Going digital: what charity leaders can learn from tech startups | Voluntary Sector Network | The Guardian

Going digital: what charity leaders can learn from tech startups | Voluntary Sector Network | The Guardian: "Charities are full of good and bright people with tons of ideas, but when it comes to creating digital products, are they the right people? Probably not.

A series of well documented digital fails, the latest of those being the well meaning but poorly executed Samaritans app, Radar, seem to support this. In 2012 Nesta launched a £17.6m Impact Investment fund and of the seven investments made to date, none have been in charities. Not a single one. While some may argue this is because charities lack money and resources, I am afraid I disagree. "



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Top rated charity opens up its real-time data - Humanosphere

Top rated charity opens up its real-time data - Humanosphere: "The charity that allows people to make a direct donation to a person living in Kenya just got a whole lot more transparent. GiveDirectly unveiled a new website with live data showing how it is performing on a host of measures. It is another step forward for the organization that made a big splash last year when a rigorous study of its work in Kenya showed the impact of giving poor western Kenyans money to spend as they see fit."



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Launched! A new landscape tool to help the sector find out who is doing what | powered by DATA

Launched! A new landscape tool to help the sector find out who is doing what | powered by DATA: "We’re excited to present a new tool that we have built with support from Community Foundations Canada and the Ontario Trillium Foundation. We presented the tool during a session at the CKX summit yesterday, and now we are releasing it as a free publicly available resource."



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How To Donate Bitcoin To Charity And Get A Big Tax Deduction

How To Donate Bitcoin To Charity And Get A Big Tax Deduction: "Along with the growing popularity of Bitcoin,  the number of charitable organizations that accept virtual currencies has been growing. At the same time, so has government scrutiny, creating uncertainty about the continuing value of Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin,  and other, smaller currencies.  In March, the Internal  Revenue Service issued its long awaited opinion on the taxation of virtual currencies, ruling they should be treated as property, not currency.  That creates administrative and paperwork problems for those using Bitcoin, but also allows donors to obtain generous charitable income tax deductions for donating Bitcoin that is worth more than they paid for it, just as they do for giving appreciated stock to charity."



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Accidental Techies: 13 Lessons on Building Your Nonprofit Technology Culture

The usual great read from Peter Campbell

Accidental Techies: 13 Lessons on Building Your Nonprofit Technology Culture: "EXPONENT PARTNERS SERIES: SMART PRACTICES
Is your nonprofit thinking about implementing a large database project like Salesforce? Nonprofit and technology veteran Peter Campbell, CIO at Legal Services Corporation, recently shared his valuable insights on how to prepare your team and culture for long-term success. His organization, the top funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans in the country, is developing Salesforce as a data warehouse for their grantee information and document management. "



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Holiday Postings

Posting to the Resource Center blogs will be intermittent during the Holidays.

Holiday Notice: AFP IHQ and the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy will close at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014.
- AFP IHQ will reopen on Monday, Jan. 5, 2015.
- The AFP Foundation will be open for one day during the holiday week on Dec. 29, 2014, then close again and reopen on Monday, Jan. 5, 2015. Gifts can be made at any time online or call Diane LaVigna at (518) 360-4736.

2014 ASAE Technology Conference Sends In the Drones: Associations Now

2014 ASAE Technology Conference Sends In the Drones: Associations Now: "So was the closing general session, which showed off some innovative technologies—some of which may have seemed to lack context in the current association environment. 3D printers? Check. Beacons? Check. Drones? You know it.

The conversation, led by ASAE Chief Information Officer Reggie Henry, CAE, was meant to get people thinking about the possibilities."



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Commission: ‘We share more data with other agencies than they share with us’ - Civil Society - Governance - News

Commission: ‘We share more data with other agencies than they share with us’ - Civil Society - Governance - News

The Google Cultural Institute and Arts Accessibility: Where Is It All Going? - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

The Google Cultural Institute and Arts Accessibility: Where Is It All Going? - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Volunteering platform Do-it relaunches

Volunteering platform Do-it relaunches: "Online volunteering platform Do-it has been relaunched today by its new owner, the Do-it Trust, with more emphasis on sharing volunteering opportunities via social media.
Do-it was started by YouthNet in 2001 and was sold to a partnership involving volunteering bodies ivo.org, Believe.In, Blue Dot, Prospectus and Vivo."



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#GivingTuesday is over, now what? | Business Doing Good

#GivingTuesday is over, now what? | Business Doing Good: "eep breath.  #GivingTuesday is a week behind us – but the glow continues!

What a wonderful day it was — December 2nd — with people around the world showing how much they cared about giving back.  They gave money, time, their voices, their all.  And I’m proud that the company where I work was a part of that.  How much good was done?  We’ll actually never know because there’s simply no way to quantify all the good.  What we do know is how much was given online that day, processed by Blackbaud, as a proxy for how much giving has increased year over year. "



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Don’t get bogged down in data « Philanthropy North Carolina

Don’t get bogged down in data « Philanthropy North Carolina: "nonprofit and philanthropy professionals love data, maybe too much.

Numbers, used sparingly, can help explain a community need, measure how a charitable program is helping to address it, and show donors and funders the return on their investment in the program.

But while data can be a useful means to the end of fixing problems, many people working in the charitable world seem to let data drive their thinking, decision-making, programs and funding, as well as their appeals to donors."



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What #GivingTuesday Makes Possible

What #GivingTuesday Makes Possible: "What does #GivingTuesday make possible?

And what if that potential is far more than just money?

That is a question that Debra Askanase asked a year ago, as she pondered, “Where is the community in GivingTuesday?” This is not surprising if you know Debra, as her website is called Community 2.0, and all her work centers around community engagement."



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Woulda Coulda Shoulda #GivingTuesday | Nonprofit Marketing | Getting Attention

Woulda Coulda Shoulda #GivingTuesday | Nonprofit Marketing | Getting Attention: "Would you have generated donations your organizations wouldn’t have gotten otherwise if you had participated in this year’s #GivingTuesday? Could you have tried some new strategies this year, like the matching gifts offered in so many #GivingTuesday campaigns? Should you have built an all-org #GivingTuesday giving team to capitalize on the relationships with donors and prospects many of your colleagues already have?"



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Why you should be celebrating your fundraisers on social media | Voluntary Sector Network | The Guardian

Why you should be celebrating your fundraisers on social media | Voluntary Sector Network | The Guardian: "But vital to any fundraising strategy is saying thank you to donors and supporters who have given to your organisation through time, effort or money. In this article, we’ll highlight one charity – Cystic Fibrosis Ireland – that is successfully using social media throughout the fundraising process, particularly when stewarding the people who donate or fundraise on their behalf."



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