Blogs

Let's try something new. We're in the midst of researching two separate articles, one about Online Auction software, and one on ways to manage content that make sense for simple sites (so for instance, looking at the pros and cons of WYSIWYG tools, website-in-a-box tools, blog tools for building whole websites, and actual simple CMSs).

Are you a consultant or nonprofit staffer who's thought through the software options for either of these two areas? I'd love to talk to you about your experiences. Anyone who participates (the commitment is only about an hour - a bit of time to talk with me, and then a bit of time to review a draft of the article) will be credited in the article as a contributor, with a link to your site. Both these articles will be published on both Idealware and TechSoup, so should give you some nice exposure.

If you're willing to contribute, drop me a line at laura@idealware.org

Please note that I really don't want to hear from you if you distribute software in either of these areas. Emailing me is not going to effect whether your product appears - that's not how these articles work. Please see our How Can I Get My Software Included post for info on how it does work. Emailing me product information, or, particularly, telling me that you can impartially weigh the options anyway, is only going to irritate me.

It’s a constituent management extravaganza! This month, our new articles offer two different lenses on the issues of constituent tracking. First up, with have the first of a two part series from the ever insightful Paul Hagen: In Search of CRM Part 1: Understanding Constituents and Processes. This article summarizes how you can get a good handle on the constituents and processes you’ll need to support with a Constituent Relationship Management system. In the second part, coming next month, he’ll talk about how to use this information to look for a CRM technology solution that will work for you.

We’ve also got a great constituent tracking article for small organizations: Tales of River Databases: Tracking Constituents in Small and Mid-Sized Organizations. This was a fun article to write. Working with the River Network, who generously funded the article, we spoke to a series of organizations that work for the protection and conservation of US lakes and rivers about their constituent database situation and needs, and wrote up a summary of the best practices and a few case studies that speak to the needs of these smaller organizations.

Well, wouldn't you know it: pretty much as soon as we publish a Few Good Tools article about web analytics packages, Google launches their complete interface redesign of Google Analytics. A Google staffer offers a comprehensive overview of the redesign on his blog.

Not that it changes much about what I would have said about Analytics. I'd just be even more glowing. I have to admit that the old Analytics was pretty and shiny and seemed like it *ought* to be telling you a lot of stuff, but I always found it hard to drill down to exactly what I was hoping to see. I've just started to play around with the new Analytics, but it feels amazingly more intuitive. In fact, it feels like it has much more information than it used to.... though perhaps it's just easier to access that information.

The interface design was led by Jeffrey Venn, one of the founding fathers of website interface design. You can tell. The interface is a fantastic example of giving people a high level view (with substance but not overwhelming) and allowing them to drill down where needed. You can customize your view if you want, but you don't have to customize to get something pretty useful. It really shows the difference between useful and the merely nifty.

And how's this for intuitive: I had tried to setup conversion goals in the old Analytics, to measure eNews signup and donations. I didn't have a lot of time to play around with them, and I never got them to show me anything at all. But magically, with this new release, they've just started working by themselves. So that's a huge plus for the new Analytics: a number of people have mentioned trouble with that feature, but now it appears to be within the reach of mere mortals.

PolicyLink and BCT Partners have a released a great new report: Bridging the Innovation Divide: An Agenda for Disseminating Technology Innovations within the Nonprofit Sector

The report hasn't received a lot of attention in the NPTech realm, but it should: it's a must-read for anyone provide technology support to nonprofits. The authors present a well-articulated argument and framework for helping small organizations access the innovations available through technology. There's also twelve interesting case studies, showing how programs in Neighborhood Information Systems, E-Advocacy, Internet-based Microenterprise Support, and Community Technology Access have made real differences in how nonprofits achieve their mission.

Go read it. Tell your friends.

Those who have been watching our homepage with eagle eyes (come on, I know it's pretty exciting) likely noticed that we have a new sponsor. We're thrilled to welcome Beaconfire Consulting as a 2007 Idealware sponsor. Beaconfire helps nonprofits with the evaluation, design and implementation of websites and other internet technology. They've long been a friend of Idealware, contributing to articles and lending advice. Jeff Herron, one of the founders and VPs of Beaconfire has been on the Idealware board since the beginning.

Are you interested in sponsoring Idealware? Take a look at our Sponsorship Opportunities packet. Note that we're only able to accept sponsorships from organizations that do not sell or distribute software.