Links Roundup: May 23

It's been a while since I've done a links roundup - so here are some postings and resources I've found interesting in the last while: 1. Haven't read this yet, but the last time the other Michael Stein recommended a book, I was glad I picked it up. The book is The Mercifully Brief, Real World Guide to Raising Thousands (If Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars With Email and it was written by Madeline Stanionis. Michael's posting has links to a few excerpts. 2. Are you starting to fret about when and how your organization will upgrade to Windows Vista? Microsoft has finally posted their official hardware requirements for the upcoming OS. Along the same lines, they've made a "Beta 2" version of Office 2007 available to all comers, if you've got a spare PC to install it on. 3. Selfish Giving is a blog you might want to keep up with. It's a blog on cause marketing. I was really struck by this entry, which suggests that non-profits would get more from their corporate donors if they approached the relationship as more of a strategic partnership, focusing on what they can be providing to the donor as well as trying to upgrade their contribution level. 4. USA Today ran a piece on May 16th about the growing influence of blogs. Thanks to Steve Rubel for pointing this out. The article concludes that while blogs are read by only a small number of people compared to the traditional media, they have a disproportionate influence on public opinion and policy debate. 5. Kerri Karvetski pointed out this piece in the NonProfit Times about the role of Blogs and CRM tools in communicating with donors. The article by Michael Baler starts out: The constituent relationship management (CRM) paradigm has shifted. The public doesn'’t want to be “managed.” They want control of the dialog, to dictate terms, and choose methods of communication. This reminded me of very similar language I used in an entry last year about membership management and the importance of communicating outcomes to your chief supporters: Your members do not want to be managed. They want to know that your work is furthering shared goals. Tags: nptech