3 Nonprofit Technology Tips You Can Learn From Dr. Seuss

1) "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

The more you read nonprofit blogs and keep up with the latest trends in technology and nonprofit technology, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places your nonprofit will go.


2) “Today is your day!  Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way!”

Today is your day to find new supporters and get the word out about what your organization is doing. Your fans, followers, and website visitors are waiting for you! Update your content today!


3) "A person's a person, no matter how small."

A fan is a fan, follower is a follower, and an e-mail list subscriber is a subscriber no matter how much they engage with your organization.

How To Share Nonprofit Social Media Content in a Blog Post

I was inspired by the article on sfist.com titled Bay Area Shelters Worth a Follow on Social Media.

This article has screenshots of 13 animal shelters in the San Francisco area that are using Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  This brings awareness of how local shelters are using social media and readers can view these pages to learn more about the organizations.


It even started some conversation in the comments section. People mentioned other animal shelters in the area that have a social media presence. One person mentioned that they volunteered at one of the shelters. Another person was heartbroken about seeing all the dogs that needed to be rescued.

This is a great way to bring awareness of nonprofit organizations that are using social media.





Here are some ideas on what to share in an article similar to this:

• Local news websites/blogs can share content like this one for a specific cause

• Organizations that have members or chapters can share their social media content

• Nonprofit bloggers can explore an awareness day or some other theme and show what organizations are posting on social media

Great Nonprofit Blog Posts from 2015 about Technology, Communications, and Fundraising

Every month I post a roundup of nonprofit blog posts on the Nonprofit Blog Exchange. The links below are my favorite posts in 2015 that were linked in the roundups.

Listed below are links to 27 blog posts from 15 blogs.

Ann Green’s Nonprofit Blog

According to my stats for 2015, her blog had the most clicks from The Nonprofit Blog Exchange blog.  Here are 3 posts I included in the roundups this year: 

• Get Noticed in an Instant With a Visual Story 
• Why You Need to Tell Your Stories 
• Make it Easy to Stay in Touch with Your Donors by Using a Communications Calendar

Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog

According to my stats for 2015, her blog had the 2nd most clicks from The Nonprofit Blog Exchange blog. (same as last year) Here are 3 posts I included in the roundups this year:

• 5 Super Solid Ways To Engage Your Supporters Online (PLUS 28 Affordable Tools to Help You Do It) 
• SHOW US YOUR LISTS! 8 Ideas for Nonprofit Twitter Lists  
• Sharing Your Progress: 12 Phrases that Give Your Donors Credit for Helping 

npENGAGE

According to my stats for 2015, their blog had the 3rd most clicks from The Nonprofit Blog Exchange blog.  (was also in the top 3 last year) Here are 2 posts I included in the roundups this year: 

• Story-Led Change: A Photojournalist’s Thoughts on the Power of Storytelling
• Designing Your Event Website: A Little Bling Goes A Long Way 

Non-Profit Marketing Blog

• Blogging Lessons from Make-a-Wish America 
• 9 Super Scary Nonprofit Website Mistakes 
• 6 Things You Need for a Successful Year-End Email 

Engaging Volunteers

• 5 Ways to Motivate Your Nonprofit’s Volunteers 
• Why Fundraising Events Are About More Than Money
• How to Maintain Relationships with Volunteers Using the Internet  

Event Fundraising Blog

• Six things to consider when your website goes down 
• 10 Tips for Rocking Your Event Social Media 
• Five Ways to Develop Your Blog Strategy to Educate Event Participants 

Wild Apricot

• Using Social Media to Recruit, Engage and Grow Your Membership 
• 6 Mistakes Associations Make with Their Websites 

A New Marketing Commentator

How 10 Nonprofit Brands Roll on Twitter

Double the Donation

5 Steps to Easy Online Donations

Get Fully Funded Blog

10 Non-profit Fundraising Lessons From My Garden

Neighborworks Blog

Top 7 online giving tips for nonprofits

Red Rooster Group

Using Infographics in Your Nonprofit Annual Report

See What’s Out There

5 Social Media Lessons for Nonprofits

The Storytelling Non-Profit

How To Organize Your Stories

Wild Woman Fundraising

A Recipe for the Perfect Nonprofit E-Newsletter

Improve Your Nonprofit Blog in 2016 With These 4 Things

1.  A blog title

The title of the blog is what you see in the browser window.  Many blogs have a header on the page with the name of the blog but they don't have a descriptive title for the blog.

Titles like Blog or Untitled page are not descriptive enough.

A more descriptive title would be "[name of organization]'s Blog",

2.  A date on your posts

This is something that many blogs are not including.  Readers would like to know when you wrote each post and if your blog is current.

3. An archive

Don't hide your old posts! Don't just have one page of entries and not include links to previous entries.

Readers want to know how long your organization has had a blog and read your old entries. They want to know what you have accomplished over the years.

You can show links to your old posts in either in a sidebar or put page numbers on the bottom of the page.

4. A link back to your organization's website

Make sure that people who find your blog through an internet search or social media know that you have a website too.  Make it easy for them to get to your website.  Don't make them take an extra step to search the internet to see if you have one.

6 reasons I am thankful for being part of the nptech community

The nonprofit technology community has been a big part of my life for the past 10 years. It's hard to believe it has been this long since since I have been involved. I am thankful to be part of this community and listed below are reasons why.

1) My Blog

When I first learned about nptech, I also learned about blogs. I started reading them and decided to start one on my own. Without my involvement in nptech, I would have never started blogging. 

Happy 10 years to my blog!

2) Meeting New People

The best part about being part of the nptech community is meeting new people both on the internet and in person.  

3) Learning

Reading blog entries and attending events has allowed me to learn about topics related to nonprofits and technology. I have also gained experience using social media and other technologies because of my involvement. 

4) Leadership

I have been a leader in NTEN in various roles.

About 9 years ago, I created a group for nonprofit bloggers. In 2014, the group transitioned to the Nonprofit Digital Communications CoP.  I organized this new group for about a year where I planned conference calls and compiled a list of resources on topics people enjoyed learning about. 

I've been a member of the research committee for the past two years. 

I led a few tweetchats for the commbuild CoP.

I also led a few sessions at conferences about blogging. 

5) Happiness

It makes me happy to see that people in nptech are enjoying my blogs and the resources I share.  

As CoP organizer, I was happy to see that people enjoyed participating in the group I created.

A few months ago at work, I saw the documentary Happy and a sheet was handed out about lessons learned from the movie. As I was reading it, I realized one of the lessons learned described me and my involvement with nptech. 

This lesson was about finding your flow, which I found in nptech. I get lost in my zone when I look for resources to share with others, read articles about nptech, and write about nptech. 

Being CoP organizer brought me happiness every day while I was leading the group. I really got lost in my zone when researching topics for the group to discuss, finding articles to share, and finding new ways to increase membership & improve the group. 

6) Reaching Goals

I set goals for myself to reach when working on nptech stuff.  Goals have included compiling a list of resources on a particular topic or writing a blog entry. 

Most importantly, I finally reached the goal I have been trying to reach for 10 years. I learned about nptech while trying to figure out my place in the nptech world. It took 10 years, but I finally work at an organization in a technology related position.