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Website Wellness Report: The TechSoup Doc is In!

Free Seminar with our website expert, Collie Turner, now available on-demand.

Every organization has one, and it’s one of the greatest ways for your volunteers, donors and perfect strangers to learn more about you 24/7. We’re talking about your nonprofit’s website.

And maybe you, or other folks in your organization are saying things like:

• Should I add more content? Less content? Where should I ask people to register on the site? To donate?

• It would be really great if someone could just tell me what’s working and what’s not. Then, I could fix it!

• People aren’t filling out the form on our site. Why?

Guess what, you’re not alone. 

Join us for a free seminar as we walk through these instant insights that will enable you to determine what your priorities are based upon your organization’s goals and plans. This will definitely be worth sharing with others in your organization and even your board! 

Google Analytics is a free web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic. Behind the scenes, Google Analytics runs on every single page of your site. How much time do people spend on your site? How much time do they spend reading a specific article? What do they click? What location of the site do they go to? Google Analytics answers all of those questions, and many more, to ensure that your nonprofit can optimize its impact.

New live event on May 22, 2019 from 12 Noon to 1 pm Pacific time/ 3 pm Eastern time

Building Great Reports with Google Data Studio

If you work with data at your organization, you probably struggle with presenting the metrics that matter in a clear, concise, and visually appealing way. You love data, but don’t love the look of cluttered Excel sheets. Reports get even more complicated when combining data from multiple sources in one view. Want to analyze your Google Ads and Facebook campaigns side by side? Good luck making it look pretty in a spreadsheet. Thankfully, Google has Data Studio, a free tool that makes it easy to load, present, and share data in customized reports. Join Whole Whale’s Digital Analyst and dashboard guru Jack Downs as he walks through the dashboard building process, including how to:

• Choose what metrics to include in a dashboard and the best way to display them
• Incorporate data from multiple sources
• Add time filtering and include period-over-period data comparisons
• Customize the dashboard with your brand colors
• Share the report with your team and relevant stakeholders

The goal of any dashboard is to deliver the right data to the right people in the right time frame so that a business decision can be made. On this webinar, we’ll help you build dashboards that you, your team, and your stakeholders will actually use.

If you are already enrolled in this course, you can access the new live event for free!

If you are newly enrolled in this course, you will have access to the live event and the archived recording as well as all the addition materials and resources.

Dive deeper with this advanced on-demand Google Analytics training to find the buried treasure in your data: the gems that will inform your strategy to drive greater impact both online and off. Learn how to tell a story with you data to better communicate that impact with your donors, supporters, board, and employees. Start building a data culture at your organization.

*Course fees are non-refundable.

New Live Event Scheduled: May 29, 2019 12 Noon Pacific Time!

Join expert Jack Downs for this special live event to learn about new features and to get your questions answered!

With Google Analytics, we can apply user segments to analyze how different user types interact with our site. User segments correspond to the characteristics and behaviors of site visitors, and can be grouped into cohorts based on specific time-frame. The user and cohort reports, as well as Google Search Console, allow you to compare and contrast different audiences to see what content and campaigns drive them down the funnel of engagement. What motivates new users versus return users? Are we reaching decision makers? What content do our younger users favor?

If you are already enrolled in this course, you can access the new live event for free!

If you are newly enrolled in this course, you will have access to the live event and the archived recording as well as all the addition materials and resources.

You can also apply for our first Google Analytics courses here.

*All course fees are nonrefundable.

Facebooks Ads 101: Using Insights & Analytics to Inform your Strategy

What's new with Facebook?

New Live Event - June 5, 2019 at 12 Noon Pacific Time/3 pm Eastern Time.

Sometimes you have to pay-to-play in order to get meaningful social media engagement. Digital ads are becoming the cheapest, most effective way to engage new or existing audiences on social media. Facebook in particular has become more and more of an ad platform, with a wide reach, powerful targeting options, and the potential for a high ROI. But this tool is rapidly changing and evolving — so, what's new? In this webinar, we will cover the basics of advertising on Facebook, the latest best practices, and a refresher on what's new with the platform,

If you are already enrolled in this course, you can access the new live event for free!

If you are newly enrolled in this course, you will have access to the live event and the archived recording as well as all the addition materials and resources.

Social media success can seem elusive to the small nonprofit. Without the money to hire an outside agency or even a full time person, how can you keep up with all of the changes? Can you really raise money using these platforms? The good news is that small but mighty organizations can use the power and potential of these platforms to raise funds, connect with supporters, and drive impact. In this on-demand course, we’ll share tips and tricks for running effective social media fundraising campaigns that accomplish measurable results. Whether you’re a total newbie to the social media landscape or you’re a social media superstar, you’ll walk away with new ideas for ways to use these platforms to connect with donors and elevate your fundraising.

Cost: $10

*All course fees are non-refundable.

Facebook Advertising on a Budget:

How To to Leverage Impact on $100 per Month

Not every nonprofit has a five-figure budget to spend on social media advertising. So how do you rise above the noise and reach the audiences that matter most to your organization? Looking at potential goals, target audiences, and case studies that have shown high results on small investments, we will show you how to leverage Facebook advertising to drive impact. In this special recorded seminar, you will hear from Whole Whale expert Alison Glazer about what you need to do and know so you can walk away with everything you need to plan a campaign—from targeting to messaging to measuring—that can be run on $100 a month.

With the fast-changing digital landscape and the proliferation of algorithms that control what your fans and followers see, engagement and reach are way down across all social media channels. Having an engaged, vibrant social media community for your nonprofit may seem elusive, but there are certain techniques that can help build engagement and affinity for your nonprofit. In this on-demand course, we’ll share tips and tricks for building an engaged audience for your nonprofit on social media. You’ll walk away with new ideas for ways to use these platforms to connect with your target audience and how to stand out in a crowded social media landscape.

*All course fees are non-refundable.

Even though the majority of nonprofits have a presence on at least one social media channel, how many of them take the time to measure and analyze what they are doing? Measurement of your social media activity is a critical learning tool, as it will demonstrate whether or not you are accomplishing your goals and getting desired results. In this on-demand course, we’ll walk you through the creation of your own Social Media Measurement Spreadsheet. Several low-cost and free social media measurement tools will be explained to save you time and get you better results. You’ll walk away with a concrete plan to start measuring the ROI of your social media program. This course will cover goal-setting, time-saving tools for social media measurement, and creating a Social Media Measurement Spreadsheet.

Cost: $50

*All course fees are non-refundable.

Facebook has over 1.8 billion users (and growing), but organic reach continues to decline. In order to get your organization in front of 100,000+ more people, you have to pay to play. How do you know if your campaign is actually making an impact? Digital Advertising expert Jasmine Cordew from Whole Whale will walk you through the Facebook ad campaign process from start to finish. You will get all the skills you need to build, manage and track a successful Facebook advertising campaign. Trust her: she’s spent over $100,000 dollars in digital advertising for nonprofits.

In this previously recorded Ask the Expert online seminar, we give you a guided tour of Facebook Business and Ads Manager. This invaluable tool will help you better analyze and optimize your Facebook content and ads. You’ll walk away knowing how to find your data, and how to use it to devise a sophisticated Facebook posting and advertising strategy. Facebook Business and Ads Manager provide neat visualizations of your page and advertising data. You can track the engagement with your posts and analyze the success of your digital advertising. There is so much to see, if you know where to find it all. Plus, our expert addresses questions you students submitted during registration.

*All seminar fees are non-refundable.

In this Ask the Expert seminar, our Whole Whale experts walk you through the fundamentals of ad targeting, and answer questions submitted to the Expert. Understanding the core of your target audience, their behaviors, interests, even where they work, can inform the way your organization tailors ads to be as effective as possible. By serving ads to people that have already expressed some interest in an organization or cause, nonprofits can effectively move those users down the funnel of engagement to drive meaningful actions online.

*All seminar fees are non-refundable.

If you’re a marketer in a nonprofit organization, then there are questions that you are always asking when talking about developing and/or executing upon new tactics: What are the goals? What have we done in the past? Was it successful? If so, how did we measure? And we’d be remiss if we left out: What is the budget?

In this course, we’ll talk about what achievable goals around email programs look like, how to assess and define the goals for your organization, and we’ll also look at the importance of setting up measurable benchmarks, that will enable you to optimize around your successes and not so successful endeavors, while streamlining the expectations of your team, the board and anyone else that needs to know ‘How’s that program doing?’

*All course fees are non-refundable.

The idea of email marketing for nonprofits these days can be daunting. We all get email - and lots of it! We usually delete email when it doesn’t feel like we have a relevant connection to the content. So, how can you successfully communicate by email to your constituency and audience without going to the delete bin? This short course will help you understand the shifts in how people consume information and explain the basic steps to build an effective email marketing strategy. This is the first in a five-course series.

Live event: How to Get Started Building Your Email Marketing Strategy

September 25, 12 noon Pacific/ 3 pm Eastern

Live events are recorded and archived in the course.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• understand and identify the new nonprofit marketing landscape
• understand how your organization's audience consumes information
• understand and identify the basic steps to build an effective email marketing strategy

Think about your current email campaign. How many emails do you have? What are the goals for each program? Each time you launch an email does it go to everyone in your list? In this course, we’ll take a look at the importance of understanding your current target list. We'll help you understand how to make your target list come alive - from that Excel sheet into a living breathing group of supporters that have been telling you exactly what they love most about your organization.

Prerequisites: We strongly recommend you have completed Email Marketing 101: How to Get Started Building Your Email Marketing Strategy and Email Marketing 201: Goal Setting and Benchmarking before taking this course.

*All course fees are non-refundable.

Think about the brands that you are loyal to. Why are you loyal? Do you feel like they know you? In this course we’ll show you how to segment your audience(s) and provide you with examples of tools that will enable you to hone in on your supporters and serve them the right message at the right time through the right modality. The more you wrap yourself around your supporters, the more you and they will feel the love!

Prerequisites: We strongly recommend you have completed Email Marketing 101: How to Get Started Building Your Email Marketing Strategy and Email Marketing 201: Goal Setting and Benchmarking before taking this course.

*All course fees are non-refundable.

If you want your emails to stand out in your audience’s crowded inbox, you need riveting content and compelling calls to action. With the right content and call to action, you can persuade your organization’s audience to donate to your organization, download your newsletter, read an article, or share your content on social media. In this short course, you will learn the best practices for creating effective email content and irresistible calls to action.

Prerequisites: We strongly recommend completion of Email Marketing 101: How to Get Started Building Your Email Marketing Strategy and Email Marketing 201: Goal Setting and Benchmarking.

*All course fees are non-refundable.

Is your nonprofit under a cloud of doubt or on cloud nine when it comes to complying with HIPAA and other security standards? Many nonprofits that work with confidential information are required to comply with these regulations. But how do you actually achieve this? This on-demand course, developed in partnership with Tech Impact, gives you basics on what you need to know about your nonprofit's data, and how you can help ensure it is compliant with security standards when in the cloud. We'll review two-factor authentication, setting up a data loss prevention policy, and how to make sure only authorized and compliant devices can access your data.

Microsoft's Power BI is a set of analytics tools that allows organizations to create compelling dashboards, gain 360-degree insight on organizational goals, organize dynamic reports, and make smarter, data-driven decisions.

This short course will provide an overview of how to create effective data visualizations, including how to prepare your data and use basic dashboard features.

In today's nonprofit environment, collaboration is a key ingredient in the recipe for success. Join this on-demand course to learn about how the right tools can help your organization collaborate faster and more efficiently.

After completing this course, you will be able to

• apply simple steps to set up your nonprofit's intranet using Microsoft's SharePoint Online
• understand and apply the process to share documents with external partners with SharePoint Online and One Drive for Business
• understand how to collaborate on documents with remote staff or volunteers
• use basic functionalities in Delve and Skype for Business

This on-demand course shows you how to get the most out of Microsoft Office 365 Outlook in the Cloud (portal). After completing this course you will:

• understand and identify most commonly used features in Outlook 365, Outlook in the Cloud
• understand and apply basic settings and rules for your Inbox
• understand how to optimize your use of Outlook in Microsoft Office 365

Join this on-demand course to learn how to copy, edit, delete, and move documents in SharePoint, how to use and apply settings in SharePoint, and personalize your SharePoint access in Microsoft Office 365. During the course, you will watch videos, learn new terminology and practice navigating your Microsoft Office 365 SharePoint site.

