NPAction Update
Vol 2, Issue 9
4/27/2004

Welcome to this week's edition of the NPAction Update.

You are receiving this newsletter as requested during your registration with NPAction.org. To unsubscribe, send an email to npaction@npaction.org.


In this issue:
*What's New*
*Current Poll*
*Featured Article*
*Featured Resource Links*


*What's New*

Charity Channel recently ran an article on new online advocacy tools, and how they can be effectively used by nonprofits. The article focuses on using advances to make communication with constituents easier and more focused, as well as the importance of online advocacy for fundraisers, and includes many examples.

"New Online Tools Transform How Nonprofits Reach, Motivate and Retain Advocates"
http://charitychannel.com/article_10485.shtml



*Current Poll*

This week, NPAction asks if you use email or a web based mail system (like the House of Representatives' "Write Your Representative") to contact policymakers. Vote on this week's poll, continuously displayed on the right hand side of the site (just don't try to vote twice!!)

Here's your chance to ask a question you've wanted to ask other nonprofits, but couldn't figure out how. Send your idea for a poll to npaction@npaction.org.

Past Poll Results
http://www.npaction.org/article/archive/207



*Featured Article*

As society becomes more comfortable with computer technology, it is increasingly being used as an advocacy tool, and policymakers are becoming increasingly receptive to high-tech communications with constituents. Congress, for example, was initially somewhat resistant to email communications, but new security procedures have made it the preferred method of written communication. While the nonprofit sector was slower than the business community to adopt new technologies, mostly because of high costs, computers and the internet have become almost ubiquitous in the sector. This issue's featured article discusses various technologies and their advocacy applications for nonprofits.

"Using Technology for Nonprofit Advocacy"
http://www.npaction.org/article/articleview/98/1/123/

Remember that you can rate and comment on most NPAction articles by clicking the "New Comment" button at the end of an article.



*Featured Resource Links*

The NPAction Resource Links Directory is a human-edited compendium of tools and references, contributed by nonprofits for nonprofits.

This issue's first resource comes from John McNutt's "Social Policy Magic" site and is dedicated to educating the nonprofit sector about online advocacy. It contains many links to information covering general advocacy, setting up an electronic advocacy program, and teaching others about electronic advocacy, as well as long bibliographies on each section for further reading.

"Electronic Advocacy"
http://www.policymagic.org/electron.htm


Before you can use technology for advocacy, you've got to have the technology and know how to use it. Tech Soup bills itself as the "technology place for nonprofits" and provides varied technology resources to the nonprofit community. The site has how-tos covering everything from hiring technology consultants to finding funding to using the internet, as well as discussion boards, news, and a store selling deeply discounted software to nonprofits.

Tech Soup
http://www.techsoup.org/


More Technology Links
http://www.npaction.org/link/category/199/

Suggest a Resource Link
http://www.npaction.org/link/suggestlink



*"Steal This Code": Put NPAction on Your Site*

NPAction invites organizations to share our tools on their websites. Choose a logo that best meets your needs, whether you want to link to our site, incorporate our search engine with results from a range of nonprofit sources, add the ability to connect to federal lawmakers and national media, or state-level policymakers and media. Just copy the HTML code from our site, and you're ready to go (but when you steal the code, just let us know!).

"Steal the Code" today
http://www.npaction.org/article/archive/208


*NPAction Update Archives*
http://www.npaction.org/article/archive/210/


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NPAction, an online resource hosted by OMB Watch, provides access to tools and information for nonprofit advocacy from a wide range of organizational partners and sources in order to encourage greater participation by nonprofits in the policy arena. Funding for this project was provided by Atlantic Philanthropies, the Ford Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation.

For more information, contact:

NPAction
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© 2004 NPAction