Tech Museum Names 2003 Award Winners
Four nonprofit organizations and one company were honored by the Tech Museum of Innovation for their creative use of technology to benefit society. The nonprofit winners, who each received $50,000, were: Equal Access, in San Francisco, which uses digital satellite radio and solar technology to…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: Surdna Foundation Awards $750,000 to CompuMentor
The Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, in San Francisco, a national organization for individuals, charities, and businesses that provide technology assistance to nonprofit groups, plans to hold regional technology conferences in Washington on October 23, in Boston November 5-6, and in Phoenix…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
A New Information Source for Community Groups
Community-development organizations looking for management information have a new Web site to which they can turn. The Living Cities Milano Mix: Management Information Exchange provides articles, sample documents, and other information on such topics as how to motivate employees, resolve conflicts,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Foundations Surveyed on Technology Use
Large foundations are more likely to employ technology specialists and devote a higher percentage of their budgets to technology than their smaller counterparts, according to a new report. The study was based on data from 315 foundations and was conducted jointly by the Technology Affinity Group…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Federal Program Awards $13.95-Million
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Technology Opportunities Program has awarded grants totaling $13.95-million to 28 nonprofit organizations and state and local governments. Since 1994, the program has awarded grants for innovative technology projects in education, health care, economic development,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Nonprofit Advocacy Is Focus of New Site
By Nicole Wallace Charities that want to know more about nonprofit advocacy can turn to a new Web site. NPAction.org features articles, advice, and news about activism and the laws and regulations governing charity lobbying and voter education. The site also provides contact information for the…
Activists Encouraged to Use Video Testimonials
By Nicole Wallace A Washington research organization thinks that charities have yet to fully harness the potential of the Internet for advocacy -- and it is promoting a new approach that it hopes will better take advantage of what the medium has to offer. Russell E. Morgan Jr., president of the…
Project Seeks to Translate Web Sites Into Spanish
By Nicole Wallace To help Spanish speakers gain access to the breadth of information available on the Internet, the IBM Corporation, in Armonk, N.Y., is working closely with Hispanic organizations to develop software that translates information written in English into Spanish. “Despite the fact…
On September 25, NPower NY, a nonprofit organization that provides technology assistance to other charities, will hold a seminar on how charities can encourage their employees to be more conscientious about computer security. For more information: Go to http://www.npowerny.org. On October 21, the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Web Site OffersTechnology Discounts
A new Web site provides discounted hardware, software, and technology services to nonprofit organizations. TechMarketplace is a project of TechFoundation, a Cambridge, Mass., charity that was founded in 2001 to improve nonprofit organizations’ access to information technology. Among the products…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Cisco Grant Provides Voice Mail for Homeless
The Cisco Systems Foundation, in San Jose, Calif., has awarded a five-year, $2.5-million grant to Community Voice Mail, a charity in Seattle that works with social-service organizations in 37 cities to provide free voice mail to people who do not have telephone service. In addition to the cash…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Software Aims to Speed Relief Efforts
After a disaster, one of the biggest challenges relief organizations face is getting supplies to where they are needed, often under chaotic circumstances. New software aims to streamline that task by connecting all the players in the supply chain. The Fritz Institute, a San Francisco nonprofit…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Human-Rights Activists Have Source on Internet
A new Web site offers practical information for human-rights activists in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The Human Rights Connection provides advice and case studies on how to work with the news media, plan an advocacy campaign, and use technology. The site is operated by three New York…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Newspapers Read on Public Television
The Reading Service of the Redwoods, an all-volunteer organization in Eureka, Calif., that uses television to make local newspapers accessible to area residents with vision problems or other disabilities that make reading difficult, has started broadcasting live. Since 1998, Eureka’s public…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Online Donation Site Starts Charging Fees
Network for Good -- an Internet site that allows donors to contribute to any charity in the United States -- has made a significant change in its operation: Instead of passing the entire donation to the nonprofit group, it has started to deduct a 3-percent processing fee from contributions it…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Volunteer Network Gets $1.1-Million Grant
CityCares, a network of 31 charities that organize short-term volunteer projects, has received a $1.1-million grant from the Omidyar Foundation, a fund in Palo Alto, Calif., created by the founder of the eBay online auction site and his wife. More than $600,000 of the grant will go toward the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor