THEN SIGN UP FOR OUR ONLINE BOOK GROUP!

That’s right.  Starting in January, we’ll be hosting a free online book group to discuss the concepts and their application to our work in the Jewish community.  Bonus: experience the joys of the new Facebook Groups feature while you’re at it.  You can join the book group now, and we’ll kick off discussion in January.

That gives you just enough time to get copies for your co-workers, plus one for yourself, and read it in mid-December while everyone else is still scrambling for that other holiday, or by a cozy fire, or on the beach in Hawaii or where ever you might take a winter vacation…

Have you read the book yet?  What are you interested in discussing?  What ideas grabbed your attention?

Attendees of the Academy will be able to:

• Articulate the value of technology in their organization for themselves, funders, and other key stakeholders.
• View technology as integral to every department in their organizations.
• Recognize options for funding IT projects in their organizations.
• Staff technology effectively.
• Manage the organizational change that technology can produce.

Topics include:

• Future of IT in Nonprofits / Presented by Edward Granger-Happ
• IT Planning and Implementation / Presented by Steve Heye & John Merritt
• Introduction to IT and Systems / Presented by Andy Wolber
• Information Management Systems / Presented by Laura Quinn
• Effective Internet Presence / Presented by Katya Andresen
• Evaluation: Technology ROI / Presented by Beth Kanter
• The Human Side of Technology / Presented by James Weinberg
• Weekly Ask the Experts sessions including Charlene Li, Founder of Altimeter Group and Auther of Open Leadership

The Academy is being offered through the generous support of Microsoft and will run from September 29 – November 22.

Learn more about the Academy and guidelines for application here and if you qualify and are interested apply here!

Don’t miss out – the deadline for applications is  Friday, July 30th.  Applicants will be notified of their status by August 6, 2010.

One of the best sessions I attended was where Beth Kanter and Allison Fine (among the gurus of nonprofit technology) presented their upcoming book, The Networked Nonprofit (due out in June, but you can preorder here).  These two women completely understand the future of nonprofit organizations in the digital age, and I could listen to their wisdom, humor and case studies for days.

One element from their presentation keeps knocking around in my head, the idea of three stages of organizational development in this networked era.

1. Fortress – an organization where there are insiders and outsiders, and the two rarely meet or interact;
2. Transactional – an organization that is engaged with their community, but with the sole focus of transactions, such as getting people to sign up for an event or make a donation;
3. Transparent – an organization that fully engages and empowers their community to accomplished shared goals.

I love the simplicity of these three stages, and the acknowledgment that getting on social media platforms is not the ultimate goal. Plenty of people are promoting events on Facebook and measuring success by the number of tushes in the seats.  But the real paths to accomplishing our mission and goals, and the more accurate measurements of success go far beyond this.  They also require a leap of faith, and the ability to take that first leap.

Remember the first time you climbed to the top of a high dive as a kid, your heart beating so hard you thought it would leap out of your chest, and that moment when you finally hurled yourself into the air?  It’s the same moment really.  And remember when you went back again and again and again to do it over and over?  Yeah, it’s like that too.

So tell us — what stage are you at?  What do you need to move from one stage to the next?  Where do you see examples of “transparent” organizations or activities?

1. While I’ve loved Shel’s previous work, I did expect this to be a well written “capitalize on Twitter’s exponential growth” book. In fact, it’s incredibly insightful, with great profiles of people and companies using Twitter in really creative ways.  It stretched me.  It’s also completely accessible to beginners. A fine line that Shel seems to have walked perfectly. I was pleasantly surprised.
2. It challenged some decisions I’ve made – decisions that were strategic and thoughtful when I made them.  For example, using the organization name and logo instead of the person’s name and photo, even when they are tweeting for the company.  I’m still chewing on this one.  In the meantime, I’ve edited @DarimOnline to show that it’s mostly, not entirely, Lisa at the keys.  I’m curious how others think about offering this “human face” and transparency while still promoting the brand and, perhaps most importantly for many small organizations, creating continuity if/when staff turns over.
3. I was reminded that you can start small and casual.  As one guy from Ford is quoted, “Twitter was… the country store, where people came in and out and shared their gossip, and there I was, sitting by the pickle barrel.” (pg. 85)
4. It’s more about listening than about talking.  It’s so counter intuitive to so many of us that it can’t be said enough.
5. One person in the organization can actually lead major change.  So many examples were about one person in a large organization using this little tool in their remote cubicle, and it seeped into company culture because it was so darn useful.

So… that leads us to the question: How is Twitter useful for you?  Alternatively, you can share your best piece of Twitter wisdom, or a Twitter-related question you’re wrestling with.  We’ll choose our winner around Sukkot. And… please leave your Twitter username with your comment so we can check you out!

Beth Kanter was giving away copies Twitterville the other day. I saw it on Facebook (I’m a fan of hers) but it was also on Twitter and her blog.  (She’s a pro at making the most of multiple channels, without leaving me feeling inundated from every direction.  It’s a real art.)

Beth periodically runs contests like this.  She asks people to leave a comment responding to a particular question to enter the contest.  It’s not random — she picks those whom she thinks are most deserving or will make the most of the prize.  What I love about these contests is that by having a public entry process, she creates a forum for interesting people to share their work and ideas.  I always learn something from reading the other entries.

So I left a comment saying how much I appreciate this approach to surfacing great ideas and practices.  And heck, if giving away the book can do it, if I win, I’ll re-give-away the book to surface more good things, specifically in the Jewish community where we work.

She loved the idea and I won the book!  (Well, to be honest, by the time she announced the winners she had about a dozen books – there were so many good responses that the author kicked in some copies, she found more promo copies, and others bought copies to add to the contest!)  You can read about the results here.

And the punchline is …  Shortly we’ll be putting up our own blog post to give away the book (once I get it, and read it).  We’ll be asking about how you’re using Twitter in strategic and goal oriented ways.  So start thinking about it, and experimenting on Twitter so you’ll have something juicy to share when we announce the contest.  And, as always, you’re welcome to share your experiences (what’s working as well as what you’re challenged by) in the comments here.

P.S Another great Beth post on Twitter:  How nonprofits are using hashtags

What you’re favorite Beth Kanter nugget of wisdom? Leave a link in the comments.