inspiring stories of progress with so much done and so much left to do here in New Orleans. I hopped around to some different sessions as I keep trying to be in more than one place at once.

They just wrapped up the awards presentation. A lot of really good people and work were recognized including America's Giving Challenge. I hope they post all the winners on the NTEN website so people can get some ideas of successful campaigns and programs in action.

Later today I'm doing my session called "Let Your Stakeholder's Mouse Do the Walking." It's a mix of trends, ideas, and most importantly examples of nonprofits that are empowering their constituents in exciting ways. To download a copy of my presentation just click here.

NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference - Day 1

Steve MacLaughlin — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:57:00 GMT

I'm at the NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference in New Orleans this week. The Blackbaud booth is still somewhere in Memphis thanks to the weather and FedEx. (This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise as our improvised signage drew quite a popular reaction and a large crowd.)

The NTEN folks have a blog up that's covering all the action from the conference. Give it a look.

I'm going to attempt to post a few things this week from the conference and hopefully post some photos as well. On Friday, I'll be presenting at the conference and will post the presentation online.

Odds and Bookends

Steve MacLaughlin — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:30:00 GMT

Beth Kanter is giving away a copy of People to People Fundraising at the Nonprofit Technology Conference next month. Beth will give it to the person who posts the best comment about using person-to-person fundraising strategies on her blog. A few people have already posted comments. So even if you don't win...there are some good ideas to read through.

Ted Hart has launched a companion website for the of People to People Fundraising over at http://www.p2pfundraising.org. There is a free enewsletter you can sign up for along with some more information about the book, the authors, and some forums.

Ted, James Greenfield, and I will be doing a book signing at AFP's 45th International Conference on Fundraising on April 1st from 11:30am to 12:30pm. (No word on whether or not this is some kind of April Fools Day joke.)

Next week I'll be blogging about a few new things, including the Blackbaud NetCommunity API, some promising online trends, and hopefully other things worth reading.