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New tools make the Nonprofit FAQ more useful.
Summary:
Developments since the FAQ was added to the services of Action Without Borders/Idealist.Org
Answer:
October 28, 2005
New tools make the Nonprofit FAQ more useful
It has been a few months since the Nonprofit FAQ became part of the Idealist.Org website. In that time, new tools have been added that make the FAQ easier to use, encourage comments and corrections, and make it possible to share its content in new ways.
Searching—At the top of every page of the Nonprofit FAQ (of every page at idealist.org in fact) there's a small box for searching through all the content at Idealist.org. Just type in a word or a phrase and touch "search" or "go" and you'll see a list resources at the site that where your search term is found.
If you're looking for a specific organization, typing its name in the box will let you find its Idealist entry among the "Organizations" in the search report; if its name appears in the Nonprofit FAQ, you will also be able to see links to the pages where the organization is mentioned. The numbers tell you how many times your search term was found in each category.
If your search term yields an overwhelming number of responses, the tools in the right hand column will help you refine your inquiry to narrow the results. For the Nonprofit FAQ, that link takes you to the welcome page and lets you look through the pages of the FAQ following the menus. If you're not familiar with this approach, you may find the hints in About the Nonprofit FAQ helpful.
Commenting—At the top of the yellow column to the right of every FAQ page there's a link labeled "Feedback." Clicking on this link will open a form to send any sort of comment to the FAQ editor; the form automatically identifies the specific page you were looking at when it was opened.
You can use this form to let us know if something has changed, to identify a new organization or resource that should be mentioned, or just to let us know if we got something wrong and need to fix it. Comments on the subjects discussed in the FAQ are always welcome. When each item is revised, all the comments that have been received will be considered and my be used to make the item more useful to future readers.
Please use the comment feature liberally. The Nonprofit FAQ has been a collaborative service for the field since it started in the mid-1990s. Continuing that tradition today is an important part of its raison d'etre.
Sharing—At the bottom of every FAQ page there's another useful feature. You'll see a small image of an envelope next to the words "email to a friend." This button allows you to send a link to the page (along with any comments you'd like to add) to up to five email addresses.
This is a convenient way for you to share the information in the FAQ with colleagues or to pass along an observation to someone who is curious about nonprofits and their work. It's also an easy way for you to give yourself a memo of something you found interesting or useful; just email the link to yourself!
The email form has an additional feature you may find useful. Just below the comment box the WWW address for this particular FAQ item is shown. You can cut-and-paste that address to insert it in a web-page of your own, as part of a footnote if you refer to the FAQ in a paper, or wherever you would like the complete link to appear.
New Features—We have started adding summary discussions of some of the large complicated topics addressed in the FAQ as separate entries. The first one, called "Board Basics", appears at the top of the Board of Directors index (and under some other titles where this background may also be helpful).
A more active form of adding observations and commentary on the field of nonprofits is in the works and will be rolled out soon.
We've made good progress restoring access to the "lost" pages that didn't make the transition to the idealist website completely smoothly. If you're still looking for something in the Nonprofit FAQ that doesn't appear as expected, let us know and we will try to find a new way to make it accessible. The "Feedback" form on this page offers an easy way to get in touch.
Please also use the "Feedback" form for this page to let us know if there are topics you would like to see the FAQ address or other improvements that would make it more useful for you.
Thank you for your interest in the Nonprofit FAQ.
Putnam Barber, Editor
June 6, 2005
The Nonprofit FAQ comes to Idealist.Org! Two powerful resources supporting nonprofit work around the globe are now combined in one organization.
Since the early 1990s, the Nonprofit FAQ has provided information and insight for people who work for and care about nonprofit organizations. Since the early 1990s, too, Idealist.Org has enabled nonprofit organizations around the world to present their programs, seek volunteers, announce job vacancies, and reach out to new audiences. Now these two powerful online resources are joined together as services of Action Without Borders.
Nothing Changes. Everything Changes!
All the links to the content of the Nonprofit FAQ continue to function as before. The content, built up over years of tracking the questions people ask and the information they need about nonprofits, is more readily available than ever. Combining the Nonprofit FAQ with Idealist.Org means powerful new navigation tools will be available to visitors. Users of one part of the service will be invited to explore features of the other more conveniently.
I have been the editing the Nonprofit FAQ since its earliest days and continue as its editor in this comfortable new organizational home.
When the FAQ first started, it was a nothing more than a group of text files in a folder in my personal ISP account. When it merged with the Internet Nonprofit Center, founded by Cliff Landesmann, there were dramatic improvements in its appearance and the content expanded greatly. We were pleased to be able to move to servers provided pro bono by Michael Gilbert and The Gilbert Center.
Now that the FAQ is combined with Idealist.Org, we will get ongoing software support from Action Without Borders engineers while I (and other contributors) gain connections with the writers and editors who maintain other content on the Idealist.Org website. Beyond that, the FAQ will benefit from the insights of staff at AWB who work with activists, encourage careers in public service, and build connections to give meaning to the organization’s slogan – Where the Nonprofit World Meets.
(The core content of the FAQ is available now. But full transition will actually take some time. Some content may be inaccessible for a while. We apologize if something that would be useful to you is not immediately available.)
After the dust settles, I’ll follow this introductory message with a renewed series of FAQ Bulletins, noting and commenting on significant developments affecting nonprofits around the world. I welcome reactions to this commentary, suggestions for topics that should be addressed, and pointers to resources that should be added to the FAQ.
Putnam Barber
Editor, The Nonprofit FAQ
A service of Action Without Borders
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