The Jay Love Blog : BlackbaudNow

NPO Blogging

Jay Love — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:35:00 GMT

Since we create custom web sites here at eTapestry and we now have a tool for very low end web sites called BlackbaudNow you might guess that all of us at eTapestry look at a large number of NPO web sites each week. One of my favorite parts is checking out personal blogs within those sites. I am especially fond of any blogs being written by the top executive of the charity.

A personal blog written by the top executive provides keen insights into that person, their method of leadership and their vision for the NPO. It gives me a superb way to connect, especially just prior to pulling out my credit card to become a supporter of the vision and mission portrayed. I am guessing I am not alone.

What is a major surprise and even a mystery to me is why more executive directors do not start a blog. One of the main roles of any executive director in the charity world and for any CEO in the business world is to initiate and facilitate communications. If any person in the key role as a leader is writing a letter, creating an email, answering an email or delivering a speech then they are MORE than qualified to do a weekly or monthly blog post regarding the mission of the charity. Heck, if I can do it, anyone can...

Let’s use a simple chart to illustrate:

Blog = Communications = Relationship Building = Success!

I will add a few footnotes to my masterful chart at the end of this post. First, I wanted to share examples of NPO blogs and in particular those authored by executive directors. As always, I am a huge believer in a picture (actual blog) being worth so much more than my text.

Before I share some examples of those executive director blogs I wanted to point you to a truly informative article that appeared in Fundraising Success about NPO blogging. You can find the article here. This article is jammed packed with information and tips.

I will share a few of the insights below:

According to Leroux Miller, there are six key ways in which blogs are different from Web sites:

Blogging software is easy and fast to use. Users can create and publish posts very quickly.
Updates appear at the top of the page, whereas if you update your Web site, visitors don't necessarily know what content was updated when.
Posts don't have to be long articles. You can add brief, frequent entries.
Blogs take on a personal, friendly style. It's a conversational, not institutional, medium.
Heavy use of links
People can subscribe so updates are delivered to them, rather than them having to visit your site to search for updates on their own.

Further reading reveals Leroux Miller stating there are five main types of nonprofit blogs:

News blog. If your organization wants to be known as the go-to source for the latest news on a topic.
Advocacy blog. If you want to be known as the "voice" of your issue.
Toolbox blog. If you want to be known as a resource, problem solver or technical assistance provider.
Storytelling blog. If you want donors to better understand the need for and impact of your work. Has a more personal tone.
CEO/executive director blog. If you want to build confidence in your leadership and approaches.

As you peruse the article you will also see how nimble the author is in answering the basic questions of why, who, when, where, what and how. It is well worth a read by any NPO considering adding a blog to the web site. Great stuff!

Please see how these various blogs add so much to understanding the mission and vision of the NPO's they represent below. Enjoy and please email me with any other examples I might be able to share a few weeks down the road.

Indianapolis Museum of Art
Shepherd Community Center
Jews for Jesus
Not a blog, but just as good: summitforsomeone.org
Live Strong
Indianapolis Children's Choir
Cathedral High School
Indy Cultural Trail
Life With a Baby
GreenPeace
Kiva
New York City Coalition Against Hunger
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
One
Oxfam America

Notice how the mission becomes real to the reader. Stories tell so much, often in emotional and meaningful ways. Think how easy it will be for the potential supporter to relate to the cause and yearn to be involved more. Is that not how philanthropy truly begins? Give it a try and I think you will soon see such relationships taking shape. Everyone reading this knows how to tell a good story. You may be a small step away from becoming a thought leader and a relationship building machine for your NPO!

The Largest Gathering of Technical Folks in the Nonprofit Sector

Jay Love — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:14:00 GMT

Yes, earlier this week I was part of the WiFi/laptop festival known as NTC.

This annual event, usually in the SF Bay area, continues to grow and thrive. They have certainly found their niche with an ever increasing gathering of truly passionate folks focused on the common mission of putting technology to work for the missions of NPO's. This year the event sold out early and truly lived up to the anticipation of seeing packed rooms for every session.

