Idealware seminars are designed to give you the tactical advice you need to make software decisions. They include all the candid advice and product comparisons of the reports and articles on which they are based, but offer plenty of extra guidance and insights straight from the author.

Each is just $40, and all you need is an internet connection and a phone line to participate.

Introduction to Website Analytics
Wednesday, March 26th, 1:00 - 2:30 EST

How many people visit your Web site every day? What are visitors doing when they get there? Which features are most popular? We'll talk through the tools and strategies you can use to get the answers to these questions. Through demos of free tools such as AWStats and Google Analytics, we'll look at what these tools can tell you about your site, and what the statistics mean. We'll close with a discussion of when more advanced statisics packages - such as ClickTracks or WebTrends- might be useful. Read more or register >

Creating the Constituent-Centric Nonprofit: Nonprofit CRM

Thursday, April 3rd, 1:00 - 2:30 EST

If you're storing data about your constituents in many different places, it's costing you in time, lost revenue and decreased impact. Paul Hagen, who's helped organizations such as Goodwill, VolunteerMatch and Jewish Teen Alliance develop their Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) strategy, will talk through the practical steps, processes, and software that can help you to get a better handle on managing and building your relationship with each constituent. Register now>  

Choosing eNewsletter Software

Thursday, April 10th, 1:00 - 2:30 EST

Email newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with and grow your audience, but it can be complex to send and track thousands of emails. In this seminar, we'll walk through what you need to know in order to setup, send, and track eNewsletters effectively, and talk about some of the reliable and affordable tools most commonly used for mass emailing, such as EmailNow, ConstantContact, NPOGroups, CampaignMonitor, Vertical Response, Emma, Topica, and more. Register now>

Understanding Data Integration

Thursday, April 24th, 1:00 - 2:30 EST

Are you wondering what it would take to integrate your various software packages to allow them to share data? In this session, we’ll talk through the high level options and key considerations, and then dive into some of the technical terms and concepts that will help you understand what would be involved in programming an automatic connection between software packages. We'll discuss possibilities in integrating the software you already have, and what features you should look when choosing new software to prevent integration woes. Register now>

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Want all the information for half the price?  Check out our recordings of previous seminars>

Our Project Management event in New York City was such a success that we're repeating it - this time in Oakland, CA on May 20-21. This collaborative, discussion-based event will give you the opportunity to learn and share information about project management tools and techniques with your peers in an environment that's (according to the participants from the last event) "supportive", "energizing", "amazing", and "a problem solving think tank." Read more or register>

Here are some of the best posts and resources from the Idealware blog last month.

Interview with Jason Lefkowitz on E-activism (ForumOne)
A very interesting interview with friend-of-Idealware Jason Lefkowitz, talking about eAdovcacy best practices (and how to avoid fads)

Using Google Checkout for Donations (Idealware)
Google Checkout has an attractive price tag (free!), but it's not yet ready for online donation prime-time

Desktop SMS Campaign Tools (MobileActive)
Terrific, detailed guide on how to use desktop software tools to send SMS messages to your supporters' cell phones - including thumbnail reviews of a number of available products

No more custom CMS! (Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology)
A manifesto as to why nonprofits should stop hiring firms that want to build them a site using a custom CMS

Having a Team Meeting in Second Life (Brandon Hall)
Useful and well balanced look at the pros and cons of Second Life for holding team meetings

Software to Support a Community Blog (Idealware)
A summary of the online platforms you could use to support model where users write their own blogs and administrators can chose individual entries to promote on a home page.

A Buyer's Guide to Time-Tracking Software (SmallBusinessComputing.com)
An overview of a number of tools you can use to track your own or your organization's time

Flikr for Good (Flikr)
Flikr, the online photo sharing site, has partnered with TechSoup to provide free Flikr Pro accounts to qualified nonprofits. Wondering how to use it? Beth Kanter provides a great set of Flikr tips and tools in a TechSoup article at http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page8291.cfm?rss=1

Next-Gen Project Management (eWeek)
A review of several new "Web 2.0" project management platforms

Software for Online Board Collaboration (Idealware)
Some thoughts on the online software tools that are intended to help boards collaborate remotely

Mother of All Nonprofit Search Engines Optimized (Nonprofit Tech Blog)
This isn't an article but a search engine to find them - a way to search only nonprofit technology websites to find information specific to those sites. Now updated!

Free Software Tools (Patrick Shaw's Weblog)
Patrick Shaw describes some of the compelling free software tools reviewed by PC Magazine - mostly in the realm of desktop productivity and healthy computing

Ask Idealware: Integrated Tool that Includes Ticketing? (Idealware)
Some thoughts from Eric Leland - and don't miss the great comments! - on a package that would provide both arts ticketing functions with emailing and database functionalities