Bits: KickStart.com Shuts Down

By NICOLE WALLACE

• KickStart.com, a Web site that allowed shoppers to designate a portion of their online purchases to charity, discontinued its service August 10. In an e-mail message sent to people who had registered with the site, the Denver company said: “The ability of Internet companies to find funding has changed significantly in the past three months. KickStart.com has unfortunately been severely affected by this change in the industry and, therefore, must take our site down.”
• The University of Michigan Office of Development has assumed responsibility for maintaining the Women in Philanthropy Web site. The site — which provides a bibliography of articles, dissertations, books, and reports on women and philanthropy, as well as a list of large gifts given by female donors — was created by Ann Castle, a former fund raiser at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., who died in February. To get there: Go to http://www.women-philanthropy.umich.edu.
• Chardon Press, publisher of Grassroots Fundraising Journal, has added the Nonprofit Forum to its Web site. The Web-based message board is designed to give non-profit employees at small, progressive organizations the opportunity to discuss fund raising, management, and advocacy. To get there: Go to http://www.chardonpress.com/npforum/forums.shtml.