nimby notes

catchy bits of nonprofit and communications-related info

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Although many critics of pseudonymous or anonymous comments — including those who have turned off comments on their blogs — suggest that a lack of real names leads to an overwhelming amount of hateful and offensive comments, the Disqus data seems to show that this isn’t really the case. According to the company’s quality rankings, more than 60 percent of comments using pseudonyms were positive, and almost 30 percent were rated as neutral, while only 11 percent were rated negative. In fact, the company says that a greater proportion of pseudonymous comments were positive than those that used real names (that is, logged in with Facebook or some other identity service).
Pseudonyms, trolls and the battle over online identity — Tech News and Analysis

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Frequency of Exposure to News Mediums by Age

A 2007 report from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University show that - depending on your demographic - there’s a risk in relying too heavily on traditional media.

  • A solid majority of young adults rarely if ever read a newspaper — although nearly half have a look at least once a week.
  • Television news does a bit better: More than half (57%) watch the national news at least several times a week, and more watch local news.
  • Radio is the middle medium, reaching nearly half (45%) of young adults.

Interestingly, at least in 2007, Internet-based news didn’t rate very high either, attracting only slightly more attention than the newspaper.

I wonder how those numbers have changed over the last four years?

Filed under statistics public relations

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on “Defensive Giving”

Well, John Confer, 81, of McMinnville received even more solicitations: at least 220. But they weren’t from banks. They were from charities.

“They seem to want to take advantage of the older people who have bad memories like me,” Confer said. Holidays are a time for giving. But if you’re worried about a gift that keeps on giving to your mailbox, let this be a cautionary tale about your acts of kindness. Don’t make them too random.

Confer’s experiment started in December when he gave about $150 total to 10 charities. All were recognizable names in the philanthropic world, such as American Heart Association, Boys Town and the American Diabetes Association. He’s filed away nearly all the solicitations he’s received since. They fill a Bankers Box. Many come from charities he hadn’t given to or heard of before: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Donate Life Northwest. Yamhill County Sheriff Jack H. Crabtree and the Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association. St. Labre Indian School in Ashland, Mont.

Sealed within were dimes, nickels, calendars, a calculator, notepads — even a dream catcher. Confer hung that on his bedroom wall. The Christian Appalachian Project was one of many that incl

uded mailing labels. Unfortunately, the nonprofit and 20 others had him living in Unit 50 of his manufactured-home park. “I’ve never lived in Unit 50,” he said. So the labels are useless. Not to be outdone, the American Cancer Society appealed to John Confers in three different units. “I’ve gotten a few letters addressed to my wife, who’s been gone since 1996,” said Confer, who moved to Oregon in 2009.

“What bothers me the most is that I get the same request from the same outfit … three or four times in a year,” he added. Charity watchdogs say they’ve heard from people getting many times more pleas than Confer.

(Source: oregonlive.com)

Filed under fundraising