The TechSoup Blog : tsevent

Upcoming Webinar May 23: Simple Desktop Publishing at Your Fingertips

BeckyW — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:17:34 GMT

Why spend extra time to learn and money you don't have to buy complicated desktop publishing and design programs when you may have what you need already at your fingertips? With Microsoft's ubiquitous Publisher program, access thousands of free, easy-to-use templates or design your own collateral from a blank page.

In this webinar, Microsoft Publisher: Simple Desktop Publishing at Your Fingertips, on Thursday, May 23 at 11 a.m. Pacific time, we'll talk to nonprofits and public libraries that use Publisher every day to create materials from newsletters to donation cards, event tickets to flyers, all from their own desk with a tool included in most Microsoft suites donated through TechSoup.

You'll also get to hear from a Microsoft expert, who will share tips, new features in the 2013 version, and best practices for making your organization's materials look their best.

This webinar is intended for nonprofit or library professionals who want to learn more about using Publisher and basic principles of good design at their organization.

Please send any accessibility requests 4 days prior to the event to webinars@techsoup.org.

SAP TechTalk: Powering Social Innovation with SAP

BeckyW — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:02:00 GMT

Join SAP experts as they provide an overview of the SAP Global Technology Donation Program offered to the nonprofit community through our nonprofit partner TechSoup.

What you will take away?

Information about the SAP solutions available to your organization
Guidance on how these solutions will help streamline your processes internally
Tips and tricks to make these solutions come alive and demonstrate real impact

Each session will conclude with a Q&A session where you can ask specific questions to the product experts.

Each Technology Expert Session requires your separate registration and once complete, a confirmation email with instructions for joining the meeting will be sent to you. All Technology Expert Sessions will be conducted in English and a replay will be made available at the conclusion.

For any questions related to the SAP Monthly Technology Expert Sessions, please contact nish.pangali@sap.com

SAP Crystal Reports with Jaclyn Churcher and Nish Pangali. Hear first-hand how a nonprofit is using SAP software to reach reporting excellence. – Friday, June 7, 12:00 p.m. Eastern time – Register now!
SAP Lumira with Nic Smith and Nish Pangali – Friday, July 12, 12:00 p.m. Eastern time – Register now!
SAP Crystal Dashboard Design Personal Edition 2011 with Anita Gibbings and Nish Pangali – Friday, August 2, 12:00 p.m. Eastern time – Register now!
SAP Crystal Reports with Jaclyn Churcher and Nish Pangali – Friday, September 6, 12:00 p.m. Eastern time – Register now!

You can also view previously recorded session archives at your convenience! Check out the last two sessions below.

SAP Lumira with Nic Smith and Jennifer Dunmoyer – Wednesday, March 27 – View the archived session here
SAP Crystal Dashboard Design Personal Edition 2011 with Ian Mayor and Nish Pangali – Friday, May 3 – View the archived session here

For more information, read this blog post from Nish Pangali about SAP's donation program and how it is empowering nonprofits and charities all over the world with technology. Since the program began in 2005, more than 8,000 SAP products have been donated worldwide.

Upcoming Webinar on May 9: Downloading Transactions into QuickBooks for Nonprofits and Charities

kylahunt — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:48:00 GMT

Back in February, we hosted the webinar QuickBooks 2013 Made Easy for Nonprofits and Charities. In that webinar, I spoke with QuickBooks Made Easy's Gregg Bossen on the updates to QuickBooks that were relevant to nonprofits, charities, and libraries.

Coming up in May, we are hosting another webinar with Gregg Bossen, titled Downloading Transactions into QuickBooks for Nonprofits and Charities. The webinar is happening on Thursday, May 9 at 11 a.m. Pacific time.

Would you like to make working in QuickBooks much easier? Downloading transactions directly into QuickBooks is the answer. This service, which is free of charge, allows you to download all transactions (deposits, ACH drafts, payroll drafts, debit card purchases, bank fees, and so on) from your bank account into QuickBooks, saving you hours of data entry time and ensuring your balances are always up-to-date. The feature works for credit cards as well!

After reviewing best practices for nonprofits using QuickBooks, Gregg S. Bossen CPA, author of QuickBooks Made Easy, will be demonstrating how downloading transactions can aid your nonprofit or charity. Gregg will walk you through the process step-by-step, from setting up your bank or credit card account in QuickBooks, to linking the account with your bank's account through your bank's website, to downloading transactions and quickly adding them to your QuickBooks file.

Topics Include:

How to set up your bank account or credit card account for online banking
Understanding the online banking center
How to download transactions directly or manually through a web connect import file
How to best review transactions prior to adding to QuickBooks
How to delete unwanted transactions from the import file
How to match downloaded transactions already entered in QuickBooks
How to add downloaded transactions not yet entered in QuickBooks
Assigning downloaded transactions to Programs and Restricted Grants
Understanding the advantages and limitations of the way QuickBooks sometimes renames vendors
How to correct downloaded transactions that are being associated with the wrong vendors
Using the online bill pay feature to send transactions for processing to your bank

Please contact webinars@techsoupglobal.org with accessibility requests within 4 business days of the webinar.

Webinars to Sharpen Your Digital Storytelling Skills

MichaelDeLong — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:15:00 GMT

TechSoup's 2013 Digital Storytelling Challenge kicks off this April combining a month of learning and friendly competition into a media-making challenge.

Challenge participants create a short video (up to 90 seconds) or a five-image slideshow to enter for the chance to win prizes. More important, they hone their digital storytelling skills and come away with a reusable piece of marketing collateral.

At the core of our digital storytelling curriculum this year are these three webinars. Hear experts and other organizations share their storytelling tips. And then use your new knowledge to make your own story and win. Good luck!

Creating a Culture of Storytelling (archive available soon!)
Thursday, April 4
11:00 a.m. Pacific time
Move storytelling beyond the marketing department and turn your whole org into evangelists for your cause.

Your Digital Story from Creation to Consumption
Thursday, April 11
11:00 a.m. Pacific time
Maximize the reach and impact of your digital story.

A Menu of Storytelling Options and Services from Small to Large
Thursday, April 18
11:00 a.m. Pacific time
Whatever size or budget, your cause needs the skills to tell its story well.

All webinars will be recorded and available in case you miss one or want to see it again. Make sure to check out the full collection of digital storytelling resources, including recorded webinars on pre- and post-production.

CommBuild Tweet Chat April 9: Storytelling with Data

MichaelDeLong — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:10:00 GMT

Digital storytelling is everywhere these days. And if there's any more widespread topic than digital storytelling, it's data. While both are important to your nonprofit, charity, cause, or library, both together just might be its secret weapon.

So how do you turn your data into a powerful communications tool to tell your story?

Join us on Tuesday, April 9, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time for a special Digital Storytelling Challenge edition of the weekly CommBuild discussion on Twitter.

Matthew Scharpnick, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Elefint Designs will be on hand to answer questions and share data visualization tips.

How to Participate

Join us directly on TweetChat.com to follow along with the conversation
Participate in the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #commbuild

Have questions about storytelling with data you'd like to make sure we cover during the discussion on Twitter? Tweet them to @TechSoup before April 9 using the hashtag #commbuild.

Never participated in a tweet chat before? Check out this how-to in TechSoup's Nonprofit Social Media 101 Wiki and watch the video below.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

About Matthew Scharpnick

Matthew Scharpnick is a design strategist and researcher, as well as a UX and information designer. As the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Elefint Designs, he has dedicated his professional life to helping good causes communicate in ways that are strategic and engaging.

Matthew regularly contributes thought leadership pieces on the importance of design for the social sector. He runs the design blog Redesigning Good on the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and has written for publications such as the Stanford Social Innovation Review and .net magazine. He served as a mentor at SXSWi in 2012.

In his life before Elefint, Matthew headed up marketing and communications for nonprofits including the Art of Living Foundation and THINK Together. He received his MBA from UC Irvine and studied social change at UC Santa Cruz.

About CommBuild

The CommBuild Community of Practice focuses on issues and topics relevant to those working in social sector community building or community management roles.

Anyone interested in community building, whether you are formally in a community management job or not, is welcome to join the group and participate in the weekly chats.

Upcoming Webinar April 4: Creating a Culture of Storytelling

alebez — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:18:00 GMT

Stories are the currency of community. They shape our experience. They drive us to think, act, and change.

Here at TechSoup, we know that successful storytelling does not happen in a blink of an eye, out of thin air, or by pressing a magic button. In fact, we know that storytelling done right is a multi-tiered process that requires working with staff, donors, and beneficiaries, oftentimes with additional effort to organize, produce, and publish assets to the web. What is needed is space to create. Enter empowerment and encouragement.

In short, successful storytelling is as much about making it an organizational priority and incorporating it into everything you do, as it is about the technology you use.

Please join us on April 4 at 11 a.m. Pacific time for this first installment of our 2013 TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge webinar series, Creating a Culture of Storytelling. Our guests will speak to the importance of creating a culture of storytelling at your nonprofit, library, charity, or social benefit organization.

Image: The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Upcoming Webinar on March 21: Your Windows 8 Questions Answered

kylahunt — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:24:00 GMT

Have you viewed our Windows 8 Demo for Nonprofits & Libraries? Still have questions, or want to take a deeper dive into Windows 8?

Good news! In response to last fall's live webinar demonstration on Windows 8, we are holding a follow-up webinar on Thursday, March 21 at 11 a.m. Pacific to take a more in-depth look at Windows 8.

First, we'll hear from TechSoup Technology Analyst Ariel Gilbert-Knight, who will provide a framing of Windows 8 for nonprofits and libraries. Microsoft's Namita Das will then take a look at questions from the Windows 8 Demo, including those on public access and enterprise-level uses of Windows 8.

Want to learn more about Windows 8? Check out the following resources:

Please contact webinars@techsoupglobal.org with accessibility requests within 4 business days of the live webinar.

Upcoming Webinar on March 14: Make the Most of Your Microsoft Software Donation

kylahunt — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:00:00 GMT

Do you want to know more about the broad range of software Microsoft donates to nonprofits and libraries through TechSoup? Are you interested in learning more about how to participate in the Microsoft Software Donation Program?

On Thursday, March 14 at 11 a.m. Pacific, we will be holding the free, live webinar, Make the Most of your Microsoft Software Donation. This webinar will provide a broad overview of the Microsoft Software Donation, including where to find products and resources associated with the program.

Register today as space is limited.

During the hour, we will be speaking with Alexandria Lewis and Carlos Bergfeld about the benefits and details of the Microsoft Software Donation Program.

Some topics that we will be discussing include:

Where to find Microsoft products on the TechSoup site
Microsoft resources available through TechSoup
Benefits automatically included with Microsoft software donations

Whether you've already received a Microsoft donation or are contemplating your first, this webinar will help you make the most of your Microsoft Software Donation.

This webinar is suited for all nonprofits, charities, foundations, and public libraries in the United States that are interested in requesting a Microsoft donation.

Please contact webinars@techsoupglobal.org with accessibility requests within 4 business days of the webinar.

Upcoming Webinar on February 21: Lower Your Public Access PC Costs

kylahunt — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 01:07:00 GMT

If you work in a library or nonprofit with a training lab or public access computers, you know that there is a great deal of time and expense dedicated to keeping them running. You also know that finding a solution that could save energy and reduce maintenance costs would be a great benefit to your organization.

One solution, Microsoft's Windows MultiPoint Server, allows one computer to serve several people in a lab or library with very low cost. To find out more, join our free webinar on Thursday, February 21 at 11 a.m. Pacific time, Windows MultiPoint Server: Lower Your Public Access PC Costs. During this free one-hour event, we will discuss how to get and set up Windows MultiPoint Server.

What Do Microsoft MultiPoint Server Users Think?

Librarians Joy Neal and Lane Fernando from La Conner Regional Library in Washington will be sharing their experience installing and using MultiPoint Server. This will be a great opportunity to hear about a MultiPoint Server lab in action.

How Would I Set Up the MultiPoint Server?

We will be hearing how to install, set-up and obtain the hardware you need for a Multipoint Server lab from Charles Brennick, nonprofit refurbisher from InterConnection in Seattle. InterConnection is one of two refurbishment partners in TechSoup's Refurbished Computer Initiative and worked with us recently to install and test Multipoint Server in two libraries and three charities.

Want to Learn More?

Check out the following articles and blog posts:

Please contact webinars@techsoupglobal.org with accessibility requests within 4 days of the webinar.

#Office4Good Tweet Chat January 30

MichaelDeLong — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:35:00 GMT

By now you've heard that the latest version of Microsoft Office is available through the TechSoup donation program. If you're as excited as we are, join us for the #Office4Good tweet chat on Wednesday, January 30 at noon Pacific time.

We'll be tweeting with our friends at Microsoft Citizenship and Doug Thomas, content producer for Office.com. Doug hosts the Office 15-Minute Webinars, a free help and how-to series held every Tuesday including a live Q&A session. He'll be on Twitter to answer your questions and share some insider insight into all the latest Office features and how they will help your nonprofit, library, charity, or foundation.

How to Participate

The easiest way to jump in is to join us on TweetChat.com to follow along with the conversation
You can also participate in the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #Office4Good

Never participated in a tweet chat before? Check out this how-to in TechSoup's Nonprofit Social Media 101 Wiki and watch the video below.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

About Doug Thomas

Doug Thomas is a content producer for Office.com and the leads the Office 15-Minute Webinars, a free weekly series with demos and a Q&A with the Office Help and How-To writers. He's created and appeared in more than 100 videos at Microsoft including Office Casual, an award-winning personality-driven how-to series. Previously he worked at Amazon.com as managing editor in the DVD department, and reviewed movies for numerous outlets for twenty years.

More Office Resources

Join us Friday, February 1 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time for a virtual tour of the latest version of Office with Microsoft's David Alexander. Register today as space is limited!
What's new in Office? TechSoup's Patrick Duggan breaks it down for you.
Microsoft Office vs. Office 365 vs. Office Web Apps

Upcoming Webinar on February 1: Take a Tour of the New Microsoft Office

kylahunt — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:19:00 GMT

Excited about the latest version of Office? We are too! Join our upcoming webinar, Take a Tour of the New Microsoft Office, on Friday, February 1 at 11 a.m. Pacific time.

Register today as space is limited!

During this free, one-hour event, we will first hear from Microsoft's David Alexander. David will be giving us an introduction and tour of Office that will resonate with the nonprofit and library audience. David's portion of the webinar will include a live demo that will give you clear examples about what is new in Office.

We will also be talking with TechSoup's Ginny Mies, who will be providing examples of what a nonprofit or library can do with Office. These ideas will hopefully inspire you to use Office in different, innovative ways.

Interested in learning more about the Microsoft Software Donation Program? Visit the Overview of the Microsoft Software Donation Program page to find out more.

Please contact webinars@techsoupglobal.org with accessibility requests within 72 hours of the webinar.

Upcoming Webinar on February 5: Jump Start Your Grant Seeking

kylahunt — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:36:00 GMT

Want to easily learn more about current grantmakers? Need to know how to secure available funding? GrantStation, a donor partner of TechSoup, can help you do all this and more!

Join our free webinar on Tuesday, February 5 at 11 a.m. Pacific time, Jump Start your Grant Seeking, to learn more about GrantStation.

Register today as space is limited, and don’t forget to check out TechSoup's upcoming GrantStation special offer, scheduled for February 12 and 13!

Jeremy Smith, GrantStation's communications and technology director, will provide a short tour of the GrantStation website. He will also talk about how a GrantStation membership can provide you with full access to the website, including a searchable database of thousands of private, corporate, and international grantmakers, as well as a list of current federal grant programs.

Please contact webinars@techsoupglobal.org with accessibility requests within 4 business days of the webinar.

More About the Speaker

After ten years in radio and six years as an announcer and Program Director at a local NPR station, Jeremy began a business that specialized in "bringing tech support to you." He was initiated into the world of GrantStation through that endeavor and joined the team in July of 2008.

Connecting a nonprofit with funding has become a real point of enjoyment for him as he updates and develops new looks and features for the website. His goal is to make the process of finding funding the easiest part of the grant process. Hearing about the organizations that have not only received funding but found the information through GrantStation - or one of the Insider newsletters - is an excellent indicator of this success.

Jeremy not only deals with GrantStation's internal and external tech issues, but also spends his time managing the Insider newsletters.

Upcoming Webinar on January 18: Why Research Matters to Grantseekers

kylahunt — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 03:51:00 GMT

Access to quality research provides nonprofits and libraries the ability to improve services, strengthen funding proposals, and share knowledge within the field.

Join our free webinar on Friday, January 18 at 11 a.m. Pacific time, Why Research Matters to Grantseekers, to find out the importance of social sector research and how it can help your organization fulfill its mission. During this one hour online event, we will provide an introduction to IssueLab, the Foundation Center's free database of more than 12,000 white papers, case studies, and evaluations.

Practitioners do not have the time to search hundreds of websites for information when designing new program interventions or communicating need to grantmakers. IssueLab helps connect nonprofits directly to the knowledge they need, easing the burden of finding information online by making a wealth of resources available for free.
People working on social issues across the globe have an enormous amount of knowledge that could be useful to their peers. IssueLab encourages nonprofits to freely add their reports, case studies, research, and toolkits to the collective knowledge of the sector, making it much more broadly available and accessible.

Join us to learn how to use IssueLab to find research that fits your needs, as well as how to add research and resources your organization may have authored.

Want to see more content from TechSoup and the Foundation Center? View the following archived webinars!

Please contact webinars@techsoupglobal.org with accessibility requests for this webinar within 72 hours of the event.

Upcoming Webinar on January 17: Exploring the Possibilities of Mobile Giving

kylahunt — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 00:28:00 GMT

As mobile phones maintain their prominence in worldwide communications, it is increasingly important for nonprofits and libraries to know how to use mobile services to help fulfill their organization's mission.

Join our free, one hour webinar on January 17 at 11 a.m. Pacific time, Exploring the Possibilities of Mobile Giving, to learn more about different organizations are creating innovative mobile solutions for your organization.

During this webinar, we will be speaking with Scott Heit and Lars Hjoerne from Connect2Give, an organization that mobile web services as well as text donation and messaging assistance. We willl also be talking with the Mobile Giving Foundation's Jim Manis about how their organization helps create wireless charitable giving campaigns.

Interested in learning more about mobile giving? Check out the following articles and archived webinars!

Please contact webinars@techsoupglobal.org with accessibility requests within 72 hours of the event.

CommBuild Tweet Chat on January 22: Get Your Community Sorted

MichaelDeLong — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 20:46:00 GMT

Like a good dress shirt, contacting your community is not one size fits all. Wash-and-wear may be just fine for Sunday morning lounging, but when you're dressing to impress, it's all in the fit. Think of getting the word out to your community as a "dress to impress" moment, rather than a Sunday morning. You must be scrupulous and observant, and tailor your words meticulously.

While communications strategies will vary, communities can be broken into roughly six segments including visitors, newcomers, lurkers, registrants, actives, and veterans. Each of these has unique needs requiring different styles and frequencies of contact.

So says FeverBee's Richard Millington, who will lead an online chat about segmenting, contacting, and understanding your community.

Join us on Tuesday, January 22, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time for the weekly CommBuild discussion on Twitter as Richard shares how to meet the needs of different parts of your own community.

How to Participate

Join us directly on TweetChat.com to follow along with the conversation
Participate in the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #commbuild

Have questions about sorting your community you'd like to make sure we cover during the discussion on Twitter? Tweet them to @TechSoup before January 22 and include the hashtag #commbuild.

Never participated in a tweet chat before? Check out this how-to in TechSoup's Nonprofit Social Media 101 Wiki and watch the video below.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

About Richard Millington

Richard Millington is the founder and managing director of FeverBee Limited, a community consultancy, and The Pillar Summit, an exclusive community management training course.

Richard's blog, FeverBee, is ranked among the top ten UK marketing blogs and is widely cited as best practice in helping organizations around the world improve their community efforts.

Richard is also the author of the Online Community Manifesto (PDF), arguing for a change in our approach to building communities.

About CommBuild

The CommBuild Community of Practice focuses on issues and topics relevant to those working in social sector community building or community management roles.

Anyone interested in community building, whether you are formally in a community management job or not, is welcome to join the group and participate in the weekly chats.