San Diego Futures Foundation

SEO Training and Certification

2010-09-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

When I was a budding engineer in the 90s, I became one of the first Microsoft Certified Professionals in the country. At that time, the certification business was still relatively young and the most popular certification was Novell's Certified Netware Engineer (CNE), somewhat pioneered, notably, by emerging tech exec Eric Schmidt. Back in the day, certification was a legitimate way for product vendors and industry-leaders to ensure that the people who claimed to know their products actually did. As Windows NT/2000, Microsoft Exchange, and other Microsoft networking and database products started selling like mad, the certification business likewise caught fire.

Training businesses, integrators, and vendors alike smelled the opportunity to make a lot of money by providing training and certification. Of course, not all of those training programs were legit. Many started "teaching to the test" and creating what were, and still are, referred to as "paper engineers." In California, a law sponsored by Congresswoman Maxine Waters was passed that put major restrictions on businesses promoting training that led to employment. The law, as you might expect, required businesses to jump through some pretty serious hoops in order to continue offering training. Many changed the way they operated, while others simply got out of the business. As the web grew, test answers became widely available online, and the damage to certification was done.

So why would I write a blog called "SEO Training and Certification"? Simple. The more the demand for SEOs and SMMs grows, the more so-called "experts" will emerge and give the industry a bad name (point being, this has happened before). SEOs know too well that this is happening in their business. The question in my mind isn't so much if there should be more training and certification, it's when there will be. The only other question is, which one will come first; product or generic? Consider this:

Product Certification - Google already has product certification with their Adwords program (and Eric Schmidt is where now?). Other vendors offering certification on their products include Cisco, Sun, Dell, and even Apple. Who in the SEO industry has products for which certification could add value? Let's think about this for a second...oh yeah, SEOmoz. As I sat through the third day of training at the mozinar, it occurred to me that I would pay good money to come back to Seattle for a hands-on, two-day training class on the web app and others, but I would also want to walk away with at least a certificate that said I was there. And I would want a chance to take a test that validated my knowledge. With 6,000 Pro members and growing, SEOmoz app users are going to take advantage of opportunities to differentiate. Certification offers that. Perhaps even more importantly, budding SEOs are going to want a way to prove that they really know the software when looking for a job.

Generic Certification - the organization most likely to be interested in helping to create an SEO certification would be Comptia. Their industry-standard certification, A+, helps people interested in tech careers certify that they know the hardware and software basics. Comptia has similar tests for security, networking, programming, databases, and more. Their exams cover features of Microsoft and other vendors' products but are generally vendor-neutral. If industry leaders (the SEOmoz' and in-house experts at large companies) thought this was a good idea, they would form a Comptia advisory committee, determine what the minimum requirements would be, then help create the exams.

What About Testing?

Most certification tests are administered by Prometric, which handles the registration process, manages the test centers, and issues the certificates. A few vendors administer their own tests for even more control. Most notable of these is Cisco, who only administers their CCIE test at Cisco headquarters (CCIE certification is worth an estimated $150,000 annually). So if a company like SEOmoz wanted to offer certification on their products, and the industry in general wanted a vendor-neutral test as well, they could all be administered by Prometric.

Having been around certification for a long time, I know there will be criticism for this suggestion and all kinds of suggestions as to why it's a bad idea. But I believe certification adds legitimacy to a maturing technology industry, and SEO is at the cusp. A quick search on simlyhired shows jobs in SEO and SMM trending upward, and where there are jobs, there are people looking to capitalize.

Take a look at all the vendors offering product certification from Prometric. They all had this discussion and ultimately saw the value. As for a generic certification, if you gathered up the SEOs from Fortune 500 companies, plus trustworthy vendors like SEOmoz, and established industry-standards, maybe the media that claims SEOs are snake-oil salesman would at least end their claims by recommending that "the SEO you hire is certified."

Exciting news re SDFF's Web Development for Small Businesses

2010-08-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, SDFF performed an interesting study to find out how many businesses in the community of City Heights in San Diego had a web presence, and analyzed what that web presence was. The approach was simple; search Google for businesses by name, address, or phone number. Surely if a company had a listing on the Internet, they would be found by this mostly unique information. And if they weren't found but they did have a presence, they may as well not have one if we couldn't easily find it. Page two of the search results is as far as we were willing to go.

We surveyed roughly 1,000 of the approximately 5,000 small businesses in the community, and this is what we found:

- 25% had no web presence of any kind
- 10% had a website
- 65% were listed in a web directory such as the Yellow Pages or Yelp

An additional, random door-to-door survey of 150 businesses was performed. 70% of the participant had no website. 50% expressed an interest in having one. 45% said they didn't know why they needed one. 20% said websites are too expensive.

In a follow up survey with the group that expressed interest in having a website, 90% indicated that $1,000 was too much money. When asked if a low-cost or free directory listing would suffice for them, 100% indicated it would.

Using this data and other data collected from small businesses, the DiverseCity Techs overhauled their program and created new products and services to offer that better suit their target market. While we're not quite ready to announce them, we're getting close. So I thought I'd give a sneak preview of what's to come.

Workshops
The DTechs have teamed up with the City Heights Business Association, North Park Main Street Association, and other nonprofits to put together monthly workshops that focus on technology, finance, and other subjects that are important but difficult for small businesses to keep up on. This workshops will target the 45% of small businesses that say they don't know why they need a website. The technology portion will focus on the value of a web presence, how to have a web presence at a low cost, how to manage and use a web presence, social media, and other online resources to generate more business.

Local Directory
The DTechs spent considerable time developing a directory product that will be locally sold, developed and managed. Anyone who works in a small, particularly low-income community knows that trust among residents and businesses is a HUGE issue. Business owners who are not particularly tech-savvy shy away from the web in part because they don't know who to trust. A local vendor providing a locally-managed directory product helps ease that objection. But that's not the key selling point of the site and that's not why we developed a whole new directory product when there are plenty out there already. The reason we did it was to focus on a media element that resonates with small businesses.

Video
The DTechs have been out in the community shooting videos of small businesses to include in the new local directory for months now. To date they have 20 videos to post on the new site, and to include on websites they've developed for nonprofit organizations. Complete, custom video production services will be available to nonprofits and small businesses for as little as $200 for a 60-second video. This includes storyboarding, scripts, voice-over, titling, filming, and post-production.

Web Presence Management
The DTechs are really doing more than "web development", particularly because a fairly significant part of their target market is not likely to have (or even need) a full website. Web presence includes a locally-hosted and managed account on a directory site, a website if needed, all of the integrated social media services, search engine optimization, marketing, updates, coupons...you get the picture.

The DTechs are a group of four young adults ages 18 to 24 from City Heights and nearby communities who are learning how to start, grow, and manage a successful web development company in City Heights. They are a videographer, a web developer, a graphic designer, and a business manager starting an Internet company in one of the poorest neighborhoods in San Diego county. And they're on the verge of something amazing.

Another Reason Meta Descriptions Matter

2010-08-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

We're putting a lot of time and resources into our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts since we've ramped up our web development and our DiverseCity Tech program. DiverseCity Tech is a social enterprise, which means it serves two purposes; it provides a valuable service to the nonprofit and small business community, and it helps young adults learn how to build a business and develop marketable skills. The DTechs build websites, manage web presence, and market their services in the community.

SEO is how you improve your site's "attractiveness" to the search engines in order to improve its position in search results. Everyone wants their site to be #1 for certain terms (keywords), right? Well, the "meta description" portion of a page is the text you see underneath the URL in a search result. Here is a search example:

The site in the #1 position on Google for the term "vacant" is m-w.com. Google obviously figured that I wanted the definition of that word and served this site and others like it to me. The "meta description" for the site in the #1 position is

"Definition of vacant from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary with audio pronunciations, thesaurus, Word of the Day, and word games."

The problem is, it doesn't give the actual definition. How helpful is that? The next one down, from reference.com, does.

Of course, I can click the first URL if I want the definition but why would I do that when another site gave me the information I was looking for? If you're viewing the results on a desktop monitor, it's not such a big deal I suppose because you can scan down the screen and find what you're looking for, but if you're viewing it on a mobile device, scanning the screen isn't always as easy, and you don't want to open the site if you don't have to. Of course, if you do, the site you're most likely to visit is the one that gave you more information initially. Mobile devices are one reason why meta descriptions are even more important than ever.

I know, I know...there's an app for that. But the point is, the more descriptive your meta descriptions, the better your site and its pages serve their purpose, and the more attractive your site is for your potential visitors and the search engines.

Now if you follow this logic or if you're an astute SEO and you know what the little graphs underneath each result mean, you're probably wondering why the top site is actually in the top position. That's one of the many questions SEOs ponder and work on every day.

Just remember, better meta descriptions make for a better quality site.

NOTE: Bing's top result on the term vacant is from their Encarta website, which gives the full definition.

A Peek Inside

2010-06-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a handful of planning documents for SDFF over the last few weeks. One is related to the expansion of the San Diego Broadband Initiative. The other is a white paper I owe to one of our funders.

Since the document is being written for the potential benefit of other communities who may wish to put a program like ours together, I'm going to try and make it as thorough and detailed as possible. To do so, I realize that I need to include some of the "intangibles" that have made SDFF successful. That's easier said than done, considering that those intangibles include unique people, experiences, and philosophies. I hadn't given a lot of thought to the "depth" of this document before I started writing it but now that I'm into it a bit, I realize there are certain "trade secrets" that need to be shared.

From time to time I plan to post excerpts of the paper to this blog. The excerpts will include some of the basics like "find a reliable source of hardware, get a supporter with unrestricted funds, hire some interns, and go forth". But it will also include some of those intangibles I mentioned. I think for just about any successful organization, whether "for" profit or not, the things you can't see or don't read about in press releases are usually the things make the biggest difference.

As someone who worked for a Fortune 500 company not long ago, it's still strange to think that sharing the "company secrets" is a good thing. But in the world of doing good, it really is.

Microsoft Office Live: Gettin' Real

2010-06-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this blog using the Web-based version of Microsoft Word. Yes, you read that right; Word for the web, and it works. If you're keeping up with developments in the software, browser, search worlds, you already know that Microsoft and Google are going at it on many fronts nowadays. Both have browsers (MS Internet Explorer and Google Chrome), search engines (Bing and Google), and applications (MS Office and Google Docs). I have to admit that the competition Google is giving Microsoft is probably good for the industry on the whole but it's getting to be a chore keeping up with and evaluating all the different features and developments, and particularly what they mean for our customers. As a provider of technology and technical services, SDFF must keep up, evaluate, and make recommendations, so here's a little background on Office Live and, in particular, Word.