We keep hearing about bigger and badder IT security threats. But there’s good news: With simple, practical, and modern techniques, you can give yourself an excellent chance to escape harm from hackers. This on-demand course, geared towards individuals, will help you learn five steps to protect yourself and your ability to serve the people you serve. By the end of this course, you will know how to be a “human firewall,” capable of protecting your own information.

Security 101, geared towards individuals, will help you learn five steps to protect yourself and your ability to serve the people you serve. You will learn:

·      How to inventory systems where you have data and make sure you have backups

·      How to run key updates

·      How to get and use a password manager

·      How to audit access to your applications

·      How to make sure you actually put all these things into practice

*All course fees are non-refundable.

During this introductory course, you’ll start to build the foundation for your tactical technology plan — including how to build the team you’ll need to help you implement your own plan. We'll take a step-by-step look at each of the critical pieces of your entire technology package so you can thoroughly assess your nonprofit's infrastructure. By the end of this introductory course, you’ll have an understanding of how to assess each piece of your technology infrastructure and begin to think about a plan for the future.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• identify your nonprofit or library’s technology strengths and weaknesses
• understand and explain the benefits of creating a tech plan 
• understand the purpose of the critical pieces of your entire technology package (hardware, software, etc.)
• identify and assess each piece of your technology infrastructure 

The course prepares you to enter our more advanced courses on tech planning, including Tech Planning 201: Developing a Data Strategy, Tech Planning 202: Organizing Online Communications, and Tech Planning 203: Putting Your Tech Plan into Action.

Once you have assessed your organization’s tech infrastructure, you are ready to start work on the next major component of your technology planning: data. This five-hour, on-demand course will help you determine the answers to these questions: What data do you collect? How do you collect it? How do you maintain it? How do you measure it? 

This course helps you understand the major considerations around data and how you can answer them to move your organization forward with a tactical technology plan. We recommend you complete Tech Planning 101: Getting Started and Assessing Your IT Infrastructure prior to taking this course, or have conducted and written a tactical technology assessment for your nonprofit or library. With a sound infrastructure assessment in place, it’s time to tackle your data strategy. 

*All course fees are non-refundable.

This on-demand course builds on the previous courses in the Technology Planning learning track, Tech Planning 101: Getting Started and Assessing Your IT Infrastructure and Tech Planning 201: Developing a Data Strategy. Once you have an understanding of your organization’s infrastructure and a data strategy in order, it’s time to reach out to your audiences.

Using technology to deliver your messages is essential. Your website, emails, and social media conversations all shape your relationship with your clients, members, donors, and everyone else interested in your organization. In this six-hour course, you will learn how to define communication goals; best practices for websites, email, and social media; and how to integrate communications to ensure you are choosing the right tools and using them to meet your goals. We recommend you have completed Tech Planning 101 and Tech Planning 201 or have a completed written tactical technology assessment before taking this course. 

*All course fees are non-refundable.

This on-demand course will help you put the pieces of your tactical technology plan puzzle together. You will develop a technology project shortlist, and understand how to prioritize, create, fund, and implement your tactical technology plan. This course is the conclusion of activities completed in the previous three technology planning courses.

We recommend you have completed Tech Planning 101: Getting Started and Assessing Your IT Infrastructure, Tech Planning 201: Developing a Data Strategy, and Tech Planning 202: Organizing Online Communications, or have equivalent experience with tactical technology assessment and planning before starting this class.

*All course fees are non-refundable.

This on-demand Web Design Best Practices course will equip you with the basics on how to design a user-friendly website. Adobe's designer Colleen Schweizer shows you simple, practical steps to develop your website's layout, look and feel, and user experience. Learn reliable standards for crafting web content, navigational dos and don'ts, best practices for creating an engaging web experience, and tips for maintaining design consistency on multiple devices. Once you master the basics, you can apply these to your organization's website.

