Nonprofit web design tips and more from CEDC

2016 Global NGO Online Technology Report at TechReport.NGO.

“I had an email exchange recently with someone from a group that uses CiviCRM and she mentioned that she wished she didn't have to go to hire a consultant every time she had a question -- she is more of a "DIY" person. My response was that CiviCRM allows you to be as DIY as you want, or are able (and the CiviCRM community really wants you to grow your skills so that you are able to do more and more of what you need to do). We are a nonprofit that serves other nonprofits, but our mission has an educational and empowering thrust. We are here to support as needed but we want you and your team to build skills and have the appropriate technology in place to do your work. In that vein, here are a few important resources for CiviCRM DIYers...“

CiviCRM 101

Google’s search algorithm is a closely guarded secret, so the company would not say exactly how much mobile would factor into rankings. Still, it said in a blog post that the change would have “a significant impact” on search results, and it has tried to prepare websites by telegraphing the move two months in advance and giving them tips on how to improve their performance.

[O]ver the past few months we’ve been running tests taking into account whether sites use secure, encrypted connections as a signal in our search ranking algorithms. We’ve seen positive results, so we’re starting to use HTTPS as a ranking signal. For now it's only a very lightweight signal—affecting fewer than 1% of global queries, and carrying less weight than other signals such as high-quality content—while we give webmasters time to switch to HTTPS. But over time, we may decide to strengthen it, because we’d like to encourage all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web.

Great "Human Walking Program" from the Lost Dogs Home!

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Fast Company compiled some reader suggestions into 36 Rules of Social Media. (Source PDF)

Here’s a collection of some of the best data visualizations on global literacy, mortality, birth rates and more that will help put some of the biggest issues surrounding poverty today into perspective. The good news: Extreme poverty is declining, and life expectancy and incomes on the whole are on the up and up. The bad news: We still have a lot of work to do! –ONE.org

271 years before Pantone, there was "A. Boogert".

So far coverage of Facebook's plan to squeeze the organic reach of Pages has focused on its impact on "brands" that spam us with ads and promotions. But nonprofits, activists, and advocacy groups with much fewer resources (and no ad budgets) are also being hugely affected. It's starting to look like Facebook is willing to strangle public discourse on the platform in an attempt to wring out a few extra dollars for its new shareholders.