John Kenyon - Nonprofit Technology Strategist

Upcoming Trainings - Summer/Fall 2008

See Recent Trainings 

Click on the links for information and registration 

Technology Project Planning Summit
May 20 & 21
Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects II- Oakland, CA

Online Campaigns, Digital Storytelling & Web 2.0 
June 19, 1pm - 4pm PST
Media Alliance - Oakland, CA

Nonprofit Technology Leadership Series
Wednesdays at 11:30am Pacific Time
Seven Sessions, June 4 - July 16
NTEN - online

Information Technology course
June 5 - July 24
Masters of Nonprofit Administration program
University of San Francisco - San Francisco, CA

Digital Storytelling and Web 2.0
October 17, 2008
2008 Statewide Conference - Plenary Session
North Carolina Center for Nonprofits - Raleigh, NC

Weeks 4 & 5 - Principles Discussion

I missed posting last week so here are the last two:

Week 4 of our discussion. This weeks principle is:

- Explain Technology Tools And Strategies In Clear, Non-Technical Language

I know one of the biggest challenges with technology is fear. I believe knowledge eases fear and that imparting knowledge is key to easing fear. In my experience, using clear, non-technical language is essential for understanding to occur.

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Week 5 of our discussion. This week's principle is:

- Communicate Applicable Legal And Best Practice Requirements Related to Our Work

For me the legal part takes the form of sharing with clients applicable laws about SPAM, registering in states where they solicit donations, etc. as well as laws related to independent contractors as I am a consultant.

The Best Practice part takes the form of communicating clear steps that organizations need to take before, during and after my work with them to support effective internal processes and maintain their system(s). This extends to best practices in choosing and implementing tools, providing support and training and improving internal capacities.

What is your experience?

To join this discussion, please join the NTEN Affinity Group

When commenting please remember:
 

• This is just a baseline – version 1.0. There will likely be future editions, so this doesn’t need to be perfect for all time, just a solid start.
  
   
• The principles need to be applicable to all nonprofit technology professionals, including nonprofit staff, consultants, technology support organizations, vendors, and volunteers.
  
   
• The principles need to be applicable across areas of focus, US geographic region, specialty, services and tools.
  
   
• Further details will be articulated by the community in “What These Mean to Me” documents posted in the library. So these need not incorporate all the details they imply.

Technology Leadership Webinars return in June

I will be repeating the popular Nonprofit Technology Leadership Series in partnership with NTEN this summer.

This series is designed for nonprofit managers - both non-technical and technical - to help improve their understanding of the best use of technology in nonprofits and their skills in managing technology-related projects.

Read more and register.

Register early, this series sells out!

Week 3 - Principles Discussion

Week 3 of our discussion. This weeks principle is:

- Focus On Solutions Appropriate to An Organization’s Culture, Context and Resources

This is different from last weeks principle about adjusting approaches to an organization's character as it focuses on solutions.

To me this principle means that we as technology professionals investigate and recommend solutions that are not only based on the tool requirements but on the often less tangible aspects such as culture and context.

For example, while I may want to see an organization leap ahead to a combined CMS+CRM solution. If they are not ready for it culturally I need to step back and think about what is more culturally appropriate for that organization. Perhaps there are interim steps that can move them toward my desired state for them that don't force an inappropriate solution onto them, even if it makes technological sense.

What does this mean to you?

To join this discussion, please join the NTEN Affinity Group

When commenting please remember:

• This is just a baseline – version 1.0. There will likely be future editions, so this doesn’t need to be perfect for all time, just a solid start.
  
  
• The principles need to be applicable to all nonprofit technology professionals, including nonprofit staff, consultants, technology support organizations, vendors, and volunteers.
  
  
• The principles need to be applicable across areas of focus, US geographic region, specialty, services and tools.
  
  
• Further details will be articulated by the community in “What These Mean to Me” documents posted in the library. So these need not incorporate all the details they imply.

To keep discussion and comments in one place, comments are not accepted here.

Technology Project Planning Summit

On May 20 and 21, Aspiration and Idealware are presenting Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects II in Oakland, CA.

I will be helping to facilitate some of the sessions. I am looking forward to it because Aspiration events are always full of great energy, they focus on sharing ideas and experiences and are really just a lot of fun to participate in. Also I'm a long time fan, contributor and trainer for Idealware. My long-time colleague and collaborator Michael Stein will also be facilitating, so even more reason to attend!

"Learn and share information about project management tools and techniques with your peers in an environment that's (according to previous participants) "supportive", "energizing", and "a problem solving think tank."

Register online now

Week 2 - Principles Discussion

Week two of our discussion on the principles.

This weeks principle is: We, as nonprofit-focused technology professionals, pledge to:

Appreciate and Respect an Organization’s Character and Adapt Our Approaches Appropriately


One could argue that this is more applicable to consultants, but I think it has relevance for nonprofit staff and vendors. Otherwise this seems pretty straightforward.
Any concerns or issues with this one?

I also encourage everyone to share "What this means to me" for inclusion in the master "What these Mean to Us" document that will accompany the principles.

When commenting please remember:

• This is just a baseline – version 1.0. There will likely be future editions, so this doesn’t need to be perfect for all time, just a solid start.
  
  
• The principles need to be applicable to all nonprofit technology professionals, including nonprofit staff, consultants, technology support organizations, vendors, and volunteers.
  
  
• The principles need to be applicable across areas of focus, US geographic region, specialty, services and tools.
  
  
• Further details will be articulated by the community in “What These Mean to Me” documents posted in the library. So these need not incorporate all the details they imply.

To join this discussion, please join the NTEN Affinity Group

To keep comments in one place, comments are not accepted here, but are in the Affinity Group

Lisa Harvey @ Australia 2020 Summit

I was fortunate enough to have traveled to Australia last May to speak at CISA's nonprofit technology conference. I also conducted a series of workshops in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney on technology planning and budgeting for nonprofits, thanks to CISA's Doug Jaquier and support from the Australian Government. (This years conference is May 19-20 in Brisbane).

On April 19 and 20, 2008 the Australian government is holding the Australia 2020 Summit, described on their website as "an important initiative to harness the best ideas for building a modern Australia that is ready for the challenges of the 21 st century."

I am pleased and excited that one of the stars in the nonprofit technology world in Australia - Lisa Harvey - has been invited to participate in the summit. Lisa is the founder of Energetica, a Sydney-based, not-for-profit focused consulting firm that offers services in the areas of IT Strategic Consulting, Technical IT Consulting and Managed Services as well as Internet Strategy and Website Development. She and her team are a bright, dedicated group doing all the right things to help nonprofits with technology.

Lisa's participation in the summit is an important opportunity to raise issues about ICT* capacity in the Community Sector. To help her form her views she has started a blog to facilitate communication.

See it here and participate in the debate: www.lisaharvey.com.au

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* In the USA the term I.T. or IT (Information Technology) has generally been used, but the term ICT (Information & Communications Technology) is gaining popularity as it is used by the UN and in much of the rest of the English-speaking world)

--

In the spirit of full disclosure, Lisa was the local partner and a terrific host for the workshops I delivered in Sydney and she did arrange for a wonderful tour of Sydney Harbour (where she took this picture of me having a great time).

   

Week 1 - Principles Discussion

This weeks principle is:

We, as nonprofit-focused technology professionals, pledge to:

1.    Do No Harm to Data or Devices Containing Data

Jenny Council made a great comment on the affinity group blog, saying among other things: "I have done harm to data ... and I can't pledge I won't again. I can pledge to never intentionally harm data, or to do my utmost to care for devices containing data."

That would work for me, to include "intentionally".  I also think about the pledge doctors take - "First do no harm". Doctors sometimes do harm, but generally it is not intentional, yet they still pledge not to.

What do you think? Is "intentionally" implied?

When commenting please remember:

• This is just a baseline – version 1.0. There will likely be future editions, so this doesn’t need to be perfect for all time, just a solid start.
  
  
• The principles need to be applicable to all nonprofit technology professionals, including nonprofit staff, consultants, technology support organizations, vendors, and volunteers.
  
  
• The principles need to be applicable across areas of focus, US geographic region, specialty, services and tools.
  
  
• Further details will be articulated by the community in “What These Mean to Me” documents posted in the library. So these need not incorporate all the details they imply.

To join this discussion, please join the NTEN Affinity Group

To keep comments in one place, comments are not accepted here, but are in the Affinity Group

Using Humor to talk about Immigrant Rights

At the recent Nonprofit Technology Conference, I met Will Coley, the writer of a short video that uses humor to talk about immigrant rights. I strongly believe that nonprofits must try to step outside their traditional communication boxes to find new ways to talk about their issues and this is a great example. This is part of Movement Vision Lab's $1000 Video Contest: Community Values & Immigration.

