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Tweets of the Week – July 22, 2011 Comment

4:16 PM on July 22, 2011

I’ve skipped the past couple of weeks while finding a place to live in Chicago, so the pickings are slim (well, that or I didn’t spend a copious amount of time on Twitter this week). In any case, three interesting reads this week that caught my eye. Enjoy.

Tweets of the Week – July 1, 2011 Comment

3:43 PM on July 1, 2011

Despite the fact that I was caught up in my dissertation defense for most of the week, I still wanted to share some tweets. There’s a little bit for everyone, including statistical software nerds (said with all affection, as I am a Stata user), social network wonks, and of course interesting stories for the nonprofit folks. Some of these are must reads…I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Tweets of the Week – June 24, 2011 Comment

11:45 AM on June 24, 2011

I’ve seen others share their “Tweets of the Week” elsewhere and I’ve always wanted to follow suit with my own collection. I figured it might be a good way to wrap up all the tweets that have been interesting and useful to me during that given week and to share them, in hopes that they will be equally interesting and useful to you.

Nonprofit Management? There’s an app for that. Comment

10:18 PM on June 23, 2011

Earlier today, the Chronicle of Philanthropy gave a brief review of three new nonprofit apps for iOS (Apple iPhone and iPad) and Android operating systems. One of these apps (and the only one of the three profiled on both platforms) is the Nonprofit Manager’s FAQ from Jossey-Bass/Wiley. Designed to assist nonprofit managers as a quick reference, the app lists a variety of questions on various topics such as mission and strategy, leadership, and human resources. Questions such as, How is strategic thinking different from strategic planning? then follow, with answers that are taken from Jossey-Bass/Wiley titles, which you can also read more about.

Admittedly–and as much of a technophile I proclaim myself to be–I have wondered about what real utility certain apps offer. Apps that allow you to donate or to “volunteer” by doing certain things on your smartphone (e.g. PocketPhilanthropist) have often come under the “slacktivism” label. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but I can also understand where the criticism comes from. I feel, however, that the Nonprofit Manager’s FAQ is a good venture into the world of web 3.0, and that it offers something practical that other apps don’t in terms of some quick learning. I view this app, in particular, as a potential teaching tool in terms of leading discussions stemming from the FAQ, and may very well incorporate it into some of my class discussions. As it is a new development, the app has its limitations (but don’t they all?) and probably has some room for improvement in terms of subject areas and comprehensiveness of issues, but this is a good first step.

There are others apps out there such as the VolunteerMatch iOS app that seem very useful in terms of information. Other apps I might put under this category are the Nonprofit Quarterly app which links to the publication’s online stories, and the ONE Campaign (also profiled in today’s CoP story). As a disclaimer, though, I must admit that my use of all these apps, save FAQ, is very limited, so don’t take my word for it. Check them out yourselves, and I’m sure you’ll see the potential I’m talking about.

What are your thoughts? How can apps better serve the nonprofit sector? Who or what organization would you like to see develop an app?

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