Charity Sites More Popular Than Portals for Donations
A new study analyzing seven years of giving patterns shows that charities attract more donations from their own sites than through giving portals.
By Raymund Flandez
Contributor
Nonprofits Bemoan Inadequate Technology
While most organizations say technology is essential to their operations, many groups rely on outdated computers and software, a new study finds.
By Eric Frazier
Contributor
Housing Group Debuts Mortgage System
NeighborWorks America, in Washington, has teamed up with Direct Lending Family, a technology company in West Dundee, Ill., to create a new online mortgage system to help the clients its member organizations serve find sound loans that allow them to buy—and stay—in a home. Housing counselors at the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Cellphone Learning Program Wins Award
The Tech Museum of Innovation, in San Jose, Calif., has presented its annual awards honoring the creative use of technology to benefit societies around the world. The BBC World Service Trust, the BBC’s international-development charity, won the education award for BBC Janala, a service that offers…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Two Charities Test $25 Text-Message Gifts
A pair of charities test $25 text-message fund raising. (Tech)
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Indigenous Groups Get GPS Technology
Twenty-first century technology has become an important tool in indigenous groups’ fight to protect their ancestral lands in the Amazon. The Amazon Conservation Team, in Arlington, Va., has provided equipment and training to 32 Indian groups in Brazil, Colombia, and Suriname to help them map their…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Fund to Support Jewish-Themed Projects
The Jewish New Media Innovation Fund will award $500,000 for projects that use video, social networks, and other online media to enhance Jewish life in the United States. The fund is a joint project of the Jim Joseph, Righteous Persons, and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family foundations.…
Mail Spurs Online Giving, Says Study
A new study says direct-mail appeals may help spur online giving (Tech)
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Group Uses Social Network to Raise Money
A San Francisco environmental group uses Foursquare, a place-based social network, to raise its profile.
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Applying Kiva Approach to Fair Trade
The Hoop Fund is a new Web site that uses an approach popularized by Kiva to increase the market for fair-trade goods, such as chocolate and hand-woven clothing, and to help farmer and craft cooperatives in the developing world that make the products borrow money to improve their businesses.…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Resource Offered to Grant Seekers
The Foundation Center has started GrantSpace, a new site designed to make it easier for nonprofit workers to get information on financing their operations, securing grants, and operating effectively. New features on GrantSpace include a live-chat service with a Foundation Center staff member, job…
By Raymund Flandez
Contributor
Charity Seeks to Move Beyond Making Loans to Entrepreneurs
The fast-growing charity Kiva hopes to use its technology and pool of supporters to solve problems that go well beyond its initial efforts to help entrepreneurs in the developing world.
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Meeting on Mobile Devices and Health
The mHealth Summit has landed a big keynote speaker: Bill Gates. The meeting, which will take place from November 8-10 in Washington, focuses on how cellphones and other mobile technology can be used to improve health care, particularly in developing countries. Other speakers will include Ted…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Directory of Evaluation Tools
The Foundation Center and the consulting firm McKinsey & Company have created an online directory of more than 150 tools and methodologies designed to help charities measure whether their work is making a difference. “The thought was to eliminate the need for starting from scratch and allow people…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Microfinance Site Adds Student Loans
Kiva.org expands services to allow donors to support student loans for college students in developing nations. (Tech)
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
The Seattle Foundation lifts the veil on its internal data about charities, via a new Web site.
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor