We would like to believe that since we're web-savvy enough to be interested in finding out how to bring success to our organization via augmenting our web-presence, paying attention to our email formatting is so 1997. I thought so too until I received the following email:

ALEX I WOULD LIKE TO TALK WITH YO ABOUT THE MILLENNIALS PROJECT DOES ANY TIME THURSDAY WORK??

Now for the quiz:

This email was from:

• A) my 8-year-old cousin
• B) an anthropomorphic tiger from a Disney movie
• C) someone who works at a nonprofit and has a moderately decent understanding of Internet communication and modern connectivity

Even though you knew that the answer was C because of my glaringly obvious, pithy and pointed set-up, wasn't it hard finally deciding upon it? You must have asked yourself, "How could it be humanly possible for someone to be interested in connectivity in the way we are and still write emails that appear to represent the inflection of a 1993 angry flame-warrior (think Anelina Jolie's character in Hackers)?"

Not only is it possible; it still happens all of the time.

You know how sometimes in relationships, your S.O. might say something like, "Do you even hear how you're talking to me?" And you, in a sarcasm-saturated retort, unleash, "YES! I'M SPEAKING TOTALLY NORMALLY." And then after an epic back-and-forth you finally realize that you're talking like a crazy person and the other was totally right in their assessment of your delivery? Emailing (yes - some people still use email, you Twittering text-head) can sometimes be like that; you just have no idea you were doing anything wrong until you're eventually forced to really think about your actions.

If you're an ugly emailer, or even have one or two ugly emailing tendencies, consider this an interviention.

Ugly email isn't confined to caps-only communication.

Here are some things that you should consider trimming from your textual communication stylings if they still show up here and there:

• Do we even need to talk about all-caps? Do we really?
• The double, triple, septuple question mark and/or question mark/exclamation point combo that my mom appears to be a pretty big fan of should just go away. You only need one. Really. It's a question. I got it. The only time this is really necessary is when asking when someone is expecting a baby (ie. When's the baby due?!) or maybe when a grant is expected to clear (When do you get the money?!). Other than that, please leave this faux pas for Mark Trail.
• Spell-check, dude(tte). Really. Spell check it. Is there an excuse for poor spelling anymore, with all of these red, squiggly, you're-spelling-it-wrong notifiers built into our word processors (I almost spelled "processErs", but thankfully spell check informed me that this would have made me look dumb)?
• I say that passive aggression should go, but a friend insists it should stay. "One person's passive aggression is another person's tact," she suggests. That one is up for discussion.
• That same friend, a graphic designer who works with almost exclusively with nonprofits, says "You know what ticks me off a lot? Eight emails about one thing, one sentence a piece. Collect yourself and write one email." I think this is great advice.
• Another friend, a small business owner, points out this faux pas, which I've certainly committed (many times) before. Responding to an email sans quoted text can be impossible to figure out and lead to a lot of confusion. Be sure that you have provided some frame of reference for what you're emailing about (my friends at The Point can attest to my being terrible at following my own advice on this one).

That's just a sampling; I'm sure y'all have a number of email pet-peves that make it impossible for you to hear the valuable messages being conveyed in your inbox. And of course - I understand that there are obvious exceptions to all rules based on levels of familiarity with the receiver, etc. I get that.

I'll get into the nitty-gritty of the connection between non-profit and tech culture next week, but at the end of the day, all successes both on and offline come from the cultivation of social capital. Said cultivation is related directly to clear and non-annoying communication.