Computers |

TSDigs: Before You Hit Record Webinar Recap - pThe first installment of the a href="http://tsdigs.org"TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge/a webinar series covered everything you need to consider a href="http://youtu.be/Ves6hsyNdOc"before you hit record/a. /p pThe hour-long webinar was led by a href="http://twitter.com/drapetomaniac"Rich Vaacute;zquez/a, co-founder and board president of a href="http://www.lightscamerahelp.com/"Lights. Camera. Help./a Vaacute;zquez, who has a background in screenwriting, guided the audience through some of the basic concepts of developing stories for production. The discussion concluded with some examples of effective nonprofit video and suggestions for storytelling resources./p h2strongWhat Drives a Great Nonprofit Story?/strong/h2 pThe basic elements of a story are style, setting, theme, plot, and character. The style covers what sort of tone is used to tell the story. The setting not only locates the action but also can drive much of your filmrsquo;s tone. The theme is the broad idea or message that your moving is trying to convey. Plot is the vehicle that moves the story ndash; the action. The character, an integral element to the plot, can be a person, object, or even the setting./p pOne important question that drives storytelling is why do we tell stories? Understanding the intent of your digital story informs all aspects of how that story is developed. /p pKey considerations include understanding who your audience is and where you want to take the audience when the story concludes. Make certain the story you are telling and how you are telling it appeals to your intended audience. /p pQuestions, to ask include:/p ul liDoes the story build on existing relationships or is it meant to cultivate new ones? /li liWhat is the call to action?/li liAre you recruiting volunteers or donors? /li liIs the story meant to appeal to those that might benefit from your organizationrsquo;s services?/li /ul h2strongHave a Stated Mission for Your Story/strong/h2 pLike your organization, Vaacute;zquez suggests that your digital story have a stated goal or mission statement. Having a stated mission for your digital story can serve as central organizing element. /p pPlanning a digital story, he proposes, is like event planning. And like event planning, involves elements such as deciding who will be involved, how much time is expected of them, and what tools or other elements are needed. /p h2strongProduction Planning How-Tos/strong/h2 pProduction generally requires much more in terms of time and resources than most people initially think, which is why careful planning is a must. As an example, Vaacute;zquez talked about shooting outdoors, which can be noisy depending on the time of day. Vaacute;zquez also advises that nonprofits obtain permission from subjects or the owners locations used in filming./p pAs for equipment, both for pre- and post-production, Vaacute;zquezrsquo;s first suggestion is for nonprofits to contact their local public access channel, which can be a great source for camera and sound tools. Organizations that want to take a more professional approach to screenwriting and production planning can use a href="http://celtx.com/"Celtx/a, a free online tool. /p pObtaining free music, photos, or video clips is possible through online searches for creative commons licensed content. Other music sources include a href="http://www.jamendo.com/"Jamendo/a, a href="http://ccmixter.org/"ccMixter/a, and a href="http://www.mobygratis.com/"MobyGratis.com/a. Finding photos is even easier if using a href="http://www.CreativeCommons.org"CreativeCommons.org/a, which searches only for creative commons licensed content on Google, Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, and more. /p pThose looking for video content can search through a href="http://www.archive.org/"Archive.org/a or a href="http://www.vimeo.com"Vimeo/a, which features a special search setting for reusable content. And finally, Vaacute;zquez suggests that nonprofits look to the relationships they have and just ask. Sponsors will sometimes contribute for higher filmmaking budget and music, photo, or video creators are more inclined to lend freely to nonprofits.nbsp;/p h2strongLearn More/strong/h2 p To learn more to help you tell your digital storytelling, make sure to mark your calendar for thenbsp;a href="http://tsdigs.org"upcoming TSDigs tweetchats and webinars/a.nbsp;/p pa href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/b/tsblog/archive/2012/02/07/tsdigs-before-you-hit-record-webinar-recap.aspx"(Please visit the site to view this video)/a/pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119989" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/i40cTOdjXos" height="1" width="1"/
TSDigs: Mobile Storytelling Tweet Chat Recap - pTelling your organizationrsquo;s story in video does not always require investing in expensive equipment. Advances in technology now mean that many nonprofits most likely have access to basic video storytelling tools. Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, can be really powerful storytelling tools./p pUnderstanding what mobile applications to use, the limitations of your tools, and what makes a good video were the goals of TechSouprsquo;s recent Mobile Storytelling tweet chat. The tweet chat was held one day before the official launch of the a href="http://tsdigs.org"TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge/a (TSDigs). On hand to share their film expertise during the chat were a href="http://twitter.com/aaronMSB"Aaron Bramley/a and a href="http://www.twitter.com/daveiam"David Neff/a from TSDigs partner, a href="http://www.lightscamerahelp.com/"Lights. Camera. Help./a/p pimg style="margin:5px;border:0pt none;vertical-align:middle;" src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/6471.tweetchat1_2E00_.jpg" width="438" height="53" alt=" " //p pMobile devices seem to be everywhere and are easily used to take photos and record videos. Your mobile devicersquo;s native photo and video applications are a good place to get started but applications, or apps, can sometimes do a better job or improve on your product. For instance a href="http://instagr.am/"Instagram/a and its many photo filters can make photo stills used in video much more compelling. /p pa href="http://soundcloud.com/"SoundCloud/a offers recording tools not found natively on most mobile devices that make it easier to create narration for video. Of course, apps also help share video content on YouTube, Vimeo, and Ustream ndash; all of which have apps./p pimg style="vertical-align:middle;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/0576.tweetchat3_2E00_.jpg" alt=" " //p h2strongMobile Video Is Great, But Has Limitations/strong/h2 pHowever, for all their relative benefits, mobile devices do present some challenges. Would-be mobile storytellers will quickly find that audio and lighting capabilities on most mobile devices are limited. Before shooting video on a mobile device, composition and distractions should be taken into consideration. /p pIf at all possible it can be worth purchasing an external microphone or handheld LED light. If thatrsquo;s not an option outdoor lighting and a quiet environment were highly encouraged by the tweet chatrsquo;s participating video experts./p pimg style="vertical-align:middle;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/3302.tweetchat2_2E00_.jpg" alt=" " //p h2strongCompelling Stories Matter Most/strong/h2 pIdeally an effective nonprofit video can tell a compelling story in a relatively short amount of time. Although 60-90 seconds is considered ideal, a longer video can be effective if it can keep the viewer engaged. /p pAnother alternative for longer stories is to break them into installments, similar to a href="http://www.storyofstuff.org/"The Story of Stuff/a, with embedded links to videos in the series. No matter how long a story is the focus of a video must be clear and interesting./p h2strongUse Mobile Storytelling to Let Volunteers Share/strong/h2 pOrganizations should not overlook how powerful it can be to have their story told by its supporters and volunteers. Mobile devices are great for capturing honest, in-the-moment testimonials from supporters and volunteers. /p pThe ubiquity and relative ease of use of mobile devices also creates another opportunity to engage supporters and volunteers as videographers. Organizational supporters and volunteers can help by taking photos and videos at events, sharing video online, and experimenting with mobile apps./p pimg style="vertical-align:middle;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/7610.tweetchat4.jpg" alt=" " //p pThe hour-long tweet chat covered a lot of useful advice for creating mobile video. However, the digital storytelling conversation is only beginning with more tweet chats and webinars scheduled for the month of February. Those interested in learning how to use video to tell their organizationrsquo;s story is invited to learn about a href="http://tsdigs.org"TSDigs here/a.nbsp;nbsp;/pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119964" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/C38KhdKuTIc" height="1" width="1"/
