Found on the internet, 5/27 :)

The Real Reason Virtual Communities Matter to Nonprofits: “Not-for-profit organizations feel pressure. They feel pressure from their board. They feel pressure from their partners. They feel pressure from their staff. And they feel pressure from their mission. One of the newest and most intense pressures they feel is the pressure to use social media and social networks effectively. This pressure is so strong partly due to the speed in which ideas travel online and the number of people who get their information from online sources.”

Three Rules for Using Polls in Online Communities: “I love conducting polls in online communities. They’re fun, enlightening, and great conversation starters. Best of all, they’re an easy way for lurkers to start participating. Think of polls as the gateway drug of communities. Here are my three rules for creating great polls in your community”

Avoid Mixing Creation with Evaluation: “Your job as a creative thinker is to create and forget about limits or whether or not you’re doing it right or anything like that. Create, and then you can critique. Trying to do both at the same time is like trying to jump while at the same time attempting to sit in a chair.”

Creating Better Volunteering Roles in Your Community: “If you’re struggling to keep the forums moderated, you might want some volunteers. The typical approach here is to advertise for volunteers to moderate the forums. You might get a few, they will last for a while and once they get bored you will need to recruit another batch. The better approach is to create a broader, more exciting, role.”