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Idea submission system for getting ideas

People have a lot of ideas, but many fall through the cracks. Also, some ideas are not really feasible or not thought out well enough. IdeaScale has a free package where people can create a community where people can submit ideas that others can vote/comment on. You can upgrade for more features if desired. There are other sites and software. However, I picked IdeaScale as it has a good implementation and is used by some organizations that can be demanding of needs. http://ideascale.com/ is the website. http://ideascale.com/a/createUser.do?application=IdeaScale
is where you signup.

The White House uses IdeaScale. Wired Magazine, Reuters, the Boy Scouts, and Mozilla (makers of Firefox) also use IdeaScale. There is widget code allows you to get ideas via a blog or website by including the widget code in your blog or website. There is a free “Civic Engagement License” for government agencies. http://ideascale.com/opengov There are no free licenses to non-profit entities (other than the standard free package). Hopefully, we might be able to convince them to change their mind. 🙂

IdeaScale has 508 government compliance, restricted access, curse filtering, and SSL security (if
you upgrade). There are iPhone and Facebook Apps available and you can link to Twitter and Facebook, so new ideas get posted on Twitter and your Facebook page. There is a Terms of Use section. Having an idea submission system makes it easier to find those with great ideas. Might find a great volunteer or new staff member. Users can flag improper posts (if enabled). When a predefined threshold is reached, the comment is hidden and the moderator is notified. If approved, the comment will
reappear and not be flaggable.

Creating an account requires an email address and passing the CAPTCHA. You can login with Google
Account, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo!, AOL, and OpenID. Can customize Call-to-action and pick one of two voting systems. Up/Down ala Digg, or Poker style where an user gets a predefined number of votes that they can use (some or all) on ideas that they think are most important. I recommend Up/Down. Changing voting system removes current votes. The different status’ that an idea can have are: Inbound (if not signed in), Active (if signed in), Under Review, In Progress, Complete, Closed (hides it), Off-Topic.

You can edit the webpage code for headers, footers, Home Page, Terms of Use, and Contact info. You can customize name and email address that notifications are sent from, as well as the invitation emails. You can specify a daily or weekly digest, or none. You get 5 free categories (you can do more if you specify more than 5 at the beginning). You can also specify an end date for a category. You can also export ideas (except for custom fields in CSV) and member data. You can get a report on: total users; unsubscribed, bounced, new, and verified users; email domains.

Take a look at (and submit ideas at) http://nonprofitcommons.ideascale.com/

Written by: morriscox

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Summary of 5/20/2011 NPSL meeting.

Speaker – David Burden, developer with Daden Ltd, an innovative cross-platform virtual world development company.

http://www.daden.co.uk/pages/virtual_world_finder.html

*There is a lot of variety and choice between virtual worlds and their capabilities. There was a need for a centralized virtual world finder that makes it possible to see what you can do with each of them. Every world has its pros and cons (I.E. – Eve Online allows things that Gaia does not, and vice versa).

*A simple web app has been developed that allows people to weigh pros and cons, capabilities.

*Buffy can’t wear enough hats!

*Depending on whether you come from a marketing, scientific, or entertainment stance, the rankings from the web app would be very different.

*Most important function is that it flags what a world does NOT do. Far more important than what it can do as far as choosing the right platform.

*Discussion of capabilities of various worlds – holding a meeting in WoW is next to impossible, sl and opensim meeting abilities.

*Nonprofits congregate in opensim/SL because of interactivity and open feel.

*Best overall for nonprofits are sl, opensim, hypergrid for business

*Vastpark is a world for real business work and people want AVs to look lime themselves.

*SL is best for public visibility.

*Many account creation websites for VWs are confusing – people dont show up for events.

*Browser vs client based VW discussion.

*Possibility of ranking VWs according to assisted living or handicapped-accessibility.

*Work towards creating a completely neutral interface for finding proper VWs for projects.