Upcoming Webinar on February 16: Digital Storytelling - You Have Your Footage, Now What? - pIn conjunction with the third annual a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/controlpanel/p/tsdigs-2012.aspx" title="Digital Storytelling Challenge"TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge/a, we are offering three free webinars to ensure you know the nuts and bolts of all the stages of production mdash; and get your questions answered by the experts./p pThe a href="https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/422165233"last installment/a of this three-part webinar series on strongThursday, February 16, at 11:00 a.m. Pacific/strong time will a href="https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/422165233" title="Register now"help you turn your footage into a story well-told/a. You will learn the basics of video editing from software recommendations to common stumbling blocks to getting the most out of your equipment. The last portion of the webinar will be dedicated to distributing your story to your audience. You#39;ll come away understanding search engine optimization for video and how to best use your organization#39;s YouTube account. a href="https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/422165233" title="Register now"Register now/a!/p pspan style="background-color:#ffffff;font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica;font-size:12px;vertical-align:baseline;"nbsp;/span/p pThe third webinar of the series will provide you with great tips for shooting your video. You#39;ll learn:/p ul /ul ul liRecommendations for editing software/li liThe basics of creating a more professional video/li liHow to upload, tag, and describe your video in order to get it seen/li /ul ul /ul pspan style="background-color:#ffffff;font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica;font-size:12px;vertical-align:baseline;"img src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/7183.images.jpg" alt="Aaron Bramley" style="float:right;border:0px none;" //span/p pAaron Bramley is the co-founder and director of communications and education for a href="http://www.lightscamerahelp.com/" title="Lights. Camera. Help."Lights. Camera. Help./a In this role, he#39;s responsible for conceptualizing the organizationrsquo;s vision and working to see it through. He focuses on communication, collaboration, nonprofits, video,nbsp;social media, and the bleeding edge technology behind these things. /p pHe learns, he teaches, he shares, and he works to make the world, or at least a small part of it, a better place.nbsp; /p pFind Aaron on Twitter at a href="https://twitter.com/#!/AaronMSB" title="@aaronMSB"@aaronMSB/a./pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119972" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/tixyT5QGkgE" height="1" width="1"/
Is 2012 The Year of the Ultrabook? - pa href="http://www.techsoup.org/greentech"img style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/7230.greentech_5F00_transparent.gif" alt=" " //aThe media is constantly going on and on about iPads and other tablet computers, but computer makers this year seem to be betting on a different type of computing device ndash; the a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrabook"ultrabook/a./p pMost ordinary people I talk to about ultrabooks havenrsquo;t a clue what they are, but the fact remains that over a href="http://liliputing.com/2011/11/as-many-as-50-ultrabooks-coming-in-2012.html"50 different ones debuted at the Consumer Electronic Show/a recently. /p pJust after the show, Sean Nicholson from Microsoft sent me a roster of new a href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2012/jan12/01-26GreenerPCs.mspx"green Windows PCs/a, including the a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/18/toshiba-portege-z835-review/"Toshiba Porteacute;geacute; Z835/a ultrabook that has a mercury free-LED display and halogen-free printed wiring board. Laptops and now ultrabooks are much more energy efficient than desktop computers, and so in that aspect, can be regarded as green IT devices./p h2strongWhat Is an Ultrabook?/strong/h2 pimg src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6412444645_14b8574434.jpg" border="0" alt=" " //p pIf you donrsquo;t already know, Irsquo;m afraid yoursquo;re in for a disappointment. Ultrabooks are light, thin, laptop computers with long battery life and that cost under $1,000. The first and foremost of them was and probably still is the a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Air"Apple MacBook Air/a. The Macbook Air has been around since early 2008, and frankly struggled in its first years with poor sales and technical problems. /p pA redesigned, lower cost version came out in 2010 and it took off. Ultrabooks are now being made by nearly all major computer makers. According to a href="http://www.zdnet.com/search?q=james+kendrick"James Kendrick/a, Intel is predicting that 40 percent of all laptops sold will be ultrabooks by the end of 2012./p pIntel in fact is all over this new development. The company trademarked the term, ultrabook, and defines it as is a laptop that:/p ul liIs less than 20mm (0.8 inches) thick/li liHas no optical (CD or DVD) drive/li liUses a flash drive for storage instead of a conventional mechanical hard drive/li liUses a Core i5, i7 processor (including Apple Macbook Airs)/li liWeighs less than 1.4 kg (3.1 lbs.)/li liHas 5 to 8 hours of battery life/li liIs priced at around $1,000 or below/li /ul pMost of them now seem to have small 13 inch screens, but are expected to be designed with larger screens in the near future. Comparing them with tablets is interesting. Theyrsquo;re nearly as convenient and portable, but have a fully functional keyboard and are expected to come down in price pretty quickly. /p pTo quote a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/2012-year-of-the-ultrabook/5583?tag=nl.e539"James Kendrick/a again, ldquo;while netbooks were essentially a flash in the pan, quickly getting big sales numbers and fading just as fast, ultrabooks are here to stay. Netbooks went the underpowered route to acheive cost effectiveness, and many owners quickly tired of the corner-cutting. Ultrabooks are full laptops, with good performance packed in a highly portable form. In spite of the fancy new marketing term, they are the natural evolution of the bigger laptops, and theyrsquo;ll be around for a good while, post-PC era or not.rdquo;/p pWhat do you think of ultrabooks for nonprofits and libraries? Are you buying them or planning them into your tech budget? /p pemPhoto: a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenworker/6412444645/sizes/m/in/photostream/"kenworker/a/em/pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119963" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/xOWkJbG2Ujo" height="1" width="1"/
Software to Grow Your Nonprofit - pAs a nonprofit ourselves, we at TechSoup know what it feels like when your organization starts to grow. On one hand, yoursquo;re able to help more people and expand the reach of your mission. On the other hand, you suddenly have several next steps to take, all at the same time, to make sure your growth is sustainable. /p pDo you need software to manage volunteers and human resources? Does your organization have a website? How can you grow and track your fundraising efforts? Making wise and affordable technology investments can help in all of this./p pFollowing on the heels of our a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/b/tsblog/archive/2011/11/23/software-to-build-and-grow-your-nonprofit.aspx"Software to Build and Grow Your Nonprofit/a blog, wersquo;ve put together this second toolkit based on what fellow nonprofits told us their biggest concerns were./p h2bCoordinate Your Staff and Office/b/h2 pimg style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/other_partners/abs_staff_manager.jpg" alt=" " /Human resources software can save you time, reduce paperwork, and help you get rid of paper HR files once and for all. Storing and retrieving your HR information is made simple with Staff Manager (admin fee: $30) from a href="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/pages/category.aspx?category=Atlas"Atlas Business Solutions/a. Customizable tabbed pages show general employee information, emergency contacts, wages, performance evaluations, notes, and associated documents mdash; all of which can be customized by administrators./p pimg style="float:right;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/other_partners/abs_sched_anywhere.jpg" width="153" height="29" alt=" " /While some organizations may be at the point of hiring, others are managing their growth through the smart use of volunteers. a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-41382amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="ScheduleAnywherersquo;s/a cloud-based time-tracking program (admin fees: $35 ndash; $55) allows an unlimited number of custom volunteer schedules, based on locations, positions, shifts, or special events. Schedules can include specific staffing requirements and built-in notifications that too few or too many volunteers are scheduled at those times.bnbsp;/b/p h2bBuild Your Website/b/h2 pGeorge Weiner ofnbsp;a href="http://www.dosomething.org/" title="DoSomething.org"DoSomething.org/anbsp;encourages nonprofits to think of their websites as relationship-building vehicles, not fundraising ones: quot;Most non-Vegas marriages donrsquo;t happen on the first date, it starts with a reasonable ask and comes after a relationship has been developed. Having a donate button is fine, but donating as your primary or only call-to-action is not a reasonable ask to the vast majority of your traffic.quot;/p pYour nonprofitrsquo;s website is the first interaction that many people in the community, including constituents, donors, and grant makers, have with your organization. You can build a professional website for your nonprofit a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/techplan/webinars/page12866.cfm"without breaking the bank/a, but only if you take the time to consider a few key questions. We have a good collection of a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webbuilding/page12959.cfm"articles at TechSoup to help you navigate these waters/a./p pOne thing we hear again and again is how organizations pay someone to design and develop a website for them, and once that site is handed over, the organization doesnrsquo;t have anyone on staff who knows how to use and update it. Donrsquo;t let this happen to you! /p pTechSouprsquo;s Elliot Harmon has great articles on a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webbuilding/page12959.cfm"developing your first website/a and a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webbuilding/page12966.cfm"how websites work/a, full of tips, advice, and in-depth information to help you make the best choices./p pimg style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/microsoft/ms_sharepoint_svr_2010.jpg" alt=" " /Once yoursquo;re educated yourself about what kind of website best fits your organization, you may or may not need some tools to make it happen. Content management programs like a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=LVS-46484amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Windows SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites/a (admin fee: $708) are used for deploying and managing a public-facing website./p pimg style="float:right;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/adobe/adobe_dreamweaver_cs5.jpg" alt=" " /You might also have a staff member or volunteer developing and updating your website for you. In that case, be sure to ask for examples of work theyrsquo;ve done in the past. If their references check, your organization may have need of software such as a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category=amp;id=G-43440"Dreamweaver CS5.5 ESD/a (admin fee: $35), a handyb /bHTML editor for design and publication of your website./p h2bStart Fundraising/b/h2 pDonor management software can help you keep your fundraising efforts in line, ensuring that each of your constituents gets your message in a way encourages their support without unintentionally spamming them. /p pOur a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/search/searchresults.aspx?q=fundraising"community forums/a are a great resource for discussions and recommendations for fundraising tools, and TechSoup has a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=donors-and-fundraising-nonprofits"a number of fundraising solutions/a available for donation. Check out a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/funding/page10942.cfm"our breakdown of donor management tools/a to help make a more informed choice./p pimg style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/other_partners/sage_act_2012.jpg" alt=" " /Designed with the needs of smaller organizations in mind, a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44622amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Sage ACT! Pro 2012/a (admin fee: $35) links donor databases and contact history to calendars, tasks, project summaries, and appointment schedules. ACT! offers built-in word processing, mail merge features, and safeguards to prevent duplicate records./p pWith your website developed and your organization growing, chances are yoursquo;re looking to start accepting online and in-person donations in the form of credit cards. The world of credit cards is complex, and there are a number of ways to accept them as payment mdash; some of which require different types of hardware and software, and relationships with banks. a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/funding/page10327.cfm"In this article/a, we discuss what you need to know./p pimg style="float:right;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/partner_logos/logo_dharma.jpg" alt=" " /Once yoursquo;ve decided on a strategy, your nonprofit can access discounted rates for processing credit and debit card payments and donations in-person or on your website through a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=DharmaMerchantServices"Dharma Merchant Services/a. This offering lets your nonprofit or library access discounted rates, payment terminals, check processing equipment, and card readers for mobile devices. /p pPlus: as a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/b/tsblog/archive/2011/12/09/benefit-corporations-back-to-purpose.aspx"a B-Corp/a, Dharma will return 10 percent of the gross annual processing profits from your merchant account in the form of an annual donation to you. a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/b/tsblog/archive/2012/01/03/new-donate-back-credit-card-processing-program-from-dharma-merchant-services-now-available.aspx"Learn more/a./p h2bCollaborate In and Out of the Office/b/h2 pAudio conferencing and online collaboration solutions are important for staff and volunteers a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/networks/page12202.cfm"spread across the state, country, and world/a. Here in TechSouprsquo;s San Francisco office, we use audio conferencing every day to talk with people working remotely, in the Bay Area, plus staff based in New York or Seattle, and often London or Poland./p p a href="http://www.techsoup.org/greentech/travel/"Check out TechSouprsquo;s GreenTech/a for a great collection of articles, blog posts, and webinars on telecommuting, online collaboration, on conducting online trainings./p pimg style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/other_partners/readytalk_product.jpg" width="121" height="33" alt=" " /Whether yoursquo;re meeting with board members, constituents, or members of other organizations, a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category=amp;id=G-40790"ReadyTalk#39;s audio and web conferencing services/a help simplify collaboration. Beyond conference calls, nonprofits can use ReadyTalk (admin fee: $45) to record audio and video for tutorials and educational webinars hosting up to 25 free attendees at a time. For examples of training webinars held on ReadyTalk, check out the a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webinars/index.cfm"TechSoup Talks/a series./p pimg style="float:right;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://www.techsoup.org/stock/images/logo_citrixonline.gif" alt=" " /If your organization is looking to conduct conference calls, webinars, and training, check out a href="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/pages/category.aspx?category=CitrixOnline"Citrix Onlinersquo;s remote web conferencing and training services/a. These programs make it easier to hold meetings or training sessions by allowing staff or constituents from around the world call in to your conferences and presentations./p pa href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category=amp;id=G-46449"img style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/other_partners/betterworld_product.jpg" alt=" " /BetterWorldrsquo;s audio conferencing service/a offers basic audio conferencing services for an unlimited number of participants within the United States and Canada at a discounted rate of 2.75-cents per minute, per participant ($1.65 per person, per hour). Rates for international callers are based on each participant#39;s location (a href="http://www.techsoup.org/stock/download/betterworld_audio_rates.pdf"see a list of international rates/a). For all calls, only your organization is charged./p h2bA Path to Sustainable Growth/b/h2 pDonrsquo;t forget: a href="http://home.techsoup.org/pages/EligibilityQuiz.aspx"log in and check your eligibility/a to see which of the donations below are available to your organization. All of these donated software tools can be requested at the same time. Keep in mind that every donation program at TechSoup has its own rules and restrictions. Some let you request only one donation, some, like Microsoft, let you request several./p pTechnology can help your organization manage its growth more sustainably, but only if yoursquo;re doing the legwork to make sure those technology decisions are smart and informed. Therersquo;s no one-size fits all technology solution for nonprofits and libraries, and itrsquo;s important to remember that./p pOne book you might find helpful is a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0470285966/tech069-20/"Nonprofit Management 101/a: a good beginnerrsquo;s guide to every facet of running a new nonprofit. This book walks you through topics like fundraising, managing technology, marketing, finances, advocacy, and working with boards./p pAnd remember that yoursquo;re part of a larger community: if you have questions, our community forums are a great place to ask them. And check out our Learning Center for nonprofit-specific articles, webinars and tool kits to help your technology planning needs. We know yoursquo;re working hard: TechSoup is here to help along the way.nbsp;/pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119941" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/nUK1y4IKCMs" height="1" width="1"/
