Posts from — April 2008

Derek Miller, an Internet friend and musician in Vancouver, wrote about a new Flickr service — Flickr does video. I haven’t been able to test it out yet, but since Derek said everything I would say anyway, I bring you his entire post, with permission:

The new video sharing features of the formerly photo-only site Flickr are different: the designers obviously thought a lot about how to implement video without just cloning how YouTube and everyone else does it.

The key thing is that videos uploaded to Flickr must be less than a minute and a half long, and no bigger than 150 MB. That’s a limitation, but also a gift. It forces you to think about what to upload, and if you have a longer video, to edit it down to its essence.

My first video upload there is a good example. I had to take a video of my band that was already only a few minutes long and make it even shorter. I had to cut out non-licensed music and any other extraneous bits. In the end it’s only one minute, but it still gets the point of our act across, even without any singing at all.

I think the time limit will generate some creativity in the Flickr community, as well as avoiding those interminable videos that take forever to get to the point. Even if a video is bad, you’ll only have to waste 90 seconds on it. We’ll see what happens within the well-imagined constraints.

[Via Penmachine words music comment: Flickr does video.]

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This is such a cool idea, I wanted to mention it. My friend (and co-author on WordPress 2 Visual Quickstart Guide), Maria Langer, is a writer and helicopter pilot in Arizona. She’s written about a great programme in the US — YOU Can Become an Aviation Angel:

Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum (TAM) is a non-profit organization with the following mission:

The mission of TAM is to encourage youth involvement in aviation as an alternative to drugs, gang violence and other self-destructive activities. The program offers elementary, middle, and high school students the opportunity to work one-on-one with qualified tutors, mentors and aviation staff five days per week. The program requires that students maintain above average grades and stay out of trouble. We have concluded that their newfound interest in aviation and relevant historical events improves their overall academic performance as well as their behavior in school.

TAM does this by offering flight school programs that are partially funded by corporate contributions and the contribution of member “angels.”

And back on the Internet tools topic: go watch the Google videos embedded on their Home and other pages. Since they’re targeting young people they also have a MySpace page, plenty of large, interesting images, active and dynamic features on their pages, photo albums, and, of course, an RSS newsfeed.

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Joe Kissell reckons he doesn’t like Twitter, Instant Messaging and similar ways of communicating because he’s an introvert. TidBITS Opinion: Instant Messaging for Introverts:

From time to time, someone I know asks me an ordinary and reasonable question: “What’s your iChat (or Skype) ID?” My usual reply is to give them the information along with a big disclaimer: I’m almost never logged in. … having done a considerable amount of introspection, I’m inclined to think that my personality type is fundamentally ill-suited to instant messaging. Specifically, I’d like to advance the thesis that - for some people at least - an aversion to instant messaging is a natural consequence of one’s temperament, and that this is neither good nor bad in and of itself, though it does of course have consequences.

Joe’s article is fairly long, thoughtful and detailed. He sets out his own personality type, his work patterns and his communication preferences. He explains how he tried Instant Messaging and Twitter, but they just didn’t work for him.

Whether you’re in favour of services like Twitter, or hate them, his article is worth reading.

Communication is all about getting messages from one person to another. We can make it most successful by using strategies that work for both parties. This article adds to our knowledge about how to get messages across.

Be sure to also read (and contribute) to the follow-up discussion.

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According to a new report just released by Convio, Edge Research, and Sea Change Strategies, an out-dated approach to online fundraising may be costing charities as much as $100 billion. Because few large donations are made via the web, some charities feel that large donors are not active online, but the results of the study, which surveyed 3,000 donors from 23 major non-profit organizations, challenges that notion. The so-called “wired wealthy” are indeed active online, says the report, and very generous.

The “wired wealthy” as defined by the report are people who give at least $1,000 per year to a single cause, who average $10,896 in donations per year to charities, and have a median gift size of $4,500.

“The main theme that jumped out at us is that major donors — or the wired wealthy as we call them — are very active online with the intention of becoming even more so when it comes to their philanthropic support,” said Vinay Bhagat, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Convio in a press release. “Based on what these important donors told us, we believe a tremendous opportunity exists for nonprofit organizations to better leverage their online presence to improve the online experience of the wired wealthy.”

