NCTech4Good

where tech meets social change

where tech meets social change

No Budget? No Problem. Social Media Tips, Tricks, and Hacks for Your Everyday Life.

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You’ve heard it once, twice, maybe three times: “pay to play” is the social media buzzword of late. But, what happens when you have very little budget, or no budget at all? How do you grow your social and digital reach? Join us for a dive into free tools you can use to help increase your social media reach and engagements. Discover how the WELL doubled their social media reach in under a year, and learn how you can advocate for your nonprofit using nothing but a computer and some creativity. We’ll take a look at popular social media platforms, data and analytics, and learn from one another.

Elizabeth Ruf
The WELL

Speaker Bio
Elizabeth Ruf is a one-woman marketing and communications shop at the WELL; a local, education-focused nonprofit serving high school students. In her spare time she is heavily engaged with the Triangle American Marketing Association, slated to be a Vice President on next year’s Executive Board and plays in a non-profit kickball league.

Help, I’m Drowning! – How to Advocate for More Resources at Your Organization

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Are you buried in an avalanche of work on a daily basis? How can you go about advocating for more resources?

In this session, you’ll learn how to create winning proposals that clearly outline the benefits of adding more staff members to your team. From utilizing basic “if this, then that” concepts to exploring a full-blown three year strategy for growth, we’ll discuss various ways to present a mission-focused plan that shows direct benefits to your organization. Additionally, we’ll cover implementation, execution, and fulfillment using data and analytics to ensure that your plan delivers on its promises.

In the first half of the session, Jen will reveal how she grew a database department to three staff members and launched a new digital department. The second half will be a workshop-type format to discuss challenges within the group and how to overcome them. Come prepared to share your frustrations and walk away with exciting ideas to lighten your load!

Jen Newmeyer
Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina

Speaker Bio
Jen has been working in the non-profit arena for over 15 years covering everything from database administration to strategic planning. As Digital Media Manager, she oversees all aspects of digital initiatives including online campaigns, email marketing, ad strategies, and a $1.035M online fundraising budget. She is passionate about community activities and serves on the board of the Raleigh-Wake Partnership to End and Prevent Homelessness as part of the communications committee. Jen is a member of the NTEN: the Nonprofit Technology Network as well as the Triangle American Marketing Association. You can connect with Jen on LinkedIn and learn more at www.charityjen.com.

30+ Free and Low Cost Tools Every Nonprofit Should Know About

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Tools for all, cheap and free. This is your opportunity to attend Idealware’s most requested workshop. We cover a range of free/cheap tools from time tracking to video editing, plus some bonus resources. Geared for those who want to make sure they are up on what’s out there. We’ll include an audience interactive sharing, where we crowd source great ideas. The workshop is created by Idealware and presented by local consultant Jeanne Allen.

Jeanne Allen
Jeanne Allen Consulting

Speaker Bio
Jeanne Allen brings expertise in board and leadership development, strategic planning, change management, volunteer management, and social media strategy. She works at the intersection of Strategy, Innovation, and Technology in the nonprofit sector. Jeanne is passionate about effective nonprofit management and leadership, and building relationships with and between all the stakeholders: volunteers, members, staff leadership and management.

Jeanne is an Instructor in the Duke University Nonprofit Management Certificate Program (NC) where she teaches Board Development and Governance, Strategic Planning, Social Media Strategy for Nonprofits, Succession Planning, and Volunteer Engagement. Currently, she is a Newswire Contributor for Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ) and on the Editorial Board for Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) Magazine, an online magazine on technology. Additionally, Jeanne is a BoardSource Certified Governance Trainer with extensive knowledge of effective governance principles.

Your Favorite Apps, Better Together

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Do you use multiple cloud apps? Would you like to automate your workflows by getting your apps to communicate with each other? Learn how to use cloud integrators IFTTT and Zapier to do things like automatically…

– Post your new WordPress posts to LinkedIn
– Create Google Calendar events from Evernote reminders
– Post approaching Google Calendar events to a Slack channel
– Autoshare MailChimp campaigns on your LinkedIn profile
– Use Wufoo entries to create MailChimp subscribers
– Create Trello cards from new Google Sheet spreadsheet rows
– Share Posts from a Facebook Page on your Personal Timeline
– and much, much more!

DeLisa Lee
DJL Training, Inc.

Speaker Bio
DeLisa Lee is the owner and Program Director for DJL Training, Inc. a computer training company that helps businesses increase their efficiency and productivity. DJL Training provides customized computer training to government agencies, corporate entities, small-med businesses and community based organizations serving everyone from novices to power users, young adults to seniors.

DeLisa is a self-proclaimed computer geek and has been a Corporate Trainer for over 20 years. She has an extensive knowledge of desktop and web-based productivity applications. Her favorite things to teach include Microsoft Access and Excel, Google Apps For Work, and Customer Relationship Management systems. She also specializes in the effective use of mobile apps and devices.

Going from Spark to Success

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I’ve always been an instigator, from starting a clothes swap, to co-founding a giving circle, to creating a fundraising data report. Along the way, I’ve learned a few things about what it takes to get something out of your head and into the world. I’ll share stories of my success — and failure — and a few lessons on how to make your project a reality.

Heather Yandow
Third Space Studio

Speaker Bio
Heather Yandow brings more than a decade of experience as an outreach coordinator, coalition leader, project manager, and fundraiser to Third Space Studio and our clients. Heather’s nonprofit experience includes being a staff member, volunteer, and Board member. Her most recent staff position was as the director of development and communications for the NC Conservation Network. Heather has served on the Board of Directors of the beehive collective (a giving circle in Raleigh), Democracy NC, and ncyt: NC’s Network of Young Nonprofit Professionals. Heather earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics from UNC, and holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University.

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter… Oh My!

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You know that social media engagement is the “Yellow Brick Road” for your organization, but are you terrified about the journey? There are so many social media tools and resources that are available to non-profit organizations today and it can be really confusing! Should you use Facebook? Is Twitter the best option for you? How can you possibly use Instagram to reach your audience? Today, we will learn about the latest trends, strategies and resources, that will help you to effectively manage your online presence. Towards the end of the session, we will hold a general discussion, where you can ask questions and receive advice from colleagues, in your field of work! No question is off limits and technology use is encouraged.

Rebecca Beck
Partnership for Children of Cumberland County

Speaker Bio
Rebecca Beck, a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, is a technology professional, training facilitator and leader in the public sector. Rebecca is the Vice President of Information Technology at the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County and began her career with the organization in 2000. Her strengths include; technology infrastructure planning, organizational leadership and social media strategy development. Rebecca has hosted speaking engagements on social media planning and business leadership at the National Smart Start Conference and other local events throughout the state. She also shares advice on a variety of technology topics via Twitter and her blog, IfItHasButtons. Rebecca has an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration (Public Administration) and will receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Marketing) from Fayetteville State University in 2016. As an active member of the local community, Rebecca has received Citizen’s Academy certificates from Cumberland County and the City of Fayetteville. She also volunteers with human service organizations that strengthen the local community.

Access for All…A Website Accessibility Primer for Nonprofits

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An accessible website has benefits for people of ALL abilities, but the concept can seem complex for non-web developers. In this session, we’ll cover the essentials: where web accessibility guidelines come from, what your organization stands to gain by having an accessible site and questions you should be asking your web developer. Additionally, we’ll give you tips on what you can do right now to improve your website and where to go for more information.

Cindy Leonard
Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at RMU

Speaker Bio
Cindy Leonard is the Consulting Team Leader at the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University. She manages the consulting program and technology program, working with the consulting team to maximize client satisfaction and identify areas for growth. Her own consulting specialty is helping nonprofits leverage technology to meet their missions. In addition to technology assessments, planning and decision support, she specializes in website development on the WordPress platform. Cindy convenes monthly Bagels & Bytes meetups and organizes the annual TechNow conference. She holds a B.S. in computer science, an M.B.A. and a M.Ed. in instructional design technology, all from Seton Hill University.

Analytics for Internet Supremacy

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Have you ever opened that Insights panel in Facebook and made this face 😖. Does Google Analytics confuse the heck out of you? And Twitter, how do you track those tweets?!

Let our analytics wizardry amaze you! In this session

  • Learn the basics of reading and understanding your analytics tools.
  • Get a map to Google Analytics and Facebook Insights plus a few tips on Twitter and Instagram tracking tools.
  • Walk out with a basic reporting tool to understand your internet engagement better.

DISCLAIMER: This session isn’t for fellow analytics level 20 wizards, this is for everyone else who wants to just learn a little bit more about the tools available.

Mary Alice Holley
BC/DC Ideas

Speaker Bio
The media mind of BC/DC Ideas, Mary Alice has spent the past five years honing her skills in public relations with a diverse mix of for-profit and nonprofit projects. Ranging from affordable housing to telecommunications and a few political candidates, she’s seen it all, but Mary Alice realized her passion for nonprofits and sustainability while publishing a local food guide with a teaching farm in Tennessee.

Now in Raleigh, Mary Alice brings her enthusiasm and PR experience to BC/DC Ideas’ nonprofit client roster. The team’s content and public relations manager, Mary Alice is busy behind the scenes writing digital content, executing award-winning media plans and getting our clients noticed. A positive Piscean and a March baby, she loves how her positive nature is working for the good of the nonprofit world every day.

Things that make her happy: Whipping up some kale smoothies and cold pressed juices, Bob Dylan, Raleigh’s live and local music scene, and of course, time spent with her dog Hazel.

Change is Inevitable: Suffering is Optional

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Whether you’re implementing a new software system, upgrading your existing systems, or simply moving your data to the cloud, you’re creating organizational change. But unless your IT plans reflect this – and most don’t – your project could easily fall behind schedule, run over budget, or simply fail. If you plan without change or people in mind, lack of understanding or buy-in or even resistance from staff could thwart your efforts. Come learn what else you should incorporate into planning beyond specs and timeline to increase the speed of adoption. Come learn about the process of change and how you can increase the speed and acceptance of new tech products, systems, and procedures. You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of what it takes to successfully implement change and how to partner with others in your organization to ensure its success.

Kat Morgan
ChangeAbility Solutions

Speaker Bio
Kat Morgan, Founder of ChangeAbility Solutions, has decades of experience as a trainer, facilitator, and change management professional. As a consultant, she facilitates and manages organizational change, delivers training, and coaches emerging leaders. She has managed change initiates at several nonprofit organizations, and has assisted a national nonprofit as it went through a major restructuring process. She facilitates strategic and action planning for nonprofit organizations. She knows that democratic engagement of as many stakeholders as possible results in deeper buy-in, better decision-making, faster implementation, and greater alignment between plans and results.

How to Leverage Free Technology to Further Your Mission

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If leveraged correctly, technology has the power to accelerate your work to meet your mission. Even better when that technology is free. Too often though, we spend too much time jumping on free technology offerings and not enough time figuring out what we’re trying to do and how the technology can (or in some cases cannot) help us. In this session, we talk about how to prepare to truly leverage free technology — from what questions to ask of technology providers to who should be involved in choosing the technology and helping implement it. Instead of seeing the process of choosing technology as a scary process, this session will empower you to choose the right tools for your organization.

Three takeaways from this session:

How to decide what type of technology is right for your organization
How to assess your organization’s technical capacity for implementing and making the most of new technology
What questions to ask when you’re deciding on new technology (free or not)

Peggy Duvette
NetSuite

Speaker Bio
Peggy has been a thought leader in social change, innovation, and technology for over 15 years. As Director of Social Impact at NetSuite, she is responsible for the donation of the NetSuite products to nonprofits located all around the world. She is committed to helping nonprofits to further their social impact. Previously, as Executive Director of WiserEarth (501c3), Peggy was responsible for growing an online community of over 80,000 members from all around the world working towards sustainability and social justice issues. She earned an MBA with honors in Management and Sustainability from SFSU. She is a board member of Social Media for NonProfits and a member of Board Source, NTEN and Green & Sustainability Innovators & Innovation Network.

What Nonprofits Can Learn from Charity: Water

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Charity: Water is a nonprofit with a mission to bring clean drinking water in developing countries. It is also a leader and innovator for using the web to promote their mission, build a large base of supporters, and fund their work. This talk will look at how Charity: Water uses design, storytelling, action campaigns, and user experience principles on the web to make their global efforts possible. Nonprofits of all sizes can learn from what Charity: Water is doing right to make their own efforts more effective.

Matt Pusateri
Flying Dog Creative

Speaker Bio
As an art director, designer, and writer, I have helped people tell stories and communicate ideas for more than two decades. I’ve helped hundreds of clients take complex ideas and messages and make them more clear, focused, and effective.

I have managed and consulted with teams in various organizations, facilitating meetings and improving internal communication. I’ve bridged gaps between editorial, policy, marketing, and web development teams; strengthened relationships between in-house creative teams and consultants; and helped editors, researchers, writers, and designers collaborate to make better content.

In addition to 20+ years professional experience in design and digital strategy, I have two MA degrees — one in communications, one in writing — which help me work with clients to write, edit, and improve web content.

How to Find and Tell an Amazing Written Story

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Being able to tell your organization’s stories is vital to connecting with your audience!

I will talk about how you can find some of your stories. But mainly I would like to focus on the process of written storytelling. You need to craft it so that it will grab your reader immediately.

I will discuss written storytelling and draw points from my blog series: http://www.howtoreachpeople.com/power-of-written-storytelling/

Some other points I’d like to make:

Story isn’t new! After all we have cave drawings to prove that! But what is new is the communication tools we use. Plus, the dialogue we facilitate.

There are so many places to tell a story. It’s difficult to know what medium to use.

Telling stories to your audience directly is a long-term plan, with amazing benefits.

Also, we’re running a storytelling speaker event and workshop in March and April in DC. So some of what I will talk about is based on what I learn there also!

Heather Ratcliff
NetSquared DC

Speaker Bio
I am a web content and social media strategist advocating for human rights and social change. I have worked with nonprofits and small businesses on reaching their audience, and prior to that, I was a journalist for about 10 years.

I blog at howtoreachpeople.com. You can read more about me here: http://www.howtoreachpeople.com/about/ You can read more about what motivates me here: http://www.howtoreachpeople.com/what-jolts-you-awake/

Using Online Education Platforms for Training

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Webinars are so old school! Scheduling time to watch an hour-long webinar live or even a replay does not work well with our busy schedules. If you have training that you need to provide to volunteers or staff but have trouble getting everyone in the same place at the same time, use an online learning platform or LMS (Learning Management System) to create a course. Janet will review some of the popular self-hosted WordPress Plugins and online services to create a class as well as review some basics of course creation.

Janet Kennedy
Get Social Health

Speaker Bio
Janet Kennedy is a 20-year marketing and social media professional and is the Host of the “Get Social Health” podcast sharing best practice stories and interviews about social media in healthcare. Janet has interviewed medical futurists, healthcare practitioners and ePatients, digital health advocates and entrepreneurs. She is the founder of the Get Social Health Academy, a coaching and eLearning consultancy producing online courses for Healthcare Associations, Medical Societies, and private practices.

Google AdWords Grants for Nonprofits

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In this session learn how to implement the Google AdWords Grants for Nonprofits a $120,000 In Kind Advertising Grant from Google for your Non Profit!

Rob will present a “blueprint” for setting up, monitoring and measuring your Google AdWords Grant. There will also be time for your questions. This session is based on Rob’s upcoming book “Google Adwords Grant Blueprint”.

Google Ad Grants is the nonprofit edition of Google AdWords, Google’s online advertising platform. Google Ad Grants empowers your nonprofit through $120,000 per year in-kind AdWords™ advertising grant, to promote your mission and initiatives on Google search result pages. Typical results of utilizing this grant includes: increases in web site visitors, newsletter subscribers, donations and volunteers.

Rob Ainbinder
Why People Click

Speaker Bio
Rob has over 14 years of online marketing experience with deep expertise in strategy, SEO, Social Media Management, and Pay Per Click advertising for a wide range of brands and businesses. Rob founded Why People Click in 2003 to develop and execute marketing strategies that deliver results and increase customer satisfaction.

Rob has developed online marketing and strategy in a wide range of industries, including energy, gas, B2B, nonprofit and e-commerce. Clients have included small to mid-sized online retailers and nonprofits including Second Harvest Foodbank NWNC, Geek Club Book and Triad Highland Games as well as Margaritaville (Cargo, Hospitality & Lifestyles divisions), CHI St. Luke’s Hospitals and HCA Hospitals and banks. His online strategies and digital tactics have resulted in measurable outcomes for clients, including increased traffic, improved sales, donations and new business. Rob keeps his finger on the pulse of the latest online trends and is certified in Google Analytics.

Rob has presented and/or volunteered for ConvergeSouth, an annual tech conference held in Greensboro, for several years. Rob also regularly attends conferences and seminars in the areas of Search Engine Optimization, Social Media and other internet topics. Rob holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing.

How To Become The Go-To Expert In Your Field Using Social Media

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Nonprofits can leverage social media platforms and content marketing to position themselves as the authority in their fields, with little to no expense. When this happens, your audience does much of the work to find you and you’ll give them great content in return. In the last year, I managed a vast content marketing plan and leveraged social media platforms to position Duke University Press as an expert in the field of Journal Publishing. This project included a 24 post blog series, 128 distinct project tasks, and coordination of more than three dozen contributors. The project now serves as the foundation for all journal acquisition marketing efforts. In my presentation, I will share everything I learned and how our marketing department is using this content marketing success as a springboard for future projects. Topics will include managing contributors, writing content, scheduling a blog calendar, utilizing social media platforms in different ways, and collecting analytics.

Katie Smart
Duke University Press

Speaker Bio
Publicist and Exhibits Coordinator at Duke University Press, coffee addict, and Durhamite by way of Buffalo and Houston.

Managing Freelancers Without Losing Your Mind

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Non-profits often need specialized skills that don’t exist within their staff. You may depend on freelancers such as designers, writers, photographers, and videographers to help with your website and other communication channels. Often these outside people aren’t managed very well, and projects can become an unpleasant challenge.

The key to great relationships with outside talent is shared understanding. This leads to better project outcomes and less stress throughout the process for all.

We’ll review research I’ve conducted with freelancers through interviews and surveys. In this session you will learn:

– Pet peeves of the various types of freelancers
– Key actions to take to improve the manager-freelancer relationship
– Kickoff and post-mortem processes to improve each project

As soon as you walk out of the session, you will have tools and ideas to better your relationships with freelancers and consultants. Get great help without losing your mind!

Melissa Eggleston

Speaker Bio
As a consultant on content strategy and user experience, Melissa Eggleston helps people and organizations create user-friendly digital experiences with memorable content. In 1997, she wrote her first online stories about soccer and broke all the rules we now know about writing for the web.

She has developed online content for all types of organizations – from businesses in San Francisco to non-profits in New York City. She provides UX research and strategy for the UX-Shop in Durham, NC. Melissa previously worked for Duke University and Bloomberg News.

No Cost Online Non-Profit Research: Sometimes Free Really IS Free

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Discover online resources previously only available to large businesses and now available to you for free. Create demographic and census data maps for presentations using SimplyMap, conduct research on 24 million U.S. businesses and non-profits and 235 million U.S. residents using Reference USA, view 248,660 online videos from producers like PBS, BBC, NOVA, and Frontline, and research almost any topic from reliable content providers. All these resources and more are available for free through NCLive.Org and your public library. You will wonder how you ever did without them.

Speakers: Betty Garrison & Sara Thynne

Organization: Elon Univ

Speaker Bios: Betty Garrison is the Business Research Librarian at Elon University in Elon, NC. She is the liaison to the Love School of Business and works with students and faculty to research topics in business, economics, accounting, management, marketing, entrepreneurship and sales.

Sara Thynne is the Reference & Instruction Librarian at Alamance Community College in Graham, NC.

Session Tags: non-profit research; beginner;

15 Ways to Make Your Website Better, Smarter, and More Beautiful

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You hate your current website. Or maybe it just doesn’t work as well as it should. Or maybe nobody ever goes to it. There are a lot of ways your sites can fall short: scattered design, muddled messaging, bad or nonexistent mobile design, weak SEO, among other problems. It’s hard to do it all right. This session will take a look at the most common website problems and help you with practical solutions to make your sites smarter, more usable, and more effective.

Speaker: Matt Pusateri

Organization: Flying Dog Creative

Speaker Bio: Matt Pusateri is the founder and creative director of Flying Dog Creative. A designer and web strategist with more than two decades of professional experience, he specializes in building clean, modern, and effective web sites that look good on any device or screen. Matt has also done work with a variety of nonprofit and private-sector organizations, including the Center for American Progress, The Communications Network, Local Government Federal Credit Union, Hunt Alternatives Fund, Core Legal Concepts, People for the American Way, and Holland & Knight LLP. He also has years of experience with marketing, branding, email campaigns, online activism, graphic design, animation, and visual storytelling.

Session Tags: Web Design, Websites, Branding, Web Strategy, Content Strategy

Top 5 PivotTable Tips to Make You a Star!

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Bring your laptop to this Excel PivotTables class. PivotTables allow you to quickly summarize and analyze large amounts of data in lists and tables by dragging and dropping columns to different rows, columns, or summary positions. In this hands-on session, you’ll learn the top 5 PivotTable tips and tricks that will make you a star! To ensure a high transfer of learning, attendees are welcome to Q&A with the facilitator after the class at firstclass.djltraining.com.
Note: Excel 2007/2010/2013 must be pre-installed on your Windows laptop. (No Macs, please.)
Speaker: DeLisa Lee

Organization: DJL Training, Inc.

Speaker Bio: DeLisa Lee is the owner and Program Director of DJL Training, Inc. providing customized computer training to government agencies, corporate entities, small-med businesses and community based organizations. DJL Training has classes for everyone from novices to power users, young adults to seniors. DeLisa is passionate about helping people work smarter, not harder, at their computers. Her favorite things to teach include Microsoft Access and Excel, Google Apps For Work, and Customer Relationship Management systems. She also has an extensive knowledge of desktop and web-based productivity applications and specializes in the effective use of mobile apps and devices. DeLisa lives in Durham, NC with her family and plays keyboards in a local jazz band.

Session Tags: excel, PivotTables, spreadsheets, computer

A New Rosetta Language: Hi-Tech Teens and Computer Science

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Come see how inspiring our youth helps to create a better future for technology! Our session will be divided into three portions. First, we want to give a presentation outlining the motives behind our efforts. Some of the questions we will address include: why high school students? Why is diversity in technology important? What are some of the factors that prevent girls from participating in computer science, and how did we address these in our program? The second portion of the session will be presentations from the Hi-Tech Teens students themselves. They will showcase the result of 6 weeks of work, with program demonstrations. The final portion of the session will be a short Q&A session with the students, to give them a chance to reflect on the program and share their experiences with the audience.

Speaker: Betsey McFarland

Organization: Wade Edwards Learning Lab/WiCS@NCSU

Speaker Bio: The Wade Edwards Foundation & Learning Lab (WELL) and NC State University Women in Computer Science (WiCS) organization have partnered together to create a program to introduce young people to the exciting world of programming. Holding mentorship sessions once a week with two sections (one exclusively reserved for females, the other co-ed), the program hopes to inspire its participants to overcome social and experience-based barriers to succeed in one of the most in-demand fields of the modern age. Representatives from both organizations as well as student participants will present an overview of the program, lessons learned, challenges faced, future goals and most importantly – the experience of the young people involved in the program.

Session Tags: Mentorship, Student Presentations, Women in Computer Science, Diversity, Programming, Technology Skills, Positive Youth Development

Opening This Email Could Change Your Life

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How many email do you receive a day? 100? 200? 1,000? As a nonprofit communicator, do can you reach your audiences when you have to compete with this sheer volume of noise? In this session, we’re going to evaluate some of the best practices in email marketing communications. We’ll review how to ensure your emails are opened to then creating engaging content that drives people to fulfill the call to action. We’re talking subject lines, theory of change, and cat photos.

Speaker: Katie Todd

Organization: NC League of Conservation Voters

Speaker Bio: Katie serves as the Online Engagement Coordinator with the NC League of Conservation Voters, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of protecting North Carolina’s natural resources. In this role, she oversees membership engagement, email marketing, fundraising, advocacy, and social media. Katie earned her BA in English and Political Science from the University of Arizona and a Master of Public Administration with the Nonprofit Leadership Certificate from UNC – Chapel Hill. Currently, she serves as the chair for YNPN Triangle NC. Outside of the nonprofit sector, Katie enjoys going on adventures with her husband Aaron, reading, running, cooking, watching sports, and indulging in the North Carolina craft beer scene.

Session Tags: email marketing, fundraising, subject lines, advocacy

Putting Your Data to Good Use: Data Viz for the Rest of Us

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This session will focus on the best practices for communicating with your data, whether you are using basic Excel charts or the latest and greatest technology.

In particular, we’ll discuss:
-How to find what your data is saying
-The best ways for your data to clearly tell a story
-Tips for selecting the best format for data visualization from dashboards to infographics
-Free and cheap tools for creating great looking graphics

Participants will leave this session with a better understanding of how to use their data to communicate with peers, Board members, donors, and the public.

Speaker: Heather Yandow

Organization: Third Space Studio

Speaker Bio: Heather Yandow brings more than a decade of experience as an outreach coordinator, coalition leader, project manager, and fundraiser to Third Space Studio and our clients.

Her most recent nonprofit position was as the Director of Development and Communications with the NC Conservation Network, a statewide network of over 100 environmental, community and environmental justice organizations focused on protecting North Carolina’s environment and public health. Heather’s nonprofit experience also includes being a volunteer and Board member. Heather co-founded the beehive collective, a giving circle in Raleigh. She has also served on the Board of Directors Democracy NC and ncyt: NC’s Network of Young Nonprofit Professionals. As a student at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, Heather volunteered with several student activist groups including co-chairing the Student Environmental Action Coalition. Heather also holds a certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University.

Heather earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics from the UNC in May 2001. In her free time, Heather enjoys riding bikes, hanging out with her dog, and enjoying the great music and food in the Triangle.

Session Tags: data, visualization, beginner, dashboard, infographic

Communication Planning & Implementation for Small Non-Profits

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Are you the only person running your non-profit? Do you have a small staff? Do you have lots of volunteers and need to get information out quickly? Do you find it really hard to find time to communicate with all of your stakeholders regularly?

If you answered “Yes!” to any of these questions, then this session is for you!

This session will overview various technologies that you can use to maximize communication with your constituents, convert social media likes to supporters or donors, strengthen your board, and raise monies. These web-based tools can be easily used, set up, shared, integrated, and maintained. It will also focus on the need for a social media plan which can be as simple as an Excel spreadsheet.

This session will focus on the real-life implementation of various online tools to support non-profits and will include a portion for sharing ideas with the other participants.
Some of the tools which may be discussed will be: Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, E-Newsletters, YouTube, PayPal, Square, Crowdrise, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Volunteer Sign-Up Programs, Surveys, and more. We will also talk about mobile devices and how to maximize their usage!

Speaker: Kathy McCullough-Testa

Organization: Beach Food Pantry & KMT Consultants

Speaker Bio: Kathy McCullough-Testa is the President & CEO of KMT Consultants, Inc., and serves as part-time Executive Director of the Beach Food Pantry in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Kathy helps her clients “Transform Visionary Ideas Into Reality” on a daily basis.

She is a motivated, personable business professional with experience in multiple industries including health care, government, financial, real estate, non-profit, retail, and education.

Kathy is the first executive director of the Beach Food Pantry. In her nearly two-year tenure, she has helped increase fundraising goals by 50%, increased volunteer participation, and strengthened and expanded community support through outreach events, fundraisers, and social media.

Session Tags: social media, communication, beginner, intermediate, blogs, marketing

Surround Sound Approach – Content Marketing for Nonprofits

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“Content Marketing” is hot in for-profit marketing and advertising, but how can you adapt those best practices to your nonprofit?

Learn how to create a comprehensive boom of sound to reach your target audiences. At it’s core, this is all about increasing online engagement. The “Surround Sound Approach” is a multimedia approach to communications that reaches your audience on multiple marketing channels with a unified message. This coordinated approach is not only effective but efficient as you can use one tactic over multiple platforms.

In this session, you’ll see success stories and get the tools to use this approach for your nonprofit. We’ll break it down so you can get the most use out of the content you are already creating!

Speaker: Dawn Crawford

Organization: BC/DC Ideas

Speaker Bio: The engine behind BC/DC Ideas, Dawn has dedicated her career to good. Before launching BC/DC Ideas in 2010, she earned her chops in 10+ years of communications leadership roles for public health, healthcare and youth-focused nonprofits. Working for nonprofits is Dawn’s dream job, and she loves that her 40+ hours a week make the world a better place.

These days Dawn brings her considerable experience and expertise to helping elevate the nonprofit sector. Our team’s lead strategist, Dawn is often seen leading our IdeaStorms, penning communications plans, or checking in with clients.

Things that make her happy: Chai tea in the morning or a glass of champagne at quittin’ time, Basecamp, living in the South, her daughter’s giggle and a well-formatted spreadsheet.

Session Tags: communications, content marketing, increasing online engagement

Make your Organization Wikipedia Official: Insider Tips, Tricks and Strategies

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So your team has done it all – you’re on Facebook, Twitter, G+, LinkedIn, and Instagram? Now, it’s time to turbo charge your organization and take it to the next level with a Wikipedia page!
Join us to learn how to build legitimacy and reputation as well as premium placement within the first five Google search results for your organization, by getting your organization onto Wikipedia.

Kasey Baker and Frank Jones, Wikipedia’s former Regional Ambassadors and Coordinators for their Education Program, will give you an advanced crash course in how to start, actually write, or even improve an existing Wikipedia page for your organization. You will learn:

1. Why is it so important to have a Wikipedia page?
2. Why it is so hard to get into Wikipedia?
3. What you need to do to become a “Notable Organization.”
4. Tricks for writing your first article.
5. Tips for handling conflicts with “Wikipedians.”
6. And an open Q&A session.

Do not waste months just to have your article rejected, learn how to do it right and even if a Wikipedia page is best for you. Established organizations with active social media and existing community presence will gain the most from this presentation.

Speakers: Kasey Baker & Frank Jones

Organization: The Wiki Wizards – www.TheWikiWizards.com

Speaker Bio: Kasey Baker was the former Regional Coordinator for Wikipedia in the Southeast and Midwest regions of the United States from 2011-2014. During this time he also acted as the in-house Wikipedia Ambassador at Western Carolina University where he regularly guest lectured graduate level policy courses and ran training workshops for Wikipedia for new professors. He has helped hundreds of students, professors, librarians, non-profits and many others both write articles for Wikipedia and add content to existing articles. Baker also has been an active Wikipedian editing hundreds of articles and responsible for creating policy articles that received recognition by Wikipedia as an explanatory article,

Frank Jones acted for eighteen months as a Regional Ambassador for the Education Outreach Program at Wikipedia in the South East region, Jones has worked with professors and classes throughout the United States. While he spends most of his time working with his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jones has also supported classes at the University of North Georgia, Davidson College, and Appalachian State University. Jones is also an active Wikipedia and contributes inn his free time to articles on exotic locals he visits during his travels across the world.

Session Tags: Wikipedia, intermediate, search engine optimization, SEO, social media, organizational building, Google Search results

WordPress SEO

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Nonprofit organizations need to get the most out of every dollar spent and hour volunteered. WordPress is the platform of choice for organizations that need a professional looking website, but don’t have tens of thousands to spend on development. With a few simple plugins and best practices, you can generate search engine optimized content that drives traffic to your website. Best of all, these tools and tactics are so easy to learn that you don’t need to spend hours training volunteers and staff members.

Speaker: Frank Jones

Organization: FrankCJones.com

Speaker Bio: Frank Jones is the organizer for the Raleigh SEO Meetup and a co-organizer for the Triangle WordPress Meetup. Since 2009, Frank has helped clients develop content that is loved by search engines and human audiences alike. Additionally, he assists small to medium-size organizations by managing their WordPress installations. Thanks to the location independent nature of his work, you may find Frank in Raleigh – but you shouldn’t be suprised to find he’s telecommuting from Spain or Turkey. You can learn more about Frank and the projects he has under way at FrankCJones.com.

Session Tags: WordPress, SEO, beginner, intermediate

It’s a SNAP – Social Networking Accelerated Process

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When I first started my own business, the consistent and frequent message that I received from mentors was that my social media efforts needed to be consistent and frequent.

But I also had a coaching business to run. I didn’t want to spend the majority of my time on facebook, LinkedIn, Google, twitter, yahoo, etc.

At the same time, I realized that social media (if used correctly) is an effective, inexpensive marketing tool. And without marketing there is no sales. And Sales Does Drive the Business Bus.

Since then, I created a systematic approach to get a consistent message out on social media, frequently, efficiently and in line with my marketing brand.– with just 10 minutes every other month.

I call it SNAP – Social Networking Accelerated Process. And I have done several speaking and training engagements on “It’s a SNAP” to several nonprofit organizations as well as other coaches and entrepreneurs.

Speaker: Laura Rose

Speaker Bio: Laura Rose, speaker author of the business and time management book: TimePeace: Making Peace with Time, the Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations and Business Marketing for Entrepreneurs is a certified business and efficiency coach.

Laura Lee Rose has been in the software and testing industry for over 20 years. She’s worked with such companies as IBM, Ericsson, Staples, Fidelity Investments and Sogeti in various client advocacy and project management roles. The techniques she used in her business coaching and client advocacy work saved these companies both time and money, which resulted in on-time, quality product delivery with higher client satisfaction.

Even though Laura excelled in the corporate environment, she felt a calling toward something more. Laura now uses her time management, work life balance and personal development skills as a efficiency coach and Corporate Exit Strategist. Laura Lee Rose helps people blend their goals and dreams into their everyday lives. Laura uses creative transition strategies to help her clients realize what really matters to them. Combining inspired action with practical, tangible techniques easily lead you toward more autonomy, freedom and balance.

If you are ready for your next chapter, learn more about Laura and her products at www.LauraLeeRose.com

Organization: Rose Coaching

Session Tags: beginners, social media marketing, productivity, business strategies, marketing strategies

Don’t Guess! What We Know About Website Users

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Making a website easy for your visitors to use is essential for a terrific website experience. Great content is often crippled by poor usability. Understanding usability principles can inform your design and content decisions to make websites more user friendly and successful. No more guessing how people use websites! Based on publicly available usability research, we’ll discuss what we know about users in terms of both big-picture concepts and nitty-gritty details. For example, how do users engage with photography on websites? We’ll also discuss items to keep in mind for visitors on mobile devices.

We will look at website examples to see common problems that non-profits make that cause their websites to be user-UNfriendly. We’ll also talk about potential solutions. You’ll walk out with practical tips that you can immediately use to better your website. Resources will be suggested for further learning.

Speaker: Melissa Eggleston

Organization: http://melissaegg.com

Speaker Bio: As a content strategist with a UX focus, Melissa Eggleston aims to help organizations create memorable website experiences so they can connect to their “tribe.” In 1996, she wrote her first online stories about soccer and violated all the rules we now know about writing for the web. Now as a freelancer, she consults and creates content for all types of organizations – from dentists in California to an e-commerce design firm in New York to a religious non-profit in Kentucky. Previously she worked for Duke University and Bloomberg News. Melissa gained her multimedia skills and love of usability at UNC-Chapel Hill where she got her Master’s degree. When not working, you’ll likely find Melissa on her yoga mat or trying to convince her 3-year-old daughter that their cat Luna really doesn’t want another hug.

Session Tags: usability, user experience, content strategy, intermediate, beginner, website design

NCTech4Good, an affiliate of NTEN and TechSoup’s NetSquared, is the local resource for nonprofit technology information. Join the sharing and networking at monthly meetings on the third Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8:30 p.m. usually at UNC-TV, and our annual conference, https://www.nct4g.org/. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @nctech4good, and with the hashtag #nct4g.