Introducing: TechSoup Registration and Eligibility Tutorials - pAre you interested in receiving TechSoup product donations and discounts, but do not know where to start? We#39;re happy to announce that we now have three short videos designed to help guide you through the TechSoup#39;s processes of registration and determining eligibility./p pThe three videos, available on the a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TechSoupVideo?feature=watch" title="TechSoup YouTube page"TechSoup YouTube page/a:/p ul lia href="http://youtu.be/o-VeAcQRQcQ" title="TechSoup eligibility tutorial"The TechSoup Eligibility Tutorial/a /li lia href="http://youtu.be/ZXDCXkH00uM" title="TechSoup registration process"The TechSoup Registration Process/a /li lia href="http://youtu.be/r5WqT_yLWLk" title="TechSoup Registaration for non-501c3 libraries"TechSoup Registration for Non-501(c)(3) Publicnbsp;Libraries /a/li /ul pIn the a href="http://youtu.be/o-VeAcQRQcQ" title="TechSoup Eligibility Tutorial"TechSoup Eligibility Tutorial/a, you will find out where to go to check eligibility, what the best practices are for checking eligibility, and what you need to know before taking the a href="http://home.techsoup.org/pages/EligibilityQuiz.aspx" title="TechSoup eligibility quiz"TechSoup eligibility quiz/a./p pIn the a href="http://youtu.be/ZXDCXkH00uM" title="TechSoup Registration Process video"TechSoup Registration Process video/a, you will learn how to create an individual member account on TechSoup.org, and how to register an organization./p pFinally, in the a href="http://youtu.be/r5WqT_yLWLk" title="TechSoup Registration for non-501c3 Libraries"TechSoup Registration for Non-501(c)(3) Public Libraries video/a, you will learn about the registration processes in relation to non-501(c)(3) public libraries. To find out more about TechSoup#39;s resources for libraries, visit the a href="http://www.techsoupforlibraries.org/?cg=lnav" title="TechSoup for libraries"TechSoup for Libraries website/a./p pLike what you see? Do you want to see more short, multimedia content? Share your ideas in the comments below or in our TechSoup a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/f/19/p/34036/116944.aspx#116944"community forum thread/a./pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119866" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/xmUgjeThW8M" height="1" width="1"/
2012 Accounting Tools Are Here! - pTechSoup serves nonprofits and libraries of all shapes, sizes, and budgets. Most of our member organizations have budgets under $250,000 a year, but managing finances is essential to all of them, regardless of size. Whether your organization is looking for help paying the bills or tracking grants, we have the financial management tools to get the job done./p pAnd, donrsquo;t forget that in addition to software, we have great learning resources for your nonprofit-specific financial needs:/p ul liAsk questions and get answers in our a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/tags/accounting/default.aspx"Community Forums/a. /li liRead up on a few good accounting packages with this a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/software/page5144.cfm"classic article/a. /li liFind out what other organizations are doing in our a href="http://blog.techsoup.org/node/1146"Accounting Tools Survey/a results./li /ul h2bAccounting Software from Sage and Acclivity/b/h2 pKeep your ledger in check. Both of these programs include basic accounting tools and functions such as bookkeeping, printing checks and invoices, profit and loss analysis, and tracking expenses, payments, and inventory./p pimg src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/other_partners/sage_peachtree_2012.jpg" style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" width="66" height="75" alt=" " /Track finances with a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-42531amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting for Nonprofits 2012/a (admin fee: $45). It is intended for nonprofits with less than 50 employees and offers standard accounting functions like bookkeeping and inventory tracking. In addition, it has tools to develop fundraising letters and manage donor contacts and outreach./p pimg src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/other_partners/sage_sa_prem2012.jpg" style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" width="63" height="80" alt=" " /From paying your bills to long-term expense tracking, a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-47263amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Sage Simply Accounting Premium 2012/a (admin fee: $48) will keep your organizationrsquo;s finances in order. In addition to basic accounting tools, Simply Accounting is fully bilingual (English and Spanish), supports unlimited currencies, and features customizable interfaces for users with different levels of accounting know-how. Includes two user licenses./p pimg src="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/PublishingImages/other_partners/acclivity_accountedge_mac.jpg" style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" width="52" height="90" alt=" " /Manage purchases and payroll with a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=MYOB"AccountEdge 2012 by Acclivity/a (admin fee: $35). Get the basic accounting tools your organization needs, like sales, inventory, and expense tracking, and more than 200 built-in financial management reports. Plus: AccountEdge Pro comes with a a href="http://www.accountedge.com/mobile/"free app/a that lets you enter transaction data from iPads and iPhones and track your budget on the go. AccountEdge is available for a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category=amp;id=G-41639"Mac/a, a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category=amp;id=G-41641"Windows/a, and a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category=amp;id=G-41645"Mac Networks/a./pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119937" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/Gx32ZYSCDF4" height="1" width="1"/
Webinar Recap: Making the Most of Your Microsoft Software Donation - pimg style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/3465.SDP01.gif" alt=" " /On January 26, Inbsp;had the pleasure of facilitatingnbsp;the interesting and informative webinar, a href="http://youtu.be/zW2az0fT4hc" title="Making the Most of Your Microsoft Software Donation"Making the Most of Your Microsoft Software Donation/a. /p pDuring the webinar, we heard from TechSoup#39;s Julie Navejas and Brian Calvert on a variety of Microsoft related topics, including the eligibility rules and Microsoft#39;s a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=MS-OperatingSystemsGG" title="Get Genuine"Get Genuine program/a. We also heard from Microsoft#39;s Gretchen Deo, who discussednbsp;Microsoft#39;s relationship with TechSoup, thenbsp;a href="http://www.techsoup.org/stock/microsoft/volume_licensing.asp" title="Volume Licensing Center"Volume Licensing Service Center/a, and more.nbsp;/p pThis a href="http://youtu.be/zW2az0fT4hc"free webinarnbsp;can now be viewed/a on the TechSoup YouTube page./p pIn addition to discussions regarding the a href="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/pages/category.aspx?category=MicrosoftCategory" title="Microsoft Software Donation Program"Microsoft Software Donation Program/a, we also heard about Microsoft#39;s online resources for nonprofits.nbsp;One of these great resources is the a href="http://www.microsoft.com/nonprofit" title="Microsoft Nonprofit Website"Microsoft Nonprofit Website/a, an all-in-one resource where nonprofits can learn about Microsoft#39;s offerings to their community. /p pInterested in learning about Microsoft#39;s contributions to nonprofits? Take a look at the a href="http://www.microsoft.com/nonprofit" title="Microsoft Local Impact Map"Microsoft Local Impact Map/a./p pWant to learn more about the a href="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/pages/category.aspx?category=MicrosoftCategory" title="Microsoft Software Donation Program"Microsoft Software Donation Program/a? Visit the a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/software/webinars/page13168.cfm?cg=sp" title="Microsoft Short Tutorials"Microsoft Donation Program: Short Tutorials page/a! There you can learn more about eligibility guidelines, Microsoft requests and allotment cycles, Microsoft title groups, and the Microsoft Donation Center./pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119900" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/rH_axs5D3bE" height="1" width="1"/
Upcoming Webinar on February 9: Digital Storytelling - Capturing Your Story on Camera - pIn conjunction with the third annual a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/p/tsdigs-2012.aspx" title="Digital Storytelling Challenge"TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge/a, we are offering three free webinars to ensure you know the nuts and bolts of all the stages of production mdash; and get your questions answered by the experts./p pThe second part of this three-part webinar series on strongThursday, February 9, at 11:00 a.m. Pacific/strong time will focus on a href="https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/179411545" title="rsvp for this webinar"everything you need to know to shoot quality video/a. In addition to getting nonprofit technology recommendations, you will come away understanding the basics of cinematography, lighting, and sound. The objective of this webinar is to get you comfortable behind a camera with your director#39;s hat on. a href="https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/179411545" title="Register now"Register now/a!/p pThe second webinar of the series will provide you with great tips for shooting your video. You#39;ll learn:/p ul liWhat equipment is right for your organization/li liHow to set up a good shot/li liConsiderations for capturing indoor, outdoor, and event footage/li /ul pDavid J. Neff is the co-founder and CEO of a href="http://www.lightscamerahelp.com/" title="Lights. Camera. Help."Lights. Camera. Help./a He would say that he is a author, teacher, speaker, blogger, network weaver, and social media scientist. img src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/7585.David.jpg" alt="David J. Neff" title="David J. Neff" style="margin:4px;float:right;border:0px;" //p pFor more than ten years he has been helping people and nonprofits focus on doing good all across the world. He did this through nine years at the American Cancer Society as the director of web, film, and interactive strategy. While there he started their film and documentary department. David also shot a full-length documentary and owned and operated a film production company in Austin, Texas. /p pFind David on Twitter at a href="https://twitter.com/#!/daveiam" title="@daveiam"@daveiam/a./pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119931" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/G5di8CGaQ7Q" height="1" width="1"/
San Francisco Net2: Craig Newmark Talks About Technology for the Common Good - pemSusan Chavez is a blogger for TechSoup#39;s Online Community team./em/p pa href="http://www.meetup.com/sfnetsquared/"San Francisco NetSquared/a (Net2) kicked off its 2012 Meetup line up with a href="http://www.twitter.com/CraigNewmark"Craig Newmark/a, of a href="http://www.craigslist.org"Craigslist/a and a href="http://craigconnects.org/"craigconnects/a, who talked about using technology for the common good. /p pSpeaking to the packed house at TechSoup#39;s San Francisco headquarters, Newmark, a self-described nerd, recounted his path from Craigslist to his latest endeavor, craigconnects. Newmark also spoke at length about the potential for good created by technology, why it matters and how anyone can contribute./p pimg src="http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/a/d/e/600_85543742.jpeg" border="0" alt=" " //p pThe growth of Craigslist opened up many circles for Newmark, including that of the nonprofit world. While it wouldrsquo;ve been very easy to use his influence and remain in the world of technology, Newmark went in a slightly different direction. The direction he chose, to help support nonprofits and grassroots causes, drew on his strengths in technology. /p pNewmarkrsquo;s first foray into the nonprofit world was the launch of the a href="http://craigslistfoundation.org/"Craigslist Foundation/a, which itself launched the a href="http://craigslistfoundation.org/events-main/"Nonprofit Boot Camp/a, but is organizationally winding down after many years of success in connecting social change organizations and technology. Working in this capacity, as Newmark sees it, is naturally aligned with his role as the creator of and currently works customer service representative of Craigslist./p pimg src="http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/b/2/4/600_85543812.jpeg" border="0" alt=" " //p pCurrently, Newmark has focused his directions on craigconnects. Craigconnects focuses on a href="http://craigconnects.org/areas-of-focus"six core issues/a: military families and veterans, accurate and honest journalistic practices, public diplomacy, open government, consumer protection, and technology for the common good. /p pThe organization has worked on projects such as helping a local Veterans Affairs hospital improve its technological infrastructure to serve veterans more efficiently. Craigsconnect has also supported the Tenderloin Tech Lab, a computer lab that serves low-income and homeless people in San Francisco./p pNewmark believes in harnessing the power of technology to amplify voices not otherwise heard and redistributing access to power equitably. Much like the printing press, technology has the potential to democratize access to learning and speech. Access to the Internet and social media lowers barriers to supporting causes and organizations. /p pJust about anyone can easily support causes according to Newmark. Helping can be as simple as teaching someone how to use a computer, get online or help build a Facebook fan page. By way of example, Newmark shared how he uses Twitter to mostly tweet and retweet in support of causes and organizations he feels strongly about.nbsp;/p pimg src="http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/8/c/c/600_85543212.jpeg" border="0" alt=" " //p pTechnology provides an opportunity to generate grassroots solutions and to judge what solutions are working best. Methods for measuring effectiveness matter because 501(c)(3) status isn#39;t enough to indicate an organization is really fulfilling its mission. And not to let the audience off the hook, Newmark good-naturedly advised to ldquo;be as transparent as you can be without doing something stupid.quot; /p pNewmark closed by sharing his vision, ldquo;that ordinary people working together en masse are going to change the world in this decade.rdquo; That vision, coupled with the energy in the room, made for a great ending to the night and a good outlook for 2012./p pemPhotos: a href="http://www.meetup.com/sfnetsquared/events/43208602/"SF NetSquared Meetup/a /em/pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119749" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/W4o7-wlnCaM" height="1" width="1"/
Upcoming Nonprofits Live: Storytelling and Collaborative Video - pemEvonne Heyning is an Interactive Producer with TechSoup./em/p pOne of the most frequent questions I hear at events from nonprofit professionals in the field is how to coordinate teams to produce compelling media across offices, time zones and countries. /p pOur ability to collaborate effectively in the cloud and create meaningful media together is quickly evolving as more nonprofits expand their borders. /p pWe learn to use mobile production tools, cooperative social sites for group curation and unique filesharing services like a href="http://www.dropbox.com"Dropbox/a, a href="http://www.skype.com"Skype/a along with new tools like Instagram,nbsp;a href="http://www.wevideo.com"WeVideo/a, a href="http://www.stroome.com"Stroome/a and many new apps to edit our captured video and photos for story creation.strong/strong/p pstrongOn February 8, Nonprofits Livenbsp; will explore how to collaborate on video stories across borders and office boundaries. /strongWe#39;ll discuss best practices, platforms, cloud services and filesharing, how to edit together when you#39;re not in the same place, and how to agree on ways to tell your story when you may not be speaking the same language. /p pOur guests will talk about consistency, production quality, distribution tips and ways to work effectively together to achieve the greatest impact with your nonprofit stories./p pThis special digital storytelling episode of Nonprofits Live will include secrets from the pros for nonprofits submitting photo and video stories to the a href="http://www.tsdigs.org"TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge/a in February. Get your story ideas ready and a title="nplive" href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2713978583"RSVP for Nonprofits Live on February 8/a. This is a participatory live video show - come ready with your questions for our experts!