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		February 2014 Upcoming Idealware Training We've heard your requests loud and clear: You want more toolkits and courses. We're happy to oblige--and with a little effort, we've already kicked off one course with two more already coming up before spring has even sprung. Our courses all run from three to 10 weeks, depending on the topic, and are designed to take you from the beginning of a project all the way through to the end by covering everything you'll need to know along the way. We know that the keys to success include learning practical strategies, real examples, and personalized advice derived from experience, and our toolkit courses combine all of this support into one neat package. Just last week, we kicked off From Audit to Redesign: The Complete Nonprofit Website Toolkit. If you're curious about what one of our "toolkit" courses looks like, this one's a great example. Because there are a lot of steps to consider when it comes to redesigning your website--and many avenues you can take to accomplish them--we give you everything you need to make informed decisions about your website in one course, whether you're making a few tweaks or doing a complete overhaul. Although The Nonprofit Website Toolkit is now in its second week, it's not too late to sign up. As with all of our toolkits, every session is recorded, so you can catch up and review whenever you want and as often as you want. This particular course is 10 weeks long, so you still have plenty of time. We have several more toolkit courses (and a few shorter webinars) coming up to meet your tech training needs. If you've never taken a class with Idealware, we think the toolkits are a great place to start. You really get to know our trainers, and you walk away feeling like an expert, with a finished product to show for your time. back to top New Course: The Social Media Policy Toolkit February 19 to March 5As social media transparency and two-way conversations become the norm, many nonprofits are racing to develop social media policies that govern who does what, what's OK (and not OK) to say on behalf of the organization, and how to handle sticky situations. But even more than legislating these details, the process of creating such a policy can help you and other leaders in your organization engage in important discussions that will mature your organizational culture and better position you to take advantage of the tools and opportunities at your disposal. In this new course based on our popular Nonprofit Social Media Policy Workbook, we'll explore why the process is as important as the product, how to make these conversations productive and strategic (and maybe even fun), and why a social media policy is an important milestone of digital maturity. We’ll spend an entire hour on each of the following topics: responding to comments (especially negative ones) and personal voice vs. professional voice. Throughout this course, we’ll rely heavily on conversations and examples to help you create a policy that fits your organization. EveryWednesday, 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST, $95. Read More or Register>>> Want to learn more about this course? Check out the short promotional video we just posted here: http://youtu.be/nk6ZkHMrCio New Course: Mastering Your Mix: A Practical Approach to Integrated Communications March 19 to April 16Between more traditional channels of communications like direct mail, email, and newsletters, and all the new channels you’ve adopted—like social media, multimedia, and blogs—there’s a lot to think about when it comes to your organization’s messaging. How do you create and maintain a consistent voice across so many channels? How do you coordinate your various communications to work in tandem rather than competing, engaging constituents and inspiring them to take action rather than confusing, overwhelming, or annoying them? This brand new course is the perfect complement to our popular publication, A Practical Guide to Integrated Communications: A Workbook for Nonprofits. Over five weeks, we will help you to define your categories of communications, explore their roles in your messaging, and assess your current state of effectiveness before walking you through the planning, scheduling, and implementation stages. Along the way, you’ll learn to measure the response you’re getting to adapt your techniques for better results, and ultimately learn to holistically integrate your communications. Every Wednesday, 1:00 - 2:30 PM EST, $200.Read More or Register>>> Single Seminars Thursday, February 20 - Getting Beyond the Like: Social Media EngagementPeople “like” you, but what is that actually doing to support your organization’s bottom line? We’ll talk critically about how you can move constituents up a ladder of engagement from a simple “like” to actually get them to do something for your organization. Sign a petition, attend an event, join a movement and yes, even donate—it’s possible to get your constituents to do all of these things as a result of social media actions, but it’s not easy. Armed with case studies, industry research and plain old common sense and experience, we’ll work together to recalibrate your social media mindset in order to provide more value and cultivate a deeper commitment. 1:00 - 2:30 PM EST, $40.00. Read More or Register>>> In Person, Portland, Maine: Wednesday, March 5 - Tech and Donuts: Practicing Practical Program EvaluationFunders need evaluations that demonstrate how you're meeting your stated outcomes, but gathering the proper data can be complicated. However, all organizations should be able to know how they’re doing. We’ll walk through how you can evaluate your programs by showing what data might already "live" in your systems, presenting a practical approach to measure outcomes, and giving you strategies to grasp the effectiveness of your organization's programs. In this new spin on the Maine 501 Tech Club, which we’re affectionately calling “Tech & Donuts,” we’ll talk about our perspective on program evaluation, and why it’s so important. Having worked onUnderstanding Software for Program Evaluationand The Reality of Measuring Human Service Programs: Results of a Survey in the last six months, program evaluation is a topic near and dear to Idealware’s collective hearts, and we look forward to hearing your experiences. As an added incentive, we’ll be bringing donuts and coffee from Little Bigs in South Portland, another favorite of Idealware, to help you get through the second half of your work week. This is a casual meet-up at our office in Portland, Maine, and we encourage you to bring a friend or fellow nonprofit staffer, and meet some of the folks from Idealware in person. 8:00 - 9:30 AM EST, FREE. Read More or Register>>> Thursday, March 6 - FREE: 10 Ways to Integrate Your Communications You know that you should integrate your communications, but how do you get started? How do you take different channels with different audiences and allow them to shine individually while creating a cohesive voice for your organization? Let us help you with 10 steps that can get you going in the right direction. When we released A Practical Guide to Integrated Communications: A Workbook for Nonprofits, we were very pleased by the response. However, integrated communications is a dense, often confusing subject, which requires a little extra time upfront to get moving in the right direction. In this class, we’ll go over ten of the most straightforward, bang for the buck steps you can take to start making your communications work together for the biggest impact. 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST, FREE. Read More or Register>>> Thursday, March 20 - Getting Started with Email Fundraising Fundraising via email requires an understanding of a number of different elements--designing an email campaign, writing an email, avoiding spam filters, broadcast email tools, online donation tools, and more. We'll walk through what you'll need to know to design your own email fundraising campaign. 1:00 - 2:30 PM EST, $40.00. Read More or Register>>> Check out our website for even more great online training: www.idealware.org/online-training back to top You received this email because you signed up for Idealware updates. If you are no longer interested in hearing from us, click here to unsubscribe. Idealware | One Pleasant Street, Suite 4E | Portland ME | 04101