I’m getting my bags packed to fly to Atlanta for the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference and discovered that I have 4 copies of Social by Social left – and I’m going to give them away!
About Social by Social
Co-Authored by Nigel Courtney (CASS Business School), Andy Gibson (Sociability), Clive Holtham (CASS Business School), David Wilcox (Social Reporter) and myself, Social by Social is a practical guide to using new technologies to create social impact. It makes accessible the tools you need to engage a community, offer services, scale up activities and sustain projects. Whoever you are, it shows you how to take technology and turn it into real world benefits. Social by Social isn’t a manual in the classic sense. This work is still pretty new and there isn’t a simple model to follow. Instead, it asks you the questions which you will need to answer, shares some of the routes other people have tried, and offers signposts to help you find your way. And it invites you to join an ongoing conversation as we all find the way together.
The book is available to read online or download in PDF format for free, the hard copies are print-on-demand, all available at: SocialbySocial.com
How to Win
My favorite part of the NTC is getting to sit down, in person, with so many different people and learn about their work. There are really amazing things emerging and growing in our sector and the more we talk about what we are doing with others interested in weaving the network, the more collaborations emerge and more impact can be made. So, to win a book, you have to want to tell me all about the work you do – simple enough, right? To win a book, simply leave a comment with:
- Who you are
- What you are working on
- What you’d like to talk about at the NTC
To qualify you have to be attending the NTC so that I can give you the book and we can talk in person. I only have 4 copies left so I will draw 4 names at random from all those who leave a comment at noon (Atlanta time) on Wednesday, April 7th.
Really looking forward to hearing from you!
—–
UPDATE: Winners selected!
I took all those that are attending the NTC that added comments below and assigned each name with a number, then used the random number generator at Random.org (in case you ever want to have an easy way to get random winners in something you are doing, too!) to select the four winners. And they are, random order:
- Margaux
- Erin
- Eric
- Jennifer
I’ll email all of you to be sure you know you’ve won and to arrange your book pick up! Thanks everyone for commenting and getting conversations started. I know I’m looking forward to chatting with you and hope others use your comments to start conversations, too!
Are you attending #10ntc? I’d love to meet you – and you can win a Social by Social book! https://amysampleward.org/2010/04/05/soci… #nptech
@amyrsward No sorry Amy – I am trying to get Labour out of Govt http://www.youtube.com/user/academyofroc…
Are you attending #10ntc? I’d love to meet you – and you can win a Social by Social book! https://amysampleward.org/2010/04/05/soci… #nptech
@amyrsward No sorry Amy – I am trying to get Labour out of Govt http://www.youtube.com/user/academyofroc…
I’m the Associate Director of Digital Strategy & Analysis at Grizzard Communications Group, based in Atlanta. I’m working primarily on digital fundraising strategy and socializing messaging, content, etc online. I would love to talk about realistic vs unrealistic goals for nonprofits in social media.
@ericpratum
Hi Eric-
Thanks so much for your message – I’d love to hear more about some of the projects/organizations you are working with and what their biggest struggles are. Looking forward to connecting with you in Atlanta!
Plus – you may just win a free Social by Social book 🙂
Thanks again
Amy,
I’m Dave Tinker, CFRE. I’m director of development for ACHIEVA, a large human service organization in western Pennsylvania, and a full-time grad student in the Master of Information Systems, Strategy and Technology at Muskingum University.
I’m studying how to create social media policies for npos/ngos while allowing the maximum amount of usage and maintaining versatility for employees at npos/ngos (for both work and my school studies)
I won’t be at NTC but would love to chat about the topic I’m working on as well as ways to measure ROI of social media for npos/ngos.
Dave Tinker, CFRE
@davethecfre
Hi Dave-
Thanks for your message! I’d really like to talk to you more about your work and area of study and am sad we can’t talk in person at the NTC (though, from the sounds of the topic, maybe that’s a good thing as I may never want to stop talking!).
For others reading this that may also be interested, what are the best ways for folks to get in touch with you and follow your work?
Thanks again!
Amy, et. al.,
You can reach me via email at davethecfre (at) gmail.com or dtinker (at) muskingum.edu. I’d love to share ideas with folks on these topics.
In case anyone is interested in my graduate program, here is the url for it http://www.muskingum.edu/~misst
It’s a new graduate program that is fully online. It mashed up an MBA program with IT. It has been quite easy to tweak it to npos/ngos.
Dave
Thanks, Dave! 🙂
Hi Amy!
I’m Michael Nealis. I’m in my second AmeriCorps year, and my biggest project this year is organizing training events to teach Maryland nonprofits that social media is a low-cost and easy way to spread their organization’s message to their clients, volunteers, and everyone else. Unfortunately, I’m not going to be going to NTC, but I thought I’d comment anyhow. If I were going, I’d like to talk about how you ended up pairing with HP for their Technology for Change contest, and when the last time you were on a swing was.
HI Michael-
Thanks for your message! I’d love to learn more about the training events you are doing; I actually helped put on a series of free events for nonprofits when I worked for Meyer Memorial Trust in Portland. It was a great opportunity to help nonprofit staff directly, and train in a hands-on way, but it was also a great opportunity for the foundation to help support organizations to get the training they needed to go on to use free tools.
As far as the HP contest goes… I got connected from a colleague and friend who was one of the other 7 bloggers participating when she recommended to them that I be one of the participating blogs. I actually had a few days of really considering whether to participate as I had mixed feelings of those kinds of “give-aways” but hadn’t ever done one personally so figured I should give it a try (at least when I was given the options to say what I wanted, make my own qualifications for entry and so on – an amount of flexibility I imagined not all contests included). I didn’t have a particularly “bad” experience but it wasn’t the kind of value exchange that I strive for on this blog so I don’t think I’ll be doing something like that again.
And swings? Well, they are my favorite! I’m on them whenever I can 🙂 How about you?
Thanks again for your comment
Hi Amy!
We’ve met many times online, but the one time our paths crossed IRL at a netsquared meetup we just didn’t have time to connect, so I’d love to connect at NTC.
I’m Laura Norvig, Technical Services Librarian for the National Service Resources and Training project, which hosts several large websites, including the Resource Center and the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. I am also the de facto social media strategist and implementer for our project (though others help with the implementation, thank Goddess!).
We are working on new online ways to get grantees of the Corporation for National and Community Service the information, training and resources they need to be effective service programs. We are also partnering with others to promote materials that will help grantees learn to use social media for marketing, outreach, volunteer recruitment, and partnership building.
What I want to talk about? Do I have to pick just one thing? 😉 Either how to build and sustain online community across a diverse, busy constituency, OR how to teach people about social media when their skill levels and internet familiarity vary widely.
See you soon!
Hey Laura-
Yes, we have met; but you’re right that we haven’t actually chatted in real life! We’ll need to fix that this week 🙂
I’m really excited to dig deeper in the projects/issues/problems/opportunities you’re touching on with the resources and training for grantees – something I’m quite passionate about in general. Sounds like a conversation that may include Dawn, another commenter on this post, too!
And, hey, you may have a Social by Social book with your name on it.
Looking forward to connecting already
I’m Dawn Crawford, communications director at a nonprofit in Colorado and a social media evangelist in my spare time. I’m currently working on a huge educational resource/membership website for my nonprofit and we’d like to have lots of horizontal communication among the members. I’d like to pick your brain about how to encourage people to engage in this space. I work on a controversial issue – childhood vaccines – and it’s hard for some parents to stand up and self-identify as a pro-vaccine parent. I’d love some space to think this through with you!
Regardless, I know that we’ll see each other at #10NTC!
Hi Dawn-
Thanks for your message; sounds like you have a complicated and interesting conversation waiting to happen – I’m all for it! I’ve had experience in creating online resources with various groups you want to engage, none for the topic or sector you are working in though. Already looking forward to brainstorming!
Plus, you may get one of the Social by Social books 🙂
See you in a couple days!
Amy, I like your goofy headgear and fly specs when I see you at conferences. If that’s not enough to inspire a charitable book impulse, I understand and hope you’ll find great npo staffers for your books (I’ll happily buy mine and then ask for your autograph!).
I own a small fundraising consultancy and would like to meet you and chat about international giving. I’m working with a couple of UK and European educational organizations, and I’d love to hear about perceptions related to US dollars and donors’ role in overseas nonprofits. Woohoo!
Hi Jana-
Thanks for your comment! You’re certainly in the running for a free book 🙂
I would be happy to chat about international fundraising/giving. For starters, maybe for the plane ride?, here’s a podcast I was on discussing the topic:
http://www.blackbaud.com/files/podcasts/TheBaudcast_Episode031.mp3
Really looking forward to connecting later this week!
Hi Amy!
Well clearly I am Erin McMahon, and I am working on a summer social media challenge to raise awareness of my organization (Metro United Way) locally as well as get more people engaged with us.
I would love to talk more about contest details, best practices, and how-tos. What makes a contest fun/inviting to potential participants? How can we make contest easy/simple but still spell out needed rules/regulations? Can a contest be a little “off-mission” (or maybe mission-tangent) to make it more fun and engage more people, or should it be mission-centric from the get-go?
I could go on…
I hope to see you at the #10ntc Amy!!! 🙂 Perhaps there is another smorgasbord (sp?) in our future!
Erin – I’m so excited to see you again!
You were a great blind-roomie to have for my first NTC a few years ago; I had forgotten all about our smorgasbord until you mentioned it – it may just need to come back again! I’d love to chat with you about contests. If you haven’t already, Allison Fine has a good post from last week on the topic following the conversation the sector as a whole has been having about competition and vote-for-me contests:
http://afine2.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/x-prize-for-social-good/
You may just get a free Social by Social book, too!
