$100,000 in Prize Money for Charity ‘Mashups’
In the world of Web 2.0, a mashup is an Internet site or service that combines data from more than one source. TechSoup.org is challenging nonprofit groups to think about ways they could combine information from multiple sources to raise awareness for a social cause — and offering $100,000 in prize…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Google Starts New Blog for Nonprofit Groups
Google Grants — an effort by the search-engine company to donate online advertising to charities — has started a new blog that seeks to help recipients take better advantage of the free ads. Since creating Google Grants in 2003, the company has donated more than $200-million worth of advertising to…
By Peter Panepento
Contributor
Bits: Center for Community Change Launches Movement Vision Lab Website
On March 31, women who work in technology at nonprofit organizations or for political campaigns can participate in a series of free conference calls — some of which will also include Web-based presentations — on such topics as online organizing, open-source software, technology trends, and…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
United Way Experiments With Cellphone Appeals
United Way of America has a familiar pitchman asking cellphone users to support the organization’s youth-fitness programs. In a television ad that first aired during the Super Bowl, Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England Patriots, invites viewers to send a text message to make an instant $5…
By CANDIE JONES
Contributor
Grant Makers Group Warns About Bogus Message
The Council on Foundations is warning the public about fraudulent e-mail messages that purport to be from Steve Gunderson, president of the council. The organization cautions that responding to the unsolicited e-mail messages or clicking on any of the links provided could allow passwords,…
By CANDIE JONES
Contributor
Google’s CEO Takes On a Nonprofit Role
Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google, will become the chairman of the New America Foundation’s Board of Directors on June 1, the group announced. He plans to mark his new role by making an unrestricted $1-million donation to the Washington think tank. Mr. Schmidt has served on the board since…
By Sam Kean
Contributor
Katrina Site Focuses on Storm’s Aftermath
More than two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, a grant maker is using the Web to call attention to the larger issues of racism, poverty, and government neglect brought to light by the storms. In 2006 the Open Society Institute, in New York, awarded 31 grants…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Environmental Site Seeks to Cut Mailings
For people who received one or more of the 19 billion catalogs mailed in the United States last year, a Web site called Catalog Choice now offers a way to request that their names be taken off particular catalogs’ mailing lists. The site, started in October, has already attracted more than 500,000…
By Audrey Hill
Contributor
Technology Gathering Sets Plans for March
This year’s Nonprofit Technology Conference, which in 2007 drew 1,200 charity technology officials, consultants, and company representatives, will take place March 19-21 in New Orleans. The meeting, entitled “Building Community: Connections Around the Globe and Around the Corner,” is organized by…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Giving kiosks offer convenience to donors, but critics question their effectivenessOn her way to church most Sundays, Meagan Cummins used to have to make a detour to an automated teller machine to withdraw money for her weekly donation. But sometimes she would be running too late or forget to stop…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Foundations Seek Games With Social Benefits
Foundations are paying for two new efforts to support the burgeoning field of video games designed to promote social change and better health. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in Chicago, has awarded a $450,000 grant to Games for Change and Parsons New School for Design, both in…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
GuideStar Database Adds ‘Donate Now’ Feature
Donors have a new option when making charitable gifts online. GuideStar, a nonprofit organization in Williamsburg, Va., has added a “donate now” feature to its Web site, which provides reports on nonprofit groups based on the informational tax returns they file and other data. “An important part of…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Giving Sites End Year With Big Gains
Two giving portals that allow donors to make contributions to the charities of their choice saw big jumps in online fund raising in 2007: Online gifts made through Network for Good, in Bethesda, Md., totaled $53.5-million in 2007, compared with $35.4-million in 2006, an increase of 51 percent.…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Google Finance Site Includes Charity Details
Information on nonprofit organizations can be found in some unlikely places. Visitors to Google Finance who enter the name of a national charity, such as the American National Red Cross, can in some cases pull up a page that provides a summary of the organization’s work and links to recent news…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
A Foundation Apologizes for Self-Promotion
Since this article went to press, GiveWell’s board has removed Holden Karnofsky as its executive director and board secretary. For more information, read The Chronicle’s update on the board’s actions. GiveWell promises to be the “world’s first completely transparent charitable grant maker” (The…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Contests Seek to Spur More Americans to Give
In its latest push to encourage philanthropy, the Case Foundation, in Washington, has started two online contests to give away $750,000. For the first, “America’s Giving Challenge,” the foundation joined with Parade magazine, a weekly newspaper insert, to grant $500,000. Participants must either…
By Sam Kean
Contributor