#TECH: Mac? Windows? Need Both Operating Systems? Use Both! (Part II)
Is it a Mac? Is it a PC? It's Virtualization!
Last week we introduced the idea of virtualization and how you can run Windows programs on an Apple laptop or desktop. Virtualization goes the other way as well, but who would want to run sleek OS X software on a clunky Windows machine?! Today we turn to the two leading software packages on the market that provide such inter-platform-operability for individuals and small businesses. Our ambition is not to sell either product, but to provide our colleagues and constituents with information that can help save money yet expand options for their staffs.
Indeed, the fundamental advantage of these packages is that you buy a software package for about $80 (or multiple licenses up from that price) and you can have two computer systems (or more if you want to geek out with a couple of flavors of Windows and/or Linux). Let’s take a look.
Popularity: 1% | Category Apple, Communications, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tools, Video | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#COMMUNICATIONS: Make Your Next Fundraiser An Online Conversation Too
A Twitter Wall adds dynamism to even the smallest event
Though weather in the mid-Atlantic continues to flirt with spring while staying surprisingly loyal to winter, it is the season to be planning summer festivals, fundraisers, and rallies. And if you really want to stay on top of your nonprofit’s schedule, start planning your end-of-year banquet as well (and use Tungle). But in this day and age, a nonprofit’s fundraising festival should be but one component of a multi-media plan to engage constituents, volunteers, and supporters both at the event and in the social networks of those attending.
We have recommended ‘Tweet Tables’ in previous posts, and today we draw on a really useful compendium of ideas from Trevor Jonas at Mashable.com.
Popularity: 2% | Category Advertising, Blogs, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Events, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, Gala, Geo-Location, How-to, iDevice, iPad/Tablet, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Mobile, Newsletter, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Storytelling, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Twitter | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#CIVICS: Apple’s Billions In Tax Dodges Come Under Scrutiny
The corporation is in California, but not its tax liability
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 real boon to the nonprofit world. When the terrible conditions at Foxconn China broke, we followed the story arc with you and stressed Apple’s willingness to engage its supplier − albeit belatedly. Then the story dissolved amid retractions and mea culpas that threatened many careers outside Apple or Foxconn.
But now The New York Times has reported that Apple Inc. has been pipelining profits to subsidiaries and ghost offices both in the US and abroad that has lowered its tax liabilities by over $2 billion in the last year.
Popularity: 2% | Category Apple, Civics, Communications, Community, Marketing, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Opinion, Politics, Public Relations, Report, Resource, Sustainability, Technology | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SOCIALMEDIA: Rise Of Micro-Networks Might Reconfigure Social Outreach
Online social networking is all about the sharing, even sharing stuff you wished the rest of the world didn’t see. The opportunities for outreach are expanded exponentially through a social network like Twitter or a blogging site like Tumblr. For businesses, to garner thousands of ‘likes’ or ‘followers’ can be testament to your product’s popularity in the market. But those thousands can also alter your message faster and farther than your company might like. The phenomenon of Kony 2012 proves that millions might watch, but many of those millions are also challenging the message. And how many of us have texted a work colleague meant for our significant other?
A micro-networking culture is brewing that might alleviate some of these stresses through greater control and focus of who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’ of your particular network. And developers are not thinking in ‘Circles.’
Popularity: 2% | Category Communications, Design, Geo-Location, iDevice, iPad/Tablet, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Video | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#TECH: Designing A Mobile App? Design For A Mobile Device!
Who needs an app for that?
The nonprofit world is going mobile. The move might be slower than in the corporate world, but it’s steady, and nonprofits are developing ways to get around software or contractual walls. Mobile apps encourage supporters to stay engaged with your organization and its programs, and the apps also can give volunteers and staff in the field access to necessary information from the home office and/or report developments to that office. Best of all, mobile apps could links developments on projects directly to the mobile donors who can instantly see the link between their support and the progress the charity is making.
But before you get all buzzed about the synergy, you should be aware of the challenges of developing an application for mobile devices, including the fact that there are so many kinds of mobile devices.
Popularity: 2% | Category Blogs, Communications, Design, Desktop Apps, Graphic Design, Hardware Review, How-to, iDevice, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Marketing Skills, Mobile, Nonprofit, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#TECH: Google Now Designing Glasses And Giving Us A New ‘Play’ Service
Are these Google Glasses?
The good people at Google have been busy releasing new aspects of their services that are meant to augment our muti-media experiences. As is often the case, one’s first blush of these technologies might appear a bit overwhelming or a bit far out on the bleeding edge for most of us. But one of our goals at MKCREATIVEmedia is to keep our readers up-to-date on that bleeding-edge technology and to keep apprised as to how that technology is adapted and adopted by the nonprofit, charity, and small-business communities.
The first, Google Play, will likely seem pretty familiar to anyone using a cloud-based media service like iCloud or Amazon Prime. But Google Glasses seems so far out there that even some tech fetishists are wondering about its appeal. Of course, people scoffed at the notion we would want to travel in a noisy open-air flying machine as well.
Popularity: 3% | Category Communications, Dashboards, Design, Hardware Review, How-to, iDevice, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Marketing, Media Review, News and Current Affairs, Public Media, Reviews, Social Media, Social Networks, Technology, Video | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Tech: The Net Is Not Quite Dead, But It’s Not Your Mom’s Web Anymore
First of all, an adjustment/correction to yesterday’s story: Facebook pushed back its rollout of Timeline across all accounts until tomorrow, the 31st. Facebook did this rather quietly and did not state why, but you now have about 20 hours to get your Timeline up-and-running, as we outlined yesterday. (Thanks to Cody Damon of Damon Strategic for the heads-up!)
Today’s tech topic is related in so far as it is about how we interact with Facebook and other online services in new ways. The traditional ‘internet via browser’ model is fading away, to be replaced by a more precise paradigm − one that moves us from our mobile devices directly to the service/platform/medium that we want. The opportunity it presents will streamline, and perhaps redefine, the internet as we knew it. How?
Popularity: 3% | Category Advice, Apple, Case Study, Communications, Desktop Apps, Fundraising, iDevice, iPad Apps, iPhone Apps, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Nonprofit, Publications, Report, Resource, SEO, Site Administration, Social Media, Software Review, Strategic Marketing, Technology, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#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 indeed in Uganda. Over the weekend, the producer Jason Russell was arrested for public drunkenness and self-satisfaction, casting still further doubt on the veracity of the campaign and on the nonprofit ‘Invisible Children’.
To add to the unnerving series of good stories gone bad, Mike Daisey’s story/one-man-show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” has been discredited for his taking numerous liberties with what he claimed were personal encounters at Apple’s suppliers Foxconn in China. His story – somewhat truncated – was broadcast on the popular ‘This American Life‘ public-radio program this past January, causing quite a stir. And it now has been retracted by producer Ira Glass and Daisey has been reconfiguring his story in light of probing questions into its authenticity.
What might be behind the rise and fall of these stories?
Popularity: 3% | Category Apple, Blogs, Campaigns, Case Study, Civics, Communications, Interview, Marketing, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Opinion, Politics, Press Release, Public Media, Public Relations, Publications, Social Media, Storytelling, Technology | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#TECH: RSS Readers To Help Save Time & Sort Out News & Emails
We continued our series on Tumblr yesterday with some guidance to get your nonprofit’s blog out via an RSS feed that allows people to subscribe to your site. When they subscribe, they get automatic updates and summaries of whatever is going on in your blog. The great aspect of setting an RSS feed for your organization’s blog is that you encourage people to subscribe to your feed, then outreach to your supporters is automatic. Moreover, readers can forward a single link to their colleagues and friends to encourage them to subscribe.
But what about the advantages of using Really Simple Syndication as a reader and follower of news in the nonprofit world? With just a bit of setup organization, you will find RSS a fabulous way to get to the information you want coming to you, rather than hunting out for it.
Popularity: 4% | Category Blogs, Communications, Dashboards, Design, Desktop Apps, E-Mail, eNewsletter, How-to, iDevice, Internal Marketing, iPad Apps, iPhone Apps, Marketing, Newspaper Article, Publications, Report, Resource, Reviews, SEO, Site Administration, Social Media, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tools | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#TECH: Latest iPad Shifts Mobile Toward Creative Productivity
Apple unveiled the latest iPad this past Wednesday, and though the third generation, Apple will not call it the ‘iPad 3′. Indeed, one of the interesting sideshows of the product’s history has been the sturm und drang over its name.
But for its form factor, the changes are both incremental and market-shifting – typical Apple, really. In one of our earliest tech reviews, we discussed how the iPad will pretty much create a mobile computing market – and it has. The device has opened up consumption of digital materials in ways more convenient and lucrative for publishers, game-makers, and app developers.
Whether the new iPad is worthy of a purchase or upgrade for you personally, we defer comment. But what you need to think seriously about is how the iPad is going to move your nonprofit’s workflow and communications strategies – whether you use one or not – because the latest iPad puts the stress on your productivity, not just consumption.
Popularity: 4% | Category Apple, Communications, Events, Hardware Review, iDevice, iPad Apps, Marketing, Newspaper Article, Nonprofit, Press Release, Reviews, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: Jocelyn Harmon, Vice President of Sales, Marketing & Customer Success at Network for Good
Jocelyn Harmon is Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Customer Success at Network for Good. She has been writing Marketing for Nonprofits blog since 2007. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: You have said a focus of your blog is helping nonprofits succeed online. When did you latch onto the online piece of marketing?
JOCELYN: I was working at the National Council of Nonprofit Associations, from about 2004 to 2006. Our goal at NCNA was to help nonprofits run better as businesses. My job was to do marketing and raise money for NCNA. I was also tasked with helping our member organizations be better marketers and fundraisers. I started doing a lot of work with a group called NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network, and through them I met some really interesting people: Holly Ross from NTEN, Billy Bicket at TechSoup, and of course I met Katya Andresen (Network for Good) at that time. They were talking about how technology was going to revolutionize the way that nonprofits work – from programming to marketing to raising money: everything was going to move online, and nonprofits were going to be left behind if they didn’t hurry up and get on board. I thought, well, this is really cool. The other piece for me is the promise of technology to level the playing field. I’m an African-American woman, I have a strong history in my family of social justice work, so I love the idea of people having access to tools where they can be publishers, where they can have a voice, where they can connect with people potentially all across the world. So I got really passionate about the power of technology to change nonprofits, and how people with access to tools like that could change the world.
Popularity: 4% | Category Blogs, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Fundraising, iDevice, Interview, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Mobile, Nonprofit, Special Series, Special Series, Strategic Marketing, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tools, Twitter | | 0 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#PUBLICPOLICY: Pressure Grows On Apple’s Supplier Foxconn
These are protestors of, not customers for, the new iPhone
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 Gulf of Mexico despite the human and environmental costs of the corporation’s oil spill in 2010.
And then there’s Apple: perhaps the only company that can have a serious court case against its flagship product (the iPad in China), a publicity firestorm and protests over its (suppliers’) treatment of workers, and can still surpass the $500 share price. How is its PR responding to the oxymorons?
Popularity: 3% | Category Apple, Case Study, Civics, Communications, Community, Marketing Skills, Media Review, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Public Relations, Technology | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HOWTO: Efficiently Monitor Your Organization’s Busy Social Networks
Need help taming those updates and retweets?
So many claims on the time of a nonprofit staff, and only so many hours in the work day. We might be temped to carry our work home with us, but aren’t the lines between work and family already blurred enough? If you want efficient tools for monitoring and updating your business’s social media, we’d like to suggest a few dashboards that can cull your various accounts into one place, allow scheduling of posts, and offer ways to save and/or reply to specific messages.
Let’s start with a couple of freebies, then move to some heavy-hitting services that require payment.
Popularity: 4% | Category Apple, Cause Marketing, Communications, Crowdfunding, Facebook, How-to, iDevice, iPad Apps, iPhone Apps, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Media Review, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Twitter | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Tech: Apple’s Reputation Gets Pulped – Deservedly So?
Oops...
Tweets often move faster than facts. True, the Apple web store was down for a bit yesterday, but when it came back up, no new iPad or iPhone 5. Indeed, the only notable difference I could see was the prominence of Apple’s report on ‘Supplier Responsibility‘ for 2012.
Which proved to be a ‘fortuitous’ move, given the fact that yesterday The New York Times published a scathing and in-depth report about workers’ conditions at technology-suppliers Foxconn in China. A significant portion of Foxconn’s factory in Chengdu exploded in May 2011, killing four workers. Which slowed output of iPad 2s, which caught peoples’ attention. Which inspired investigations into what was going on at Foxconn. Which are now coming to light and showing the terribly rough conditions at the factory/city. For which Apple is taking most of the heat. Is that fair?
Popularity: 5% | Category Apple, Branding, Campaigns, Civics, Communications, Environment, iDevice, iPad/Tablet, Marketing, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Public Relations, Technology | | 2 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#ProAging: CES Highlights Tech For Boomers On-The-Move
This past 10 through 13 January saw the annual International Consumer Electronics Show present some of the up-and-coming technologies for the next year(s). The CES “is owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $186 billion U.S. consumer technology industry.” Most of the news pertains to the latest smartphone or smart TV, but for the past three years the CES has also supported the ‘Silver Summit.’ This exhibition-within-an-exhibition focusses on technology for older citizens. It also awards ‘Silver Choice Awards,’ a couple of which we wanted to relay to our readers – along with video access to a round-table on the future of technology for retiring Baby Boomers.
Popularity: 5% | Category Aging, Apple, Boomers, Community, Design, Events, Health, iDevice, Independent Living, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Marketing, Nonprofit, Reviews, Seniors Life, Software Review, Strategic Marketing, Technology, Technology for Aging | | 2 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HowTo: Getting Back To Your Desktop From An iOS Device
Write your next proposal on your iPhone!
It’s inevitable: You’re out of the office, armed with an iPhone or with your iPad, and prepping for a big presentation to a potential donor. You need to get to a file or access something on your computer, which – alas – is sitting on your desk back at the office. Now you’ve either got to go back to the office, or to call and hassle a colleague to sift through your machine to find what you need. This scenario probably also involves giving someone else your computer’s password, which you shouldn’t do.
Enter a number of options to allow you to connect back to your computer from iOS, saving you time and the embarrassment of calling HQ for help with your own files. I’ll explore two popular ones that I’ve frequently used. The first is one most have at least heard about, thanks to their email advertising campaigns: LogMeIn.
Popularity: 8% | Category Apple, Communications, Desktop Apps, How-to, iDevice, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Nonprofit, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits | | 0 Comments
Written by: Scott Caldarelli
#HowTo: Be Productive Anywhere on Apple’s Mobile iOS
With the advent of the iPhone and iPad, it’s easier than ever to get things done when out meeting potential donors or organizing fundraisers. Depending on what you need to do, an iPhone or iPad can keep you productive on the commute to and from work or on an airplane etc. That said, we are not condoning working on your iPhone or iPad while driving!
Many organizations use Microsoft’s Office suite for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. Though it’s rumored they’re working on a version for iPad and iPhone, Microsoft has been notably absent from the AppStore, the marketplace where all applications for Apple’s mobile operating system (iOS) can be purchased. Not to worry: here are some ways to get started creating and sharing immediately with your mobile device. (more…)
Popularity: 3% | Category Apple, Desktop Apps, How-to, iDevice, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Reviews, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tools | | 1 Comments
Written by: Scott Caldarelli
#Tech: Hidden Features Of iPhone Show A Caring Side Of Apple
Apple‘s lack of interest in supporting charitable organizations either with money or with allowing apps on its mobile platforms has gotten the corporation some bad press. And Steve Jobs continues to inspire some rancor for his leadership style, even after his death from cancer. Yet, defenders of Steve Jobs and/or Apple are quick to point out that Apple’s products have revolutionized the ways nonprofits work, and that influence is surely the more important in the long run.
Last month, Steve Pogue of The New York Times uncovered further evidence that Apple might not be one of the philanthropic giants (or even minnows), but its directors and engineers do indeed have hearts.
Popularity: 39% | Category Apple, Communications, Hardware Review, How-to, iDevice, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Newspaper Article, Reviews, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Aging | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HowTo: 3 Ways to Run Microsoft Windows on a Mac
It can be done!
If your organization is switching to the Mac, or looking to switch in the future, you may have a single application that doesn’t have a equivalent on the Apple platform, or it’s simply too costly to change over immediately. Issues such as these might be holding you back from a well-deserved and much needed upgrade-slash-switch.
The good news is that there are three ways you can run Microsoft Windows on a Mac so you can run the odd Windows-only application, if need be. Then you can wean yourself and your staff away from the viruses and shutdowns without sacrificing the occasional app that can only be found for Windows.
Popularity: 18% | Category Apple, How-to, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits | | 1 Comments
Written by: Scott Caldarelli
#ProAging: Bringing Ballots To Nursing Homes Via The iPad
iPad as Ballot in Oregon (Not Voting Machine)
When the people of Oregon needed to replace Congressional Representative David Wu this week, the state Board of Elections used the opportunity to develop means to get ballots to older citizens in nursing homes. The traditional means to do so were to send absentee ballots out, but such ballots waste a great deal of payer, any way – and many do not get returned anyway. As we have noted on this blog, the iPad is a convenient and stimulative way for retired Americans to access information. And now it is being used as a way for retired Boomers and those of the GI Generation to cast their votes.
The iPad was used to present the ballot to the seniors, who could use the touch screen to enlarge sections if necessary and to mark their votes with a touch. When done, the iPad printed the ballot for the senior citizen to mail in or to stuff into a ballot box.
The idea came from local activists, and we see a rare moment of Apple contributing to a nonprofit’s efforts: Apple donated five iPads to the Congressional district, and $75,000 to help develop the software that presented and recorded the ballots.
As of now, the feedback on this small-scale election is largely positive. According to a report on CBS News, election officials stressed the fact that the iPad is not recording the vote, simply offering access to the ballot and assisting the elder Americans’ abilities to mark it appropriately. The question remains, nevertheless, as to how scalable the pilot program is. Oregon officials seem convinced it will work statewide, and they are investing in more iPads and printers: “At $500 each, the state could buy the iPads for about $36,000. Portable printers cost about $50 each, Trout said, or counties can use existing printers from their offices. The cost of software is still unknown. In the last two-year budget cycle, Oregon spent more than $325,000 to maintain accessible voting tools.”
The portability and touch-screen simplicity of the iPad makes it an idea technology to assist citizens cast votes. Perhaps as the technology rolls out to other districts and states, it will inspire greater electoral turnout among the rest of us.
Popularity: 8% | Category Aging, Civics, Events, GI Generation, Hardware Review, iDevice, Independent Living, Internet, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Nonprofit, Nursing Home, Politics, Retirement Living, Seniors Life, Silent Generation, Site Administration, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Aging | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD