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Usability is one of my favorite subjects, because it’s so often ignored yet it’s so utterly necessary to the success of any online project. If someone doesn’t understand how to use your website, what use is it? Your web projects have got to be easy, easy, easy for visitors to use. You should be thinking […]

I like to think I'm fluent in English, being born and raised in America and all. But sometimes I feel like I'm learning a new language: technospeak. Every industry is rich with its own jargon, but because so many people use the Internet, the technology industry's jargon frustratingly works its way into common speak (remember

I spend so much of my time on social networks that it’s hard for me to remember that not all nonprofits use them. But you should! Social networks, like those below, are an ideal way to create community, distribute information and learn from others. Plus, these are all free services, and free marketing is a

In the giving spirit of the season, our Friendly Web Tools blog is going to close out the year with a wealth of tips for you. From now until 2009 (we’re taking a break on the 25th and 26th), we’re going to give you our top five every day, from design tips to gadgets. Today,

Here’s a secret: I don’t always feel as friendly, knowledgeable and responsive as I sound when it comes to tech support e-mails. I just have a little tool that helps me out: Microsoft Office 2007 Quick Parts. It’s a small tool that’s part of Outlook 2007 that saves phrases or images that you might frequently

With some mighty big funders losing money because of the bad economy and the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, this is a good time for nonprofits embrace grassroots fundraising. This, after all, is how the president-to-be was able to raise such an enormous sum: lots of people making moderate donations. If you’re not raising funds online,

You’ve heard me harp on about how religious and secular nonprofits need to get with the program and start using technology to build community. A post I came across on the Jewish Common Sense blog by Rabbi Randall J. Konigsburg proves I’m not the only one talking about it. Konisburg’s call-to-action pleads, “if we Rabbis

Last week I gave a presentation on how to do fast and easy podcasts, and several people were curious about different methods of capturing voice. If you have a computer with a microphone, recording is easy, but it’s a little hard to walk around with even a laptop making recordings. A digital recorder is the

[This week, the blog is looking at the way technology is used by President-elect Barack Obama. It’s a good learning experience, no matter who you voted for. Check out these other presidential posts.] [[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_large”,”fid”:”711″,”attributes”:{“class”:”media-image”,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”style”:””,”width”:”500″,”height”:”476″,”alt”:”20081104_Chicago_IL_ElectionNight1258″}}]] [Image: Flickr user Barack Obama] One of the things I’m frequently telling our clients to do online is to create a

Yesterday, I celebrated the White House’s return to technology through Barack Obama’s multitude of gadgets. Today, I want to talk a little about the role technology is about to take in policy. It matters to charitable organizations, because the new administration’s proposed technology policy recognizes the power of a connected population. It opens up information