New Site Matches 'Crowdfunding' and Cause-Driven Contests - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

New Site Matches 'Crowdfunding' and Cause-Driven Contests - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: A new organization called BigLeap is marrying “crowdfunding” Web sites like Kickstarter and GoFundMe to competitions to attract dollars for innovative projects serving social goals, according to Forbes.

Opinion: Zuckerberg's big idea is no charity - CNN.com

Opinion: Zuckerberg's big idea is no charity - CNN.com: Mark Zuckerberg believes that connectivity is a human right. Or at least that's how he's framing his new project, Internet.org, a partnership with leading companies in the smartphone industry to bring Internet access to the developing world.

You could be generous and call this enlightened self-interest, but more likely, Internet.org is a canny business move dressed up to sound like charity.

Exciting Changes in the NTEN Community: Our New Community Platform | NTEN

Exciting Changes in the NTEN Community: Our New Community Platform | NTEN: After considering several different platform options we selected Higher Logic as the new "behind the scenes" software powering my.nten.org. Out of all the options we explored, we felt the features, look, and feel of the Higher Logic platform was the best fit to serve the NTEN community based on the feedback we received.

Abila Acquires Avectra - SiliconHills

Abila Acquires Avectra - SiliconHills: Abila, based in Austin, has acquired Avectra, based in McLean, Va.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Abila, which changed its name in July from Sage Nonprofit Solutions, sells software to nonprofit organizations and government agencies. Avectra sells customer relationship management software to nonprofits and associations.

Comic Relief uses Google Hangouts for online comedy events | UK Fundraising

Comic Relief uses Google Hangouts for online comedy events | UK Fundraising: Comic Relief is using Google Hangouts to broadcast comedy shows, making it one of the first UK charities to exploit this interactive video broadcasting channel.

The Hangout Comedy Show will feature "some of the UK's funniest comedians". Viewers can even interact with the comedians if they wish, although the impact of a virtual heckle is yet to be established

Could the Future of Fundraising Be Social?: Associations Now

Could the Future of Fundraising Be Social?: Associations Now: "How much of a role does social media play in your fundraising goals?

According to a recent survey conducted by web-based social CRM provider Avectra , almost three-quarters of nonprofits believe social media will have a moderately or very positive impact on their fundraising efforts over the next year."

Facebook: The business of philanthropy | Marketplace.org

Facebook: The business of philanthropy | Marketplace.org: The homepage of Internet.org, a new nonprofit initiative started by Mark Zuckerberg that aims to remove some of the barriers to Internet connectivity worldwide, looks like that of a traditional non-governmental organization. A video shows African children playing, women working in fields, men dancing, all beneath a voice track of John F. Kennedy's "Peace" speech, delivered at American University in June, 1963. In that speech, Kennedy exhorted his audience to remember that "we all inhabit this small planet."

Knight Foundation Launches The Giving Day Play Book | Beth’s Blog

Knight Foundation Launches The Giving Day Play Book | Beth’s Blog: 4 Big Things You Need to do Now to Prepare a Successful Giving Day – By Beth Kanter and Bahia Ramos

So you want to start a Giving Day.

SaveWave › About #SaveWave

SaveWave › About #SaveWave: And that's where you can help. Join #SaveWave with Facebook and Twitter and twice a week, throughout the six week campaign, the latest RNLI rescue stories will automatic

Cause Crowdfunder Razoo Opens Up To Indivduals | Turnstyle

Cause Crowdfunder Razoo Opens Up To Indivduals | Turnstyle: Some of what made crowdfunding such a revolutionary idea--that a distributed group of people can make a huge impact on a person's life--has gotten obscured by a focus on bigger and bolder campaigns.

This is a trend that is ripe for disruption and an announcement today by Razoo, a "crowdfunding platform for causes," is the latest sign that the altruistic heart of the movement is alive and well.

Vine Tops 40 Million Users

Vine Tops 40 Million Users: nstagram hasn't hurt Vine's user growth much, if the latest numbers from the 6-second video sharing app are any indication.

Vine revealed in a tweet Tuesday that it now has more than 40 million registered users, up from 13 million users in early June — about six weeks before Instagram launched its own video sharing feature.

A Consumers Guide to Software for Volunteer Management

A Consumers Guide to Software for Volunteer Management: Volunteer-based organizations have to keep track of a lot of data, and the right software can help, freeing time for managing volunteers. This report will help you understand what software is out there, what to expect, and how the different solutions compare.

Foundation Facebook friends vote young scholars as grant recipient

News - The Telegram - Herkimer, NY: UTICA, N.Y. —

The Community Foundation recently hosted a three-week contest via its Facebook page that allowed nonprofits to vie for $500 to be used toward its programming.

Nonprofits who received grants from the foundation in 2012 were invited to write a paragraph sharing with the community how they would use the $500 if chosen.

Video: Young Donors React to Online Appeals - Online Fundraising - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Video: Young Donors React to Online Appeals - Online Fundraising - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: Young donors want to know where their money is going and what their gifts will accomplish.

Those are two of the key lessons from young donors interviewed in videos produced by Achieve, a fundraising consulting firm that in July released its annual Millennial Impact Report.

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Nonprofits: Master ‘medium data’ before tackling Big Data | Philanthropy Journal

Nonprofits: Master ‘medium data’ before tackling Big Data | Philanthropy Journal: Every day, humanity adds approximately 2.5 quintillion bytes of data to our collective store of knowledge. Looking over this treasure trove, scientists, financiers, and business leaders are justifiably giddy about the potential of Big Data. For the nonprofit community, Big Data also offers immense potential. But with our mere billions of data points we're not quite ready for it. Instead, we need to get "medium data" right first.

Mobile emergency response still hampered by low bandwidth and fragmented networks | Innovation Trail

Mobile emergency response still hampered by low bandwidth and fragmented networks | Innovation Trail: Mobile technology is driving the modernization of disaster relief and public safety response. And, according to a recent report from the Brookings Institution, the rapid expansion of mobile devices and mobile driven data has already begun to save lives and alleviate suffering in disaster-struck communities.

Also check out the AFP Blog on Disaster Relief

Success = Right Tech at Right Time | LinkedIn

Success = Right Tech at Right Time | LinkedIn: Despite the clear nonprofit need and technology solution, the market simply wasn't ready. We needed to do a lot more work before we could get the critical mass of pro bono providers to populate the marketplace.

So, we changed course and lobbied the President to create A Billion Change, a challenge to secure pledges from 500 companies to not only provide pro bono services but also report on their activities. We also began to work with LinkedIn to leverage their network and corporate directory to enable us to provide even greater tools for nonprofits.

Using Vine Videos to Beef Up Your Written Content

Using Vine Videos to Beef Up Your Written Content: Twitter’s video service, Vine, has been making waves lately as a new platform that businesses can use to make an impression on their target audience. And while Vine certainly works to any business’s advantage on its own, it can also be used to enhance your written content as part of a larger campaign, or through linking and embedding Vine videos in your text.

Let’s take a look at a few ways

How to Make Visual Content for Social Media in 5 Minutes [Free Template]

How to Make Visual Content for Social Media in 5 Minutes [Free Template]

How Philanthropic Contests Can Spur Innovation - Social Good - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

How Philanthropic Contests Can Spur Innovation - Social Good - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "The recently released “Why Contests Improve Philanthropy” compiles lessons from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s six years of offering open philanthropic contests."

CEOs Must Embrace Social Media…Finally - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

CEOs Must Embrace Social Media…Finally - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: Businesses are now realizing that the CEO must be involved in social media activities. It “raises a company’s thought leadership and credibility. CEOs reap these benefits including a raised profile,” says the piece written by Brigitte Yuille.

This is especially true for nonprofits, where thought leadership and credibility are much more critical to an organization’s brand. Nonprofits are often defined by their policies, services and relationships with their communities—to a much greater extent than a business selling a product, for example.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals Technology Blog: An Underused Fundraising Resource

Thanks to techsoup.org  for the great coverage of our technology blog

The Association of Fundraising Professionals Technology Blog: An Underused Fundraising Resource: I have to admit that the venerable Association of Fundraising Professionals website was one of the last places I looked to find fresh interesting coverage of fundraising technology, but I have mended my ways. I’m now a fan of Reed Stockman’s AFP technology blog.

Ministers learn to compete | The Detroit News

Ministers learn to compete | The Detroit News: hey need to understand organizational leadership: how to create a mission statement, set goals and measure whether they’ve achieved those goals — skills typically taught in masters of business administration programs, not seminaries.

Beyond that, they should be comfortable with technology and savvy about social media — maybe tweeting or creating a lively Facebook page.

Nonprofits get help finding low-cost tech solutions - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Nonprofits get help finding low-cost tech solutions - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The conference, hosted by the Hands On Tech Pittsburgh program, will bring 100 nonprofit professionals to Garfield to discuss the technology, marketing and organizational management techniques that will bring their organizations to the next level.

When You Can’t Tell Web Suffixes Without a Scorecard - NYTimes.com

When You Can’t Tell Web Suffixes Without a Scorecard - NYTimes.com: But there soon may be, along with hundreds of other new Internet address suffixes like .bible, .blog, .family, .game, .gay and .pizza.

Is Crowdfunding's New "It Girl" Creating a Generation of Citizen Philanthropists? - Innovation Toronto

 Some related stories on Crowdfunding are here

Is Crowdfunding's New "It Girl" Creating a Generation of Citizen Philanthropists? - Innovation Toronto: I went on a shopping spree in July and spent four million dollars on girls and women,” Maz Kessler says proudly.

As the founder and creative director of Catapult, a start-up nonprofit organization that helps development projects for women and girls get funding, she has every reason to boast. Catapult, a crowdfunding site that insists on transparency and engagement with donors, is one of several organizations changing the world of philanthropy. Launched on the first International Day of the Girl, in October 2012, the start-up has already seen impressive results.

8 Things a Nonprofit Leader Really Needs to Know About Social Media Marketing

8 Things a Nonprofit Leader Really Needs to Know About Social Media Marketing: It’s not uncommon for nonprofit executives to be hesitant about using technology, especially since technology is constantly changing. Technology has changed the very basic notion of communication entirely. Learning to view social media as a “game changer”, not just an addition to the way your nonprofit communicates, is crucial