I was often a speaker in the early years of NTC. However, this year I was able to function as a participant, networker and part of the anchor vendor sponsor's ground team. Each of those assignments had certain benefits in making my two days there more worthwhile.

I am going to focus in on the participant aspect with a few observations and perhaps an opinion or two. I am hoping that the opinions bring a few replies that I may share. Please let me know your thoughts by just clicking on jay.love@etapestry.com and shooting me an email.

First, it was neat to see many of the larger sessions being piped out live for people to view via the web. Facilitating such technology is what should be done by such an organization and they more than made it happen. A big :) for all of those involved!

Next, it was quite a site in the large ballroom for the keynote sessions where everyone attended. Literally every seat was taken plus virtually any floor space on the sides and at the far rear of the huge room. Even with advanced planning they ran out of IP addresses for the laptops firmly entrenched on everyone’s legs. I wonder how many real time updates were being posted during the sessions?

I attended several of the sessions, particular the ones focused upon case study results within actual non-profits. In some cases truly revolutionary breakthroughs were showcased reflecting the integration of various technologies. Unfortunately most of the breakthrough examples were not within the budget reach of most charities. Only those with budgets who could withstand six figure outlays or larger with consulting firms were the lucky recipients of such integrations. Hopefully, those can be packaged in some manner so the other 94% of the NPO’s in the sector can utilize. (Most of you know that leveling the playing field in technology for that other 94% has been my mantra for virtually all of my 25 years in the sector.)

A couple of the sessions showcased the use of integrated solutions based upon so called "free or open" solutions such as Salesforce.com or Plone or Vertical Response and various others. As I watched the consulting firms involved talk about how they had assisted in making the integration of these tools happen for mere $15,000 to $30,000 investments, I could not help but wonder if most of the audience had any idea that such integration of CRM/Database tools with web tools/e-commerce pages and powerful email engines are standard offerings for many solutions from vendors like Blackbaud/eTapestry. We even have a new partnership with PayPal that is providing web site creation/hosting plus e-commerce/on-line donations plus CRM/donor database plus mass email functions within a single product that has no upfront or subscription fees for the small non-profit called BlackbaudNow.

More importantly, such solutions from well known vendors carry a few advantages that I just have to post here in my blog. Yes, I know it is a bit self serving, but they are so vital that I must state them or I am not being true to my mantra! Below are a few of the key advantages of dealing with a known vendor for such integrated solutions. They are:

You do not have to bear the development costs, which many times are NOT fixed fees
The solutions are backed by top notch ONGOING support at a reasonable price
The worry of new updates/versions to portion of the applications used breaking the integration and requiring more development costs goes away!
The solutions are upgraded and enhanced annually by the vendor based upon combined suggestions of the end user community
The vendor is obligated to fix any bugs that are found, usually for free
Proper training in a wide variety of formats is provided
Other NPO’s are using the solution and may be part of a user group community
The solution is kept upgraded and thereby functioning on new versions of operating systems, web browsers, MS Office and other backbone related systems
Many vendors scale the solutions and pricing so that the other 94% of market can actually afford to purchase and use on an ongoing basis
Additional add-on functions will be made available over the life of the solution

There you go ten quite important advantages in my opinion. These have been formed from all sides of the issue over the last 25 years. Please let me know if you agree or disagree.

I look forward to next year as the nonprofit world, via the NTEN Conference, will again showcase technology and the people behind the technology making it happen for all of us involved in some manner for charities large and small. Long live the geeks, CTO's, DBA's, CIO's and IT staffs who truly care and support the missions that matter to so many of us!

The Annual Event Called AFP International

Jay Love — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:35:00 GMT

Virtually every industry, market, owners association and any other group of people chasing a passion together have some sort of annual gathering. Perhaps I should use another basketball analogy and refer to the "Final Four" which is going on as I type this, but I will refrain.

Within the nonprofit world the annual event for many of us has been the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) International Conference. This year the event returned to New Orleans. Even though the economy is struggling, the overall event was still not one to be missed. I am very proud to say that this was my 25th AFP International to attend! I honestly could write several blog entries just on the remarkable changes I have seen over the years. I have watched the organization stage its event in locales ranging from large hotels to small convention centers to some of the largest convention centers in North America. It has been a wonderful and exhilarating ride. Hopefully, I will be able to enjoy many more, since I do not plan on missing any of them.

You see, just like any other large convention, our time in New Orleans for the nonprofit sector is when major announcements are made, like BlackbaudNow, and where you can meet virtually all of the key players. It is also where various affiliated groups meet either before, during or after.

One of the "before" gatherings that I attend is the joint Giving USA and Giving Institute board meeting. During the first evening meal of this gathering, we listened to some of the most heartwarming and dynamic stories, presented by a group of Katrina surviving charities. One of my friends within the sector is the current CEO of Ketchum, which is one of the oldest fundraising firms serving NPO's. In her blog, Kristina Carlson provides a splendid recap of those stories. They are well worth a few minutes of your time to peruse. Each story spoke of bravery and perseverance in the face of a situation that most of us could never imagine.

So many of the friends I have in this sector come back every year for the convention. The long hours in the exhibit hall always seem to speed by as the time is often spent catching up with so many of those friends. It is also such great fun to banter with the other vendors, especially those against whom we compete throughout the year.

You can always tell how well our products are serving the needs of the customers, as well as the strength of our customer support, by the open and honest comments made by everyone. Fortunately, for nearly every year of the 25 years, I have encountered virtually nothing but kind comments and smiles from our customer base. This fact alone makes me so proud of our team who sells, delivers and supports our products.

So until next spring in Baltimore where the old gang will come together again, I will offer my heartfelt praise for all of the fundraising professionals who make this annual event so special. Each of you bring so much to the forefront as you make most of North America's NPO missions come to life. Thanks for allowing me to be a part for so many years!

Random Acts of Kindness

The hero of this little segment is none other than one of the TSA staff at our local Indianapolis International Airport. A young mother with a cute little daughter was struggling with her bags, a car seat and the usual baby items. This particular TSA person went way out of his way to help. He offered to hold the baby or to just let her walk while the mother pulled everything back together. His kindness and extra effort made a wonderful difference in the evening travel of that mother and daughter. As they strive to protect us, the TSA staff so often catch the brunt of travelers' frustrations. Perhaps we should all smile and say thanks like that young mother did...

BlackbaudNow Springs to Life!

Jay Love — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:51:00 GMT

I am so excited to help announce the birth of an exciting new member to the Blackbaud/eTapestry family by the name of BlackbaudNow. We plan on calling it BBNow for a nickname.

In this case, I am so proud of the birth of this product since I had the honor of managing the project from its inception. I do not use the words honor or proud lightly because the team assembled was truly an all-star bunch. They came together and dominated their task at hand like the first Olympic Basketball team to feature the stars of the NBA. That team was immediately called the Dream Team. I like that moniker for our group.

Our "dream team" featured individuals from Indianapolis, Charleston, San Diego and San Jose. I would consider myself remiss if I did not share the names. Among the people who made this product come to life in record time were: John Moore, Josh Esslinger, Kirk Sadler, Rob Signorelli, Doug Stevens, Elaine DeaKyne, Rick Radcliff, George Roberts, Steve Rusche, Steve Klein, Vinny Prajka, Jon Olson, Judy Chang, Glenn Lim, Linette Atterbury and Sophie Hardy. Of course, the team was chartered as part of the vision created by Marc Chardon. Thanks Marc and thanks to all of you. We also need to thank our co-workers who covered for us in other areas of our day to day work while we scraped together extra time to make this project come to life.

In celebration of the launch, Blackbaud and PayPal are inviting nonprofits to participate in the BlackbaudNow Donation Sweepstakes. From March 30 to June 30, 2009, nonprofits that sign up for BlackbaudNow will be automatically entered in the sweepstakes. The first place contest winner will receive a matching donation of up to $2,500 and 20 additional nonprofits will receive matching donations of up to $500.

I hope all of you enjoy using this new product/service as much as we enjoyed creating it. If so, we have a huge success about to unfold!