Finance... Mission-related investing

Some foundations are exploring the concept of mission-related investing, sometimes known as socially responsible investing.The Minnesota Council on Foundations, through its Partnership on Corporate Responsibility, suggests that mission-related investing could include:

• Portfolio screening: A foundation could screen portfolios to include best-in-class corporations or to avoid corporations with poor records on social issues, environmental issues or other issues of interest to the foundation.
• Proxy voting: Shareholder activity could include voting proxies on a company’s proxy statement or developing a set of proxy voting guidelines covering issues of concern to the foundation. These activities night also include engaging corporations in dialogues on issues of concern as well as filing and co-filing shareholder resolutions.
• Early investment: Mission-related venture capital uses the foundation’s assets for early-stage investment in companies that are seeking solutions to the problems that the foundation is seeking to solve through its grantmaking.
• Community investing: Community investing assists underserved communities in meeting their development needs. The Council acknowledges that there is disagreement in the foundation field about the use of mission-related investing. Some argue that the board’s primary fiduciary responsibility is to ensure the maximum return on investment assets. Others believe there is a responsibility to consider whether investment decisions will further charitable purposes, or at least not run counter to them.

Management... Being entrepreneurial and nonprofit at the same time

Many nonprofit organizations have benefited from adopting an entrepreneurial approach to their mission. Such an approach can utilize new ideas as a way of bringing in fresh air and increasing funding.

In a selection titled "Entrepreneurial Nonprofit Institutions: The Many Roads to Rome" that appears in Wise Decision-Making in Uncertain Times, published by the Foundation Center, Reynold Levy of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City writes that there are certain criteria that must be in place for a nonprofit to develop and sustain an entrepreneurial character.

• Any institution that aspires to be entrepreneurial must maintain a financially sound base of operations. This means balanced or surplus budgets and diversification of revenue sources.
• The nonprofit must be driven by its mission and focused on its accomplishments. A well-articulated and understood mission helps to define programmatic choice and guide the allocation of scarce resources.
• There must be a certain brand of leadership. The top of the organization must exhibit an upbeat, can-do attitude. Leaders must see opportunities, not problems. They demonstrate a sense of humor, a sense of perspective and a resilience that enables them to face setbacks without seeming defeated.
• The organization must be externally focused. It must be shaped to better serve customers or suppliers or partners. Doing so means that executives within institutions begin to see themselves as others see them.

10 mistakes to avoid with email newsletters

Newsletters have become the primary tool for nonprofits to keep donors informed about how their contributions are being spent and why the checks should keep coming.

In MarketingSherpa's report on Top 10 Email Newsletter Mistakes, publisher Anne Holland makes the case that newsletters must remain kept fresh to be effective. "Your official newsletter has to be taken up, shaken upside down, tested, and then revamped every year or so," she wrote.

She also advises being careful. "I believe newsletter revamps are a lot like (Web) site revamps, where enormous changes ... can be dangerous," she wrote, especially in the short term. To minimize the disruptions, she ticks off several common mistakes to avoid, including:

• Don't assume you have permission to put someone on the mailing list.
• Don't write a "one size fits all" newsletter; readers may delete it quickly. Canvas readers to learn their interests, then tailor a newsletter accordingly.
• Don't send a plain acknowledgement email for a subscription. Dress it up in the text or with graphics or both.
• Don't set a publishing schedule arbitrarily. Research when readers will most likely read it.
• Don't write an institutional newsletter. Personalize it where possible without getting too cute.
• Don't make it one way. Include ways for readers to reply.
• Don't write too long. Include graphics or links to audio and video.
• Don't assume your email will get through filters.
• Don't use a typeface too small to read.
• Don't rely solely on email. Paper, for example, still has a place.

Gates Foundation CEO Patty Stonesifer Stepping Down

Patty Stonesifer, Chief Executive Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, today announced that she will be transitioning from her role as CEO by January 1, 2009. Stonesifer has led the work of the foundation since its inception in 1997.

“When Bill and I set out to help ensure libraries in the U.S. offer free access to computers and the Internet, we turned to our friend Patty, whose management ability and effective leadership made her perfect for the job,” said Melinda Gates, co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "More than a decade later, as we reflect on the progress and depend on the foundation team she built to continue and expand this work, we know enlisting Patty was one of the best decisions we have ever made.”

During the past 11 years, Patty Stonesifer has built a strong, stable organization committed to reducing inequity in the world. The work of the foundation and its partners to date has led to millions of lives saved globally through immunizations and other health advances and more young people graduating high school ready for success in places like New York City.

“Patty would be outstanding in any job but her talents have been particularly well suited to foundation management,” said Warren Buffett, foundation trustee. “Both head and heart go into decisions made in this activity – and Patty has an abundance of both.”

Under Stonesifer’s leadership, the foundation is organized into three program groups, each led by a president: Global Health, Global Development, and the U.S. Programs, and to date, has committed to more than $16 billion in grants aimed to ensure all people have a chance to live productive lives. The Seattle-based foundation has a $38.7 billion endowment and more than 500 employees. Stonesifer’s tenure has been marked by growth and a steadfast commitment to learning, improving, and delivering results...

Read Complete Article Here...

That's Hot! Foundation Getting Most of Paris' Inheritance

Paris Hilton might someday actually have to get a job. Well, probably not.

The woman who made being famous for being famous a fulltime occupation likely won't be seeing as many zeros in her inheritance. Her grandfather, Barron Hilton, plans to donate 97 percent of his net worth ($2.3 billion) to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

Paris, 26, will have to make due with her share of the remaining 3 percent, a paltry $69 million, to split amoung Hilton's eight children and numerous grandchildren.

The 80-year-old Barron Hilton, chairman of the foundation, plans to donate $1.2 billion of the proceeds from the $900-million sale of Hilton Hotels Corporation and $300 million in stock of Harrah's Entertainment into a charitable remainder unitrust. It would be one of the largest charitable contributions made in 2007 and boost the foundation's totaly value to $4.5 billion.

The foundation expects to increase staff from 19 to 100 once the bequest goes into effect, according to Fortune magazine, so who knows, Paris might yet get a job.

- Mark Hrywna

NPT's New Editorial Section - with new posts from Don't Tell the Donor and More!

Starting February 1, NPTimes.com will have its own web exclusive editorial, articles not found anywhere else. Updated every two weeks, you can find more information in the print edition of The NonProfit Times, which contains a new NPT Online Table of Contents.

Be sure to view this week’s hot stories, including one from Don’t Tell the Donor, the hottest blogger in the nonprofit industry. Click here to view now.

Branding ... Reshaping a recognizable name without changing it

When drawing up a new logo and graphics package, leaders at the United Negro College Fund had to wrestle with a touchy subject: its name.

Although mainstream in 1944, when the Fairfax, Va.-organization was founded, the term "negro" had gone out of favor by the 1970s, said President & CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax. In approaching what he termed the "sensitive issue" of the name, he said, "We didn't want to lose our heritage, but we didn't want it to be a barrier to attracting the attention and engagement of a new generation."

The solution, unveiled on Jan. 17, was to place just the acronym next to a restyled torch and above the signature tagline, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."

Going forward, the organization will use UNCF as a first reference in all its public materials. However, added Lomax, "We are, as far as I know, always going to be the United Negro College Fund" when it comes to the legal name.

The new logo caps a four-year organizational review that began when surveys identified an age problem: the World War II and baby boomer generations understood the UNCF's mission, but the iPod generation was hazier about it. "That was somewhat troubling," Lomax said.
That led to a revamping of the communications strategy two years ago, including freshening up the "Evening with the Stars" annual fundraiser. Last year, the UNCF turned to graphics, recasting the previously black-and-white torch in light blue, yellow and burnt orange, as well as changing the typeface.

The fund not only underwrites scholarships -- amounting to about $80 million for 8,000 students -- but also sends money to 39 historically black colleges and universities and runs education advocacy arms.

Database... Protecting your data and managing risk

Got data backup?

Several high-profile stories have hit the news media in the past few months about losses of data, sometimes because of the inadvertent theft of equipment holding sensitive information.

In addition to those well-publicized cases, there are other facts: a hard drive crashes every 15 seconds; 2,000 laptops are lost or stolen daily; one in five computers suffers a fatal hard-drive crash during its lifetime. This would be bad enough, but 40 percent of small- to medium-sized businesses don't back up their data at all.

Experts in the field of data protection and security recommend the following:

• Risk management is number one. No matter how much insurance you have, you will never totally cover your loss. Educate employees about phishing and have a reasonable backup plan.
• Evaluate your current backup plan. Consider the newer backup technologies such as virtualization, which allows you to run multiple servers on one computer, for example.
• Develop and implement a system. Don't just leave it; designate somebody with the absolute responsibility of implementing the risk-management system.
• Anticipate your likely loss. Recognize that trouble can come from different places. Also, realize that security breaches can occur no matter the level of your firewalls.
• Have the appropriate insurance that deals with what's likely to happen. Also consider your cyber exposure as a separate and unique exposure.
• Try to get your host to indemnify you. It doesn't hurt to ask your software provider if it will provide coverage.

8 Steps to raising money on eBay

Use of the eBay online selling system, which is very popular with individuals, is proving to be a real help for nonprofit organizations. Utilizing a name and vehicle with a huge recognition factor can be a great help in fundraising.

In their book Fundraising on eBay, Greg Holden and Jill Finlayson offer suggestions on what must be done up-front by organizations that might have experience with online dealing but are new to eBay.

Their suggestions:

• Register with eBay and MissionFish. This includes both setting up accounts and setting selling preferences, as well as signing up for PayPal or other online payment solutions.
• Obtain inventory/donations. This involves both soliciting and collecting donations from individuals and companies.
• Create event branding. This can be as simple as naming your event and creating your personal page on eBay or as advanced as having graphic artists and web designers create a logo and selling templates.
• Photograph items. Most items sold on eBay will need at least one photograph.
• List items for sale. It means filling out the Sell Your Item form for one or two items are possibly using software to expedite the listing process.
• Market auctions. Publicize the event and be willing to leverage online marketing opportunities.
• Manage auctions. If your descriptions are complete and clear, there will be less need to answer questions, but you must answer emailed questions.
• Complete sales. Collecting the money is not enough. Pack and ship items.

Finance ... Acting quickly when fraud is suspected

The consequences of employee fraud at a nonprofit are so many and so potentially devastating that organizations must be prepared to act quickly and decisively when employee fraud is suspected.

Wrongdoing by a nonprofit employee will very often have implications for the entire organization, from casting a taint on the nonprofit or its mission to legal and financial responsibility in the case of monetary loss. The consequences can be huge.

At a recent national conference, attendees learned from Gerard Zack, founder of the Nonprofit Resource Center and president of Zack Accounting and Consulting, that there are certain initial steps that must be taken when someone in an organization suspects fraud.

The critical first step is risk assessment. The organization must determine what access the suspect has, what other types of fraud schemes the suspect could have perpetrated, given his/her level of responsibility and access, what the likelihood is of multiple perpetrators (collusion), how long it could have been going on and what technical complexities could have been involved.

After that, the organization must:

• Document all allegations,
• Obtain and document all pertinent information, documents and records,
• Identify all bank accounts involved and consider closing or freezing them,
• Determine who needs to be interviewed,
• Perform background checks if considered necessary,
• Develop details of an investigation plan.

PowerPoint slides are not enough if you're lazy

Do you want to wow donors at your next presentation? Do you want to show the donor whales that you're up on the latest with all the technological bells and whistles?

If you do, just remember, less is more, and more is more.

That means less text on your PowerPoint slides, and more attention by to the audience.

In a book titled "Guide to PowerPoint," expert Dave Paradi offered the results of polls he has taken among people who have been in the audience for slide presentations. His findings show that people do not like a presentation in which the speaker leaves all the work to the slide show and none to him or herself. Remember, an audience does not see all the work a speaker has put into a PowerPoint presentation. It only sees the results.

Among the points to remember with a talk featuring a presentation such as PowerPoint:

• People do not like too much text (that is, too many words) on each slide.
• Speakers should not read off a slide. People do not like being told words they can read for themselves.
• Visuals should be used to make a point and help hold a conversation with the audience. Think of visuals as material to be commented on.
• People want bullets points rather than large groupings of words.
• People want text that is big enough to see from the back of the room.

4 keys to successful Web social marketing

Social networking and Web 2.0 are the latest buzzwords for nonprofits on the technology front. YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Technorati, what does it all mean, and why should nonprofits bother with all of this stuff anyway?
What's it got to do with mission?

As few has 10 years ago, the Web was a new channel. Today, the Web has become a platform, said Jo Sullivan, senior vice president of development for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), during a recent nonprofit direct marketing conference. There are media and cultivation opportunities for nonprofits, as well as user-generated content of all kinds, including audio, video and editorial.

"If your Web site is the face of your organization, then the 'www.' can make up the rest of the body parts," Sullivan said.

Sullivan suggested nonprofits be creative and look for alternatives to build 2.0 components into measurable things they are already doing. Other actions she suggests nonprofits take include:

• Build Web 2.0 toolkits for donors to use, such as toolbars and donation links to post on blogs and personal pages.
• Keep an eye on search engines such as Google and Technorati, to see what people are saying about your organization.
• Work toward new ways to measure the audience, such as a Web survey to see how many more members or supporters have you on their blogs, etc., and flag them. Go back in six months to a year and determine the value of that segment.
• Develop and implement a conversion strategy that would drive Web 2.0 traffic to become registered users on your site and then on to donors. Remember to measure it all the time.

Greenpeace International - Eight Countries, Six Languages

If you market a campaign as global, you better show people it's global.
That was the motto brandished by Greenpeace International during the planning stages of the nonprofit's global "The Great Whale Trail" tagging campaign. The accompanying Web site had the same global objective, with the added and very ambitious goal of combining activism with fundraising -online.

"What we're doing, in a sense, is inventing the wheel," said Ryann Miller, fundraising innovation consultant at Toronto-based HJC New Media, which partnered with Greenpeace to develop the online peer-to-peer fundraising aspect of The Great Whale Trail campaign. "This is not direct marketing. This is not direct mail. So, it's a lot harder for us to project what a campaign is going to end up looking like. We're still seeing what the potential is."

The Web site (http://secure.greenpeace.org/visitor/index.php?event_id=main), said Miller, is modifiable by each participating Greenpeace national regional office (NRO), but the main points remain congruent throughout. The custom-built platform includes a sidebar located on the right side of the page, which displays three ranking lists, "Latest Donors," "Global Top Fundraisers," and "Top Fundraisers," each updated automatically. "We built this tool and this campaign so that it would work in each and every country office," said Miller.

Still in the early stages of the project (it was launched at the beginning of November), Greenpeace International New Media Fundraiser Alexandra Merory, based in the Netherlands, said the group is not ready to share how much has been raised. She did speak to the uniqueness of the effort, and to its sometimes-unexpected successes.

"The Great Whale Trail tagging project has been an important project as through the scientific research," said Merory by email. "We approached the issue in a new way, and through the social network fundraising we allowed supporters to engage with the campaign in a different way."

According to Merory, the nonprofit managed to roll out the peer-to-peer fundraising in eight countries with very different markets, and in six languages. The participating countries include places where whaling is a big market, such as Japan and New Zealand, but there were also a few surprises. "Happy" surprises, said HJC's Miller.

"Hungary is a great example of a smaller regional office that is more nimble, and eager to take a chance and a risk," Merory said of the landlocked eastern European nation. Greenpeace's NRO in China also found success with the effort, as evidenced by the reigning "Global Top Fundraiser," Joe Wu of China, whose individual Web page (all in Chinese except for the dollars raised) shows that Wu garnered eight sponsors and raised $1,050 (as of Dec. 13).

Traffic to the group's Google Maps Web page, which uses satellite tracking to show the migration of threatened humpback whales has been impressive, said Merory. (Note: the posting of the whales' location is delayed to ensure whalers cannot locate them) And as a not-so-side note side note, a contest to name one of the whales resulted in "a huge viral explosion," she said, with more than 115,000 votes cast worldwide for the winning name, "Mr. Splashy Pants."

The contest was cited on several Web sites. People created their own "Vote for Mr. Splashy Pants" groups on Facebook; and, the "Mr. Splashy Pants" Web site earned the top spot on the user-generated site Reddit.com.

"This goes back to the psychology of it all," said Miller. "If you tell me that a campaign is global, I want to see that it's global. It fosters a much greater sense of connection and interaction with people around the world, united for this one single cause." - Marla E. Nobles

Netscape Users: Migrate Data Now

You spend years getting used to something and then it's snatched away. Netscape Navigator, the once-popular Web browser now owned by AOL, will not be supported after February 1. At one point during the 1990s, Netscape was used by more than 90 percent of people surfing the Web.

Old versions of the browser will be available for download, but won't be supported. "Organizations are going to want to find an alternative now and start the migration process. It's not terribly difficult, but it can be a little tricky, and it will take time," said Holly Ross, executive director of NTEN, a nonprofit technology organization.

According to AOL, the number of users has slipped to less than one percent because of competition from Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), which is used by an estimated 80 percent of Web surfers.

AOL bought Netscape Navigator in 1998 from Netscape Communications Corporation but reportedly recently had multiple staff defections to Mozilla Foundation. It was developed by Marc Andressen, co-author of Mosaic, the first popular Web browser, which he wrote in 1992 while a student at the University of Illinois.

"Netscape Navigator is not dead; it's just been taken off life support with no new updates being released. For most of the Internet community, the news that support will cease is like hearing that some ancient rock and roll legend has died," said Tim Mills-Groninger, former associate director of the IT Resource Center in Chicago. "Some people morn by listening to their collection of the artists' music and go to work tired from staying up too late. "Most just say 'huh, I thought he died years ago.'"

For many people, according to Mills-Groninger, the choice of browser has been a fashion statement, with Navigator usage "shifting from a turn of the Century 'I'm a cool early adopter who will not be swayed by monocultural juggernaut that is Microsoft' to 'I'm comfortable and maybe a bit lazy and when I get around to upgrading from my Pentium II Windows ME machine I'll upgrade to Firefox."

The risks of staying with Netscape Navigator a while longer are the increased chance of a machine exploit by malicious code and that something will break -- either in not being able to interact with a Web site as the designer intended or Navigator not installing on a new machine, he said.

Protecting Your Data

Perhaps more worrisome than security breaches, which occur relatively infrequently outside the university arena, consider industry statistics for data loss, compiled by online back-up firms Data Deposit Box and Protect Data:

• A hard drive crashes every 15 seconds;
• 2,000 laptops are stolen or lost daily;
• One in five computers suffer a fatal hard-drive crash during their lifetime; and,
• 40 persent of small- to medium-size businesses don't back up their data at all.

If this is what's occurring in Corporate America, tradition holds that the nonprofit sector is much further behind.

Experts in the area of risk management, including AH&R Insurance's Mel Whiteley, Laura S. Quinn of Idealware, EarthJustice IT director Peter Campbell, and the staff at mindSHIRTTechnologies, managed services provide to Seeds of Peace, provided the following recommendations for protecting data:

• Risk management is number one. No matter how much insurance you have, you will never totally recover your loss. Make sure that employees are using reasonable passwords (mix of numeric and apha, six and seven characters) to access their own computers. Educate employees against phishing, and have a reasonable back-up plan.
• Evaluate your current back-up plan. Consider the newer back-up technologies such as virtualization - which allows you to run multiple servers on one computer, moving to disk rather than magnetic tape; utilizing "snapshots," which makes restoring data quicker and easier; and synchronizing one disk to another disk 24/7 using continuous data protection.
• Develop and implement a system. Don't just leave it to the wind; designate somebody with the absolute resposibilty of implementing the risk management system.
• Anticipate your likely loss. Recognize that trouble can come from different places. Also, recognize security breaches can occur no matter the level of your firewalls.
• Have the appropriate insurance that deals with what's likely and probable to happen. Also, consider your media exposure - basically, your cyber exposure - as a seperate and unique exposure.
• Try to get your host to undemnify you. It doesn't hurt to ask your software provider if they will provide coverage.

-Marla E. Nobles

DON’T BE LEFT BEHIND BY TECHNO TERMS

As nonprofit leaders navigate the ever-changing world of high technology, they find themselves encountering terms that can be arcane or confusing.

At a recent national conference on nonprofit technology, several words and terms were explained for the benefit of those unfamiliar with them.

Among the words:

• RSS. A format for storing online information in a way that makes that information readable on different kinds of software.
• Aggregation. Gathering information from multiple Web sites, typically via RSS.
• Blog. Originally short for “weblog,” a Web page that contains entries in reverse chronological order. An easy way for people to maintain a constantly updated Web presence.
• Blogroll. A list of recommended sites that appears in the sidebar of a blog.
• Mashup. A Web service or software tool that combines two or more tools to create a whole new service.
• Moblogging. Short for “mobile blogging,” refers to posting blog updates from remote or mobile equipment, such as a cell phone or camera phone.
• Newsreader. A device that gathers the news from multiple blogs or news sites via RSS, allowing readers to access all their news from a single Web site or program.
• RSS feeds. A constantly updated version of the site’s latest content, in a form that be read by a newsreader or aggregator.

Fundraising ... 10 ideas for making the ask

Ten is such a nice, round number. It's everywhere: The 10 Commandments. David Letterman's nightly Top 10 lists. How many fingers? Toes? And how high does volume go? That's right, 10.

In her book, "The Ask: How to Ask Anyone for Any Amount for any Purpose," Laura Fredricks presents "The 10 Guiding Principles For Any Ask."
Using the guiding principles as a "road map" for all your asks, she wrote, will make you "ready, focused, and energized to ask for gifts in your own winning style."

