ICT Hub December 2007 Newsletter

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

Can you raise funds on the web?  How about increasing awareness and involving friends to promote your cause with social networks?  Things to think about in December and January plus some case studies on making it happen.

Contents

Articles

Online fundraising the easy way - What you can do to raise money online, however small your organisation read article

Social networking – raising funds, raising awareness and making a difference - It’s not all about the money: what can MySpace, Facebook et al do for local communities?

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Case studies of the month

Using Facebook and MySpace for Advocacy and Fundraising

Raising money for a good cause the easy way

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Resources from ICT Hub Knowledgebase

New this month…

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Stories and resources from around the web

Social networking event
The next Institute of Fundraising Technology Group event, “Social Networking Sites – gold mine or waste of time?” will be an interactive panel discussion, debating the key issues for and against using social networking to add value to your organization.

Wednesday 5th December 2007, 2pm for 2.30pm at NCVO, London

Don’t let your data get into the wrong hands
It’s difficult to comprehend HMRC could lose 25 million records containing personal information and bank details but how safe are your procedures for sharing and securing data? How secure are your passwords and systems and do you send unencrypted data over the internet?

Protecting data is about more than the Data Protection Act. These Knowledgebase articles will help you understand how to keep safe.

Where are your staff hiding their data?
55% of employees store work-related files such as emails, files and documents in locations other than a shared computer network. It not only compromises security, it means you can’t find what you’re looking for!

Talking telephony without costing the earth
If you’re a voluntary sector manager and would like to make better use of telephone products and services or a circuit rider wanting to improve your advice, the Telephone Helplines Association (THA) are delivering free one day courses, funded by the ICT Hub, across England in January and February.

A perfect pitch of ICT
UK Fundraising’s Perfect Pitch series features a half day event focusing on the latest developments in information and communications technology in fundraising and related areas. Central London, 29th January 2008.

Implications of online communities
3rd Sector Foresight is examining the growth and impact of online communities, their effect on individuals and organisations and the increasing risks of marginalisation.

ICT Skills Gap in the Voluntary and Community Sector
The strategic use of ICT is identified as the top skills gap in the sector

Social networking and accessibility
AbilityNet are currently researching the accessibility of networking websites and would like your feedback. The survey closes on 10th December.

Password manager
The New Year is a good time to make sure you have all your passwords and access details safely and securely documented. Kee Pass is a useful and free tool to help you do that.

What do you think about the Finance Hub website?
The Finance Hub website was successfully launched in June 2007 and we have received many positive comments so far. We now want your feedback to improve it further. Take part in our online user survey - it only takes a few minutes and will help make the Finance Hub website even better.

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News from the ICT Hub

Happy Birthday….

November has been a month of double celebrations with both the UKRiders list and IT4Communities reaching their 5th anniversaries.

UKRiders was formed on 22nd November 2002 as a discussion group to help develop and support the UK Circuit Rider movement.

Early discussions centred around the (then fairly new) wireless technologies, upgrading from Hotmail for a small organisation, introductions from Riders in various corners of the country, discounted software, Qubes (remember them?), the ever popular perennial contact database debate, selecting ADSL packages and so on.

If you’re not already signed up and would like to join in discussions with this vibrant community or simply find out more about Circuit Riding click here.

iT4Communities held its second annual IT Volunteering Awards on 29 November 2007 where it celebrated 5 years of helping IT professional volunteers and VCOs to work together to address the challenge of the digital age, and also of delivering over £2.5m worth of IT volunteering projects to charities and community organisations since launch in 2002.

The Awards recognise all IT volunteering in the UK and the event was a great success enjoyed by representatives from the voluntary sector and IT professionals. Find out who the winners were.

The national IT volunteering programme provides the experience and skills of IT professionals to smaller charities and community groups.iT4C defines needs, matches volunteers with VCOs needs and supports their working relationship - helping to bridge the digital divide. Click here for further information.

Suppliers Directory – new and improved!

The ICT Hub Suppliers Directory, a free list of suppliers providing ICT products and services to the sector, has just been re-launched after undergoing significant improvements. Information for users is now clearer and there is better accessibility and compliance with web standards. In addition many new features have been added which include:

  • a resources page with information to help you select a suitable supplier,
  • improved search facility which includes an alert when new suppliers meeting your search criteria are added to the directory (via RSS feed).
  • Ability to add up to 3 suppliers to your short list and send them information such as tenders directly via the system
  • Improved account set up and management for suppliers

To start using the directory to find an ICT supplier near you, or if you're a supplier providing ICT services to the sector and would like to apply for a listing click here.

Foresight Report – Charitable Giving and Fundraising in a Digital World
The third ICT Foresight report “Charitable Giving and Fundraising in a Digital World” details the impact of digital channels and how organisations need to respond to be successful in the future. This is available to download now from the publications section www.icthub.org.uk/publications

Free and Open Source in the Voluntary and Community Sector
The ICT Hub FOSS project is developing a number of key services aimed at strengthening the potential for the use of free and open source software in the sector. Core aims are building FOSS service supply, developing training and developing certified standards www.fossvcs.org.uk.

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