/p h2a id="speakers" name="speakers"/astrongGuests for Nonprofits Live: Collaborative Video/strong/h2 p style="padding-left:30px;"span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"img style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/200x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/8836.327113_5F00_300.jpg" width="188" height="188" alt=" " //span/spanstrongWindy Borman - Filmmaker amp; Strategistnbsp;nbsp;/strong br /br /nbsp;Windy brings over a decade of professional experience in film, video, event planning, theater, and the nonprofit sector to a href="http://www.dvaproductions.com/"D.V.A. Productions/a. As an independent filmmaker, Windy has produced and directed promotional videos, films, and documentaries, including ldquo;The Tillamook Burnrdquo; (2003), ldquo;The lsquo;Drsquo; Word: Understanding Dyslexiardquo; (Sundance 2012), and ldquo;The Eyes of Thailandrdquo; (2012). /p p style="padding-left:30px;"She is an experienced Director, Producer, Researcher, Screenwriter and Social Media Marketing Strategist with field and studio experience on large- and small-scale productions in the United States, England, Ghana, Thailand and span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"/span/spanLaos. Windy founded D.V.A. Productions in 2006 to produce dramatic, engaging, life-changing documentaries, films and media in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the world. Windy currently serves on the Advisory Board for Bay Area Women in Film and Media (BAWIFM).br /br /span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"strongimg style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/200x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/8877.1171958_5F00_300.jpg" width="188" height="188" alt=" " //strong/spanstrongDavid Evan Harris - Global Livesnbsp;nbsp; /strongbr /br /strong/strongDavid Evan Harris is Founder and Executive Director of thenbsp;a href="http://globallives.org/"Global Lives Project/anbsp;and Research Director at thenbsp;a href="http://www.iftf.org/user/913/public"Institute for the Future/a. David is a cross-disciplinary mediamaker, working at the intersection of art, activism, and academic inquiry on the politically charged questions surrounding globalization and social justice. /p p style="padding-left:30px;"His forthcoming book,nbsp;a href="http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8132/tde-04072008-152652/"Vocecirc; Vai me Servir/anbsp;(quot;You Will Serve Me,quot; Annablume Publishers, Satilde;o Paulo, 2012) is a comparative ethnographic study of relationships between domestic workers and their employers in Brazil and the US.nbsp;In Brazil, David wrote and directed newscasts fornbsp;a href="http://deharris.blogspot.com/2007/05/video-outdoor-advertising-banned-in-so.html"CurrentTV/a. /p p style="padding-left:30px;"His writings and photographs have been published in print and online with thenbsp;a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7874667.stm"BBC/a,a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/27/world-social-forum-evo-morales"Guardian/a,nbsp;a href="http://deharris.blogspot.com/2007/12/adbusters-article-makes-few-waves.html"Adbusters/a, thenbsp;a href="http://deharris.blogspot.com/2007/10/turbulence-before-take-off-life.html"Sarai Reader/a,nbsp;a href="http://deharris.blogspot.com/2005/10/my-senior-thesis-in-print.html"Glimpse Magazine/a,nbsp;a href="http://deharris.blogspot.com/2008/04/next-american-city-update-on-so-paulo.html"Next American City/a,nbsp;a href="http://deharris.blogspot.com/2006/12/alba.html"Focus on the Global South/a,nbsp;a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/60084"Alternet/a, andnbsp;a href="http://www.grist.org/comments/dispatches/2000/04/10/harris-berkeley_earthweek/index.html"Grist/a.nbsp;He has spoken publicly about his work to audiences at the Smithsonian, UC Berkeley, Stanford, United Nations University, New York University, UC Santa Cruz, the British Museum, Apple, Google, Adobe, and numerous other conferences and public events around the world./p p style="padding-left:30px;"span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"strongimg style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/200x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/8877.Grasty-Headshot_5F00_TechSoup-2012.JPG" alt=" " //strong/spanstrongThomas Grasty - Stroome/strongnbsp;nbsp; /p p style="padding-left:30px;"Driven by a desire to make a game-changing difference in how people consume content, Tom comfortably resides at the junction where media and technology collide. A recognized thought leader in the field of collaborative media, Tom was awarded a Knight 2010 News Challenge grant for a href="http://www.stroome.com/"Stroome/a, a collaborative video editing and publishing platform designed to simplify the production of user generated video content. /p p style="padding-left:30px;"He was recently named an ldquo;Innovator to Watchrdquo; by the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation. A regular contributor to PBS MediaShift Idea Lab, Tom also blogs for the Huffington Post.br /br /span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"strongimg style="float:left;margin:5px;border:0pt none;" src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/200x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/0172.avatar.jpg" alt=" " //strong/spanstrongAaron Bramley - Lights Camera Helpnbsp; /strongbr /br /span style="font-size:x-small;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"strong/strong/spanstrong/strongAaron Bramley is the Co-founder and Director of Communication/Education for a href="http://www.lightscamerahelp.org/"Lights. Camera. Help/a. In this role, he#39;s responsible conceptualizing the organizationrsquo;s vision and working to see it through. /p p style="padding-left:30px;"He focuses on communication, collaboration, nonprofits, video, social media, and the bleeding edge technology behind these things. He learns, he teaches, he shares and he works to make the world, or at least a small part of it, a better place. Follow @aaronMSB at @lightscamerahelp.br /br /a title="rsvp" href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2713978583"RSVP today/a to join this event on February 8 at 11 a.m. Pacific time and participate through Watchitoo with Twitter, Facebook, and social channels. /p p style="padding-left:30px;"Please spread the word about the a href="http://www.tsdigs.org"TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge/a and enter your photo stories or videos in February!/pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119762" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/ylIdKJ2lg5E" height="1" width="1"/
Upcoming Webinar on February 2: Digital Storytelling - Before You Push Record - pIn conjunction with the third annual a title="Digital Storytelling Challenge" href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/p/tsdigs-2012.aspx"TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge/a, we are offering three free webinars to ensure you know the nuts and bolts of all the stages of production mdash; and get your questions answered by the experts./p pThe first part of this three-part webinar series on strongThursday, February 2, at 11:00 a.m. Pacific/strong time will focus on all the a href="https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/688211161"decisions you need to make before you start recording your video/a. You#39;ll learn how to tell your story in a way that touches your audience and moves it to action. This includes understanding the basics of good storytelling, translating that story into a script or production guide, and where to find great auxiliary tools and resources to really make your story shine. a title="Register now" href="https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/688211161"Register now/a!br / br / This webinar will cover what you need to know before you record your video. Topics include:/p ul liThe importance of storytelling/li liCreating a script and production Guide/li liFinding free music, stock video and photography/li /ul p img src="http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h263/lapisak/richprofile-150x150.jpg" style="border:0pt none;float:right;" alt=" " /Rich Vazquez is the co-founder and current Board President of a title="Lights. Camera. Help." href="http://www.lightscamerahelp.com/"Lights. Camera. Help/a. His current causes include promoting open source software, creative commons, and computer security. He also serves on the board for the Austin Time Exchange Network, Single Parent Resource Network and EFF-Austin. /p pRich attended Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, majoring in dramatic writing and serves as webmaster for the Cine Las Americas film festival. Find Rich on Twitter: @drapetomaniac/pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119840" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/a-EBRfJtAF0" height="1" width="1"/