Written by: HydraShaftoe

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Daden, Ltd Talks about their “Virtual World Finder” Tomorrow, May 20 at NPC

Come to the Nonprofit Commons tomorrow, Friday May 20, to chat with David Burden, head of the virtual world development company Daden, Ltdabout their new “Virtual World Finder” they have just released.  The Virtual World Finder is a web tool designed to help any company or organization decide on which virtual world platform is the right one for their particular needs. The finder is the product of Daden’s many years of experience creating various products in different virtual worlds.

Come to the Plush Nonprofit Commons on Friday May 20, starting at 8:30am PST, to find out more and talk with Burden about the Virtual World Finder.  Should be a really interesting discussion.  The meeting will take place at this teleport link in Second Life.

Written by: rikomatic

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Online Community MeetUp with Randy Paynter, Care2.com on May 25

You are cordially invited to the latest in our series of “online community meetups” sponsored by TechSoup that take place both at our offices in San Francisco and at the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life.  The next one is on Wednesday May 25 at 7pm PDT.  Our guest speaker this month will be Randy Paynter, Founder and CEO of Care2.com, one of the largest online activist networks. Come learn how Care2 is engaging its millions of members to lead healthy, sustainable lifestyles and mobilize for causes that matter. Care2 uses a combination of site design, word of mouth marketing, gamification, social media, and email marketing to encourage members back to the site and make a positive change.

 
The event will be live-streamed into the ECO Commons sim at this teleport location.  See you on Wednesday at 7pm!More info (including how to partipate online via SecondLife) and to RSVP go to http://meetu.ps/TkFt .

Written by: rikomatic

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Organizing Events on the Nonprofit Commons Islands

jeremy talk in NPC w screen

I want to raise a subject that I brought up at the Nonprofit Commons meeting last Friday: how do we increase attendance in the Nonprofit Commons archipelago?

While I think it is great if NPC tenants hold office hours on their spaces, they often are just hanging out in an empty sim for an hour. What we need is a variety of regular attractive events that draw different people to our islands.

Some ideas:

  • Art Shows: Groups like Art for Healing can help us to figure out how to do regular art showcases on our islands. We all know great artists, photographers, scupltors and others who would love to showcase their work.
  • Dance Parties/ Concerts: Wharf Ratz is a fantastic regular get together on Tuesday evenings. There’s no reason we can’t have more regular music and dance events. If you are a closet DJ or musician, this is your chance to shine!
  • Contests: Building contests, photo, poetry and writing contests are great ways to bring in new folks, even with very little or no prize money. The Virtual Museum of Architecture had an entire eco-themed building contest with 20-some entries with no prize other than the glory of winning.
  • Debates and Discussions: People love a good debate. Pick a provocative topic, find a couple of people to represent each side, and then invite folks to watch and participate. Just be ready to keep it civil and on topic!
  • Movie Night: We all probably have in our Netflix cue or on our hard drives movies and videos on various social causes that we’ve been meaning to watch. What if we had a regular movie night and rotated who hosted the video that month?

If any of these ideas strike a chord in you, what we need is for you to host and make these happen. None of them require a tremendous amount of technical expertise, just the ability to organize and bring aboard others to help. Or maybe you have your own idea for an event you would like to organize that I haven’t mentioned. We are open to creative ways to increase attendance and bring new energy to our islands.

I and my team will help you find a date, a space and promote your event over our various channels. Contact me if you want to be head up or be involved in any of these events.

Written by: rikomatic

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List of Environment and Ecology-themed Places in Second Life

As you should know, the Nonprofit Commons has a number of environment-oriented organizations in our community, most of them housed in the Eco Commons sim (teleport link.) That said, there are many other amazing sims in Second Life that focus on environment, sustainable development and ecology that are worth visiting. Here’s my own curated list of eco-themed sims:

  • Abyss Observatory : Beautiful underwater science museum (Teleport Link) 
  • CNDG Green Campus:  Experimental, educational site dedicated to exploring sustainable building, teaching and education in sustainability. (Teleport Link)

     

  • Deep Down Virtual Mine : A 3D game to educate about coal mining and its impact on people and the land (My review, official website, Teleport Link)

  • Etopia : An imagined eco-friendly world (Teleport Link)

     

  • NOAA’s Meteroa Island: US government sponsored weather and environment focused sim. (Teleport Link)

  • OneClimate Island : Virtual space of the group OneClimate.net (Teleport Link)

Also this month be sure and check out the “Green Building contest” sponsored by Virtual Museums Inc that will feature lots of neat eco-friendly buildings created by both pros and amateur virtual architects. (Teleport Link).

I’m sure I’ve missed several others. Feel free to post to comments your favorites!

Written by: rikomatic

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CommonGround Nonprofit Networking Party on Cinco de Mayo (May 5)!

Common Ground May 5 CommonGround invites everyone to a CommonGround Networking Party on May 5th.  Appropriately, this will be a “Cinco de Mayo” themed celebration. Join them on May 5 from 5 – 7 PM PST. for at the Plush Party Plaza (teleport link.) Come enjoy networking and dancing among other nonprofits and supporters. Learn more about what nonprofits, educators, humanitarians, scientists, and artists accomplish in Second Life at this fun and informative event.

Please IM or drop a notecard to the CommonGround NPC Coordinators, Ethelred Weatherwax or Zinnia Zauber, with your ideas, inquiry, and interest in sponsorship.

Written by: rikomatic

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Volunteering for the Nonprofit Commons: The NPC needs YOU!

Just a general reminder that we always need volunteers to keep the Nonprofit Commons moving and growing as a community.  We are largely a volunteer run and maintained effort, so all of you who consider yourselves part of the family — whether you are a tenant or not — should consider how you can help out.

We have a list of the volunteer opportunities and needs on our wiki that probably needs some pruning and tending.

In terms of needs that I know of, we could use help in the following areas:

  • Blogging: Anyone can blog on the Nonprofit Commons website.  Talk to me if you have something you would like to write about I can give you blogging rights.  And of course blog up the NPC on your own blogs, twitter and facebook presences.
  • Posting Pictures to Our Flickr: Pictures of the NPC, events, new tenant offices, etc, are easy to take and share on Flickr.  Just tag them NPSL and they show up in our Flickr feed on the site.
  • Outreach: All of you have contacts, networks, coalitions and friends that you are connected to who might not know about the Nonprofit Commons.  If you would like to spread the word about the NPC and keep our community growing, contact me.
  • Regular In-world Events: It’s primarily the events on the NPC that drive traffic to our islands and our offices.  So if you like to host events, we would love to see more of them.  It could be a monthly or weekly meetup of your members and supporters, a dance party, or an art show.  We have several ways of advertising events to make sure that those outside of the NPC know about them.

That’s just off the top of my head.  I’m sure there are lots of needs that can be filled with your talent and time.  If you have something you’d like to do, just be in touch.

Thanks for supporting our awesome community.

Written by: rikomatic

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Jen Burton of Causes on Facebook talking about Online Community and Fundraising April 27

Causes logo The Causes app on Facebook is one of the most successful online fundraising tools of all time.  Causes.com, which managed the app and other online fundraising tools, has raised over $30 million for 25,000 nonprofits since 2007.  On Wednesday, April 27, we will be talking with Jen Burton, the director of community and support at Causes.com, on the subject of online communities and fundraising. 

You can participate either in person at the TechSoup Global offices in San Francisco, or virtually at the Nonprofit Commons amphitheater in Second Life (teleport link). This is part of the ongoing SF Online Community MeetUp, a free monthly gathering of online community managers, enthusiasts and innovators.

Join us — in the flesh or digitally — on April 27, starting at 7pm, for what promises to be an interesting conversation with Jen!  Head to Meetup.com for details.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Written by: rikomatic