*All course fees are non-refundable.

This on-demand Adobe Absolute Beginners course will help you learn the very basics for cleaning up photos and creating images. You can then use these in print and online, including on social media.

This course will give you a very basic foundation for using Photoshop Adobe (CC 2015). After completing the course, you will be able to

• understand and use the five most commonly used tools in the Photoshop toolbar
• understand the difference between the canvas and the image
• use color and color modes
• adjust an image
• apply best practices to save an image for the Internet or print

So, you've been asked to create an invitation for a fundraiser or another event, and you'd like to make it look extra spiffy. But you're not a graphic designer by training, and you don't yet know how to use Adobe InDesign in Creative Cloud 2015. Don't worry, we've got you covered.

In this on-demand course, we'll show you everything you need to get started. We will

• introduce you to the five most commonly used tools in the toolbar
• demonstrate how to insert and manipulate text and images
• teach you how to set up a standard or custom-sized document

The fun part is that you can practice along with us! We provide the files we use in the demonstration to help you get started. You're welcome to modify these files with other images, fonts, or text so that they fit your organization's needs. This course demonstrates all activities in Adobe CC 2015.

You don't need to be a designer to build and execute brand guidelines! This course will help you build a foundation for understanding and implementing brand guidelines in your organization. You’ll conduct a self-assessment of your organization, watch videos and presentations to learn about design, and practice applying sample brand guidelines. We'll also walk you through creating your own brand guidelines.

After completing this course, you will be able to

• analyze your current organizational brand standard readiness
• understand why implementing brand guidelines creates value for your organization
• recognize and define basic core elements in a brand guide
• identify practical ways to use organizational brand guidelines consistently
• understand basic best practices for developing brand guidelines

This is the second course in the Branding for Nonprofits series. With a deeper understanding of basic design principles along with a comprehensive brand book, nonprofits and libraries can create materials that not only stand out, but demonstrate a cohesive brand.

After completing this course, you will be able to

• identify and apply standard processes for creating visually appealing and effective design
• understand and identify brand book elements
• identify and apply best qualities and characteristics of typography, imagery, and color for your organization
• evaluate visual content using design standards and best practices

Nondesigners of the nonprofit and library world can learn the basics of Adobe Illustrator CC 2015 in this short course. This course is designed for new users of Illustrator. After completing this course, you will be able to

• understand and use the most commonly used tools
• use the pen tool and Bezier curves
• apply color and stroke to an object
• use clipping masks and compound paths
• align objects and use the pathfinder panel

Once you've got the basics of Illustrator down, you'll probably want to know more! Access TechSoup's other Adobe Absolute Beginner courses to round out your beginner designer portfolio here:

• Adobe Absolute Beginners: Photoshop 101
• Adobe Absolute Beginners: Create a Fundraiser Invitation Using InDesign
• Design for Nondesigners 101
• Web Design Best Practices 101

In 2017, the day recorded a total of $274M across major platforms, representing a 63% growth over 2016. Whole Whale has guided, watched and measured tons of campaigns around the epic day of giving. In this on-demand seminar, you'll learn a variety of different ideas to try and how to measure success. 

Takeaways:

• Tons of creative ideas
• Measurement basics
• Fundraising platform decisions (Facebook vs the world)
• Message frequency - how much is too much?
• Should we spend ad money? 

This on-demand seminar will get you started if you’re interested in applying for the Google Ad Grant. We answer all the burning questions about the Google Ads Grants: How do you get started? How do you apply for the grant? What do you want to accomplish with AdWords? Our experts from Whole Whale walk you through the basics of the Google Ads Grant and explain current policies so you can better understand the process. 

*All course fees are non-refundable.

This on-demand seminar covers next steps in the Google Ad Grant process. Now that you’ve applied and received your Google Ad Grant, let’s take a deeper dive into how to best set up and organize your account, focusing how to build and A/B test your ads, all while staying within Google’s guidelines (Google Ads policy).* We also cover what to do if you get flagged by Google’s review team.

