Tim Fullerton

The people at the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) and DoGooderTV have put together the Nonprofit Technology Conference video contest. For some great examples of compelling and interesting video, take a look at these five. This is somewhat self-serving as I worked on one of them. Can you guess which one?

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani completely revamped his website this week, so I thought I would update my comments. It is certainly an improvement over what he had before (see my grade several posts ago), there still leaves something to be desired (for a much more negative review, check out what one of the guys at TechPresident had to say). There is a lot of unused space on his page, and a massive video front and center. I still don’t understand why these videos are not embedded from YouTube. That way you have a better chance of reaching a broader audience than just people who are coming to your site. The other thing that confuses me is why the email signup doesn’t also ask for the zip code. Presidential races at this point are all about where you live, so one would think that should be a cructial bit of info. There is no blog, but there are some links to social networking sites, which is cool. The one thing that caught my eye is the “call talk radio” feature. But then I went to see what it was all about and it said “coming soon.” If you’re going to release a new feature, it better be live.

it is certainly much better than what he had before, but for a frontrunner, I was expecting more.

Overall Grade: B-

A lot has been made over the last few days about the mash-up video below depicting Hillary Clinton in a not so favorable light (that’s an understatement). However, I’m not going to talk about the guy who got fired from his job for making it, or whether it’s good/bad for Barack Obama. What I find fascinating is how it appears this will change politics forever.

I say that because of the hysteria surrounding the video. Who made it? Were Republicans behind it? Did Obama do this on purpose? The greater impact is that ANYONE could have made this. Someone in their basement in Kansas or a guy in a studio in LA. Video editing software is so cheap and easy to use now, many people have it on their home computers. This is only the beginning everyone, these videos are going to start popping up everwhere (in fact, they already are). This is going to change politics forever. So many ads will be floating around, I would argue that the most interesting and compelling ones will get attention. This generally means it won’t be the ones coming from the campaigns, but individuals themselves. With YouTube and other video sharing sites viewed by millions a day, it is going to be a lot tougher for campaigns to compete. Plus, how will campaigns respond to all these new ads? How will campaign finance laws make sure campaigns aren’t hiding behind fake user names? This video has raised a lot of questions, and not many answers to this point.

If you think campaign attack ads are vicious already, just wait until everyone with a computer can make one.

I promised a more detailed report on the MySpace presidential section they released on Monday. MySpace Impact is designed to give MySpace users an easy way to learn more about the presidential contenders. The format is clear and easy to read, but my biggest question is why not all the campaigns are listed. Where is Bill Richardson? He has an official MySpace page and isn’t on here? MySpace boasts over 160 million accounts - this is a perfect opportunity to introduce yourself to a huge audience. Most of the major contenders are here, but many second-tier ones are missing. Impact might not be a revolution, but it is clearly something worth being involved with at the moment.

The message is simple. If MySpace wants to give you free publicity TAKE IT.

If one thing is different between the presidential race in 2004 and 2008, it clearly is going to be the battle on the internet. Three years ago, an online video would have had little to no impact. Today, it’s a great way to reach thousands, if not millions of potential voters.

Barack Obama’s team just sent out an email to his supporters with the embeded video below. It’s a powerful reminder of Obama’s consistent opposition to the Iraq war. More importantly, it highlights the differences between some of his Democratic rivals who originally voted for the war and are now against (Edwards and Clinton most specifically). YouTube has allowed for easier access to what cadidates have said in the past. Maybe it won’t be on the same level as television ads in ‘08, but clearly YouTube is going to play a vital role in the next election.

They guys over at TechPresident are reporting that MySpace will launch a presidential platform today. So far, 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans have signed up. Right now it is not live, but it will be real interesting to see what it looks like. I’ll be writing more about this when there is something to look at.

There has been a lot of chatter recently about a new site called Twitter. Basically what it does is to allow people to send short messages to the site that people can read. At first I was at a complete loss as to why we need such a technology. I mean, do I really need to know you’re currently watching The Daily Show? But after some thinking on this issue it hit me. This is the perfect tool in times of a natural disaster. In developing countries, cell phones are the mode of communication, where not many people have access to the internet. This would be a perfect way to upload short bits of information on what happening on the ground. This is something humanitarian organizations are always in dire need of - updates from the ground. This makes the people affected also the newsmakers. Imagine if the people caught in Hurricane Katrina had this kind of info, or the people affected by the tsunami. This could take user generated content to a whole new level

A lot of non-profits are still struggling with how best to dive into the “Web 2.0″ world. As crazy as it sounds to some of us, most are still not doing much outside of emailing their constituents. Non-profits are notoriously understaffed, so this should not come as a surprise. So how should a non-profit start out in this world? As simple as it sounds, it’s as easy as this: start a MySpace page.

A MySpace page will allow you to test several areas in one spot and it will be an excellent testing ground as a first step. It also has the lowest threshold. For one, it is free, and two, most groups will have the content already generated that you can put up online (unlike YouTube or even Flickr to some extent). This can take as little as two hours per week to maintain. Here are some simple steps you can take to start your MySpace page.

These might sound simple, but it is the easiest way to build up a presence on MySpace, and will let you see how much more your staff can handle.

According to all the polls, the current Republican frontrunner is former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. As the frontrunner, does he also have a top-flight website? Well, not really.

First up the good stuff. The site’s main goal at this point is to collect emails of supporters. As someone who is very well known throughout the US, this is a good move. There is also an RSS feed (something lacking on most sites), so you do not have to check the site every day for updates. There is also a prominent donation button in case you didn’t know all candidates need money to be successful.

On to the bad stuff: This site just doesn’t do it for me. While the design is clean, it’s just not an inspiring place to visit. There is zero engaging content. No videos, audio, or the slightest hint at any social networking sites. And what is up with the URL: www.joinrudy2008? Who is going to remember that?

There is not a lot of stuff on this site, and to be honest, I expected more from the Giuliani campaign (who has hired many top-flight GOP insiders). What I will assume is that there is much, much more to come. Before Barack Obama announced, his exploratory committee site was very dull. Once he announced it was a different world. If this site changes, I will certainly change my grade.

Overall Grade: D

Tonight’s installment features former Congressman, UN Ambassador, Energy Secretary and now Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM). Clearly he is one of the more experienced candidates in the race, but how does he measure up on the web?

Quite well actually. The Governor’s site is clean, to the point and easy to navigate. It is very easy to sign up for email alerts and he has links to his social networking sites directly on the homepage. That being said, he has a long way to go as he only has 1250 friends on his MySpace page, compared to the tens of thousands for some of his competitors. And how come his interests are not filled out on his profile? People like to vote for candidates whom they like. What better way to start that process than to show some of your likes and interests?

There is also a campaign blog, but I would use that term loosely. No comments, trackbacks or diggs on this blog. It’s more like a short diary than anything interactive. People want to be able to share their opinion. Even if the comments were moderated, at least it would give some flexibility to people who want to participate.

So the campaign has done a decent job of getting a site up that is engaging and one that people might come back to. They are not in the top-tier of websites, but a decent job.

Overal Grade: B

Up tomorrow will be former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani

We switch it up a little tonight and talk about a favorite of the far right, Senator Sam Brownback. This is your standard political site. Not a MySpace or a YouTube to be found. There is a simple, easy to find sign up box for emails and his announcement video is on the site (though not on YouTube). Brownback does has a blog and it is updated every day. However, take a look at the number of comments. Most posts do not have any comments, while others have 1,2 or maybe 3 (for an example of the opposit, check out Obama’s site).

Brownback is clearly one of the lesser known candidates, which makes you think it would be very important for him to take the Edwards approach of signing up for every social networking site out there. Every supporter counts and he needs a lot to catch up to the more well known Republicans running.

Overall Grade: C

Up tomorrow: Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM)

Senator Barack Obama’s online team continues to impress. I received a fundraising email from the campaign today with an interesting twist:

So I’m asking you to promise to match the donation of someone who hasn’t taken the leap yet.

Here’s how it works:

-You choose the amount you want to match.
-You write a message to a potential donor about why it’s important to own a piece of this campaign.
-You’ll be matched with a fellow supporter who’s making their first donation because of your promise.

Yet another brilliant strategy that is going to bring in more money and even more supporters. Anyone who works in the non-profit world is familiar with matching gift campaigns. Those usually work by getting a large donor to give a specific amount and then ask smaller donors to give and the large donor will match it. In this case, Obama is asking his small donors to make a small match. Donors who have recently given are going to be compelled to give again, and others who are thinking about giving, will probably make the move (As of this writing, over 2400 people have already pledged to give again in less than twelve hours). For a campaign that is depending on a large grassroots movement, this is another brilliant piece of marketing. It’s all about deepening engagement online, and the Obama campaign has it down to a science.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be reviewing how each of the potential presidential candidates are doing online. I’ll be looking at everyone from Hillary, Obama, McCain and Rudy, to the lower tier candidates. I’ll mix it up between Republicans and Democrats and we’ll start later today with the first top-tier candidate to announce, John Edwards.

Like everyone else, I generally get hundreds of email messages a day, but two stood out that came within ten minutes of each other. Let’s start with the first from Vice President Al Gore.

On March 21st, I’ll hand-deliver your message to Washington when I testify at Congressional hearings on the climate crisis.

Can you commit to finding 10 friends to send a message to Congress demanding immediate action?

Ask them to visit:

http://algore.com/cards.html

Does this sound like someone who is NOT running for President? Most online communications experts know this type of message is a strong way to build up ones list. Why else would Al be so interested in growing his list. Clearly asking people to contact their own Representatives would be a more effective way to have an impact, but this message clearly is for list building. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of Mr. Gore in the 2008 Presidential race.

The other is from Al’s former boss, President Bill Clinton. Only this isn’t about him, it’s about Hillary.

In less than six days, thousands of people — old friends and new ones — have risen to the occasion and donated over $800,000. Those financial resources will help fund critical organizing and campaign activities in the weeks ahead.

This email is important because it shows that Hillary is not only getting support from high dollar donors within the Democratic Party, but also people contributing $10, $25, $50. This is significant as Senator Obama and John Edwards are counting on the “Netroots” to overcome Hillary. We’ll see how this plays out over the coming months.

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my new website dedicated to online communications. It’s going to take me a few days to get up and running, but I will be posting daily updates on issues ranging from how the Presidential candidates are using the Internet to gain supporters and money, to how bad my commute was on the T (let’s hope those are few and far between). I’ll also talk about some great examples of organizations using the internet/online communications to further their cause. I will also be providing reports from the Nonprofit Technology Conference in April and the Convio Users Conference in October. Hopefully you will find this a useful resource.

Thanks for reading and wish me luck!