To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

• The Rise Of Women In Tech | MBA Online – “It’s time for the old adage that women neither like nor do well in math and science be put to rest …The benefits for women who enter tech are hard to deny. They experience smaller wage gaps due to gender than women in other industries. But the relationship between women and tech companies isn’t one-sided – the companies get some nice perks, too. Companies whose boards of directors contain 3 or more female members had higher returns on sales, returns on investments and returns on equity. The infographic below delves deeper into how the phenomenon of women in tech is on the rise.”
• Social Media for Social Good [Infographic] – “In our new Social Media for Social Good infographic, we profile several successful grassroots and nonprofit campaigns, explain tactics that increase the impact of a message, and explore emerging trends in charitable giving and volunteering.”
• A new study asks: Should the nonprofit and charitable sectors engage in political activity? : Bright+3 – “Should nonprofits engage in political activity on issues that broadly impact the nonprofit sector? That’s one question posed by a new study, Beyond The Cause: The Art and Science of Advocacy, and the conclusion is, well, inconclusive. It turns out that there just isn’t much consensus across the sector on this very basic – if difficult – question.”
• It’s official: News consumption is all about social and mobile — Tech News and Analysis – “New research from the Pew Center into news consumption habits shows that the impact of mobile and social continues to grow. Almost twice as many users got news from a mobile device compared with 2010, and almost three times as many got news from a social network.” Where do you get your news?
• ROI: How Infographics Can Help Your Business [Infographic] | Social Media Today – “With the infographic craze in full-swing, you might ask: Are infographics just a pretty way of displaying data, or will they actually benefit my business? Earlier this summer we published a Sensible Social Media Checklist for Business. The first version of the infographic was published on June 15th and included Facebook, Linked-In, and Twitter. The popularity of the graphic prompted us to publish a second version of the checklist to include even more social media channels – specifically Pinterest, YouTube, and Google+. The second version of our infographic went online on July 19th, and was even more successful! Hundreds of bloggers posted our checklist on their own blogs, and over 2000 people downloaded the checklist as a reference to use in their own social media strategy. To showcase our results, we decided to create an infographic to demonstrate the ROI (Return on Infographics) and results we experienced.”

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

• How to Prepare Your Community for a Major Change « The Community Manager – "Change: it’s the one constant in life. Whether you’re introducing a change in ownership, new staff, policy change, technical update, or something else, community members sometimes resist change. Usually, they’re afraid of repercussions that could affect the community they care so much about—so, it comes from a “good place.” That being said, their fears and frustrations can create chaos, and part of your job as community manager is to make transitions as smooth and drama-free as possible. Follow these steps to turn your announcement from a sign of the apocalypse into a community-building win they thank you for."
• Interactive: How America Gives – How America Gives – The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas – The Chronicle of Philanthropy has launched a great new tool: an interactive map of giving data in the US. You can look at total contributions, contributions by household, discretionary income by household, and percentage of income given by household at the national, state, county, and local level.
• Survey says: Most noprofiteers blend their personal/professional brands | Big Duck – "Last week I had the joy of presenting a workshop with the fabulous Danielle Brigida of the National Wildlife Federation at the 7th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference in Washington, DC. To gear up for our session on "Mixing Business and Pleasure: Managing Your Personal Brand in Social Media," we asked nonprofiteers (readers like you!) to respond to a quick survey about their own behaviors. We heard from 209 nonprofit staff, consultants, and the people who love us–and some of the results suprised us. While not scientific, the survey offers some interesting insights and we highlighted the key findings in our presentation (included in the slides below and online here). Here are some of those insights…"
• e.politics: online advocacy tools & tactics » How a Twitter Rapid Response Campaign Helped Susan Sarandon ‘Get’ Paid Sick Days – "A coalition of diverse organizations in New York City has banded together to escalate the conversation regarding paid sick days for workers, with an emphasis on getting the NY City Council to pass legislation mandating paid sick days. So far, Council Speaker Christine Quinn has not called for a vote on this issue. But now, it just may happen — after the coaltion (with a little help from their friends) gave us an impromptu course in how to run online rapid response."
• Direct Energy | Direct Energy Contest | Reduce Your Use for GoodReduce Your Use – "Nonprofits, you know it: small changes can make a big difference. At Direct Energy, we’re committed to using our energy expertise to make a difference in people’s lives — so we’re donating up to $100,000 to nonprofits like you to help reduce energy use. Just make a short video of two minutes or less showing us the good work you do in your community. Acceptable submission formats include Windows Media, Quick Time and MPEG (files ending in .wmv, .avi, .mov, .mpg or .mp4). Be passionate. Be creative. Be concise. Tell us about your organization and its vision, how the small things you do make a big difference and why it’s so important that you continue your mission."

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

• Can Members of Congress Keep Up with the Digital World? – Online Fundraising, Advocacy, and Social Media – – "Let’s face it, the world is no picnic these days. We’re facing climate change. The world’s oceans are on the verge of being irreparably damaged. One of the worst humanitarian crises continues to escalate in the Horn of Africa, where famine, war and drought are threatening 13M+ people. Thankfully, we have some incredible nonprofits on the ground who continue to tackle these issues everyday, raise awareness and mobilize people into action. And now more than ever, people are reaching out to their members of congress through online channels to voice their concerns about some of these very issues. But how is Congress responding? Are they adopting new methods fast enough to respond to their constituents in the digital age? Is the fear that their responses could be modified with malintent valid? The Congressional Management Foundation new study, Communicating with Congress: How Citizen Advocacy Is Changing Mail Operations on Capitol Hill provides some good insight."
• Donate Your Account | HelpAttack! – "Well how about that – after Epic Change’s use of JustCoz, and Al Gore’s campaign with Climate Reality Project in September to get folks to donate their status updates, someone has gone and open sourced the concept.  Donate Your Account seems to allow anyone to set up a campaign, and allow others with Twitter or Facebook accounts to automatically re-broadcast messages from that campaign."
• 92% of Americans Take Action for Social Good [INFOGRAPHIC] – "Ninety-two percent of American’s took action for social change this past year, according to the Social Change Impact Report from Walden University. The report was created as a kind of barometer for who is engaged in social change, what issues matter to them and how they’re working together. Surprisingly, tech did not play a huge role. According to the report, people from Generation Y were more likely to get involved through traditional means than digital. Only 52% of the demographic posted a comment or expressed an opinion through a blog or website (it’s unclear if this also includes Facebook or other social networks). This, however, butts up against more promising stats such as 80% of respondents believe technology is getting more people involved in social change than ever, and 65% of adult respondents say that social media is not just a fad."
• The Case for Innovation in Advocacy | Association Advocacy Chick – "I am not an innovator. Correction: I have been convinced that I cannot be an innovator. If you were to play word association with advocacy, I’m sure innovation is not the word you’d come up with.  But why is that? Many associations insist that it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  Yes, traditional lobbying, grassroots advocacy, and political involvement are effective ways of moving or defeating legislation.  However, what if there’s a way to make those methods even better?  Fly-ins are great, but expensive.  Political action committees are prohibited for many cases.  What does that mean for the in-house lobbyist who needs to convince a few key people to support their legislation?"
• How The Seemingly Chaotic But Wildly Successful Fringe Festival Makes It Work | Fast Company – "This has been an explosive summer–markets in turmoil, cities in flames, politics in meltdown. So it's a relief to enjoy and learn from an explosion of a different sort–the explosion of creativity taking place this August in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The festival, a one-time icon of artistic rebellion, is now the largest arts gathering in the world. It is also an entertaining case study in the power of grassroots innovation and open-source creativity, a positive symbol of how unchecked human energy, shaped by a few simple rules, can unleash truly amazing results."

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

• Freakonomics » Ten Reasons Why I Would Never Donate to a Major Charity (How to Be a Superhero, Part 2) – "“Giving to Charity” is another myth we fervently uphold as part of the Great American Religion — just like “own a home” or “send your kids to college.” It’s time we stop blindly believing in mythology. I’m not saying don’t give. I’m not saying don’t be spiritual or don’t be good. But do it with thoughtfulness, with true spirit, with a true desire to help. More harm than good is done when you blindly throw money at most charities."
• eAdvocacy Readiness Assessment – A terrific round up of resources from Aspiration – if you're looking to get started with or ramp up your online engagement efforts, check out these tools first! "Welcome to the pre-release version of Aspiration's eAdvocacy Readiness Tools. Aspiration uses these tools to help organizations identify deficits and establish best practices in their eAdvocacy work. These tools are in beta-test phase and available to users like you to help us make them better and more useful to you. We invite you to let us know about any problems you encounter by emailing tools@answr.net. We'd also love to hear your suggestions about how to make the tools more useful for you."
• Are you writing the blog posts that people are looking for? | Natasha Judd – Great post from Natasha with tips for getting more targeted with your blog content! "Blog entries are a great way to bring people to your website. They provide fresh content related to your organisation or business – the type of fresh content that search engines love. Other bloggers are also more likely to link to your blog posts than the home page (or services page) of your website, and those links can bring both referred traffic and a higher ranking on search engines. So, how do you create the sort of content that people are looking for and linking to?"
• Facebook Flap Puts Girl Scouts In Center of Controversy – Social Philanthropy – The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas – The Chronicle has a great story covering an opportunity for organizations to learn from side-steps of others instead of repeating disaster: "Girl Scouts of the USA found itself at the center of a social-media controversy this month when the Rainforest Action Network, an environmental group, used Facebook to protest the group’s use of an ingredient in the cookies it sells to raise money."
• Videos Posted by Non-Profits on Facebook: Non-Profit Resource Center [HQ] – Looking for tips and resources for building up your organization's presence on facebook? Well, the folks at facebook have put it all in one place for you! A couple notes: there are PDF guides you can download and a "share your story" feature so you can highlight the way you use facebook and get attention for all your hard work. Check it out!

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

• Shareable: The Open Source Guitar – So many good pieces to think on from this post (thanks for sharing it with me, Billy!) Here's just on that's got me thinking: "We're now beginning to experience a shift from a global-objective index of needs and providers to a personal-subjective one." Check it out and let me know which ideas get you thinking, what your reactions are, and what you want to do with this concept!
• Networks and Hierarchies: A Typology of Digital Activism Today | techPresident – "A few weeks ago, powerful corporations like Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal weren't very concerned with the hacktivists and pranksters on 4chan. Now, thanks to the tactical success of Operation Payback's DDoS attacks, they are. The U.S. government also has its own problems with networked activists. After massive leaks of documents on the Iraq and Afghan wars and diplomatic cables from around the world, Wikileaks has demonstrated that it is a formidable threat to American legitimacy and power. These are but two recent examples of how decentralized digital networks can have dramatic effects on centralized hierarchies. However, these two alternative structures of human organization can interact in a variety of ways, both mutually beneficial and destructive. Below is a typology of how networks affect hierarchies in the digital world. In their interactions with hierarchies, members of networks can act in the following roles."
• Facebook Privacy for Nonprofit Organizations | Idealware – "Facebook seems to generate a lot of discussion about the way it handles privacy and security, and not without reason—personal data protection is worth some scrutiny, and Facebook has a questionable track record in this area. However, these issues don’t apply in the same way to nonprofits who have an organizational presence on Facebook. Organizational data is, by definition, far less personal than the information an individual might trust to the site, so you’re much less likely to want to keep it private. But there are other privacy concerns for nonprofits that use Facebook—even if your own privacy isn’t a big concern, it’s important to think of your constituents’ privacy. What does that mean for you? We talked to a few experts and condensed their advice into this article. We’ll take a look at the issues you most need to be concerned about one at a time."
• Teach Parents Tech – I'm having so much fun playing with this new template from Google – it filters videos and other resources and pulls them together for the person you want to help get tailored tech support. And it's fun! Check it out – anyone you want to share it with?
• eCampaigning Ideas | Advocacy Online – "This year's edition of eCampaigning Ideas includes eight great case studies put forward by groups using our software in a number of countries worldwide. Each case study includes background information about the issue and the campaign, key learnings, benchmark numbers, and outcomes. We hope you will download the file, find some useful information, and be inspired!"

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If you’ve been on facebook at all in December this year, you may have seen something happening to all your friends – their pictures changing to their favorite cartoon characters! You may or may not have seen a message from those same friends encouraging you and everyone else to do it, too, as a way of increasing awareness of child abuse. It caught my eye and I couldn’t help but wonder what it was all about, what was the story behind the story.

According to ABC news:

According to the trend-tracking website Know Your Meme, the cartoon fad started with Facebook users in Greece and Cyprus in mid-November.
The site said the original message was in Greek and translated to “From the 16th to the 20th of November, we shall change our profile pictures to our favourite cartoon characters. The purpose of this game is to remove all photos of human for a few days from Facebook.”

What struck me about this original message was the lack of connection to a cause. According to Mashable,

The origins of this campaign remain a mystery, as it doesn’t seem to be affiliated with any official organization. And not that you need to limit child abuse awareness to a certain time of year, but, at least in the U.S., National Child Abuse Prevention Month isn’t until April. Some Facebook commenters have also pointed out the perhaps misdirected effort, posting messages skeptical of any tangible outcomes.

This is when I really started paying attention. There has to be something going on that’s getting everyone excited enough to search for a cartoon character and change their picture. I also started noticing that of my friends on facebook, it was a pretty even spread between people that worked in the nonprofit sector and those that didn’t. I posted in a facebook group for social media and nonprofit folks the following message:

I’ve been pretty perplexed by the cartooning of facebook and after seeing news posts about how it is not child abuse awareness month or week and so forth, and the posts about how the call to change profile pics to a cartoon started in greece made me wonder if perhaps for the meme to continue/catch fire in the english translation if people felt obligated to make up an advocacy-related reason for people to play along…

A fellow group member and colleague, Tom Watson, replied that, “I’ve seen perhaps two dozens links to child abuse organizations swapped in the last couple of days – and it was fun. Sure, it’s slacktivism but what the hey….it was fun.”

