Event Brings Together Developers for Social Good
The Nonprofit Software Development Summit, in Oakland, Calif., on November 18-20 will bring together programmers and developers who are building or interested in building software and Web tools for charities and social-justice causes. For more information: Go to http://www.aspirationtech.org.…
By NICOLE WALLACE and PETER PANEPENTO
States Share Services Application
One-e-App — short for “one electronic application” — is a Web-based system that allows people in four states to find out whether they are eligible and then apply for a variety of public-health and social-service programs, such as Medicaid, food stamps, and the State Children’s Health Insurance…
By NICOLE WALLACE and PETER PANEPENTO
Web Site Offers Census Details
The Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network, a project of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, has created a new Web site that provides information about the 2010 census and materials that nonprofit groups can use to encourage the people they serve to complete their census questionnaires. Visitors to…
By NICOLE WALLACE and PETER PANEPENTO
Conservation Stations Get Solar Power
The Wildlife Conservation Network is bringing sophisticated solar-power systems to scientists who study and protect endangered species in some of the most remote areas on earth — thanks to the efforts of a dedicated volunteer. Six years ago, Stephen Gold attended the Los Altos, Calif.,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Youth Health Care Aided by Technology, Report Finds
A new report outlines promising uses of technology to improve children’s health, describes the barriers that hinder the widespread adoption of such programs, and recommends policy changes that will foster greater use of technology in children’s health care. Among the programs discussed are…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Salvation Army Uses Video to Help Its Report Come Alive
Whether out of concern for the environment or for the bottom line, it’s not unusual for charities to post their annual reports online. But the Salvation Army wanted to take full advantage of what the Internet has to offer, rather than just move a report designed as a print document onto the Web. To…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Web Service Maps Out Key Giving Trends
Grant makers seeking direction on where their money could make the biggest difference — or which geographic areas have been most overlooked — now have a virtual road map at their disposal. The Foundation Center has added a new service, Philanthropy In/Sight, that allows people to create custom…
By Jennifer Moore
Contributor
Cellphone Texts Become International-Aid Tool
Working with an African telecommunications company, Google and the Grameen Foundation have created a text-messaging service to assist rural Ugandans, who often live far away from markets and health clinics. Using the new service, farmers will be able to get weather forecasts, search a database of…
By NICOLE WALLACE and Ian Wilhelm
Charities’ Social-Media Use Outpaces Companies’
Nonprofit organizations have long been labeled Luddites when it comes to adopting new technology. But a new study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research shows nonprofit groups are actually well ahead of businesses in their use of online social-media tools such as…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
International Charity Assists American Entrepreneurs
Kiva has been enormously successful matching entrepreneurs in developing countries with people who want to lend them money. In less than four years, visitors to the Web site have made loans totaling more than $75-million. Now the San Francisco charity is testing the idea of also including U.S.…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
iPhone Application Extends Public Radio’s Reach
Public radio’s bet that the iPhone would be an important platform for reaching out to listeners appears to be paying off. Several major public-radio organizations — including National Public Radio, American Public Media, and Public Radio International — joined forces to develop the Public Radio…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Multiple Departments Oversee Online Activities
Employees responsible for a charity’s online activities are likely to be spread throughout the organization, rather than concentrated in a single department, according to a new report. An online survey of 60 nonprofit groups found that only 12 organizations, or 20 percent, had organized all of…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: MacArthur Foundation Opens ‘Second Life’ Island
United Way of America and the American Human Development Project have created an online tool that calculates how an increase in high-school-graduation rates and other educational achievements could improve social problems, such as poverty and unemployment rates, life expectancy, obesity levels, and…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Tracking System Finds Open Slots at Shelters
Cornerstone, a Bloomington, Minn., charity that works to prevent domestic violence, is trying to make it easier for shelters across the country to share real-time information about open emergency beds and support services. The nonprofit group runs Day One, a secure online service that allows…
By Scott Russell
Contributor
Mentor Group Offers Online Screening Tool
As part of its mission, the New York charity iMentor has built an online system that allows for safe, guided communication between high-school students and their mentors — an effort that has won praise and interest from similar organizations. Dana Saxon, director of partnerships at iMentor…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Charity Sites Rate Low on Satisfaction Survey
The average charity Web site scored only 73 out of 100 on a recent survey of more than 2,000 visitors to nonprofit-run Web sites. That’s a low C on a grade scale, and lower than government sites scored. Onlinebanking sites scored 10 points higher. The “Trends in Constituent Satisfaction with…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor