Technology Updates Town-Hall Debates
A Washington organization that uses technology to bring the traditional town-hall meeting into the 21st century is about to tackle its biggest project yet. AmericaSpeaks is organizing two meetings of 1,000 people each -- one in November and the other next year -- as part of a broad philanthropic…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: Groundspring.org Names Joseph Mouzon Executive Director
The SBC Foundation, the philanthropic arm of SBC Communications, is accepting applications for its 2005 technology grant program for projects in education, community development, health and human services, or arts and culture. Applications for the SBC Excelerator program are due June 15. For more…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Relief Groups Test Communications Suitcase
Aid organizations providing relief after the earthquake and tsunamis in Indonesia have tested a new tool -- a 50-pound suitcase that opens up to provide a ready-to-go computer network and access to the Internet -- that they hope they can use to quickly set up relief operations after future…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Events Seek to ‘Demystify’ Open-Source Software
A series of events this spring will bring together charity technology employees, consultants, and software developers to discuss the potential -- and the challenges -- of developing open-source software. “We want to demystify open-source software for nonprofit organizations,” says Katrin Verclas,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Global Video Conferences Bring Students Together
Global Nomads Group, in New York, is harnessing the power of video and satellite technology to bring American students together with their peers in hot spots around the world. This month the organization is linking students in New York with students in Columbo, Sri Lanka, for a series of three…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Web Site Offers Access to Federal Data
A new online database makes it easy for nonprofit organizations to get information about federal spending and local statistics that might influence their work. The National Priorities Project Database provides data from 1983 to the present in the categories of basic demographic information,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
EBay Will Donate Some Auction Fees
Ebay, the popular online auction site where people can buy or sell a John Deere tractor, a Prada handbag, and just about anything else, has announced that it will donate the fees it charges on auctions that benefit charity. For example, if a camera listed on eBay’s Giving Works section sold for…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: MIT To Host “Grassroots Use of Technology” Conference
A conference called “Grassroots Use of Technology” will be held April 16 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge. The meeting is sponsored by the Organizers’ Collaborative, a group that promotes the use of computers and the Internet as tools for activism. For more information: Go…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Domestic-Abuse Advocates Receive Technology Training
The same technology that can help a woman in a violent relationship seek help -- such as cell phones, e-mail, and the Internet -- can also be misused by abusers and aid their attempts to harass and terrorize their victims. To help decrease the harm women suffer from such harassment, the Wireless…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Online Retailer Offers Charity Innovation Award
Amazon.com has announced a new award to honor nonprofit organizations that are taking innovative approaches to solving problems. Charities will be evaluated on the urgency and relevancy of the problem they seek to solve, the creativity of the strategies they employ, and their record of results.…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Technology Leaders Meet in Chicago
The Nonprofit Technology Conference, which drew 650 charity technology officials, consultants, and companies last year, will take place March 23-25 in Chicago. The meeting grew out of the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network Roundup and the e-Philanthropy Conference, which were combined for the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Computer Recycling Hits Many Obstacles
A new report, “Islands in the Wastestream,” analyzes the field of nonprofit computer refurbishers, the benefits of computer reuse, and the obstacles holding the field back. Published by CompuMentor, a technology charity in San Francisco, the report says nonprofit programs that refurbish discarded…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Technology Coalition Shares Patented Approaches
A group of technology and consulting companies that work with nonprofit organizations has agreed to share any business procedures to which the companies hold exclusive rights. Members of the new Nonprofit Innovation Alliance have agreed to pool current and future “business-method patents” -- which…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Organizations With Ties to South Asia Pitch In With Fund-Raising Drives
Schools, religious congregations, community groups, and many other organizations across the United States are ALSO SEE:SPECIAL REPORT: Rebuilding Nature’s Ruin raising money and collecting supplies to help the victims of the South Asia tsunamis. Last week Leo Michael and two members of his church…
By nicole lewis
Contributor
Innovation –Â and a Personal Touch –Â Get Priority at New Charities
The hundreds of thousands of charities created in the past decade cater to a vast array of social needs. ALSO SEE:SPECIAL REPORT: America’s Charity BoomPhoto Essay But most of the groups have at least one thing in common: founders who are passionate about their desire to pioneer new approaches and…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
IRS Asks Organizations Seeking Charity Status to Supply More Details
As the number of groups seeking charity status has soared in the past decade, the Internal Revenue Service has struggled to keep up. More than 90,000 groups applied for charity status in 2003, the most recent year for which data are available, up from about 60,000 in 1993. Even though demand for…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor