Staying on top of the best times to email newsletters is imperative in the world of nonprofit 2.0. Also important is knowing which Twitter apps work best for you, as is keeping up with the countless other dos and don'ts of Internet etiquette. Getting overwhelmed by this ever-changing set of rules and compilations of best practices, however, is counterproductive when it makes one forgetful of the importance of maintaining human contact.

Some people do a wonderful job of maintaining interaction online. I have been inspired by the work of Internet community maintenance guru Beth Kanter with regard to her cultivation of online communities. I have talked at length with my friend Wendy Cohen, community manager at Participant Media (and formerly of the Huffington Post), about the ever-evolving art of lubricating interactions online. It is an ever-changing craft that demands the attention of any organization interested in bringing its presence online.

For some, however, I have noticed that a keeping up with the Joneses mentality regarding hyper communication can ultimately lead to forgetting to incorporate increasingly-old-school methods of correspondence into their overall outreach plan. I prefer incorporating small elements of the old school into my Internet correspondence by making the occasional telephone call, writing a letter, or even calling a face to face meeting with someone who, if our relationship were unchallenged, could exist online forever.

I prefer incorporating these elements because:

• I like it - I know that they stick out in my mind when someone uses them on me. When I receive a hand-written note in the mail, or just a friendly telephone call, I am nearly knocked off my feet.
• People like it - Friends of mine who work in the more-traditional marketing world explain to me that some of their clients are afraid to make the leap to any 2.0 outreach (even as we emerge into a 3.0 world) because they're afraid of their donors/supporters perceiving a loss of human interaction in the conversion.

So while maintaining a sense of connectivity via elements of the new school, be sure that you're maintaining a sense via the old:

• Write a letter to the client or donor who likely hasn't received a hand-written note in months (if not years).
• Pick up the phone and call someone as a substitute for a quick email and ask them how they're doing.
• If you're in town, offer to meet for tea or coffee (or even a locally brewed beer - mmm... beer).

The expedited service and progress that we're ultimately able to achieve using the Internet is welcome and capable of helping us make a big impact on the positive work that we do. It is important, however, to remember that as the human touch becomes rarer, it is a valuable commodity that we should use to remind the people who make our work and professional lives possible that they are important to us.