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# Robert L. Weiner: Nonprofit Fundraising Technology Consulting

Technology Advisors to Nonprofits and Educational Institutions

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://rlweiner.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Robert Weiner's Blog](https://rlweiner.com/?page_id=64)
- [Advice for New Consultants - Part 1](https://rlweiner.com/advice-for-consultants-part-1) - This post was inspired by my colleague Kris Putnam's advice for new consultants (So, You Want To Be A Philanthropy Consultant? and Starting A Consulting Business? 15 Things To Do Right Now). I received the following via CharityChannel's Consultants forum . I was just completing my first year as a solo consultant after 9 years
- [Advice for New Consultants - Part 2](https://rlweiner.com/advice-for-consultants-part-2) - The following is from Karen Nyhus, originally posted on NTEN's nptechconsult forum in response to a request for "resources and tips for our nonprofit technology community to help them start things off right in 2007." Although Karen's advice was focused on technology consultants, the business management tips (#4) are pertinent for all independent consultants. (Reposted
- [Migrating recurring donors to a new payment processor](https://rlweiner.com/migrating-recurring-donors-to-a-new-system) - A client is migrating to new Association Management Software, which will entail changing their credit card processor. They asked for advice on how to handle their existing recurring donations, and whether it’s possible to migrate those transactions to the new processor. Some of the best advice I’ve seen on this came from technology consultant TJ Griffin.
- [Android factory reset on a Samsung S7: The ugly, the bad, and the good](https://rlweiner.com/android-factory-reset-on-a-samsung-s7-the-ugly-the-bad-and-the-good) - I recently had to perform a factory reset on my year-old Samsung S7. Here's my tale: The Ugly At first, I was getting occasional errors like, "Unfortunately, Google Maps has stopped working." But over time the errors increased until they became a constant problem. Nearly every app that was running in the foreground or background
- [Impressions of the Palm Pre](https://rlweiner.com/impressions-of-the-palm-pre) - I've been waiting for the Palm Pre for nearly a year. Sprint released it last summer, but Verizon waited until January. Why a Palm? I've been a loyal Palm PDA user for over a decade, from the original Pilot through the 700P. I'm also a fan of MS Outlook. I love having all 3,000 of
- [Preventing Fraud on our Online Giving Pages](https://rlweiner.com/preventing-fraud-on-our-online-giving-pages) - Guest post by: Vered Siegel, Manager of Development Services Children’s Home + Aid and Kirsten Williams, Associate Director, Gift Services University of Oregon Foundation The Scams The credit card scam/fraud attempt that many nonprofits have experiences starts with a very large online gift from an unknown donor. Shortly afterward, an email arrives saying the amount
- [An Eleven Step Program to Cure Shiny Object Syndrome](https://rlweiner.com/an-eleven-step-program-to-cure-shiny-object-syndrome) - NTEN just published of mine called "An Eleven Step Program to Cure Shiny Object Syndrome" (technically, they reprinted an article that AFP will publish this summer). My co-conspirators were Dahna Goldstein, Marc Baizman, and Tracy Kronzak. The four of us, plus Vered Meir, will be leading a workshop on the topic of shiny object avoidance at
- [Idealware's revised Consumers Guide to Low-Cost Donor Management Systems](https://rlweiner.com/idealwares-revised-consumers-guide-to-low-cost-donor-management-systems) - Idealware just released the latest version of their Consumers Guide to Low-Cost Donor Management Systems. It will give you an overview of 32 systems and in-depth reviews of their top 11 "best value" choices. Several systems were included for the first time: @EASE, Bloomerang, Exceed Beyond, Salsa CRM, The Raiser’s Edge NXT, and NPOconnect (formerly
- [Going from Accidental Techie to Technology Leader](https://rlweiner.com/going-from-accidental-techie-to-technology-leader) - I just wrote a guest blog post for NTEN on the topic of moving from an accidental techie role to a leadership role. Last July, Holly Ross wrote that it was time to retire the phrase "accidental techie". She said, "it's not very nice to call anyone an accidental anything. What's really gotten under my
- [Getting Fundraisers to Write Contact Reports](https://rlweiner.com/getting-fundraisers-to-write-contact-reports) - Jim Moore of CommUlinks posted a wonderful response to the following question on a mailing list for prospect researchers. He granted me permission to repost it here. Q: Can anyone share with me ways to ensure development officers are submitting contact reports? Or tools that you have provided them with? A: You're asking a classic
- [Building Your Online Presence on a Tight Budget](https://rlweiner.com/building-your-online-presence-on-a-tight-budget) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently held an online forum with Beth Kanter of Beth's Blog and Jonathon Colman of The Nature Conservancy. They addressed questions such as: What are the best methods for driving traffic to your Web site? How should I promote my organization's Facebook page? How do we increase visibility for our campaign
- [Finding a replacement for Tungle.me](https://rlweiner.com/finding-a-replacement-for-tungle-me) - I've been using Tungle for years to share my calendar with colleagues and clients. It allowed them to view my availability online and propose meetings as if we were all on the same calendaring system. Unfortunately, RIM bought Tungle in 2011 and it started to decline. Appointments would no longer sync reliably with Outlook, I'd
- [Best Practices for Managing a Database](https://rlweiner.com/best-practices-for-managing-a-database) - "After people, data is your most important asset." -- John Kenyon Left unattended, databases will turn into piles of mush. Therefore, develop data entry policies and procedures, and train everyone who enters data. Excel is not a database, and is one of the leading causes of dirty data. It is difficult to enforce data entry
- [Social Media and College Admissions](https://rlweiner.com/social-media-and-college-admissions) - The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has just published Social Media and College Admissions: The First Longitudinal Study by Eric Mattson and Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D. The study compares adoption of social media between 2007 and 2008 by the admissions offices of all four-year accredited institutions in the United States. The findings include: 41% of US
- [Making the Case for Advancement Services](https://rlweiner.com/making-the-case-for-advancement-services) - I got a call last week from the Advancement Services manager at a small college asking for help. She's trying to make the case for investing in Advancement Services at a college that seems to only want to invest in fundraisers. She had already found my post on the Ingredients of a High Performing Advancement
- [Anatomy of My Web Site](https://rlweiner.com/anatomy-of-my-web-site) - Several friends who have decided to explore WordPress have asked how I built my site. Here are the steps I went through: 1) I hired a designer, Robyn Smith (http://dubbahdesign.com/). Robyn installed WP on my existing web host (dotable.com). Fortunately, they offered support for WP, since I was paid up for the year. I decided
- [Blackbaud's acquisition of Convio is a done deal](https://rlweiner.com/blackbauds-acquisition-of-convio-is-a-done-deal) - Blackbaud completed its purchase of Convio. The next adventure starts today, as we wait to see what the future holds for their various systems.
- [The Idealware Research Fund](https://rlweiner.com/the-idealware-research-fund) - My friends at Idealware have created a new fund to support their research. Many of Idealware's reports have been funded by foundations and some have had corporate sponsorship. As you probably know, neither foundation nor corporate support is a reliable funding source these days. In addition, since Idealware must maintain its independence in order to
- [Free Fundraising Resources Online](https://rlweiner.com/free-fundraising-resources-online) - This post is for fundraisers (whether or not you're techies). These aren't resources for "online fundraising" — they're fundraising resources that are available online (for free). Tony Poderis's Fundraising Forum Library includes articles like Non-Profit Fund-Raising Demystified, Campaign Feasibility Studies: Taking The Time To Find Out Whether The Time Is Right, and Annual Fund Giving
- [So You Want to Be a Consultant?](https://rlweiner.com/so-you-want-to-be-a-consultant-2) - I moderated a panel with the above title yesterday at NTEN's Nonprofit Technology Conference. Jana Byington-Smith did a great job of capturing the discussion for the conference's live blog. I'm reposting her summary below. The list of links she mentions is at http://www.rlweiner.com/nten/consultant_resources.pdf So You Want to Be a Consultant? Presenters: Guru Master Robert Weiner
- [Top 10 Threats to Higher Ed Computer Systems](https://rlweiner.com/top-10-threats-to-higher-ed-computer-systems) - In his article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy titled "Top 10 Threats to Computer Systems Include Professors and Students," Jeffrey Young says Today a growing number of network bad guys are professional criminals, and they're looking to steal real money. They don't just want to post an embarrassing note on your college's home page. They
- [Coping with a Troubled Economy](https://rlweiner.com/coping-with-a-troubled-economy) - Here are two new resources for surviving in tough times: The Chronicle of Philanthropy has compiled a collection of recent stories, discussions, and statistics about how charities deal with turbulent economic times. Topics include getting creative in tough times, the job market for fundraisers, and experimenting with new ways to ensure that donations flow over
- [Thoughts on Software RFPs](https://rlweiner.com/thoughts-on-software-rfps) - I received the following email from Keith Heller, a database consultant who works with Raiser's Edge and Common Ground clients: We’ve been involved with responding to many RFPs over the years and I have a general inquiry that is in your bailiwick. I often see RFPs that are quite lengthy and well-considered, and looking for
- [Lame spam of the day: Fake BBC news stories](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-fake-bbc-news) - Like most lame spam, this one lacks any formatting or graphics. The tricky part is that it's masquerading as a news story sent to me by a friend, and those typically lack formatting and graphics. Clues that it's fake: I don't know the sender; the sender shows as Wendy Kauffman but the text says it
- [Email Appends: Risks and Rewards](https://rlweiner.com/email-appends-risks-and-rewards) - A listserv for Annual Giving professionals has been discussing the pros and cons of using email appends. The risks include being labeled a spammer, which can lead to bad relationships with constituents and could result in ISPs blocking email from your domain. The rewards include the ability to (re)connect with constituents who neglected to give
- [$10 Million in Social Enterprise Awards from Google](https://rlweiner.com/10-million-in-social-enterprise-awards-from-google) - Google will be giving out $10 million in awards through what it's calling Project 10^100 ("Project 10 to the 100th"). They are calling for "ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible" in the following categories: Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures? Opportunity: How
- [Social Media for Revenue or Volunteers? Maybe Not](https://rlweiner.com/social-media-for-revenue-or-volunteers-maybe-not) - The results of two new surveys paint a bleak picture of the effectiveness of social media for fundraising and volunteer recruitment. The first from Philanthropy Action, has the depressing title, "Social Networking and Mid-Size Nonprofits: What's the Use?" The survey is based on responses from about 200 mid-sized nonprofits (defined as having revenues between $1
- [Convio Announces New Donor Database](https://rlweiner.com/convio-announces-new-donor-database) - Convio, a popular online advocacy toolset used by many nonprofit advocacy groups, recently announced that they will be releasing a donor database code-named Akido, on the SalesForce.com platform. This will be a separate product from their online Constituent Relationship Management suite — you don't have to be a Convio CRM client to use the database. They
- [Maybe It's Not Your Database, It's You](https://rlweiner.com/its-not-your-database-its-you-outline) - I'm working on an article with the title, "Maybe It's Not Your Database, It's You." The premise is that complaints about an organization's database may be misdirected: the problem is how the system is being managed (aka management problems disguised as technology problems). Now, it's certainly possible that an organization chose the wrong database
- [New book: "Advancement Services: Enhancing Fundraising Success"](https://rlweiner.com/new-book-advancement-services-enhancing-fundraising-success) - CASE has just published the third edition of its guide to Advancement Services. The title of this edition is "Advancement Services: Enhancing Fundraising Success." The book was a labor of love for over 2 years by 25 of advancement services professionals, led and edited by the esteemed John Taylor. I'm honored to have written two chapters. You
- [Robert on the (Internet) radio](https://rlweiner.com/robert-on-the-internet-radio) - This Friday, October 16 at 1 pm Eastern time, Nonprofit Radio will be broadcasting a discussion with me, Tracy Kronzak of Bright Step Partners; Marc Baizman of the Salesforce Foundation; and Dahna Goldstein of Altum. We'll be talking about how people and processes can be the real culprits behind technology problems. Links to listen live
- [Robert in the news(paper)](https://rlweiner.com/robert-in-the-newspaper) - I was interviewed for two articles that were published recently. The NonProfit Times ran the story The Evolution of Donor Management And Its Fundraising Future, which deals with how technology is transforming the way nonprofits interact with donors, particularly online. And the Chronicle of Philanthropy ran 'But It's Free!' and 9 Other Lines About Technology You Don't Want
- [Ingredients of a High Performing Advancement Services Shop](https://rlweiner.com/ingredients-of-a-high-performing-advancement-services-shop) - What does it take to run a great Advancement Services operation (aka Development Services, Development Operations, Development Systems, the fundraising infrastructure, the back office)?
- [What to Do When Technology Isn't Your Problem](https://rlweiner.com/what-to-do-when-technology-isnt-your-problem) - Copyright P. S. Mueller http://www.psmueller.com/ Does it feel like you never find the right combination of technologies to just make things work? Do you lie awake at night and wonder how everything is going to get done, or why a new project was just dumped on your plate? If you technology decisions at your organization are
- [Important changes for GiftWorks users](https://rlweiner.com/important-changes-for-giftworks-users) - FrontStream, the current owner of GiftWorks, sent me the following notice this week: Hey there Robert, As in the past, we are preparing to upgrade FrontStream CRM (previously GiftWorks 2013) users to the newest version of CRM. This change is in-line with our transition to a subscription-based service. As such, current and new clients are
- [Discussion of Donor Data Retention](https://rlweiner.com/discussion-of-donor-data-retention) - A few months ago I wrote a post on the topic of whether nonprofits should delete old donor records. The same topic came up recently on the APRA's listserve, PRSPCT-L. The original question: My organization is working on a data retention policy and wondering if others have insights to share. There seems to be a
- [Should You Delete Donor Records?](https://rlweiner.com/should-you-delete-donor-records) - I was recently contacted by the vendor behind a new cloud-based donor management system with this question: We have noticed that our clients have become much more conscious about archiving/deleting old donor/prospect records because our pricing model is based on the number of records. After talking with some clients, it seems opinions vary wildly regarding
- [Training on your new database](https://rlweiner.com/training-on-your-new-database) - A question was posted to a listserve for nonprofit techies looking for tips on training staff on a new database. I discussed training at a high level on page 13 of this chapter from CASE's Handbook of Institutional Advancement. Here are some more detailed rules of thumb: 90% of training is forgotten within the first
- [Lame spam roundup](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-roundup) - Here's a random selection of strange and/or lame spams I've received recently. 1: I got several of these. Unfortunately, no umbrellas were included. Sender: LinkedIn Connections [connections@linkedin.com] Subject: RE: CELSA - Copies of Policies. Text: Unfortunately, I cannot obtain electronic copies of the Ocean, Warehouse or EPLI policy. Here is the Package and Umbrella, and
- [Blackbaud Report: 2008 Online Giving Trends](https://rlweiner.com/2008-online-giving-trends) - Blackbaud has released a summary of early results from its analysis of 2008 online giving trends. The results come from 2,000 nonprofits using Blackbaud's online fundraising tools. They've found: Steady growth throughout the year. There was a slight decrease in online giving during the third quarter but online giving rebounded in the fourth quarter. An
- [Blackbaud - Convio merger expected to close this week](https://rlweiner.com/blackbaud-convio-merger-expect-to-close-this-week) - The Department of Justice signed off on Blackbaud's acquisition of Convio last week, and it looks like the deal will close this week. This is just the beginning of the story. I expect that it will take at least several months, and probably several years, before the dust settles and we know what's left behind.
- [Jay Love leaving Blackbaud](https://rlweiner.com/jay-love-leaving-blackbaud) - Jay Love, the founder and CEO of eTapestry (and before that, of Master Software), is leaving Blackbaud to become CEO of Social Solutions: http://www.nptimes.com/10June/news-100608-2.html I spoke with Jay yesterday and he says that Blackbaud is committed to etapestry and will continue to invest in the product. Time will tell.
- [Blackbaud kills Common Ground: So What?](https://rlweiner.com/blackbaud-kills-common-ground-so-what) - According to the Foundation Center’s analysis of data from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, there are approximately 1.5 million nonprofits in the U.S. According to the Q&A that Idealware conducted with Blackbaud, approximately 400 nonprofits are using the version of Common Ground that's being killed. That’s about .026 percent of U.S. nonprofits. Obviously, if
- [Convio Releases "Common Ground" Donor Database](https://rlweiner.com/convio-releases-common-ground-donor-database) - In June I mentioned that Convio had announced the beta release of a donor database it was calling Aikido, built on the SalesForce platform. This is not a new template for SalesForce, but a product built from the ground up. At the time, they said it would be a separate product from their online Constituent
- [Thoughts on the Blackbaud - Convio deal](https://rlweiner.com/thoughts-on-the-blackbaud-convio-deal) - Lots of people have already weighed in on Blackbaud’s purchase of Convio (two of my favorites: http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/18/blackbaud-buys-their-rival-convio-now-what.html and http://nonprofit-force.org/2012/01/20/the-convio-blackbaud-merger-one-customers-perspective/). Here my perspective. Disclosures: I have clients that use both companies’ products, as well as products from their competitors, open source products, and homegrown solutions. I don’t invest in these or other companies that I advise
- [Blackbaud kills off Common Ground](https://rlweiner.com/blackbaud-kills-off-common-ground) - Yesterday the news was that Blackbaud had laid off 50 employees it acquired when it bought Convio in May. In what was said to be an unrelated development, they also announced the departure of Gene Austin, the former CEO of Convio. Today the news is that Blackbaud is killing off Common Ground, one of the
- [What's a good donor database?](https://rlweiner.com/whats-a-good-donor-database) - I've been enjoying the discussion in the Chronicle of Philanthropy's LinkedIn group in response to the question, "What's a good, affordable donor database program for a small non profit?" (you'll probably need to join the group to read the responses). There have been 120 responses so far, and they've been all over the map, from
- [Lame spam of the day: do you get a lot of spam?](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-do-you-get-a-lot-of-spam) - This came as a comment on my blog. I had to smile at a spammer complaining about spam. It included a link to a page that seems to be selling dental implants, but I didn't explore it. Author: Reno Nevada Comment: Hi, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar
- [Lame Spam of the Day: Lehman Brothers Centre for Women 2008 Newsletter](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-lehman-brothers-centre-for-women-2008-newsletter) - It's been a while since I got a spam message that rose to the level of true lameness (maybe because I've improved my anti-spam tools), but this one hit the target. It's bad enough that the formatting of the first third is truly ugly (scroll to the bottom to see an image), it says someone
- [Lame spam of the day: spam mashup](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-mashup) - Another newbie spammer playing with a toy? This plain-text spam has no sender, subject, formatting, or graphics. Nothing unusual there. The bonus is that it mashes up a variety of spammer techniques, starting with a list of 3-letter words running from "act" to "dry". After that comes what looks like an email header, then some
- [Lame spam of the day: Raw spam merge text](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-raw-spam-merge-text) - Some newbie spammer posted a message on my site that shows the contents of their spam merge database. It goes on and on, but you'll get the idea pretty quickly. I found it fascinating. I recognize so many snippets that have appeared in my spam folder over the years. { {I have|I’ve} been {surfing|browsing} online
- [Reigning in shadow databases](https://rlweiner.com/reigning-in-shadow-databases) - The following story, posted with permission, was sent to the FUNDSVCS list in response to a question about how to reign in schools and departments at a university that keep their own shadow databases of contacts. The response hit the nail on the head: We started working on folding shadow databases into (Raiser's Edge, our
- [Lame spam of the day: Magnificent things of your mouth](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-magnificent-things-of-your-mouth) - Most of the comments that spammers have been trying to post on my blog these days have been beyond lame: a single word or lines of gibberish. It's sad that this junk gets through on so many sites. That just encourages the spammers. Today's spam is lame and charming, though it's probably less charming in
- [Lame spam of the day: disappointed spammer](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-disappointed-spammer) - Most of the spam that reaches me comes as emails, but my blog also attracts a fair share of spammy comments. Some are particularly lame (and some are pretty amusing). Here's one of the former, from a spammer I presume is trying to increase the search engine ranking for a site selling shoes. I searched
- [Lame spam of the day: Google Doc](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-google-doc) - Please tell me no one would ever click on something like this (I only wish it were true). Plain text, bad English, the document isn't actually attached, and the CLICK HERE link doesn't point to google.com. Sender: Laila Brenner [brenner.laila@gmail.com] Subject: Fwd: Attached Document Text: I have an important document that i would like to share
- [Lame spam of the day: Meeting invitation from George Adoo](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-meeting-invitation-from-george-adoo) - I'm not sure if this one is lame (the subject, text, and double salutation are certainly lame) or clever. This spam arrived in the form of a meeting invitation. My Outlook spam filter (SpamBayes) doesn't seem to look at meeting invitations, and it also slipped past the SpamAssassin filter on my mail server. Consequently I
- [Lame spams of the day: messages from key.com](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-messages-from-key-com) - I received seven copies of two versions of this spam. Plain text, no formatting, no logos. This site lists them as malware delivery devices but doesn't elaborate on the threat. Here they are: Senders: Georgina_Stevens@key.com Gavin_Deal@key.com Ana_Bowers@key.com Denise_Fish@key.com Rickie_Roberts@key.com Version 1 Subject: Please respond - overdue payment Text: Please find attached your invoices for the
- [On the value of donor database ratings](https://rlweiner.com/on-the-value-of-donor-database-ratings) - A colleague forwarded the following email from a vendor and asked how I think a potential buyer should respond. I've redacted the message to anonymize the vendor: Dear ____, I thought you might be interested in a recent analysis of low cost fundraising software, conducted jointly by independent organizations Idealware and N-TEN. If you are
- [Lame spam of the day: Smoking device ](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-smoking-device) - This is as lame as it gets. Plain text, no graphics, the sender name looks suspicious, the recipient name isn't me, there's no subject, and the text is lame. I ran the link in the "click here" line through some online virus scanners and it seems clean, so maybe they're just trying to sell something.
- [More nonprofit software mergers and acquisitions ](https://rlweiner.com/more-nonprofit-software-mergers-and-acquisitions) - Last year the big news in my industry was Blackbaud's acquisition of Convio and the merger/acquisition of Datatel and Sungard Higher Education (now called Ellucian). 2013 is off to a bang with Accel-KKR's acquisition of Sage's Nonprofit Solutions Group and iModules acquisition of Harris Connect. The Sage staff I've talked to can't comment publicly until
- [Lame spam of the day: Oprah sent me a message](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-oprah-sent-me-a-message) - My good buddy Oprah. Yeah, right. This is a lame as they come. Do people really click on something like this? Senders: zomg.amazing@yahoo.com theroughrider_692000@yahoo.com To: grhiner@yahoo.com dollyn216@earthlink.net Subject: Re: Text: Oprah has sent a message to you. Click here to read it. I don't see any reports on what these links lead to, but I
- [Lame spam of the day: Your Apple ID was used to sign in](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-your-apple-id-was-used-to-sign-in) - I got three of these today. There are a bunch of clues that they're not legit. First, there's no Apple logo (easy enough to fake, but still...). Second, the Apple ID it says was used is not my Apple ID. Third, the From addresses are not at apple.com (again, easy to fake so why not
- [Lame spams of the day: another roundup](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-another-roundup) - Here's a selection of messages from spammers who don't even seem to be trying -- no graphics, no attempt to make the links look legit, plain text. Are these spammers just lazy or do these things actually work? Bottom line: think before you click. Hover your mouse over URLs and see where they lead. And
- [Lame spams of the day: so many ebills](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-so-many-ebills) - I got two dozen of these this morning, which may be some kind of record. This site says they're malware delivery devices, so do not click on them! A few of the senders: alets-no-reply@customercenter.citibank.com alets-no-reply@serviceemail6.citibank.com alets-no-reply@citibank.com citibankonline@customercenter.citibank.com citibankonline@customercenter.citibank.com serviceemail@citibank.com Some of the subject lines said the bills were from AT&T, Verizon, or American Express, bill
- [Lame spam of the day: You are highly needed](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-you-are-highly-needed) - Most of these 419 scam emails aren't worth glancing at, but the language in this one was too good to pass up. Including links to real news stories is a nice touch. I liked the lines: one has to be very careful because a lot of scammers are out there to scam innocent citizens and
- [Lame spams of the day: Your score apparently changed!](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-your-score-apparently-changed) - I got a bunch of these this week. I don't know what happens if you click the links, but they look like malware delivery vehicles. They included a variety of graphics that look like typical credit score spam, but the sender addresses are obviously faked and the links look like they point to hacked Wordpress
- [Results from NTEN's CMS Satisfaction Survey](https://rlweiner.com/results-from-ntens-cms-satisfaction-survey) - NTEN published the results of its Content Management System Satisfaction Survey a couple of weeks back, so if you haven't seen it yet and are considering different CMS types for your organization, it'd be worth taking a look. More than 1,000 people participated in the survey, providing ratings for more than 27 different systems ranging
- [Lame spams of the day: Support Center](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-support-center) - This batch of spams looks like Facebook messages -- same colors, fonts, and formatting, and they have a "Go To Profile" button. But they don't mention Facebook. Does the familiar look and feel dupe people into clicking before they read? According to this post, they're selling meds online. Senders: Anna Norman [supportcenter@erichbaumeister.com] Valentina Byrd [supportcenter@crimlawyer.ca]
- [Lame spam of the day: Who Is She To You?](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-who-is-she-to-you) - This type of phishing spam is seldom worth a glance, but I was drawn in by the subject line and the random capitalization. An interesting twist in the story is that brunext.com appears to be a real company. Brunext.net looks like an exact duplicate of that site. Sender: Malcox Jason [brunext@brunext.net] Subject: Who Is She
- [Lame spams of the day: Fake Amazon and PayPal receipts](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-fake-amazon-and-paypal-receipts) - I got a big batch of these today. They're similar to the fake Amazon HDTV receipts I wrote about in September. These aren't as lame-looking as most of the spam I write about: they use the right logos, fonts, and typefaces. This site says they lead to malware. The giveaways are: 1) Hover over the
- [Lame spams of the day: more fake ADP notices](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-more-fake-adp-notices) - I got a new batch of lame ADP spams this morning (see the old batch here). These are really lame -- no graphics, plain text, mangled English. But they want me to take a customer satisfaction survey -- I can't wait. This site says they're malware delivery devices, so don't click. The senders were: ADP
- [Lame spams of the day: Fake UPS and FedEx delivery notices](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-fake-ups-and-fedex-delivery-notices) - My inbox has been polluted by a rash of these this week. They're so badly formatted, it's hard to believe anyone would fall for them. The spammers haven't even tried to make the reply-to address look legit. Some have a sender name from UPS but use the FedEx logo. Like this site, I'm assuming these
- [Lame spams of the day: LinkedIn messages](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-linkedin-messages) - I've been getting lots of these lately. They look reasonably line LinkedIn messages, though I don't recall ever getting something quite like this from LinkedIn. The subject has been "LinkedIn new messages" but the senders aren't LinkedIn addresses. This site says the links deliver malware. They've been: Lewis Shannon LinkedIn [cameoingo37@ggtco.com] Young Burton LinkedIn [crossways@anfscd.com]
- [Lame spams of the day: More fake LinkedIn invitations](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-more-fake-linkedin-invitations) - These are similar to the Linkedin scam I wrote about a year ago. At a casual glance they look like real LinkedIn invitations, but a moment of scrutiny shows they aren't real. Genuine LinkedIn invitations include a photo, the sender's company, a link to view their profile, and the number of shared connections. Also, the
- [Lame spams of the day: fortunemart](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-fortunemart) - I've been getting hit with lots of spam from fortunemart@yahoo.com. These guys aren't even trying. Each spam has been one line of gibberish, plain text, no graphics, no formatting. I can't find any analysis of what happens if you click the links, and I'm not going to experiment. The subjects have included: new site Best
- [Lame spam of the day: They want me to donate $50 million?](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-they-want-me-to-donate-50-million) - Usually this type of come-on is offering me free money, but this one seems to want me to give them $50 million. Or maybe they're going to give me the money and I'm to regift it. Clearly we have a failure to communicate. Sender: Mrs. Alphonse Casambre [bhchue@yahoo.com.sg] Subject: none Text: Attn: Sir/Madam I got
- [Lame spams of the day: assorted LinkedIn ploys](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-assorted-linkedin-ploys) - Lots of spam is coming from fake LinkedIn accounts these days. Most of it is more scary than lame -- it uses the right logo, colors, and fonts. They typically say I have new invitations or messages or that I need to confirm my email address. But some are downright lame, like this: Sender: LinkedIn
- [Lame spam of the day:  Warning PayPal Account  Placed on hold](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-warning-paypal-account-placed-on-hold) - Fake PayPal notices are common as dirt, but this one stands out for its lameness. It does have some design elements (small PayPal logo, blue font, borders) -- it's the text that's lame -- empty merge fields, typos, random capitalization. There's even a typo in the fake From address (PayPal with two L's). I don't
- [Lame spam of the day: Intuit GoPayment](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-intuit-gopayment) - Hey, spammers: how about deduping your mailing lists? I got 22 of these on Monday. This article says they're malware delivery devices. These spams aren't 100% lame -- at least they included a logo and some design elements. But the From: address is obviously not from Intuit and text is pretty lame: "Your Intuit GoPayment
- [Lame spam of the day: Charter flight reservation](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-charter-flight-reservation) - This looks similar to the American Airlines spam, but lamer. How many people 1) have secretaries (not me) and 2) charter airplanes (again, not me). I got two versions of this. One claimed to come from LinkedIn -- which would be a major change in their business model. Neither one had any graphics or formatting.
- [Lame spam of the day: Same Day Transfer  sent successfully](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-same-day-transfer-sent-successfully) - I got 7 emails today claiming to come from the Federal Reserve Bank. Plain text, no logo, and the From address is obviously not from the Federal Reserve (plus, why would the Federal Reserve Bank be contacting me about anything?). The details of the "transaction" differs on each message, but the text is basically the
- [Lame spam of the day: Run Do Not Reply](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-run-do-not-reply) - The subjects of this batch of spams are about payroll processing, but the sender name is more noteworthy: "Run Do Not Reply" (RUN is right). The From address varies, as you'll see below. This site says the links deliver malware. Since I'm self-employed, payroll processing spam isn't going to get me to click. Plus, there
- [Lame spam of the day: fake Verizon notifications](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-fake-verizon-notifications) - I got 14 of these over the past 2 days. I'd hope that anyone who gets emails from Verizon would see immediately that these are fake. While they used the Verizon logo and colors, the logo is blurry, the font is wrong, the From: addresses aren't at Verizon domains, and the English is tortured (opening
- [Lame spam of the day: FDIC Transactions stopped](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-fdic-transactions-stopped) - I got a dozen spams today claiming to come from the FDIC. Here are details on the exploit. The spammers at least took the trouble to use the FDIC logo, but didn't bother to make the random sender addresses look like legitimate FDIC addresses. The truly lame part is that the text is pale blue
- [Lame spams of the day: Amazon HDTV shipments](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-amazon-hdtv-shipments) - I got 3 versions of this today. The most amusing part is that the shipping address is a mail merge field with my email address inserted. I'm sure that will produce some funny results for people with more creative email addresses. I don't see any posts about what the links do and don't intend to
- [Lame spams of the day: Fake Facebook notifications](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-fake-facebook-notifications) - Lots of spammers try to use fake Facebook notifications to trap the unwary. Here's a sample of what's landed in my spam folder. All but the last one used graphics that made them look like the came from Facebook. Senders: Facebook [update+fqqrnmjhudim@atse.org.au] Facebook [update+dxyfrdccslte@csj.g12.br] Facebook [updateV995O9DZ34L9@facebookmail.com] Facebook [update+uIsYkDkEcuHyrBRXzixWMnatposl1@snik.be] Facebook [update+YJAKHLlIWryYDRlsGSOvxkunDEpv1@fabioleonardi.it] Facebook [welcome+robert@zamilglass.com] Subjects: Confirm your
- [Lame spams of the day: FedEx invoices](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-fedex-invoices) - I got a dozen of these yesterday. Most of them showed the sender as "Milton Ballard" so hopefully they won't fool anyone. But the last one came from BillingOnline@fedex.com so it was slightly more convincing. The subject lines included: Please pay your outstanding Fedex invoice. New Fedex Invoice Your Fedex invoice is ready to be
- [Lame spams of the day: Proposal Attached](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-proposal-attached) - A bunch of these have accumulated in my spam folder. No logo, no formatting, no attempt to look like they come from a business I'd be familiar with. They look like they actually came from gmx.com so maybe they're merely annoying rather than malicious. Senders: Thomas Mainer (Noreply.TM2012@gmx.com) Steve Gainer (Noreply.SG2012@g2gm.com) Janet Battaglia (Noreply.JB@g2gm.com) Betsy
- [Lame spams of the day: Intuit Payroll Services](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-intuit-payroll-services) - I got 4 versions of this today. It's not totally lame -- it uses Intuit's logo at the top. But the language is awkward enough that I hope anyone would think twice before clicking. All 4 versions had the same sender: Intuit Payroll Services (intuitpayroll@e.payroll.intuit.com) The subjects were: Important QuickBooks Update QuickBooks Security Update Urgent:
- [Lame spams of the day: ADP Notifications](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-adp-notifications) - I've been seeing a variety of these recently. Since I don't use ADP it's obvious that they're spam, but others may fall for them. The first one below had no logo or other graphics, and used only plain, unformatted text. Sender: ADPClientServices@adp.com Subject: ADP Generated Message: Final Notice - Digital Certificate Expiration Text: This e-mail
- [Lame spam of the day: HELLO](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-hello) - So much lame spam, so little time to blog about it. Here's today's example. No graphics, all caps, the From address doesn't match the "write me at" address. Does it get any lamer? Sender: Tesfaye, Fanuel (f.tesfaye@unesco.org) Subject: HELLO Text: BUSINESS FOR YOU, CONTACT ME THROUGH MY PRIVATE EMAIL: sydneywalter58@yahoo.com
- [Lame spam of the day: targeting golfers](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-targeting-golfers) - The latest lame spams in my inbox are aimed at golfers. How's that for micro-targeting? None of the messages had any formatting or logos, just plain text with attachments. I don't see any posts online saying what the attachments do, but I'm assuming they're not legit. I don't plan to find out. Sender: One copy
- [Lame spam of the day: How are you](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-how-are-you) - OK, this is totally lame. No graphics, no links, no attachments. One copy came from Marcus Richmond (besiegersr032@chinesegamer.net) and one came from Brent Gaines (taciturnoxx28@wonderware.com). The subject line of both was "hi". The text was "How are you." That's it. Each took a twisting path through servers in multiple countries. I'm guessing someone is taking
- [Lame spam of the day: Fake eFaxes](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-fake-efaxes) - This one's scary since I'm an eFax user. But I was suspicious that it was asking me to click on a link (pointing to a server in Germany) rather than open an attachment. There were lots of warnings in 2010 about fake eFax messages delivering malware. I don't know what this one does and don't
- [Lame spams of the day: More people sending me money](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-more-people-sending-me-money) - Even more people want to send me money. Here are a few examples: Sender: Authorize.Net (emailreceipts@authorize.net) Subject: Successful Credit Card Settlement Report Text: Dear Customer, The following is your Credit Card settlement report for Tuesday, August 14, 2012. Transaction Volume Statistics for Settlement Batch dated 14-Aug-2012 Batch ID: 320541579 Business Day: 14-Aug-2012 Net Batch Total:
- [Lame spam of the day: You pig!](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-you-pig) - I got a kick out of this one. It's short and sweet -- and, I hope, ineffective. Sophos says it's a malware delivery device. Sender: LAU18eRogelio@aol.com Subject: You pig! Text: You should be stoping ignoring me or i will send this photos to your spouse!!! Attachment: DCIM.zip
- [Lame spams of the day: 123Greetings](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-123greetings) - Supposed friends have been sending me lots of electronic greeting cards lately -- a dozen in the past few days. Of course, the person mentioned in the cards is a stranger. The From address has been ecards@123greetings.com The subjects have been: Your friend sent you an e-card. New e-card for you. An E-card from your
- [Tales of faux donors scamming charities](https://rlweiner.com/tales-of-faux-donors-scamming-charities) - The following is a compilation of online discussions of faux donors trying to scam colleges, schools, and nonprofits. In most cases it’s not clear what the scammers are trying to achieve. Maybe they’re just practical jokes. These tales were provided by Barbara Esteve at Cedar Crest College, Roylene Gallas at the Little City Foundation, Don
- [Lame spams of the day: Your AT&T bill](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-your-att-bill) - I see the occasional fake AT&T message all the time, but got 15 variations on this theme today. Looks like a baby spammer playing with a new toy. Senders included: Kristi Leal (support@irs.gov) Sally Moser, Jody Grace, Loretta Bragg (all at alerts@irs.gov) Emily Delgado, Johnnie Espinoza, Luz Wyatt, Bernadette Shelton, Ruth Hodge, Brice Herring, Mabel
- [Lame spams of the day: eBay and Paypal transfers](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-ebay-and-paypal-transfers) - I got a ton of these earlier this week. First clue it's spam: when you get 10 versions of the same message. I particularly like the randomized "buyer emails" like lorem.eget.mollis@tinciduntDonecvitae.ca. The text was variations on this theme: Transaction ID 934493892393 Transaction Time : 7/23/2012 03:00 PDT Your funds are now available Dear robert@rlweiner.com, The
- [Lame spams of the day: everyone wants to send me money](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-everyone-wants-to-send-me-money) - Here are some of the "loan offers" that have landed in my spam folder. None have attachments, links, or graphics. One used a blue font, the others were plain old black Courier. The subject lines were blank in every case. The senders included: kelly loan offer (web.office20026045@att.net) Alreford Ltd (web.0123345667785@att.net) LOAN OFFER APPLY (web.office_10.5088@att.net) EQUITY
- [ROI for a donor database](https://rlweiner.com/roi-for-a-donor-database) - My colleague Charlie Hunsaker posted the following question on the FUNDSVCS Advancement Services listserve: I have two clients who are looking for new systems and want a “cost justification” for their acquisition to share with their management. Probably an issue that we should all be looking at. So with some background, I’ve got some questions.
- [Lame Spams of the Day: Job Offers](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-job-offers) - Wow, strangers want to hire me -- not. Sender 1: Scott Pina (tani40@wonderware.com) Subject: Re: Re: Employment Opportunity Followup. Response Required Text: Dear job applicant Thank you for submitting your information for potential employment openings. We look forward to reviewing your application, but can not do so until you complete our internal application. The pay
- [Lame spam of the day: Harvard Medical School](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-harvard-medical-school) - Well, I haven't been treated at Harvard. I live thousands of miles away. And it wouldn't normally occur to me to "shop" at a medical school or hospital (though after investigation I found that the publications shown on the message do cost money.) But aside from that (and assuming you don't look at the From
- [10 Traits of a Great Consultant](https://rlweiner.com/10-traits-of-a-great-consultant) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy published a nice list of consulting traits that I want to pass along. The traits they list are below. My comments are in parentheses. Have self-confidence and be as adept at delivering bad news as good. (This is hard. I hate delivering bad news, but it often goes with the job.)
- [Lame spam of the day: Digg + Facebook](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-digg-facebook) - I've seen two versions of this spam claiming to be verification of Facebook social sharing on Digg. One said it's a Facebook verification, the other a Digg verification. Version 1: Sender: Facebook Verification (registration@datonet.at) Subject: Thank you for registering Text: Thank you for registering with us at Facebook Social. We look forward to seeing you
- [Lame spams of the day: LinkedIn phishing](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-linkedin-phishing) - The recent theft of passwords from LinkedIn prompted me to post these spams masquerading as messages from that firm. The first one made no attempt beyond the Sender name to look like it came from LinkedIn. The others made a minimal attempt to look like a LinkedIn message and all look like they came from
- [Setting up my new Thinkpad T400S](https://rlweiner.com/setting-up-my-new-thinkpad-t400s) - I recently received my new Lenovo Thinkpad T400S -- thinner, faster, and lighter than my current T400. But getting it set up has been a bear. A few of the lowlights, after 6 days of work: 1) I used Laplink to transfer my data, apps, and settings. I've been using Laplink products for at least
- [Lame spam of the day: Facebook notifications](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-facebook-notifications) - Similar to the notifications from MySpace, Habbo, Tagged, and Foursquare I got a few weeks ago, I'm getting lots of fake Facebook notifications. According to this article, they're phishing messages. Here are a few examples: Sender: Facebook (confirm+robert@ig.com.br) Subject: Reminder: Reset your password Text: You recently requested a new password for your Facebook account. It
- [Lame spam of the day: Money](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-money) - This is about as lame as it gets. I hope no one would click on a message like this. Even Outlook recognizes it as phishing. Sender: yomrgoo@yahoo.com (no attempt to make it look real) To: robert@rlplumbingcompany.com (not me) Subject: FW: Money Text: Click Here Shared Online News Article (That's the entire text. The link leads
- [Lame spam of the day: CitiBank Account Alert](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-citibank-account-alert) - This type of phishing scam is common as dirt, but this example is particularly lame. First, it includes the sections of CitiBank's standard notices that would normally include the account holder's name and the last 4 digits of the account -- but they're blank. Then there are some typos. But the really lame part is
- [Lame spam of the day: May be try it?](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-may-be-try-it) - This one purports to come from LinkedIn. It has the familiar blue line and uses their font (but not their logo). But the sender name shows clearly that it didn't come from LinkedIn and there's no way the text could be seen as a legitimate LinkedIn message. Sender: LinkedIn (emailconfirm+robert@hastingshighlands.ca) Subject: May be try it?
- [Lame spam of the day: self-identified spam](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-self-identified-spam) - This one is peculiar. My name isn't on the To line, and there's no offer, link, or attachment. Lot's of non-Western characters (or random text) in the subject & sender lines. This message didn't come from my anti-spam software and my ISP says it didn't come from theirs. To: ruhit_ray@hotmail.com Sender: ³¯«É·ì (cyzwjchbxx@yahoo-inc.com) Subject: *****SPAM*****
- [Lame spam of the day: messages from YouTube](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-messages-from-youtube) - I've seen several flavors of this spam lately. The formatting is pretty good -- not the usual lameness. It's the content that's lame. This site says they're from an online pharmacy. Version 1: Sender: YouTube Service (service@youtube.com) Subject: YouTube Service sent you a message: Your video has been approved Text: YouTube Service has sent you
- [Lame spam of the day: Amazon cancelation](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-amazon-cancelation) - Lame lame lame. This doesn't look remotely like an email from Amazon. And of course it's not for a product I ordered. Would someone really click this? Previous incarnations of this spam have led to a Canadian online pharmacy, and the hyperlinks in this one lead to a site in Canada. Sender: order-update@amazon.com Subject: Amazon.com
- [Lame spam of the day: My Name is Tuma](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-my-name-is-tuma) - OK, this hits all the marks for lameness. No graphics, no link, no attachment, no offer, no call to action. Someone must be playing with their new spambot. The message is exactly as it appears below, including the blank lines at the beginning: Sender: tuma ahoussou (toumaahoussou@indiatimes.com) Subject: hi Text: Hello dear, How are you?
- [Lame spam of the day: CareerBuilder position notices](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-careerbuilder-position-notices) - I'm being deluged by these today. This site says they're malware delivery vehicles. Version 1: Subject: Open position which you might be interested in. Sender: Vielka@site.careerbuilder.com Text: Hello, I am a customer service employee at CareerBuilder. I found a vacant position at Security Finance Corporation that you may be interested in based on information from
- [Lame spams of the day: confirmation from [insert social network name]](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-confirmation-from-insert-social-network-name) - Is it a trend or just me? In the past 2 days I've received spams in the form of confirmations from MySpace, Habbo, Tagged, and Foursquare. They don't look related, but it's an odd coincidence. Here they are: 1) Subject: Please confirm your Myspace account cancellation Sender: Myspace (noreply@message.sease.com) Text: You're… leaving us? Sure you're
- [Lame spam of the day: pizza order](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-pizza-order) - This one was entertaining. Apparently I ordered $93 worth of pizza from "Pizza by ARMO" (which looks like a variant of Pizza by GEROLAMO). I must have been hungry. Fortunately, the message has the helpful line, "If you haven't made the order and it's a fraud case, please follow the link and cancel the order."
- [Lame Spam of the Day: Poker Associates](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-poker-associates) - This spam is typical of "you've won the ___ lottery" scams. I'm mostly tickled by the sender's name. Would you bet on Poker Associates? There's no link or attachment, so one would have to reply to test@xiaoyinmu.com -- wouldn't that cause some concerns? Sender: POKER ASSOCIATES (test@xiaoyinmu.com) Subject: RE:THIS IS FOR YOUR ATTENTION Text: POKER
- [Lame spam of the day: US Airways reservation](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-us-airways-reservation) - I got 8 of these at 2 different email addresses, always a sign of spam. The pitch is similar to the American Airlines ticket scam but not as well done. The U.S. Air logo looks terrible, the formatting is sloppy, all the departure cities and times are the same -- only the flight number and
- [Lame spam of the day: Hiccough](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-hiccough) - This one is just weird. Yes, the subject line was "hiccough". No graphics, no attempt to make the sender's name match the signature line, no company name, and not (obviously) selling anything. I hope no one would click on something like this. Sender: vered.ed@zim.co.il Subject: Hiccough Text: Good Evening, robert@rlweiner.com For three minutes all had
- [Lame spam of the day: IRS notices](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-irs-notices) - I got two spams this week claiming to come from the IRS. They look like different schemes -- one is trying to get me to call a 900 number at $4.79/minute, the other includes a link. But they look similar so I'm posting them together. Message 1: Sender: Tiera Tanner (AditaOki@megpgh.com) Subject: Rejection of your
- [Defunct Google Products](https://rlweiner.com/defunct-google-products) - Google: It's great that they keep innovating, and of course not every idea will work out. But Google's record of killing off products makes me nervous about my reliance on them. Here are some defunct products I remember (and here are some I never tried. Even more. Still more.): Desktop Google search (still working if
- [Lame spam of the day: Traffic ticket N88790](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-traffic-ticket-n88790) - OK, this one's novel. It claims to be a notification from a red-light camera. Even though I've never been in (or heard of) this city, it's tempting to make sure I'm not the victim of a bureaucratic mistake. But I was able to resist because of the lameness of the message. The From address doesn't
- [Creative credit card donation scam](https://rlweiner.com/creative-credit-card-donation-scam) - Since this scam is on the rebound I'm republishing the following: A friend forwarded the following description of a scam aimed at a well-known college. Fortunately, they didn't fall for it. I would like to make everyone aware of a recent situation here that is most likely a scam to launder stolen credit card funds,
- [Lame spam of the day: It's important!](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-its-important) - I hope no one is stoopid or careless enough to fall for something this lame. Here's the totality of the message. No graphics, no name, nothin. Sender: Customer Informer (chdkz@dnco.com) Subject: It's important! Text: Your personal link: http://vykrd.pillscloud.ru
- [Lame spam of the day: Order Confirmation](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-order-confirmation) - This spam is similar to the American Airlines Ticket Order message, but much lamer. It's addressed to "Dear User", doesn't bother to include a human sender name, doesn't mention an airline or destination, and the link clearly goes somewhere fishy. In fact, it doesn't even say the charge is for an airline ticket -- maybe
- [Lame spam of the day: Your Intuit.com invoice.](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-your-intuit-com-invoice) - Here's another set of spams claiming to come from Inuit. An earlier batch asked me to provide my tax information. This batch confirms my non-existent purchases with links to download my order, reorder checks, and submit feedback. It looks official, with an Intuit logo and nice formatting. I got 6 variants today, with subject lines:
- [Lame spam of the day: meeting reminder](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-meeting-reminder) - This one's lame, but probably easy for a busy person at a large company to fall for. I do like the "put on something normal" line. Sender: HullJAIME@aol.com Subject: DONT FORGET! Text: The meeting with new clients is due today in 17:27. Be in time and put on something normal! Here is the map for
- [Lame spam of the day: Termination of my CPA license](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-termination-of-my-cpa-license) - I'm crushed. I didn't even know I had a CPA license, and now it's being revoked. Over and over (19 times in the past 2 days!). According to the AICPA's web site it's a phishing scam. Unlike most lame spam, at least they bothered to make it look real. Here's what they look like (some
- [Lame spam of the day: U.N. natural disaster victim payment](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-u-n-natural-disaster-victim-payment) - This spam is both lame (no graphic, no attempt to make the senders address look legit, mangled English) and odious -- preying on disaster victims (one can hope they're just preying on greedy idiots who will pretend to be disaster victims). Sender: Ban ki Moon (Info@cast.net) Subject: United Nations Headquarters Text: United Nations Headquarters 760
- [Lame spam of the day: job offers from ITX](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-job-offers-from-itx) - I got 5 versions of this over the last few days, all offering the position of Regional Agent with ITX LLC. Quite a hiring spree. Some claimed to come from job.com, others from monster.com. None had links or attachments, just a reply address. Sender: Beulah Maldonado (noreply@monster.com) Subject: Job with a flexible work schedule Text:
- [Pinterest and privacy](https://rlweiner.com/pinterest-and-privacy) - I was planning to check out Pinterest to see what the buzz is about, but their privacy policy gives me the creeps. I can only sign up by linking a Pinterest account to my Facebook or Twitter account. The description on the Twitter link page says this allows them to: Read Tweets from your timeline.
- [Lame spam of the day: Prize Winning.](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-prize-winning) - This one should win a prize for lameness. No graphics, no links, no attachment, no signature, nothing. Is someone testing their new spam toy? Sender: WorldWide Lottery (bevile@bevilehotel.com.br) Subject: Prize Winning. Text: Did you receive our email ??
- [Lame spam of the day: Need your help!](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-need-your-help) - This one is simple and intriguing, but obviously a scam. This site says it's a malware delivery mechanism. Sender: KATHRINE BURRELL (accounting@rlweiner.com) -- nope, no Kathrine Burrells work here. Subject: Need your help! Text: Hello! Look, I've received an unfamiliar bill, have you ordered anything? Here is the bill (link leads to http://bodrumadvisor.com/wp-content/themes/yoo_pure_wp/cache/kxwpq.htm?RPSBNA=2LPA6YI4NAA&3K7J=WRCJ3RCLH3O76EI&5LNS4WU=FH8PPJBS1WF&LCL=ATI67T7K&QQX4=8D198B0452RE3D6N&SKX=FIZMNFC5WFILQXA0&) Please reply
- [2012 Heroes With A Heart Awards](https://rlweiner.com/2012-heroes-with-a-heart-awards) - Heroes With A Heart Grant The CTK Foundation’s "Heroes with a Heart" Grant Award wants YOU to nominate a “Hero with a Heart,” and give them a chance to win $5,000 as thanks for the hard work that they do. There are three awards: $15,000 for Three Heroes One Hero with a Heart from each
- [Lame spam of the day: FBI and Nigeria still want to send me money](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-fbi-and-nigeria-still-want-to-send-me-money) - I wrote about a version of this one last year, but the language of this version is so tortured that I have to post it. No official-looking seal this time. Sender: FBI OFFICE (office.fbi3@gmail.com) Subject: FROM IMF HEAD OFFICE Text: Anti-Terrorist And Monetary Crimes Division FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Federal Bureau Of Investigation J.Edgar Hoover
- [Lame spam of the day: Please provide your tax information](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-please-provide-your-tax-information) - Just in time for tax filing season in the U.S., a phishing message purporting to come from Intuit. Intuit's security center lists lots of these, but not the two I got this week. Both had empty graphics placeholders and broken hyperlinks -- maybe the work of a baby spammer. Sender: INTUIT INC. (onlinebanking@ealerts.bankofamerica.com) -- it
- [Lame spam of the day: Money from Homeland Security](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-money-from-homeland-security) - Yow! Homeland Security wants to send me money (right after they learn to write English). And it makes perfect sense that they're working with the United bank of Africa to make sure I get my money. Watch out for those flying pigs. Sender: Homeland Security Emergency Management Agency/Georgia (sandra@iexpress.com.br) Subject: STATUS OF YOUR TRANSACTION WITH
- [Lame spam of the day: Tis the season for warranty sales](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-tis-the-season-for-warranty-sales) - It's January, so "tis the season" is out. And the lame spammer couldn't even format the message, so there are no links or images. Sender: Melissa Griffin (melissagriffin03a@rhonda42martinez.info) Subject: Tis the Season for Warranty Sales Here's a screenshot: Screenshot6
- [Lame spam of the day: Validate Your Internet Listing - Yellow PagesUSA](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-validate-your-internet-listing-yellow-pagesusa) - Hmmm. The Yellow Pages using spam to get listings? The attachment is a PDF so it's most likely safe but not completely risk free. I searched for subject line and found an example of what I'm guessing is the attachment. The fine print at the bottom says: We are compiling data for Yellow PagesUSA Corp.
- [Lame spam of the day: Pandora Beads](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-pandora-beads) - I'd never heard of Pandora Beads before, and this spam, posted as a comment on my blog, didn't make me want to have anything to do with them. But I do like the concept of "charm beans" and bottoms that can be interchanged. Your charm beans are often silver or rhodium as well as gold
- [Lame spam of the day: Your order for rotorcraft for the weekend](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-your-order-for-rotorcraft-for-the-weekend) - Yes, of course I ordered a helicopter for the weekend (not). Would someone really click on the link? (I do like how the dollar signs follow the amounts -- is there a country that does that?) Sender: Kathaleen Dailey (AbdullahDoporto@tele2.no) Subject: Your order for rotorcraft for the weekend Text: Your order for our air transportation
- [Lame spam of the day: boundless online grant applications](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-boundless-online-grant-applications) - I was struck by the language in this spammy blog comment. My first thought was that "boundless" online grant applications meant "endless", which would be horrifying. But maybe they mean "for unlimited amounts of money". I cling on to listening to the newscast lecture about receiving boundless online grant applications so I have been looking
- [Lame spam of the day: spelling error correction](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-spelling-error-correction) - The following comment (with a link to an unrelated web site) was left on my blog. Using fractured English to correct someone's (nonexistent) spelling errors struck me as a novel approach to SEO. Certainly like your blog on the other hand you have to check out the actual spelling on some of your content. Countless
- [Predictions for Nonprofit Fundraising Technology in 2012](https://rlweiner.com/predictions-for-nonprofit-fundraising-technology-in-2012) - NTEN published my somewhat snarky predictions for nonprofits' use of fundraising technologies in 2012. My overall predictions are that most things will be pretty much the same as last year (and 2010 and 2009, etc.): many nonprofits will struggle with out-of-date systems. No surprise -- many will also lack the funding to replace them. But
- [Lame spam of the day: Gaddafi's money](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-gaddafis-money) - I loved the movie Three Kings, so I got a kick out of being asked to help smuggle Gaddafi's money out of Libya. Sender: SGT CHRIS BRAND (chrisbrrand@yahoo.com.ph) Subject: WAITING FOR YOU RESPONSE Text: Helllo, My name is Sgt. Chris Brand; I am an American soldier with Swiss background, serving in the military with the
- [Lame spams of the day: Robospam promoting Liberty Reserve investments](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-robospam-promoting-liberty-reserve-investments) - The following blog comment spams were left on my site on 12/21 - 23 in response to my posts "Lame spam as blog comments" and "More lame spam as blog comments." For some reason I'm tickled by them, like how "worth reporting" mutates thesaurus-like into "couturier mention" and "riveting" becomes "intriguing," "newsworthy," etc. All are promoting
- [Lame spam of the day: Instant Acrobat Upgrade](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-instant-acrobat-upgrade) - Since Adobe seems to update Acrobat weekly, this message seems plausible. Some quick indicators that it isn't real: I get updates through the installed Adobe Updater, not as email messages. The update site is instant-acrobat-upgrade.com, not adobe.com. The sender's address is @newsletter.northerntool.com No company logo in the message (easy to fake, but many spammers don't
- [Lame spam of the day: I'm in trouble!](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-im-in-trouble) - Don't people know not to click links in weird emails from strangers? Probably not. This site says the link leads to malware. Sender: Svetlana@rlweiner.com (My domain -- no Svetlanas work at my company) Subject: Fwd: I'm in trouble! Text: I was at a party, got drunk, couldn't drive the car, somebody gave me a lift
- [Year-end donation processing](https://rlweiner.com/year-end-donation-processing) - As the calendar year draws to an end, charities (and ideally, donors) are focused on year-end donations and tax deductions. Here are a few scenarios for U.S. charities to keep in mind. (Note: I am not a lawyer. When in doubt, contact an attorney who specializes in nonprofit law or contact the IRS for a
- [Lame spam of the day: Good Options](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-good-options) - This spammer's keyboard is missing the space bar. And is it too much trouble for spammers to make the sender's name match the signer's name? I couldn't find any info about this spam, so I don't know (and don't plan to test) what the link leads to. Sender: Christene Higgins (christenehiggins230@hotmail.com) Subject: Good options Text:
- [More lame spam as blog comments](https://rlweiner.com/more-lame-spam-as-blog-comments) - At their best, these are way more entertaining than email spam -- lots of creative English, garbled syntax, and mixed metaphors ("gladsome to mature this website," "earmarks of the army has recruited on boob tube," "Lossing albatross is benificial," "your current article causes me completely happy"). Most of these lame spams were posted as comments
- [Lame spam of the day: Rock Cruit/Rockzone Management](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-rock-cruitrockzone-management) - I've been seeing a bunch of spams trying to prey on job seekers. Particularly evil in these tough times. None of them attempts to disguise the URL they're linking to. Judging from this writeup, they're phishing, not downloading malware. There are at least some novel locutions, like "Hurroo Robert" and "Pass the time of day
- [New article: Take Control of your Organization's Data](https://rlweiner.com/take-control-of-your-organizations-data) - NTEN just published a short piece of mine on data management in their Change magazine. It's in their DIY series -- short tips for implementing something for your organization without extensive tech know-how or extra budget. The topic they gave me was managing decentralized data entry.
- [Lame spam of the day: Fictitious Business Name Renewal Center](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-fictitious-business-name-renewal-center) - It's novel to get the snail mail equivalent of spam. This one came via U.S. mail from the Fictitious Business Name Renewal Center in Sacramento, CA. My business is required to register and publish a Fictitious Business Name (FBN, aka DBA or Doing Business As) every 5 years. And every 5 years I get an
- [Lame spam of the day: NYC traffic ticket](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-nyc-traffic-ticket) - This is the first one like this I've seen -- a speeding ticket. If I'd driven in New York in October I might be curious enough to click (well, I wouldn't, but someone might). Apparently this one has been floating around for a while and delivers malware. Sender: support@rlweiner.com (me!) Subject: Fwd: Re: TRAFFIC TICKET
- [Lame spam of the day: free Southwest vouchers](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-free-southwest-vouchers) - I've seen spam like this before (here's an example using Facebook), and it might have a chance if they'd just used the first sentence. But they also used some random text generator that makes the message gibberish. A baby spammer taking his first steps? Sender: bigrick27856@aol.com Subject: blank Text: To: Facebook User, Southwest is giving
- [Win $5K for Charity Through Creative Pitching](https://rlweiner.com/win-5k-for-charity-through-creative-pitching) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy isn't known for giving away money, but for talking about how to get it. They've come up with a contest to benefit a few lucky nonprofits. Here's the deal: read more
- [Lame spam of the day: The variant of the contract you've offered has been delcined.](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-the-variant-of-the-contract-youve-offered-has-been-delcined) - I just love the subject line in this one. Wow, very creative syntax (though the misspelling of "declined" lessens the impact). I also got a second version, but the subject was much more prosaic. This blog says the links download malware. Version 1: Sender: Argelia Vogel (SterlingGroesbeck@myexcel.com) Subject: The variant of the contract you've offered
- [Lame spam of the day: FDIC: About your business account](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-fdic-about-your-business-account) - I got three flavors of this one today. The FDIC wrote about it, but doesn't say what happens if you click the link. I hope no one (except maybe a trained professional) tries to find out. Version 1: Sender: ::Federal Insurance Company:: (acclimatizingn271@fdic.gov) Subject: FDIC: About your business account Text: Dear Business Owner, We have
- [Lame spam of the day: BBB service Re: Case # (various numbers)](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-bbb-service-re-case-various-numbers) - I got 7 versions of this today, at 2 different email addresses. They included an attachment called bbb_logo.jpg but no graphics in the message body. A friend posted about them on a listserve and said that clicking the link downloads a virus. This scam has been around for a while. Here's an article about a
- [First impressions of the HTC Rezound smartphone](https://rlweiner.com/first-impressions-of-the-htc-rezound-smartphone) - Since HP abandoned the Palm Pre I decided to do the same. I'm sad about it -- I've been a Palm user since the Pilot days and loved Palm's WebOS. But my Pre's keypad was no longer reliable, the erratic GPS was constantly vexing, and the lack of apps was annoying (and not likely to
- [Lame spam of the day: America Airlines ticket order](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-america-airlines-ticket-order) - This one caught my eye for a second. I thought, "I don't remember booking anything with American lately." The lazy spammer didn't even bother to include any graphics to make it look official. Sender: American Airlines (information-no77537@aa.com) Subject: Your Order##91991988 Text: Dear Customer, FLIGHT NUMBER 984 ELECTRONIC 746879098 DATE & TIME / NOVEMBER 17, 2011,
- [Lame spam as blog comments](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-as-blog-comments) - I wrote recently about spam in the form of blog comments. There's been a deluge recently, and I want to call out some that look like they could be legit. Fortunately, my anti-spam filters (Akismet and Bad Behavior) caught them. I assume that most of these are planted for search engine optimization rather than to
- [Lame spam of the day: weight loss blog comment](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-weight-loss-blog-comment) - Some of the lamest spam I see comes in the form of comments on my blog posts. Some sounds convincing, but my spam filters (Akismet and Bad Behavior) are incredibly good at catching them. (It's particularly entertaining when the spam is trying to link to one of my spam of the day posts.) Here's an
- [Lame spam of the day: Starbucks is giving away gifts](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-starbucks-is-giving-away-gifts) - Who in their right mind would click on a thing like this? It came from a stranger in another country with a blank subject and an unintelligible Quote of the Day. I guess I answered my own question -- someone who isn't thinking. And what kind of gifts are they giving away? It's a mystery,
- [Thinking about a donor database selection workshop](https://rlweiner.com/thinking-about-a-donor-database-selection-workshop) - I'm planning a new workshop on selecting donor databases, focusing on the question, "Why is this so friggin' complicated?" Some initial thoughts: The maxim "Fast, cheap, or good--pick two" is true. You want the technology to be forward-looking but also want to avoid shiny object syndrome. You want to make a reasonably quick decision but
- [Lame spam of the day: Acquire new EIN](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-acquire-new-ein) - This one seems both farfetched and lazy. They didn't bother with graphics or try to disguise the sender's email address or the destination of the hyperlink. And how many people would think they need an EIN (Federal employer ID) in the first place, much less a new one? I'd hope that accounting staff would see
- [Lame spam of the day: Your Tax Payment ID [various #s] is failed.](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-your-tax-payment-id-various-s-is-failed) - I got four of these today. No graphics, butchered syntax. Several mentions that you can call the EFTPS for help, but no phone number. Do people really fall for these things? Sender: message daemon (message.daemon@eftps.com) -- does that inspire confidence? Subject: Your Tax Payment ID 05674565 is failed. (Other variants had ID = 38543692, 56989098,
- [Lame spam of the day: USPS Delivery Confirmation](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-usps-delivery-confirmation) - Like the American Airlines spam, this one didn't bother to include any graphics to make it look official. Further, it shows plainly that the link goes to www.usps.com.ww062.com (note that the domain is ww062.com). Some scammers are just lazy. Sender: auto-notify@usps.com Subject: Delivery Confirmation Text: Dear Customer, We attempted to deliver your item at 11:02
- [Lame spam of the day: Your Changelog](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-your-changelog) - This one is short and appropriately signed. So, how many people ask to have a change log sent to them? And if they didn't, who would click the link? Sender: support@rlweiner.com (my domain -- which has no "support" account) Subject: Re: Your Changelog Text: ============== Good morning, as promised your changelog - View, LOONEY DEBBI
- [Lame Spam of the Day: willing to invest.](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-willing-to-invest) - I'm charmed by the tortured grammar in this spam. But would it have been too hard to at least make the sending email address (@gmail) match the reply-to address (@yahoo)? Sender: Robert Grant (robertgrantinvest3@gmail.com) Subject: willing to invest. Text: Top of the day to you In lieu to the economic social statutory meltdown,which led to
- [Lame Spam of the Day: Please stop sending spam messages onto our email](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-please-stop-sending-spam-messages-onto-our-email) - The text of this message made me smile, but the RAR attachment turned my smile upside down (no, I didn't click --- and don't you click, either). Here's info on rar attachments: http://www.philipp-winterberg.com/software/rar_faq_phishing_fraudulent_dangerous_malicious_files.php Subject: Please stop sending spam messages onto our email Sender: CorpTech (contact@corptech.com) Attachment: Attached_Document_INC#69397.rar Text: Hello. Your email is sending spam messages!
- [Lame Spam(s) of the Day: Federal Tax payment rejected](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spams-of-the-day-federal-tax-payment-rejected) - Since spammers don't bother with list hygiene, a new variant results in multiple messages in my spam folder. Today I got 4 versions of this spam. That should be a dead giveaway to anyone receiving these messages. Each one had a different "tax transaction ID". Looks like the sender tried to include a graphic but
- [Lame Spam of the Day: Loan Offer from Kiva](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-loan-offer-from-kiva) - I guess Kiva has attained sufficient mindshare to become a phishing tool. I hadn't realized that $5,000 to $100,000 constituted a micro-loan. Sender: Kiva Micro Financial Loan Company Subject: APPLY FOR YOUR LOAN AS LOW AS 0.2% Message: Goodday,We Offer Private, Commercial and Personal Loans with very Minimal annual Interest Rates as Low as
- [Spam of the Day: "McDonalds invites you to The Free Dinner Day" ](https://rlweiner.com/spam-of-the-day-mcdonalds-invites-you-to-the-free-dinner-day) - Sender: I love McDonalds (helping@mcdonalds.com) Subject: We are fond of you and thus invite you for free helpings Attachment: Invitation_Card_37021.zip ------------------------------ Hello. McDonalds invites you to The Free Dinner Day which will take place on 25 June, 2011, in every cafe of ours. Free Day’s menu! - Angus Chipotle BBQ Bacon - Chicken McNuggets -
- [Lame spam of the day: Credit Card is one week overdue](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-credit-card-is-one-week-overdue) - Got two of these today. According to this site the attachment installs malware and attempts to steal your money and identity. Beware. Version 1: Sender: Automatic notification (help@creditdepartment.com) Subject: Credit Card is one week overdue Attachment: Financial_Statement#65402.zip Text: Dear Customer, Your Credit Card is one week overdue. Below your Card information Customer 1668734791 Number XXXXXX
- [Lame spam of the day: ATM MASTER CARD PAYMENT](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-atm-master-card-payment) - Today's lame spam has so many red flags possible. Sender is WILLIAM AYODELE but the email address is vincent@w1385bl1o.homepage.t-online.de Text is THIS IS TO OFFICIALLY INFORM YOU THAT THE UNITED NATION SPECIAL DUTY ON DEBT SETTLEMENT IN COLLABORATION WITH WORLD BANK DEBT RELIEF HAVE TAKEN OVER THE PAYMENT OF NIGERIAN FOREIGN DEBT FOLLOWING A BILITERAL
- [Lame spam of the day: why can't you deal with the bank?](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-why-cant-you-deal-with-the-bank) - This one is kind of charming: Sender: Samuel (samuelagbala8@xnmsn.cn) Subject: PAYMENT Dear Friend, Good day. I have some information for you about your unpaid fund, the people you are dealing with is not the original bank, why can't you deal with the bank instead of sending money to people to help you get your fund,
- [Lame spam of the day: quite every unfruitful dealing](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-quite-every-unfruitful-dealing) - This one must have been run through language translation software. The English is delightfully warped. Sender: PROF. LAMIDO SANUSI (info@paksteel.com.pk) Subject: RE: URGENT ATTENTION. From The Desk Of Dr. Lamido Sanusi, (PhD Msc) The Hon. Governor Central Bank of Nigeria Plot 8321 4th Floor Garki, Abuja Nigeria E-mail: dr.lamidosanusi50@gmail.com Date: 28th July, 2011 Attn: Sir/Madam
- [Lame spam of the day: FBI & Nigerian Govt want to send me money](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-fbi-nigerian-govt-want-to-send-me-money) - This one's pretty funny. It claims to come from the "Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Counter-terrorism Division and Cyber Crime Division". The letter begins "Series of meetings have been held over the past 7 months with the secretary general of the United Nations Organization. This ended 3 days ago. It is obvious that you have
- [Lame spam of the day: Wrong transaction from your credit card in The Palmer House Hilton ](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-wrong-transaction-from-your-credit-card-in-the-palmer-house-hilton) - Well, first, I didn't stay at the Palmer House Hilton. What's the chance that this spam will hit someone who actually stayed at the hotel recently? Or do they think people will be curious enough to open an attachment on a misdirected, poorly written email? Click here for info on varations on this theme. Full
- [Lame spam of the day: Notice from WesternUnion) : Account Deactivate.](https://rlweiner.com/lame-spam-of-the-day-notice-from-westernunion-account-deactivate) - This one is kind of funny. First, there's what looks like a reversed smiley face in the subject (maybe it was supposed to be a copyright symbol). Then there's the tortured grammar in the first sentence. The friendly footer looks like it might be from a real Western Union message, inviting me to send comments.
- [Stop Sending Vacation Replies to Mailing Lists](https://rlweiner.com/stop-sending-vacation-replies-to-mailing-lists) - Anyone who's a member of a listserve has spent the summer deleting vacation replies from list members. Here's my approach to preventing this: Before a vacation I used to manually visit every one of the more than 30 lists I'm on and set my status to No Mail (or unsubscribe if that was my only option). When I
- [Spam of the Day: So and so wants to connect on LinkedIn](https://rlweiner.com/spam-of-the-day-so-and-so-wants-to-connect-on-linkedin) - It was only a matter of time. I've started receiving phishing messages that look like LinkedIn connection requests. So far the text has been identical. Note that the person who wants to connect (Mark Andronas) does not match the signature block (Neal Collins, Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development at Payroll Processing, Greater Chicago Area).
- [Choosing a donor database](https://rlweiner.com/chosing-a-donor-database) - I get a lot of emails like the following from small nonprofits: We desperately need to get a new donor database and most of them are totally unaffordable!! Looking at the Idealware Low Cost Database report, I find that there are so many considerations that it is quite complicated to make a choice. I am
- [Want your product covered in Idealware's Donor Management report?](https://rlweiner.com/want-your-product-covered-in-idealwares-donor-management-report) - Idealware is updating its 2009 report on low-cost donor databases. If you're a database vendor and want to be considered, fill out the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RCHJNGC I assume their criteria will be similar to what they used last time, which was a starting cost of less than $4,250 in the first year and at least
- [Phishing scam of the day: U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change lottery](https://rlweiner.com/phishing-scam-of-the-day-u-n-framework-convention-on-climate-change-lottery) - It's not unusual to get phishing scams in the form of lottery "winnings" or that appear to come from legitimate businesses or nonprofits (see the Habitat for Humanity job offer scam). But this scam is more creative than most. It arrives as a nice-looking 4-page PDF attachment from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
- [Apologies for the strange posts](https://rlweiner.com/apologies-for-the-strange-posts) - For those of you who noticed some strange posts here lately, please accept my apologies. My blog automatically scoops up anything I write on TechSoup's blog. TechSoup just launched a new blog and it messed up my automated scooper-upper. I've been deleting the posts when they appear while trying to fix the problem. In the
- [Firefox error: sec_error_untrusted_issuer](https://rlweiner.com/firefox-error-sec_error_untrusted_issuer) - I picked up some malware recently and one of the many annoyances it caused was problems with Firefox's security settings. When visiting secure (https:) web sites Firefox would say "the connection is untrusted." When I said I wanted to trust the site and add an exception for it I would get a "sec_error_untrusted_issuer" error. When
- [CTK Foundation's "Heart and Soul" Grants](https://rlweiner.com/ctk-foundations-heart-and-soul-grants) - The CTK Foundation just opened its 2011 Heart and Soul Grant Award Program. They'll be awarding over $25,000 in grants to nonprofits, charities and voluntary organizations of all sizes in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The only eligibility requirements are that the submitting nonprofit must be a registered 501(c)(3),
- [Controlling data entry](https://rlweiner.com/controlling-data-entry) - A member of the PRSPCT-L listserve (for prospect researchers) asked "What do other institutions do to regulate or “police” data entry work, specifically when you have multiple users with authority to make updates?" It's a tough problem. Here are a few approaches (other than locking down data entry): Policies. You need clear data entry standards.
- [Phishing Scam: Habitat for Humanity fundraising](https://rlweiner.com/phishing-scam-habitat-for-humanity-fundraising) - I received the following phishing email today. It's a variation on the "your email inbox is too large" scam I posted in June. It plays on Habitat's name, Haiti relief, and pure greed -- it claims you can earn big tax-free commissions as a fundraiser. There are so many things wrong with this pitch. Fundraising
- [NY Times says text donations system is flawed](https://rlweiner.com/ny-times-says-text-donations-system-is-flawed) - One of the presentations at last month’s Association of Advancement Services Professionals conference dealt with mobile giving. I’m still skeptical about its suitability for most nonprofits, and the NY Times said the same yesterday. If you have an urgent call to action, a way of reaching a mass audience, and don’t mind not being able
- [Getting RSS Feeds Via Email](https://rlweiner.com/getting-rss-feeds-via-email) - Do you want to be alerted when certain blogs or Twitter feeds are updated? The surest way for me to be sure see new items is to have them delivered as email messages. Some blogs offer email subscriptions, but most don't. However, I found a way to do this even for feeds that don't offer
- [Internet Brand Justice & Safety Dept. ](https://rlweiner.com/internet-brand-justice-safety-dept) - I recently received the following email: Dear Robert L. Weiner Consulting, We are a domain name register center in China. We have something important need to confirm with you. On the Nov23,2008, We received an application formally,one company which self-styled " Robert L. Weiner Consulting Development Co.,Ltd. " wanted to register " rlweiner " as
- [Resources from the Compasspoint Panel](https://rlweiner.com/resources_from_compasspoint_panel) - Yesterday I spoke on a fundraising panel at Compasspoint's Silicon Valley/Peninsula Nonprofit Forum and mentioned a variety of resources. Here they are, with links: Donor Retention AFP's Fundraising Effectiveness Project: http://www.afpnet.org/Audiences/ReportsResearchDetail.cfm?itemnumber=3113 The Agitator’s post “No New Donors!” http://www.theagitator.net/dont-miss-these-posts/no-new-donors/ Attracting New Donors “Homer Simpson for Nonprofits: The Truth about How People Really Think and What It
- [Cities Acting Like Nonprofits](https://rlweiner.com/cities-acting-like-nonprofits) - I just spoke on a fundraising panel at Compasspoint's Silicon Valley/Peninsula Nonprofit Forum. One takeaway: some California cities are finding that they need to raise private funds to make up for cuts in State and local funding. This means thinking and acting like nonprofits. The city department in question has no board and no staff who
- [Best Practices for Hosted Data](https://rlweiner.com/best-practices-for-hosted-data) - The Pew survey on cloud computing reminded me of a discussion that Aspiration led in March, 2008. The topic was Best Practices for Hosted Data. The recommendations that emerged were: Know where all of your data lives (what Aspiration called "your data universe"). Keep this inventory up to date. Make sure you have access to
- [Pew Survey on Cloud Computing](https://rlweiner.com/pew-survey-on-cloud-computing-2) - The Pew Internet & American Life Project has published a study of Americans' use of "cloud computing," in which data and applications are stored online and are accessible via Web browsers. As more and more nonprofits move to using hosted customer-relationship management tools (CRMs) and venture into the world of social networking sites where data
- [Twitter Hacking and Cloud Security](https://rlweiner.com/twitter-hacking-and-cloud-security) - The front-page headlines read "Hacker steals Twitter's confidential documents," but the real story isn't about Twitter — it's that the stolen documents were stored online, "in the cloud." This could happen to any nonprofit or company storing data this way. As we've seen over and over, it's amazingly easy to guess or steal passwords. And
- [The Limits of "Free" Software](https://rlweiner.com/the-limits-of-free-software) - I received an email newsletter today with the following pitch for a web-based donor database (perhaps you can guess which one): The Cloud offers you constituent relationship management (CRM) software that's less expensive, easier to maintain, more accessible, more intuitive, and with greater flexibility and capacity than you've ever seen before. How much would you
- [Roundup of 2009 Online Giving Stats](https://rlweiner.com/roundup-of-2009-online-giving-stats) - It's the season for a slew of reports analyzing last year's online giving results. Convio released their 2010 Online Nonprofit Benchmark Study in March, based on results from nearly 500 clients. Its findings included: 14% growth in online giving overall. 69% of the organizations they looked at raised more online in 2009 than in 2008,
- [Separating Personal and Professional Lives on Social Media](https://rlweiner.com/separating-personal-and-professional-lives-on-social-media) - Do you "friend" your co-workers, clients, or service recipients on Facebook? What about LinkedIn? Are your tweets appropriate for all audiences? Andrew Heller discussed the risks of oversharing in his NTEN blog post Social Media and Privacy: Best Practices for Managing Your Personal and Professional Identities. His basic advice: "Be Prepared. Be mindful of your
- [The Nonprofit Guide to Going Green: Book Release Parties!](https://rlweiner.com/the-nonprofit-guide-to-going-green-book-release-parties) - The website for the new book, The Nonprofit Guide to Going Green describes it as "a comprehensive learning tool to guide nonprofits and NGOs towards becoming greener. The definitive, practical, go-to resource guide on helping all charities become more green." The authors are on a brief North American book tour, with stops in Toronto, Berkeley,
- [Keeping appointment times from moving around](https://rlweiner.com/keeping-appointment-times-from-moving-around) - I've been trying to find a way to keep my appointment times from moving around on my calendar as I change time zones. Here's a description of the problem from Microsoft (edited to match my situation): You are traveling through multiple time zones and need the calendar to display the local time for each appointment.
- [A Month with the Palm Pre](https://rlweiner.com/a-month-with-the-palm-pre) - I've had my Palm Pre Plus for a little over a month now. I wrote up my initial impressions after having it for a week. Overall, I love it except for Outlook sync. Sync My major problem with the Pre is due to its lack of a built-in sync with a standalone/desktop copy of Outlook.
- [Texting for $$: The Definitive Guide](https://rlweiner.com/texting-for-the-definitive-guide) - In the wake of the huge number of donations given to Haiti earthquake relief via text mesage, MobileActive has published Texting for Charitable Dollars: The Definitive Guide. It describes the process of raising funds via SMS from the donors' and the nonprofits' perspectives, including costs and tips for getting started. The guide is available for
- [Idealware's Field Guide to Nonprofit Software: Fundraising, Communications and Outreach](https://rlweiner.com/idealwares-field-guide-to-nonprofit-software-fundraising-communications-and-outreach) - Idealware recently released its Fundraising, Communications and Outreach. Unlike their earlier guides (to inexpensive donor databases, content management systems, online donation tools, etc.) this one is an actual book (84 pages, paperback) and costs actual money ($19.95, plus, I assume, shipping and maybe tax). They describe it as follows: What types of software should your
- [SF Fundraising Day 2010](https://rlweiner.com/sf-fundraising-day-2010) - San Francisco's Fundraising Day will be happening June 16 at the downtown Marriott. Once again I have the honor of co-chairing the Technology Track with Michael Stein. We've programmed sessions on online fundraising with Madeline Stanionis, social media with Jeff Patrick, database selection with Eric Leland, and an open discussion session with me and Michael
- [C3 Announces 2010 In-Kind Donation and Grant Program for Nonprofits](https://rlweiner.com/c3-announces-2010-in-kind-donation-and-grant-program-for-nonprofits) - Applications are being accepted for $2,500 in-kind donations of audio, video, and web conferencing services from C3 Conferencing. C3 will also provide complimentary training as needed. In addition to the in-kind donation, C3 will provide a $2,500 cash grant to be used for the purposes of enhancing communication. C3 is looking for examples of how
- [The continuing saga of the new T400S](https://rlweiner.com/the-continuing-saga-of-the-new-t400s) - The continuing story of my new Thinkpad T400S laptop. I finally feel like it's starting to come together, particularly the upgrade to Windows 7. Here's the story so far. Maybe my experience will help someone else. After transferring my data and software using Laplink (and after figuring out that I had to decrypt my files first)
- [Nominations Closing Soon for $10,000 Pizzigati Prize](https://rlweiner.com/nominations-closing-soon-for-10000-pizzigati-prize) - The Tides Foundation is accepting nominations for the annual Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest. The prize will award $10,000 to an open-source software developer whose work is helping nonprofits succeed. Nominations will be accepted through February 1, 2010. The winner will be announced this April at NTEN's 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference
- [Digital Wallet Helps Prevent Phishing](https://rlweiner.com/digital-wallet-helps-prevent-phishing) - I've used a digital wallet for years to keep track of my passwords (I use Roboform but there are other choices). Recently I found that it serves a purpose that hadn't occured to me: phishing prevention. Here's the deal: I got a message from a friend with a link. Without thinking too much about it,
- [Adding Google Voice to My Web Site](https://rlweiner.com/adding-google-voice-to-a-web-site) - I just added a Google Voice widget to my web site (on the Contact page). When a caller clicks the icon s/he is prompted to enter a name and phone number. Google Voice calls that number, then connects the caller to me as a free VOIP call. Very cool. The hardest part was figuring out
- [Online Alumni Communities in the Age of Social Media](https://rlweiner.com/online-alumni-communities-in-the-age-of-social-media) - I received the following email from a listerve. The topic of closed alumni communities versus social media is on the minds of a lot of university staff, so I'm posting this along with my response. I'd like to hear from anyone who is using the social networking function of Blackbaud Net Community. We are purchasing
- [Schools using social media but not for fundraising](https://rlweiner.com/social-media-in-higher-ed-but-not-for-fundraising) - I spent the last 3 days at the CASE District VII conference, for schools in AZ, CA, Guam, HI, NV, and UT. Social Media was a big topic this year, with workshop titles like "Maximizing Social Networks and Online Resources in Alumni Relations", "Now That Facebook and Twitter Aren't Enough: Integrating Social Media into Your
- [LinkedIn Discussions Are Spam Magnets](https://rlweiner.com/linkedin-discussions-are-spam-magnets) - I'm a member of several LinkedIn discussion groups, but my participation is lukewarm at best. One of the biggest problems is spam--the noise is drowning out the signal. There doesn't seem to be a way for moderators to review messages before they're posted or for participants to flag spam for review by moderators. As a
- [Clueless Charity PR](https://rlweiner.com/clueless-charity-pr) - I got a press release today from a PR firm promoting its client's plans to raise $1,000 for Thanksgiving meals and $5,000 for families in need at Christmas. While these are certainly laudable goals, I had a strong negative reaction. First, the message is spam. I have no connection to, and have never heard of,
- [What's in Your Data Ecosystem?](https://rlweiner.com/whats-in-your-data-ecosystem) - Our friends at NTEN have launched a survey to examine nonprofits' data ecosystems. Your first question is probably "what is a data ecosystem?" NTEN describes it as follows: The nonprofit ecosystem is a way of thinking about how data is shared by and flows across the different departments and activities in your organization. Similar to
- [Using Facebook Causes to Promote Your Nonprofit: October 13 Online](https://rlweiner.com/using-facebook-causes-to-promote-your-nonprofit-october-13-online) - What: Another in The Chronicle of Philanthropy's series of online discussions: How to Use Facebook Causes to Promote Your Nonprofit Group When: Tuesday, October 13, at 12 noon, Eastern time Where: http://philanthropy.com/live/2009/10/facebook/ How Much: Free Description: read more
- [Feed My Inbox -- RSS feeds by email](https://rlweiner.com/feed-my-inbox-rss-feeds-by-email) - Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks: I like to get information by email. I prefer listserves over online forums and email to IM. And I don't like having to look at a web page/feed reader every day to find out whether anything new has appeared on an RSS feed. I want information to come to me
- [Converting Fresh Leads into Donors](https://rlweiner.com/converting-fresh-leads-into-donors) - CARE2 is holding a webinar on strategies for successfully welcoming, cultivating, and converting new leads into donors. Holly Ross of NTEN will moderate a panel with Heidi Hess of Children's Defense Fund and Greg Zelder of the California State Parks Foundation. They will review data about nonprofits' speed and type of responses to newly acquired
- [Develop Your Social Media Strategy with NTEN](https://rlweiner.com/develop-your-social-media-strategy-with-nten) - What: NTEN is holding an online workshop on social media using a Choose Your Own Expert format. They've gathered a group of nonprofit social media experts to help you devise a solid organizational strategy and learn the secrets of a variety of social media tools. After an opening plenary by Beth Kanter, you'll choose one
- [Donor Tracking vs. Business Intelligence](https://rlweiner.com/donor-tracking-vs-business-intelligence) - The Nonprofit Times recently published an article called Is It Donor Management Software Or Business Intelligence. It discusses what Laura Quinn calls the "movement from merely tracking data to an emphasis on using it strategically to make business decisions." This vision of donor management software is nothing new. I've heard countless organizations describe their donor
- [How Many Donor Databases Are There?](https://rlweiner.com/how-many-donor-databases-are-there) - I thought it might be useful to compile a list of all of the commercial donor databases I'm aware of. This list came from my head, my bookmarks, and lists compiled by NTEN and Idealware for their donor management software surveys. (Caveat: I'm not certain all of these are actually donor databases). The list does
- [TechSoup's New Site Design](https://rlweiner.com/techsoups-new-site-design) - TechSoup, the nonprofit tech web site where I host a discussion forum, went live with a redesigned home page over the weekend. I love the new look, although it's only skin-deep. This is Phase 1 and only affects the home page--most links take you to pages on the old site, with a the old design
- [Analysis of the CASE Online Fundraising Survey](https://rlweiner.com/analysis-of-the-case-online-fundraising-survey) - Steve MacLaughlin at Blackbaud has written an analysis of the CASE Online Fundraising Survey. No surprise -- he focuses on the high number of responses that said they "don't know" or "don't measure" and cites the maxim "If you can't measure it, then you can't manage it." His analysis is at http://forums.blackbaud.com/blogs/connections/archive/2009/09/17/online-giving-trends-in-higher-education.aspx
- [Results of CASE's 2009 Online Giving Survey](https://rlweiner.com/results-of-cases-2009-online-giving-survey) - Those of you who fundraise for educational institutions or are interested in how they're raising money online should check out the results of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education's 2009 survey on online giving (PDF). Some highlights: read more
- [Editable List of Donor Databases](https://rlweiner.com/editable-list-of-donor-databases) - The good folks at Asipration have taken my list of donor databases and put it into the Social Source Commons wiki. What's more, they added descriptions, logos, and links to the vendors' sites. Very cool! You can go directly to the list at http://socialsourcecommons.org/toolbox/show/1661 or preview it below: Javascript is disabled. To see the
- [More Defunct Donor Databases](https://rlweiner.com/more-defunct-donor-databases) - The good folks at Aspiration have been working to put my list of donor databases into a wiki. Along the way the identified some that seem to have disappeared and weren't on my earlier list of defunct donor databases. Here are the new entries: Association Management System from Micro Solutions Donation Management System from Cumulus
- [Back Away from that Spreadsheet: Why Excel Isn't a Donor Database](https://rlweiner.com/back-away-from-that-spreadsheet-why-excel-isnt-a-donor-database-2) - Idealware just published a new article of mine, on a subject that comes up whenever I teach workshops for small nonprofits: "Why not use Excel as my donor database?" The article, Back Away from that Spreadsheet: Why Excel Isn't a Donor Database is available now, and offers some good reasons to move your donor data
- [Taking Advantage of a Crisis](https://rlweiner.com/taking-advantage-of-a-crisis) - Although some recent news stories have reported postive economic signs, the outlook for the nonprofit sector still looks bleak. Target Analytics' Index of National Fundraising Performance for the first quarter of 2009 had nothing but bad news. All key metrics declined for the index as a whole for the first quarter of 2009 as compared
- [Email Bounce Codes Decoded](https://rlweiner.com/email-bounce-codes-decoded) - If you send mass email messages, you probably see a lot of bouncebacks that look like this: Remote host said: 550 SC-004 Mail rejected by Windows Live Hotmail for policy reasons. So what the heck does bounce code "550 SC-004" mean? The Email Experience Council's Deliverability Roundtable (Chris Wheeler of Bronto Software, Jack Sinclair of
- [Creating Strong Passwords](https://rlweiner.com/creating-strong-passwords) - The recent theft of confidential documents from Twitter's Google Docs account points out the dangers of insecure passwords. NTEN's blog discusses the details of the break-in and lessons we should learn from it. The chief lesson: good passwords are key to good security. A 2007 NTEN post provided suggestions and resources for creating strong passwords
- [July 21: How Can You Measure the Value of Social Networking?](https://rlweiner.com/july-21-how-can-you-measure-the-value-of-social-networking) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy is holding another in its series of free online discussions on social networking. This time their guest will be social media guru Beth Kanter (you may know Beth from her eponymous Beth's Blog — and if you don't, you should). What: What's the Payoff? How Charities Can Figure Out How Much
- [NTEN's Online CIO Conference in September](https://rlweiner.com/ntens-online-cio-conference-in-september) - Want to build your IT leadership skills without a travel budget? Our friends at NTEN are launching a 2-day virtual conference for nonprofit IT leaders. I'm thrilled to see this. I think there's a big need for a "mini-MBA" for nonprofit chief information officers (CIOs), particularly those who came up through the ranks. NTEN describes
- [Podcast: How to Use Facebook to Attract Supporters and More](https://rlweiner.com/podcast-how-to-use-facebook-to-attract-supporters-and-more) - As we've noted previously, The Chronicle of Philanthropy has been running a series of online discussions on how nonprofits can use social media tools. In addition to these open discussions, the Chronicle has been conducting a series of recorded interviews. In the latest, Allison Fine interviews Joe Green, one of the creators of Facebook Causes,
- [Facebook Causes: Not a Cash Cow (Yet)](https://rlweiner.com/facebook-causes-not-a-cash-cow-yet) - The recent analysis of giving through Facebook Causes by The Washington Post was not encouraging. It found that only a fraction of the 179,000 nonprofits that signed up for the Causes application have brought in even $1000, and only two have brought in over $100,000. A recent survey published by NTEN, Common Knowledge, and ThePort
- [Optimize Your Web Pages](https://rlweiner.com/optimize-your-web-pages) - Do you know about Google's Website Optimizer? It's a free tool that allows you to test how different versions of the same web page perform. The Chronicle of Philanthropy published a brief article (subscription required) describing how the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program used Website Optimizer to determine which of three versions
- [Duplicates in your Database?](https://rlweiner.com/duplicates-in-your-database) - There's been a series of discussions on the FUNDSVCS and PRSPCT-L lists about dealing with duplicates in a database, and preventing new dupes from being created. Melissa Graves from The Village for Families and Children suggested the following routine steps: A) Search for a matching record before creating any new record. Some databases will pop
- [A hole in your license = no fly zone](https://rlweiner.com/a-hole-in-your-license-no-fly-zone) - I recently renewed my California driver's license. The clerk punched a hole in the license and gave me a paper "temporary license." I didn’t recall this procedure from my last renewal 10 years ago and assumed my old license would be valid until the printed expiration date several weeks hence. I was mildly surprised when
- [Corporate Giving Declined in 2008](https://rlweiner.com/corporate-giving-declined-in-2008) - Last month we mentioned GivingUSA's annual assessment of individual giving which showed that donations from individuals had dropped 5.7% overall in 2008. Things were even worse on the corporate side. The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy's 2008 assessment of corporate gving (PDF) reports that corporate giving was down nearly 8% overall ($30.78 million compared to $33.19
- [New Grants Management Software Reviews](https://rlweiner.com/new-grants-management-software-reviews) - If you're in the market for new grants management software, or want to see how your current package stacks up to others out there, check out two reports recently released by Idealware.org. According to the description on their site: The Consumers Guide to Grants Management Software This detailed 89-page report summarizes the common features and
- [60 Microsoft Word Tips](https://rlweiner.com/60-microsoft-word-tips) - A posting on the Information Systems Forum listserve alerted me to TechRepublic's list of 60 Indispensable Microsoft Word tips. Some are basic, like Undo (I hope everyone already knows that one). But many were new to me, like how to select multiple, noncontiguous words, clear the contents of a table with one keystroke, create styles
- [12 Most Common SEO Mistakes](https://rlweiner.com/12-most-common-seo-mistakes) - While working to increase traffic to your website or better highlight your campaigns, I'm sure many of you have encountered the big 'SEO' issues. Not sure what SEO is? Search Engine Optimization is a term that started with the corporate world—all those companies competing to ensure that their links pop up at the top of
- [Fundraising Tips from NTEN](https://rlweiner.com/fundraising-tips-from-nten) - NTEN's latest newsletter is all about fundraising. The stories included Rapid Donor Cultivation: Getting the First Online Gift Faster from Jeff Patrick and Jenny Feinberg. It describes the results of an email marketing and solicitation series created for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The campaign "reduced the time to the first gift, increased the
- [More Tips and Tricks](https://rlweiner.com/more-tips-and-tricks) - A TechSoup discussion last December compiled a list of time-saving computer tips and tricks. David Pogue from The New York Times asked his readers to help with a similar list, and the results are on the Times' Web site. Some that were new to me: read more
- [The Seven Deadly Sins of Web Site Design](https://rlweiner.com/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-web-site-design) - Writing in InMedia Connection, Seth Rosenblatt has mapped Dante's 7 deadly sins to the world of Web site design. For instance, he compares Gluttony to "cluttered design, too many links, or a layout that looks like it was designed by committee." Lust is "trying really hard to get (visitors') attention, perhaps by being overly flashy."
- [Economic Effects on Philanthropy](https://rlweiner.com/economic-effects-on-philanthropy) - End-of-the-year fundraising is a big topic for nonprofits on the blogosphere with the financial woes around the globe. Here are some articles on how your organization can survive the economic downturn. All are free, but you'll need to register to read some of them. Tips for Weathering the Economic Storm Economic Climate and Giving (PDF)
- [Transcript: Using Social Networks to Promote Good Causes](https://rlweiner.com/transcript-using-social-networks-to-promote-good-causes) - If you missed The Chronicle of Philanthropy's June 23 online discussion Using Social Networks to Promote Good Causes, the transcript is now available. The discussion featured: Danielle Brigida, the social-media outreach coordinator at the National Wildlife Federation, in Washington, DC where she manages the organization's voice on online networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Care2, Change.org,
- [Results from Campbell Rinker Donor & Member Database Survey](https://rlweiner.com/results-from-campbell-rinker-donor-member-database-survey) - Marketing research firm Campbell Rinker has published the results of its latest survey of donor and member management software. Of the 841 respondents, 27% would NOT recommend their current systems to a comparable organization, 26% were unsure, and 47% would give a positive recommendation. According to the executive summary, the following systems "were recommended by
- [Nonprofit Survival 101, Planning for Tough Economic Times](https://rlweiner.com/nonprofit-survival-101-planning-for-tough-economic-times) - OneWorld.net is offering a workshop on what nonprofits can do to survive the current tough times. What: Nonprofit Survival 101, Planning for Tough Economic Times When: January 29, 2009 3:30 - 5 p.m. Eastern Time Where: Washington, DC though participants can also join by phone Cost: Free for OneWorld partner organizations, $60 for others. Description:
- [Getting Your Message Out](https://rlweiner.com/getting-your-message-out) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy held an online discussion on January 21, 2009 about how nonprofits can publicize their work. They described the agenda as: Now, more than ever before, it is important that (nonprofits) communicate effectively with supporters, the news media, and their communities about the challenges they face and the good work that they
- [The Economy May Be Down, but Online Giving Is Up](https://rlweiner.com/the-economy-may-be-down-but-online-giving-is-up) - M+R Strategic Services says that although the economy is down, online giving is up (as of November 2008). They looked at online giving for five nonprofit clients during September and October (Easter Seals, Habitat for Humanity International, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Oxfam America, and The Wilderness Society) and compared those results to the same two
- [Advice on Pulling Out of the Economic Nosedive](https://rlweiner.com/advice-on-pulling-out-of-the-economic-nosedive) - NetworkforGood's Katya Andresen's blog, Nonprofit Marketing, offers nonprofits 5 suggestions for surviving the economic downturn. She advises organizations to: Give donors what they want: To feel good. To hear from people they know. Tangibility. read more
- [Fundraising in a Bad Economy](https://rlweiner.com/fundraising-in-a-bad-economy) - The Association of Fundraising Professionals has posted A Survival Kit for Fundraising in a Bad Economy, which includes links to dozens of articles. Titles include "Direct Response: Ways to Cut Costs, Not Returns," "Face the Economy With Sharpened Focus, Solid Strategy," "Succeed at Fundraising Despite a Recession," "Fundraising in a Recession," "Recession-Proof Your Fundraising," "Fundraising
- [The Quick 'n Easy Guide to Online Advocacy](https://rlweiner.com/the-quick-n-easy-guide-to-online-advocacy) - Tactical Tech, based in the UK and India, has published The Quick 'n Easy Guide to Online Advocacy to help advocates find "online services that are quick to use and easy to understand." Here's how they describe it: The guide provide descriptions of online services including social networking sites, image and video hosting services, and
- [Cn U Raise $ Via Txt?](https://rlweiner.com/cn-u-raise-via-txt) - Following up on Elliot's blog post, How Important Is Mobile Giving?, and the subsequent TechSoup discussion, I'm posting an analysis conducted by Sarah Grosvenor, the Assistant Director of Annual Giving at Willamette University, on the potential for mobile fundraising at the University. Sarah granted me permission to share her findings with the world. The information
- [Twitter Best Practices](https://rlweiner.com/twitter-best-practices) - Every day it seems like there's a new article on how nonprofits and businesses can use Twitter for engagement, activism, marketing, and fundraising. Today's entry comes from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which published When Characters Count: Advice for Charities on Making the Most of Twitter. Their recommendations include: Do some casual research to learn if
- [Google Checkout No Longer Free for Nonprofits](https://rlweiner.com/google-checkout-no-longer-free-for-nonprofits) - Google has been offering free donation processing to nonprofits for the past couple of years through Google Checkout. That free service will end on March 1 except for U.S.-based nonprofits that receive Google Grants. Other nonprofits will pay 2% + $0.20 per transaction (but at least there won't be any monthly, setup, or gateway service
- [Survey on the Impact of the Economic Crisis on Charitable Giving](https://rlweiner.com/survey-on-the-impact-of-the-economic-crisis-on-charitable-giving) - Jay Frost of ContactReporter.com (and formerly with WealthID.com) is conducting a survey on the impact of the economic crisis on charitable giving. He describes it as follows: This short survey is designed to gather information about the impact of the economic crisis on charitable giving. In particular, we hope to learn if there are significant
- [Razoo: A Free Online Donation Service](https://rlweiner.com/razoo-a-free-online-donation-service) - I recently posted a notice that Google is limiting its free online donation service to Google grant recipients. Subsequently, TechSoup member schobert suggested checking out Razoo for Nonprofits. I looked at the service and spoke with Razoo's CEO, Sebastian Traeger, last week and learned the following: Razoo is using Guidestar to list nonprofits and using Network for
- [Security in-a-Box](https://rlweiner.com/security-in-a-box) - The Tactical Technology Collective and Front Line have released Security in-a-Box, which was designed to meet the digital security and privacy needs of advocates and human rights defenders. They describe it as follows: Security in-a-box includes a How-to Booklet, which addresses a number of important digital security issues. It also provides a collection of Hands-on
- [Do New Online Donors Give Again?](https://rlweiner.com/do-new-online-donors-give-again) - A new study released by Blackbaud's Target Analytics division suggests that first-time online donors do not become recurring donors. The study of 24 national nonprofits found that people who make a first-time gift online often don’t make subsequent online gifts to the charity (although some give through other means). The Chronicle of Philanthropy's coverage of
- [TechSoup Featured in The San Francisco Chronicle](https://rlweiner.com/techsoup-featured-in-the-san-francisco-chronicle) - TechSoup might be shy about blowing its own horn but since I'm a volunteer, I have no such reservations. Check out the article about TechSoup in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle. TechSoup CEO's are interviewed as well as some local Bay Area organizations who've benefited from TechSoup's programs.
- [Convio's 2009 Online Fundraising Benchmark Report](https://rlweiner.com/convios-2009-online-fundraising-benchmark-report) - Convio has released a new online fundraising benchmark report that is based on data from 600 of Convio's nonprofit clients from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. The study reports: Positive year-over-year growth in all of the key areas of online success. Compared to 2007, results for online fundraising were up 14 percent, email
- [How To Search the Social Web: The Ultimate Toolkit](https://rlweiner.com/how-to-search-the-social-web-the-ultimate-toolkit) - Robin Broitman of the Interactive Insights Group has created an extensive list of tools for searching the social Web. She calls it a "comprehensive guide to a wide range of resources, Web sites, services, and advice that will help you find, filter, and monitor the information you need more effectively." The categories include: read more
- [Jakob Nielsen Thinks Your Web Site Sucks](https://rlweiner.com/jakob-nielsen-thinks-your-web-site-sucks) - Well, maybe it doesn't exactly suck, but potential donors can't figure it out. In a recent study of nonprofit Web sites, usability guru Jakob Nielsen asked participants "what information they want to see on nonprofit Web sites before they decide whether to donate?" The most heavily requested information was: read more
- [Green IT for Dummies](https://rlweiner.com/green-it-for-dummies) - Hewlett Packard has published a free guide to greening your IT. They describe it as: Green IT for Dummies ... is intended to give organizations simple and straight-forward ideas on how to reduce the environmental impact of IT systems and harness the power of IT to reduce the wider environmental impacts of climate change in
- [No One Likes Your Web Site](https://rlweiner.com/no-one-likes-your-web-site) - Seems like everyone's taking potshots at nonprofit Web sites these days. A few weeks ago I wrote about Jakob Nielsen's study of nonprofit Web site usability. He found that 47% of the sites studied had problems relating to page and site design; users couldn't find where to make a donation on 17% of the sites;
- [Live Discussion Promoting Causes on Social Networks on June 2](https://rlweiner.com/live-discussion-promoting-causes-on-social-networks-on-june-2) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy is holding another in its series of free online discussions on Tuesday, June 2 (tomorrow). Here are the details: What: Promoting Causes on Online Social Networks When: Tuesday, June 2, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Cost: Free Where: Online. Questions are submitted via keyboard, and answers come the same way. The discussion
- [GivingUSA Reports a Drop in 2008 Giving](https://rlweiner.com/givingusa-reports-a-drop-in-2008-giving) - The good news from the annual GivingUSA report (PDF) on U.S. philanthropy is that total giving for 2008 was estimated to have exceeded $300 billion for the second year in a row, for a total of $307.65 billion. But, unfortunately, most of the news was bad. This was a two percent drop in current dollars
- [Transcript: Promoting Causes on Online Social Networks](https://rlweiner.com/transcript-promoting-causes-on-online-social-networks) - As I mentioned last week, the Chronicle of Philanthropy held a live online discussion about how nonprofits can use social networks to promote their organizations. On the panel, was Danielle Brigida, social-media-outreach coordinator at the National Wildlife Federation; marketing and communications consultant Nancy E. Schwartz; and Felicia Carr, director of online communications for the National
- [Deadline July 1: $100,000 Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation](https://rlweiner.com/deadline-july-1-100000-drucker-award-for-nonprofit-innovation) - The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University has posted the application for the 2009 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation. The Drucker Award is given to a social-sector organization that demonstrates "change that creates a new dimension of performance. In addition, the judges look for programs that are highly effective and that have made
- [Online Discussion on June 23: Using Social Networks to Promote Good Causes](https://rlweiner.com/online-discussion-on-june-23-using-social-networks-to-promote-good-causes) - This Tuesday The Chronicle of Philanthropy will host another free online discussion about how nonprofits can use social media. The speakers include: Danielle Brigida, the social-media outreach coordinator at the National Wildlife Federation, in Washington, DC where she manages the organization's voice on online networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Care2, Change.org, Digg, and StumbleUpon. Wendy
- [Phishing scam: Dear Webmail User](https://rlweiner.com/phishing-scam-dear-webmail-user) - This is such a lame phishing scam that I can't imagine anyone falling for it. But I received three of these messages in the past two days so I'm passing it along. I reported this account to Google, so I hope they'll disable it. Dear Webmail User, This message was sent automatically by a program
- [Nonprofit Technology 601](https://rlweiner.com/nonprofit-technology-601) - Heather Carpenter's Nonprofit Leadership 601 blog posted a list of resources for people who are new to the field of nonprofit technolology. This post lists books, reports, Web sites, blogs, and conferences that nonprofit techies — and not just those newbies — should know about. We're happy that TechSoup is listed right at the top
- [Vindigo: The App That Wouldn't Die](https://rlweiner.com/vindigo-the-app-that-wouldnt-die) - I've been using Vindigo for at least a decade. It's a big part of what kept me loyal to Palm PDAs and phones. It provided a restaurant guide with reviews, maps, and walking directions; movie reviews and show times for theaters; museum listings; a guide to bars and clubs; locations and contact info for local
- [Consultants say business is picking up.  Trend?](https://rlweiner.com/consultants-say-business-is-picking-up-trend) - Is this a trend? I attended three conferences in April and asked a variety of independent consultants and employees of consulting firms about how the economy is affecting them. The responses were consistent: January and February were dead, but inquiries picked up significantly in March and April. The consultants I spoke to work on database
- [So You Want to Be a Consultant? Part II](https://rlweiner.com/so-you-want-to-be-a-consultant-part-ii) - Today was the second session of my 2-part workshop for consultants and wanna-be consultants. Jana Byington-Smith blogged it again, and here's what she recorded. We started by listing everyone's burning issues, then discussed as many as we could in-depth. Presenters: Robert L. Weiner John Kenyon, John Kenyon Technology Consulting Michael Stein, Michael Stein, Inc. Eric
- [New phishing scam: Please Update Your Email Account](https://rlweiner.com/new-phishing-scam-please-update-your-email-account) - I just received two identical messages with the following text. There's no URL -- the only way to respond is to reply to the message. Replies go to updatweb1 at aol.com I hope no one's foolish enough to fall for this. -----Original Message----- From: apache@net.lg.ua [mailto:apache@net.lg.ua] On Behalf Of Webmail Support Sent: Friday, March 27,
- [Favorite Free Software](https://rlweiner.com/favorite-free-software) - Joe Medina of Colby College asked members of the FUNDSVCS listserve about their favorite free software programs. Here are mine, minus obvious ones like Gmail and Firefox (note that many are only free for home use). Ad-Aware -- Anti-spyware and malware tool for PCs: http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php Avast! -- Free anti-virus for home use: http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html BookmarkBridge --
- [New Survey: America’s Nonprofits in Danger](https://rlweiner.com/new-survey-america’s-nonprofits-in-danger) - The Nonprofit Finance Fund just published a survey on how the economic downturn is affecting nonprofits' current and long-term finances. Their conclusions are scary. According to the executive summary, Only 12% expect to operate above break-even this year. Just 16% anticipate being able to cover their operating expenses in both 2009 and 2010. 31% don’t
- [Analysis of Convio's Online Fundraising Study](https://rlweiner.com/analysis-of-convios-online-fundraising-study) - Care2's Allyson Kapin just published an analysis of Convio's online fundraising study (which I mentioned earlier this week). She interviewed me, so of course I think the article is good. But in particular, check out the advice from online marketing consultant Katy O'Neal about how nonprofits should focus their marketing and engagement efforts. The analysis
- [Do You Need New Donor Management Software?](https://rlweiner.com/do-you-need-new-donor-management-software) - Idealware just published an article by Keith Heller called Do You Need New Donor Management Software? Keith urges nonprofits to look before they leap into new software, cautioning that "new software may not make anything better — in fact, it could make things worse." He then addresses what new software could do for your organization,
- [Using Humiliation to Fundraise](https://rlweiner.com/using-humiliation-to-fundraise) - Trend or coincidence? Twice in the past week I've come across online fundraising campaigns in which the fundraiser promises to do something embarrassing when the goal is met. Last week, Holly Ross, NTEN's Executive Director, posted a video appeal for her attempt to raise $10,000 for scholarships to the upcoming Nonprofit Technology Conference. If she
- [Creating bookmarks and hyperlinks in Acrobat Pro 5](https://rlweiner.com/creating-bookmarks-and-hyperlinks-in-acrobat-pro-5) - Word 2003 and Acrobat Professional 5 aren't on speaking terms. As far as I've been able to tell, PDFMaker, which provides 1-click integration with Word, is incompatible with Word 2003 and higher. I removed PDFMaker from the Word startup file according to these instructions and no longer get error messages. I can still use Acrobat
- [Pizzigati Prize for Open Source Software Developers](https://rlweiner.com/pizzigati-prize-for-open-source-software-developers) - From the Foundation Center's RFP bulletin: The Tides Foundation Invites Nominations for Award Honoring Open Source Software Developers Who Add Value to Nonprofit Sector Deadline: March 2, 2009 The Tides Foundation is accepting nominations for the $10,000 Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest. The annual prize — now in its third year — honors
- [So You Want To Be A Consultant?](https://rlweiner.com/so-you-want-to-be-a-consultant) - I'm organizing two workshops for NTEN's upcoming Nonprofit Technology Conference on the topic So You Want To Be A Consultant? (The workshops are described here and here.) Holly Ross, NTEN's Executive Director interviewed me via Skype a few weeks ago and posted the video at http://www.nten.org/blog/2009/01/27/2009-ntc-preview-robert-weiner. The audio and video aren't quite in sync, but
- [Using Prospect Research to Raise $1 Million](https://rlweiner.com/using-prospect-research-to-raise-1-million) - Margaret King, President of the InfoRich Group, has published an article on how prospect research yielded $1 million in foundation funding for one of her clients. She discusses the strategy behind the research, the tools she used, how the list was narrowed to a group of top prospects, and the general approach to cultivating the
- [Fundraising via Social Media: Pros and Cons](https://rlweiner.com/fundraising-via-social-media-pros-and-cons) - I've already mentioned Beth Kanter's extensive discussion of Twestival, an attempt to raise $500,000 for the group charity:water using Twitter. Beth titled her post Are Fundraising Groundswells A Massive Opportunity or Distraction for Nonprofit Organizations? and didn't reach a conclusion either way. Hildy Gottlieb takes the con side in her post Avoiding the Siren's Song
- [Twestival: Trying to raise $500,000 through Twitter](https://rlweiner.com/twestival-trying-to-raise-500000-through-twitter) - Beth Kanter wrote an extensive, thoughtful account of the upcoming Twestival event, which aims to raise $500,000 for the group charity:water. As a fundraising operations geek, I wonder how this works on the back end. Will the Twestival organizers send tax receipts to the donors, or will that fall to charity:water? I hope it's done
- [MarketingProfs Free Virtual Conference](https://rlweiner.com/marketingprofs-free-virtual-conference) - MarketingProfs, an online marketing resource center, is presenting a free virtual conference on online marketing. Many of their offerings require a paid membership, but this one is gratis. While it appears to be aimed at businesses (the tracks are called Business to Business and Business to Consumer), the topics look relevant to nonprofits, in my
- [New listing of big gifts](https://rlweiner.com/new-listing-of-big-gifts) - Jay Frost of ContactReporter.com (formerly of WealthID) has started a new blog that will track large individual gifts to all types of charities in the US and abroad: www.BigGifts.wordpress.com
- [Inside the Mind of a Top Donor](https://rlweiner.com/inside-the-mind-of-a-top-donor) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently conducted an online discussion with Lorry I. Lokey, who has appeared on The Chronicle's list of America's top donors every year since 2000. Mr. Lokey responded to questions such as What is the biggest mistake development officers make when first meeting a new prospect? How could a small institution with
- [Early-Bird Discount on the Nonprofit Technology Conference Ends 1/31](https://rlweiner.com/early-bird-discount-on-the-nonprofit-technology-conference-ends-131) - The early-bird registration period for NTEN's 2009 Nonprofit Technology Conference ends January 31. I love the NTC. Here's what the NTEN folks have to say about it: In addition to the scores of breakout sessions, the networking, camaraderie, and general nptech-related good times, noted author Clay Shirky will be the keynote speaker at the 2009
- [Matching Gifts Best Practices](https://rlweiner.com/matching-gifts-best-practices) - SupportingAdvancement.com has published the results of their 2008 survey on how nonprofits are handling corporate matching gifts. The responses came primarily from post-secondary schools, but also included elementary schools, healthcare, museums, gardens, performing arts, and service organizations. The findings included: Although 99% of respondents accept matching gifts, only 67% actively ask individual donors to request
- [Downadup Worm on the Rampage](https://rlweiner.com/downadup-worm-on-the-rampage) - Internet security firm F-Secure has estimated that more than 3.5 million computers have been infected with the Downadup worm, a malicious program. The worm, also known as Conficker, uses a major flaw that Microsoft patched in October to remotely compromise computers running unpatched versions of Windows. Infected computers become members of a worldwide botnet. F-Secure
- [Trends Affecting Fundraising in 2009](https://rlweiner.com/trends-affecting-fundraising-in-2009) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy is starting the year off with a list of trends they believe will affect fundraising in 2009. The trends they cite include lower estate taxes, low investment returns, the possibility of inflation, no minimum required withdrawal from individual retirement accounts, the impact of medical costs, and a push to lower fund-raising
- [Defunct Donor Databases](https://rlweiner.com/defunct-donor-databases) - The flip side to my list of donor databases would be a list of systems that no longer exist. This does not mean that these systems are no longer in use, just that they're no longer being sold or supported (I recently met someone who still uses FundMaster, which hasn't been sold since at least
- [Online Donor Cultivation and Stewardship Survey](https://rlweiner.com/online-donor-cultivation-and-stewardship-survey) - The Gilbert Center is conducting a survey on how nonprofits are using the Internet to cultivate and take care of their donors. A lot of research about online fundraising focuses on the tactics of the ask. We're trying to broaden the field a bit by researching the topic of online cultivation and stewardship of donors.
- [Cuil search engine isn't](https://rlweiner.com/cuil-search-engine-isnt) - After testing www.cuil.com I can't figure out what the buzz is about. I like the categorization feature, but that's about it (and clusty does a better job). But the actual search results are disappointing and downright weird. Of course, I searched for my own name. When I don't put quotes around my name, I get
- [Vodaphone Wireless Innovation Challenge](https://rlweiner.com/vodaphone-wireless-innovation-challenge) - The Vodafone Americas Foundation has launched the Wireless Innovation Challenge. This is a new competition that seeks to identify and fund the best innovations using wireless related technology to address critical social issues around the world. Three winners will be awarded prizes of $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 for unique, late-stage wireless innovations that offer the
- [NTEN Conference Early-Bird Registration Discount](https://rlweiner.com/nten-conference-early-bird-registration-discount) - I'm a member of NTEN and a huge fan. I'm thrilled that their 2009 Nonprofit Technology Conference will be held at the San Francisco Hilton this year, April 26-28. The Early Bird rate expires after January 31st, so it's time to stop procrastinating. Here's what the NTEN folks have to say: The 2009 NTC will
- [Monetizing My Social Network](https://rlweiner.com/monetizing-my-social-network) - Last month I posted about how Facebook was making money by datamining my friends. Today I received spam from a site called Frens Zone that will allow me to make money off my social network. I can earn instant cash by just referring your friends. The more you referred, the more you earn. You are
- [We Are Media: An NTEN Workshop on Social Media](https://rlweiner.com/we-are-media-an-nten-workshop-on-social-media) - As part of its We Are Media program, NTEN is offering a 2-day training in San Francisco on how nonprofits can use social media. They describe it as follows: This two-day, intensive workshop will immerse you in the world of social media and nonprofits. It's designed for small planning teams from organizations ready to dive
- [The Current Economy and Major Gifts Fundraising](https://rlweiner.com/the-current-economy-and-major-gifts-fundraising) - I've previously posted resources for nonprofits coping with the economic downturn (Coping with a Troubled Economy, Fundraising Survival Guide, Economic Effects on Philanthropy). Here's another: Kevin Johnson of Retriever Development Counsel posted a response to the question, I'm preparing a major gift strategic overview and wanted to include updated thoughts on the current economic situation
- [New Year’s Resolution: Be Good To Your Data](https://rlweiner.com/new-year’s-resolution-be-good-to-your-data) - My friend and fellow consultant John Kenyon is fond of saying that, after people, data is an organization's most important asset. An organization's databases store its history: contact records; people served; donors, funders, and prospects; VIPs, volunteers, and vendors; event attendees, and more. Yet many organizations don't pay enough attention to the care and feeding
- [Securing USB drives](https://rlweiner.com/securing-usb-drives) - Last month I posted a list of best practices for managing a database and discussed, among other things, protecting data on USB drives and laptops. A recent discussion on the Information Systems Forum has suggested options for protecting USB drives. Richard Rothwell posted a blog entry on Portable Data Security, several list members recommended using
- [Datamining my Facebook Friends](https://rlweiner.com/datamining-my-facebook-friends) - I'm fascinated by the ad for Gavin Newsom's gubernatorial exploratory campaign that's been showing up on my Facebook page lately. The ad includes a photo of my friend Katie and says that Katie is a fan of Gavin Newsom. Her page confirms that she is a supporter of Gavin. So Katie is a fan of
- [Microsoft Issues Critical IE Patch](https://rlweiner.com/microsoft-issues-critical-ie-patch) - Microsoft issued a critical patch for Internet Explorer today, described as protection against a "remote code execution" vulnerability. If your computer is set up for automatic updates, you should get the patch, well, automatically. You should also be able to run Windows Update (under Tools in IE). Or you can get the patch from http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us
- [Fundraising Survival Guide](https://rlweiner.com/fundraising-survival-guide) - Network for Good recently published The 2008 Online Fundraising Survival Guide: 12 Winning Strategies to Survive & Thrive in a Down Economy. This 45-page guide includes sections on avoiding "the four most common fundraising mistakes," answering the four questions required to get a donation (Why Me? Why Now? What For? and Who Says?), optimizing your
- [Guessing the Gender of a Name](https://rlweiner.com/guessing-the-gender-of-a-name) - Ever wonder how to tell the gender of an unfamiliar first name? The PRSPCT-L listserve (for prospect researchers) had a discussion of resources for figuring this out and members provided the following suggestions: http://www.wikihow.com/Find-the-Gender-of-a-Name http://www.weddingvendors.com/baby-names/ http://www.gpeters.com/names/baby-names.php http://www.behindthename.com
- [Everywun Wants Your Clicks](https://rlweiner.com/everywun-wants-you-your-clicks) - The San Francisco Chronicle published an article about everywun.com, a new click-to-give site. The article makes this sound like a new idea, but The Hunger Site (and their later projects for breast cancer, children's health, literacy, rain forest protection, and animal rescue) has been doing this since 1999. The Hunger Site started out as a
- [Survey on Grantmaker Effectiveness](https://rlweiner.com/survey-on-grantmaker-effectiveness) - The Craigslist Foundation has launched a survey on grantmaker effectiveness, described as follows: We're partnering with Blue Shield Foundation of California to better understand ways in which grantmaker effectiveness can be advanced in the sector. We've put together a short survey not only for grantmakers but any social sector participant. If you have a few
- [New Book: Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission](https://rlweiner.com/new-book-managing-technology-to-meet-your-mission) - You can place your order now for Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission: A Strategic Guide for Nonprofit Leaders, which will be published in March 2009. The book was edited by NTEN's Executive Director, Holly Ross, former ED Katrin Verclas, and Special Projects Fellow Allison Levine. The authors are NTEN members (with one chapter contributed
- [Online Discussion: Using Twitter and Other Online Tools](https://rlweiner.com/online-discussion-using-twitter-and-other-online-tools-on-november-25) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy held an online discussion on November 25 on the subject of social media like Twitter and Facebook. They described the session as follows: For some groups, these tools have helped raise money for their causes and built increased visibility. But many groups are still not effective at using online networks in
- [NTEN's Donor Management Software Satisfaction Survey Results](https://rlweiner.com/ntens-donor-management-software-satisfaction-survey-results) - NTEN has released the results of its donor management software customer satisfaction survey. Over 1,000 respondents rated a variety of systems, including custom databases. The report focuses on 15 systems that each received 10 or more responses. (The five that received the most responses were The Raiser's Edge, OnDeposit, GiftWorks, CiviCRM, and eTapestry.) Both GiftWorks
- [CASE Online Fundraising Survey](https://rlweiner.com/case-online-fundraising-survey) - It's been three years since CASE last ran its survey on online fundraising. We're in the planning stages to launch an updated survey early next year. Prior versions focused primarily on email appeals. This time we're planning a broader look at how CASE member institutions are raising money online. Are there questions you would you
- [A Few Good Donor Management Tools](https://rlweiner.com/a-few-good-donor-management-tools) - TechSoup and Idealware have published A Few Good Donor Management Tools. The article provides a roundup of a dozen donor databases based on interviews with six consultants, including moi.
- [Relationship mapping software reviews](https://rlweiner.com/relationship-mapping-software-reviews) - After reading several listserve discussions of the use of relationship mapping tools for prospect research, the WellStar Foundation's David Broussard decided to get serious about the subject. The result is a website called Relationship Map Reviews. The site describes relationship mapping as a visual representation of relationships between individuals, organizations, companies, and other entities. As
- [What do nonprofits want to know about email marketing?](https://rlweiner.com/what-do-nonprofits-want-to-know-about-email-marketing) - ANSWR (Aggregated Nonprofit Software Resources), a project of Aspiration and TechSoup, aims to "provide a unified marketplace of knowledge, resources, and services, designed to meet the specific technology demands of nonprofit organizations" -- a one-stop shop for learning about how nonprofits can use technology. They're building a site that will combine "user-contributed content, democratic rating
- [What Obama Can Teach You About Millennial Marketing](https://rlweiner.com/what-obama-can-teach-you-about-millennial-marketing) - Writing in Advertising Age, Peter Feldman says Barak Obama's campign "shows pitch-perfect understanding of the keys to appealing to the youngest voters." I learned about the article from TargetX's Email Minute newsletter, which provided the following summary: Barack Obama's appeal to young voters has not gone unnoticed by the advertising industry. Long identified as a
- [Major Spammer Haven Shut Down: Spam Volumes Drop by Two-Thirds](https://rlweiner.com/major-spammer-haven-shut-down-spam-volumes-drop-by-two-thirds) - The Washington Posts's Security Fix blog reports that spam volumes declined by 2/3 after an ISP that was hosting spam operations was taken offline. The story: read more
- [Take NTEN's Nonprofit IT Salary Survey](https://rlweiner.com/take-ntens-nonprofit-it-salary-survey) - NTEN is running a survey on nonprofit IT salaries. They describe it as follows: As a sector, we spend little time considering the investments that nonprofits make in information technology (IT). Yet, no organization today would be successful without any investments in technology. It is an area that raises questions that are difficult for any
- [AASP Conference Impressions](https://rlweiner.com/aasp-conference-impressions) - I just returned from Chicago, where I attended (and spoke at) the first annual conference of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals (AASP). AASP describes itself as "an international organization for individuals interested in the profession of advancement services." Advancement Services staff (aka Development Services, Development Operations, Advancement Operations) generally support fundraising , membership, and
- [Free Idealware Webinar:  Online Communications on a Shoestring](https://rlweiner.com/free-idealware-webinar-online-communications-on-a-shoestring) - I've always found Idealware's webinars to be high-quality and informative. They're offering a free one on October 29 that they describe as follows: Wednesday, Oct 29th, 1:00 - 2:30 EST Web sites, email blasting, and social media can provide a small organization with big benefits without a huge investment. In this special FREE online seminar,
- [Is Google Evil?](https://rlweiner.com/is-google-evil) - In an opinion piece in this morning's San Francisco Chronicle called, "Is Google Evil?", Randall Stross discusses how Google is amassing a wealth of data on its users. This includes documents stored in Google Docs, discussions on Google Groups, personal appointments in Google Calendar, email in Gmail, photos in Picasa, etc. He summarizes his concerns
- [What Wealthy Donors Want](https://rlweiner.com/what-wealthy-donors-want) - A new survey from the University of Pennsylvania's Center for High Impact Philanthropy provides insight into how philanthropists select charities to support, view overhead costs, obtain information about nonprofits, and assess the impact of their philanthropy. Researchers interviewed 33 individuals. Between them, the study's participants give an average of $1.5 million annually. The findings include:
- [Pew Survey on Cloud Computing](https://rlweiner.com/pew-survey-on-cloud-computing) - The Pew Internet & American Life Project has published a study of Americans' use of “cloud computing,” in which data and applications are stored online and are accessible via web browsers. The findings include: 69% of online Americans use webmail, store data online, or use web-based software programs. Users report high levels of concern that
- [How Charities Use Screening Tools to Find Donors](https://rlweiner.com/how-charities-use-screening-tools-to-find-donors) - According to a study commissioned by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, large charities are much more likely than small ones to use wealth screening services. Approximately 1,300 fundraisers answered a survey asking whether they use screening services to identify prospective donors or likely upgrade prospects, determine giving ability or ask amounts, rate prospects' inclination to give,
- [Association of Advancement Services Professionals Conference](https://rlweiner.com/association-of-advancement-services-professionals-conference) - The Association of Advancement Services Professionals was launched just over a year ago. Their first conference and annual membership meeting will take place November 6 - 7, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza. Information is at http://advserv.org/Default.aspx?pageId=81835&eventId=7565&EventViewMode=2 I will be speaking on two panels: "Meeting the Future of Fund Raising" and "Systems Strategies
- [Transcript from my Network for Good teleconference](https://rlweiner.com/transcript-from-my-network-for-good-teleconference) - Network for Good transcribed the teleconference I did for them in April, 2008 and turned it into two articles. They're posted as Choosing a Donor Database: Steps to Success and Why You Need a Donor Database.
- [2008 Data Breaches Have Surpassed All of 2007](https://rlweiner.com/2008-data-breaches-have-surpassed-all-of-2007) - According to the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego, 449 data breaches have been reported as of August 22 2008, compared to 446 in all of 2007. The breaches included consumer data as well as data from nonprofit and educational organizations. Lost and stolen laptops (and other digital media) were the largest category reported, comprising
- [Showcase of Fundraising Innovation & Inspiration (sofii.org)](https://rlweiner.com/showcase-of-fundraising-innovation-inspiration-sofiiorg) - I've been watching SOFII develop over the past few months, and it's having an amazing growth spurt. It was set up to "provide charitable fundraisers everywhere with an easily accessible archive of the best fundraising creativity from around the world." The quote from George Bernard Shaw on their homepage sums up the mission as: "The mediocre
- [Web 2.0 & Social Networking Survey](https://rlweiner.com/web-20-social-networking-survey) - Citizen Schools and the Public Learning Media Laboratory have launched a survey to gather detail about specific Web 2.0 and social networking technologies that nonprofits are using. This follows a survey the groups published in March, called Web 2.0 & Social Networking Nonprofit Survey (PDF). That survey found: Respondents were optimistic about the value of
- [Rate Your Donor Database](https://rlweiner.com/rate-your-donor-database) - NTEN is conducting another in its series of vendor satisfaction surveys. This time they want your input on donor management systems. Their pitch: Tell us what you love -- and what frustrates, irks, and just generally annoys you -- and we'll compile the results into a handy report, then give it to everybody who fills
- [Becoming a Consultant](https://rlweiner.com/becoming-a-consultant) - The Chronicle of Philanthropy hosted an online discussion about becoming a consultant to nonprofits. The panelists were Deborah Elizabeth Finn, Jonathan Howard, and Karla A. Williams. They addressed a wide range of questions, including: How do you know when to move from being on staff to being a consultant? How does one go about deciding
- [How Do You Use Social Media?](https://rlweiner.com/how-do-you-use-social-media) - From the good folks at NetSquared: TechSoup's NetSquared project is in the process of developing curriculum to help nonprofits use social media effectively. But before we go about creating the curriculum, we need to know what you need to know! We put together a brief survey that should only take about 5 minutes to complete.
- [We Are The Media](https://rlweiner.com/we-are-the-media) - NTEN is building a toolkit and instructional guides to help nonprofits understand and use social media. They describe the project as follows: The We Are Media Project is a community of people from nonprofits who are interested in learning and teaching about how social media strategies and tools can enable nonprofit organizations to create, compile,

## Pages

- [Home](https://rlweiner.com/) - Robert L. Weiner Consulting We Can Advise You On: Whether you have the right systems, supported by the right people, doing the right things How to make informed, strategic decisions about Advancement Services (aka Development Operations or Development Services) and the use of technology for fundraising Typical projects include: Coaching nonprofits and universities through the
- [About](https://rlweiner.com/about) - Mr. Weiner is an independent consultant. He was formerly of counsel to Marts and Lundy, co-host of TechSoup’s Databases and Software online forum, a founding member of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals (AASP) and winner of the association's Jonathan Lindsey Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a former board member of Community Initiatives (a nonprofit
- [For Consultants](https://rlweiner.com/for-consultants) - The following are resources for consultants and wanna-be consultants. Bates, Mary Ellen: Resources for Solopreneurs Bing, Stanley: Why Consultants Generally Suck Cahalane, Mary: Dear nonprofit: Why I didn’t respond to your RFP McMahon, Susan Dvorak and Viola, Judah J.: Consulting and Evaluation with Nonprofit and Community-Based Organizations Jordan, Nicole: No.You Can't Pick My Brain Knight, Jack: 12 Breeds of
- [Contact](https://rlweiner.com/contact_robert_weiner) - You may contact us in the following ways: Email: robert (at) rlweiner (dot) com Voice: 415.643.8955
- [Presentations by Robert Weiner](https://rlweiner.com/presentations2) - Presentations on the Use of Technology for Fundraising and Nonprofit Management Archived Presentations Attention CRM Shoppers! Understanding and Choosing a Fundraising CRM Presented at NTEN's 2018 Nonprofit Technology Conference, April 12, 2018 Collaborative session notes 11 Common Mistakes in Selecting CRMs (and How to Avoid Them) Presented at the online Nonprofit CRM Summit, August 3, 2016 What
- [Articles by Robert Weiner](https://rlweiner.com/articles) - Articles about using technology for fundraising, and managing development operations. Covering Donor Databases, Prospect Tracking, Electronic Wealth Screenings, Email Campaigns, Online Communities, managing Development Services, and Consulting. 10 Traits of a Great Consultant Advice for New Consultants – Part 1 Advice for New Consultants – Part 2 You’re Just Too Good To Be True: The
- [Clients](https://rlweiner.com/our_clients) - We have worked with a wide variety of organizations, including: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety ACLU of Northern California American Institute for Economic Research American Jewish World Service American Leadership Forum, Silicon Valley American Red Cross - San Francisco Bay Area chapter American Red Cross - Los Angeles chapter American Technion Society Aplastic Anemia &
- [Hiring Consultants](https://rlweiner.com/about-consulting) - The following are resources for organizations that hire consultants. Cahalane, Mary: Dear nonprofit: Why I didn’t respond to your RFP Idealware: How to Find, Hire, and Collaborate with Technology Consultants ITpedia: What does an IT Consultant do? Jordan, Nicole: No.You Can't Pick My Brain Lasa Information Services: Choosing And Using Consultants (archived copy) McNamara, Carter: Understanding Consultants and Consulting Packard
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- [Staffing](https://rlweiner.com/services-2/staffing) - We can help you make sure: You have the right people in the right jobs They've been trained properly They're using following industry best practices They're working smart, not just hard. If you need to hire new or additional staff, we can help you create and publicize a job description and interview candidates. Finally, if
- [Services](https://rlweiner.com/services-2) - Ensuring that your information technology meets your needs can be daunting. But it doesn’t have to be. Our commitment is to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible for you to get what you want from your technology. Our services include: Staffing On-Call Advice
- [On-Call Advice](https://rlweiner.com/services-2/on-call-advice) - I am available on an hourly basis or monthly retainer to advise on: Software selection and implementation strategies Industry trends Business processes Staffing and recruitment issues
- [Privacy Policy](https://rlweiner.com/privacy-policy) - This is the web site of Robert L. Weiner Consulting. Our postal address is 59 1/2 Manchester Street San Francisco, CA 94110 We can be reached via e-mail at robert@rlweiner.com or you can reach us by telephone at 415-643-8955 For each visitor to our Web page, our Web server automatically recognizes the visitor's IP address,
- [Cookie Policy](https://rlweiner.com/cookie-policy) - This site uses cookies - small text files that are placed on your machine to help the site provide a better user experience. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for things like shopping carts, and provide anonymised tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. As a rule, cookies
- [Testimonials](https://rlweiner.com/testimonials) - What Robert Weiner's clients have to say about his work: Robert helped our team select a customer database, including email, event, peer-to peer, and donation page platforms. Robert is a consummate professional and has a very thorough and thoughtful process. He combines a complete knowledge of nonprofit fundraising with the latest software trends. He is
- [Robert's Tweets](https://rlweiner.com/roberts-tweets) - Tweets by @robert_weiner Note: If this page says "Could not connect to Twitter" try refreshing. If that doesn't work, click the link below to go directly to Twitter. More of Robert's tweets: http://twitter.com/robert_weiner
- [Privacy Policy](https://rlweiner.com/privacy_policy) - This is the web site of Robert L. Weiner Consulting. Our postal address is 59 1/2 Manchester Street San Francisco, CA 94110 We can be reached via e-mail at robert at rlweiner dot com or you can reach us by telephone at 415-643-8955 For each visitor to our Web page, our Web server automatically recognizes

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