Online Volunteering Tips, Tools and Technology by Randy Tyler

Promote Your Cause, Fundraiser on Other Blogs, Web Sites Quickly, Easily and without Cost

Promote your cause, fundraiser, onsite or online volunteer opportunities quickly, easily and without cost using a widget. Most blogging platforms, such as Wordpress, automatically create feeds (RSS or Atom) of your content (posts). With your feed's URL copied, head to Feedsweep ( http://feedsweep.com/products/fs/create.aspx) and create a required free account (an account allows you to use your widget, change, save and create as many widgets as you like).

With your account created, paste your feed's URL into the Custom Feed URL box (about half way down the page), which is part of the free basic designer option. After filling in the remainder of the fields (e.g., widget title, number of posts to show), customize your widget's appearance and then click on the "Get Code" button, wherein you will be directed to a page containing your Feedsweep widget code (please see the screen capture above of a sample Feedsweep widget showing two posts). If you like the way your widget looks (your widget will be shown beside the code), save it.

The JavaScript-based widget code can now be copied and distributed (e-mailed, made available on your Web site and/or blog) to any of your associates, donors or friends' blogs or Web sites to help you (virally) promote your organization, a fundraiser and/or your volunteer opportunities.

Feedsweep's free option, through their Advanced Designer option, will also allow you to combine feeds, filter content and format your feed using HTML Tables or CSS to match a Web site or blog.

For further information about how a non profit organization can develop a productive virtual volunteering program through the use of appropriate technology, please visit this Online Volunteering Resource.

Quickly Turn Your Favorite RSS Feeds into PDF Newsletter

Gather Rich Content from RSS Feeds, Turn it into a PDF Newsletter and Have it Delivered via Scheduled E-mail, for Free

In yesterday's post I highlighted how to use Zinepal's ( http://www.zinepal.com) free level of service to easily create PDF, Kindle/Mobipocket and ePub formatted E-Newsletters to help keep your donors, online volunteers, employees and/or board members engaged. Tabbloid.com ( http://www.tabbloid.com/me) provides an even quicker way of creating a PDF-based newsletter from an RSS Feed. Simply add your desired RSS Feed's URL and choose your e-mail delivery schedule. Although Tabbloid's extremely easy method of creating their PDF newsletter comes at the expense of options, such as the lack of ability to select specific content (for your targeted audience), formatting and formats, their user-friendly, free service requires little time and effort to produce.

For further information about how a non profit organization can develop a productive virtual volunteering program through the use of technology, please visit this Online Volunteering Resource.

Easily Keep Your Donors, Volunteers Informed with RSS to PDF, Kindle, ePub

Click here to download:

Online-Volunteering-E-Newsletter-by-Randy-Tyler.pdf (84 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

Online-Volunteering-E-Newsletter-by-Randy-Tyler.pdf (84 KB)

How to Easily Create PDF, Kindle, Mobipocket and ePub Formatted E-Newletters and E-Books for Your Online Volunteers, Onsite Volunteers, Employees, Board Members or Donors from an RSS Feed

Keeping your donors, employees, board and/or online volunteers informed via an e-newsletter can be time consuming. In fact, the time involved may be preventing you from developing such a communication tool. However, if you currently have a blog and/or subscribe to other interesting web-based content (as long as such content has an RSS Feed, such as your Twitter RSS Feed or a Google Search), such posts (content) can be easily and quickly re-purposed into a PDF-based newsletter or eBook format and e-mailed to your donors, board members, employees, onsite volunteers and/or online volunteers. Providing your RSS Feed content in Kindle/Mobipocket, ePub and PDF formats enables you to reach a wider audience, whether offline or online (wired or wireless), in a method most convenient and accessible to your targeted audience.

To easily create your PDF-based E-Newsletter (as well as Kindle/Mobipocket and ePub formats) using Zinepal's ( http://www.zinepal.com) free level of service , all you need to do is:

1. Create a free Zinepal account
2. Add your Blog's RSS Feed (or additional RSS Feeds if you want to add more content): to ascertain the URL of your Blog's RSS Feed (or the URL of any web-based content with an RSS Feed), place your cursor over the RSS icon (which is usually a square, orange graphic), right click and select "copy link location'"
3. Select Content: using the checkboxes, select the relevant content you want to provide to your target audience (whether they be your online volunteers, onsite volunteers, board members, employees and/or donors)
4. Customize and Create your Zine (PDF-based E-Newsletter) Using the Zinepal Tabs:

• Name Your PDF E-Newsletter: give your Zine an interesting, attention-getting title
• Order and/or Remove Your Items: if you want to change the order of your content, just drag and drop your items (at this point, you can also delete any item from your PDF based e-newsletter by clicking the "Remove" button next to the specific item
• Delivery Tab: select the "Delivery" tab if you want to make your zine public or have your zine e-mailed to you
• Keywords and Introduction Tab: if you choose to allow your zine to be shared publicly, add the appropriate keywords so others can easily find your zine; add an introduction (which will be automatically placed at the beginning of your PDF-based e-newsletter)
• Logo and formatting Tab: Using Zinepal's free service, you cannot add a logo but you can choose your zine's  title, story and text font; under this same tab, you also have the option to hide your zine title, hide your story sources, hide the default page header and/or hide your story authors and dates
• Preview: click the preview button to see what your formatted PDF e-newsletter will look like
• Create: if you are satisfied with the preview, click the "Create" button, which will create a two column PDF-based e-newsletter from your RSS Feed's content (you also have the option to download your e-newsletter in Kindle/Mobipocket and ePub formats).

For further information about how a non profit organization can develop a productive virtual volunteering program through the use of technology, please visit this Online Volunteering Resource.