The Nonprofit community is vibrant, sophisticated and mighty inspiring…

We experienced this first-hand at the NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network) Conference in Washington, D.C in April. When one of our colleagues told us about this conference, we did not quite know what to expect but decided we would give it try. What a treat this was!

We met people involved in environmental issues, political advocacy, arts advocacy, micro-philanthropy, social mapping, youth issues, health and human services solutions, gays and lesbians’ rights, women’s rights, micro loans in India, Kung Fu and Lion Dance (yes! Indeed), workforce philanthropy, neighborhood revitalization, citizens’ rights, digital storytelling initiatives … and the list goes on.

I think that people sometimes assume that nonprofits don’t use or might not understand how to implement advanced technology in their daily activities. However, we attended workshops on API’s, Open Source CMSs, Mashups, Video Blogging, Online Advocacy Strategies, Online Donation Tools, Email Deliverance Options, E-Newsletters, Viral Marketing, and heard how some innovative uses of Flickr, mobile technology, online social networks, and YouTube can bring communities and organizations’ constituencies together. We met numerous people who knew about GIS and understood the applications and significance of spatial analyses is to support their decision-making processes.

NTEN claims that their “goal is to enable [their] members to do their jobs better, and to help their organizations strategically use technology so that they, in turn, will make the world a better, just, and equitable place.” After attending their conference, there is no doubt in our minds that their members are subscribing to and embracing this statement.