Join Your Part Matters on Facebook.

It was bound to happen — Your Part Matters is up and running on Facebook.

Will you stop by and give us a like?

A Safari Guy Tries Google Chrome

Although quite a bit of my analytics work is done on a PC, I’m a Mac guy at heart, and so for browsing I pretty much stick to Apple’s Safari browser. But recently I’ve gotten so fed-up with Safari slowing down, hanging, or crashing all together that I’ve started to look for an alternative. Given the good buzz and amazing adoption, I’m trying out Google Chrome.

I’m not a huge fan of Google, because I think they make some dumb moves for a company claiming to be committed to doing no evil. In particular, I believe their track record with regards to privacy, or really the lack thereof, is disturbing. Personal liberties and personal privacy are both very important to me, so I find this very unsettling. Very unsettling.

And yet, to be a business person in 2012, indeed to be any person in 2012, means being a part of the internet world, and that in turn means being a part of Google’s world. I’ve half-heartedly adopted Google+, although I don’t quite get it yet, and I’m not sure why I need another Facebook. But in terms of a typical work day, mine like yours probably involves dozens of searches through Google.

My first reactions to Chrome are surprisingly good. 

• Cool splash on the download page. I like aesthetics.
• Brainless import of other browser settings — it is amazing how difficult other browsers make this process. While this might speak to further concerns about privacy (!), it is great in terms of ease of use. Well done Google.
• Seems about as fast as Safari, and does hang a bit here and there, but the browsing experience feels streamlined and well thought-out.
• It took me a second to get my head around the tab system versus Safari’s, but I like it.
• I like that the address line and the search line are integrated rather than two separate boxes like on Safari. This created a head-scratch moment at first, but it actually makes more sense.
• I like that my bookmarks are synched (privacy concerns, privacy concerns — see, I’m my own worst enemy) without having to add a layer like iCloud, which is honestly a bit clunky to me. Really Apple? I need to sign up for iCloud, find the control panel, log onto it on each computer, and tell each computer what to sync? Oh, and I can’t even intelligently merge my bookmarks? In practical terms that is no different than what I need to do with Chrome, but the Google experience is a lot easier. I can do it all without leaving the browser. Not to mention the incredible dysfunctional mess for people with previous MobileMe accounts.
• I like the Chrome Web Store. In contrast to what I found during the three minutes or so that I was an Android user, the store is well laid out, colorful, and beautifully designed. And better than Safari’s extension area, which feels like an afterthought.

In summary, my first impression is that Safari is the kind of browser that a company focused on computers (er sorry, digital devices) would make, while Chrome is the kind of browser that a company focused on browsing would make. I’m not a total convert yet, but I’m putting the icon in the dock. And the crowd cheers.

I have no idea if anyone at all is interested in these opinions, but I figure that there are a few others out there wondering if Safari is the best way to navigate the online jungle (groan).

Finally, this is probably where I remind readers that I don’t solicit or accept compensation for endorsements. I just use what works, and write about it.

Anyways — happy browsing.

Follow-up: I’ve now used Chrome for a couple of days. It’s my new default browser. 

Notes from 2012 NTC - Day Two

The astute observer may note that I’m actually posting notes about day two of NTC on day three of NTC — take it as a sign of how packed day two was. 

Another long but fulfilling day of conversation. I spent an alarmingly large part of the day, and drank an alarmingly large amount of coffee, at the hotel restaurant, which essentially became the office for dozens of NTC attendees all day. There were times the waiters looked a bit annoyed with tables of six people spending $8 on coffee, but I know they made out on the breakfast and lunch tabs so hopefully it evened out for them in the end. 

Highlights:

• Great meeting with Donna Wilkins of Charity Dynamics. Besides being an expert on social and mobile fundraising, Donna is an astute industry observer. I always enjoy thinking big thoughts with her.
• Spent some more time with the leadership team at StayClassy, specifically planning for a fantastic new social impact conference later this year. Stay tuned!
• Our team had a chance to sit down with Nyla and Amy from Mama Hope and hear about their take on development and how to turn it on its head. Exhiliarating and Inspiring.
• Interesting meeting with Jonah from Altruicity — he’s trying to bring richer outreach and phone experiences to the space. Some potential applications for our clients.

I’m not sure if the above sounds like much, but that takes us to 6:00 last night and a very tired NTC attendee! A highlight of the evening was going with the kick-butt Event 360 team over to House of Nanking for dinner. WOW. Yum. 

Okay, no more procrastinating — I’ve got to put some final touches on my presentation for later this morning. Just keep swimming…

The presentation is being streamed live, so I hope you’ll come along!

Notes from 2012 NTC - Day One

A great day at the 2012 Nonprofit Technology Conference so far. Wanted to send some quick notes.

The Hilton in San Francisco is absolutely buzzing with activity. (Now that I write that, I realize what a lame analogy it is. But picture a really, really busy hotel lobby with people connecting, re-connecting, networking, re-networking. Not sure if that is “buzzing,” but that’s it.)

My day so far has been full of a bunch of different connections:

• Started with a meeting with GoodThreads CEO Brandon Hance. Great guy. I love what they are doing. Lots of applications for our clients. 
• That led to a short (and then later, a slightly longer) conversation with Debra Askanase, also known as @AskDebra. If you are in social impact in the Twittersphere (odd that the previous phrase probably makes sense to a lot of people), you know who she is and what she does. She was very complimentary about Event 360’s content strategy, which meant a lot coming from her. 
• Interesting meeting with the guys at Avectra, the leading association management software. I’m somewhat familiar with the space from a past life. Interesting to hear about the social integration in their platform. Interestingly, they are one of many groups who found out about me through this post. 
• Great, great inspiring meeting as usual with the fantastic Jane Kim of Ink-Dwell. So thrilled to be working with her. 
• The usual fantastic exchange with the incomparable Pat Walsh and Scot Chisolm of StayClassy. Nothing more to say about that. Need to go find them down on the floor somewhere. 

Countless other interactions. I’m getting lots of comments about my session coming up on Thursday, so no pressure! Gotta practice some crunching on that dataset. My session is taking place Thursday at 10:30 Pacific, and if you’re not here you can register to watch it, and lots of other great sessions, online at 2012 Online NTC. Check it out!

More to come…

Nonprofit Technology Conference 2012

Hello everyone from San Francisco, where I arrived late last night for one of my favorite weeks of the year: the Nonprofit Technology Conference. It’s a week to learn from some of the most innovative people in the industry about how they are using technology to drive social impact.

It’s also a week when I traditionally experiment with the time-space continuum to see how many meetings I can cram into 72 hours, and when I conduct a bit of a workplace Lord of the Flies test with my director of marketing: At what point will she skewer me if I still don’t have my presentation materials ready?

All of these things and more I will try to share in bite-size increments throughout the week. Stay tuned!

Why I'm Optimistic About Blackbaud's Acquisition of Convio

This morning’s announcement that Blackbaud has agreed to acquire Convio has certainly made the day more interesting. A surprise to me and most of my colleagues, clients, and partners, the press release has inspired more Twitter, email, and phone activity than I can remember in quite a while. Nearly everyone has asked the same questions: What will it mean? Is it a good thing, or a bad thing?

Clearly it will take a while to understand the implications of the announcement, and much longer to observe how the acquisition and subsequent integration — strategic, operational, and technological — unfolds. But I’ll risk it and offer two initial thoughts:

1. The acquisition represents a colossal reshaping of the nonprofit technology landscape.


2. There are lots of reasons to be extremely optimistic about the result.

Why It’s Big

If you’re reading this article, you probably already know why the move is huge. But allow me to recap for a moment, with apologies to product managers at both companies for vastly oversimplifying the systems involved. Blackbaud is the de facto nonprofit technology standard when it comes to back-end systems. Simply put, it’s a Raiser’s Edge world out there. But their cloud products haven’t gained as much traction, and their offering is a mixture of various home-grown and acquired solutions, from eTapestry to Kintera to NetCommunity to Sphere.

Convio, on the other hand, has become the standard for web-based CRM, particularly in the rapidly growing advocacy and peer-to-peer fundraising spaces. And their move to integrate with SalesForce through Convio Luminate has brought powerful for-profit tools barrelling into the nonprofit space. However, Convio doesn’t have the breadth or depth in back-end databases, nor the long history and massive installed user base that Blackbaud offers.

So the first reason this news is big is that these are the two leading players in nonprofit technology, by a large margin.

The second and more important reason is that because of the different competencies of the two companies, most of our clients use a mix of both systems. It is very common to find a Convio front-end feeding a Blackbaud back-end. It is also very common to find frustrated IT managers and fundraisers in the middle, trying to get the two systems to play well together. This acquisition not only brings with it the promise of more seamless integration, it also could vastly reduce administrative headaches throughout an organization — reducing multiple invoices, sales visits, service calls, and so forth to one point of contact.

Why I’m Optimistic

That same conclusion has already led some observers to worry about the move. I’ve read concerns that this change will reduce the leverage of the nonprofit buyer — leverage which many would say is already at a low point. In only six hours since the announcement I’ve also heard worries that the acquisition will lead to higher prices, lower service, slower technological development, and less choice.

I’ll admit, those are legitimate concerns. But from my vantage point, I don’t think they are realistic. Here’s why.

• First, many nonprofits already use — or wish they could use — both systems. Change comes slowly in our space, particularly when large systems (with correspondingly large financial outlays) are at play. Consolidating those products, designers, and engineers is only going to benefit end users of the systems. I know of fundraisers at several large nonprofits who have literally agonized over the choice between Convio or Blackbaud. That’s wasted time that can go back to mission.


• Second, I like the mix of skills and competencies. Event 360’s team works with both systems, so I know people at both companies. There are fantastic, smart people at both organizations. And like all competitors, they spend time worrying about each other. I can’t wait to see what those teams do when they combine their talents. When both groups worry more about delivering social impact than keeping up with each other, we’re all going to benefit.


• Third, I think this will speed up, not slow down, technological development. This is probably a vast oversimplification, but my perception is that Blackbaud has always had the edge in technological robustness and service, while Convio has had the edge in speed and responsiveness. In November 2010 I got to see a preview of the next generation of Blackbaud’s Friends Asking Friends system. I was completely blown away — blown away by the potential, by the power of the system, and by how much they had listened to Event 360’s own best practices to include them in the system. The only disappointment came when I learned that the system wouldn’t be widely available until 2013! To Blackbaud’s credit, this is how they work — methodically. They want to get it right. But at the same time, the market is changing too quickly; nonprofits need help now. I think the addition of Convio’s talent and products could add afterburners to Blackbaud’s rollouts.


• Fourth, there’s enough market pressure to control prices. I think the concerns about “monopoly pricing” are vastly over-exaggerated, for several reasons. One, if the new Blackbaud prices too high, they are going to encourage many nonprofits to look to low cost and open source alternatives. The strategists at Blackbaud are too smart for that. (And as a side note, to my friends at smaller technology companies — this acquisition is great news for you, too. One of you is going to become the new best alternative.) Two, my sense is that Blackbaud is more concerned about the SalesForces, Oracles, and Microsofts of the world than the CiviCRMs. The market will shift, new alternatives will emerge, new standards will be created — but I don’t think every NPO CFO needs to reach for the wallet.

What’s To Be Determined

As I said at the beginning, there’s still a lot to be ironed out.

• How long will systems integration take? Months or years?


• What will the product and service offering be? How will existing customers be treated with regard to potential new, integrated services?


• Will the acquisition (and subsequent integration timeline) actually slow down NPO buying decisions? This would be understandable, although a shame in my book — there is simply too much need to delay our pursuit of mission.


• How will the two company cultures mix together? From my experience, they aren’t the same.


• Closer to my world, how will the New Blackbaud work with partners? Both companies have had evolving partner strategies — how will they work with companies like mine?


• Which companies and technologies will emerge as the clear second alternative?

We’ll probably all have a lot to debate and wonder about in the next few weeks. Still, when it all comes down to it, I think this is a great move for the space. We’re all trying to change the world — and the work is so, so difficult. To quote Jane Fonda, “Instead of safety nets we need trampolines and ladders.” Anything that can help us jump forward more quickly towards a better world is welcome in my book. I think this acquisition can do that — and so to my friends in Charleston and Austin, I say: We’re counting on you. Let us know how we can help.

Stop the presses! Blackbaud to acquire Convio...

I woke to this announcement in my inbox. For the event fundraising world — and indeed, the entire fundraising world — this represents a significant change in the landscape. It could also represent a powerful combination of strengths as the two main front-end systems come together with the two main back-end systems. I’ll be following this news intently and will post further on the implications as the day progresses.

Perspectives on 2012: Mission Trumps Tools Every Time

This article is the third in a short series of musings about 2012, its opportunities and challenges, and how to best meet them.

From “So, What’s Your Algorithm?” by Dennis K. Berman, the Wall Street Journal, 1/4/2012I’ve started this post several times. The first time, I opened with this: “When I look back on 2011, I’ll think of it as the year when social media hysteria attacked the nonprofit space.” That opener sounded a bit too snarky, so I scratched it out and started over. My second attempt was this: “When I look back on 2011, I’ll think of it as the year when big data arrived to the nonprofit space — alas, the discipline to use it well is still a no-show.” Ack. The second attempt is worse than the first!

So here’s a third try: When I look back on 2011, I’ll think of it as year when the discussion about tools risked eclipsing the pursuit of mission. And when I look into 2012, my biggest hope is that it will be the year when our focus returns to substance over form. 

There’s no question that big data and social media were two of the main themes in the nonprofit space in 2011, at least in my part of the world. Much has been written about both trends, and I’ll not seek to retread that ground other than to say that most of the nonprofits I work with, particularly the larger ones, are investing in systems and people to generate and store constituent data. And nearly every organization is investing in systems and people to “do social media.” Depending on the month, at certain times I might have said that the emergence of big data was the dominate theme; other months I would have probably marveled at the fascination with social media. Obviously, the emergence of the two trends is not unrelated, as the same undercurrents are basically powering both:

• Dramatic, ever-increasing computing power (we all now carry powerful computers disguised as phones);
• Progressively transparent, networked consumer behavior (we are willing to have our actions tracked at every turn, and often consciously and deliberately track ourselves); and
• Evolving infrastructure and supporting systems (for example, the widespread acceptance and adoption of that third 2011 buzzword, “the cloud”).

So rather than try to separate the two, I’ve convinced myself that I can and should muse about them jointly.

I worry that over the past couple of weeks I’ve unmasked myself as a Luddite, and I should say I’m definitely not. Actually, I’m a gear fanatic and a tool nut — I love my electronics and my software, and I continually acquire more of both than I have time to master. 

At the same time, one thing I noticed in 2011, more noticeably regarding social media but also underlying the pursuit of large data management systems, was that we tend to run after the next tool that presents itself without thinking. It’s almost as if we’re hoping that this Next New Thing will finally make it easier, less awkward, and more fun to do what most of us have to do, which is ask for money.

“Facebook! You have to be on Facebook! You have to increase your likes on Facebook!” Remember that? And then it was, “Twitter! You have to be on Twitter! Increase your Twitter followership! That’s it!” Oh, and then, “Text to Give! It’s all about Text to Give! Text to Give is huge and is transforming the space!” And someone else says, “What are you thinking?!? CRM! You’ve got to connect it all to CRM!”

And so we all don our sheep suits and follow the flock over to Facebook — and then we follow it back across the field to Twitter — and then we try to follow it over to the Text to Give pen, but by this time we’re all getting a bit tired aren’t we? And then someone shouts “Google+!” But by this time we finally say, “huh?” And we all try not to ask the obvious question, a question that is getting harder to avoid asking in the new year, which is “How do we translate all of these followers and likes and mobile numbers and circles into dollars for mission?” Because of course what has been lost as we chase tools around the pasture is any time to think about what we want to use the tools for. 

Okay — don’t get me wrong. Again, I’m not a Luddite. I think Facebook is a valuable tool; I use both it and Twitter many times a day, for my clients, my company, and myself. I love computers and analytics, and live and breath both most hours of the day. But here’s the thing: Facebook is just a tool. Data is just a tool. Twitter, texting, Google, Excel — all tools. 

No tool in the world will instantly, magically, permanently eliminate the need to passionately, succintly, and repeatedly describe your mission; no tool in the world will eliminate the pressing, continual need for you to vivdly describe the impact you are making and then pointedly ask for support. What I saw in 2011 was a tools arms race, and what concerns me is that I don’t see signs of it slowing down — although there are observers starting to discuss how, as social media and big data and the cloud become integrated into our day-to-day, the novelty about those systems will change back into an imperative to actually say and do something meaningful with them. 

(And following from that, let me add that just because you can now easily send a message to your entire database of 30,000,000 “friends” in one click doesn’t mean you should, or really that you have anything of value to say.) 

My biggest hope of hopes for 2012 is that we all realize that even now, in some garage in India or some college dorm room in New Hampshire or some offshore development platform in the South Pacific, someone is developing yet another tool that will (possibly) help us (potentially) increase awareness and (maybe) raise money. And so rather than worry so much about how to leverage this fan page or that community stream or how to afford the shiny new holographic brain implants soon to be shipping worldwide out of Cupertino, the best thing we can do for our nonprofits in 2012 is:

• Emotively articulate our vision of a better world;
• Concisely describe how our organization is uniquely pursuing that vision;
• Abandon our reluctance to ask for help and boldly put our offer of change to everyone we meet; 
• Continually develop our volunteers and staff so that they have the language and confidence to do the same;
• And more than anything, ensure that the program work we do actually helps bring about social change. 

Tools are fun and cool and neat and can help a lot. But substance outlasts form every time, and mission trumps tools all day long. 

Perspectives on 2012: Putting Facebook In Its Place

This article is the first in a short series of musings about 2012, its opportunities and challenges, and how to best meet them. 

It’s a snowy, cold first Monday of January here in Indiana — and I’m sure I’m the better for it. After twelve days of holiday break, hours of wrapping and unwrapping, countless toy-assembly sessions, a few toy-repair sessions, and lots and lots of play time with the kids, I badly need a day off before the official start of the work year. I need to get myself squared away. From big picture thinking like setting my 2012 goals to fundamental necessities like clearing off my desk (I swear, the wood surface is here somewhere), I need a few hours to decide what is going to be important in the new year. And, what isn’t.

This second subject was the topic of a brief story by Zak Stone in yesterday’s Good (see the bottom of this post for the reference links). Stone relates an effort by web designer Ivan Cash to encourage us to take a bit of time off from the ubiquitous social networking site. It’s a good idea, at least for me, and particularly at this time of the year. It is so easy to get caught up in posting what I’m doing that I don’t actually focus on doing it. And it is equally easy to aimlessly scroll through my news feed, absentmindedly reading about what people are doing — without really connecting to anyone at all.

So, I’ve decided to take the challenge and take a week off from Facebook. The simple absurdity of writing that previous sentence as if it were a momentous decision illustrates why it is worth taking a FB sabbatical!

I’ll admit that the first few minutes were odd — I went to Cash’s link, posted the status update on my profile, and within a couple of seconds a few friends had liked my update. I unconsciously reached for the mouse to see who had commented, and then remembered that I was taking a week off. It is exactly this kind of impulse response that runs counter to accomplishing bigger picture goals, and is at the crux of what Cash and Stone are encouraging us to do.

In organizations and in our personal lives we put a lot of emphasis on setting goals, creating vision, painting a picture, and so forth. But we put far less time to deciding what we won’t do. Focus is a key component of good strategy, whether the strategy involves building a billion-dollar charity or losing that last stubborn ten pounds. And focus means making choices. You can’t be great at everything. 

Don’t get me wrong — I love Facebook, and I think it can be a great conduit for personal connections and for organizational growth. But for most of us, Facebook is just a tool towards a larger end. There’s only one organization which has a goal for you to spend more time on Facebook — and that is Facebook itself. For the rest of us, the goal isn’t to spend more time on the site, but to develop deeper connections. I’m interested to see if staying away helps me do that.

I’ve rambled through a few different topics in only five or six paragraphs, and perhaps that is fitting for a snowy, sleepy start of the new year. I look forward to expanding on these and other ideas throughout the next few months, and as always I appreciate your visit. I wish you the best as you start to outline your priorities for the year ahead. 

