The Nonprofit Guide to the Internet: How to Survive and Thrive

Rating:
Summary: A terrific book for nonprofits wishing to go online
Review: In law school, we learned law by studying cases - one case at a time. It was slow, excruciating, and at times confusing. But when we wanted to put it all together, if truth be known, we'd pick up a hornbook. (U.S. Lawyers in the audience will be nodding with me, as they recall Corbin on Contracts or Prosser on Torts.)

The Nonprofit Guide to the Internet - How to Survive and Thrive is a kind of "hornbook" for nonprofits wishing to embrace the Internet.

This second-edition book is not for cybergeeks. Like its first edition released in 1996, it thankfully assumes little or no prior Internet expertise. Indeed, in Chapter 1 it walks the reader through a description of the Internet and its basic structure. Those with a good grounding in things Internet can skip Chapter 1 and move into the meatier portions of the book - and there are plenty of them.

"Why a Nonprofit Should Go On-Line," Chapter 2, covers such benefits as improving internal and external communications, providing better access to information, professional development, and "cyber-fund-raising" and "cybercampaigning." In other words, it provides a conceptual framework for an organization to identify the reasons why it should go on-line. (I have to wonder, frankly, why any organization could even question the wisdom of doing so - but then, that's just me.)

It is not enough to decide to go on-line. There is the question of how best to do that. With a bewildering array of options these days, Chapter 3's discussion of "Getting Connected" will help. I liked how the author presents a step-by-step linear process that starts with an assessment of current equipment and office communication needs and moves forward to such topics as selecting an Internet service provider.

Sound dry? The author moistens the discussion considerably by weaving into the discussions with short case studies. It's as though we're looking over the shoulder of someone just like us as various decisions are being made. It's almost a little voyeuristic - the author lets us peek at "journal entries" of the person making these decisions. It's highly instructive and helps us understand how we might go through the same process for our own organization. I like that.

Where the book hits stride - and where the book's main value resides - begins with Chapter 4's treatment of "Turning Knowledge to Action: Finding the Full Potential of the Internet to Improve Your Communication, Outreach, and Public Awareness." For many in this audience who have a strong grasp of the Internet - and maybe even an expertise - this is where you'll likely begin reading.

Author Michael Johnston correctly counsels the reader: "Simply getting a computer, an Internet account, and a phone connection is not enough. A nonprofit decision maker needs to know how to use this new medium in ways that save money, serve more clients, and ensure the long-term stability of the organization." To illustrate, Johnston provides a case study showing the effectiveness of the Internet for improving communication with Internal audiences - volunteers, in this case. Organizations who rely on volunteers will find the case study of interest.

Without diminishing the importance of reaching and supporting an organization's "internal audience," I found the book's treatment of the "external audience" outstanding. In a section entitled, "The External Audience: Collaborating and Cooperating on the Internet," Johnston walks us through a case study that illustrates the amazing variety of communications tools offered by the Internet. I found the discussion on membership recruitment especially valuable.

The book's appeal is not just in the use of brief case studies, but also in its ample use of screen shots. Somehow just reading about various sites is not enough; we need to be shown them. And that's just what Johnston does, and amply, throughout. For a book on the Internet, this is as user-friendly as you can get. If the Internet is a hot topic with nonprofit organizations, then on-line fund raising is the hottest of the hot. Though it is probably impossible to write a definitive chapter on this topic, given the break-net pace with which "cyber-fund-raising" is galloping along, Johnston's treatment is among the better discussions I've seen in print. Even if it cannot hope to keep up with the changes taking place in this arena, it provides a way of approaching on-line fund raising that will continue to be valid for some time, in my view. Besides, the book is published this year, so it's current as of now and probably will remain so for a couple of years - until the next, inevitable, edition.

Surprisingly, though, the book omits a discussion on the legal issues of on-line fundraising. Of course, such a topic is sufficiently deep to warrant an entire chapter or even a book. Still, even a brief mention of the issues would have been expected. We'll look for such a discussion in the next edition.

I recommend this book for any board member, officer, staff member, or volunteer who is seriously considering whether and how to take a nonprofit organization online, or make its online presence more effective.

Here are the book's chapters:

Chapter 1 - Learning about the Internet

Chapter 2 - Why a Nonprofit Should Go On-Line

Chapter 3 - Getting Connected

Chapter 4 - From the Knowledge to Action: Finding the Full Potential of the Internet to Improve Your Communication, Outreach, and Public Awareness

Chapter 5 - Research on the Internet: Tools and Tricks

Chapter 6 - Cyber-Fund-Raising

Chapter 7 - Making it Happen: Establishing a Presence on the World Wide Web

Chapter 8 - Reaching Future Supporters Now

Chapter 9 - Harnessing the Idiosyncratic