Heal Your Church WebSite

Month: September 2008

  • Politically active on your church website? Kiss your tax exemption goodbye!

    In case you didn’t know, since 1954 there has been a federal ban on political activity for tax exempt, 501(c)(3) organizations such as charities and churches.

    A lesson Atlah World Ministries may be learning the hard way when this past February, pastor James David Manning stood in the pulpit of his little church on 123rd Street in Harlem and denounced Senator Barack Obama as a … well it doesn’t matter.

    What matters is that said event soon afterward went viral on YouTube. The result, according to the NY Times, was a formal complaint to the IRS by a watchdog group focused on 501(c)(3) violating rules regarding political activity.

    Another example on the other end of the ideological aisle was a case concerning the United Church of Christ (UCC) . Back in 2006 they invited then Senator Barack Obama to its annual Synod in Hartford Connecticut in 2007.  And despite the Synod making it clear that this shouldn’t be a campaign event – it none-the-less it got politicized  – inspiring yet another investigation by the IRS.

    There are other such stories, but my point here is not to aggregate such instances, but rather to remind congregational leaders,  web masters, and even Sunday school teachers that they need to take a moment and make sure everyone is aware of the July 28, 2008 memorandum from the Director, Exempt Organizations Examinations, describing how the IRS will analyze political campaign activity issues involving websites of section 501(c)(3) organizations.

    In it you’ll see that it’s not just overt acts like the reckless and financially suicidal ‘die by the sword‘ Pulpit Initiative launched by the Alliance Defense Fund, but things that can occur in the normal operation of your church and/or charity website such as:

    • podcasting a sermon that favors a candidate
    • posting a Sunday school lesson that opposes a candidate
    • distributing emails that props up one candidate over another
    • links to another website that endorses a candidate
    • fails to monitor a link that subsequently endorses a candidate

    At least that’s this layperson’s, non-legal, untrained understanding of the IRS Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations and what they communicate on their websites.

    That said, and with my likely ignorance of some aspect of the law in mind, I’ll list below some links to sites that seem smarter than me on this tricky topic:

    And from the blogosphere … these thoughts:

    Remember, regardless of your political leanings, violating this ban may result in denial or revocation of your organization’s tax-exempt status and the imposition of an excise tax on the amount of money spent on the activity …

    … that and the loss of the many freebies and discounts your church currently enjoys with its 501(c)(3) status (think Google Apps for starts).

  • 5 simple steps to stronger passwords

    Just as good fences make good neighbors, strong passwords make secure users. Put another way, if your pastor is using his first name as a login, and his last name as a password, it won’t be long before your website and/or email system begins spewing spam for various online services not usually associated with a church … or worse.

    What do I mean by worse? Glad you asked.

    All a hacker need do is to figure out the login and password to one privileged  account and that’s usually enough for them to then quietly get into the rest of your system and begin discovering sensitive information about your organization and/or its members.

    I mean imagine the emotional impact and legal/political ramifications that could arise by the publication of private data and/or identity theft resulting from a system compromised by weak password practices.

    Okay I’m freaking out, so now what? Glad you asked.

    Here are five things you can teach your users to do in creating and using stronger passwords:

    1. Avoid passwords based on repetition, dictionary words, letter or number sequences, usernames, or biographical information like names or dates;
    2. Include numbers, symbols, upper and lowercase letters in passwords;
    3. Password length should be around 12 to 14 characters;
    4. Don’t write down passwords where prying eyes can see them, like a PostIt note taped to the underside of one’s keyboard; and
    5. Avoid using the same password when registering with other online services.

    Easier said than done Dean. Yes, I know but …

    Unfortunately, getting laypersons and staff to use strong passwords is indeed easier said than done because by their nature, such passwords are harder to remember and guess.

    That said, one technique I’ve seen used with success is employing passwords based on easy-to-remember mnemonic phrases such as:

    • mYd0gh@sFleaz – or My Dog Has Fleas
    • @0ne4all2C – at 1 for all to see

    There are also a number of free online services that will generate a strong password if you’re having trouble thinking up one of your own, here are just a few:

    Along with that, here’s a link to a rather nice free online service that will rate your password’s strength against a number of the criteria mentioned above and then some:

    And if you’re too chicken to tell your church secretary that the name of her prize poodle isn’t going to cut it, just send him a link to this article. I can take it from there.

  • Pastors and Lay Persons and BlackBerrys, Oh My!

    With the debut of the now consolidated Google Mobile Apps for BlackBerry also arrives yet another reason why your church and/or charity should consider moving off the desktop and onto the web space.

    This is because yesterday Google has officially launched its Google Mobile Apps for BlackBerry, which integrates all those separate applications on your handy handset into a single interface that provides single-sign, single-click access to:

    • Google Mail,
    • Google Maps,
    • Google Sync,
    • Google News,
    • Google Reader,
    • Google Calendar,
    • Google Docs,
    • Picasa Web albums, and
    • Google notebook.

    So what has this got to do with running your church and/or charity website? Glad you asked …

    Think of it in these terms: you get an idea for a sermon, study, budget, and/or praise song while standing in the line at the grocery store. You start your outline document on your trusty BlackBerry – then email your wife, your co-teacher, your committee chair that you’re now sharing this new document with them and that you’ll be able to work on it in about an hour.

    You get home, fire up your browser, and now your great outline is on its way to becoming a great presentation that you’ll also post on your blog-driven church website, without you having to worry about floppy disks, USB keys, FTP depots and other vestiges of the ‘sneakernet‘ technology that desktop applications have used to chain us to our desks.

    And for those of you asking, but I’ve already got the individuals apps on my BlackBerry, why upgrade? Glad you asked, here’s why …

    • Fast Google search – enter queries without waiting for a browser to load
    • Search history – easily access and amend your previous queries
    • Google Suggest – complete queries with less typing
    • Easy access to Google products for your phone – click once to download and install our applications for BlackBerry, and get immediate access to our web-based services
    • Google Apps support – get direct links to your Google Apps Calendar and Documents/Spreadsheets (select Menu, Options, Use Google Apps Domain: yes, and then enter your domain name)
    • Update alerts – learn about new versions of downloadable Google mobile applications and upgrade with just one click (Google Mobile App replaces Google Updater for BlackBerry)

    If you’re a BlackBerry owner, go to m.google.com to download the conoslidated office ‘sweet’ …

    … as I will this weekend, hopefully reporting nothing but good news later next week.

  • Pastors – wouldja please stop using WordPerfect 5.1?

    Too many pastors are still tethered to their office via their desktop word processor – at least if we can assume the numbers from a recent ReadWriteWeb are any reflection of how too few are taking advantage of online options such as Zoho Writer, ThinkFree Write, or Google Docs.

    In fact, according to the recent RWW poll & analysis entitled ‘Word Processing: Most of You Still Use Desktop Software,’ less than 25% of their tech-savvy readers use an online word processor as their main documentation tool.

    Here are the results from RWW‘s 2008 poll:

    • OpenOffice 16% (374 votes)
    • Microsoft Word 50% (1162 votes)
    • StarOffice (Sun) <1% (11 votes)
    • Another desktop word processor (please comment) 5% (109 votes)
    • A Text Editor (e.g. Notepad, Emacs) 7% (166 votes)
    • Buzzword (Adobe online wp) 1% (28 votes)
    • Google Docs 16% (374 votes)
    • ThinkFree 2% (42 votes)
    • Zimbra <1% (5 votes)
    • Zoho 1% (26 votes)
    • Another browser-based word processor (please comment) <1% (11 votes)
    • Other tool (please comment) 2% (36 votes)

    Results made all the more interesting when compared to a similar 2007 poll taken this time last year, which indicates use of MS Word is up 2%, while Open Office is down 2% … that said, Google Docs enjoyed a bump up from 11% last year to 16% this year.

    What has this got to do with my church and/or charity website? Glad you asked …

    One of the questions I would have like to have seen answered was “what version of Word are you using?” I ask this because the poll reminds me of the frustration I had at one church where I’d get weekly sermons to post online … sent to me by a pastor stuck on WordPerfect 5.1 … until later he got stuck on another loser in the desktop arena, WordPerfect for Windows.

    I’d spend an hour or two per sermon banging it into something resembling HTML , unable to convince the this excellent student of Scripture that the world was chaning, his word processor along with it.

    All of which makes me wonder here and now, I wonder how many of you out there are dealing with old operating systems running old versions of old word processors? Then I wonder, how much time is lost in getting the important and compelling content in sermons that could draw in literally draw in thousands of visitors and dozens of new members … if only it weren’t so doggone hard to get them from the old desktop application to the webspace.

    If you’re feeling the same pain or wondering the same thing, here are 5 quick points to consider:

    1. online word processing systems such as Google Docs have a publish feature, that can send a document straight to a sermons blog using any publishing software that supports XML-RPC;
    2. several online word processing systems have a shared/collaboration feature – meaning a pastor with a Windows 2000 based PC can work on the same document as his editor layperson equipped with a Mac at their office;
    3. moving from the desktop to the webspace means avoiding the confiscatory licensing and upgrade costs associated with desktop applications;
    4. a number of online word processing have import and export capabilities, allowing a pastor to revise an old sermon written in Word back in 2002, saving the new version back to their hard drive in Word, HTML, PDF or Word;
    5. you can go home for dinner … meaning staff need not stay at the office all night to work on a church budget, but instead can save the unfinished document just before leaving the office … then pick up right were they left off from the comfort of their home computer and browser.

    Yes, there are some concerns about privacy, ownership, and backups – but there are similar problems that exist with desktop applications as well – meaning there’s no SaaS substitute for good contingency planning.

    Oh and one other argument I might pose a pastor permanently stuck on dead desktop apps … “what % of the features on Word do you actually use?“

  • non-profit guides – grant-writing tools for non-profit organizations

    Here’s a resource-filled website that may help your church, charity and/or lay-ministry garner some much needed funds: non-profit guides. This site hosts free Web-based grant-writing tools for non-profit organizations, charitable, educational, public organizations, and other community-minded groups.

    As the site says:

    If you are an individual or start-up organization, try our links to related Web sites to find additional grant & fundraising resources …

    … Successful grant-writing involves solid advance planning and preparation. It takes time to coordinate your planning and research, organize, write and package your proposal, submit your proposal to the funder, and follow-up.

    … You might also visit your local library, contact a nearby college or university, and/or research federal, state and local government resources.

    It is with that in mind that the site provides guides are designed to assist established US-based non-profits through the process of grant-writing, by offering:

    • sample inquiry letter
    • sample cover letter
    • sample cover sheet
    • sample budget
    • sample proposals
    • sample foundation rfp
    • sample foundation grant application
    • sample government grant application

    Sounds like a worthwhile resource to me – and just in time for a rainy weekend. Well at least for me as Hurricane Hanna pays a visit.

    Your mileage may vary.