As a follow-up to my Periscope for Nonprofits Quick Guide, I wanted to focus on real Nonprofit Periscopers, and how they’re using this new tool for social good.

Today, I’m featuring Jennifer Tislerics, the Special Events & Partnerships Coordinator for Gift of Life Michigan. Gift of Life Michigan coordinates organ and tissue donations from deceased donors for the state. Jennifer also handles social media, youth outreach, faith-based programs, workplace outreach, and more.

As a refresher, Periscope is a three month-old, free mobile app that allows any user to live stream from wherever they are. Jennifer bravely responded to our call out for ‘Nonprofit Periscopers’ and she had a lot of great advice to offer in our Q & A.

1) What made you want to try out Periscope? Was it a strategic move as part of a larger social strategy, or did you want to experiment with the app first to see if it would work for your nonprofit?

I saw the Michigan Secretary of State staff using Periscope at a press conference during National Donate Life Month in April. (In Michigan our Secretary of State oversees the DMV, and helps coordinate the state’s organ donor registry.) It seemed like an easy way to engage a broader audience in an event. I watched a few other broadcasts on the iPad and was intrigued by the possibilities to engage distant supporters in real-time. I decided to experiment with it a bit, to see how it might benefit our organization and cause.

2) What event did you use Periscope for?

In late April I used Periscope at a kick-off breakfast event for an annual walk/run event. I plan to use it again at the actual walk/run in late July.

3) What was the experience like? Did you get good feedback from users? Take us through your steps.

It was a rough start, actually. One of the biggest lessons I learned is to use a tripod and get up close to the action – do not carry the iPad around or video from the back of the room. At least not at a seated event – I will probably move around some at the walk/run event. I accidentally stopped the video early (bad finger placement holding the iPad), so had to start fresh with a new video, which our Twitter followers may not have found. Actually, I did a few shorter-than-intended videos. The ones with the most audience traffic had short but interesting titles, which made our video stand out from the crowd.

4) What was engagement like?

Not nearly as many people watched the videos as I had hoped, but it was early on a work-day morning. It was fun to see people in the real-life audience following on Periscope, too, and sending us hearts and positive comments!

5) What did you learn? Any tips to share?

Practice first! Practice on-site. Make sure you’ve got a solid internet connection. Use a tripod. Prepare a few people to talk to you on video beforehand. Promote it in advance so people know to follow you on Twitter to get the link (and any new links you may create after accidentally cutting the video short).

6) What worked and what didn’t? What would you like to see improved?

I wish we could “add on” or continue a previous video, rather than having to create a new one if we accidentally stop the first video. It’s tough typing in a new title in a hurry, trying to rush and get online again. In general, I think Periscope viewers prefer interactive videos rather than “broadcasts” of speeches, although when we video’d a Michigan Supreme Court Justice speaking that got some audience attention!

7) Would you use Periscope again?

Definitely! I plan to at our walk/run on July 25 in Detroit.

8) Did you download the broadcast?

No, I didn’t feel I got a high enough quality video to make that worthwhile. This time.

9) Do you see yourself adding it to your social media strategy?

Yes, if these first few experiences prove successful, or at least promising, we will incorporate it into our strategy.

10) Anything else you want to tell me that I didn’t ask?

Follow @giftoflifemich on Twitter the morning of Saturday, July 25 to get links to our Periscope video(s) and send me feedback! I’m always open to suggestions for improvement.

We will definitely do that, Jennifer, and we’ll send you tons of Periscope hearts for all the great work you are doing at Gift of Life Michigan! Thank you for sharing your Periscope experience with us.

Photo courtesy of Gift of Life Michigan

PS – I will be featuring nonprofits and NGOs using Periscope on this blog, so please let me know in the comments below of any npos you know that are using Periscope to engage their supporters.

The post Nonprofit Case Study: Periscope for Nonprofits appeared first on Socialbrite.