Webinar Recap: App It Up! - pspan style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:small;"img src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-01-03/3718.page_5F00_apps.png" style="float:left;" border="0" height="89" width="83" alt=" " //span/p pOn January 19, I had the pleasure of assisting in our app-inspired webinar, App It Up! You can now a href="http://youtu.be/tGhD7rASPCo"view a recording/a of the webinar to watch at your convenience. /p pThe App It Up! webinar featured two great speakers, Ariel Gilbert-Knight from a href="http://www.techsoup.org/?utm_source=Webinaramp;utm_medium=Emailamp;utm_campaign=App%2BIt%2BUp" title="TechSoup"TechSoup/a, and Shawn Michael of a href="http://www.npowernw.org/" title="NPower"NPower/a. This webinar was inspired by the power and popularity of TechSoup#39;s a href="http://home.techsoup.org/pages/appitup.aspx/?utm_source=Webinaramp;utm_medium=Emailamp;utm_campaign=App%2BIt%2BUp" title="App It Up project"App It Up project/a, which was developed thanks to a grant from a href="http://www.microsoft.com/About/CorporateCitizenship/en-us/" title="Microsoft"Microsoft/a. /p pIf you visit the a href="http://home.techsoup.org/pages/appitup.aspx/?utm_source=Webinaramp;utm_medium=Emailamp;utm_campaign=App%2BIt%2BUp" title="App It Up"App It Up page/a, you#39;ll find all kinds of app resources, including resources and a round up of cool apps./p h2strongSo What Is an App, Anyway? /strong/h2 pAs defined by the project, quot;An #39;app#39; (short for #39;application#39;) is a small piece of software with limited functionality. Apps can be used online (a web app), on mobile devices (a mobile app), or as an add-on to other tools (widgets, plug-ins, templates, and so on).quot;/p pSome great apps mentioned in the webinar are as follows. Most are free, but we urge you to do research into any and all apps included./p h2strongLibrary Apps/strong/h2 ul lia href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.OCLS.android" title="Shake It!"Orange County Library System Shake It! for Android/a/li lia href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nypl-biblion-worlds-fair/id433418206?mt=8" title="NYPL Biblion"NYPL Biblion/a/li lia href="http://www.librarything.com/blogs/thingology/2010/10/library-anywhere-iphone-app/" title="Library Anywhere"Library Anywhere (LibraryThing)/a/li /ul h2strongNonprofit and Other Cause-Related Apps/strong/h2 ul lia href="http://j-resq.digital-office.co.jp/" title="J!ResQ"J!ResQ (response to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan)/a /li lia href="http://www.whitleycountyhumaneshelter.com/" title="Humane Society of Whitley County"Humane Society of Whitley County/anbsp; /li li a href="http://publicartomaha.org/search/by_location" title="Public Art Omaha"Public Art Omaha/a/li /ul pTo check out other and future webinars and online events, check out our a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/p/techevents.aspx" title="Tech Events page"Tech Events page/a! /p pLet us know what you think of these and other apps you#39;ve used. We#39;ll be continuing to feature other apps for nonprofits and libraries in the coming months, so let us know in the comments if you know of ones worth highlighting! /pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119805" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/nplKLoHa2Xo" height="1" width="1"/
What's New With Microsoft? A Quick Guide - pnbsp;Did you know that Microsoft has changed its rules around making donation requests, and that TechSoup is continuing to add tools and resources to help organizations understand the program and manage their Microsoft donations? /p h2bFirst Things First:/b bProgram Rules, Eligibility, and Guidelines/b/h2 pOn July 27, 2011, Microsoft made some updates to their donation program allowing eligible organizations to request even more Microsoft products, and with more flexibility as to when and how often they can place donation requests. /p pHere are the basics: /p ul liYou may request licenses from up to 10 of over 70 available Microsoft title groups./li liYou may request up to 50 licenses per non-server title group./li liYou may request up to 5 server products (either 5 different server products or 5 of a single title)./li liYou may make as many requests as you need within a 2-year cycle./li liThe 2-year donation cycle will start when you place your first Microsoft request after July 27, 2011, and will reset every two years on the anniversary of that request. /li liRequests placed before July 27, 2011, will not count against your new Microsoft software donation allotment. /li /ul h2bThe Microsoft Donation Center/b/h2 pTo make navigating the program even easier, TechSoup also introduced the Microsoft Donation Center, where eligible organizations can easily track their Microsoft requests, see the value of donations received to date, and more.nbsp; /p pCheck it out now! You can access your Microsoft Donation Center by logging in to your individual TechSoup member account, clicking on My Account, and then the Donation Request History/Status link.nbsp;Eligible organizations will see a Microsoft Donation Center link. /p h2bLearn More!/b /h2 pbNot sure if your organization is eligible for the Microsoft Software Donation Program?/b Simply login to your account and take our a href="http://home.techsoup.org/pages/EligibilityQuiz.aspx"Check Program Eligibility Quiz/a to see if yoursquo;re eligible for Microsoft and our 40+ other donation programs.nbsp;/p pIf your organization is not eligible, or you need to request additional Microsoft products for your organization, you can get in touch with a a href="http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/licensing-options/charity-resellers.aspx"Microsoft Charity Reseller/abnbsp;/bfor discounted prices. /p pCheck out our overview of the a href="http://www.techsoup.org/stock/microsoft/default.asp"Microsoft Donation Program/a and for information on the Program rules, eligibility and guidelines visit a href="http://www.techsoup.org/stock/microsoft/guidelines.asp"Microsoft Donation Program mdash; Eligibility and Allotments/a. /p h2bMicrosoft: Now with Video Tutorials!/b/h2 pWe#39;ve also created a fewnbsp;a href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/software/webinars/page13168.cfm"short video tutorials/a to help you quickly and easily gain answers to your questions regarding the Microsoft Donation Program and using the Donation Center. /p ul liMicrosoft Donation Program: Understanding Eligibility/li liMicrosoft Donation Program: Understanding Requests and Allotment Cycles/li liMicrosoft Donation Program: Understanding Title Groups/li liMicrosoft Donation Program: Frequently Asked Questions/li liThe Microsoft Donation Center /li /ul h2bAdditional Microsoft Resources/b /h2 ul lia href="http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/software/page11833.cfm"Your Guide to Microsoft Donations Through TechSoup/abr /Visit this article for a guide on the new Microsoft Donation Program./li lia href="https://cc.readytalk.com/r/m3v6vlfmdme"Microsoft Donation Program: How Does It Work?/abr /Watch our free, recorded webinar, and learn how the updates to the Microsoft Donation Program affect your organization./li lia href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/controlpanel/community/f/"Community Forums/abr /Need assistance with your Microsoft products? Get your questions answered about both a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/controlpanel/community/f/20.aspx"software/a and a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/controlpanel/community/f/23.aspx"hardware/a by our community of experts and fellow nonprofits and libraries./li lia href="https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/909355729"Making the Most of Your Microsoft Software Donationnbsp; /abr /Thursday, January 26, 11 am Pacific time - a href="https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/909355729"bRegister Now/b/abr /Find out more about the broad range of software Microsoft donates to nonprofits and libraries through TechSoup./li /ul pbStill have questions? Don#39;t hesitate to /ba href="http://www.techsoup.org/stock/contact/email.asp?contacttopicid=8amp;contactsubjectid=47"bContact Us/b/ab!/b/pdiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119726" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/1_jA0b7yeWE" height="1" width="1"/