And another friend, Stacey Monk, noted, “I couldn’t resist an opportunity to swap my mug with the shmoo. And I got to learn why I love him so much – iturns out, according to wikipedia, he’s a “classic allegory of greed and corruption tarnishing all that’s good and innocent in the world” – so I studied up on shmoo which made it all worthwhile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmoo”

So, I think I “get it” as far as what catches hold on facebook – something easily shareable, easy to accomplish, and fun/enjoyable. But, what still really stands out for me, is the addition of the cause-advocacy appeal once the meme hit the English translation.

Do we need slacktivism to justify fun behavior online? Are we so accustomed to easy-to-accomplish campaigns that we assume every “call to action” is/needs to be associated with a cause? What does this mean for the Child Abuse Awareness Month activities in April – when a specific organization or campaign tries to call on us “for real” this time?

What do you think? Did you change your picture – why or why not? What’s your reaction to campaigns like this?

As Beth shared in your post:

“I love my iPhone,but I don’t want to support a company that is so nonprofit unfriendly.   Since none of these in-App donation challenges apply to the Android – as soon as my contract is up, I’m getting an Android.     But, since I have a few more months on my contract,  I’ve left a comment on this post asking Apple to reconsider its policy.  If you think having the ability to make in-App donations through iPhones without hefty fees or hassle – please send Steve Jobs a message now by signing this online petition.”

What do you think? Did you sign the petition – why or why not? Would love to hear from you!

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

• Cause Global: Social Media for Social Change: Crowdsourcing Social Change – Marcia Stepanek has a terrific recap of our sxsw Crowdsourcing session with quotes and links to the case studies we shared. Thanks for the post, Marcia!
• 501derful.org – SXSW Crowdsourcing Re-Cap – Here's a wrap up from the Crowdsourcing Innovative Social Change panel from SXSW. Dave was a fellow panelist.
• A Few Reflections from SXSW Crowdsourcing Panel – Beth's Blog – Beth has a great round up of links and reflections from our sxsw session called Crowdsourcing Innovative Social Change. Her round up includes the slides we used in the session as well.
• 10 Questions for Camfed — Camfed International – Jordan Ridge and Kristy Green will be traveling to northern Zambia this week to meet students, filmakers, and young entrepreneurs in the communities where Camfed works – and you can go with them! Submit a question by Thursday, March 18th and 10 questions will be answered by Jordan and Kristy. Submit today!
• Facebook protest isn't enough. Selma vets and young activists must share lessons. – Here's an interesting piece from Paul Lamb in the Christian Science Monitor: "A Facebook protest or online petition is not the same as a sit-in or hunger strike. As activism re-invents itself, the experience of the older generations and the innovations of the young each have something to offer."

What’s LOUDER?

LOUDER will be the new online home for campaigners. The free and accessible site draws together a range of social media tools for people who want to change the world.

Through Louder you will be able to create a microsite for your campaign with the most used ‘change-tools’ the web has to offer. You will be able to connect to and manage profiles on other social media sites helping you coordinate supporter action.

To help make your campaign louder you will be able to connect up with other campaigns and those running them. Providing a much needed online space for campaigners, from international NGOs to grass roots activists, to link up collaborate and share experiences.

Why I like Louder:

I’ve been playing around with the new platform a bit and am quite excited about it.  I think it has a lot of potential to join with campaigning tools like Fairsay’s tool for Plone and collaborative tools like Zanby.

I like that Louder…

1. lets you create and distribute content all over the web
2. bring in content you create elsewhere
3. lets you work on a campaign without everything being “live”
4. uses a straightforward process to set up modules and then drag/drop to design your page
5. is being developed by folks IN the nonprofit and campaigning for change sector, so they “get it” already

Dive in!

LOUDER is in a “progressive beta” phase now and is working fast and furiously to built out more and more functionality for campaigners.  You can visit their roadmap to see what’s in the pipeline of development and share your ideas about what you’d like the platform to do for you.

Some things currently in the works include:

• Newslist and newsletter management
• Email MPs/MEPs/Councillors and other influential people
• Contact management tools
• Collaborative tools for planning campaigns
• The ability to connect to Facebook accounts

What do you think?

What are you waiting for? Go check out LOUDER now!

And let me know what you think, too