Chad Norman's Webby Things : Podcasting

Podcasting, Podcasting, Podcasting

Chad Norman — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:18:00 GMT

OK, I've been home long enough to say I'm recovered from the 2009 NTC, but I'll certainly never be the same. This event has the potential to change the life and org of every single attendee that shows up, and that's why it will continue to be the premier nonprofit tech event for years to come. Yes, I'm in love.

Last week on The Baudcast, I assembled an all-star cast of NTC troops to break down the event and share some lessons learned. Anna Richter, the Program Coordinator at NTEN, joined us and was able to share some amazing inside knowledge. Danielle Brigida (NWF) and David Neff (American Cancer Society) broke down a couple of their sessions, and Peter Campbell (Earth Justice) waved the IT flag high. Rounded out by the Blackbaud crew, the show was a fun way to look back at this event. Be sure to check it out (iTunes or direct).

It was podcasting that brought me to NTC in the first place. I had the honor of co-presenting a session with the Nonprofit Podfather himself, Corey Pudhorodsky of the 501c3Cast (his NTC event and session notes are here). The session was packed, with people sitting in the hall to learn more about this fascinating medium. Though it was an A-Z overview of how to get started, I think many people left with specific actionable items they could use to start a podcast. The excitement was definitely there, and I can't wait to see some of these show ideas come to fruition.

Below are the slides to Nonprofit Radio: How to Make Podcasts That Support Your Brand and Engage Supporters. If you have any questions about podcasting, just shoot me an email, DM me on Twitter, or leave a comment below.

Nonprofit Radio - Make Podcasts that Engage Supporters

View more presentations from Chad Norman.

Happy podcasting!

Online Giving Smackdown :: A Very Special Baudcast

Chad Norman — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:18:00 GMT

When Target Analytics released its 2008 donorCentrics Internet Giving Benchmarking Analysis, the sector responded with keen interest. The study is packed with insightful nuggets, but one trend is capturing everyone's attention (including The New York Times): First time online donors are often migrating to other channels, like direct mail. Yikes!

Will online giving, with it's higher average gift and youthful appeal, prove not to be the silver bullet everyone thought? The blogosphere and Twitter lit up looking for an answer, but I really liked this post on The Agitator: is online fundraising Too Important for Techies?

We decided to dig into the issue on episode 24 of The Baudcast (iTunes | direct), so key players were invited on the show for an epic online giving battle (or at least a lively conversation). Joining me was Roger Craver (founder of The Agitator and Craver, Mathews, Smith & Company), Hildy Gottlieb (president of The Community Driven Institute and author of The Pollyanna Principles), and Rob Harris (co-author of the 2008 donorCentrics Internet Giving Benchmarking report). I had a great Blackbaud crew on hand as well: Steve MacLaughlin, Allison Van Diest, and Melanie Mathos.

The conversation was GREAT to say the least, as both Roger and Hildy blew us away with their understanding of multi-channel integrated campaigns. Steve posted some quotes from the show over on Connections, and we were all live tweeting comments during the call. Near the end of the conversation, I asked the panel what nonprofits could do tomorrow to better integrate and support online fundraising efforts...here are the responses:

Have a strategy that goes beyond fundraising. A good strategy should start with what your organization wants to accomplish, who you want to reach, and where those people are - then decide on the channels and tools.
Find other organizations that are doing multi-channel communications well, and copy them.
Listen carefully to what people are saying on blogs and social networking sites. Then use these feedback mechanisms to solicit information from your audience. Testing should used online as much as it is with direct mail - because it works.
Invest in good copy. Not just a good writer, but looking at your audience and what drives them. Then craft a message based on that.
Use your online channel to improve stewardship and increase the value of your donors.
Leadership is needed at an organization to break down the silos between the direct mail, email, and phone-a-thon teams. An integrated campaign is a successful campaign.

There you have it. Hear the rest on The Baudcast: (iTunes | direct)

8 Things I Learned from Episode 22 of The Baudcast

Chad Norman — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:27:00 GMT

One of my favorite things about producing The Baudcast (iTunes | direct) is that I get to learn directly from nonprofit industry experts, share with all of you, and then apply that knowledge at my own organization. Last week's show centered around storytelling, and specifically how to use the web as the vehicle - something we could all use a little help with.

Amy Sample Ward (Global Community Builder, NetSquared) and Danielle Brigida (Associate Operations Coordinator, National Wildlife Federation) just completed hosting sessions at TechSoup Global and NTEN's webinar series on Social Media and Storytelling, so I asked them to come on the show and share some of what they covered. They had some amazing insights, and I definitely took away some things I could do/use right away.

