On NTEN, the .ORG Resource Center and the Jammin’ NTC 2009

With Holly Ross Executive Director, NTEN  

This April at the NTEN NTC Conference in San Francisco, we’ll be debuting our first-ever NTC .ORG Ambassador Award, which we’re very excited about! The Award seeks to continue our sprit of community and sharing across the .ORG domain.

As NTEN is our partner for this Award, we spoke with Holly Ross, Executive Director at NTEN, who also recently became a member of the .ORG Resource Center, to get her thoughts on some key trends she’s seeing nonprofits using in the technology and social media realms as well as what she’s most looking forward to with the Awards this year.

.ORG: What are some key ways you’re seeing the non-profit community utilizing social media and technology to advance their missions?

Holly: Social media tools, such as Twitter and an organization’s blog are great ways to build your organization’s brand visibility within your target audiences, while obtaining a broad reach. The interactivity these tools afford helps organizations to communicate news, build buzz for key initiatives, and encourage active participation among members and the community at large. At NTEN, we use a combination of tools to make sure we are continuously communicating with our members and showcasing their good work and resources.

.ORG: As NTEN just recently became a new Partner in the .ORG Resource Center, what are some strategies/insights based on your proven experience within the nonprofit technology sector that you could offer to .ORGs out there?

Holly: We have seen how successful integrated marketing campaigns can be and how important it is for a nonprofit to have an integrated online presence. At NTEN, we encourage our members to use integrated marketing campaigns, whether it be through a combination of text messaging and e-mail campaigns or through direct mail and e-mail campaigns, these marketing techniques have become a proven strategy to maximize your organization’s marketing results and visibility.

.ORG: What are you most excited about/looking forward to with the debut of the first-ever .ORG Ambassador Awards at this year’s NTC in San Francisco?

Holly: As a fellow member of advocating on behalf of the use of technology among the nonprofit sector, we are very excited that .ORG has taken the initiative to create the Ambassadors Awards program. It’s great to see a community doing good work and succeeding in tough economic times and now in the first of its kind, an award to recognize and spotlight the growth, drive and work that is being accomplished through the use of advanced technology tools is an exciting and encouraging achievement for the nonprofit community.

Come join Holly and the .ORG team in San Francisco April 26-28 for the NTEN NTC Conference and nominate your favorite .ORG for a NTC Ambassador Award. Want to contact Holly? You may contact her at holly (at) nten (dot) org or via Twitter, @ntenhross.

What social media trends are you seeing .ORGs using lately to make them trend-setters? Share your thoughts here!