Case Foundation Blog Posts by sokuntheas

Nonprofit Jobs: Interview with Idealist.org's Ami Dar and Meg Busse

sokuntheas — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:24:30 +0000

Ami Dar is founder and executive director of Idealist.org and Meg Busse directs their Career Transitions Programs. Look for additional posts from Idealist.org over the next month, as they will be contributing their own mini-series as part of this Nonprofit Job series with advice on working in the nonprofit sector.

Sokunthea: It’s March 2010 and as I've mentioned before, it seems like the overall job market still looks bleak. What have you witnessed in terms of the nonprofit job market?

Ami: Using our job listing rates as an informal market gauge for nonprofit jobs, 2010 is looking better than 2009. When the stock market crashed in the fall of 2008, our job listings decreased by nearly 50%, stayed down through the first half of 2009 and started recovering slowly towards the end of the year. In January and February of 2010, job listings were up 20% compared to the same period in 2009.

The job market is still challenging, and we anticipate it will take a while longer for us to reach our pre-crisis listing levels, but the posting rates for the beginning of 2010 are encouraging.

Sokunthea: That is encouraging to know that there is an increase in job listings. How about on the job seeker side, have you seen a change in the number of people looking for nonprofit jobs - those looking to switch sectors, new graduates looking for their first jobs?

Meg: There's been a growing number of people looking to create a career in the nonprofit sector, from recent grads seeking careers that merge passion and paycheck, to mid-career professionals who have either been laid off or are unhappy in their current job, to baby boomers who either can't or aren't ready to retire just yet. Nonprofit jobs can offer flexible, mission-focused opportunities that allow anyone to take on a new challenge (or several!) while developing and utilizing a wide range of skills.

With the current economy and the increased interest in careers that have a social impact, there are plenty of people looking for nonprofit jobs. But there are even more people looking for ANY job. In order to stand out from the latter group as well as create a job search that is manageable and efficient, job seekers need to know their options and be able to articulate what they want. A great way to do this is to try the short, nonprofit-focused self-assessment exercises in The Idealist Guides. These will help job seekers move from thinking, "I want to work in a nonprofit" to being able to gain a much clearer understanding of why this type of work interests them and what their options are.

Sokunthea: Interesting, do you have other key pieces of advice for individuals looking to land a nonprofit job?

Meg: Along with self-assessment, networking is also key to finding out more about the sector and hearing about jobs that may never be posted. However, the traditional networking events aren't the best way to network. Instead, try volunteering or doing informational interviews. By volunteering, not only do job seekers gain valuable experience to put on their resume, get to know people in the sector, demonstrate their value and skills to potential employers, but they also are able to get a sense for whether this is really the type of work they're interested in doing before they commit to a full-time position. Informational interviews are similar in that they offer an opportunity to connect with people doing interesting work and hear the inside scoop on a broad range of nonprofit jobs. Informational interviews are also a great way to cultivate a stronger network, as at the end of each interview, it's easy to ask if the person can suggest a few other people who would good to talk with. Voila! New connections, conversations, and opportunities.

And while the economy is not as conducive to quickly creating that ideal job in the nonprofit sector right now, this is the ideal time to begin cultivating a stronger network, exploring the diverse range of nonprofit careers, and demonstrating commitment to an issue or cause. This way, when that great job does come along - whether by word of mouth or posted on Idealist.org - all of the pieces are in place to seize the opportunity and create that exciting new nonprofit career.

Sokunthea: To people who only know Idealist.org as a job search site, what else should they know about your organization to be able to take full advantage of what is offered?

Ami: At Idealist, our goal has always been to help people turn their good intentions into action. It's true that connecting people to nonprofit jobs has been a huge part of this – but we also do it by helping like-minded people find one another; by helping groups find volunteers to help achieve their projects; by creating blogs, podcasts, and resources that help to spread good ideas; and so on. Folks can sign up for free email alerts and get information nightly about events, programs, volunteer opportunities, internships, and yes, jobs, that match their areas of interest and skill sets.

In November we launched the Idealist Network (tagline: Imagine, Connect, Act), helping people around the world move from intention to action, online and in person. As part of this, we recently conducted a survey asking the members of the Network to think of a moment in their lives when they had an idea or wanted to take action on any issue, but didn't do it. We wondered what stopped them, and what would have helped them at that point.