Find the people in your organization that have the voice to tell your story. Staff, board members, field workers, volunteers, or even those who receive help from your organization are all great resources to speak on your behalf. Seek them out, give them the tools, and let them tell your story for you.
Let activists use social media to help lighten your work load. Letting others tell your story for you has a great side effect: More time for your staff to focus on fundraising, event planning, etc. If you get others to tell the story of your mission, you'll have more time to focus on it.
Create a supporter toolkit. If you want people to tell your story, but your Marketing team is a little nervous about brand control, give your supporters a storytelling toolkit. Include your key messages, logos, photos, links, etc. so that they can help you tell your story in a way that supports your brand.
Create a separate YouTube account for you blog. This is a great piece of advice if you are want to include shorter, edgier, and funnier videos on your blog, but don't want them to show up on your main YouTube channel. Great idea Danielle!
Be authentic. This is always good advice, for anyone! Tell your story in a natural voice, not something that has been vetted by the public relations team. Avoiding the Marketese will add authenticity to your content.
Don't forget to listen! Use Google Alerts, TweetScan, BackType, search.twitter.com, and other services to generate RSS feeds that track mentions of your organization. Forgetting that we have 2 ears and only 1 mouth will get you into as much trouble on the social web as it will in the real world.
Twitter can become the FIRST social media service you use. Amy suggested that if you aren't currently using social media at all, you might as well start with Twitter. Using the service will help you learn a lot about your own audience's use of the social web, and put you in a better position to develop an overall strategy around blogging, Facebook, YouTube, and other social media tools.
Using video and photos instead of words to tell you story. A picture really is worth a thousand words, so let the photos and videos fly! Using services like YouTube, Flickr, 12Seconds, UStream, TwitPic, and others will help you add visuals to your compelling stories, which will encourage visitors to engage with and share your content more easily.

Thanks to Amy, Danielle, Steve, and Melanie for being on the show last week - I hope you all had as much fun as I did. If you'd like to subscribe to The Baudcast, please visit the iTunes Music Store or Blackbaud.com.

Is Your iPod Hungry? Feed it The Baudcast!

Chad Norman — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:10:00 GMT

I don't know about you, but my iPod has an insatiable appetite for new podcasts. Not a 12,000-calorie Michael Phelps-sized appetite, but it certainly appreciates being fed useful podcasts rather than old Led Zeppelin records. OK, it likes the old Zeppelin records too...

There are bunch of nonprofit podcasts out there to feed your mind and save your commute. I subscribe to Nonprofit Jungle: Guide to Smart Communications, Nonprofit Management & Fundraising, and the CPNS-QUT-Nonprofit Podcast. Sometimes nonprofit podcasts come in other shapes and sizes, like Marc Pitman's Ask Without Fear! Radio Show. It's live the first time, but after that you can download and take each episode with you wherever you go.

Here at Blackbaud, we're filled to the brim with amazing employees and customers that have served the sector for years. We use our flagship podcast, The Baudcast, as a means of capturing this thought leadership and delivering it to the world. Every two weeks, The Baudcast brings together a panel of experts to discuss recent news, trends, and happenings in the nonprofit space. It's a fun show that I'm proud to produce, host, and edit. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's available for download at Blackbaud.com or the Itunes Music Store.

Here is a rundown of the last four episodes:

The Baudcast, Episode 13
A fundraising-focused show featuring direct mail, list trading, data modeling, personalized touches, planned giving, attracting millennial donors, social networking, 2008 Conference for Nonprofits, NetWits Live @Portland, The United Way, and more. Participants include Chad Norman, Melanie Milonas, Jamie Holaday, Marc Pitman, and Ken Meifert (National Baseball Hall of Fame).
The Baudcast, Episode 12
This episode's panel discusses Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.5, efficiency through integration, multi-channel messaging, BBNC API, BBNC Idea Bank, social networking, Blackbaud Delivers, NetWits Live @Portland, Socialthing, VoteTheBay.org, and more. Participants include Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Milonas, Garrett Keating (United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation), and Michael Sola (Chesapeake Bay Foundation).
The Baudcast, Episode 11
A lively discussion on 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, and more. Participants include Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Milonas, Jamie Holaday, and Chris Harris..
The Baudcast, Episode 10
This episode's panel discusses the 2008 Giving USA data, generation Y working at nonprofits, the 2008 Blackbaud Higher Ed Forum, Firefox 3.0, BBNC Idea Bank, Blackbaud Interviews podcast, Reward Your Passion grants, Blackbaud customer fan video, and more. Participants include Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Milonas, and Jamie Holaday.

