Technology Show and Tell: Productivity Tools Speed Dating for Nonprofits – Video Clips from #Tech4Good Meetup in Vancouver

What’s your productivity secret? What tools make you look like a magician to your coworkers?

At the May 8 NetSquared Vancouver meetup Chad Leaman hosted our annual Technology Show and Tell – it’s your chance to share the gadgets inside your toolshed.

Our guest presenters each got up to five minutes to showcase a wide range of low-cost or free online tools available to nonprofits today. Each tip had the goal of helping us communicate better with workers, volunteers and stakeholders, and work more efficiently.

Check out the videos. You’re bound to learn a few things that change the way you work.

Digital Teams in 2018: The New Landscape of Digital Engagement

See Jason Mogus at The Digital Nonprofit conference on June 11. Tix on sale now!

The state of digital teams inside our nonprofits often reflects deeper issues of culture and structure and how well adapted our institutions are to today’s communications landscape. So what’s going on with digital teams today? What team structures, roles, and behaviours are producing the best outcomes? Are we getting better at cross-silo and cross-channel communications? Are we set up to really deliver on the promise of digital engagement?

Jason Mogus has been a digital structure geek for two decades, and his firm recently released their 3rd report on Nonprofit Digital Teams. He will share highlights from the report, trends over time, and war stories working inside institutions of all shapes and sizes. Then you’ll get a chance to solve for digital structure issues at your organization in real time!

Key takeaways from the 2018 Digital Teams Report include:

  • When digital leads, we win. Having digital leaders on senior management teams and shaping new campaigns and initiatives is now proven to lead to more successful digital programs
  • Is engagement just a word? The vast majority of respondents don’t measure engagement and lack dedicated staff + budget to lead it, showing engagement is still more of a concept than a deeply valued reality
  • Distributed digital skills leads to better programs. We found teams with the highest performance digital programs are overwhelmingly using the hybrid team structure model
  • We still struggle with structure. Three-quarters of teams have been re-structured in the past 3 years, yet only 10% find their structure to be highly effective. That’s a lot of painful change leading to uncertain results

Covering topics ranging from where digital teams now live, today’s key roles, shifts in team structures, sources of cross-departmental tension, and how we develop digital leaders, we offer an insight for each data point, and include four recommendations for helping our organizations become more effective by building better digital teams.

Crash Report! with Rob Cottingham

Digital transformation is all fun and games… until it isn’t! Rob Cottingham, co-founder of the very first social media agency, shares lessons learned at The Digital Nonprofit conference. 

… or “Sorry for breaking your nonprofit”

Digital transformation sure sounds like fun… the same way bathroom renovations do. Then you start finding black mold and structural damage, and before you know it your place is stripped down to the studs and you’re booking a three-month stay in a Motel 6. Rob kicks off the afternoon with a bracing look at what we’ve let ourselves in for — as well as the surprising upsides of disruption.

* * *

Rob Cottingham is Canada’s leading progressive speechwriter, presentation coach and leadership communications strategist. He’s the cofounder of Social Signal, the world’s oldest social media agency, where he worked closely with a wide range of nonprofits. Rob draws the Noise to Signal cartoon on life, work and business in an online world, and performs as a standup comic wherever there’s a stage and a mic.

How Do You Attract Tech-Literate Talent? – See Crystal Henrickson at #DNP2018

How do you attract tech-literate talent? The competition for talent continues to grow, and while some nonprofits only use dollars as their competitive advantage, savvy organizations are turning towards attraction and retention strategies that individuals really want: work autonomy, location-independence and mobility. But, it’s not as simple as unplugging. Learn the key elements (and debunk the myths) to creating a remote-friendly employee culture.

See Crystal and 15 digital strategy experts at The Digital Nonprofit June 11, 2018.

Crystal Henrickson, CPCC, ACC Career and Leadership Coach, Talent Collective

Certified leadership + career coach and culture engagement strategist, Crystal works with new and seasoned leaders to develop engaged employee experiences. Scaling teams, developing leadership communication skills, mapping out professional development plans, and designing distributed and remote workplace solutions, are supported by her professional experiences in community building, marketing, sales, social media engagement, recruitment, distributed + localized team management.

Crystal has had the opportunity to drive talent, culture, marketing and community strategies at over 30 technology-focused companies like Yelp, Chimp, Invoke and Spring. Crystal is a location independent business owner and when not working, can be found in her garden, surrounded by a family of ducks, hens and a goose named Veruca.

Motivation Workshop: Vancouver Community Network (May 16)

Do you work in a not for profit setting? Would you be interested in learning more about staying motivated as a volunteer, or employee? Vancouver Community Network(VCN) is setting up free group workshop and free one-to-one training on motivation.

A workshop will take place at 111 West Hastings on May 16, 2018 at 5:30pm. VCN anticipates the workshop will take between thirty and forty-five minutes to complete.

If you are interested, please contact VCN at 778.724.0626 or help@vcn.bc.ca for more information. Thank-you in advance for your consideration.

$75 you won’t regret spending

I’m delighted to share that we’re extending the Super Early Bird pricing for The Digital Nonprofit conference thanks to the tremendous generosity of our sponsors!

When: Monday, June 11. 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (but stay until 7:00 PM for the social)
Where: Roundhouse Community Centre, 181 Roundhouse Mews
Price: $75.00
Tix: https://dnp2018.eventbrite.ca

The Digital Nonprofit 2018 Presenter Schedule

We are thrilled to announce our full line-up of presenters. More than fifteen experts from across the Pacific Northwest will share their expertise, struggles, and victories in a variety of formats, including short case studies, panel conversations, and presentations.

MORNING

  • The Greatest Act Of Love Is To Be Of Service To Another Human Being – Tracy Kronzak, Salesforce.org
  • How Do You Attract Tech-Literate Talent? – Crystal Henrickson, Talent Collective
  • Building Systems To Help Our Orchestra Scale – Steve Coombe, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra
  • Engagement Pyramids And Integrated Campaigning – Barbara Christensen, Percolator
  • Digital Teams In 2018: The New Landscape Of Digital Engagement – Jason Mogus, NetChange

AFTERNOON

  • Crash Report, Or “Sorry For Breaking Your Nonprofit” – Rob Cottingham, Social Signal
  • How Your Online Fundraising Stacks Up With 152 Canadian Charities – Brady Josephson, NextAfter
  • Panel Conversation: The Digital Decision – The Terry Fox Foundation + Rick Hansen Foundation + Take a Hike Youth at Risk Foundation
  • Truth and Reconciliation in the Digital Age – Denise Williams, First Nations Technology Council
  • From Paper Registration Sheets in a Muddy Field to Tablets And Databases: How Grassroots Nonprofits Grow Up – Lyda Salatian, Green Teams of Canada
  • Test Quickly, Fail Quickly – Shoni Field + Charly Jarrett, SPCA
  • Engagement Organizing: The Old Art and New Science of Winning Campaigns – Matt Price

Love the nitty gritty? Read full write-ups of each talk here.

DELICIOUS FOOD

Because learning is hard on an empty stomach we’re including full access to three food trucks and two espresso carts. Feast on treats from Tacofino, Vij’s Railway Express, and Patisserie Lebeau – and then wash it down with drinks from Johnny Can’t Surf coffee truck and Marley Coffee’s bicycle stand.

And if that’s not enough join us for the post-event social with an open bar from 5:00 – 7:00 PM.

We’ve solved the conference curse. The talks are focused and short – nothing is longer than 30 minutes. And the food will be amazing and plentiful. So get your ticket today (before we sell out – which has happened for the previous three years).

When you buy that ticket join us in sharing some love for the sponsors making the conference such a great deal.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Traction on Demand + Salesforce.org

PLATINUM SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

15 experts, 3 food trucks, and an open bar

I’m delighted to share that we’re extending the Super Early Bird pricing for The Digital Nonprofit conference thanks to the tremendous generosity of our sponsors!

When: Monday, June 11. 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (but stay until 7:00 PM for the social)
Where: Roundhouse Community Centre, 181 Roundhouse Mews
Price: $75.00
Tix: https://dnp2018.eventbrite.ca

We can now announce the full line-up of 15 expert presenters, which includes author Matt Price (Engagement Organizing), Denise Williams (Truth and Reconciliation in the Digital Age), and Shoni Field (Testing and Failing Fast).

