In This Edition:

• Test Response To Web As If It’s Mail
  
  
• Being The “Accidential” Techie
  
  
• It’s Time To Get "Remote” About Technology

Test Response To Web As If It’s Mail

If you test everything from envelope color to live stamps on your direct mail, why wouldn’t you take the same care with your Web site?

More and more prospective donors visit Web sites to help make donation decisions, and you shouldn’t treat your Web site like a second-rate channel, according to Nick Allen, CEO, and Dawn Stoner, senior account executive, both from Donordigital in Berkeley, Calif., and Milo Sybrant, online fundraising manager for Amnesty International USA. They shared some results of Amnesty International USA multivariate Web site testing at the NTEN’s 2009 Nonprofit Technology Conference.

To read the complete article click here...

Being The “Accidential” Techie

Are you go-to person when the email system fails and the one person who can actually understand cloud computing? Welcome to the world of “accidental nonprofit techies,” according to Johanna Bates, technology and strategy director at Community Partners in Amherst, Mass.

Nonprofits are notorious for not investing in technology and sometimes the person who knows the most about computers gets stuck with the techie label. It’s time to embrace your status to become a career nonprofit techie, explained Bates at the NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference.

Here are some of her tips:

• Claim your status. Don’t say you are there by accident -- especially if you like what you are doing. Take on the professional techie role with pride.
• Build career development. Communicate to your supervisors what you know and what you still need to learn. Explain that technology changes by the second and set some time aside to keep up with that evolution.
• Ditch geek speak. Not everyone knows technology terminology. Try to talk in terms that everyone can understand and you will avoid the glassy-eyed stares.
• Teach your co-workers. You can’t be everywhere all the time. Teach willing co-workers some technology basics they can handle on their own and you won’t be called every five minutes to turn on a computer.
• Leave a log. Document what you are doing so if you leave, the next techie will not have to start at square one.
• By association. Peers and mentors can help you build upon your skill, online and offline. Follow their Twitter accounts, read blogs and think about joining professional networks. Don’t overlook local techies and even peers in the for-profit world.
• Keep up contacts. Maintain your presence in your online social networks to build on face-to-face relationships.

It’s Time To Get "Remote” About Technology

If the only remote access you know about allows you to turn on the television for the latest “Top Chef” episode, it’s time to get some updates, according to Grant Howe, vice president of research and development at Sage, based in Irvine, Calif.

Remote access means that you can operate the functionality of an application without having to be in a specific location, explained Howe at the NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference.

Here’s some information:

• Application types. There are several ways you can develop remote access to applications. There are client-to-database applications that are installed on a user’s desktop and connect directly to the database or some that connect to a server via a network. There are also Web-based browsers that connect via the Internet to a Web server. But you should look into the security and compliance of each to find your best match.
• General best security practices. Security is important because you don’t want to be liable for any system hacking. Make sure you have a firewall, anti-virus software, intrusion detection and prevention. Think about deploying vulnerability testing that can weed out soft points to reinforce. 
• IT skills needed. To use remote access, someone in house or a partner should have some information technology skills. Have someone on hand that understands security principles, network design, operating system management and the application hosting technology.
• Find a hosting partner. Pick out a reputable vendor that fits your needs. Look at criteria like how long they have been in business, proper accreditation and customer support reputation. Watch out for vendors that just want to sell you a solution without taking your particular needs into account.

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