Budgets are an inescapable reality of non-profit life, and they’re especially important when everyone’s panicking about economic crisis. Here’s how to make a budget, and start 2009 off panic-free.
What’s a budget for?
Your organization functions on at least two kinds, a budget that covers your organization as a whole, and smaller program or project budgets. If you’re writing [...]
This year’s going to be different! Tackle 2009 head on by putting these five basic resolutions into practice and kiss your non-profit office headaches of 2008 goodbye.
“New Year’s Resolutions” Original Photo by Flickr user Ian Turton, CC Licensed
1) I will back up my computer every two weeks.
Computers crash, even in the new year. Back them up.
2) I [...]
Right now, there are an estimated 300,000 children around the world who have been forced to take up weapons - many as young as 6 years old.
Since 1998, War Child Canada has been working to educate and mobilize Canadians on this issue. War Child is known for to creating innovative and unconventional outreach strategies, [...]
Oh, climate change. Oh, the UN. A giant concept and a giant organisation, both with limited access points for the public, guarenteed to make you feel small, disempowered and unheard. Well, it’s that time of year again: it’s the UN Climate Change Conference, and this year it’s happening in Poland!
As a Warsaw resident, I got [...]
Everyone was all a-flutter earlier this week when Google introduced a new feature that allows you to vote search results up or down based on their accuracy and track it on a search wiki. The implication is that from now on the web will be a giant popularity contest where, if you haven’t been voted [...]
The latest version of Google’s SketchUp software was released yesterday. Aside from having a cute name, the software has some great potential use in your non-profit toolbox.
For those that haven’t played with it, SketchUp is a three dimensional modeling program. That means you can create little virtual models of practically anything: a house, a train, [...]
You’re ready to get your non-profit online and make a difference. Grand. Except…there’s just a few basic things you’re not quite sure how to do. Like edit a wiki, back up your computer’s memory or um, code.
Off with you to Wired’s How-To Wiki, which happens to be the most empowering place I’ve discovered for acquiring [...]
In our last post, we wrote about the brilliance of the Obama internet campaign. Apparently, Joe the Plumber is now joining the fray - with an internet fundraising site.
Secure Our Dream is a terrific example of what not to do. Let’s take it apart…
1) Unclear Mission
If you’re going to convince people to give [...]
Looking to get your non-profit discovered on the internet? You could do worse than surfing Google Trends, which tells you the most searched terms on the web for any particular day. Of course, while it sort of increases the likelihood that you’ll be found on a search, it also leaves you trying to work terms [...]
I have recently been learning another language and when I explained what I do, the need for the word ‘volunteer’ came up fast. ‘What’s the word for someone who works without pay?’ I asked.
‘A slave.’ said my teacher.
Ah, yes. You know non-profit slaves! People with smarts and ethics and education who you stuck photocopying pages [...]
