Top 5 Trends Affecting Philanthropic Associations

What are the unique trends that will affect philanthropic associations, and what will the impact of those trends be?

Marcia Stepanek, Editor, Contribute magazine has identified the Top 5 Trends affecting philanthropic organizations in 2008. These trends include:

• The rapid pace of charity expansion will start to slow.
• Globalization of philanthropy will continue aggressively.
• More charity scandals will surface.
• There will be more charity mergers and acquisitions.
• Communications technology will continue to shake up the status quo of giving.

Read Marcia's article here.

We are pleased to announce that Marcia is presenting at DigitalNow 2008. In her workshop, Marcia will discuss the unique design and usability challenges of the cause-related Web site, and the importance of elements of content, emotional engagement, and confidentiality.

Join us at DigitalNow 2008 to hear Marcia and to learn more about trends in technology and business and how they affect association leadership.

DigitalNow, April 23-26, 2008, at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Register now at http://www.DigitalNowConference.com

Have you heard about the Fusion Productions Community of Practice platform? It's the first CoP platform to fully integrate social networking tools. Take the instant demo now.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

association, association management, digitalnow, association executive, Chris Anderson, Dan Heath, Jeremy Gutsche, Jeneanne Rae, Anne Balsamo, The Long Tail, technology trends social media marketing,Marcia Stepanek

Four Social Media Marketing Tips for Bloggers

Darren Rowse, Blogging expert and Founder of ProBlogger.net recently recorded a short video in which he discusses these four social media marketing tips:

1. Be an Active Participant


2. Have a Consistent Presence on Different Social Media Sites


3. Add Value to the Wider Community


4. Let Others Sell You

Watch the video here.

Learn more about trends in technology and how they affect association leadership at DigitalNow, April 23-26, 2008, at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Register now!

Have you heard about the Fusion Productions Community of Practice platform? It's the first CoP platform to fully integrate social networking tools. Take the instant demo now.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com


association, association management, digitalnow, association executive, Chris Anderson, Dan Heath, Jeremy Gutsche, Jeneanne Rae, Anne Balsamo, The Long Tail, technology trends social media marketing

Better Than Free

We all know that the Internet enables us to replicate and duplicate information at warp speed and at virtually no cost. So what does that mean to organizations whose business model includes the sale of information? How can you possibly continue to sell something that people can get for free on the Internet?

According to Kevin Kelly, author of The Technium, the more abundant information becomes, the more valuable the intangibles - such as trust, personalization, and interpretation - become. Kelly calls these qualities generative values. He writes, "A generative value is a quality or attribute that must be generated, grown, cultivated, nurtured. A generative thing can not be copied, cloned, faked, replicated, counterfeited, or reproduced. It is generated uniquely, in place, over time. In the digital arena, generative qualities add value to free copies, and therefore are something that can be sold." Read Kelly's article, Better Than Free.


Learn more about trends in technology and how they affect association leadership at DigitalNow, April 23-26, 2008, at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Register now!

DigitalNow- the proven leadership summit for associations.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com


association, association management, digitalnow, association executive, Chris Anderson, Dan Heath, Jeremy Gutsche, Jeneanne Rae, Anne Balsamo, The Long Tail, technology trends

Joining the DigitalNow Parade

Hi, my name is Linda Wedul. Thank you to Ben for inviting me to contribute to this blog. I am an avid blog reader but needed a little push to become an active blogger myself.

This will be my 5th time attending DigitalNow. I keep my conference notes, in fact, I recently revisited my notes from Jesse James Garrett’s sessions. Our Web team wrote a strategy document based on his 9 pillars of successful Web teams and it was definitely worth the effort. Like any strategy paper, the first one is a bear and then the yearly updates are a fraction of the time and a great opportunity to refocus.

A little bit about me. I work at the Minnesota Society of CPAs (9,000 members) as the Director of Member Relations and Marketing, although my name plate says Director of Smooth Sailing. Yes, I know most of the people that attend DigitalNow from other CPA societies (that is how I met Ben). I live in Farmington, Minnesota with my husband Dean. We have 2 children, 2 cats and we are a foster family for hearing and service dogs. We will be empty nesters in September – we are already (with great enthusiasm) planning September and January vacations.

My to do list includes reading Made to Stick and rereading The Long Tail before the conference. What is on your to do list to get the most out of DigitalNow?

Enter the blogmaster: Digital Now Conference blog sees a parade of new faces

Hi, I'm Ben Martin, CAE. I write the Certified Association Executive blog, and it is my honor to be serving you as the Digital Now blogmaster in the days leading up to, and during, Digital Now. I'm eagerly looking forward to the time we'll spend together in Orlando.

My first job as blogmaster was to round up a slew of additional contributing bloggers, and they'll introduce themselves over the next few days. I know most of them personally, and I am excited to discover more of their perspectives on the association profession. The contributing bloggers represent a diverse set of associations with varying experiences, so you can expect to hear about their unique viewpoints. You'll hear from first-time DigitalNow attendees (like me) and every-time DigitalNow attendees.

A little bit about me: I live with my wife and daughter in Richmond where I'm the director of communications and new media at the Virginia Association of REALTORS. When I began blogging in August 2004 as I was studying for the CAE exam, I became one of the first bloggers to write exclusively about associations. I'm an active volunteer leader, writer and speaker for ASAE & The Center, and was recently named one of "five to watch" under the age of 35. Thomas Friedman might call me a versatilist, but I see myself as a dabbler or jack of all trades: doing a lot of things with great competence, but nothing with great virtuosity. In my spare time I alternate between running a 54-channel mixing board, jogging, taking photos, writing, editing home movies, playing guitar, reading, blogging, and other things. I don't watch television or go to the movies.

This will be my first time attending DigitalNow, and I am looking forward to it with great expectations. DigitalNow has a cult-like following for its reputation of being a premiere and exclusive conference with remarkable speakers and experiences. I can't wait to see for myself. Because I've long been interested in environmental scans, the general session speaker I'm most excited to hear is Jeremy Gutsche, the trend spotter.

However, I'm one of those people who finds peer to peer learning to be the most rewarding experience at conferences. Let's start that conversation now! If you're so inclined, please leave a comment!