With only a few months to go before the new administration takes office, we examine the notion of ‘grass-roots‘ as associated with popular movements or opinions came into the American lexicon at the turn of the twentieth century. The, er, ‘grass roots’ of the term, according to Answers.com came a generation earlier and specific to […]
#NONPROFIT: The 501(c)4 Conundrum & The IRS’s Challenges To Tea Party Groups
The scuttlebutt over the IRS’s double-standards concerning political nonprofits associated with the Tea Party and those associated with other center-right causes is likely well known to our readers. What underlies the conflict has less to do with politics, though, and much more to do with semantics. If the case forces the issue of tax reform […]
#ADVOCACY: Google Does Harm To Privacy & Suffers An Hour’s Income For Infractions
What you think about Google’s (and Facebook’s. And Twitter’s…) efforts to collect personal information of its users probably says quite a bit about what you think about human nature: If you don’t mind a database of your online activities being used by social networks and search engines, then you are likely comfortable with the fact […]
#FUNDRAISING: Crowdfunding Response To Boston Bombing Raises Hope & Caution
One of the wonderful qualities of Americans is the way we respond with our time and our money when a terrible shock or natural disaster hits our fellow countrypeople. The bombings in Boston on the 15th were certainly ‘terrible shocks’ and as homemade and smartphone videos make clear, volunteers and fellow marathon watchers ran in […]
#OPINION: Ken Stern’s Book Offers Tough Love To Nonprofit Economy
Ken Stern has served as CEO of National Public Radio, arguably one of the best-known nonprofits in the country. He supports The American Red Cross, and has served on the boards of a number of charities. So when his book, And Charity for All argues that the nonprofit sector is a huge part of the […]
#FUNDRAISING: Register for Maryland Governor’s Grants Conference
As the calendar year unfolds and the fiscal year 2013-2014 appears over the horizon, so too does registration begin for the Maryland Governor’s Grants Conference. This year’s conference will be held at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus on Thursday, February 21st. The one-day conference − sponsored by such organizations as the National Grant Management […]
#PHILANTHROPY: #Sundance & A3 Foundation Extend Cooperation for Asian-American Artists
Though the Initial Public Offering of Facebook devolved into comic fodder last May, the fact remains that it made many people quite wealthy − especially those who had been working with Zuckerberg’s company from the early days. A number of those who cashed out their stocks and jobs at the social-network giant have since turned toward […]
#COMMUNICATIONS: Postal Service Rates To Rise on 27 January
We have managed to put off the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ for a couple of months, but we can’t avoid the changes in postal rates coming in a couple of weeks. Thanks to our fine business partners at Ecoprint in Silver Spring, Maryland, for the heads-up! The US Postal Service (USPS) has been on hard times […]
#SOCIALMEDIA: Politicians & NonProfits Need Agility With Online Outreach
As the Democratic ‘nominee’ Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech last night in Charlotte, NC, a record number of tweets on politics were sent out − some 52,756 tweets-per-minute (tpm) being posted as he wound up. By contrast, Mitt Romney inspired 14,289 tpm, which was about half as many as reactions to Michelle Obama’s presentation two […]
#FUNDRAISING: Presidential Candidates Ramp Up Mobile Giving
With the (delayed) start of the Republican Convention in Tampa earlier this week, the really officially serious campaign season starts. For the next 10-odd weeks, most American start to focus on the candidates, their platforms, and their messages. There has been much talk about the low level of discourse that has driven the campaign thus […]
#PROAGING: Olympics & Social Media Suggest Shrinking Digital Divide
NBC might have gotten some bad press for giving away results before showing them tape-delayed in the lucrative hours of prime time. These Olympics have both been the ‘first Social Olympics’ and the first to struggle to understand what such instantaneous communication can mean to corporate and sporting interests. And, as it turns out, most […]
#SOCIALMEDIA: IOC Struggles To Corral First “Social Olympics” In London
The Opening Ceremonies went off without a hitch. Security concerns have been allayed thus far. The weather hasn’t been too bad. For Americans, we’ve had a few sub-par performances in the pool and on the gymnastics apparatuses, but so far, so good. Unless the issue is how this so-called “First Social Games” is going. The […]
#CIVICS: Nonprofits Should Watch Their Politics On Their Social Networks
As the now-famous comic writer Andy Borowitz has posted on Twitter: “Only a billion more lies until the election.” Not only is it easy to get swept up in the horse-trading, haranguing and name-calling during an election, it’s what you’re supposed to do. We live and thrive in a government “of the people, by the […]
#TECH: Apple Backs Down on EPEAT. Welcome Back To EPEAT!
