Thomas H. Pollak
Senior Research Associate and Program Director
National Center for Charitable Statistics
Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy
Urban Institute
Washington, DC, USA

I started working in the nonprofit sector in the mid-1980s. The big innovation then was the spreadsheet. I was the first person to prepare our multimillion dollar annual budget with one. I helped other nonprofit organizations implement their first databases for managing their mailing lists. And many were just learning the joys of word processing!

I don't feel old, but times have changed - or so it seems on one level. But on another I am not so sure.

Jayne Cravens
Consultant
Coyote Communications
Portland, OR, USA 

Back in the 1990s, when the Virtual Volunteering Project was documenting best practices in involving and supporting volunteers via the Internet, one of the methods for involving online volunteers was creating what I called byte-sized volunteering assignments.

Quintus Jett
Assistant Professor
School of Public Affairs and Administration
Rutgers University
Newark, NJ, USA

I've seen many nonprofit organizations struggle with how to harness the growing capabilities of social media to build community and resources. More extensive use of Internet applications to reach others is apparent - Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, email , and text messages are informing stakeholders about the latest organizational news - yet what further steps should be taken? In email broadcasts and online campaigns, many nonprofits refer to a community of supporters. What strategies should be employed when this reference to “community” is more hopeful than real? Setting and meeting higher expectations of social-media use begins with how nonprofit managers conceive of stakeholders online, and then engage with them.