Photo by ipadhacks (Creative Commons)

Reach your on-the-go audience with mobile tech

Guest post by Brett Meyer and Betsy Ensley
ThinkShout, Inc.

By now, you may be tired of hearing about how important it is to think about “mobile.”

For one thing, it’s a huge topic. Do you need to think about mobile marketing? SMS fundraising? Responsive design vs. a dedicated mobile site?

The answer is, of course, “Yes.” But then you get into problems of time, scale, and cost, because really, mobile needs to be thought of holistically, not in some piecemeal, “Oh, the Red Cross raised a lot of money, so we should do a mobile fundraising campaign, too” kind of way.

Just for fun, let’s review the numbers, because they’re becoming more compelling all the time. Up to 23% of all web traffic flows through mobile devices already. According to Pew, of American adults:

• 26% own an e-reader
• 31% own a tablet computer
• 87% have a cell phone
• 45% have a smartphone

Barring a counter-revolution, those numbers aren’t going down any time soon. Have you looked at your own website’s mobile traffic recently? If that’s dropping quarterover quarter, you may be doing something wrong.

All of this is just a long-winded way of saying that content delivery in the future will happen less and less through a traditional Web browser — and you need to prepare now.

Find your supporters and constituents where they are

To capture the impulse to give, you need to deliver your message to your constituents where they are — and increasingly, where they are is anywhere.

As you think about how to integrate your mobile marketing tactics with your mobile fundraising campaigns, don’t forget about program delivery. The tiny supercomputers people carry in their pockets open up new ways for you to serve your mission, particularly when it comes to using maps.

Now, before you curse us for adding one more thing to suss out of the knot that is mobile strategy, rest assured that it’s getting easier. There are plenty of great examples of nonprofits using mobile mapping technologies in ways that will inspire you to push our collective abilities even further as you map out your overall mobile roadmap.

There are three ways you can combine mobile devices with mapping technologies:

• to collect and aggregate data;
• to display maps; and
• to deliver program.

Collecting data

Photo by remizova (Creative Commons)

Setting aside the inherent privacy concerns, you can think of your mobile as a personal locator. What Apple did with “Find My iPhone,” you can do for your fieldwork.

Ushahidi brought this technology into the public consciousness when it mapped post-election fallout in Kenya in 2008 by soliciting reports from mobile phones, but the technology can be applied to any number of cases. To wit:

• The Brazilian NGO Rede Jovem sent young reporters, equipped with GPS-enabled mobiles, into Brazilian favelas to increase the detail available about these largely unmapped slums. The resulting reports (including photos and videos, in addition to geographic information) were mapped using the Google Maps API.
• The New York Times created a map of bird-watching spots in the city using a combination of Mobile Commons (to collect the data from text messages) and Google Fusion Tables (to place the reports onto a map).
• Mobile Commons set up another campaign in Detroit to try to tie unusually high asthma rates in one neighborhood to heavy truck traffic. Residents were asked to text “TRUCK” whenever they saw one, and that data was plotted onto a map. And it validated the hypothesis. Voila: crowdsourced mapping for social change!

Displaying maps

Simply displaying a map embedded into your website seems like the simplest case of employing mobile mapping technology, right?

During a recent conversation with a pet hospital about their website, including its potential mobile functionality, the topic quickly turned to audience: Did they know the primary reason people visited their website from a mobile device? The suspicion was that directions (and a map) to the hospital because a pet needed urgent care was the primary driver of mobile traffic, so it would make sense (if proved true) to put that right up front on any mobile site they worked on.

The problem is, it can be tricky to embed mobile-friendly maps into a website. Brad Frost lists four reasons for this:

• Cramped screen space: because the mobile browser takes up additional screen real estate.
• Frame Inception: “An iframe exists within a page which exists within a browser which exists within the mobile operating system.”
• Superior native experience: dedicated mapping apps are more robust than an embedded map.
• Performance overhead: with bandwidth still limited for mobile, pages need to remain lightweight.