No, MKCREATIVEmedia doesn’t wield that kind of influence over 1 Infinity Loop. Or any influence, really. But about two hours ago we posted a summation of Apple’s withdrawal from the very EPEAT environmental standards the corporation helped establish over a decade ago. Our little contribution to the issue was not technological or particularly environmental, but […]
#TECH: Once Developed By Apple, Now Abandoned By Apple: EPEAT Standards
It can be tough to love Apple, Inc. Stock prices over $600? Check. Over $100 billion in cold, hard, cash? You bet. Products loved even by those who don’t even own one? Of course! Profits over $6.5 billion a quarter? No sweat. Charitable organization? Er… Recycle program for its gadgets? Well, up to a point. […]
#SOCIALNETWORKS: OneClimate Is A Social Platform Primed For The Environmental Community
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYomibkvQS8[/youtube]
Of course those who are engaged in the pressing issues of environmental degradation and global warming want to reach out to audiences as wide as possible. The heavy hitters of social networking (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…) can serve that purpose. But did you know that other social networks focus on particular issues and offer opportunities to […]
#FUNDRAISING: Facebook Gives Pages & Apps To Nonprofits (Zuckerberg Gives Cash)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vHp-NCDwSc[/youtube]
Facebook’s power on the social-networks scene need hardly be introduced, and thousands of nonprofits and charities have tapped into that power to expand and support their good work. But has the company offered any of its billions to those nonprofits and charities? Facebook, like Apple, does not have a philanthropic foundation like some other corporations, […]
#CIVICS: Apple’s Billions In Tax Dodges Come Under Scrutiny
Apple Inc. is making it difficult to feel sympathy for Apple Inc. When the blogosphere challenged Apple the business and Steve Jobs the CEO to act like a good corporate citizen by offering some philanthropic goodwill, we took a fairly conciliatory position that Apple’s job is innovative technology and Apple’s innovative technology has been a […]
#SOCIALNETWORKS: Kony 2012 Covered The Night. Did It Jump The Shark?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEKr1mjII-c[/youtube]
The sensation that is/was ‘Kony 2012’ has been a part of the nonprofit social-media landscape for six-plus weeks now. The hundreds of millions who made the original video a viral sensation in March were not all supporters of the message, though, and challenges to the drive launched by the San Diego nonprofit ‘Invisible Children’ continue […]
#ADVOCACY: Kony 2012 Sequel Not Going Viral, Nor Ending Debate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Ue6REkeTA[/youtube]
Last Thursday, Invisible Children released their tepidly anticipated sequel to the stunningly viral video Kony 2012 (over 100 million views). The sequel, “Kony Part II – Beyond Famous,” was almost destined not to make as big a splash in the nonprofit/video/social-media ocean because the impact of the message had already been made, and those millions […]
#SM4NP: Kony 2012 Will Get A Sequel & More Context Today
As any Hollywood mogul will confirm, when your movie is watched by 100 million people, you need to make a sequel. That market is just too big to pass up. And the renown viral video Kony 2012 has been viewed well over 100 million times. Nevertheless, the reasons the San Diego based firm ‘Invisible Children’ will […]
#PROAGING: Republican Budget Realigns Medicare But Ignores Long-Term Care
The macro-economics of aging over the next 40 years do not look great: the first Baby Boomers reached the age of Social-Security eligibility 15 months ago, but the crest of this so-called ‘Silver Tsunami’ will not come until about 2030. It will not recede for another couple of decades. The issue is not the number […]
#SM4NP: ‘Kony 2012’ Still Stirs Engagement, Controversy, And Embarrassment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc”
The controversy surrounding the viral video ‘Kony 2012’ continues even as its
#TECH: Megauploads Shut Down, Highlighting Concerns Of Cloud Computing
The move toward cloud computing has numerous benefits, including a place to back up your organization’s most important files and offering access to such files from any mobile device. Indeed, the growing stability and reliability of cloud-computing technologies has been one of the unsung underpinnings of the success of the iPad/tablet market, for they (thus […]
#Advocacy: ‘This American Life’ Retracts Story Of Abuses At Foxconn
It has been a rough week for social-consciousness movements whose leaders have produced stories a bit too slick to be true. We wrote last week about the doubts surrounding the viral video ‘Kony 2012’ meant to inspire a public campaign against Joseph Kony’s child army in Uganda − if that army still exists and Kony is […]
#SM4NP: Kone 2012 Video Goes Viral, But Maybe For Wrong Reasons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc”
Today is yet another day in the Republican Primary Season. Today is another day many thousands of Republicans will not want Barack Obama re-elected, but nor will they rally around a viable contender. Yet today also is the day possibly the 75 millionth person watches the viral video phenomenon ‘Kony 2012’. The video tells the […]
#PUBLICPOLICY: Online Privacy Becomes Concern For Service Providers
Online privacy has been a notable concern for many citizens almost since the inception of the internet, and certainly we have often discussed the issue on our blog over the years. A decade ago, the question of privacy largely was answered with calm warnings to use common sense and with explanations of the averages working […]
#PUBLICPOLICY: Pressure Grows On Apple’s Supplier Foxconn
The reputation of a nonprofit can make-or-break its efforts. Note the stunning blowback and reversal of the Susan G. Komen Foundation when it quietly tried to back out of its relationship with Planned Parenthood. For a business, the reputation can perhaps take more of a beating and still survive. Note BP’s expanding presence in the […]
#Communications: Postal Rates Raised Last Week – Not For Nonprofits
The United States Postal Service has been struggling financially for the last few years. The Bush Administration saddled the service with pre-paying its future retiree benefits for a decade (2006-2016), a demand uniquely imposed on the USPS. Bush’s policy meant the service went from profits in the $1.4 billion range in 2005 to one that […]
#Communication: SOPA & PIPA Bills Are Dying, But Not Dead
Yesterday, a couple of the most used and best-known websites on the internet willingly shut themselves down: Wikipedia and Reddit. Google, you likely noticed, ‘redacted’ its daily Google Doodle. These efforts were to call attention to and protest against the Congressional debates over the ‘Stop Internet Piracy Act’ (SOPA) in the House and the ‘Protect […]
#Tech: SOPA Inspiring Blackouts & Lobbyists – Should Nonprofits Care?
On the surface, not much seems to be of relevance in the ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’ (SOPA, H.R. 3261) because nonprofits aren’t really in the business of selling digitized content, much less pirated content. Nevertheless, nonprofit organizations and consumer protection groups are decrying the bill and calling for an internet ‘blackout’ on 18 January as […]
#SocialNetworks: Primary Politics Offer Models For SM Strategy
As voters in New Hampshire head to polls to divvy up delegates for the Republican Convention (and the uncontested Democratic one), all the candidates are doing what Barack Obama did so singularly in 2008: developing social-media strategies meant to expand their bases, to parry jibes from their opponents, and to launch a few of their […]