Convio, Edge, and Sea Change expect that the results of their research will change the way some charities approach online fundraising. Specifically, they found that more than half of those surveyed preferred giving online, and 80% said they did at least some of their donating via the Internet (and a good portion do it via credit card to get the frequent flier miles). That’s imporant because even though the “wired wealthy” made up just about 1% of donors to the charities involved in the study, they accounted for approximately 32% of their annual gifts.

Unfortunately for charities, less than half of respondents thought charity web sites were generally well-designed, that charities did enough to connect with them online, or that they were inspired by charity sites. So how can organizations better connect with these important constituents? Email is one method. According to the study, 65% of the “wired wealthy” always open email sent from charities they support, and about 3/4ths of respondents said that email reminders about the renewal of an annual gift are “appropriate.” But just 43% thought emails from charities were usually well-written or inspiring, indicating that thus far email has been a lost opportunity for many non-profit organizations. Further, a large majority of respondents said an email letting them know how their donation was spent would make they more likely to give again, as would controls on how often a charity was allowed to email them.

More than half of respondents also use YouTube, which points to online video as another pontential way to connnect with wealthy donors online.

“We believe this research will fundamentally shift the way some nonprofit organizations approach their relationships with major donors online,” said Mark Rovner, Principal of Sea Change Strategies.

The study revealed three distinct personality types among the “wired wealthy.”

• 29% are Relationship Seekers - Relationship seekers put the most stock in how a charity web site forms a connection with them. They tend to skew younger (under 45) and are most likely to engage in social activities with the charity. 2/3rds of relationship seekers say that a charity’s web site plays a role in whether or not they give money.
• 41% are Casual Connectors - Like relationship seekers, so-called casual connectors also seek a connection with the charity. However, for them it is less personal — they’re more interested in things like how efficiently the charity is using their money and want easy access to that information.
• 30% are All Business - The all business set doesn’t care about feeling connected to the charity, rather they want the donation process to be as easy and painless as possible. They also tend give the most money.

It certainly seems possible to appeal to each of those personality types via a single web site, which is exactly what the authors of the study hope will happen. “The research provides important insight into the ways non-profits can better connect, motivate and retain these donors. The results of this research will provide a variety of different non-profit organizations — both large and small — the tools to assess their online strategy and make adjustments where necessary to better capture big opportunities,” said Rovnar.

In September, we wondered if the web was still a windfall for non-profits. With online donations up 37% in 2006 according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, it is clear that the web, if not yet the main point for charitable donation, is playing an increasingly more important role. As part of that online fundraising strategy, targeting the “wired wealthy” is something that charities should be taking into account.

Written by Josh Catone, March 24, 2008 2:40 PM, and republished here with permission. Please visit the original article at ReadWriteWeb, Study: Non-profits Missing Major Online Fundraising Opportunities and contribute to the discussion there.

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In Jordan Queen Rania is providing clear leadership for the people. See her own website, for example, where she speaks about empowering women, giving a voice to children and youth, and developing the community:

As we in Jordan work hard to develop our own vibrant connections, we look outward and applaud the success that our friends around the world are achieving by building, or in some cases, re-building, their own communities. We understand that all of us have similar hopes and mutual desires - safe places for ourselves and our children, a secure economic base, the freedom to enjoy nature’s bounty, and peaceful interaction with others. By connecting and cooperating, we can build that world, one community at a time.

Read/WriteWeb pointed out a new initiative in their post Queen Uses YouTube to Break Down Stereotypes:

The Queen, who has been an outspoken advocate of women’s rights and education reform in the Arab world, hopes to use the channel to facilitate a conversation with people in the West to dispel negative stereotypes about the Arabs and Muslims that have become especially prevalent over the past several years. …

“I want people to know the real Arab world - to see it unedited, unscripted and unfiltered - to see the personal side of my region - to know the places and faces and rituals and culture that shape the part of the world I call home.”

On YouTube - QueenRania’s Channel, we learn:

Queen Rania has played a significant role in reaching out to the global community to foster values of tolerance and acceptance, and increase cross-cultural dialogue.

Regionally and internationally, Queen Rania has campaigned for a greater understanding between cultures in such high profile forums as the Jeddah Economic Forum, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the Skoll Foundation in the UK.

We hope to bring you some of these clips soon, but until then, Queen Rania wants you to join in this conversation to bring down stereotypes and build bridges between our virtual East-West communities.

So far there is one video response and a number of written comments. This is a channel to watch: it has the potential to bring about change in the world.

Sign in. Take a look for yourself.

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