*We recommend that you view Google Ad Seminar 1 or have experience with Google Ad grants.

**All course fees are non-refundable.

This seminar session will help nonprofits and libraries determine exactly what you need a new fundraising system to do. We’ll review the best way to collect the details about your organization's requirements in three key areas, and you’ll learn the importance of aligning the functionality requirements based on the pain points we reviewed in the first seminar session: How Do You Evaluate Your Fundraising System? ** Finally, you’ll get some pointers on timing and budget for implementing a new system. This is the second in a four-part seminar series.

*All seminar fees are non-refundable.

The more keywords, the more opportunities for your ads to be served. We’ll help you find everest keywords that fit your ad groups, and introduce you to cool brainstorming tools, in addition to discussing keyword quality score, negative keywords, keyword match type, keyword regulations and automated rules. We’ll also guide you through writing compelling ads that match those keywords. We’ll cover headline, body and display URL best practices, and discuss how to effectively call people to action!*

Join our live seminar on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 12 noon Pacific / 3 pm Eastern. All seminars are recorded and available in the course after the event.

*We recommend that you view Google Ads Seminar 1 and 2 or have advanced experience with Google Ad grants.

In this recorded seminar, we cover all things related to maintaining and optimizing your Google Ad Grant account. Our experts will guide you through using Google Analytics to understand campaign and keyword performance, and how you can build on bright spots to get the most value from your account. We’ll show you how to check that your account is compliant with policies and how to maintain a healthy and easy-to-manage account.*

*We recommend that you view Google Ads Seminar 1, 2 and 3, or have advanced experience with Google Ad grants.

The opioid crisis has impacted many nonprofits and libraries in the US. Find out how organizations are leveraging technology to address the issue. Join us for this free seminar and discover the digital tools and grass-roots strategies of innovative NPOs on the frontlines of the opioid crisis. Learn how social impact technology (Sim-Tech) is connecting schools, healthcare institutions, law enforcement, libraries, government, and local non-profits to accelerate collaboration, communications, and impact for communities in need. 

Live seminar date: Thursday, December 6, 12 noon Pacific / 3 pm Eastern.

This seminar is for nonprofit or library staff and volunteers, and anyone serving communities affected by the opioid crisis. The event will be recorded and archived for later viewing.

Now you know what problems you’re solving, and you know what your main requirements are. It’s time to see some systems in action! We’ll cover where to look for prospective systems, and the best time to get a proposal. You’ll learn the importance of sharing your requirements and budget with the vendors and how to get a great demo, and we’ll discuss the five questions you must always ask in your post-demo debrief meetings.

* All seminar fees are non-refundable.

You’ve found the right system and now you’re ready to sign a contract – hold on a sec! Are you sure you know what you’re buying? I’ll cover the importance of getting references and understanding the implementation services in your software contract. We’ll talk about assembling your project team and best practices in project management to get you started on the right foot.

*All seminar fees are non-refundable.

Before you start to look for a replacement for your donation platform, let’s make certain a new system will solve your problems (and not create more!). Learn how to use your strategic or annual plan to make the case for a new system. During this on-demand seminar, our expert will also teach you how to rate the health of the systems you use now and create a visual map of your technology, so you can see the big picture of what needs to be replaced or preserved. This is the first in a four-part series on evaluating and purchasing fundraising software for nonprofits.

*All seminar fees are non-refundable.

Social Media Marketing 202: Recorded Coaching Session - Solutions to Nonprofit Social Media Challenges  

March 7 from 12 Noon (PST) to 1 PM (PST)

In this live, interactive coaching session, our social media and digital marketing expert, Julia Campbell, will walk you through solutions for the six most common challenges that nonprofits face when using social media. She will discuss how to identify and apply best practices in leveraging social media platforms and principles for your organization. The session will also also identify how to implement an actionable plan that will address your organization's social media challenges. This session is live, so you will be able to ask Julia your questions during the session. 

Cost: $50

*All course fees are non-refundable.

If you are already enrolled in this course, you will not need to pay again!