Does your site scream out, "I haven't changed my image since 1995!" Or maybe, your pages are plagued by lengthy copy that just keeps going and going… Perhaps your web presence just doesn't really reflect all the great work your organization does.

Get at the heart of web issues and head in an effective direction to achieve your website goals. At this meetup, we'll delve into website hang-ups and problem-solve cures for the "common" website. Fodder for website problem-solving could include: - browser compatibility - unique identity and online presence - easy navigation - web-optimized images - color scheme and text/background contrast - title tags - any other number of web issues that get under your skin

Leading the discussion at this month's joint NTEN 501Tech Club and Net Squared MeetUp will be Eve Simon, Creative Director at Beaconfire Consulting. Eve brings 14 years of online visual design, user experience and creative management in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors.

With Eve leading the discussion, we'll delve into the web design process. And if you’re game, we'll jump into a discussion on the inherent or perceived conflict between IA and Design. Understand why Eve might tell you, "A wireframe is not a coloring book."

Ever wonder how your email list stacks up against other nonprofits?

M+R Strategic Services and NTEN released a new eNonprofit Benchmarks Study for 2009 (Download the report at http://www.e-benchmarksstudy.com/2009.html). We've analyzed online messaging, fundraising, and advocacy data from 32 leading nonprofit organizations to provide you with reliable new data, answering questions like:

* How is the financial crisis affecting online fundraising?
* How do my targeted emails, appeals to non-donors, phone call alerts, and more compare to those of other nonprofits?
* For state-based or local groups, what's a good email response rate

Karen Matheson, M+R Strategic Services will cover key findings on fundraising and advocacy metrics, explore what the data tells us about industry-wide changes, provide key metrics to analyze your organization's online program and take questions about the study and nonprofit online metrics.

She will also offer up real-world advice and research-based best practices for communicating effectively with your membership, helping maintain and develop supporters, build relationships, and sharing your story.

Agenda: 5:30 Networking

6:00 Presentation with Q/A

7:00 More Networking

Karen Matheson is the Manager of Quantitative Research and Analysis at M+R Strategic Services and provides strategic data analysis for a range of M+R's eCampaigns clients, including the Human Rights Campaign, Oxfam America, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. With a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Oregon and graduate coursework in statistics and analysis, Karen has a strong quantitative research background. In addition to co-authoring M+R and NTEN's eNonprofit Benchmarks Study (www.e-benchmarksstudy.com), Karen regularly researches and co-authors articles about best online communications strategies using data from several national nonprofits.

Please email Anna at [email protected] or Donna Arriaga at [email protected] with any questions.

At last, we have confirmed a May Meetup topic!
Constituent Relationship Management Systems or Databases!

A good system for managing your clients, constituents, donors, and/or volunteers will ease your troubles away! Well...we're not sure that any database can be completely pain-free, there are some good solutions available for nonprofits but before a tool is decided upon, some essential questions must be asked. Join us on May 25, when Tompkins Spann will talk unbiased on how to determine your nonprofits' needs for data management and what you need to evaluate when choosing a CRM or database.

Then, you will have the opportunity to talk to Tompkins and others (we invite you to attend if you have a CRM solution to talk up!) about specific solutions and how they might integrate into your nonprofit's work flow.

We are proud to be bringing you this meetup in collaboration with the Portland Nonprofit Salesforce Users Group and Convio.

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Tompkins is the Sr. Market Strategist for Convio focused exclusively on the Common Ground product, Convio’s CRM solution for nonprofits. He has worked for Convio (and formerly) GetActive for more than 5 years in various roles, from account services to product marketing. His experience working with nonprofits began when he exited the Peace Corps in 2000 to create his own 501c3. He then began working for a large advocacy-based organization in DC serving as the lead on all technology projects ranging from website strategy to database development. Tompkins has a passion for nonprofit-tech and truly enjoys helping organizations pick the right solutions and apply the right strategies to help further their mission.