And I hope you do too. . .

Because I am an intermittent blogger at best, I end up accruing a large number of interesting gems from the Interwebs and elsewhere that I intend to share or reference later in my blog and then sometimes get lost in the shuffle.  I always think I’m going to use my favorites in one big, extensive blog post that really ties the room together, but alas, it’s not happening today.  There is literally no end to the useful information available online, but today I thought I’d just leave you with a hacky little list of food for thought:

1.) This 2008 article from the Harvard Business review is detailed and asks hard questions and about the viability, clarity of mission and operating procedures of healthy non-profits and offers extremely smart suggestions on how to improve.

2.) 10 Essential Social Media Slideshare Presentations For Non Profits is just what is sounds like.  Which is to say: awesome.

3.) 10 Blogs (actually 15) Pamela Reads.  You should listen to her.  She’s smart.

4.) The Arts Resource Network has a lot of information for emerging artists and arts-related non-profits.

5.) More on Founder’s Syndrome and how to tell if your founder has a little case of it.  Don’t let the picture put you off.

6.) 3 Apps And Networks Spurring Social Good.  Allyson Kapin is just amazing, she really is a wonderful resource for the non-profit world.

7.) A list of ‘how-t0′ resources for grantwriting.

8.) How A Non-Profit Brand Goes Bust, Part 1 was Nancy Schwartz’ opening salvo analyzing the KFC-Susan J. Komen brouhaha and how it weakened the brand.  Here is her in-depth analysis on the situation.  Right-on as per usual.

9.) I’ve been reading the Mission-Minded blog lately and you should check it out too.

10.) Wild Apricot’s tips on how to keep your organization Free of Spam Complaints.

Thats it for the day but I promise a real post for the next time, folks.

A.J.

Detroit is Pretty Awesome, You Guys

Well, it’s been a light week for the blog, because I am vacationing (and very successfully, thankyouverymuch) in Detroit, to help ring in my best friends brand new masters degree in graphic design.  Since I’ve already written a bit on the topic of web design this week, I thought, in keeping with the theme, I’d put together some more design resources for those of you out there building, re-building or being fed up with your existing sites.  I’ve been walking around the beyond-beautiful campus here at Cranbrook and reading, in crumbling marble letters on their red brick buildings, one of their aesthete’s credos: A Life Without Beauty is A Life Half Lived.  I wonder, seriously, what my own corresponding tenet of website appreciation would be. . . A Site Without Usability is Scarcely a Site At All?  A Site Without Proper Search Engine Optimization is But Half a Site?  If You Hate The Way Your Website Looks, Then Go To Art School and Learn How To Change It?  A Beautiful Website Is Only Half The Battle?

Regardless, here are some items to help you with design implementation and inspiration:

16 Sites For Web Design Inspiration: this has some sites with CSS and WordPress theme examples, many of them a nice resource if you’re looking to start building a new site.

A Couple More CSS Galleries: One and Two

50 Favorite Design Resources From Pronet

The Ten Commandments Of Web Design

Design Blogs I like:

Outlaw Design Blog

Abduzeedo

Colorburned

And Finally. . .

A List of The  50 Best Web Design Blog Posts from 2009- I’ve gotten through almost all of these and they are uniformly awesome, so put on your reading glasses and get started.

Good luck finding inspiration, everyone.

-A.J.

This post is not much of a much, just another rousing endorsement of one of our fellow non-profit bloggers- Kivi Miller.  Kivi is an excellent writer and an expert in non-profit marketing development and management.  She teaches workshops, keeps an extremely informative blog and is generally  badass in the industry.  She is also, I must add, a master of self-promotion; her blog is rife with opportunities to sign up to attend her teaching engagements, subscribe to her blog, enroll in her e-courses and engage with the variety of social media outlets she uses to promote her blog and her business.  Any organization looking to punch up their website can not only read her informative and well-researched posts, but also take note of the easy navigability of her website and the constant opportunities the site provides to engage with her or purchase her services.

Of particular interest to me is Kivi’s emphasis on non-profit writing.  Copywriting is an oft-ignored facet of building a successful website, business or organization and she’s doing her best to share her A game with the clueless masses (kidding), on this very topic.  She’s accepting enrollees for her latest workshops now; take a look and see any of these might be a good fit for the budding copywriter in your organization.

Here’s an interview with Kivi on content creation for busy non-profits:

Kivi, we salute you!

-A.J.

Beth Kanter Freaking RULES

So, I feel I’ve been quite explicit about this matter: social networking is good, very good, for non-profits.  The Twittering, the Facebooking, the what-have-you. . . all these activities can be incredibly fortuitous for your organization, I think you should get on it, like, yesterday, blah blah blah.  You’ve heard this from me too many times already in the short life of this blog. . . however, today I thought I’d share my favorite resource for ideas on how to actually accomplish fundraising and mission-spreading goals using these tools: Beth Kanter’s blog.

Beth has worked in the non-profit sector for 30 years and she has a nearly endless knowledge base to draw from.  She is also a savvy user of newish social networking technology to further her own personal and professional goals and is a preeminent scholar of the social networking medium as a vehicle for change.  Her blog is incredibly comprehensive, compassionate, whip-smart, funny, and has a big heart proudly beating with social conscience.  She offers practical information on how to use technology in positive, communicative ways (which is what we’re all about), like here, here and here.  In short, we at DonationPay think Ms. Kanter keeps a pretty perfect blog and we can’t recommend her highly enough.

Observe how she spent her 53rd birthday this month, for instance.

Here’s some ideas from the Frugal Duchess about how to spend your day off.

-A.J.

Side note: yes, this video is incredibly dry and boring, but it’s one of the quickest and most comprehensive basic tutorials around.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not like a Magic Eye Painting, where only programming nerds and web designers can see the sailboat behind the chaos. It’s not an esoteric concept or a unicorn or something that only techie geeks can understand.   SEO is a real thing, honest, and if you take note of some of these simple tips, you can build a successful site that will ably promote your business or cause.  No matter how web-savvy or experienced you are (or are not), you can improve the SEO practices of your site.

1.) Choose Keywords Wisely

Picking keywords is an art and a science.  There are many tools online (like WordTracker and the Google Keyword  tool) to help you with keyword research and guide you through the process.  Spending a little time enhancing your keywords, in text and tags, will result in increased traffic that is specific to your business and your website.  I find keyword research to be extremely fun and satisfying- even if you have a couple of false starts with keywords that don’t really pan out, the strategizing and investigation required to revamp or develop your keywords and phrases is pretty edifying.

Below is a video tutorial on how to do keyword research using the Google Keyword Tool.

2.) Title Tags

Your title tags need to be different on every page.  Most search engines, most of the time, will use the title tag on a webpage as the link text that pops up as search results so it needs to be in sentence form, human-readable, 65 characters or less (including spaces)and keyword specific.  It’s crucial to SEO success to spend the time to make sure you’re titling each page with an appropriate and accurate description of the information available on that page.  Your title tags should reflect your keyword strategy-what you discover in your keyword research, you can apply here, to solicit specific appropriate to the corresponding pages of your site.  SEOMoz is pretty much the ultimate resource for SEO tips, blogs and tutorials, and here is their owner, Rand Fishkin’s clear and instructive description of best practices for title tags.  Also, if you have a content managed site (i.e. one built on a Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, or others) there are ways (contained in the above links- you’re welcome!) to work around your CMS and personalize your title tags.  Dudes, you might not want to know about ‘em, but there are ways. . .

3.) Image Tags

Be sure to include keyword-rich alt-tags on images.  You never know when an image might break on your site or be unviewable by someone’s browser your image tags need to be in complete sentences, rife with keywords and descriptive of what the image actually shows.  The search engine crawlers cannot see the images, but they can see the alt text.  Your images add enormous value to your web content; you know that, but the search engines have no way of knowing that (those damn, dirty machines).   You have to tell them what your image is and why it’s relevant- with your alt- tags.  Also, web readers for the blind read the image tags, so this is a chance to make your website accessible to more people.  It’s easy enough to forget to include your image tags (I have been guilty of it many, many times myself on this very blog and others-do as I say, not as I do, as my mom used to say), but you will be doing your business or NPO a great disservice if you do so.  Here’s a more detailed how-to, if you’re so inclined.

4.) Link Building

Link building is a trick of the trade that can easily go awry.  Two relevant links from related sites are exponentially more valuable than ten links of dubious quality.  The search engines algorithms are complicated, but the basic deal is this: Google casts it’s expansive eye all across the web, looking at which sites are connected to other sites, and considering each in-link you have to be akin to a political endorsement- sites with the most links generally show up high on the search engine results pages.  Like political endorsements, some can help, some are neutral and some can badly damage your search engine standing.   Never pay for links, as this is, well, frowned upon by the search engines.  The best, easiest and most enjoyable way to link-build is to continuously update your site with interesting content and link to other industry blogs and sites; the more relevance your site has in the ongoing web dialogue about your industry, cause or featured topic, the easier it will be for you to link to other interesting sites and enhance your popularity with the search engines and your presence on the web.  Check out these savvy, detailed tips on how to improve your link building skills.  Also, these.

5.) Site Maps

This is actually an easy thing to do that some newcomers to the web world find intimidating.

Here is a brief tutorial on how to create and submit a sitemap using free tools.

Submit updated site maps regularly to all major search engines.  Just do it, you won’t be sorry.

6.) Directory Listings

Carefully choosing several online  directories specific to your industry can help your site’s search engine standing enormously.  Not all directories that appear initially to be valuable or relevant actually will be, so do a little research before you get on board with one of these.  Some good ones for non-profits are here, here and here.  Also, of course be sure to submit yourself to larger directories like the ones at Google, Yahoo, Bing, Joeant, Dmoz, etc.  But you already did that, right?  Ahem, I’ll wait while you get on it.

7.)  Social Networking

I know, I know, this is a topic that I have beaten to death in most of my blog posts and this will surely not be the last, but, seriously, social networking can work wonders for your site.  I know Tweeting is ridiculous and Facebook can seem like a steaming cesspool of old high school boyfriends and weirdos covertly trying to sell you something (or, ah, services), but for your business or NPO, both those sites can really be a boon to your web traffic.  There are many factors to consider when using social networking sites to enhance your own site, especially for a non-profit.  Be strategic in terms of which methods you choose, post consistently engaging content and your efforts will be rewarded.  Here is an article from the Chicago tribune about the doors social networking is opening up for non-profits (forgive their poor archive formatting.  Also, for laughs, check out Gawker’s sassy beatdown of annoying Twitter users tweeting their causes.

8.) Blog/ Post Relevant Content

Yep, if you want to have a compelling website, you need to have regularly updated, interesting content.  Period.  There’s really no way around this, so just suck it up and do it.  It’s fun, stimulating and makes you feel connected with your web community and it is the single easiest way to have a dynamic site.  When you’re first building the readership on a blog (like this one), it can feel like your carefully constructed posts are like shots fired into the darkness.  The important thing to remember if you are just starting a companion blog to your website is that it will take some time.  But once people start finding their way to you, they’ll have a fabulous archive to browse and a way to further connect with you, your website, and your business or NPO.  Also, the search engines know which sites are regularly updated and can recognize when web traffic is repeatedly returning to your site.  That’s right, search engines are now smart enough to assess whether or not your site is valuable.  Make it valuable.

So, again, man up (or, you know, lady up) and do the damn thing; it’s addictive after awhile and will make a dramatic impact on your web traffic.

Here’s some basics on how to write a blog post using WordPress:

9.) Analytics

One of the easiest way to track your burgeoning web progress is to install a free analytics package on your site.  It will let you track how many views each page of your site is getting, where your web traffic is coming from and gives a daily breakdown of your visitors and site activity.  This is an invaluable, free tool that can help guide your site to greatness.

10.) Be Dilligent

All these tips are fine and good, but SEO is like an endurance trial: it requires a constant, low-level effort that will ultimately bring you to achieve your web goals.  If something isn’t working, if your site is underperforming or your keywords aren’t working . . . well, the best advice I can give you is to try, try again.  Try a new  SEO trick every day, read articles, get proactive with your web presence and you will be richly rewarded for your efforts.

Have fun and happy search optimizing!

-A.J.

Ready for the Weekend

Well, folks, DonationPay is taking the weekend off, so I thought I’d leave you with a list of resources for a few non-profit-y things you might be considering in the new year.

-One of my personal resolutions this year is to find an organization in town that I can commit to volunteering with for at least six months.  I know a lot of people are probably making similar resolutions this year, so here’s a handy crib sheet on how best to become a stellar volunteer:

How to Volunteer

-I don’t Twitter, myself, but it can often be a valuable tool for marketing and community building for non profits.  So here is an interesting article from Change.org:  Twitter Tips for Non Profit Organizations.

-Speaking of Twitter, here are Ten Tips on Social Networking, for Non-Profits.

-Check out the Top Ten Non-Profits Fighting Poverty.

-And check out this video for tips on how non-profits can use Youtube to further their cause.

-Finally, maybe this has very little to do with non-profits, but it certainly would be a fun craft project to do over a weekend.  Also, it’s kind of about recycling.  My sister has a 4 month year old son (Lucas Jose, sweetness incarnate, totally adorable) and pretty soon she’s going to start accruing a serious amount of baby food jars.  These little containers, as it turns out, make super-fun Etched Spice Jars.  Just follow the instructions in the link and you can have a matched set gorgeous spice jars . . . and do your civic recycling duty.  Also, here’s How to Support Eco-Friendly Charities.

And. . . fin.

Have a nice weekend.

-A.J.

One Way Ticket To Awesome: Check out the Rescue Dogs Available at the ASPCA

As I was trudging through the muddy soup of one of Seattle’s rain-beaten dog parks this morning, with my two pooches, I realized that I’ve been reading the ASPCA blog quite a lot lately.  They post cuddly videos of the many shelter animals in their network that need homes, tips on training and relating to animals, and general information about their specific locations, as well as their general organization.  As an animal lover, the ASPCA has always been near the top of my list of NPO’s to donate to and support at their events and pledge drives. They fight crime against animals and pursue  grants and individual donations to help support their wide-reaching mission.

Aside from liking dogs a lot (and who doesn’t), I can also appreciate the masterful way in which they’ve built their online presence in the past ten years or so.  Their website is enormous in scope; encompassing pages about adoptable animals in their facilities, an online store and donation station, multi-level informational pages about their organization, links to their various social media outlets, prize giveaways and their wonderful blog, to name a few.  Despite the massive amount of content on the site, it remains easily navigable and simple to use.

Basically, the ASPCA is beyond awesome, so get with the program and check them out.  Also, for anyone who thinks ICanHasCheezburger is the bees knees (if a bit of a guilty pleasure), take a gander at the ASPCA’s blog.  It has all the cute kitties and puppies (brindle pitbull puppies learning to skateboard. . . um, yes please!) of other, sillier sites but also contains serious information that keeps us up to date about the ongoing fight against animal cruelty.  The tone is less juvenile, too, so you can read it regularly, without having to lie to your friends about it!  It’s like Cute Overload, for animal activists!

And now, gratuitous pictures of my own two shelter dogs in  3 . . . 2 . . . 1 !!!

This is how they look when we don’t visit the ASPCA website

Klaus, Lucy and I all want to wish you happy hunting for a rescue animal all your own or, at the very least, happy surfing of the fantastic ASPCA website. . .

A.J.