Renewing Your Products and Services - pMany donated and discounted products at TechSoup have services and licenses that are tied to a one-year timeframe. Because of this, we get a lot of phone calls from nonprofits and libraries asking: /p blockquoteDoes my service expire or shut off after one year? Do I need to request another donation from TechSoup? Is this something I need to renew with a software provider directly?/blockquote blockquotebr //blockquote pWorry no more! Below, yoursquo;ll find all of the renewable product donations and services at TechSoup broken up into four categories: those that renew automatically, those renewed through TechSoup, those renewed through TechSoup with special conditions, and those renewed through our donor partners directly./p pAnd if yoursquo;re not sure when you actually received your donated product or service, log in to your TechSoup account, click My Account, and then head to the a href="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/pages/orderhistory.aspx"Donation Request History/Status/a page. /p pIf you have any further questions on what you need to do to renew your product, donrsquo;t hesitate to leave comments on this blog, check out or a href="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/f/"community forums/a, or a href="https://www.techsoup.org/stock/contact/email.asp?contacttopicid=8amp;contactsubjectid=47"contact Client Services/a at TechSoup./p h2bAutomatic Renewals/b/h2 ul lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=HW-46319amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Pitney Bowes PBSmartPostage/a automatically renews each year. It can be canceled at any time./li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-45345amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Sage Payment Processing/a requires a three-year contract between your organization and Sage Payment Solutions, and the contract is automatically renewed for another two years at the end of the initial period unless your organization provides 90 days#39; written notice./li /ul h2bYearly Renewals Through TechSoup/b/h2 pFor each of these programs, at the end of your one-year subscription, yoursquo;ll need to place another donation request through TechSoup. Generally, if you donrsquo;t request another donation the software or service will cease functioning, or in some cases continue to function but discontinue updates.nbsp;/p ul lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-45789amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Caspio Bridge/a/li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-45807amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Cisco IOS Content Filtering Service/a /li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-46502amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Efficient Elements/a/li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=eTapestry"eTapestry/a /li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=FluidSurveys"FluidSurveys/a /li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=Mailshell"MailShell/a Anti-Spam Desktop will continue to run after one year, but spam updates will no longer be provided. Each year thereafter, you can choose to receive an additional year of updates by requesting a new donation from TechSoup./li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=NOZA"NOZA/a /li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=SlideRocket"SlideRocket/a/li liSymantec Norton Desktop Products for Windows (a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category=amp;id=G-44576amp;cg=sp3"Norton AntiVirus/a and a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44584amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Norton Internet Security/a) /li liSymantec Norton Desktop Products for Mac (a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44574amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Norton AntiVirus/a and a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44885amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Norton Internet Security/a) /li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44578amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Symantec Norton 360/a/li liSymantec Enterprise Products (a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44887amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition/a, a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44888amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Protection Suite Small Business Edition/a, a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-45442amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Endpoint Protection/a, and a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-45443amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Mail Security/a) /li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-40611amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Wikispaces/a /li /ul h2bYearly Renewals through TechSoup With Special Conditions/b/h2 ul lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44259amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="DonorPerfect Online/a can be renewed through TechSoup by requesting the product again up to four times, for a total of five years./li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44788amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Citrix Online Products/a (a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44788amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="GoToMeeting/a, a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44786amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="GoToMyPC/a, a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-44790amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="GoToWebinar/a, and a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-46973amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="GoToTraining/a) can be renewed through TechSoup by requesting the product again up to four times, for a total of five years./li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=Flickr"Flickr Pro/a accounts remains assigned to individuals even if they leave the organization. After one year, the pro account reverts to a free account unless it is renewed through TechSoup. Free accounts have limits on use that are not present in pro accounts. If someone leaves your organization and takes their Flickr account with them, your organization can place a request for new accounts through TechSoup./li /ul h2bYearly Renewals through Our Donor Partners/b/h2 ul lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/stock/pages/category.aspx?category=Atlas"Atlas Business Solutions: ScheduleAnywhere/a includes a one-year subscription. After that time, your organization can renew expired subscriptions directly from Atlas Business Solutions at a 50 percent discount from their current retail rates./li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=ClickTime"ClickTime/a donations include one year of service. After one year, you may renew your service through ClickTime at a special nonprofit discount rate of $5 per user, for each month of service. /li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=RedEarth"Policy Patrol Mail Security/a licenses provide product updates for one year, after which updates may be purchased annually from Policy Patrol at a discounted rate./li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Category.aspx?category=VolunteerMatters"VolunteerMatters/a donations consist of a one-year subscription to a starter edition of VolunteerMatters for up to 1,000 volunteers. If your organization wants to continue with your current account, you can upgrade to either VolunteerMatters Standard or Pro at current retail rates. If your organization does not upgrade, its subscription will be canceled and its data removed./li /ul h2bOther Products and Services Requiring Renewal/b/h2 ul lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-46449amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="BetterWorld Audio Conferencing/a is a pay-as-you-go service with no setup fees. Note that if your organization doesnrsquo;t use the service for 12 consecutive months, your account will be discontinued. To reactivate a discontinued account, your organization must request this product and pay the administrative fee again./li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-43710amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Blackbaud Now/a (with MatchFinder) donations come in five-year subscriptions. At the end of your subscription, you can request another donated five-year subscription through TechSoup./li lia href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=LS-40305amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Microsoft TechNet Plus/a includes a two-year subscription. At the end of that period, you can request another two-year donation through TechSoup./li liSAP hosted services like a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-45799amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="StreamWork/a and a href="http://home.techsoup.org/Stock/Pages/Product.aspx?id=G-45797amp;cat=TechSoup%20Global%20Catalogamp;category="Business Objects OnDemand/a are donations of two-year, 10-user licenses. After two years, your organization can request another donation through TechSoup./li /uldiv style="clear:both;"/divimg src="http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=119772" width="1" height="1"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Techsoup_Blog/~4/mTpD1yIZxhQ" height="1" width="1"/

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