Organizations of all shapes and sizes are increasingly looking to private online communities as a means to connect with and engage their base. However, building and sustaining a thriving online community is no simple task. In this presentation, we dive into all things "online community."
From a high-level perspective, we provide specific insights into the reasoning for, timing of, and considerations involved with launching an online community. We then highlight a specific use case from a member-based organization that traveled along this path and emerged with a valuable asset for the organization and its members.
How to Start, Grow, and Manage a Learning Community of PracticeDaniel Jones
Daniel Jones share his tips and experiences on how to start, grow, and manage a learning community of practice in order to promote continual learning outside of the traditional and online classroom. This is the "book" format of the presentation Dan gave at the Association for Talent Development's Middle East North Africa conference on March 8, 2015.
Strategic planning. You know you should be doing more of it. But the way you normally do it requires lots of up-front time to do and lots of follow-up time to get buy-in. And frankly, you have trouble with the buy-in part. All that trouble, minimal follow-through.
Great strategic planning processes are lightweight and participatory. This is nice-to-have for organizations, and it's critical for networks, where you don't have the benefit of hierarchy to influence its behavior. Networks will do what they do.
In this Leadership Learning Community webinar, I describe how to do strategic planning for networks. I draw heavily from my experience leading the open strategic planning process for the Wikimedia movement, which drew over 1,000 participants and led to a movement-wide shift in focus on increasing reach and participation in developing countries. I share how you can leverage these types of processes for both your network and your organization
A new(ish) perspective on knowledge management in small organisations, with a little bit of Frank Zappa and Superman 3 thrown in. Originally delivered at the NCVO Information Management Conference, London, Nov 2008.
Prototyping Local Greenspace Proposal 2020Casey Morrison
With 8 local authorities we're helping think about involving citizens in the shaping up public parks.
https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/our-work/landscapes-parks-nature/future-parks
With 8 local authorities we're helping think about involving citizens in the shaping up public parks.
https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/our-work/landscapes-parks-nature/future-parks
How National Wildlife Federation Uses Online Community to Drive Offline ActionSmall World Labs
Confronting today’s environmental challenges, such as climate change and water sustainability, requires the environmental movement to respond with an unprecedented level of creativity and energy. However, command and control campaigns that are centrally-organized and pushed via grassroot methods, are not sufficient to unleash the scale of response needed to be successful.
In this webinar (http://www.smallworldlabs.com/learn/webinars/nwf) we took a look into a focused NWF online community that allows members to connect with one another and take action on campaigns and local environmental sustainability projects. Courtney Cochran from NWF and Lindsay Razzaz from Small World Labs walked through what was learned during the buildout of this community, as well as some of the technological tools introduced and measurable results achieved throughout the process.
How to Start, Grow, and Manage a Learning Community of PracticeDaniel Jones
Daniel Jones share his tips and experiences on how to start, grow, and manage a learning community of practice in order to promote continual learning outside of the traditional and online classroom. This is the "book" format of the presentation Dan gave at the Association for Talent Development's Middle East North Africa conference on March 8, 2015.
Strategic planning. You know you should be doing more of it. But the way you normally do it requires lots of up-front time to do and lots of follow-up time to get buy-in. And frankly, you have trouble with the buy-in part. All that trouble, minimal follow-through.
Great strategic planning processes are lightweight and participatory. This is nice-to-have for organizations, and it's critical for networks, where you don't have the benefit of hierarchy to influence its behavior. Networks will do what they do.
In this Leadership Learning Community webinar, I describe how to do strategic planning for networks. I draw heavily from my experience leading the open strategic planning process for the Wikimedia movement, which drew over 1,000 participants and led to a movement-wide shift in focus on increasing reach and participation in developing countries. I share how you can leverage these types of processes for both your network and your organization
A new(ish) perspective on knowledge management in small organisations, with a little bit of Frank Zappa and Superman 3 thrown in. Originally delivered at the NCVO Information Management Conference, London, Nov 2008.
Prototyping Local Greenspace Proposal 2020Casey Morrison
With 8 local authorities we're helping think about involving citizens in the shaping up public parks.
https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/our-work/landscapes-parks-nature/future-parks
With 8 local authorities we're helping think about involving citizens in the shaping up public parks.
https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/our-work/landscapes-parks-nature/future-parks
How National Wildlife Federation Uses Online Community to Drive Offline ActionSmall World Labs
Confronting today’s environmental challenges, such as climate change and water sustainability, requires the environmental movement to respond with an unprecedented level of creativity and energy. However, command and control campaigns that are centrally-organized and pushed via grassroot methods, are not sufficient to unleash the scale of response needed to be successful.
In this webinar (http://www.smallworldlabs.com/learn/webinars/nwf) we took a look into a focused NWF online community that allows members to connect with one another and take action on campaigns and local environmental sustainability projects. Courtney Cochran from NWF and Lindsay Razzaz from Small World Labs walked through what was learned during the buildout of this community, as well as some of the technological tools introduced and measurable results achieved throughout the process.
Guess what? You can quantify a person's engagement with your organization. No more wondering who to target for your next fundraiser or who to mobilize for your next lobby day or who to ask to phonebank. Why? Because you know exactly where your supporters stand on your Engagement Pyramid, you know where you want them to go, and you know how you're going to get them there. At Groundwire, we've developed the strategic framework for building relationships and we've built the technology to support it.
The Engagement Pyramid: Keeping supporters engaged for the long haulNetSquared Vancouver
With Reilly Yeo and Vojtech Sedlak of OpenMedia.ca.
Many organizations know how to get supporters in the door. But what do you do in order to keep them engaged, and make sure their actions lead to change? In this peer-learning session, we’ll contribute stories about how OpenMedia has effectively fought online surveillance and Internet censorship by going beyond petitions, bringing in other online and offline tactics to deepen supporters’ engagement. We’ll show you how we track engagement, our work to bridge supporters from one issue to another, and also share some of our ongoing challenges and pitfalls. Bring stories and questions and be prepared to share!
Speaker Bios
Reilly Yeo (@Reillyreads) is the Managing Director of OpenMedia (@openmedia_ca), an award-winning organization that safeguards the possibilities of the open Internet by activating an email list of over 600,000 supporters. Reilly’s experience in the social change sector includes work with Amnesty International, The Walrus magazine, Rights & Democracy, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the SFU Centre for Dialogue. Currently, she also works as a facilitator with Groundswell, a youth-led project to transform the economy.
Reilly Yeo for Net2van
Vojtech Sedlak (@vojtechsedlak) is the Data Intelligence Coordinator at OpenMedia.ca. Originally from the Czech Republic and now settling on the West Coast, Vojtech has pursued educational, as well as professional experiences in the areas of digital anthropology, political economy of new media and data management.
Small World Labs and UN Foundation Present a Girl Up Case StudySmall World Labs
Girl Up is a campaign devoted to empowering American girls to become global leaders and channel their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for United Nations programs that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls.
The Girl Up program had strong tools for mobilizing young girls through email and fundraising. However, for broader collaboration, information sharing, and engagement building, the program relied on in-person only activities, which were expensive and hard to scale. Girl Up needed an online solution to help it engage and collaborate more effectively with its supporters online.
Learn how the United Nations Foundation implemented an online community to power its Girl Up Clubs initiative, which allowed local high school clubs run by female youth to collaborate on education, advocacy, fundraising, and mission-related activities.
In this session you’ll learn:
* How Girl Up Clubs also integrates with the Girl Up program’s existing website CMS, as well as its constituent relationship management (CRM) platform.
* How in less than one year the Girl Up Clubs online program has onboarded more than 200 new high school clubs and averages more than 3,000 member interactions per month.
* How the Girl Up Clubs initiative has effected fundraising for the UN Foundation.
Building and Nurturing Global Online CommunitiesAmy Sample Ward
This presentation was given by Amy Sample Ward and Bonnie Koenig at the 2012 ASAE International Conference in Washington DC. Learn more at http://amysampleward.org and http://goinginternational.org
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 100 million members and growing rapidly. LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals.
Join us for this webinar and learn how your organization can make the most of LinkedIn. We'll go over the basics, offer you some ideas, and go over some real examples of how nonprofits are using LinkedIn.
Tactics for Painless Public Technology Training (Communities of Practice)Crystal Schimpf
While providing public access to computers and the internet may seem pretty straight forward, there are many challenges when it comes to providing technology training. This slideshow is about utilizing community of practice (CoP) forums to share information amongst a group of colleagues that share similar professional interests, both within a single organization and regionally. Attend this session and learn about two CoP platforms built to support this work. This session is for nonprofit professionals who are interested in improving their public technology access and training programs, and learning about how a CoP might benefit their delivery of services.
This presentation was shared at the 2014 Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) in Washington DC.
We live in the 21st century, and volunteerism is shifting and changing to meet the times. More and more volunteers are looking for ways to use technology to support the missions they hold dear.
With the rise of digital volunteers, nonprofits need to have systems and practices that encourage, validate, and support this new trend.
We will review ideas and strategies that other nonprofits have used to capitalize on the digital volunteer. We will have plenty of time for live Q&A, so prepare your largest concerns for discussion.
At the end of this presentation you will have
An idea of what features your volunteer system should have
A good plan for utilizing small aspects of social media for large impact
Ways to engage volunteers with different time requirements.
First draft of slides for EuropCom 2015 workshop on online communities, for discussoin with fellow speakers on KnowledgeHub. Out of date - all updates here: http://mathew.blogactiv.eu/tag/europcom/
Online Communities at EuroPCom - Steven Clift KHub.Net and E-Democracy.orgSteven Clift
Online Communities of Practice presentation at EuroPCom - European Conference for Public Communication by Steven Clift. Mixes lessons from UK-based Knowledge Hub http://khub.net with a few relevant experiences via http://E-Democracy.org
Can one tool help you share your story, build your brand, provide timely information to a variety of audiences and strengthen supporter engagement? Blogs can! In this webinar, you will be introduced to the basics of blogging including different blogging platforms and blogging principles: managing expectations, becoming an authority, and building networks. Learn the secrets of blogging success with examples from nonprofits.
Presentation by: Archana Sridhar, Co-Founder, South Asian Philanthropy Project
Registration for MyCharityConnects webinars is open to employees, volunteers, and board members of Canadian charities and nonprofits.
The 2011 MyCharityConnects Webinar Series is generously supported by Direct Energy.
Competing with social networks: Why should someone join or support your organ...Wild Apricot
Being a member of a business association or volunteering for a charity used to be the ultimate ways to network -- that is, until LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter came along! How can your membership-driven organization survive and even thrive within a landscape of always-on social networking?
Congratulations, you have an online community! Odds are, you also have an offline community. Are you using one to strengthen the other?
Most of the organizations I work with in my practice already have all the ingredients in place for a real, vibrant community that lives on and off line. Too often though, on- and offline are treated as separate worlds, with little effort made to bridge the gap. Communities thrive when there is varied and ongoing interaction. Merging physical and non-physical conversations, events, and activities is one of the strongest tactics for building community in the real world.
In this session, we'll talk about how communities form, the ingredients for engagement, the importance of culture, and tactics for bridging the gap.
Takeaways:
- An understanding of the different types and benefits of online and offline communities
- Tactics to kickstart their online and offline communities
- Ways to engage their communities both online and offline
With advent of the internet and global connectivity, the way business is done is changing, the way we utilize the people and their potential is changing, the way we interact with people is changing. Nobody is a stranger now and we are connected to one another with the network of networks.
Virtual Communities are interaction platforms for the new age millennials and beyond. The presentation explores different dimensions of establishing and fostering such Communities and the way their potential can be harnessed for the process of co-Creation.
Recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CsLEiwZfU8
Facebook is the most powerful and popular social networking website available today. Originally designed as a place for individuals to keep in touch with one another, Facebook has evolved into a very effective networking tool for charities to create awareness and connect with current supporters and find new ones.
Join us for this webinar and find out how Facebook can help you:
- Find and communicate with current and potential supporters
- Organize, promote and manage events
- Create a single branded page for your organization
- And much more!
Community: The Center of Your Marketing EcosystemSmall World Labs
Your online community isn’t an island. It is the online manifestation of your mission and one of the best opportunities you have to help your organization succeed. In this webinar we look at how you can fully integrate your community into your marketing initiatives in a way that strengthens all of your efforts.
In this presentation, we illustrate how properly constructed direct marketing with strong calls to action, “open" communities, consistent social media efforts and a robust content calendar can all work together to make your community, and you, more successful.
Lessons Learned from 10 years in the Online Community BizSmall World Labs
A decade has come and gone since Small World Labs opened up shop in the wild west of online community platforms and, needless to say, much has changed and much has been learned. Not only have these communities grown ever more complex over time, but the strategies around implementing and sustaining growth within these communities have also continued to evolve.
Learn about the essentials for launching a new community, valuable strategies to consider if your community is under-performing, why knowing the ROI of your online community is more important now than ever, and much more.
