So…I have only completed 2/3 of Scott Britton’s course “Master Gmail to Be 10x More Productive.” Still, to Scott’s own admission, not many more than 10% of online course takers get beyond this point. O’ boy, I feel pretty good. Allow me to pat myself on the back.

Join me in getting past the 10% with the discount code, ‘nonprofitsrock’

Hello Members,

There are exciting things happening at Doodlekit: here’s a quick note from our awesome partners:

We’re happy to announce that the latest version of Doodlekit the Free Website Builder is now available to all Grassroots members. We’ve created an entirely new templating system that makes it super easy for anyone to create beautiful websites, no experience required. On top of that we’ve added more features to make your website even more customizable. Here are some of the new features…

Hey there members — have you ever forgotten about a deadline, failed to check in with someone or lost a ‘to do’ list? A tech startup from Boston has created, Followup.cc, to solve this productivity problem.

Through any email client, Followup.cc will automate a reminder over which you have complete control. In other words, the email you use to confirm that appointment or set up that meeting will be the very same email that appears in your inbox at your preferred time, reminding you of what to do, who to think of etc…simply enter in the time (ex. 6.30AM@followup.cc) in the cc field of the email. The recipient of the email and you will receive the email in your respective inboxes. If you do not want the recipient to have the reminder, then enter the reminder’s time in the bcc field.

My name is Marina Klimi. I am 35 years old and I live in Patras, Greece. I received my BA in Business Studies Marketing from the University of Hertfordshire and a Diploma in Advanced Web Design and Construction from Dublin College of Management & IT.

I am the owner of a web design company named Pandora Web Box. I have ten years experience in web design with the following skills: Html, Xhtml, CSS, DHTML, Corel Draw, AJAX, Joomla, WordPress, PHP and MySql.

Grassroots.org, in tradition with bringing free services for charities, introduced its second Capacity Building Initiative. Once again helmed by our fantastic lead volunteer, Parag Khandelwal, professionals at the Boston based event motored through seven projects. Each time we have run the CBI event more projects have been able to be accomplished and we are sure the future will be no different. More nonprofits shall be helped to clear away projects that present small challenges so that they may strengthen their organizations.

Last week, Grassroots.org attended this year’s Net Impact Conference at the Baltimore Convention Center located in Downtown Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.  The event included over 100 exhibitors, over 300 speakers and 25,000 attendees.  

Grassroots.org was promoting one of our free services for nonprofits, our Project Consulting service.  The program is run through Changetheworld.org in junction with our partner at the University of Maryland, the Center for Social Value Creation.  We enjoyed speaking with all the students, businesses and universities about the program and seeing how excited people became about Grassroots.org and our mission. We are hoping to leverage some of connections we made to help grow our program and provide the service more effectively and to a larger number or our members!  

The internet puts individuals and organizations within easy reach of a host of convenient publishing tools. And while there is certainly no shortage of options, the blog is one of the most effective tools you can ever brandish. Check out these five tips non-profit organizations can use to accelerate their blogging efforts.

1. Pick the Right Platform

In the beginning, one of the biggest challenges a non-profit gearing up for an adventure in blogging will face is deciding on a platform. This is mainly because there is such a wide variety of platforms to choose from. Not only do you have your WordPress’, Tumblrs, and whatnot, you also have both hosted and self-hosted versions of these applications, which further complicates matters. Do the research, and make sure you choose the right blog software before doing anything else.

2. Know Your Audience

With your blogging platform up and running, it’s time to get started on your first post, right? Perhaps, but first you need to make sure you fully understand the needs of your audience. Who are you writing for? What do they want to see in a blog post? This is stuff you want to have figured out before hitting the “publish” button and sending that post live.

LinkedIn has made a number of improvements since going public back in May of 2011. Most of the changes have focused on making the professional social networking site more functional and easier to use. The introduction of LinkedIn Today was a part of that vision.

Similar to Google Reader, LinkedIn Today takes trending news and articles from a variety of sources and centralizes them so users can find them all in one place. The feature recently got an upgrade that brings streamlined simplicity to the navigation process, while giving the layout a look and feel that mimics some of the more popular magazine apps. In this article, we will explain what social marketers need to know about the new and improved LinkedIn Today interface.

Today’s non-profits are faced with many challenges. Among them – finding a viable vehicle for increasing donations, a reliable means of communicating with their supporters, and a method for improving marketing efforts that actually works. As a tool that is relied upon by commercial and not for profit organizations alike, email marketing can be the solution to all these needs and more. Because the service provider you choose can make or break your experience, this article will point out what a non-profit should look for in an email marketing company.

A Dependable Infrastructure

Before signing up with any email marketing company, it is absolutely critical to make sure that they have a dependable infrastructure that can support your needs first. Why is this such a big deal? Because it impacts your reputation and ability to have a successful run with email marketing. If your email marketing provider doesn’t have a solid infrastructure in place, you could find yourself with poor deliverability rates, blacklisted, and out of luck in terms of sending anything should their server equipment not be up to par. In order to avoid this, a non-profit needs to put emphasis on learning more about the infrastructure prospective suitors are working with.

The Project Consulting Spring 2013 Application is now open!

Twice a year Grassroots.org partners with the Center for Social Value Creation and opens our Project Consulting application to our nonprofit members (once in the Fall and once in the Spring). If you are a Grassroots.org member and would like to have your nonprofit matched up with MBA students to work on a business plan, financial projects or other various business developments projects sign up now!

APPLY NOW!