See you soon 🙂
Wow, your dancecard is getting really full, Amy! I’m just leaving another comment because I forgot to check the “notify me of followup comments via e-mail” box …
Also, I agree that Dawn and I should chat – hi Dawn!
Thanks, Laura – I feel like the dance cards for NTC always have a few extra slots 🙂
Hi Amy!
I am Kevin Martone, Technology Program Manager at the Grinspoon Institute for Jewish Philanthropy. We help nonprofit Jewish overnight summer camps and other organizations utilize technology to reach their outreach and fundraising goals: donor management systems, social media, eNewsletters, etc.
We offer reviews of various vendors/products in different categories, an eNewsletter, a monthly Webinar, and one-on-one support to help the organizations figure out how to best use technology. You can find more info about what we do at http://www.gijptech.org.
I’m really interested in just meeting others at NTC and hearing about what they are working on (thanks for this platform to start the networking!). I’m also particularly interested in 2 things:
1) What nonprofits are doing now about mobile technology.
2) How to help nonprofits act on tech advice/assessments in the face of competing responsibilities…and limited resources.
I hope to see you at NTC!
Kevin
Hi Kevin-
Thanks for your comment. Sounds like you may want to check out the affinity group session that Lisa is organizing (she also commented on this post). As far as mobile, I’d recommend MobileActive.org for all the tips, resources, news and information you could possibly use – even case studies!
I think your second question calls for a much longer answer and possibly one we could explore at the NTC. Looking forward to meeting you – and possibly giving you one of the Social by Social books!
See you there
Hi Amy – First, I have to second the snazzy rims. Almost makes me want to ditch my contacts. Second, I founded Darim Online, a nonprofit that helps Jewish organizations understand the potential and implications of the digital age – tech, culture, business, etc. (We’re convening an affinity group and organizing session this year, I feel so mature!) I’ve admired your work for sometime, and one thing I’d love to discuss is how as a rock star in this space, you balance being a solid generalist versus an in-depth specialist. And how to build a team around you that can provide the specialized expertise needed. It’s a great moment to have tons of fascinating projects, and I’m seeking models for scaling up while maintaining quality and staying nimble. Thanks!
Hi Lisa-
First I have to say thank you for such a compliment and such kind words! I really am honored that you look to me as someone with insights about balance and specialization as it’s something I strive for, too. Would love to talk to with you about it and learn from you as well.
I would also recommend connecting with Avi Kaplan (@MeshugaVi) so that your affinity group meeting is on his radar as I think his experience could add value there.
Good luck with the affinity group and everything – I’m sure it’ll be great! Looking forward to chatting with you, too – and you may get one of the Social by Social books out of it, too 🙂
Hi Amy,
I founded Grand Junction Design, a web development shop that builds Drupal websites for nonprofits. So basically it ends up that we help a lot of awesome people and groups to get their point across more effectively.
From my vantage point I see that there’s often a good bit of overlap between what organizations are trying to do. Or sometimes just the opposite of that — a really unique idea that folks end up having to spend a lot of time trying to differentiate from others. I know that communication is at the center of what we all do: it helps us cross-pollenate with new ideas, find supporters, raise money, often DO the actual work. But it seems like for most organizations it’s really hard to strike a balance between doing the communication and doing the work. That, plus there’s inevitable competition between organizations for grant and donation dollars.
So I guess what I’m getting at is that I would love to have a conversation about efficiency, working together, and avoiding redundancy while also avoiding stepping on each other’s toes in the nonprofit space. I think it’s probably just a big brainstorm, because I doubt there’s really an answer, but it’s definitely been on my mind.
Safe travels, and cheers! See you in Atlanta.
-Margaux
Hi Margaux-
Thanks for joining in here! What I think you are getting at is the need for collaboration 🙂 And that is something I’m really interested in!
Collaboration doesn’t have to mean that a campaign or project has to be done with contributions from all the other organizations in the space (a “negative” that I think a lot of organizations use as a reason to continue operating as they are), but it does mean sharing with them about your campaign so that if there are opportunities to join together (and make a larger impact!!!) they can be identified and capitalized on from the start. Collaboration doesn’t mean having to compromise your message to “your” community because you are communicating to a broader audience (another reason I think organizations try to use), but it does mean being strategic with your communication plan to ensure you feel like your community gets what they want and you are also able to reach out to those who may join your community.
I think a brainstorm is definitely in order 🙂
See you soon, and maybe to give you a Social by Social book, too!
Hi! I’m Jennifer from the YMCA of Greater Boston and will shortly be heading for the airport for Atlanta too!
I am working on social media and online fundraising for the Y. I’d love to talk at NTC about changing the corporate culture of our org, so that folks always keep an eye on their online/social media strategy of whatever progrect it is they’re working on.
Thanks! Would be great to read this book!
Hi Jennifer-
Wow, you made it just before the bell 🙂
You have a topic for discussion I think you’ll find a lot of folks interested in exploring this week actually. Looking forward to chatting about it (and yes, there’s some stuff on the topic in the Social by Social book, too!).
Thanks and see you soon