Foundations need to jump into the online fray and start blogging, argues one prominent philanthropy observer.

Once financial markets were physical locations where the players were people who knew each other and traded information as they traded goods and services. Today those markets are virtual, but still rely heavily on human interaction, Sean Stannard-Stockton, a California philanthropy adviser, writes on the Stanford Social Innovation Review opinion blog.

“Philanthropy is making this same transition as we head full tilt towards a fast moving global stream of social investments benefiting high-impact social enterprises with both nonprofit and for-profit status,” writes Mr. Stannard-Stockton, who is the author of his own blog, Tactical Philanthropy. “This transition does not just require data; it requires conversation.”

Grant makers need to be part of that conversation, and he...

In June the popular social-networking site Facebook released a programming language that allows developers to create new applications that tie into the site and its 40 million users.

Already, four major applications have been introduced that nonprofit groups can use to raise money, Peter Dietz, a consultant in Montreal, writes on his blog, About Micro-Philanthropy.

He says that learning how to take advantage of the tools could be a valuable way to reach out to young potential donors.

“When it comes to online fund raising, an obvious tip is to meet your current and potential donors where they are,” writes Mr. Dietz. “Today, millions of prospective donors between the ages of 18 and 35 find themselves on Facebook.”

In the article, Mr. Dietz profiles the four tools — created by the companies Change.org, ChipIn, Firstgiving, and Project Agape — and offers advice on how to use them....

Despite the many advances in communications technology, the traditional conference isn’t in danger of being replaced anytime soon, according to one nonprofit technology expert.

In the days before a large nonprofit technology gathering was held this year, a participant on a technology discussion list took the Nonprofit Technology Network, the organization holding the event, to task for being “so ‘20th century’ as to hold a conference people actually attended,” Gavin Clabaugh, vice president for information services at the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, writes on his blog, called Gavin’s Digital Diner.

“To put it personally — and curmudgeonly — there was no way in hell I’d be willing to attend a conference where I really wanted to be, with a virtual substitute,” he writes. “There are just some things you can’t do in WebEx. Those things are the reasons I actually go to...

Charities that create podcasts — online radio broadcasts — to raise awareness of the issues they work on should stick to one topic per broadcast, advises a nonprofit marketing expert.

“The format is tight, keep the focus that way, too,” Nancy E. Schwartz writes on a blog post on Getting Attention.

Among her other tips: Keep podcasts short when just getting started, outline broadcasts before recording, and make it easy for listeners to subscribe.

Has your organization experimented with podcasting? Was the effort successful? Click on the comments link below this post to share your experiences.

In just three weeks on MySpace, Sunny the Seal made more than 2,000 friends.

Sunny’s friends at the Humane Society of the United States, in Washington, set up the page — which discussed seal hunting in Canada from the perspective of a seal — on the popular social-networking site this spring to raise awareness about the issue and reach out to new animal-rights activists.

The MySpace campaign added 500 names and addresses to the Humane Society’s e-mail list.

In an interview on Beth’s Blog — run by Beth Kanter, a nonprofit technology consultant in Boston — Carie Lewis, Internet marketing manager at the Humane Society, writes about the MySpace campaign and offers advice to other nonprofit groups.

She cautions that campaigns on social-networking sites are time intensive.

“Never put together a page then leave it, expecting people to come to you,” Ms. Lewis writes. “Take the time to...

Does setting up operations in Second Life, the popular online game, really make sense for nonprofit organizations?

Social-networking sites allow their users to create profiles that are available 24 hours a day, whether the user is on the site or not and an unlimited number of people can view a charity’s profile, but Second Life is more like the real world — with the same limits of time and space, notes Allan Benamer, former director of information technology at the Coalition for the Homeless, in New York, on Non-Profit Tech Blog.

“In Wikipedia, Myspace, FaceBook, etc. there’s a quick learning curve as you set up your initial presence but you’re not going to have to go in there every day trying to interact with people,” he writes. “It’s an asynchronous communication tool.”

Despite the buzz about the MacArthur Foundation’s announcement that it was setting up an office in Second...