Bernhard Dippold wrote:
This can be combined with the NFP orientation, but in my eyes they
stay as different goals side by side.
It's just a question:
- Do we want to find an appropriate slogan for the NFP goal and keep
it as positioner for longer than just the 2.0 promotion?
- Do we want to combine the goals in one: OOo as high quality Suite
especially for NFP organizations?
- Or do we follow a two-track policy with the NFP theme only for the
OOo2.0 promotion and the professional / quality theme for all the time
until the release of OOo3.0?
Until we have reached a decision about the goals I'll keep the
positioner voting open - you may change your voting if you'll find
different priorities during the discussion.
Bearing in mind that "not-for-profit" does not mean "unprofessional",
I'm not sure that there's a real difference in the message we would
send. All "not-for-profit" means is that there's no dispursement of
profits to shareholders. Most non-profits (at least, the successful
ones) operate as businesses, and have the same needs/requirements as any
other business. Think of the better-known non-profits: the Red Cross/Red
Crescent, YMCA, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, United Way, NAACP, ACLU, and so
on. Or, heck, even local churches. (I know something of this, being that
my father is a minister and I spent a good deal of my youth doing office
work around the church office.*grin*) All of these places have the exact
same needs/concerns/reservations/fears when it comes to obtaining
software as companies like EDS, McDonalds, and the local mom-and-pop
flower shop. They want reliable, feature-rich software that's going to
be stable, relatively easy to use, portable, and supported. The only
real difference is that the budget factor is far more important to most
not-for-profits than it is for your average-sized business. And don't
forget: we do still want businesses involved. The trick is to include
them without sending the message "this is software really designed for
non-profits and not for business."
The focus on the NFP sector can be implemented best, I think, by
selecting appropriate channels of communication. Targeted mailing would
be great, but who has the budget for that? Web banners on sites
frequented by NFP staff--places like VolunteerMatch.org, for
instance--would be great if they accepted advertising. I'm sure some do,
but others definitely do not. The best place, probably, is at local NFP
conferences; for instance, Kalamazoo (where I used to live) had a local
Volunteer Coordinators Organization that met each month. Most communites
have local ministerial alliances where lots of churches from different
denominations get together. There are tons of places where NFP managers
and directors go to get training and learn from each other. The best
approach, I think, would be to get the message out through presentations
at these types of organizations.
Steven Shelton
Twilight Media & Design
www.TwilightMD.com
www.GLOAMING.us
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