Every program or resource should be evaluated occasionally to ensure that all users still benefit, and an online community is no different. New best practices and capabilities become available that can and should be taken advantage of.
Join Small World Labs and Personify as we discover how the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) evaluated new options for its online community to create an engaging environment for its members. Learn how they leveraged new capabilities in their AMS/CRM to develop a flexible integration that is both powerful and easily updated. Hear how those integration options enable IFT to create an online community experience that is personalized for its members, recognizes their community and non-community achievements, and promotes an engaged, healthy member base.
Small World Labs & American Cancer Society Present 'Best Practices for Conver...Small World Labs
Many organizations struggle with how best to build vibrant, engaged online communities for their peer-to-peer donors. Whether this includes email; social-media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube; or even an online environment integrated into the organization’s website — it can be confusing to determine where to start and which channel is best for what. Find out how the American Cancer Society and other organizations are developing cohesive strategies to build community by approaching these challenges with an integrated approach.
In this session, you’ll learn how to develop and execute an online community strategy that:
* Focuses each channel on what it does best;
* Connects these disparate viewers, fans, and followers; and
* Moves donors from initial connections toward deeper engagement with your organization.
Let's dive deeper into the world of ODC! Ricardo Alves (OutSystems) will join us to tell all about the new Data Fabric. After that, Sezen de Bruijn (OutSystems) will get into the details on how to best design a sturdy architecture within ODC.
Neuro-symbolic is not enough, we need neuro-*semantic*Frank van Harmelen
Neuro-symbolic (NeSy) AI is on the rise. However, simply machine learning on just any symbolic structure is not sufficient to really harvest the gains of NeSy. These will only be gained when the symbolic structures have an actual semantics. I give an operational definition of semantics as “predictable inference”.
All of this illustrated with link prediction over knowledge graphs, but the argument is general.
Dev Dives: Train smarter, not harder – active learning and UiPath LLMs for do...UiPathCommunity
💥 Speed, accuracy, and scaling – discover the superpowers of GenAI in action with UiPath Document Understanding and Communications Mining™:
See how to accelerate model training and optimize model performance with active learning
Learn about the latest enhancements to out-of-the-box document processing – with little to no training required
Get an exclusive demo of the new family of UiPath LLMs – GenAI models specialized for processing different types of documents and messages
This is a hands-on session specifically designed for automation developers and AI enthusiasts seeking to enhance their knowledge in leveraging the latest intelligent document processing capabilities offered by UiPath.
Speakers:
👨🏫 Andras Palfi, Senior Product Manager, UiPath
👩🏫 Lenka Dulovicova, Product Program Manager, UiPath
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Software Delivery At the Speed of AI: Inflectra Invests In AI-Powered QualityInflectra
In this insightful webinar, Inflectra explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming software development and testing. Discover how AI-powered tools are revolutionizing every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), from design and prototyping to testing, deployment, and monitoring.
Learn about:
• The Future of Testing: How AI is shifting testing towards verification, analysis, and higher-level skills, while reducing repetitive tasks.
• Test Automation: How AI-powered test case generation, optimization, and self-healing tests are making testing more efficient and effective.
• Visual Testing: Explore the emerging capabilities of AI in visual testing and how it's set to revolutionize UI verification.
• Inflectra's AI Solutions: See demonstrations of Inflectra's cutting-edge AI tools like the ChatGPT plugin and Azure Open AI platform, designed to streamline your testing process.
Whether you're a developer, tester, or QA professional, this webinar will give you valuable insights into how AI is shaping the future of software delivery.
Connector Corner: Automate dynamic content and events by pushing a buttonDianaGray10
Here is something new! In our next Connector Corner webinar, we will demonstrate how you can use a single workflow to:
Create a campaign using Mailchimp with merge tags/fields
Send an interactive Slack channel message (using buttons)
Have the message received by managers and peers along with a test email for review
But there’s more:
In a second workflow supporting the same use case, you’ll see:
Your campaign sent to target colleagues for approval
If the “Approve” button is clicked, a Jira/Zendesk ticket is created for the marketing design team
But—if the “Reject” button is pushed, colleagues will be alerted via Slack message
Join us to learn more about this new, human-in-the-loop capability, brought to you by Integration Service connectors.
And...
Speakers:
Akshay Agnihotri, Product Manager
Charlie Greenberg, Host
Accelerate your Kubernetes clusters with Varnish CachingThijs Feryn
A presentation about the usage and availability of Varnish on Kubernetes. This talk explores the capabilities of Varnish caching and shows how to use the Varnish Helm chart to deploy it to Kubernetes.
This presentation was delivered at K8SUG Singapore. See https://feryn.eu/presentations/accelerate-your-kubernetes-clusters-with-varnish-caching-k8sug-singapore-28-2024 for more details.
Essentials of Automations: Optimizing FME Workflows with ParametersSafe Software
Are you looking to streamline your workflows and boost your projects’ efficiency? Do you find yourself searching for ways to add flexibility and control over your FME workflows? If so, you’re in the right place.
Join us for an insightful dive into the world of FME parameters, a critical element in optimizing workflow efficiency. This webinar marks the beginning of our three-part “Essentials of Automation” series. This first webinar is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to utilize parameters effectively: enhancing the flexibility, maintainability, and user control of your FME projects.
Here’s what you’ll gain:
- Essentials of FME Parameters: Understand the pivotal role of parameters, including Reader/Writer, Transformer, User, and FME Flow categories. Discover how they are the key to unlocking automation and optimization within your workflows.
- Practical Applications in FME Form: Delve into key user parameter types including choice, connections, and file URLs. Allow users to control how a workflow runs, making your workflows more reusable. Learn to import values and deliver the best user experience for your workflows while enhancing accuracy.
- Optimization Strategies in FME Flow: Explore the creation and strategic deployment of parameters in FME Flow, including the use of deployment and geometry parameters, to maximize workflow efficiency.
- Pro Tips for Success: Gain insights on parameterizing connections and leveraging new features like Conditional Visibility for clarity and simplicity.
We’ll wrap up with a glimpse into future webinars, followed by a Q&A session to address your specific questions surrounding this topic.
Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your FME expertise and drive your projects to new heights of efficiency.
Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2024 by 91mobiles.pdf91mobiles
91mobiles recently conducted a Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey in which we asked over 3,000 respondents about the TV they own, aspects they look at on a new TV, and their TV buying preferences.
Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2024 by 91mobiles.pdf
How, When, Why to Get Started with Online Community
1. HOW, WHEN, AND WHY TO GET STARTED WITH
AN ONLINE COMMUNITY
2. OUR SPEAKERS
Ken Aponte
Sr. Director, Community Solutions
Small World Labs
Kristina Jakstas
Membership Manager
Greenlights
3. OUR AGENDA
• Online Community Basics
– What, Why, When, Where, How
• Greenlights under the Microscope
– What is Greenlights?
– What is the 501(c)ommunity?
– Why did Greenlights pursue an online community?
– How do you leverage the community for your members?
– How does the community fit in with your ‘Big Picture’?
– How do you support your community?
– Any unexpected gains or opportunities?
– How does the community fit in with your other channels?
– What’s in the future for your community?
• Wrap up and Q&A
5. ONLINE COMMUNITY BASICS
WHAT IS AN
ONLINE COMMUNITY?
A group of people with common interests who
use the Internet (web sites, email, instant
messaging, etc) to communicate, work together
and pursue like interests over time
6. ONLINE SOCIAL HUB
Knowledgebase / Resource Library
Conversations to support or inspire
Captivating environment
Event management
Information portal
Critical user information
Micro-communities
Forms and applications
7. Global Business Travelers Association
ONLINE COMMUNITY EXAMPLES
• Resource library is the
cornerstone of the
experience
• Almost 3,000 resources
(videos, links, articles,
etc)
• 7,000 members loosely
organized into
geographical or topical
groups
8. Institute of Food Technologists
ONLINE COMMUNITY EXAMPLES
• Serves as the IFT’s
online user directory
for peer-to-peer
networking
• Badges on user profiles
used to indicate
engagement in the
community and other
items via integration to
AMS
9. Orbis International
ONLINE COMMUNITY EXAMPLES
• Community used as the
basis of application and
credentialing process
for all potential
volunteers
• Forms engine allows us
to collect information
and upload things like
certifications and
licenses
25. ONLINE COMMUNITY BASICS
WHEN TO BUILD AN
ONLINE COMMUNITY?