Getting Started

To use it, you need to navigate to office.live.com. If you don't have one, you'll need a Live account. MS logins have their heritage in the legacy Hotmail and Passport, but these days you can think of Live as just another login to web-based resources and services. And what you get with Live is a TON of stuff. The other Microsoft "legacy" that is being left behind, at least for now, is cost; Office for the Web is free.

Office Live Home

The Office Live interface gives you the option to create new Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote files. Simply click the button, name the file, and start working. From the home screen you can also view the files you've already created and any files you've shared with others. This is the web, sharing is easy.

Working with Word

Once you create a new Word document, a new interface will open and provide tools that are similar to what you would see in the desktop version. The main menu consists of File, Home, Insert, and View. Obviously this is not the desktop version of Office 2010 but it offers most of the basics you need (in fact, some might argue you need a whole lot less than what the desktop version offers so here is your alternative).

The editing and formatting tools consist of:

Full cut, copy, paste
Font control including 20+ of the most common fonts, plus styles like bold, strikethrough, and highlights
Basis paragraph formatting including numbered lists and bullet points
Styles
Spell Check
Tables
Pictures, Clip Art, and Hyperlinks

Among the common uses that the online version doesn't offer include:

Page layout tools such as landscape versus portrait
Columns
Table of contents
Editable styles
Editing in the Reading or Page view

The good news is, for the more advanced stuff, there is an "Open in Word" button, which I just did and I am now editing the document in Office 2007. When I do a CTRL-S to save, it saves to Skydrive, not to my local disk. There is obviously no “go back and edit in Word Live” button in the desktop version so I close and reopen. But not before changing the page orientation to Landscape. I just repoened the document online and, going to the "View" tab I check out the Reading View and voila, my document is Landscape.

I haven't tried any of the more advanced features like Tables of Contents linked to heading styles yet, but I think this application has a lot of promise. As a sidenote, I've decided to marry my browsers, search defaults, and apps to their developers in order to compare experiences, so when I open IE, for example, it runs the Bing Toolbar and when I open Chrome it loads the Google Toolbar. Microsoft has really upped the ante and has moved much closer to a more complete, web-based work and search experience with Office Live.

Word.

Software and the Social Enterprise

2010-05-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

This week, Google announced the development and availability of several products in their “Apps” suite that were in beta or available only to select businesses and individuals. SDFF has been using Google Apps for email and calendar-sharing for about six months. This blog analyzes the need for and availability of critical productivity applications, and evaluates the potential benefits Google Apps provide.

Social enterprises (also known as nonprofits) are no different than any other business when it comes to software requirements. In fact, I would argue that social enterprises require more software and expertise than the typical for-profit business does. The reason is because social enterprises have a “triple bottom line” to track and report.

The triple-bottom line requires that you accurately track and report multiple sources of income for individual and multiple programs, report individual and multi-funder financials, report cash and in-kind matches and, on top of all of that, track and report all of the demographic and social outcomes expected from each grant or funding source (except good ole’ earned income).

My background is in the for-profit sector and I can say without hesitation that social enterprises are more difficult to manage primarily due to these reporting requirements. And, oh by the way, very, very few funders will allow their money to be spent on “overhead” like hardware, software and the systems nonprofits so desperately need to actually provide the information funders expect. “But,” as Carl the FedEx presentation guy says, “I digress.” (If you want to read more about that unfortunate situation, please take some time to visit uncharitable.net).

So software is really, really important to the social enterprise, and like any other business, social enterprises gravitate to the industry standard, which is Microsoft. Fortunately, Microsoft products are available to social enterprises at very, very deep discounts. What’s not so fortunate is that Microsoft puts restrictions on the number of titles that can be ordered and the number of orders that can be placed in a certain timeframe. A nonprofit with ~20 or more employees needs:

A productivity suite - Office 200X
A collaboration platform - Sharepoint with Client Access Licenses
A mail server - Exchange with Client Access Licenses
An operating system - Windows 7
A server - Windows 2008 Server with Client Access Licenses

Unfortunately, that is more titles than Microsoft will allow to be purchased, and a social enterprise doesn’t have to be very big to exceed the number of total copies of software that can be ordered. This all adds up to the medium-sized social enterprise having to consider other options.

What About Google Apps?

In December of last year, our organization switched from Exchange to Google Apps for mail hosting. I have to admit that I wasn’t completely on board with this idea. I will also admit that I am actually a fan of Microsoft in many ways, and that Microsoft has been good to SDFF.A Microsoft representative has been on our Board since we formed in 1999. But my ambivalence regarding Google Apps wasn’t a matter of being beholden to Microsoft, it had more to do with “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But our Manager of Tech Services wanted to switch for three main reasons:

Reduced internal technology overhead (goodbye Exchange server)
Bigger mailboxes and less mailbox management
Better mobile interface

The migration didn't come without some pain. We experienced delays in mail delivery for a while (some mailed delayed by weeks), the implementation caused some confusion and fairly significant downtime for staff, and most of the value was experienced by the IT department, not the end users (“why are we doing this again?”).

So we come to today and the introduction of Wave for Google Apps, not to mention a slew of other products and services including the Google Chrome Web Store, which makes everything about Google Apps more interesting.

And wouldn’t you know it, the subject of our next Microsoft order is on the front burner. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, we can’t order everything we need, and NOBODY FUNDS OVERHEAD, so something has to go. I guess the plan to move back to Exchange can be dropped.
Needless to say, we’ll be taking a much closer look at what Google Apps can do for us and our customers in the coming weeks.

Related Links

San Diego Futures Foundation
Google Chrome Web Store
Google Apps for Nonprofits
Google Announcements
Uncharitable.net
Stanford Social Innovation Review, Nonprofit Starvation Cycle

The San Diego Futures Foundation (SDFF) was created to help bridge the digital divide in San Diego County. Among it's programs, SDFF provides technology services to social enterprises.

SDFF's Move to Social Media

2010-05-18T07:16:00.001-07:00

SDFF has been using online tools and resources including our website, this blog, and eNewsletters to promote our programs and services for several years. To a minor degree, we've used them as a vehicle to raise funds for financial support and to promote fund raisers. Of course, in order for online campaigns to be successful, people need to know they're there. In the past, online campaigns had to be combined with print or other advertising in order to capture as much of your target market as possible. But, thanks to technology and the growth of social media, that need too changing.

Part of our mission is to help nonprofits stay current on technology. To date, our efforts have been focused on networking technologies, desktop PCs, and software. We currently provide network and desktop support to more than 30 nonprofit agencies in San Diego, some of whom have outsourced their entire IT operations to us.

As social media sites like Facebook and Twitter become more prominent as business tools, it makes sense for SDFF to use them more prominently in our own marketing campaigns and to offer our skills and abilities as a service to other nonprofits. As I stated earlier, we aren't new to social media and online tools, so we have experience to offer now, but the value of these online resources is something more nonprofits should know about and take advantage of, and our role is to demonstrate that value and help nonprofits get the most out of it.

Expect to see a lot more use of social media from SDFF, even "firsts" and "exclusives" offered via the various outlets (inlcuding this blog). I would be remiss if I didn't end this post without asking you to follow us now on Twitter and Facebook.

Read This Book

2010-05-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

Just about anyone who has worked with me (or had lunch with me) over the last couple years knows how I feel about nonprofit funding and the associated strings.

Nonprofit execs know what I’m talking about. Ninety-nine times out of 100, funders allow minimal or no expenditures on “overhead’, which includes things like rent, utilities, and marketing. Businesses are systems, and “overhead” is an absolutely essential cog in the wheel. Removing it only damages the system and makes it less effective.

Consider what would happen if you went to your favorite department store and, approaching the checkout counter you said, “I really love the clothes you sell here and I believe you are a knowledgeable and trustworthy merchant, but I’ve decided that you can’t use my money to pay for the lights, marketing, staff, or anything else that not directly related to the production of these items.”

And then you put additional terms on the sale. Talking now to the store manager you say, “additionally, I’m only going to give you 50% of the total price of these items. You’ll need to get the other half from someone else. I’m also only going to give you half of my payment now and before I give you the other half you need to give me a report that shows how many jobs were created and saved from this sale, how many total people benefitted, and the demographics of those impacted. On top of that, I also want to know what percent of your salary is being paid from this sale, I want the names of the people paying the rest of your salary, how much they paid, and I want to see what you’re going to provide as an in-kind match to the 50% I’m going to pay you.”

If I told this story to anyone unfamiliar with nonprofits they would think I was completely insane. And yet, this is routinely how nonprofits are expected to operate. Funders almost always have those expectations while, at best, allowing up to 15% of their funds to support all of the resources necessary to generate the reports and provide the information.

Having said all that, I completely agree that funders have a right to know what impact their funding is making and how their money is being spent. But here’s the problem; the vast majority of nonprofits have neither the systems to track the data and generate the reports nor the funding to acquire or develop those systems. It’s virtually a no-win situation and one that sets up nonprofits to have far lesser impact than they otherwise may have. Worse than that, it creates an environment ripe for bad data.

Real Change Can Happen

Last week I was in San Francisco attending the Social Enterprise Alliance's World Forum. On the final day I found myself listening to a keynote that echoed my sentiments and validated everything I had been talking and complaining about. The speaker’s name was Dan Pallotta, and as it turns out, he wrote a book about it called Uncharitable. The Stanford Social Innovation Review says 'deserves to become the nonprofits sector’s new manifesto.'

Now, before I send you off to Dan's site -- and I truly hope anyone who reads this blog visits it -- let me address the most likely argument against this message.

One of Dan’s claims is that nonprofits should be allowed to pay their executives competitive salaries. Competitive to some might be "too much" to others. But Dan suggests that, by limiting salaries of nonprofit staff and executives, the “best and brightest” stay away. He’s right about that. There are some in the nonprofit sector, agencies and funders alike, who disagree, and who feel that salaries and operating expenses should be restricted in order to free up as much money as possible for programs or "the cause". I completely respect this position. It's noble, and I suggest that those who feel that way should simply opt-out of the discussion and continue operating on shoestrings.

The nonprofit sector is evolving. And only when nonprofits begin operating more like for-profits, overhead and all, will true impact be made.

Read the book.

Social Networking as a Managed Service

2010-04-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

I recently met with a client of ours, a well known nonprofit in San Diego, to discuss "all things technology." The services we provide to them today are generally related to their corporate network; remote monitoring, server maintenance, and assorted hardware and software troubleshooting. They have a really nice website and we've never talked much about whether they needed our help in that area. But in the course of the conversation I asked why they didn't have a Twitter account. My customer looked at me and said, to my surprise, "we really need your help with that. It's just too much."

Being part of a technology-based organization, I tend to take some things for granted. We have a staff of 20 and most know to some degree HTML, various CMSs, social networking, and all the desktop apps. Staff have Twitter accounts, we have a Facebook account, and even our own social networking site with thousands of users just in San Diego. I casually suggest to our service clients that they consider using social networking tools as part of their marketing strategy. But I never follow up. That's because I never considered it a managed service or one that we could provide. The conversation I had that day made me realize how wrong I was about that.

Social networking and the array of related on-line tools used for marketing can be just as complicated as managing file servers, mail servers, and security. As I write this, a Tweet pops up telling me that Google is starting a certification program for AdSense. To me this all points to social marketing as a managed service.

The app that tipped the scales, I think, is Twitter, which landed shortly after FaceBook started to catch fire as a great marketing tool. Since it arrived on the heals of Facebook, and because it was promoted heavily as a marketing tool-for-the-stars, many of our clients viewed it as “just another social networking site.” The general attitude seems to be that it's just too much to try and figure out.

Where have I heard that before?

The Accidental Marketer

Nonprofits have a word for the person whose job is not to provide tech support but they do it anyway. They're called the “Accidental Techie”. This person can be in-house staff with a technical background, a volunteer, an intern, or even a family member. Rarely do nonprofits receive funding or have budgets for full-time staff or even hardware and software upgrades for that matter, so the support job often falls to whoever is available and willing. Clearly this is not the best solution, and is one of the reasons SDFF was created. We’ve seen plenty of Linux, Windows 2000, and Exchange Servers deployed and then abandoned by boyfriends and cousins.

Likewise, most nonprofits can’t afford, nor do they need, full-time marketing staff, even though marketing is a crucial component of their fund-raising efforts. Fortunately, nonprofits have been able to get by, for the most part, with the “Accidental Marketer” sending the occassional enewsletter, press release, or postcard. Social media tools change that, and it will be very difficult for most nonprofits to keep up. They can't afford not to.

As a service, the managed “suite” includes the org's website, at least one blog, and the major social networking resources (Facebook and Twitter). The devil, though, is in the details, which includes:

The plan

Comprehensive

Strategic

Frequently monitored and updated

Multiple contributors

Trained staff

Multiple social media accounts

Search engine optimization

Search engine account management
- Google
- Bing
- Yahoo

Social networking account management
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Verticals

Bookmarking account management

Analytics

Search advertising

Reports and Metrics

Goals, Objectives, and Outcomes

Frequent attention!

Nonprofits need to be as efficient as any other business does in their marketing and fund-raising (selling) efforts. But the tools have changed. They are powerful and require more time than the Accidental Marketer has to learn, use, and follow effectively. For small to medium-sized nonprofits (not to mention regular for-profit businesses), social marketing should be considered as a managed service.

Next: And you thought you already knew your customers!

The Social Enterprise: SDFF Part I

2010-04-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Some time last year I was introduced to the term "social enterprise". This is an organization, I suppose it could be a for-profit but most often a nonprofit, whose mission is to serve the community but also to earn income that helps sustain the organization. It took a while for me to grasp the term social enterprise until I realized that that was what my organization had become over the last several years, whether we called it that or not.

I was "loaned" to SDFF in 2000 while working for SAIC, a large, for-profit and employee-owned engineering and contracting company based in San Diego. Honestly, I didn't know much about nonprofits other than the few networking groups I had joined and participated in over the years (I actually started one called the San Diego Digital Media Association prior to the advent of the Netscape browser but I'll save that story for later).

SDFF's mission is/was to close the digital divide in San Diego. We accomplish this by taking computers that the County of San Diego is replacing, refurbishing them, and donating them to SD nonprofits, schools, and families. For the first several years, that's all we did; give away computers. But having a technical and particularly services background, it made sense to me that we should offer technical services and any other kind of service that fit with our mission, for a fee. Our Board at the time wasn't completely interested, but things changed.

Catching Up

2010-04-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

It's only been four years since we updated our blog. Obviously we've been busy and the blog ended up on the backburner. Since our last post here in 2006, our organization has grown from six employees to more than 20. One of the main reasons I added this post and updated the blog is because we are becoming much more active in eMarketing initiatives and particulary the use of online tools and social networking technologies to promote our business and those of our clients.

So what has changed at SDFF? First and foremost, we have evolved significantly into a "social enterprise." According to the Social Enterprise Alliance, a social enterprise is:

'An organization or venture that achieves its primary social or environmental mission using business methods. The social needs addressed by social enterprises and the business models they use are as diverse as human ingenuity. Social enterprises build a more just, sustainable world by applying market-based strategies to today's social problems.'

Our enterprising efforts include:

1. Technical services - this department provides professional technical services
on various contracts to more than 25 nonprofits in San Diego, and the number is
expected to grow significantly as our services and abilities mature. This
department completely sustains itself.

2. Hardware services and recycling - this department also sustains itself through revenues generated from computer refurbishing, recycling, and repair services. Our programs and the number of PCs we distribute are expected to grow significantly over the next couple of years, and we expect the hardware deparment to continue providing valuable services to the community.

3. Community Technoloyg Programs - this department features programs such as DiverseCity Tech, eLearn2earn, the San Diego Broadband Initiative, and our various training and employment services. Each program offers far more than should be covered in a blog, and they have all garnished exceptional funding support in the last few years, enabling us to continue offering services a no-cost or very low cost to nonprofits and families.

Expect to see frequent updates to this blog but not so much in the way of "advertising" or press releases. The focus will be on trends, developments, and decisions, both internal and external, that affect our organization and those of our clients and partners.

SDFF, County of San Diego, & Laura Bush Foundation Help Re-establish Gulf Region School Libraries

2006-05-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Working together with the San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox and the Laura Bush Foundation, SDFF helping First Lady Laura Bush’s initiative to ensure that the Gulf Region School libraries are functional and ready to serve all students’ educational, cultural and informational needs with the latest state-of–the-art technology. SDFF is sending 150 computers to 10 Gulf Coast School libraries who are re-building after the hurricane disaster of 2005.

This was made possible with the support from Michael Moore (San Diego County’s Chief Technology Officer), San Diego County Library, AT&T, and the Laura Bush Foundation.

Newsletter Article Thanks SDFF

2006-04-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

The Spring Community Options Newsletter includes an article highlighting SDFF's donation of 15 computers:

As often as you replace your computer, an organization must do the same. San Diego Futures Foundation (SDFF) replaced fifteen of our obsolete machines with gently-used computers. San Diego Futures Foundation provided 15 refurbished Dell Pentium III desktop PC’s, along with 17-inch-monitors, keyboards, mice, and cords. San Diego Futures Foundation’s computers, which have been slowly installed over the last few months, were previously used by the County of San Diego. The donation helped Community Options replace computers, which should be done on a routine basis to decrease lost productivity and inefficiencies. Yet replacing all of Community Options’ computers would be a costly endeavor. San Diego Futures Foundation’s computers will be used to replace staff computers as well as those used by individuals in our site-based programs. A big round of thanks goes out to the SDFF and their generous donation.

We're always pleased to hear back from organizations that have really utilized their computer donation!

Thanks to Community Options for their important work: "We envision a society where having a disability is neither a stigma nor a barrier to opportunity and equality."

AOIT students broaden their horizon

2006-04-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Recently, Academy of Information Technology Interns at SDFF have begun providing technical desktop support to City Heights Community Tech Center. Functions include PC maintenance, troubleshooting, loading and reloading software applications, and installing new hardware as needed. This provides a valuable experience of sharing expertise, providing assistance the community, and improving one's résumé.

SDFF HELPS A NEIGHBOR

2006-04-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

SDFF donated 2 computers to the Terralta Neighborhood Association which represent a neighborhood within City Heights. Our full time intern, Jerry, set them up and installed modems so they could connect to the internet. These computers will allow Terralta Neighborhood Association perform their regular day to day operations.

Blogging for Nonprofits

2006-04-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

There is a good post at NetSquared on how nonprofit organizations can use blogging - click here.

SDFF has been asked by a number of organizations about how to use blogs. The best way is to determine why and how you want to use it. Who is the audience? Then just start. Blogging is more informal that a press release. SDFF uses it to give people unfamiliar with us a "snapshot" of what we do.

SDFF Supports County's Strategic Initiatives

2006-03-20T12:24:00.000-08:00

SDFF is supporting the County of San Diego’s Strategic Initiatives, which are to improve opportunities for children, to promote safe and livable communities, and to ensure environmental preservation, quality of life, and economic development. A recent example is SDFF's donation of 50 computers to San Diego Youth and Community Services. San Diego Youth and Community Services mission is to help at-risk youth become self-sufficient and reach their highest potential by investing in them, strengthening their families, and building their communities.

If your organization provides such services or related programs, or in need of technology support, please complete our online application.

Former Intern Wins Film Competition

2006-02-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

Angel Munoz, The SDFF Intern of the Year, is a member of a Hoover High School team that won the grand pize in the My City Now Future Filmmaker National Contest. Entitled "The Painting of a Culture", their video represents Chicano Park in San Diego and it's amazing murals plus the rise of a hardworking culture. Angel and his team did part of their film editing at the SDFF Tech Center using a digital video editing workstation donated by Dell Computer.

Congratulations to Angel and his team members.

Digital Divide Network article features SDFF

2006-02-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

SDFF is featured in an article on the Digital Divide Network (DDN) website. DDN describes itself as the Internet's largest community for educators, activists, policy makers and concerned citizens working to bridge the digital divide. The article describes SDFF programs and includes quotes from several people helped by us.

Click here for the full article.

Our Outdoor Wireless Network

2006-02-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

With a generous donation of equipment from Avaya and bandwidth from Cox, we were able to build a wireless network in City Heights. The network serves three sites, two of which are low income housing projects.

You can view a map of the area covered south of our offices here. Price Charities was also generous enough to donate roof space on the highest building in City Heights (pictured above) for our antenna placement. The network has access to our content filtering device so the connected computer labs are protected from questionable browsing habits.

With the exception of a few windy days and maintenance, the network has been going strong for nearly two years and we plan on keeping it running for the foreseeable future.

Intern and Volunteer Receive Awards

2006-02-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

At the San Diego Futures Foundation Showcase, Mr. Angel Muñoz was presented with the 2005 Intern of the Year Award and Mr. Michael Bullock was presented with the 2005 Volunteer of the Year Award. Jeff Hancock, Acting Executive Director, awarded the two a framed award on behalf of the Board of Directors.

Angel worked at SDFF as part of an after school internship program with Hoover High School. He continued voluntering at SDFF upon completion of his internship. During his time with the SDFF, he showed exemplary participation by learning technology concepts quickly, assisting other interns, completing assigned work, and demonstrating a professional manner. By volunteering in the community, Angel has learned that he can share his knowledge with others and improve their learning experience.

Mike lent his time and talent to support SDFF hardware distribution program. He chose the SDFF internship because, in his words, he “wanted to gain confidence in his abilities to perform hardware related duties involving computers and the tasks involved in creating and distributing computer images in a mass-production environment.” During his more than 200 volunteer hours with SDFF, Michael personally helped prepare more than 600 computers for donation primarily as part of our foster family donation program.

Larry Jackman, SDFF board member appointed by Supervisor Dianne Jacob, also awarded Angel and Mike a Certificate of Recognition on behalf of the Supervisors of the County of San Diego.

Thank you and congratulations to Mike & Angel.

Showcase and Awards Ceremony

2006-01-23T17:04:00.000-08:00

SDFF is having an Open House on Thursday, February 2 at our Tech Center in City Heights. It is a showcase of our activities and will include an awards ceremony for our Intern of the Year and Volunteer of the Year. Congratulations and thank you to Angel and Mike.

Contact our office if you are interested in attending. Hoover High School interns will be showing their computer projects. Aaron Price Fellow interns will be talking about their experience learning about databases and web portals. Staff will also be available to talk about our consulting work including our web design projects.

See you there.

Thanks to our largest Donators of 2005

2006-01-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

The Futures Foundation receives a substantial number of computers annually as a result of our Corporate Recycling Program. Key partnerships with business, academia, professional organizations, and nonprofits are behind the success of San Diego Futures Foundation programs. These innovative partnerships result in donations of computer hardware, software, peripherals, technical services, human capital, and the funds required to conduct meaningful technology inclusion programs. These donations to the Foundation help alleviate the digital divide in San Diego County and ensure that all San Diego County residents have access to the technology resources that many of us take for granted.

We would like to take this time and Thank some of our largest contributors of 2005:

Other pivotal corporate partnerships include:

The First American Corporation
San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency
CoStar Group
San Diego State University
Premier Inc.
L3 Titan
Pt. Loma Nazarene University
SemTech
CancerVax
Biosite
San Diego County District Attroney
Miro Technologies
Lender Support Systems
San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program
Nolte Associates
San Diego Public Law Library
The Aspire Group
Napster

Thanks again to all of those who have made this effort possible. We look forward to working with you on future donations.

Sometimes the computer problems are low-tech

2006-01-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

TechSoup just highlighted an article in their recent newsletter that is very helpful. Entitled "How to Clean Your Mouse: An Illustrated Guide", it's a really useful article when the most frustrating thing going on with your computer is a dirty mouse. If you have a computer lab - get some users to do this for you.

New Employee Joins SDFF

2006-01-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

Scott has joined the Futures Foundation and will be managing our hardware donations, intern program and corporate recycling program. Scott started as an intern at SDFF while going to Coleman College. He brings a wealth of technology knowledge and great enthusiasm.

Welcome!

Tech Advice for Non-Profits: TechSoup

2005-12-15T09:52:00.000-08:00

A great place for non-profits to look for articles and advice in the technology field is TechSoup. They have articles discussing all aspects of technology and tech support as well as other topcis. A recent article gave advice and how to best utilize volunteers. There is also a very good article on ensuring your mass emails are not classified as Spam.

TechSoup also runs TechSoupStock, a marketplace offering reduced price software. They have amazing deals on Microsoft software but be warned - you can only order Microsoft products once per year. Read the details. They also have software from Macromedia, Symantec and Intuit.

One of the best features of TechSoup is the Discussion Area. Check out the discussions on hardware, software, fundraising and a host of topics.

Aaron Price Fellows Start Internship

2005-12-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

Three high school seniors who are Aaron Price Fellows have begun a 6 month internship at the San Diego Futures Foundation. The mission of the Aaron Price Fellows program is to enrich the lives of a diverse group of high school students so they become responsible, caring members of their community.

Annette, Andre and Monica will assist SDFF staff in all our programs and learn about both technology and non-profit organizations.

Welcome!!

National Engineering Week Planning

2005-12-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

Futures Foundation Staff participated in a meeting sponsored by Qualcomm to promote activities during National Engineering Week, www.eweek.org. The San Diego region shares a nationwide crisis of too few students pursuing math, science and engineering college degrees. In a world-wide marketplace, the U.S. needs to stay competitive by producing for engineers and scientists. E-Week is part of a national effort to promote this beginning in elementary school and continuing through high school and into college.

Foster Families Receive 100+ Computers

2005-12-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

We've partnered with San Diego County's Foster Family Licensing program this year to get refurbished computers to families raising foster children. This past week we gave out 101 computers. Our total for 2005 is 506 computers to Foster Families!

The parents are universally so thankful. And the children who came with them were pretty excited to be able to use the computers.

We owe a big thanks to Suzanne and Lamisse from the County. And an even bigger thanks to my volunteers: Mike, Julie and her two high school interns, Christine, Scott, Manny and a bunch of high school interns who helped clean and prepare the monitors and computers: Fong, Boun, Annette, Andre, Monica, Christian, Le, Sergio and Lupita.

Kearny High School Thank You to SDFF

2005-11-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

We got a great thank-you note last week for a donation to Kearny High School. The teacher wrote:

As I sit amidst the quiet (students are on Thanksgiving Break) looking at our newly enhanced Student Center with 25 sleek black Dell computers I am grateful for the generosity of your Foundation. The 40 Dell computers and monitors we received last week from your organization have doubled the capacity of our Student Center, and given several teachers around the complex excellent dependable technology to enhance their instruction and improve their computer labs. Our Center was constantly in use prior to this, but I can only imagine when the students return how surprised and delighted they will be with so many more opportunities to find a computer that is actually available to them! Thanks again for making this happen for us. We are truly grateful in this season of Thanksgiving.

Intern receives BofA Neighborhood Initiative Award

2005-11-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

Jelvin Forones, a former Futures Foundation intern and Hoover High School senior, has received the Bank of America San Diego Neighborhood Initiative Award. Jelvin is pictured above with SDFF Intern Manager, Steve Katnack.

Only five student leaders in San Diego County were chosen this year. The award is given to students who showed leadership in their communities.

Jelvin has been matched with a Bank of America mentor and will be working at the San Diego Futures Foundation this Summer in a full time internship paid for by Bank of America.

Congratulations to Jelvin!

New AOIT Interns from Hoover High School

2005-11-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

A new group of Juniors from Hoover High School started today. They are enrolled in the Academy of Information Technology and will intern here for 24 hours. They help prepare computers for donation and learn software installation and security.

This group seems really engaged. We opened up computers and went over all the parts today.

Donations, Donations, Donations

2005-11-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

The Futures Foundation is donating to many organizations this week:

Plus last week we donated to couple more organizations:

The Ballantyne Community Charter School
New Haven Youth and Family Services

Lots of Pickups and Deliveries this week

2005-10-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

Two organizations picked up computers today: The International Community Foundation which seeks to increase charitable giving and volunteerism across U.S. borders to benefit overseas communities and non-profit organizations and Kids in Touch Communications which is dedicated to military family communications. They both do great work!

Congratulations on being awarded computers.

Taste of Technology - A great success and fun time

2005-10-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

What fun! We had a great crowd at our annual fundraiser. It took lots of work (especially by Maren - who is an organizational genius!). The crowd seemed to have a lot of fun especially at the casino tables and during the live auction. We had a couple bidding wars that got the crowd excited. The silent auction was a great success too. Many thanks to Dell Computer Corporation and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation - our major sponsors for the night. The event took place downtown in the new Hotel Solamar - a great place for an event.

The night was also the farewell event for our Executive Director, Becky Stawiski. Becky has guided the San Diego Futures Foundation since it's inception and deserves great praise for her dedication and hard work making it an important organization in bringing technology to San Diego County.

Boys & Girls Club of Chula Vista

2005-10-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

The Boys and Girls Club of Chula Vista picked up 15 computers today. They are setting up a second computer lab in their main facility. It will primarily be used for an after school program. Sounds good. SDFF has been working with them for many years - they received computers in our first year.

Good luck to them!!

Gotta Love SKYPE!

2005-10-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

Voice over IP for real! The new version of Skype seems an improvement. I love that we can call other SDFF staff in other offices, FREE!

The Hoover High interns thought it was pretty cool but not as cool as I thought. And you can call any "real" telephone number for 2 cents/minute if you buy the SkypeOut service.

www.skype.com

AASC Conference - Pangea Foundation

2005-10-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

SDFF was invited to attend the opening breakfast at the Annual Conference of the American Association of Service Providers meeting here in San Diego. The Pangea Foundation, a frequent partner of SDFF, borrowed 32 computers from us to show off their project, www.aasconline.org, which is a web-based resident data management tool. Over a 1100 service coordinators were there! Service Coordinators serve families, the elderly, persons with disabilities and others who are involved in creating and maintaining service-enhanced housing environments.

The Futures Foundation was publically recognized by Pangea Foundation Executive Director, Kristen Berry, for our donation of equipment over the years. Pangea does great work. Their goal: to bring state-of-the-art technology to schools and community organizations. Sounds good!

Lots of new computer distributions....

2005-10-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

We have 4 more non-profits getting computers: Boys and Girls Club of Chula Vista, New Haven Youth and Family Services, International Community Foundation, and Kids in Touch.

Yesterday, the Hoover High School Interns were busy the entire time cleaning and prepping mice, keyboards, and monitors. Next week - they discover Linux!!!!!

Taste of Technology

2005-10-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Join the San Diego Futures Foundation for, Taste of Technology – CASINO NIGHT, an exciting evening of entertainment, where guests will enjoy food, drink, their favorite casino games, and silent and live auctions to support the foundation’s programs and service offerings and to improve opportunities for San Diego’s residents to access technology. It takes place October 20 at Hotel Solamar.

More info: http://www.sdfutures.org/tasteoftechnology/index.htm

San Diego County Housing Self Sufficiency Computer Donation

2005-10-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

Today is the second day of the computer distribution to families participating in San Diego County's Self Sufficiency Program. Their goal is help 150 families improve their economic situation through assisting them with job training, education, financial literacy and other means. We will be giving approximately 30 computer to families who do not have them now.

Everyone who has picked up their computers has been very thankful. Many have children who will now be able to use the computers for school work.

Welcome!

2005-10-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Blog for the San Diego Futures Foundation.

We will be writing about our activities and experiences by both our staff and interns. Periodically we'll also add some tech stuff.

Visit our web page to find out more about us: www.sdfutures.org

Thanks.