Web Site Promotes New Holiday Tradition
Rather than heading to the mall the day after Thanksgiving, a group of volunteers plans to spend the day helping the causes they care about -- and they’re using e-mail and the Internet to ask America to join them. The volunteers call their effort Giving Day, and they hope the idea will catch on and…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: Computer Security, Technology-Assistance Group Membership, and Diversifying Arts Organizations
The October 22 issue of NetAction Notes outlines computer-security basics for nonprofit organizations. Topics discussed include virus protection, firewalls, procedures to back up information, and security measures for e-mail lists and other computer files. NetAction is a San Francisco organization…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Charities Get Advice on Marketing Pacts
Charities can turn to a new online resource for advice on marketing partnerships with corporations. Mission & Market, which was created by Independent Sector, an association of charities and grant makers, provides facts and figures on marketing relationships between charities and companies,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
8 Charities Win Software Grants
The Microsoft Corporation, in Redmond, Wash., has awarded more than $7.6-million in software to eight nonprofit organizations through its Technology Leadership Grant program. The largest grant, $2.7-million in software, was awarded to the National Urban League, in New York. The league currently…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Technology Program Adds New Locations
Strategic Technology helps nonprofit executives assist one another and develop technology plans for their organizations. Now the program, which started in New England, is expanding to other cities. Last fall, nonprofit organizations in Springfield and Worcester, Mass., participated in the first…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: Job Openings by E-Mail, and an Archive of Politicians’ Promises
A new e-mail notification service publicizes job openings in nonprofit technology. It is run by Deborah Elizabeth Finn of TechFoundation, in Cambridge, Mass. To subscribe: Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nonprofit_Tech_Jobs. The California Voter Foundation has added an Archive of Campaign…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Reports EvaluateTechnology Tools
Several organizations have published reports about nonprofit technology issues: PolicyLink, a research organization in Oakland, Calif., says in a report that if technology is to strengthen poor neighborhoods, organizations working to bridge the digital divide need to expand their efforts beyond…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Online Course Offered for Charity Managers
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, a nonprofit organization in San Francisco that provides management assistance to other charities, has introduced its first online course, “Budgeting for Programs and Proposals.” The course features interactive learning exercises and is designed so that students can…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
74 Organizations Awarded Federal Technology Grants
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Technology Opportunities Program has awarded grants totaling $42.8-million to 74 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
A conference entitled “The Power of the Internet to Expand Giving, Volunteering, and Community Building” will be held September 24 and 25 in McLean, Va. The meeting is being run by several organizations, including Independent Sector, the AOL Time Warner Foundation, and the Verizon Foundation. For…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Distiller Marks Anniversary With Charity Auction
It’s not every day that a company celebrates its 200th anniversary, so the people at Chivas Brothers are doing it up big with an online auction of decadent luxury items, celebrity encounters, and travel adventures. Proceeds from the auction will benefit charities around the world. The company,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Summer Camp Trains Blind in Computer Skills
Young people who are blind or otherwise visually impaired got the chance to learn how to build Web sites and repair computer hardware in a series of technology camps held by Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind this summer. The Washington charity held two two-week camps for middle-school students, as…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Animal Group Wins Case Against Parody Site
A federal appeals court upheld a lower-court ruling that a former Internet entrepreneur must surrender the Web address peta.org to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals because his use of the address violated the organization’s trademark. In 1995, Michael T. Doughney reserved the Internet…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: New Information Online About Charity Fund Raising and Management
Independent Sector has published a report that offers highlights from its spring research forum on nonprofit technology. Among the topics discussed: the technology gap between large and small organizations, characteristics of charities that are successfully using technology in their work, and the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Charities Win Honors in Web-Awards Program
By NICOLE WALLACENonprofit organizations made a strong showing at the 2001 Webby Awards with charity Web sites taking top honors in seven categories. Given by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, an association for online-communication professionals, the Webbys honor Internet…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Football Star Helps Raise Money Online
Emmitt Smith has his work cut out for him. This season the Dallas Cowboys running back will be chasing the National Football League’s all-time rushing record, and he has also set a goal of helping schools, sports teams, and other youth organizations raise more than $22-million over the Internet in…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor