Considering people’s ever-shortening attention spans and given the shocking lack of grammar taught in public schools, it’s important to keep your writing straightforward to keep your readers on track. I didn’t do such a great job in that first sentence. We’ll have to see if I can rein in my verbose tendencies. This blog post is really to provide some top tips for writing for the Web. There are a few quirks when writing for the Web that are important to keep in mind.

• Consider your audience. You have people of all backgrounds and experiences surfing as equals. To accommodate this wide-spread audience, you’re going to want to write at about a ninth grade reading level or less. Newspapers generally follow this principle. They want their work to be as accessible as possible and so should you.
• Think about attention span. (again) As we continue on in our sound-byte driven, media overload world, people’s attention spans seem to shrink at a rate equivalent to the speed with which new toys for them to play with are developed. Not to be cynical or anything. What I’m trying to say is that you need to get to your point quickly. If you don’t capture attention quickly, your reader might surf on.
• Think about the mechanics of reading on screen. Depending on the machine a person is using, the screen size and thus the amount of text seen can vary widely. This is one of the reasons that long Faulkner-esque paragraphs don’t work well. Also, it’s really hard to follow visually as you scroll. Keep paragraphs shorter with a decent amount of space in between them.

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We have been building our next generation application platform (code name Infinity) for almost two years now. I can’t talk in specifics at this point, but I can say that we have two brand new applications built on this platform ready to ship! Sorry, no dates will be revealed here, my friends.

Is that Linux? Yep.

So, as we exit one of the most intense R&D cycles in the 18 years I’ve been at Blackbaud, I took some time to reflect back on our initial goals for the platform and do a little internal report card of sorts around how I think we did. I won’t bore you with the details, or maybe I will in another post, but for now I’d like to look at one place where I give the team an A+.

You didn’t think I was going to blog about the “B” grade did you?

Goal: Embrace web standards to maximize interoperability

I know, it’s a mouthful, but I can’t figure out how to put it any more succinctly. Two years ago it was obvious to the team here that we needed to be web delivered and if we were going to be web delivered we should use as many standards-based technologies as possible.

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After a few days of server chaos, we are finally back online - sorry for any inconvenience. Due to the issue that caused the meltdown, we had to switch the location of the blog install. So, if you were getting content via our RSS feed, please note the new URL.

Hi all. I’m really pleased to be a new blogger out here in cyberspace. I’ve done some casual reading, kicked the tires on a blog or two, even took a test ride, but this is my first experience really being behind the wheel.

Before I get to the meat of what I want to talk about today, a very quick intro. Unlike some of the others on the blog, I’m a bit less techy. I’m a word person. As such, I want to talk about the power of words…

What first drew you to your own organization? What was it about the mission, the people, the results that made you want to dedicate your time? What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Whatever the answers to those questions, those are probably the same things that are going to motivate donors and volunteers. As you all know, it’s much harder to say no during a face-to-face solicitation then it is over the phone or through the mail. If your communications with prospective donors and volunteers personifies your mission, it’s going to be equally hard to say no.

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Attention Junior Achievement chapters - this post is for you! Well, it’s actually for everyone, but Junior Achievements are famous for their bowl-a-thons. These are great, interactive fundraising events that have proven successful for many years - but could they be better?

So, I’m bowling on my Nintendo Wii the other night, and got to thinking about how easy, fun, and approachable the system is as a whole. Even my parents like it! Maybe this bowling game could be put to good use? How about a Wii-a-thon?

Maybe this can actually compete with a real bowl-a-thon, but for certain organizations hosting a Wii-a-thon might appeal to a more youthful audience. This could increase participation, donations, and media awareness. Nobody is really doing this yet, so this might be a good opportunity to get noticed in your community.

Here are ten reasons why a Wii-a-thon might be right for you:

1. Bowler’s average scores are higher (more $$$).
2. You don’t need an available bowling alley.
3. Participants can wear their own shoes.
4. Physically limited bowlers can participate.
5. Bowl-a-thons could span time and location.
6. There is no cost if you have access to a Wii.
7. Bowlers can rock & bowl to their own music.
8. Participants won’t smell like a bowling alley when they get home.
9. Multiple locations could be used to increase participation.
10. Actual bowling is tired, Wii bowling is wired.

Happy bowling!

Hello all! My name is Jamie Holaday (formerly De Gregory). I’m the internal communications coordinator here at Blackbaud. That means I work with people around the company to help foster communication within Blackbaud. I’m also a bit obsessive when it comes to all things communication, including spelling, commas, and the proper use of the dash.

I’m going to try and share of bit of that obsession with you and see how it can be applied to help nonprofits communicate in ever more effective and creative ways. Hopefully you’ll join in the conversation and we’ll get some real communication going!

Prior to Blackbaud I was getting my master’s degree at Texas A&M in Science and Technology Journalism. Before that I was fully immersed in the science side of things studying Physics at Ithaca College. You know you better watch out when you find someone who likes math AND commas.