We're already setup for a ripping good time discussing social networking on episode 14 next week - I'm looking forward to it. I often send out tweets asking for questions while we are taping (follow me on Twitter), so be on the lookout. I also hope to begin broadcasting the show live on Stickam this fall.

So, keep your iPod happy and healthy by downloading some nonprofit podcasts today!

4 Webby Things on My Mind

Chad Norman — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:44:00 GMT

Here are four webby things I wanted to share with you all this morning.

Episode #12 of The Baudcast is hot of the griddle, and ready for consumption at Blackbaud.com or the iTunes Music Store. This was a fun episode to tape, so a big thanks goes out to Garrett Keating and Micheal Sola for taking the time to chat with us. The conversation wandered through topics like Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.5, efficiency through integration, multi-channel messaging, BBNC API, BBNC Idea Bank, social networking, Blackbaud Delivers, NetWits Live @Portland, Socialthing, VoteTheBay.org, and more. The Baudcast, Episode #12

Alternative search engine Cuil.com has officially launched today. You gotta love anytime someone re-imagines the search space (like Mahalo.com), as it's hard to think we'll have a better option than Google. Will Cuil be that better option? It's hard to say, but with ex-Google employees at the helm and an index that is allegedly bigger than Google's (121+ billion pages), they're off to a good start. And while my blog is not at the #1 spot for my name as it is in Google, Cuil is pulling up all kinds of other stuff...specifically my social networking profiles. Also, my LinkedIn page is #1 (just in case you needed another reason why you shouldn't neglect your LinkedIn profile). Cuil.com

I've been really excited to get an invite to 12seconds.tv, the new video-based microblogging/updating service. Since the videos are not streamed live (like with Kyte, Qik, or Stickam), it feels like a short attention span version of Seesmic. But with 3G iPhones proliferating across the world, this is great way to embrace the swelling real-time social web. And hey, moving pictures are worth 10,000 words - for, you know, when those 140 characters at Twitter just aren't enough! www.12seconds.tv

I love Twitter, you love Twitter - we all love Twitter. Well, now there's identi.ca, an open microblogging service using an API that jives with Twitter. This is big, because now the massive Twitter developer pool can work its magic on identi.ca with very little additional work (this works fine for Twhirl). And since identi.ca is hooked in with OpenID, this could get interesting. www.identi.ca

That's all for now. Please enjoy these webby things, and have a webby week!

Two New Episodes of The Baudcast

Chad Norman — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:37:00 GMT

One of the most interesting webby things I get to do here at Blackbaud is produce, host, and edit all of our podcasts. Podcasting is a great way for any organization to create inexpensive social media that is informational, portable, and shareable. We have three different brands of podcasts here at Blackbaud, but the one nearest and dearest to my heart is The Baudcast.

Started over a year ago, The Baudcast is a bi-weekly nonprofit technology podcast. The show originally had a magazine format, with segments and interviews edited together in post-production. Recently, we've switched to a more engaging panel format, which allows us to bring in experts from around the company and industry for informal chats. With two shows featuring this new format under our belt, we have committed to record every two weeks. This will give us a chance to be more relevant and timely with our content, as well as bring in fresh faces from around the industry.

Feel free to download the last two shows, and if you have any interest in participating on the panel, just let me know.

The Baudcast, Episode 9
This episode's panel discusses the Kintera acquisition announcement, the Internet Symposium, BBNC mashups, the Causes data report, mobile giving, the 3G iPhone, Socialthing!, NTEN Office Hours, and more. Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Milonas, Allison Van Diest, and Garrett Keating from The U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation. Download The Baudcast, Episode 9 (21 MB, 31 minutes)

The Baudcast, Episode 8
This episode's panel discusses Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.5, social networking noise, the European SONI, Marc Pitman interview, and more. Chad Norman, Steve MacLaughlin, Melanie Milonas, and Allison Van Diest. Download The Baudcast, Episode 8 (15 MB, 21 minutes)

Following the example set by podcasting guru Leo Laporte, I am using a mix of in-room microphones and Skype to record the panelists. I am still working out the kinks in the technology - for instance, in episode 9 there is a problem with Steve's microphone - but things are always getting better. I will get a "how-to" post up here soon so you can start podcasting at your organization!