The 10 Guiding Principles For Any Ask:

• The more personal and sincere you are with the people you are cultivating, the quicker you will be able to make the ask.
• Every prospect must be treated separately and distinctly.
• Anyone asking for a gift must first make his or her own gift.
• Ask for a specific amount for a specific purpose.
• Consistent givers can and will make larger gifts.
• Always use we instead of I in any ask because that connotes that the ask is being done with all the strength and backing of the organization.
• Any organization's planned giving program must be coordinated with all other fundraising programs.
• Every campaign prospect must be asked for as specific amount, with guidelines on how to fund the gift and with a proposed time frame.
• At the initial ask, stay committed to the ask amount.
• The ask without the follow-through will result in no gift.

Donation Idea Had Very Little Spice For Taco Bell

Jacob Ellsbury's stolen base in Game 2 of this past World Series will go down as a minor footnote in the annals of baseball history. For Boston Red Sox fans, the stolen base ended up meaning little in the context of a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies.

For America it meant a free taco at Taco Bell as part of a "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion. Three guys in New England, however, tried to give that meaningless stolen base a little more meaning.

Mike Esordi, Ed Northby and Jeremy Milner work together at Care New England, a Providence, R.I.-based health system. They were at lunch having burritos - at Taco Bell no less - when the discussion turned to the previous night's Sox game. One conversation led to another and www.donateyourtaco.com was born.

The online petition asked people to forgo their free taco, which retails for less than $1, and instead ask Taco Bell to donate the equivalent to the American Red Cross for relief efforts for the San Diego wildfires.

The petition doubled from 2,000 yo 4,000, on the morning of Oct. 3o, said Escordi, and reached more than 9,200 before the 5 p.m. deadline while the web page had 15,000 unique visitors that day, representing all 50 states. Escordi, who used to live in Southern California, said Taco Bell basically turned them down, but they're working on Plan B. He's open to suggestions.

Ellsbury walked and stole second base in the bottom of the fourth inning. Julio Lugo grounded out to end the inning, stranding Ellsbury at second base and leaving the score tied 1-1.

-Mark Hrywna

Just a Dancin' Fool...

According to talk-show powerhouse Oprah Winfrey, all it took was a guy, a stage, a spotlight...and some killer dance moves.

The result: "Evolution of Dance," the little video that could... garner 60 million views on YouTube, that is, and notoriety as the most viewed video of all time on the user-generated site.

Just as Judson Laipply did with his shimmies and shakes through decades of popular dance moves --- including such flat-footed staples as the "running man" and the "roger rabbit" --- so can you. Here are some simple tips compliled by Collactive, which assists nonprofits, like Campaign for America's Future, with Web 2.0 technologies:

• Create a relevant, informative video
• Keep video short - preferably less than two minutes
• Select a catchy title and thumbnail shot, which is uaually the exact middle, or "center frame," of your video
• Choose a relevant niche category to got on "Most Viewed Today" list
• Target the "Most Viewed Today" lists, rather than "Top Rated," "Most Discussed," or "Top Favorites"
• Ask constituents to view and promote your video

-Marla E. Nobles

Web site layout becoming commonplace

As the whole idea of technology-related nonprofit operation becomes commonplace, more thought is given to making the best use of what is available.

Nonprofit executives attending a recent national nonprofit conference learned that many organizations are finding a degree of success by employing certain strategies for the layout and presentation of their Web sites. They are shared by many of the organizations whose sites were rated in the Top 10 by either Forbes or The NonProfit Times.

Among the common characteristics:

• Nine out of 10 positioned their logo in the upper left-hand corner. It is the expected location. Further, logo placement should be consistent and link back to the homepage.
• Seven out of 10 use mastheads at the top of their homepage. This separates the core components to a site (Who, What, Where, Why).
• 80 percent positioned their search in the upper right-hand corner.
• 60 percent of the sites used a three-column grid format.
• 70 percent of the sites used a sidebar for simple navigation.
• 33 percent of the sites utilized Macromedia Flash.
• 30 percent of the sites incorporated streaming video.
• 40 percent of the sites used dropdown menus.
• 10 percent of the sites used pop-ups.
• 50 percent of the sites had a graph image that made eye contact with the viewer.
• Almost all built their text from html rather than a graphic.
• The best performers used multiple areas on the page for “Donate” or “Sponsor.”