Howdy from Matt
July 15th, 2008I just wanted to throw out a quick Hello to all you SSC blog readers out there. I’m really looking forward to working with Aspiration and the Social Source Commons as a CTC VISTA and I hope that you will all feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or contributions.
Thanks!
Matt
Aspiration Welcomes Matt Garcia as Social Source Commons Community Manager
July 15th, 2008Matt Garcia joins Aspiration as Community Manager for our Social Source Commons platform. Matt will maintain the SSC blog, engage users to learn how we can enhance the system to better serve their needs, and oversee community outreach for the project, working with the rest of the team to make SSC a more valuable resource for those looking for nonprofit software.
Originally from Ypsilanti, MI, Matt most recently worked in Boston, Massachusetts as an industry analyst with the international health nonprofit Infante Sano. His duties there included networking with similar nonprofits and performing analysis of the industry. Prior to that, Matt was a project editor in the Washtenaw County Department of Public Health. Matt graduated from the University of Michigan in 2007, studying Anthropology and Public Health.
Matt comes to Aspiration as part of the CTC VISTA program, which places and supports Americorps*VISTA members within non-profit organizations across the country that utilize information and communications technologies to address the needs of low-income and at-risk communities. Aspiration is most grateful for the support we’ve received from the CTC VISTA program.
Welcome Matt!
Mapping Nonprofit Project Management Tools
January 13th, 2008
Aspiration and Idealware co-organized the first-ever Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects gathering in New York on January 10th and 11th, 2008.
We created an SSC toolbox containing all the project management tools which participants mapped out and tagged using state-of-the art sticky-note technology at the event. You can also see notes from all the sessions on the agenda page of the MNTP wiki. Have a look at the toolbox, and let us know if we left anything out!
SSC Surpasses 1900 Tools!
August 6th, 2007Thanks to great contributions by community members, the SSC tool count marches upward and onward! We’ve gotten great additions recently from a number of SSC users, including:
- Rolf, who created a toolbox called Thunderbird as RSS Reader, detailing the collection of plugins and tools he uses to manage his RSS feeds;
- Lena, who added CopyWrite and Grammarian X to her personal toolbox, and put picnik in her Basic media editing toolbox;
- Shane, who built a collection of Tools for building scalable web apps; and
- Deacon78, who created Production Toolkit, listing websites for the independent filmmaker.
Thanks to all you users who are putting your data and knowledge into SSC!
An interesting number we speculate on from time to time is “what is the size of the noprofit software tool universe”? In other words, what is the total count of software tools relevant to nonprofit needs? It’s a squishy number, based on a range of issues:
- What qualifies as “nonprofit” or “NGO” software?
- What tools are “general” tools, versus sector-specific tools (health and human services, human rights, legal, etc)?
- What is a tool? With hosted web apps playing a larger and larger role in the technology footprint of most organizations, the definition of “tool” continues to evolve. We’re fairly permissive on “tool-ness” when it comes to web apps; if it’s an interactive site that provides unique value to individual users, we’re inclined to call it a tool.
We welcome your comments on any and all of the above!
Social Source Commons Podcast on NetSquared
August 6th, 2007Britt Bravo recently interviewed Aspiration’s Allen Gunn about Social Source Commons, and posted the discussion as a podcast on the NetSquared site. Thanks Britt!
Tools from the eAdvocacy Jamboree
July 23rd, 2007Friday concluded the eAdvocacy Jamboree, and we had a killer time, that was also very informative.
If you couldn’t make it, I compiled a list of tools that were discussed during the Jamboree, and I’ll be making a Community Toolbox to go along with it shortly.
If you were at the Jamboree, and noticed that I missed something, please let me know in the comments.
Blogging from the eAdvocacy Jamboree
July 18th, 2007This week, Aspiration is facilitating the eAdvocacy Jamboree. It’s the fourth part in a series of Aspiration events in which we are attempting to communicate the best practices of online advocacy to nonprofits and political change organizations.
Looking at this from a Social Source Commons perspective, I thought I would make a few posts about the tools that are being discussed and used by our participants.
A note about new account registrations
June 22nd, 2007This is just a quick not to clarify the process for new account registrations. The account creation process is not automated. Instead, what happens is that an email is sent to me requesting a new account, and I set up the new account as soon as I see the email. I then email the person who requested the account back with the pertinent information (such as the password).
If you’re new here and are requesting a new account, please include a valid email in your request. I cannot send you your password without a valid email. Also, please be patient with the account request. I usually get to all requests within a day, but it normally is several hours after the request is made, especially if the request is made overnight (in San Francisco). There is no need to make multiple requests, as I will ignore any requests with duplicate ids.
How do you Manage your Board of Directors?
June 8th, 2007Recently I learned about BoardnetWork–a web based tool nonprofits can use to manage their Board of Directors. Each board member logs on to this website and can access key board information, read board meeting minutes, access board training resources, and find out when the next board meeting. This seems very useful, however I wonder how many boards are actually using this type of software?
At Aspiration we use a software tool called Basecamp that works as a project management tool and has some of the same features as BoardnetWork in the generic sense. We provided Basecamp access to our board members so they can view upcoming meetings, read meeting minutes and important organizational documents, however they rarely access their Basecamp account. Do you use an online software tool to manage your Board of Directors and does your board like being able to access all your organizational documents online?
In the interest of my question above, I created a community toolbox called Board Management for Nonprofits. Please feel free to add a tool you are using to manage your Board of Directors or check out what is already listed there. Thanks!
New Features and New Mischief!
May 27th, 2007We just rolled a new version of SSC live this weekend, and wanted to tell you about new features and new mischief…
We have added several features to better support Community Toolboxes:
- The most new important capability is that Community Toolboxes now may be edited collaboratively, should you choose to allow it. When you create a new Community Toolbox, you’re now prompted to indicate whether others can edit your new toolbox, or just you, the creator. And you can change this setting any time you like after the toolbox is created. This feature gives you the ability to start a list of tools, and invite others to help you finish it. We look forward to seeing how creative folks get in leveraging the new functionality!
- A “New Toolboxes” panel and feed on the SSC Home page announce the most recently created Community Toolboxes; check it out and let us know what you think!
- A “New Toolboxes from my contacts” section on your personal home page lets you know whenever one of your contacts creates a new Community Toolbox, or adds a Community Toolbox to their watch list.
In addition, there are now better “tag cloud” management features when browsing by tag; you can expand and shrink the cloud to change the number of displayed tags.
We also fixed a few bugs and usability issues folks had shared with us. Please keep that feedback coming, WE LOVE IT!
And now for the MISCHIEF! We got tired of staring at all the silhouettes of folks who hadn’t uploaded an image for their account, so we took the liberty of randomly generating images for folks who hadn’t set their own picture. If you’ve been living on SSC as a silhouette, you can see if you approve of your new image , and change it if you don’t. And if you hate us for taking away your sexy silhouette, just let us know; we’re glad to put it back the way it was :^)
Finally, we added a “History and Appreciations” page to help tell the story of SSC. Have a look and find out more about the folks who have helped bring the platform to life.
Thanks from the whole SSC Team!