But because learning is hard on an empty stomach we’re including full access to three food trucks and two espresso carts. Feast on treats from Tacofino, Vij’s Railway Express, and Patisserie Lebeau – and then wash it down with drinks from Johnny Can’t Surf coffee truck and Marley Coffee’s bicycle stand.

And if that’s not enough join us for the post-event social with an open bar from 5:00 – 7:00 PM.

We’ve solved the conference curse. The talks are focused and short – nothing is longer than 30 minutes. And the food will be amazing and plentiful. So get your ticket today (before we sell out – which has happened for the previous three years).

When you buy that ticket join us in sharing some love for the sponsors making the conference such a great deal.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Traction on Demand + Salesforce.org

PLATINUM SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

Expert Presenters – The Digital Nonprofit 2018

The Digital Nonprofit 2018 Presenter Schedule

We are thrilled to announce our full line-up of presenters at The Digital Nonprofit 2018.

More than fifteen experts from across the Pacific Northwest will share their expertise, struggles, and victories in a variety of formats, including short case studies, panel conversations, and presentations.

Keynote: The Technology Strategy of Love

Tracy Kronzak, Senior Manager Partner Success. Salesforce.org (Seattle)

Tracy Kronzak will share reflections on connecting the hard work of technology to the work of the heart of mission-driven communities. Technology strategy requires us to not only know the why of what we’re executing, but the why of what we’re here in service of, and delivery in support of peace and justice. “The greatest act of love is to be of service to another human being. We begin our journey at nonprofits because we act from the heart, and the execution of our technology becomes the new territory of the heart – worth the time, thought, and certitude that all matters of the heart engender.”

How Do You Attract Tech-Literate Talent?

Crystal Henrickson, CPCC, ACC Career and Leadership Coach, Talent Collective (Penticton)

The competition for talent continues to grow, and while some nonprofits only use dollars as their competitive advantage, savvy organizations are turning towards attraction and retention strategies that individuals really want: work autonomy, location-independence and mobility. But, it’s not as simple as unplugging. Learn the key elements (and debunk the myths) to creating a remote-friendly employee culture.

 

Case Study: Building Systems to Help Our Orchestra Scale

Steve Coombe, Vice President of Board of Directors, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra

How Steve Coombe put in place the technical processes to help staff focus on their mission, rather than busywork.

Truth and Reconciliation in the Digital Age

Denise Williams, Executive Director, First Nations Technology Council

Let’s talk about Truth and Reconciliation in the digital age and the decolonozation of online spaces. Technology is a Human Right. Help imagine a more equitably connected future with the First Nations Technology Council.

Engagement Pyramids and Integrated Campaigning

Barbara Christensen, Senior Project Manager, Percolator (Seattle)

Engagement Pyramids – the secret to truly integrated, measurable campaigns.

Your engagement pyramid is the framework that ensures you’re spending the right amount of time on the right people, helps you evaluate your engagement efforts on a global level, and ensures you have the tools to identify your rising stars early and keep them on track. An engagement pyramid also helps to break down silos between departments and establish organization-wide engagement goals and metrics.

 

Crash Report, or “Sorry for Breaking Your Nonprofit”

Rob Cottingham, Cofounder, Social Signal

Digital transformation sure sounds like fun… the same way bathroom renovations do. Then you start finding black mold and structural damage, and before you know it your place is stripped down to the studs and you’re booking a three-month stay in a Motel 6. Rob kicks off the afternoon with a bracing look at what we’ve let ourselves in for — as well as the surprising upsides of disruption.

Digital Teams in 2018: The New Landscape of Digital Engagement

Jason Mogus, Principal Strategist, NetChange (Salt Spring Island)

The state of digital teams inside our nonprofits often reflects deeper issues of culture and structure and how well adapted our institutions are to today’s communications landscape. So what’s going on with digital teams today? What team structures, roles, and behaviours are producing the best outcomes? Are we getting better at cross-silo and cross-channel communications? Are we set up to really deliver on the promise of digital engagement?

Jason Mogus has been a digital structure geek for two decades, and his firm recently released their 3rd report on Nonprofit Digital Teams. He will share highlights from the report, trends over time, and war stories working inside institutions of all shapes and sizes. Then you’ll get a chance to solve for digital structure issues at your organization in real time!

How Your Online Fundraising Stacks Up With 152 Canadian Charities

Brady Josephson, Vice President of Innovation & Optimization, NextAfter

We wanted to see what the current ‘best practices’ were in Canada when it came to online fundraising so we signed up for email and gave to 152 charities tracking the user experience and communications along the way.

In this session, you will learn what other organizations from across the country are doing — well and not so well — and what you can be doing to accelerate your online fundraising. From email communications, to landing page design, to donation page gift arrays, you’ll get tons of research backed tips and insights in this jam packed presentation.

Panel Conversation: The Digital Decision

A panel conversation moderated by Jessica Langelaan with three senior nonprofit leaders talking about why technology investments are an important strategy decision on their nonprofit. Learn from the experiences and challenges of three leaders with voices for the organisations, fundraising and programs.

  • Facilitator: Jessica Langelaan – Vice President of Non-Profit Solutions at Traction on Demand
  • Speaker 1: Heather Scott – Director of Development at The Terry Fox Foundation
  • Speaker 2: Gordon Matchett – CEO at Take a Hike Youth at Risk Foundation
  • Speaker 3: Amanda Basi – Manager – Accessibility Certification at Rick Hansen Foundation

 

Case Study: From Paper Registration Sheets in Muddy Field to Tablets and Databases: How Grassroots Nonprofits Grow Up

Lyda Salatian, Founder and Executive Director, Green Teams of Canada

Learn how the Lower Mainland Green Team, leveraged Meetup.com to grow a membership of 3,700, but realized they couldn’t grown while volunteers filled out paper forms in the rain. After investing in a database they have transitioned to a self-serve model where invasive plant-pulling volunteers are using tablets and their own phones to track contributed hours and impact.

Test, Fail, Adapt, Win: Increase Your Chances of a Successful Campaign

Shoni Field, Chief Development Officer; Charly Jarrett, Digital Giving Officer, SPCA

Don’t get stuck in your plan’s tactics. Be adaptable. Shoni Field and Charly Jarrett tell the story of the holiday fundraising campaign that almost failed. Learn their recovery tactics and embrace the power of novelty.

Closing Keynote: Engagement Organizing – The Old Art and New Science of Winning Campaigns

Matt Price, Author and Campaign Consultant (Vancouver Island)

What separates campaigns that win from those that don’t? At any given moment, there are hundreds of campaigns under way that seek to persuade citizens or decision makers to think, act, or vote in a certain way. Engagement Organizing shows how to combine old-school people power with new digital tools and data to win campaigns today. Over a dozen case studies from NGOs, unions, and electoral campaigns highlight this work in practice. At a time of growing concern about what the future holds, this talk is an indispensable guide for seasoned campaigners as well as those just getting started, who want to apply the principles of engagement organizing to their own campaigns.

Sponsors – The Digital Nonprofit 2018

I’m delighted to share that we’re able to extend the super-early-bird pricing for The Digital Nonprofit conference thanks to the enormous generosity of our sponsors!

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Traction on Demand + Salesforce.org

PLATINUM SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

Slides and Video: Using QuickBooks to Ensure Your Nonprofit Is Audit-Proof – Accounting for NGOs

Net2van is delighted to share the slides and video from our April 3 meetup. The workshop featured guest presenters from Legacy Advantage, a local team of accountants and bookkeepers with nonprofit expertise.

Nonprofits have it tough. Not only are you working with a limited budget, you are also required meet a high level of compliance. Concerns and confusion around compliance can eat up precious resources and distract you from achieving your mission.

If your nonprofit doesn’t have its books in order, then ensuring you are compliant with tax regulations can be a real drain on resources. Accounting software can help, but only if you know how to use it effectively. In this workshop, Bob Wang and Jean Elwell of Legacy Advantage share some guidance on how to run an audit-proof nonprofit. In the presentation they focus specifically on QuickBooks (desktop version available through TechSoup Canada’s product catalogue), but many of their insights and best practices are applicable to any accounting system.