When you realize you have pockets or
conversation everywhere but “here”
When you have answered the same question or
emailed the same document for the 1,000th time
When you start looking for ways to engage
people between conferences
When you want need to know more about your
membership to survive
27. Your Member Ecosystem
Your
Website
AMS
Community
In-person meetings
and conferences
Webinars
Email Campaigns and
Communications
Blogs and
other feeds
Social Media
Channels
• Your online community is the
electronic embodiment of
your physical organization
• Community should be the
hub of all your activities
• All communications and
interactions should drive
traffic back to your
community
• You community should
integrate to your AMS / CRM
to maintain a 360 degree
view of your members
31. • Go-to social sector resource and leader
• Strengthening nonprofits and other mission-
driven organizations to solve big community
problems
• Forging cross-sector collaboration
32. • Who we serve:
– Nonprofit staff, board, key volunteers
– Philanthropists and community leaders
– Social innovators
• Services include:
– Accelerator program
– Consulting
– Learning & Leadership offerings
– Research
– Membership of 500+ organizations
34. 501(C)OMMUNITY BACKGROUND
The 501(c)ommunity is…
A secure place for nonprofit
professionals to:
• Share experiences to avoid
recreating the wheel
• Ask questions that only
nonprofits understand
• Network with peers
…all with the goal of strengthening the
sector as a whole.
501community.org
48. Schedule a Live Demo
Contact Jeremy Demers
512.474.6400 x 22
jdemers@smallworldlabs.com
Editor's Notes
Extend definition – facilitate advocacy efforts, expand reach for globally dispersed organizations, encourage Talk through SWL examples Relay Nation, Cancer Connection, Shatterproof, Climate Reality Project
Greenlights members receive a variety of member benefits (trainings, resources, etc.), including access to our online community.
Within each member organization, multiple staff/representatives can access the 501(c)ommunity.
Each member can log in to share experiences, ask questions, and network with peers
Two big features: Discussion Forums, and the Learning Library
Increase connectivity among our members. Our members are smart and knowledgeable, an online community gives them a way to connect and learn from each other. This way it’s not top-down, where only GL distributes info. It’s more collaborative learning. Collaboration is really important to us.
We were already the “go-to” for questions and resources, we needed a more streamlined way to share our knowledge too. It allows us to take a step back and not get stuck in the weeds, while still supporting our members and sharing our knowledge.
I make sure our members get the most out of their membership as a whole, and the 501community is a big piece of that. It’s for their benefit, not mine.
When someone calls me and asks “Should we run background checks on all our staff members?” or “Do you know a good CPA?” I can recommend they post their question in the 501community. I’m not an expert in either of those areas to begin with, so they could connect with someone who has that direct experience. And they can get multiple opinions.
If I notice a lot of conversation around a particular topic (example: how to orient a new staff or board member), I can upload some samples or documents our members might find useful. And other members can add to that. We’re able to help each other more by having this knowledge centrally stored and available for the whole group.
Important: We do very limited self-promotion, and don’t allow any solicitation from businesses or vendors. (Ex: I’d only post about an upcoming event if it was directly relevant/solicited in someone else’s post). This is a safe space for members to get advice from trusted sources.
Reinforcement is key. I’m constantly talking about the 501community. It’s on our website, it’s in our email signatures, it’s everywhere.
Ex: One of our member benefits is invitations to members-only events. I’ll post the supplemental event materials to the 501community, rather than emailing them out.
Ex: When someone calls me to ask a question that is clearly a fit for the community, I walk them through the log-in process right there on the phone.
I spend at least a third of my time moderating the 501community (seeding content, contributing to posts, answering questions and helping members get started, cleaning up our member listing, tracking metrics, etc.). Another GL staff member spends a portion of her time managing the tech-y side of things: back-end updates, troubleshooting, web content creation. It seems like you’d at least need half a fulltime employee’s time to really make an online community work, but SWL may have better input! You can’t launch it and leave it, it takes commitment.
We’ve gotten to know more of our members (at least surface-level), and they’re exposed to what GL does. I can see their profiles and interact with them more regularly.
I’m not just communicating with the leader of the organization or one key contact, but they might have 10 staff members of all levels who log on and contribute to the community.
Formstack feeds data to SWL automatically, which feeds data to Salesforce. Integration definitely streamlines data entry and upkeep for the team.
We’re exploring options for re-designing our website, and hope to better integrate the 501community into our main website.
As SWL rolls out new features (i.e. weekly digests, “reply by email”) we’ll keep embracing those to create a better experience.
We get pretty high marks on our annual member survey – our members really like the 501community. Engagement has slowly but steadily increased over the past couple of years.
Internally, we’ve been able to stop reinventing the wheel in a lot of ways.