Maybe embedding maps isn’t easy after all. The solution? Static images.

Wait, what? Static images? Don’t worry, it’s cool: you can use Google’s Static Maps API to embed a map into your website for full-size browsers, but display a static image on mobile devices, which then links to your phone’s default mapping application. That’s some geeky goodness!

(Hopefully, the animal hospital would take things one step further, using location services to collect a mobile visitor’s current location, and then link that to the best driving directions to the hospital.)

Delivering program

The next step up would be to develop responsive code that functions well in a mobile browser to deliver on program goals, as the Intertwine Alliance did here in Portland. The Intertwine Alliance was focused on increasing visitation to regional parks and trails in the Portland metro area. This goal had a twofold approach: to allow advanced planning through desktop displays and to give visitors at the park tools for locating trailheads from their mobile devices.

The responsive map interface, built with Leaflet, custom MapBox tiles, and Drupal, also incorporates HTML5 browser location detection to help visitors find parks near their current location.

MapBox is an excellent tool for map development. Focused on user experience, MapBox takes a design focus to mapping that is powered by OpenStreetMaps. This focus on the the front-end also translates into the tools provided to get users started. With well-documented training, the barrier to entry in publishing beautiful maps and getting started with their custom tile development tool, TileMill, has been dramatically lowered.

For responsive implementation, you should get familiar with Leaflet, an open source JavaScript library. For technologists unfamiliar with Leaflet, the site also hosts many tutorials for making the most of mobile-friendly, interactive maps.

Combining all of these tools, and in partnership with OpenPlans and Substance in developing and launching TheIntertwine.org, we were proud to launch a beautiful and useful tool to promote civic engagement in Portland area trails and parks. We were also especially happy to hear that the site won a national award presented by American Trails!

Given all the free and open source tools available — for a more complete overview, be sure to check out the NTEN article Terms and Trends in DIY and Open Source Online Maps by Sean Larkin — we look forward to seeing what you come up with.

How are you using mapping technologies with mobile devices? Let us know by commenting below!

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A Mobile 101 with tips on integrating mobile technology into your nonprofit or library

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, librarians, mobile operators, educators, journalists, general public.

Guest post by Kevin Lo
TechSoup Global

With an expanding range of new devices available, the landscape of mobile computing can be confusing. Smartphones now offer us new, powerful ways to connect with and engage with our communities.

Here’s a look at the new breed of smartphones and what to consider when using them at your nonprofit or library.

Let’s start with the basics. Here are the three most popular smartphone operating systems based on new smartphones sold:

• Android: Developed by Google, the open source Android operating system can be found in devices made by a variety of manufacturers.
• iOS: Developed by Apple, it runs on iPhones, iPad tablets and iPod touch music devices.
• Blackberry OS: Developed by Research in Motion, it runs on the eponymous devices favored by many corporate IT departments.

Although many would argue that one brand, OS or device is better than another, choosing to deploy a device in your workforce should depend solely on your own needs and preferences. While the number of apps or programs that run on mobile devices is often used as a selling point, if an app is functional and well supported, it’s generally made for more than just one platform. Other differentiators include the presence of a keyboard, size and weight, and the user friendliness of the main interface. And a phone is only as good as its voice and data service offered, so reviewing the plans and service reliability in your area should also play a role in your decision.

In addition to smartphones, larger devices with touchscreens seven inches and larger are entering the market. Popularized by Apple’s iPad, tablets like the Samsung Tablet running Android or RIM’s Playbook are being heralded as the advent of a new computing trend. Although for now they are used mostly as content consumption devices (you wouldn’t want to compose your grant report on an iPad), you can certainly view and comment on it adequately on the go. Because of their increased screen size, many enterprises are embracing tablets as a legitimate productivity tool in addition to a laptop or mobile phone, sometimes merely as devices to connect to full-fledged virtual machines and servers. As more devices come out in the future we can expect to find more ways to use them.

If mobile devices are becoming more like computers that are truly mobile, we also need programs that can run on these devices. Developers are creating apps or mini-applications for phones that extend the basic functionality of your phone or tablet. Many apps are free, while others charge a small fee, all of which are designed to enhance your phone or tablet experience.

Mobile networks and speed

Photo by Miky Magawolaz (Creative Commons)

The ability to consume content or interact with others depends on the availability of reliable and high-speed cellular networks. Although most devices can utilize standard wireless networking in your office or at a public library, the allure of mobile computing is that you can connect from anywhere where there is mobile carrier reception. While the United States still lags behind Europe and Asia in terms of affordability and speed, you can adequately use a smartphone or tablet in areas where you have reception with your carrier. It’s certainly possible to not use any mobile network for a device (for example, some tablets are WiFi only), but having a device that can connect to a mobile network adds flexibility.

Your device, however, remains locked with your carrier; you cannot use an iPhone registered and configured with the ATT network with Verizon, nor can you use your T-Mobile Galaxy Tablet on Sprint’s network. Partly due to this lack of portability, network carriers offer the option to subsidize the initial cost of a device, but require you to commit to a data contract. Others offer lower monthly charges with no contract but you pay more upfront. These contracts also impose data limits and overages if your usage exceeds that of your plan. If you are considering purchasing mobile devices for your organization, be sure to consider your needs before entering into a contract, and carefully read the terms and conditions of your data plan.

In terms of networks, each carrier boasts their performance and coverage over another. Here are some common terms and acronyms used by U.S. carriers:

• 3G: “3rd generation” data network that supports broadband-like speeds of at least 2 megabits per second (Mbps) downlink depending on location and network load.

• 4G: “4th generation” data network that’s the technical successor to 3G, and should be capable of supporting 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). However, carriers who have improved their existing 3G networks and offer significantly improved network, such as “LTE”, “WiMax”, or “HSPA+” also call themselves as 4G even without reaching these speeds.

• LTE: Long Term Evolution is a type of 3G standard that offers up to 100 Mbps downlink.

• HSPA: High Speed Packet Access is another form of high speed mobile networks that offers up to 84 Mbps.

• WiMax: Another advanced 3G standard that offers up to 100Mbps downlink.

• Tethering: A feature that allows you to connect a laptop or netbook to your mobile phone and use it as a wireless modem. Most carriers will charge extra for this feature.

• Mobile hotspot: A feature where your wireless phone can act as a wireless access point, and allows you to connect other devices to the data network via wifi. Some carriers also offer dedicated mobile hotspot devices. Additional charges will normally apply for your data plan.

Using mobile devices in your organization

So what does all this mean from an IT manager or accidental techie’s point of view? For many nonprofits or libraries, using your personal devices for work purposes does not seem all that new. But because of the revolution in social technologies, social sector users benefit as well. For example, the move from on-premise services to the cloud reinforces the adoption of mobile technologies. In the past where you would have to set up VPN to allow external access to files on the network, you can opt to collaborate online using any device that can connect via the Internet.

As most nonprofits and libraries are probably are not resourced enough to be secured against all threats, mobile devices — and the confidential data they hold — opens another front that needs to be protected. Although checking email or downloading and opening and emailed file on your personal phone may seem innocuous enough, are you prepared to notify your clients and funders that you misplaced a personal phone or tablet on which you downloaded confidential information?

Accessing online data, which requires secure logins from any device, is only one measure against data leakage and loss. Built-in VPN and encryption for certain devices are a good start, but like every other IT policy, nothing beats a sensible and easy-to-understand approach to security. If you plan on getting mobile devices for your employees, be sure to have a proper use and replacement policy, and if they were to bring in their own devices, advise them of the potential risks to the organization. Compliance to specific laws notwithstanding, IT managers need to communicate clear guidelines of usage to employees using personal devices. Conversely, it is also possible that with their own devices the monetary loss to the organization might be less, and they are less likely to be misplaced.

What the future holds

We’ve only begun to scratch the surface in terms of possibilities for mobile computing. Netbooks, smaller notebook computers that were affordable but underpowered, brought a false dawn to this trend. But with manufacturers and developers bringing cheaper hardware and better apps, we can expect even more ways to use these technologies.

Related on Socialbrite

• How nonprofits can get started with mobile
• A beginner’s guide to mobile fundraising
• How to make your nonprofit site more mobile-friendly
• Why your nonprofit should have a mobile strategy
• More mobile articles on Socialbrite

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3 steps to developing a responsive website

Imagine for a moment that a supporter of yours is having dinner with one of their friends (let’s call her Amanda).

The cause you support comes up in conversation, and because Amanda is passionate about the work your nonprofit does, she pulls out her iPhone to show her friend.

But there’s a problem.

Your website is not looking so hot. Not a good first impression.

Now obviously Amanda will be able to overcome this hurdle because of the trust she’s earned with her friend. But why put hurdles in front of your core supporters to begin with?

What is responsive Web design?

A responsive website means that the content (pages, text, videos, photos) automatically resizes in response to the particular device a viewer is using.

For example, you can easily view my johnhaydon.com website on an iPad, iPhone or browser, as shown below.

Why is responsive Web design important?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock with no Internet access, you’re probably well aware of the prevalence of mobile devices like iPads, iPhones and Androids. In fact, more than half of the 1 billion people using Facebook access it from their mobile device.

In addition to the increased use of mobile devices, there’s also change in behavior. More and more people are engaging with websites across multiple access points.

Finally, having a responsive website means that users won’t need to pinch, tap or squint in order to view your website. Again, hurdles.

Three steps to developing a responsive website

After you’ve determined that your website needs to be more responsive, you should follow these three steps:

Have clear objectives for mobile

1Be clear about the purpose of your website on mobile devices, beyond the readability factor.

Ask yourself if a mobile user would have different needs than someone accessing your site through a browser.

For example, people visiting a museum might want to easily browse showtimes and buy tickets on their iPhone. Having those pages prominently displayed on your mobile site would increase the likelihood that those transactions would occur.

Think about proximity, location and ease-of-use for mobile. Be clear about what you’d like mobile users to do when they access your website. Are these goals different for people using a browser?

Choose an approach

2There are generally three different approaches to achieving a responsive website:

• Create a mobile site – Creating a mobile site means creating a completely separate website for mobile devices. The great thing about creating a separate mobile site is the user experience. Since the site is designed for specific dimensions, the content will be easy to view and interact with. The downside is the expense and work. However, if you use WordPress, you can use a plug-in called WP Touch which automatically renders a mobile site, and allows you to select which pages to display on mobile devices and which pages to hide.
• Create a mobile app – A mobile app that contains your website content can create even a better user experience then a mobile site. Users can access your content off-line, integrate location features, receive push notifications for any updates, and integrate much more tightly with Facebook and Twitter on the iPhone. The downside of a mobile app is the cost and maintenance, although there are ways you can DIY.
• Create a flexible width website – This is the easiest and cheapest approach to creating a responsive website. This website uses the flexible with approach, meaning that it automatically resizes in response to the device.

If you use WordPress, most commercial themes like Headway and Woo Themes are responsive out of the box. If you don’t use WordPress, here’s a great article on coding a fluid width into your website.

Test after launch

3You certainly want to test your mobile site before launch, but you also want to test afterward. The reason is that you have very little information (beyond your hypothesis) for how people will actually use your mobile website. Testing your mobile sites after they go live will help you improve it much faster.

What to do next

The very first thing you should do is open up Google Analytics and look at the “Devices” report (under “Mobile”). This will show you the most popular mobile devices people use to access your website (as shown below):

After you have this information, take a look at how your website looks on these devices. Then, with this information you should sit down with your colleagues and discuss the possibility of making your site more mobile friendly.

So, tell us: How response is your website?

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Petition challenges company’s nonprofit-unfriendly policy

Guest post by Beth Kanter
bethkanter.org

In June I wrote about how unfriendly Apple’s iPhone donation app policy was when I came across this editorial by Jake Shapiro, the CEO of PRX, (the company behind the popular This American Life iPhone and Public Radio Player apps), arguing that Apple’s policy that bars nonprofits from soliciting donations is a cop-out and blocks a major revenue stream for public radio (and other nonprofits) — whose content enhances the value of Apple’s devices.

His analysis looked at Apple’s flimsy excuses for their  policy of prohibiting donations. Jake examines possible solutions to the problem – like in-app donations – which unfortunately would mean that Apple would take a 30% cut! Finally, he examines Apple’s lack of generosity as a failure of being a good corporate citizen. Jake suggests that given Apple’s hardball stance with tech partners, nonprofits and public media would have a slim chance of reversing the decision.

In August, when PayPal added a donation feature that allowed users to make charitable contributions from within the service’s iPhone app, it appeared that Apple might have listened.   Unfortunately, in late October, Apple made them pull the plug with no warning and little explanation. You can read about it in this post at Gizmodo.

I love my iPhone, but I don’t want to support a company that is so nonprofit-unfriendly. Since none of these in-App donation challenges apply to the Android – as soon as my contract is up, I’m getting an Android. But, since I have a few more months on my contract,  I’ve left a comment on this post asking Apple to reconsider its policy. 

If you would like to have the ability to make in-app donations through iPhones without hefty fees or hassle, please send Steve Jobs a message now by signing this online petition.

Beth Kanter is CEO of Zoetica. Republished from bethkanter.org. Image copyright 2010 artstechnica.

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At Net Tuesday last month and the recent gathering of social change organizations at Chronicle Books, both in San Francisco, participants heard from Jacob Colker, co-founder and CEO of The Extraordinaries about their ambitious effort to kick-start a “micro-volunteering” movement of people who help worthwhile causes in their spare time through the use of their mobile devices.

Who knew that “the power of spare energy” held such potential?

I continue to be impressed by the breadth of projects being supported by The Extraordinaries — whose name, co-founder Ben Rigby told me at NetSquared, is a bit tongue in cheek but also points out that each of us is capable of contributing to the greater good in extraordinary ways. Last month Time magazine, in a listing of New Ways to Make a Difference, cited the Extraordinaries as a prime example of using new technologies to advance the social good, “from using your smartphone to view and label photos (to help digitize museum archives) to snapping a picture of a local park (to help build a map of places where kids can play).”

It’s simple to participate: Download the free “The Extraordinaries” application to your iPhone (or to a similar smart phone) or use a Web browser to peruse the list of micro-volunteer opportunities. Follow them on Twitter at @extraordinaries. Sundeep, a principal in the organization, taught an online class about micro-volunteering last week on eduFire; look for others in the near future.

Earlier this year the organization won a grant from the Knight Foundation to launch the project in San Jose, Calif., and work with NGOs and community organizations with limited resources. (I shot the photo at right after they took the top prize at NetSquared 2009.)

Colker says the work of the new mobile platform is geared toward empowering citizens to “help community organizations facilitate collaboration through crowdsourcing.” Most of us don’t have a free Saturday to dedicate to a cause, but we do have free time — lots of it. Despite busy schedules, we often encounter downtime: waiting for the subway, in line at the DMV, in the doctor’s office, bored at work, or when a friend is late for dinner. What can we do right now instead of playing a mobile game?

There are many small actions you can do to help, from doing translations, registering places with potholes for the city, identifying birds for the Lab of Ornithology, transcribing texts or verifying data, and more.

For a Spanish language version of this article, see the citizen journalism site Periodismociudadano.

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