PhilanTopic

Most Popular PhilanTopic Posts (March)

As is our custom on the last day of the month, here's a short list of the most visited PhilanTopic posts over the previous thirty days. Enjoy.

• 'Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You' 
• Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami Relief 
• Trends in Giving, Volunteering, and the Outlook for 2011 
• And the Oscar for Philanthropic Leadership Goes to... 
• The 21st Century Classroom: Ten Predictions for the Future of Public Education 

What's the best thing you've read/watched/heard this month?

Most Popular PhilanTopic Posts (February)

What a month. After decades of repression and stagnation under the rule of monarchs and military strongmen, the Arab world seemed to come unstuck in February -- and the world will never be the same.

As is our custom on the last day of each month, here's a short list of the most visited PhilanTopic posts over the previous thirty (minus two) days. Enjoy.

• Egypt: A PubHub Reading List (Kyoko Uchida)
• Philanthropy on the Edge: Foundations, Egypt, and Press Freedom (Brad Smith)
• Trends in Giving, Volunteering, and the Outlook for 2011 (Mitch Nauffts)
• Pepsi Refresh, You Fooled Me (Regina Mahone)
• The 21st Century Classroom: Ten Predictions for the Future of Public Education (Mitch Nauffts)

What's the best thing you've read/watched/heard this month?

Philanthropy News Digest Has Gone Mobile

With mobile phone usage on the rise, organizations are rethinking the way they deliver content to their Web site visitors. A few months back, we created a task force to evaluate our own mobile presence and decided it was time to design a site that would deliver PND's most popular features -- news, jobs, and RFPs -- to readers on the go. Voila! Say hello to PND Mobile.

To access the site from your smart phone, visit: http://m.foundationcenter.org/pnd/.

We'd love to hear your suggestions about how we can improve PND, mobile or otherwise. Use the comments section below or send us an e-mail.

-- Regina Mahone

Don't touch that dial...

We'll be back soon with more food for thought.

Free Foundation Center Widgets

Now this is cool...

Foundation Finder offers basic information on grantmakers in the U.S. including private foundations, community foundations, grantmaking public charities, and corporate giving programs.

With 990 Finder, you can search quickly for an organization's IRS return, just enter a name, state code (e.g. NY), ZIP code, employer identification number (EIN), or fiscal year.

Grab one or both widgets and put 'em on your personal or organization's Web site. For more information, click here or here.

Don't touch that dial...

Taking a few days off. We'll be back on Sunday with the weekend link roundup and more.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Weekend Link Roundup (March 14 - 15, 2009)

Here's this week's roundup of noteworthy posts and articles from and about the nonprofit sector....

Uh, that was the idea...until the WYSWYG editor that Typepad foisted on its users a few months ago took our post and vanished it into the ether. Thanks, Six Apart. And apologies to Regina, who spent many hours over the last week putting it together.

Oh, well. The torrent of 0s and 1s flows on. Time to go fishing....

Jury Duty

Out of pocket this morning and...who knows after that. We're working on a few things and will try to get a new post up this afternoon.

-- Mitch Nauffts

Blog Those Blues Away

Is it just me, or did January hang around like John Belushi in that great Saturday Night Live skit, "The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away"?

Okay, it wasn't that bad. The days got longer. The inauguration was spectacular. And here at PhilanTopic we logged our best month ever for page views and mentions by other blogs and sites.

It's also that time of year when we extend an invitation to the would-be and sometime bloggers among you, our readers, to join us in this excellent online adventure we're having. Interested in contributing to the blog? Drop me a line (mfn@foundationcenter.org), and I'll get back to you as fast as you can say "Candygram." 

-- Mitch Nauffts

Digg this? Tweet it.

We finally bit the bullet: PhilanTopic is on Twitter. You can find us here.

We've also made it easier to share and bookmark PhilanTopic posts via e-mail, Stumble, Digg, Twitter, Facebook, and/or Del.icio.us.

So what are you waiting for?

-- Regina Mahone

Why Should I Use Twitter? (Part 2)

Two weeks ago, Mitch asked PhilanTopic readers to explain the value-add of Twitter. We received feedback from two readers who found the service to be an efficient way to share news, announcements, and feedback in real time.

Yesterday, Matt Blasi addressed the same question on the onPhilanthropy blog onLine. Praising Twitter as "very powerful if done properly," Blasi pointed to Tweetsgiving, a fundraising campaign held on Twitter this past Thanksgiving that raised $10,000 for a school in Tanzania. "In just those two days," Blasi noted, "[Tweetsgiving] had over 9,000 absolute unique visitors, and over 16,000 page views with visits coming from around the world."

He then outlines, at some length, other ways that Twitter can be used:

Twitter is a great source for building a brand and loyal follower group. By allowing you to post messages as often as you like, forcing you to keep those messages short, and providing a way for people to share your message with a large number of other people who may be interested you can develop quite a following...

Twitter can also help to show activity, in many cases with nonprofits and small businesses people who want to know you are actually doing something. It is human nature to be skeptical but if someone sees you Tweeting several times a day with what people are doing in your organization or updates on product development then it provides a means of being more transparent easing the tensions people have.

Twitter is also a great way to get volunteers involved. By giving them a way to also promote your cause or product you are simply expanding your customer base. It is really a word of mouth campaign done over a digital age technology. Volunteers can post links to you, updates on what they read from you, and share even more about what they are doing....

And the best part about Twitter, Blasi adds, is the cost. "It is a free service….For those looking at a solid ROI you can get it here[,] if you make a dedicated effort and use the right strategy for your situation."

So, it sounds like there's value to using Twitter after all. And we just might…

For more on Twitter and how nonprofits are using it, check out:

• How To Think Like A Nonprofit Social Marketing Genius: What's Your Brilliant Thought? (Beth's Blog)
• Step-by-Step: How To Set Up A Nonprofit Listening Post (Twitter - Part 1) (Beth's Blog)
• The Lend4Health Journey: Reflecting on #TweetsGiving (Social Actions)
• Twitter for Cause Marketers (Selfish Giving)
• Give Fast (Philanthropy 2173)

-- Regina Mahone

Top Blog Posts of 2008

We need your help. With just a few weeks left in 2008, we’re trying to identify the top blog posts written about our sector. Criteria should include originality, impact, and topicality.

Have any bloggers wowed you with their thoughts, opinions, and prose this year? If so, we'd love to hear from you. Use the comments to leave your suggestions. And thanks for your help.

Why Should I Use Twitter?

Reader Stephanie McAuliffe just added a comment to the post below in which she asked whether any of the bloggers at PND or the Foundation Center used Twitter.

I've been resistant to the idea of Twitter since I first heard about it earlier this year. Not to put too fine a point on it, but in my already media-saturated life it seems like an expenditure of time I simply can't afford. What would I have to sacrifice in order to be a regular, productive user of the service? And how much, really, can one say in 165 characters?

Can someone please explain the value-add of Twitter?

-- Mitch Nauffts

Foundation Center Expands Live Reference Hours

Times are tough, and to lend a hand the Foundation Center has expanded the hours of its live reference service. For answers to your questions about foundations, fundraising, nonprofit management, and related topics, connect with a Foundation Center librarian live, in real-time, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., EST, and Thursdays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., EST.

Go ahead, make our day. Ask us a question!

TypePad's New Features

TypePad, the blogging software/service behind PhilanTopic, has added new features and tools that make it easier -- and fun -- to stay in touch with people who share your interests and concerns:

• Now you can create a personalized TypePad profile that includes your interests and a picture. Any time you leave a comment on PhilanTopic, TypePad will display your picture next to the comment.

• The TypePad Connect suite of tools make it easy to reply directly to other readers' comments, track and manage your comments across the Web, and turn your blog comments into a vibrant community.

• For recently laid-off journalists, TypePad has even more to offer.

We've made the move to TypePad Connect. What are you waiting for?

-- Regina Mahone