Pining For Squarespace 6

I use Squarespace for my site and despite a few niggles I’m very happy with it. I don’t know where I’ve been hiding, but I just today found out about their announcement several months ago regarding the latest update, Squarespace 6. Looks killer. 

By the way, has anyone else noticed that the Google fonts I’m using looking awful on Windows? Well, I sure didn’t — at least until tonight that is! I’m going to have to change the style, because the wonderful, smooth, anti-aliased type I see on my Mac looks absolutely horrid on Windows. Whoops. 

Postscript: I’ve switched from the very cool Blueprint style to the equally-cool-but-seemingly-more-Windows-friendly Canopy style. Hope you enjoy the green. Let’s see if it grows on us. 

Can You Hear Me Now?!?

This morning a Facebook friend of mine share a link to an article by Daniel Gulati in the Harvard Business Review entitled “Facebook Is Making Us Miserable.” Delighted with the obvious irony of learning about the article through the tool it critiques, I gave it a quick read. I would recommend it to you as well.

I found the article interesting and the implications more so. Clearly Facebook can broaden our connections with others, as evidenced by the fact that a friend from Israel shared the article with this Indiana boy and inspired comments from locations far and wide. And I will say I try to avoid the trap of thinking that anyone or anything can “make” us miserable — we do that all by ourselves!

Those two things aside, the article resonated with me. While Facebook has broadened our connections, has it deepened them? I’m not sure. 

More than Facebook specifically, it strikes me that the author is really commenting on the slow blending of our personal and professional lives — inexorably we’re moving to a place where our separate circles are not separate, where there is no distinction between different spheres, and, perhaps most sadly, where we feel compelled to share in order to stay connected.

Perhaps technology is not the culprit and these are human dynamics in any day and age — if you want social connections you have to be social, and the more you are the latter, the more you have of the former. It could be that we simply need to get over ourselves.

At the same time, something tells me that the game is changing. Not only are the rules different, but we’re on an entirely different field — one on which we’re all kind of muddling around looking for friendship and intimacy by broadcasting our lives, nonstop, over our own heads. Only no one can hear us, because we’ve each drowned out the rest of the players with our own megaphone. The louder we yell for connection, the harder it is to hear everyone else yelling too…

Falling for Instagram

I spent the better part of two hours last night playing around with Instagram, the photo sharing app for iPhone. I’m well past late to this party — the app is only a year old but there are already over 10 million users (and counting fast). Still, there have to be others like me who have become more and more overwhelmed with social networking and so haven’t had time to discover this wonderful little program.

Facebook is now a way of life; it is quickly becoming a work tool as well as a personal communication standard. Sadly, I’m guessing I’m not alone when I say that I Facebook (verb) with people I talk to everyday!

Twitter is also pretty much obligatory. I’ve found Twitter more and more useful for sharing articles, deciding what to read, and keeping in touch at conferences and meetings.

Add in Yahoo Messenger and Yammer at work, and Ping at home, as well as Google Reader and Google+ (still trying to figure that one out) and — oh yeah! — email, and I have so much social networking that I don’t have time to be social. What do I need Instagram for?

I’m not sure what exactly moved me to download it today, but as soon as I did, I was hooked. I was hooked on the filters — it will make even an all-thumbs photographer like me seem half-decent. But I was more hooked on the feed. Instagram allows you to share pictures with friends and subscribe to their pictures in return. What you get is an ongoing narrative like Facebook or Twitter, but aside from a few captions it is entirely visual. And the fact that Instagram only runs on an iPhone adds a nice creative constraint. You don’t spend a lot of time fretting and editing — you just shoot something and share it.

There’s a huge emotional element that only this kind of image-based dialogue can convey. Why not use it to showcase the people who work to create a better world at your organization (with their permission, of course)? You could create a year-long exhibit of your World-Changers. Or better yet, share pictures and stories of the people you serve. Or, you could share a series of pictures about what the world will look like when you achieve your mission. Or showcase what it would look like without you here to provide your services.

In a time when we have an abundance of tools at our disposal, Instagram captured my imagination more than most. Worth putting to good use for your good cause.