Financing Technology Projects Is a Struggle, Charities Say
A year and a half after Katrina showed how vital technology is to nonprofit organizations’ survival, money to pay for those much-needed systems is still hard to come by, Melissa S. Flournoy, president of the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations, in Baton Rouge, told participants at the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: Accenture Foundations Awards $1.5-million to the Aidmatrix Foundation
By Nicole Wallace The second annual NetSquared Conference, scheduled for May 29-30 in San Jose, Calif., will focus on improving and promoting 20 projects that use social-networking sites and other technologies to promote social change. Organizers are accepting project nominations through April 6.…
AT&T Gives $1-Million for Computer Training
By Sam KeanTo help older people become more savvy with Amazon and eBay (or simply learn how to turn on a computer monitor), the AT&T Foundation has donated $1-million to the Oasis Institute. Oasis — which offers arts, health, and technology classes to elderly people — will use the money to update…
Survey Tracks Sources of Charity Technology Help
By Nicole WallaceMost organizations that provide technology assistance to charities are small, for-profit enterprises, according to a new survey. Of the 149 technology-assistance groups surveyed, 65 were for-profit businesses and 54 were self-employed consultants. The remaining 20 respondents were…
Researchers to Develop Medical Tools for Patients
By Nicole WallaceProject HealthDesign, a partnership between two foundations, has awarded $300,000 in research grants to encourage the development of new tools to help patients. The grants, which have been distributed to nine teams of researchers, will build on technology that has been devised by…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: ‘Bridging the Innovation Divide’ Chronicles Charities’ Technological Efforts
PolicyLink and BCT Partners have released a report on charities that have been quick to adopt new technology. “Bridging the Innovation Divide” examines problems the 12 groups that are described in the report have faced and offers advice for integrating technology into a charity’s operations. For…
By Sam Kean
Contributor
Internet Delivers Advice to Victims of Date Violence
Break the Cycle, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles, is trying to create a safe, welcoming place on the Internet where young people can find out about a difficult subject: date violence. The new Web site, TheSafeSpace.org, discusses the signs of an abusive relationship and steps to take to…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Kintera Removes Founder From CEO Position
Until just over a month ago, Harry E. Gruber was both president and chief executive officer of the fund-raising software company he founded, Kintera. But the man who replaced him as president of the struggling company in February, Richard N. LaBarbera, will take over as CEO as well, Kintera has…
By Sam Kean
Contributor
Charity Feature Added to Microsoft Chat Software
Money talks, and for nine major nonprofit organizations, talk is now money. Microsoft has unveiled a feature on its instant-messaging service that allows people to support a charity with minimal effort. Users of the software can type the name of one of nine nonprofit groups into a text box, causing…
By Sam Kean
Contributor
Bits: ‘Grassroots Use of Technology’ Conference To Be Held in June
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is holding a workshop entitled, “Planning Your Online Legislative Affairs and Advocacy Campaign,” in Washington on April 3. Another workshop, “Engaging Online in a Presidential Election,” is scheduled for June 19. For more information: Go to http://webworkshops.info.…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Site Offers Online Mapping
A pair of organizations in Boston have teamed up to create an interactive Web site that allows users to merge statistical information about cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts with mapping software. The site — the MetroBoston Data Common — is a collaboration between the Metropolitan Area…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
Arts Foundation Revamps Grants Process
Switching from slides to electronic images has helped the New York Foundation for the Arts save money and improve its grant-making review process. The foundation awards grants of $7,000 apiece to roughly 120 visual, literary, or performing artists in New York annually. Until last year, visual…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Charity Makes Web Video Accessible to More People
The migration of television programs, movies, and other video content to the Internet marks the newest challenge to a nonprofit organization that has worked for more than three decades to make broadcast media accessible to people with disabilities. Thirty-five years ago, WGBH, the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: MobileActive Publishes Guide on Cell-Phone Advocacy
MobileActive, an Amherst, Mass., network of people who use cell phones to promote civic engagement, has published a guide on cell-phone advocacy. To get there: Go to http://www.mobileactive.org/guides. Charity Navigator has added to its Web site an interactive map of Africa that allows visitors to…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Prize Honors Software Developers
A new award will honor a person or group whose work is making it easier for people to start using free and open-source software. The APC Chris Nicol FOSS Prize will be awarded by the Association for Progressive Communications, an international network of organizations that use technology to promote…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Kintera Shakes Up Its Top Leadership
The upheaval in the fund-raising software industry continues with a leadership shake-up at Kintera, a San Diego company that provides Web-based software for nonprofit organizations. Kintera has named Richard N. LaBarbera as the company’s new president, and Alfred R. Berkeley III has been elected…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor