ICT Development Services June 2008 Newsletter

The content of this newsletter was last edited on 8th August 2008

Welcome to the NCVO ICT Development Services newsletter – the Social Media issue.  This month we look at how you and your organisation can use social media, new media and Web 2.0 to support more effective working with clients and making your life easier.

Contents

• Articles - Social Media
• Case Studies and examples
• Be better informed
• News
• Offers and services

Articles

• Social media in your organisation – ideas for improving your reach and making information and communication more widely accessible.  What can social media do for you?
• Is anyone listening?  The Dos and Don’ts of Podcasting – audio is effective when used well but embarrassing when used badly. How to avoid the traps and make podcasting work for you.
• Exploring the worlds of wikis – What could you do with collaborative websites and the power of wikis?  www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/exploringwikis

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Case studies and examples

• Family Holidays Association - Strong, compelling stories from people whose voices you rarely hear.  How working with clients through audio helps tell your stories read case study
• Crisis in Darfur - No one who sees these pictures can doubt that genocide is the only word for what is happening in Darfur. How satellite mapping and the power of networks can make a difference - http://earth.google.com/outreach/cs_darfur.html  
• Oxfam has harnessed social media to end poverty - Oxfam and GCAP have joined forces with widgets to reach a wider audience.
• National Trust launch digital media department - The National Trust is set to launch a new digital media department, transforming the organisation's digital output over the course of the next two years.  It will include a number of projects, such as the implementation of a network for legacy pledgers and tribute donations, the redesign of the Trust’s website and addition of a user forum.
• The Media Trust have produced more bite sized case studies in the  How to Use New Media Guide.

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Be informed

• Social Networking Sites - are they appropriate for your organisation?
• Determining your Social Network Needs - Getting the most from online tools.
• Internet users must use common sense - In response to increasing numbers of users, and consequent fraud, in social networks, The Social Media Portal (SMP) has said that internet users must take a common sense approach when they go online.  Be careful what personal information you post online!
• How well is your email activity performing? - The 2008 eNonprofits Benchmarks Study offers analysis of email response rates, donations and actions across the non-profit sector. How do you measure up and what can you learn?  http://e-benchmarks.com/pubs/2008_eNonprofit_Benchmarks_Study.pdf.  
• You are not your target audience - Be the cause, facilitate the cause, teach the cause. Remember it’s not about you, it’s about your users.
• Ofcom report on social networking - A quantitative and qualitative research report and video into attitudes, behaviours and use of social networks in the UK.    
• Microsoft software licencing - An up to date guide to Microsoft licencing from Lasa's Knowledgebase for charities and voluntary organisations. 
• Online toddler or virtual veteran? Take this test to find out your online age.  It’s also an interesting assessment of how you spend your time online and what you find easy or more difficult www1.orange.co.uk/internetage/.

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News

• ICT Hub
  Final report of the independent evaluators covering the whole project July 2005 – March 2008 is now available to download www.icthub.org/research/  
• IT4Communities goes ‘down under’
  John Davies, Programme Director of iT4Communities - the UK's leading national IT volunteering programme has been invited by Monash University in Melbourne to advise on setting up the iT4Communities IT volunteering model in Australia.  Further information on IT volunteering.
• The City Bridge Trust and the Lasa Circuit Rider Project
  The City Bridge Trust have published a paper entitled ‘Making Connections in their The Knowledge - Learning from London.’  This evaluation of the 2005-2007 Lasa Circuit Rider project was jointly funded by the City Bridge Trust and the Big Lottery.

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Offers and services

Suppliers Directory
If you need to find a reliable supplier for software, hardware, a web designer or an IT consultant etc, visit the ICT Suppliers Directory - www.suppliersdirectory.org.uk.  The directory, produced by Lasa, offers a comprehensive, easy to search national listing of trusted suppliers to the voluntary sector.

Discounted IT software and hardware
Whatever your IT requirements, NCVO member organisations can save money on a range of market-leading products and licensing options through our recommended suppliers, Phoenix Software, Pugh Computers and Datek Solutions.  NCVO members can also benefit from a wide range of discounted telecom services provided by Class Telecommunications, NCVO’s approved telecoms service provider for over 10 years.  For more information on all the discounted products and services available visit our website.

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