Non-Profit Tip: Google Website Clinic Form

Google Non-Profit Website Clinic Form!


This is a great resource to have Google professionals review your site and give you tips on how to make your web site a better tool for your non-profit organization.

"Submit your site to be considered for review, analysis, and advice from Google's Search Quality team! Please note that if you submit your site, you agree that Google may use your site as an public example in our follow-up site clinic posts on the Webmaster Central Blog and in other public forums. You acknowledge that Google may publicly identify problems with your website."

https://spreadsheets1.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFhvVTZ6dE5CNlFGUVhFWHQ3YTUwc1E6MQ

Kiva.org Empowering 3rd world Entrepreneurs with Micro Loans!

Kiva.org is a site that connects people by allowing every day Joe's to lend micro loans ($25 & up) to help alleviate poverty. The loans go to Entrepreneurs all over the world who work every day to make their world a better place.

This week Kiva touts a 98.5% repayment rate on loans, over $2 milllion in loans, about 5,000 new lenders funding almost 6,000 new entrepreneurs, and 1 loan every 9 seconds!

I think of this site as a real life version of Sim City, I get to put money to develop businesses and see the money returned to me to lend out again to make our world a better place.

Check it out for yourself and maybe play around with micro-loans see how our small contributions can change the world.

See the change:

Pepsi Refresh Project

Interesting experiment in Social Giving, the Pepsi Refresh project gives away 1.3 million per month to user voted and submitted ideas to better: Health, Arts & Culture, Food & Shelter, The Planet, Neighborhoods, and Education.

Connecting with social media platforms like Facebook, the Pepsi Refresh project allows users to spread donation requests throughout their own social networks to push ideas they believe will help to make a better world.

I hope this works and other companies follow suit!

check it out at: http://www.refresheverything.com

"the community is the end goal."

reposted from: http://philanthropy.com/blogPost/Social-Networks-Shouldnt-Be/27055/

Social Networks Shouldn't Be Used Solely as Fund-Raising Tools

By Derek Lieu
For as long as nonprofit groups have used social-media tools, they have faced the perplexing problem of Internet money math: How do all of those supporters and friends add up to real dollars in the door?

But Zachary Sniderman, an assistant features editor for Mashable.com, suggests that money shouldn't necessarily be the object of nonprofit groups' social-media efforts. Social good, after all, is also about the process of bringing people together.

Take the Livestrong campaign. The group behind the ubiquitous golden wristband, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, recently started a Facebook campaign that encouraged fans to share their personal cancer stories on the social-networking Web site. The foundation wasn't trying to raise money through this effort. It was trying to bring people together behind its cause.

In this case, Mr. Sniderman writes, "the community is the end goal." The campaign did raise money, but as Brooke McMillan, the Lance Armstrong Foundation's online manager, said in the Mashable post, the social good came from "the actions of the people in the community."

Participation in online communities, Mr. Sniderman writes, "can help make [donors] feel like they are part of the organization and part of the solution."

That connection is crucial for advocacy groups, which depend on mobilizing members to rally in support of their causes. "Having a million people is more important than having $1-million," says Ben Rattray, chief executive of the social-change Web site Change.org.

Do you agree with this assessment? Is social media truly changing the way nonprofits connect with supporters—or are these tools merely new ways to accomplish the same goal?

Why are friends important to intervene for your goals?

"In fact, the availability of these data, I think, heralds a kind of new era of what I and others would like to call "computational social science." It's sort of like when Galileo invented -- or, didn't invent -- came to use a telescope and could see the heavens in a new way, or Leeuwenhoek became aware of the microscope -- or actually invented -- and could see biology in a new way. But now we have access to these kinds of data that allow us to understand social processes and social phenomena in an entirely new way that was never before possible. And with this science, we can understand how exactly the whole comes to be greater than the sum of its parts. And actually, we can use these insights to improve society and improve human well-being."

Google Adds Twitter Updates To Search Results

http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/09/14/google-adds-twitter-updates-to-search-results/

Official Google Blog Article

Here’s a copy of the announcement, which came from search VP Marissa Mayer:

At Google, our goal is to create the most comprehensive, relevant and fast search in the world. In the past few years, an entirely new type of data has emerged — real-time updates like those on Twitter have appeared not only as a way for people to communicate their thoughts and feelings, but also as an interesting source of data about what is happening right now in regard to a particular topic.

Given this new type of information and its value to search, we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you’ll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.

Why you should care about HTML 5

Great article: Why you should care about HTML 5

New Creative Commercial Interiors Web Site Design in Sacramento!

Creative Commercial Interiors is a full service office furniture dealer with 20 years commercial office furniture trade experience. Jason, the owner of Creative Commercial Interiors, provides suggestions and ideas that make the overwhelming choice of office furniture quick and easy and affordable too!

Check out the changes we made to Creative Commercial Interiors' website:



We are currently working to optimize the Creative Commercial Interiors website for search engines as well as marketing via social media platforms. Or continued Brand Image management for the Web Design for the Sacramento based Creative Commercial Interiors includes functional goals for acquiring new customers while maintaining the aesthetic appeal!

Website & Marketing Projects for 2010!

NorCal Designs is excited to work with a variety of clients across Northern California on website design & development projects, search engine and social media marketing! A few of our latest projects:

Foster Family service
Location: Sacramento, El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, S. Lake Tahoe, Stockton, Santa Rosa, Jackson
Servicing: Over 20 counties in California!

We are currently updating Foster Family Service's website with a new Brand Identity! We created a logo for Foster family service that uses pop art to simulate motion and life while incorporating a starfish symbol that has been used as a basic ideology for Foster Family Service for many years.

The website design for Foster Family service focuses on fund raising, sharing who they are, championing foster care ideas to communities, and soliciting people to become involved.



Pro Solutions
Location: Pittsburg, CA 94565
Servicing: Bay Area, San Fransisco, Sacramento, San Jose

We are working with Pro Solutions to create a website that incorporates their new identity and shows off their core competencies and industry leading services to acquire new clients. We also provide tools and industry research for Pro Solutions to better service their existing customers with their new website design.



Sundance Self Storage
Location: Galleria, Baseline, Highway 65, El Dorado Hills
Servicing: Sacramento, Roseville, Rocklin, Granite Bay, Lincoln, El Dorado Hills
Sundance Self Storage needed an updated layout with new funcitonality and additional company information. We modified our existing layout for Sundance to incorporate Google Maps, navigation icons, client testimonials, and more!



Golden State Interiors
Location: Sacramento

"We build dreams!" The tag line for Golden State Interiors was our inspiration for creating a website that allows potential clients to view the amazing works of custom cabinetry created by Golden State Interiors. Check out the portfolio section of the Web Site to view the stunning examples of their work online.