X Prize Launches $7 Million Contest to Find Ways to Teach More Adults to Read
The competition, started with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, is seeking creative approaches using tablets and smartphones.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Data and Behavioral Science Key New Wave of Poverty Programs
The Wall Street Journal reports on the growing “randomista” movement of poverty experts and campaigners embracing experimental, data-driven programs to help poor and indebted people save more and achieve financial stability.
Carnival Launching New Cruise Line for Volunteer Trips
The cruise company will begin offering voyages to the Dominican Republic next year tailored for travelers more interested in service work than sightseeing, the Associated Press reports.
‘Investment Club’ of Foundations Pays Off for Nonprofits
Per Scholas, a work-force training organization in the South Bronx, is among the beneficiaries of a unique arrangement in which participating grant makers play a more active role in program-related investment decisions.
By Alex Daniels
Contributor
A Famed Business Accelerator Opens the Door to Nonprofit Start-Ups
Y Combinator applies its business principles to support people seeking to solve the world’s problems.
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
A Nonprofit Scraps Top Executive Post in Favor of 4 Leaders
A California charity copes with turnover at the top by eliminating the executive role altogether.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Silicon Valley vs. Philanthropy
Charities are clamoring for the support of tech moguls, whose elusive giving patterns may fundamentally change the nonprofit world.
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Q&A: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Embedded Reporter
Journalist Ricky O’Bannon says the role has allowed him to experiment and tell stories about classical music, not just sell tickets.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Science-Education Nonprofit Adopts Venture-Capital Approach
100kin10 launches its fellowship program, bringing grant seekers together to hone their ideas before they submit applications.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
18 Winners of TheDream.US Scholarships Tell Their Stories
In a photo essay by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the recipients share their thoughts on college and what it’s like to be undocumented students. Two $15-million gifts are kicking off a campaign to raise more for the program.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
New Google Fellowship Pays for Nonprofits to Build Digital Literacy
The Nonprofit Technology Network will handle recruiting and placing experts into yearlong roles at organizations in eight cities.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Contest Aims to Harness Digital Sensing to Aid Poor
Unicef and ARM, a British firm that makes widely used microprocessors for smartphones and tablets, are leading a new effort to develop high-tech personal devices that could improve health and education for poor people around the world, The New York Times writes.
Study: Less Than Half of Foundations Use Impact Investing
About 85 percent of the CEOs surveyed said financial returns were the most important consideration.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Oxfam Aims Nepal Appeal at Big N.Y. ‘Net Conference
With Nepal reeling from another major earthquake, the aid charity is looking to maximize relief giving with mobile advertisements targeting some 50,000 digital-savvy participants at a New York tech gathering next week, Mashable writes.
A Japanese Charity’s American Debut
Ashinaga, Vassar College, and a Tony-Award-winning director — all united in an odd twist by a 1912 children’s book — will promote the nonprofit’s education mission, and its new American office, in a musical production in New York and Washington.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Dana-Farber Naming Bargains Raise Millions from Small Donors
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has turned several spaces at its Boston complex into opportunities for $3,000 to $10,000 naming gifts, buttressing its pursuit of the big-money donations that make up most medical philanthropy, The Boston Globe writes.