This video lampoons the government's bureaucratic processes and attitude towards immigrants. One viewer of Will's video said "great video. i currently am in the process of bring my fiancée here from the Philippines. That is exactly how it seems to be. no help, no answers and always kept in the dark. it takes 6 months to approve a packet that takes 15 minutes to review."

Watch Will's video and vote for it! (Contest ends March 31, 2008).

Utterz-ly Amazing

I had my first experience with the new tool Utterz at the 08 NTC. I was standing with Holly Ross and she asked if she could get a quote from me and use Utterz. Holly made a call on her iPhone, we recorded a brief interview, she then took a picture of me and attached that to her message. She explained that the title of the picture would become the title of her blog post. With a phone call, she is able to send the .wav audio file that the services creates and send it along with the picture. The service then updates the NTEN blog, sends it her MySpace page and more! Minutes later I could see it on the blog - wow! Here is the result:

My wonderful colleague Beth Kanter also Utterz-ed me:

The service describes itself like this: "Utterz mashes together the voice, video, pictures, and text you call or send in and creates an 'Utter' that can immediately update your existing web pages on sites like Blogger, WordPress, Facebook, LiveJournal, MySpace and more." See more on the Utterz website.

08NTC New Orleans

Most of this week I spent at NTEN's National Technology Conference (NTC) in New Orleans. I participated in the Day of Service, providing free consulting to a nonprofit, participated in a panel on nonprofit consulting with my distinguished colleagues Beth Kanter, Robert Weiner and Eric Leland (we missed the original moderator Michael Stein, who was absent due to illness), then presented two session, one on online engagement and the other with Beth Kanter on Web 2.0 options and techniques. As always I learned a lot from my co-presenters and the audiences. This is a great event that I encourage any nonprofit technology professional to consider attending. In 2009 it will be in my neck of the woods, San Francisco.

I really enjoyed New Orleans, seeing and hearing about how the rebuilding and reconstruction efforts are progressing. I toured parts of the city that were hard hit and a lot of work remains. I am not alone in feeling that the government reaction to this disaster was generally a disgrace. A consistent theme I heard from people here is how great the impact has been from all of the volunteers who have come and donated their time, expertise, equipment and skills. It is a tribute to the volunteer spirit that still thrives in the US. So even if I am disheartened by the lack of government action, I am encouraged knowing that ordinary citizens of all backgrounds and beliefs will pitch in and help people in need.

Draft of NP Tech Professionals Principles

Please join the discussion on these in the NTEN Affinity Group NP Tech Professional Principles

[To encourage all discussion and comments to occur in that forum I will not be accepting comments on this particular post]

Principles/Code of Conduct

We, as nonprofit-focused technology professionals, pledge to:

1.    Do No Harm to Data or Devices Containing Data

2.    Appreciate and Respect an Organization’s Character and Adapt Our Approaches Appropriately

3.    Focus On Solutions Appropriate to An Organization’s Culture, Context and Resources

4.    Explain Technology Tools And Strategies In Clear, Non-Technical Language

5.    Communicate Applicable Legal And Best Practice Requirements Related to Our Work

6.    Engage in Continuous Learning Practices to Maintain Our Skills and Knowledge

7.    Regularly Participate In and Share Our Knowledge With Our Community

8.    Maintain Ethical Practices and Declare Any Conflicts of Interest

9.    If We Charge For Our Services, To Be Transparent About Pricing and Costs

When commenting please remember:

• This is just a baseline – version 1.0. There will likely be future editions, so this doesn’t need to be perfect for all time, just a solid start.
  
  
• The principles need to be applicable to all nonprofit technology professionals, including nonprofit staff, consultants, technology support organizations, vendors, and volunteers.
  
  
• The principles need to be applicable across areas of focus, US geographic region, specialty, services and tools.
  
  
• Further details will be articulated by the community in “What These Mean to Me” documents in the Affinity Group library. So these need not incorporate all the details they imply.

 

Nonprofit Tech Professionals Creating Principles

Imagine our community of nonprofit technology professionals having a set of principles to guide our work and let other communities know us better.

Most groups of professionals have principals or codes of conduct that their members agree to abide by - except nonprofit technology professionals (NTPs) in the USA. We would like to facilitate our community generating and agreeing to a set of principles/ code of conduct. The UK Circuit Riders have already articulated and presented a set of principles appropriate for them, that many have signed on to follow. Now we think it's our turn.

We are presenting a draft set of principles as a starting point for discussion. NTEN has agreed to host the discussion through an online affinity group. Over the next 90 days, we ask all of you to review our draft, comment, contribute and discuss (see process schedule below).

At the end of ninety days we will put all of the feedback and discussion together into a set of principles built by the community. We will then encourage all nonprofit technology professionals to sign on to the principles and abide by them.

We are looking for basic principles applicable to the broadest range of nonprofit technology professionals - staff, consultants, vendors, professors and others who identify with our community.

Sign up for the discussion forum where you can view the initial draft, comment and discuss.

We look forward to the conversation - including in-person discussion and input at NTC - and we will contact this list again when the final draft is ready.

We hope you will  join us in taking another step to professionalizing what we love to do.

Beth Kanter, John Kenyon, Michelle Murrain, Marc Osten

Process Supporters (organizations for identification purposes only):

Sue Bennet, Project Director, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
Peter Campbell, Earthjustice & TechCafeteria
Teresa Crawford,  Director Advocacy and Leadership Center, Institute for Sustainable Communities
Jeff Forster, Robert Morris University, Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management
David Geilhufe, Philanthropy Program Manager at NetSuite
Dave Greenberg, CiviCRM
Mary Gross, Director of InfoTAP, a program of Nonprofit Management Solutions
Allen Gunn, Aspiration Tech
Cheryl Hanback, Web & Graphic Design
Phil Klein, Pen & Pixel
Eric Leland, Leland Design
Sheldon Mains, Nonprofit Tech Consultant
Ryan Ozimek, PICnet
Laura Quinn, Idealware
Jon Stahl, ONE/NW
Michael Stein, Internet & Media Strategist

____________________________________________________________________

Process

3/13 - Initial email to the community
3/19 - 3/21 - Opportunity for discussion at NTC
3/11 - 6/11 - Comments and discussion via NTEN Affinity group
6/11 - 6/23 - Comments incorporated, last draft up for comments
7/7 - Final draft posted, ready for adoption

Interviewed by David Wilcox

While attending the UK Circuit Riders Conference 4.0 last month, I was interviewed by David Wilcox, a consultant, writer and trainer specializing in community engagement and cross sector partnerships. He writes about social media, engagement and collaboration.

We talked about the importance of online presence and how it relates to funding opportunities. See the video interview below or on YouTube and read David's blog post about it.

A Revolution in Faith-based Organization Websites

On March 1st, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, California Province, launched their new website - www.snddenca.org. This is the result of over two years of work on their part, during which I consulted with them on strategies and best practices. I have seen so many websites of faith-based organizations and religious communities that are not effective that to me this is a revolutionary new standard to which similar organizations can aspire.

Some elements that I think make it particularly effective: this website includes inviting language that people outside the community can understand, interactive elements for viewing the schools the Sisters founded or are working in, a way to find out about current and former educators connected with those learning communities, a place to submit requests for prayers (and see others requests), even a quiz to see if religious life might be right for you, titled "Got Vocation?". Of course you can also sign up for enews and make an online donation.

I think sites like this can go a long way to dispelling the misconceptions many have about those in religious communities and specifically about nuns. These are not women in habits trying to "convert the heathen". This is a community of intelligent, caring and motivated people, working in our communities to promote Social Justice & Peace, environmental awareness and education as well as spirituality. Their ministries are involved in educating as health care providers, social workers, justice and peace coordinators among other things. They work around the world supporting and educating the poor and disadvantaged.

Effective Technology Advising Workshop

There were some great discussions in the Effective Technology Advising workshop I facilitated on March 1, 2008 in Birmingham, UK sponsored by lasa. These ranged from contracting to insurance to getting clients. The attendees came from all over the UK from Edinburgh to Wales and Greater London.

It was exciting to hear about the different experiences of these consultants with nonprofit/charity organizations. As always when meeting with nonprofit consultants I am struck by the thread of commonality that connects us all. We all face similar challenges in communicating and marketing our services, creating work agreements, doing investigations, collecting data, determining the best intervention and helping organizations with managing change. Our clients also face similar challenges with internal capacity, improving their capabilities and especially in getting funding for technology initiatives.

I'll be hosting a dinner and participating in a panel about nonprofit technology consulting at NTEN's National Technology Conference in New Orleans March 19 - 21.