Idealware has just released its latest report, "Exploring Cutting Edge Social Media," which explores the questions "when should you use new social media tools and channels, why, and for what use." That's quite a tall order to fill, really. The best parts of the report deal with why an organization should use "cutting edge" social media, determining the best time in the lifecycle of a social media channel to try it out, and descriptions of some of the newest sites. In this blog post, I review the report and offer an overview of Idealware's detailed analysis of new and developing social media tools.

I love looking back on the year in nonprofit technology and thinking about what it has brought us, and what we can learn from it. In this blog post, I review the nonprofit communications practices that saw wider acceptance in 2012, the best of the research reports of 2012 that inform fundraising and communications, and some prognostications for 2013.

ast week, Marc Baizman and I offered a workshop at the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network's annual conference this week called "Streamlining Nonprofit Organizations: It's All About the Cloud." Cloud computing allows you to access software from anywhere via the Internet, instead of your hard drive or local computer network (definition courtesy of TechSoup). Within the presentation (below), Marc and I focused on cloud adoption barriers, strategies for succeeding in the cloud, two nonprofit case studies, and a survey of cloud tools. In both case studies that on nonprofits that successfully moved into the cloud, the critical elements were collaboration and management support. It's interesting that these same two elements are critical for social media success as well.

As most people know by now, the Binders Full of Women meme took off during Tuesday's presidential debate. What might nonprofit organizations learn from the Binders Full of Women meme? Can organizations prepare to launch an internet meme? The answer is YES. There are three social media principles integral to hitting the "viral meme jackpot."

presented at this year's Grinspoon Institute for Jewish Philanthropy's annual conference November 13-14 in Springfield, MA, and walked away impressed with some of interesting things that camps are doing with technology. Kevin Martone, the Institute's Technology Program Manger, wrote this guest post highlighting how three camps used technology creatively to meet their goals: online/offline relationship building through blogging and Facebook, engaging current families with an unique iPad/iPhone app, and social fundraising through livestreaming a phone-a-thon. As Kevin writes, "These camps evoke incredibly strong emotions in their alumni, campers, and parents. They need to use the tools available to harness these emotions and connect them to the real world.

NP Tech, the Israeli organization designed to make technology more accessible to social organizations in Israel, recently launched GuideStar Israel. In this interview, Royi Biller, CEO of NP Tech, talks about the technology needs of Israeli nonprofit organizations, why it is important to have a GuideStar Israel, and the launch of TechSoup Global in late 2010.

Will Kiva Kill Your Nonprofit? Donations 2.0 panel discussion at SXSW Interactive explores what "donations 2.0" means, and DonorsChoose, Opportunity International, Kiva and Amnesty International are using this model for fundraising.

There are plenty of other business functions besides sales and marketing that benefit from social media integration: human resources, internal communication, product development, training, customer service. I recently gave a presentation that talks about the ROI of integrating social media with these business functions. The slide show is embedded. Looking forward to your thoughts and contributions.

Nonprofits can tell the best stories. But why tell them on the same old social media platforms? I'm excited about Animoto, Whrrl, Posterous and Blip.tv. They are easy to use, offer beneficial social media aspects, and spice up your digital storytelling with something new.

What are the online giving trends for 2010, and beyond? What will be the technology, culture, and needs? In this post, I created a graphic description of the history of online giving, and offer five trends that I see in the coming year.