by Jayne Cravens
via coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same web site)

Community Relations, Advocacy & Communications

(marketing, public relations, social media, volunteer engagement, donor cultivation, awareness-building, outreach)
With & Without Technology

This section of my web site offers a range of advice and examples regarding community relations / engagement, both with and without computer and networking technology for nonprofits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), charities, government programs, schools and other mission-based initiatives. That includes all outreach to the general public, as well as specific members of the public, the media and current and potential volunteers, donors and partners.

These resources are meant to guide any public relations, marketing and awareness-building activities, including activities meant to change minds, address misunderstandings and hostilities and crisis communications.

I've written this advice with certain people in mind: those who do not have training in nonprofit outreach but are expected to master these activities as a part of their staff roles, or who don't consider themselves particularly tech-savvy (though I talk a lot about traditional outreach, not just social media), as well as those who manage marketing and public relations staff.

The advice here is based on more than 30 years of experience, research and observation and it's frequently updated based on my current working and volunteering experiences as well as what I research and observe.

This section of my web site is also focused on those who need to think about and explore emerging technologies as part of their outreach efforts, but who need advice written in very human, accessible, low-tech language.

Basics:

• Design Checklist: What to Review Before Publishing a Communications Product
  Nonprofits produce communications products, online and in print, from web pages to social media to brochures. Whether that product is designed by a professional designer or is designed by someone who has never had a design class, there are certain qualities those products MUST have. And while there are a plethora of online resources that provide excellent guidance on accessibility and usability for online products, like web pages and apps, there is a lack of guidance for how to make print products and graphics associated with social media relevant / necessary, complete, informative, legible for a majority of viewers / readers and understandable for a majority of the target audience. This web page provides simple, easy-to-understand guidance for both designers and those who have the final say on something being published.
   
• A New Nonprofit's First Online Steps (& some software tips as well)
  You are leading a brand new nonprofit, charity, NGO or other community group. You have the basics for your program's existence in place: your board of directors, your business plan covering what you want to achieve in the first year and how you will do that, and you've filed, or are filing, your by-laws and other paperwork with the state and the IRS. But now, in addition to all of the other things you need to do next, you also need to take some first steps in terms of being online and what software you need to buy. This web page can help you. <
   
• Basic Press Outreach for Not-for-Profit and Public Sector Organizations
  Like fund raising, press relations is an ongoing cultivation process - the process never ends. Your program strategy for press coverage needs to go beyond trying to make a magical list of press contacts that will always print your announcements or trying to land one big story; you want the press to know that you are THE agency to contact whenever they are doing a story on a subject that relates to your mission. These are basic, low-cost/no cost things you can do to generate ongoing positive attention from the media, and thereby continually build your profile among various communities.
   
• Outreach Via the Internet for Mission-Based Organizations
  It's more than just putting up a Web site or creating a facebook page: successful outreach via the Internet involves ENGAGEMENT: attracting comments and questions, making your own comments and questions, and more. It's pro-active, interactive and ongoing. Online outreach and online service delivery should also accurately reflect your agency's mission and culture.
   
• Daily, Mandatory, Minimal Tasks for Nonprofits on Social Media
  There are a lot of nonprofits using social media just to post to links to press releases or an event announcement. And if that's how your program is using social media, then your program is missing out on MOST. Social media are all about engagement. Social media is NOT one-way communication; you want people and organizations to read your information, but you also want them to respond to it. And they want YOU to respond to what THEY are saying. I broke these must-do tasks down into the most simple, basic list as possible - these tasks take minutes a day, not hours.
   
• For Schools: You Should Be Using Social Media. Here's How.
  There are a lot of web sites saying what the benefits are for schools to use social media. But there's few that give specifics on what a public school should be sharing via Facebook, BlueSky, etc. This advice talks not only about exactly what your school should be posting to social media, but the consequences of not doing so, as well how to handle tough questions and criticism. It also links to legal advice.
   
• For Local City & County Governments: You Should Be Using Social Media. Here's How.
  To not be using social media to deliver information and to engage means you are denying critical information to much of your community and promoting an image of secrecy and lack of transparency. In fact, the lack of use of social media can be seen as your city council or county government trying to hide something, and even lead to rumors that are much harder to dispel than they would have been to prevent. This advice talks not only about exactly what your school should be posting to social media, but also how to handle tough questions and criticism.
   
• Mission-Based Groups Need Use the Web to Show Accountability
  The number and tone of media stories regarding mission-based organizations/civil society and how they spent contributions have done little to help such organizations better serve people in need. Rather, by concentrating on a few bad cases, or by misrepresenting administrative expenses as somehow unnecessary, the media and other commentators have made potential supporters suspicious of all charities, and those these organization's serve pay the ultimate price. There has never been a better time for mission-based organizations to use technology to show their transparency and credibility, and to teach the media and general public about the resources needed to address critical human and environmental needs.
   
• "Required" Volunteer Information on Your Web Site
  There's no legal requirement for what should be on your web site, but if your organization or department involves volunteers, or wants to, there are certain things your organization or department must have on its web site in order for your recruitment and engagement schemes to be effective.
   
• 21 simple things to do while your programs are on hold during COVID-19 quarantines
  With movement limited, public gatherings banned and so many people on home quarantine, many nonprofits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), charities, government programs and other programs focused on helping or enhancing our communities or the environment are on hold. Some offices are closed entirely. But there are LOTS of simple ways to use this “down” time that will benefit your program and make your program even stronger when physical distancing is no longer required. Many of these activities will help in fundraising efforts later. Here are 21 ideas.
   
• Brag About It
  Not only does the public need to know about what your program is doing, but also, senior staff, co-workers and volunteers need to know what YOU, the person in charge of marketing and PR, are doing. Not everyone makes the connection between that sold out event or a successful fundraising campaign or more volunteers with your marketing and public relations activities. A brag board can help people see what you've done to get the word out and also remind them what the public is seeing about your organization or program.
   
• Where Are Your Organization's FAQs?
  Frequently Asked Questions and their answers - have you identified them for your organization, and are they on your web site? It's what visitor's to your site, and people that call your organization, want MOST. It also is a good evaluation of your outreach efforts.
   
• Evaluating Online Activities: Online Action Should Create & Support Offline Action
  Hundreds of "friends" on an online social networking site. Thousands of subscribers to an email newsletter. Dozens of attendees to a virtual event. Those are impressive numbers on the surface, but if they don't translate into more volunteers, repeat volunteers, new donors, repeat donors, more clients, repeat clients, legislation, or public pressure, they are just that: numbers. For online activities to translate into something tangible, online action must create and support offline action. What could this look like? This resource can help organizations plan strategically about online activities so that they lead to something tangible - not just numbers.
   
• Handling Online Criticism
  Online criticism of a nonprofit organization, even by its own supporters, is inevitable. It may be about an organization's new logo or new mission statement, the lack of parking, or that the volunteer orientation being too long. It may be substantial questions regarding an organization's business practices and perceived lack of transparency. How a nonprofit organization handles online criticism speaks volumes about that organization, for weeks, months, and maybe even years to come. There's no way to avoid it, but there are ways to address criticism that can help an organization to be
   
• Marketing Your Organization's Web Site, Blog or Other Online Resource
  To get more online viewers of your online activities, and to get more people to care about those online activities, you need to actively promote them - just posting isn't enough.
   
• Email Newsletters
  Don't abandon your email newsletter.  It's still a great way to reach people about your organization, its accomplishments, its volunteering opportunities and more. It's simple, it's quick, and it can be easily forwarded by readers to new readers.&
   
• Using Real-Time Communications With Volunteers
  Many organizations use real-time communications -- including video conferencing, online phone calls, chats and instant messaging -- to hold online meetings with volunteers, to allow volunteers to interact with staff, clients, or each other, or to involve volunteers in a live, online, real-time event. This resource provides more information on real-time communications with volunteers -- what the various tools are, how agencies are using them to interact with volunteers, and tips to encourage and maintain participation in synchronous communications.
   
• Recruiting Local Volunteers To Increase Diversity Among the Ranks
  Having plenty of volunteers usually isn't enough to say a volunteering program is successful. Another indicator of success is if your volunteers represent a variety of ages, education-levels, economic levels and other demographics, or are a reflection of your local community. Most organizations don't want volunteers to be a homogeneous group; they want to reach a variety of people as volunteers (and donors and other supporters, for that matter). This resource will help you think about how to recruit for diversity, or to reach a specific demographic.
   
• Using Third Party Web Sites & Volunteer Matching Apps to Recruit Volunteers
  There are lots and lots of web sites out there to help your organization recruit volunteers. You don't have to use them all, but you do need to make sure you use them correctly in order to get the maximum response to your posts.
   
• Nonprofit Organizations and Online Social Networking (OSN): Advice and Commentary
  This resource offers a realistic set of possibilities and considerations in using social media - Facebook, BlueSky, the flavor of the day, etc.
   

Leveraging Online Video:

• Videos Your Nonprofit, NGO, Charity or Other Mission-based Organization Should Have Online.
  Videos are a great way to represent your program's work, to show you make a difference, to promote a message or action that relates to your mission, etc. What should the content of your videos be? How long should they be? What platform should you use? Do you have to go to film school? This page provides details on what subjects you should consider for online videos, what should be long, what should be short, what platforms you should use, what tools you need (you probably already have them!) and how volunteers can help.
   
• Making a short video for your nonprofit with just the tech you have.
  Most nonprofits, no matter their size, no matter their focus, need at least one short video that succinctly explains their programs and their impact, or a video that shows how the organization engages volunteers. They may also need a video that helps onboard program participants or explains safety measures. Your small nonprofit with just a handful of staff - maybe just a few employees, maybe just one employee, maybe all volunteers (unpaid staff) - may think it cannot make such a video, because it can't afford a professional videographer. In fact, you can, and with just the tech assets you have. This resource takes you step-by-step in how to identify the hardware and software you have right now, via your smart phones and laptops and operating systems, and how you can leverage that very basic technology, as well as the photos you may already have on hand, to create videos you need, from videos of clients explaining the impact of your programs to short videos for Facebook and Instagram reels, Tik Tok, and whatever else shows up as the fun new social media. Note: this is the first tech-focused resources I've created on my web site in YEARS. It's nice to get back to the subject that inspired this web site back in 1996.
   
• Getting More Viewers for Your Program's Online Videos
  Just uploading a video isn't enough to attract an audience. This page on my site offers specific steps that will get more views for your organization's videos on YouTube. Note that many of these tasks would be great for an online volunteer to undertake, with guidance from an appropriate staff member.
   
• Using Video to Support Online Volunteers/Remote Volunteers
  Video is a great way to further support volunteers, and your computer probably already has all of the tools you need to make a video, or to engage in a live video conversation with others. Video isn't something to use only with online volunteers or remote volunteers (those providing onsite service at a different location than yours). It's also a tool you can use with new and current volunteers. In addition to an organization producing videos for volunteers, it can also work the other way around: volunteers can produce videos for organizations. This resource provides information on your options, and links to my own short video on the subject.
   

Messaging for Fundraising:

• Nonprofits & NGOs: you MUST give people a way to donate online
There's no excuse for not having a way for people to donate to your organization online.
 
• Don't Just Ask for Money!
  Something much more should happen if someone clicks on your web site's "Help Us" link than a message that asks only for money.
   
• Fundraising for Technology
  How to get a foundation or angel donor to buy laptops, tablets, smart phones, special software, etc. for a nonprofit or charity is a frequently asked question on numerous online discussion groups. Can it really be done? This resource offers realistic advice.
   
• Crowdfunding for Nonprofits, NGOs, Schools, Etc.: How To Do It Successfully
  Any organization can put a fundraising appeal on any social media channel, like Facebook, or a platform specifically for crowdfunding, like GoFundMe. Will your organization get lots of money? No, mostly likely, it won't. A lot of consultants - and representatives of crowdfunding platforms - will talk breathlessly about crowdfunding and bring up some of the high-profile, successful campaigns that have been undertaken, implying that any nonprofit, non-governmental organization (NGO), school or other community initiative can bring in large amounts of money just by posting a request for money on the Internet. I'm here to be the reality check on that.
   
• Basic Fundraising for Small NGOs serving the developing world
  This free document offered via the Coyote Communications web site provides very basic guidelines for small NGOs in the developing world regarding fund-raising, and points to other online resources. By small NGOs, I mean organizations that may have only one paid staff member, or are run entirely by volunteers; and may not have official recognition by the government.
   
• Free Internet Resources for Mission-based Organizations
  This is a list of my absolute favorite web sites with resources for mission-based organizations. These web sites include information on how to start a nonprofit organization and fund raising I regularly visit Web sites that are geared towards community-serving agencies. The resources below are not only the ones that stand out from all of those sites -- I use them frequently myself.
   

• How Mission-Based Organizations REALLY Use Online Technologies
  Every nonprofit, NGO, or other mission-based organization has two primary resources: people and their ideas. Here's real-life examples of what agencies are using the Internet for, and links to other resources offering even more advice and examples. Includes information about online solicitations and fund raising. This is a hype-free zone.
   
• The Difference in Email, Social Media & Online Communities: A Graphic Explanation.
  It can be difficult for people to understand the difference in email, in social media and in online communities, especially since email can be used to create an online community, or social media can be used to create an online community (Facebook Groups, for instance). And they all are people sending messages to people - so what, really, is the difference? This is my attempt to graphically show the difference, but I'll still have to use words to more fully explain what I mean. All three of these avenues for online communication can intersect. But one online avenue of online communication may be a better avenue for a communication goal than another - this resource examines that as well.
   
• Twitter-like platforms for Nonprofits, Government Agencies, Other "Mission-Based" Organizations.
  If you want to leverage BlueSky to entice new donors, recruit new volunteers, help current volunteers feel like they are valued by your organization, reach new clients, change people's feelings or behavior about the cause that your mission centers around and helps a variety of people understand the value your organization brings, this resource is for you - even though it was created regarding Twitter (which I will not use professionally while the current owner is in control - until ownership and its direction changes drastically away from fascism and white supremacy and sexism, it's no-go). This is way beyond the previous resource, Daily, Mandatory, Minimal Tasks for Nonprofits on Facebook & Twitter.
   
• Blog topics for mission-based organizations
  The word "blog" is short for "web log", and means keeping a journal or diary online. Blogging is NOT a new concept -- people have been doing it long before it had a snazzy media label. The appeal of blogging for an online audience is that it's more personal and less formal than other information on a web site. Readers who want to connect with an organization on a more personal level, or who are more intensely interested in an organization than the perhaps general public as a whole, love blogs. Blogs can come from your Executive Director, other staff members, volunteers, and even those you serve. Content options are many, and this list reviews some of your options.
   
• The Nonprofit & NGO Guide to Using Reddit
  As of July 2019, Reddit ranked as the No. 5 most visited website in the USA and No. 13 in the world. Reddit is a community of communities, and its communities are called subreddits. A subreddit can have a focus on a geographic area, a book, a celebrity, a particular time in history, a specific hobby - anything. Statistics suggest that 74% of Reddit users are male. Users tend to be significantly younger than other online communities like Facebook with less than 1% of users being 65 or over. If you want to reach a younger demographic regarding your volunteering opportunities, your awareness messages, your data that shows your value to the community and more, you need to build posts to Reddit into your marketing strategy, no matter what your nonprofit's size or focus. This resource tells you how to do it.
   
• Your initiative should exploit UN days
  International days, weeks, years and decades, as designated by the United Nations General Assembly, offer excellent outreach opportunities for nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, charities, government initiatives and other agencies focused on improving and enriching communities and individuals, as well as protecting the environment.
   
• Preventing Folklore, Rumors (or Rumours), Urban Myths & Organized Misinformation Campaigns From Interfering with Development & Aid/Relief Efforts & Government Initiatives
  Folklore, rumors and urban myths / legends often interfere with development aid activities and government initiatives, including public health programs - even bringing such to a grinding halt. They create ongoing misunderstandings and mistrust, prevent people from seeking help, encourage people to engage in unhealthy and even dangerous practices, and have even lead to mobs of people attacking someone or others because of something they heard from a friend of a friend of a friend. With social media, as well as simple text messaging among cell phones, spreading misinformation is easier than ever. Since 2004, I have been gathering and sharing both examples of this phenomena, and recommendations on preventing folklore, rumors and urban myths from interfering with development and aid/relief efforts and government initiatives. I've updated this information with new information per the organized misinformation campaigns targeting Ukraine and the elections in the USA. Now, with fake news sites set up specifically to mislead people, as well as crowdsourced efforts by professional online provocateurs and automated troll bots pumping out thousands of comments, countering misinformation efforts has to be a priority for aid and development organizations, as well as government agencies.
   
• Resources regarding online harassment, defamation & libel
  If you are a manager of social media, if you use online tools at all as a part of your work, this is a must read. And if your organization employs or engages a social media manager, as a paid worker or as a volunteer, this is also a must read (and a prompt for you to check on on that person's work - they may be being harassed and be reluctant to tell you).
   
• Social media use by humanitarian agencies: a literature review.
  This is a list of research and policy guidelines regarding use of social media by a variety of humanitarian agencies and disaster-response agencies. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Using the references in these papers will lead to even more resources. Also included are resources regarding the ethics of taking in humanitarian and development situations, and the appropriateness of using such photos, with an eye to protecting people's rights and dignity. It's hoped that this can help nonprofits, NGOs, humanitarian agencies and others to develop appropriate, ethical social media use policies and procedures.
   
• Could your organization be deceived by GOTCHA media?
  You may think no one would launch a negative campaign against your beloved organization that protects wildlife or works to educate children from low-income communities or helps women fleeing abusive relationships or encourages people to spay and neuter their pets or helps people grow their own food or brings the joy of live theater to your town. You may think: Our organization is completely non-threatening to anyone. We’re a-political. We’re politically benign. No one would want to see our organization go away. We benefit everyone! The truth is that every cause can become politicized, and every organization can become a political target. Here are tips to try to prevent it and how to respond to it if it happens.
   
• How we communication online: creating intimacy (not in a creepy way)
  (1) online communications can be just as intense or personal as offline, face-to-face communications, and that’s both a blessing and curse, (2) you need to think about your online activities in different personas, just as you do offline, and (3) you DO have a lot of control your online interactions, how people perceive you online, and how you react to online perceptions.
   
• For Nonprofits Considering Their Own Podcasts: If It's Worth Doing and Content Considerations if you do
  I present my first podcast about... podcasts (transcript included). Specifically, I talk about how podcasts can be used by nonprofits, and just how easy it is to do.
   
• Building Staff Capacities to Communicate and to Present
  Marketing and public relations is never just one person's responsibility at an organization, regardless of everyone's job titles; everyone at an organization will interact with other staff, partner organizations, potential supporters and the general public at some point. Therefore, everyone needs to be able to talk or to write clearly about his or her own work and that of the organization overall. This new resource describes various activities I undertook to improve the communication capacities of Afghan government staff. This resource links to various slide presentations and materials used for this endeavor in Afghanistan that can be adapted by others in different countries and situations. Included is a workshop on helping women in strict religious cultures to cultivate their presentation and public speaking skills, a workshop and tip sheet to help staff write better reports, and a slide presentation to help staff take photos in the field that will serve a variety of communications and reporting purposes.
   
• Propaganda for good
  Propaganda is communications not just to create awareness, but to persuade, to change minds, and to create advocates. It’s communications for persuasion. These are communications activities undertaken by governments, media, corporations, nonprofits, public health advocates, politicians, religious leaders/associations, terrorist groups, and on and on, and they aren’t automatically bad activities: such messaging has inspired people to wear seat belts even before there were laws requiring such, to not drink and then drive, to engage in activities for sex that prevent HIV, to read to their children, to spay and neuter their pets, to a lessening of intolerance among different groups, and on and on. And anyone who works in communications should be familiar with it.
   
• Handling a social media faux pax
  A case study in how a nonprofit handled an inappropriate tweet sent out on its account.
   
• Online Leadership / Influencing Online:
  For staff at mission-based organizations (nonprofits, NGOs, government agencies, etc.) & those that otherwise try to represent such causes
  Leadership online, in this context, is not how to lead a team on a project but, rather, how a person can build and demonstrate leadership and expertise online, and become an influencer regarding a particular topic related to nonprofits, NGOs, charities, community issues, etc. How do you cultivate a profile online that builds your credibility and reputation in a particular field or regarding a particular subject matter? How do people from the third sector influence online? What are the qualities an online leader exhibits?
   
• Tips for staying in contact with remote staff in developing countries / conflict zones
  Many factors stand in the way of trying to stay in contact with field staff at projects in rural or conflicted areas in developing countries. I review all of the various challenges faced by people in a main office in getting data from field staff working in humanitarian / development / aid initiatives, and how to address those challenges.
   
• Recommendations for UN & UNDP in Ukraine to use Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and Other Social Media to Promote Reconciliation, Social Inclusion, & Peace-Building in Ukraine
  (PDF). This is a draft document I submitted to UNDP Ukraine just before I left Kyiv in October 2014, having completed my term there as a "Surge" Communications Advisor. This draft document offers considerations and recommendations for social media messaging that promotes reconciliation, social inclusion, and peace-building in Ukraine. It provides ideas for messaging related to promoting tolerance, respect and reconciliation in the country, and messaging to counter bigotry, prejudice, inequality, misperceptions and misconceptions about a particular group of people or different people among Ukrainians as a whole.
  
  
• Lessons for online outreach when you are trying to reach nonprofits, NGOs & charities
  Marketing to mission-based groups when you have no budget!
  
  
• Launching & Maintaining a Successful Online Community for a Neighborhood, Town, City or County
  There are lots of resources for how to start and maintain an online community, but they are focused on online communities for customers of a company, or people all working in a particular career field (knowledge communities), or people all engaged in a similar activity, or people all suffering from the same condition (support communities). But the resources for helping people launch and maintain a successful online community for people living or working in neighborhood, town, city or county, a community that's meant to help neighbors get to know each other and to build offline community are hard to find. This resource is meant to help with those that are moderating online communities to build a sense of community offline focus on people living or working in particular neighborhoods or towns, parents of students at a particular school or all of the residents of a building or compound. These online communities are meant to promote civility, respect and thoughtfulness among members offline, and this resource is meant to help moderators and facilitators reach those goals.
   
  
• Frank description of what it’s like to work in communications in the UN
  Also includes a list of why any staff, no matter how expert, can stumble regarding communications and consulting, per the pressures from donors and senior management.
  
  
• Advice for Taking Photos in the Developing World
  While working in Kabul, Afghanistan, I developed a MS Powerpoint for staff on taking photos in the field. The communications office at this particular initiative relies heavily on all staff, particular Afghan staff, no matter what their job titles, to take photos whenever possible at events and workshops and during project site visits. This is because many staff are prohibited from traveling to certain parts of Afghanistan; international staff are sometimes prohibited from leaving Kabul altogether. This presentation/training touches on both the kinds of photos needed and how to take photos in a culturally-sensitive manner. This presentation is focused on a specific program and a specific country (Afghanistan), but maybe by changing the photos and a bit of text, it could work for you?
  
  
• Questions to Ask for a Major Report from the Developing World
  Most people who write reports about their projects in the developing world rely heavily on field staff to provide information. Often, however, field staff aren't expert report writers, and struggle to provide meaningful, timely information in a coherent written form. Many report writers get around this by interviewing field staff about their work, so that needed information is provided through answers to questions. This method can also build the capacity of field staff to provide written information themselves. This is a list of questions I used to interview staff at an initiative in Afghanistan that was focused on rural projects. I based these questions on previous monthly and quarterly reports, suggestions from donors, the initiatives stated objectives, and my own need for information that could lead to stories in which the press might be interested.
  
  
• Why Every Staff Person Should Regularly Read
  At Least One Online Discussion Group
  Each and every employee of your mission-based organization should be a part of at least one online discussion group, and subscribe to at least one email newsletter, relating to their job. Why? It offers a simple, easy way to get employees connected to important news and resources they need in their jobs, It's professional development right from their desktops!
  
  
• Is Your Staff "Walking the Talk" Re: Your Organization's Online Activities?
  Mission-based organizations use the Internet in all sorts of ways to interact with the public, or with staff and volunteers abroad: for instance, online discussion groups, an intranet where staff and volunteers can share profiles about themselves and updates about their work with each other, or an online service that is promoted as central to the organization's mission and identity. But is your staff showing leadership in using these online tools? If your organization is to use technology successfully, all staff must embrace it. Here are tips on how to encourage that.
  
  
• Does Your Organization's Practices Reflect Its Own Mission?
  Being successful in today's business and media climate means an organization must reflect in practice the values it promotes publicly. This latest article offers examples of organizations who aren't "walking their talk" regarding their mission, and the consequences such organization's face in not doing so.
  
  
• Solicitation Overload!!
  If your online publication or portal solicits stories, photos or other information from people outside of your paid staff, or, if you are going to hold an online event and need people from outside your organization as presenters, consider people's shrinking availability, their own on-the-job priorities, and the increasing number of competitive offers they receive before you "invite their contributions" - also known as "please provide us with free content!" Consider what incentives you can offer to make it worth a person's time to contribute to your online publication, portal or workshop. Here are some ideas.
  
  
• Online culture and online community
  It's becoming the norm for mission-based organizations (NGOs, NPOs and others) to use Internet tools to work with volunteers (including board members), staff, donors and others. This section of my site has been greatly updated, providing even more ideas and resources on how to work with others online, in language that's easy to understand for those considering or just getting started in using online technologies with volunteers, donors and other supporters.
  
  
• My tech: the networked technology tools I use
  (and have used over the years)
  Since I started this web site back in 1996, I have shared what technology tools I use - and how I use it. I do that because I have found web sites by various folks so very helpful when I'm learning some new technology or wondering if I should invest in a new tool, and because the Internet started off as a place where people freely offered helpful advice and tools - and it's my way of keeping that spirit alive. I'm no techie, but I do like being a good citizen.
  

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