Friday, May 20, 2011

Crowdsourcing put to good use in Africa | Madeleine Bunting | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Crowdsourcing put to good use in Africa | Madeleine Bunting | Global development | guardian.co.uk: "Back in 2008, a group of bloggers based in Kenya came up with an idea in response to the wave of ethnic violence sweeping the country in the wake of elections: Ushahidi – meaning testimony in Swahili – aimed to use crowdsourcing to track a fast-moving crisis. Since then, the open source platform has been deployed 12,000 times across the globe, from earthquakes in Haiti, New Zealand and Australia to the tsunami in Japan this year. Now it is preparing to launch next week its next big venture, Huduma, which will use crowdsourcing in Kenya to monitor the effectiveness of services such as health and education."

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

PayPal Teams With Philanthroper, a Groupon for Good

PayPal Teams With Philanthroper, a Groupon for Good: "PayPal is teaming up with Philanthroper to spur a little bit of crowdsourced good.

Philanthroper is a “daily deals” site; but instead of offering up cheap tickets to shows or discounted meals, it offers up new and important nonprofits.

Every day, the site showcases a worthy cause and asks users to donate just $1. Users cannot give any less or any more than $1."

Bad Websites, Good Fundraising - The TechSoup Blog - Welcome to the TechSoup Community - TechSoup

Bad Websites, Good Fundraising - The TechSoup Blog - Welcome to the TechSoup Community - TechSoup: "This post was originally published July 13, 2010, and is being featured again as a part of our Sharpen Your Website campaign.

One of my favorite parts of NCVS was meeting Joe Solomon of 350.org. Joe gave an excellent presentation on nonprofits and social media (more on that in a later post). One thing he said that really struck a chord with me was, 'The best movements have the worst websites.'"

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Knight Foundation | Reporter Analysis

Knight Foundation | Reporter Analysis: "We asked our partner, Monitor Institute, to take a critical look at the role of networks in community life. Our lens was apolitical. We were not looking for prescriptions for how citizens and government should interact. Rather, we were interested in the potential of networks—to create stronger bonds or to split us apart. This essay highlights groups that are creatively connecting citizens who are making a difference today, and explores how technology might impact public participation and leadership in the future. The pages are rich with useful examples and lessons about how networks are unlocking assets in communities to support open government, care for the elderly, help disaster victims and advance women’s rights. Throughout, the report considers the role philanthropy can play in harnessing the best network-centric practices, the ones that might unleash individual interactivity to achieve social impact at a scale and speed never before possible."

Disconnecting From The Network

Disconnecting From The Network: "NPower, the national network of nonprofit technology consulting and training organizations, has restructured. The New York office is rebranding itself as the national organization and the other network members have to decide whether to retain their affiliation and names or become independent.

In a quiet change late last year, NPower New York, which took over the national organization in 2007, became just NPower and dropped any mention of the other affiliates from its website. And while some of the original affiliates continue to refer to the national organization, there is only ad hoc collaboration with no program development initiatives in the works."

Monday, May 16, 2011

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.: "YouTube is an interactive worldwide community—there are a lot of ways to use the platform to inform people, get them to participate, and grow awareness of your organization."

MediaShift . Massive Digital Divide for Native Americans is 'A Travesty' | PBS

MediaShift . Massive Digital Divide for Native Americans is 'A Travesty' | PBS: "Perhaps nowhere in the United States does the digital divide cut as wide as in Indian Country. More than 90 percent of tribal populations lack high-speed Internet access, and usage rates are as low as 5 percent in some areas, according to the Federal Communications Commission."

Computer Centers in West Virginia's Volunteer Fire Stations | PCWorld

Computer Centers in West Virginia's Volunteer Fire Stations | PCWorld: "West Virginia is leading the nation in technology innovation. Not the kind of innovation involved in designing computer chips, but in an equally important kind of innovation--social innovation in expanding access to computers, broadband Internet, and computer training. Other states have set up public-use computers at public libraries, but that's not always feasible when the only public library in town is small and understaffed. West Virginia has come up with the idea of providing computer access at volunteer fire and rescue departments and has received a Federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant to put its ideas into practice."