More than 500 people responded to the survey, and the breadth of answers was astounding – the obstacles to action that people described range far beyond the predictable "money" and "time." There is a lot we can do to help people overcome these barriers, and we are excited to begin! You can read more about the survey on the Idealist Network blog, or view the raw data here.

More about Ami and Meg:
Ami Dar is the founder and executive director of Idealist.org. He is an Ashoka Fellow and currently serves on the boards of the Nonprofit Finance Fund and Allforgood.org. Meg Busse directs Idealist's Career Transitions Programs. She is co-author of The Idealist Guide to Nonprofit Careers, a free-for-download guide for people looking to break into the sector, and serves on the National Board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network.

Do you have an awesome nonprofit video? Nominate it for a DoGooder award!

sokuntheas — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:43:29 +0000

Did your nonprofit organization create a video in 2009? If so, enter it into the 4th Annual DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards for the chance to win $2,500 for your nonprofit, get your video featured on the YouTube homepage, receive great prizes from Flip Video and NTEN, and have your work showcased at a screening in Washington DC, hosted by Nomadsland.

The Case Foundation is excited to be a sponsor of the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards, presented by See3 Communications and YouTube.

Submissions close on March 19, at which point, a set of nonprofit and media professionals (including Guy Kawasaki, Gary Vaynerchuk and Beth Kanter) will select 16 finalists to compete in a public vote among the YouTube community. Winners will be announced on April 10 at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in Atlanta.

The categories for submission are:

Best small organization video
Best medium organization video
Best large organization video
Best innovation in video

For more information, check out today's press release, watch the video below, follow what's happening on Twitter (#npvideo), or go straight to www.youtube.com/nonprofitvideoawards.

Nonprofit Jobs: Advice for millennials from Social Citizens

sokuntheas — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:32:51 +0000

Last week's guest post by John Bridgeland addressed a very important segment of our unemployed population - millennials. As referenced in his post, four million young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 are unemployed! Kari Saratovsky and Kristin Ivie have written some great posts on our Social Citizens blog that provide additional resources for millennials looking for work in the nonprofit sector. Make sure to check them out!

In Millennials Looking for More than Just a Job, Kari suggests fellowship opportunities as a way for people to combine meaningful work and making a social impact:

...we are witnessing what many believe to be the beginning of a new era of problem solving and social entrepreneurship – as Millennials demonstrate that it’s not just one sector that will help solve some of our most challenging social problems, but rather a look at blending sectors and structures to create meaningful impact ... we thought we’d ... bring attention to some of the opportunities being offered to the Millennial Generation for fellowship programs here at home and abroad.

And, in Kristin's post, Millennials: Congrats on Your Degree, Welcome to Unemployment, she offers job search resources for people who are looking for more than just a paycheck:

Many are looking at their next chapter as a time for self exploration. They’re trying to find meaning in their jobs and are delaying the traditional workforce to join programs like AmeriCorps - or heading overseas to teach English in a developing country. They’re leveraging technology to innovate and create new solutions to complex environmental and social problems. Gen Y is seen as ambitious and hopeful. But they are also debt ridden and anxious.

Read their posts for more details.

Nonprofit Jobs: Perspectives and advice on where to find them and how to land them

sokuntheas — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:05:22 +0000

2010 has just begun and already we've seen numerous reports that the job market is still looking, well ... bleak.

It's hard not to describe it this way when the headlines from major news outlets are describing the job outlook in these terms - Economy still bleeding jobs (Wall Street Journal), Job outlook for 2010 grads: still stinks (CNN Money), and Grim job outlook turns bleaker (MSNBC).

But, what does this mean for the nonprofit sector and its 1.8 million nonprofit organizations, or, to look at it another way, 1.8 million employers? There's no doubt that the economic challenges have hit funding to the nonprofit sector hard, thus affecting their operations and resulting in loss of jobs as well. However, the nonprofit sector is one that is known for being scrappy and finding a way to continue forward with advancing their missions in the face of adversity.

It is heartening to see that in spite of the poor economic outlook, the sector continues to express a lot of positivity and hope. In contrast to the headlines above, there are also ones such as Patrick Sallee's article, 5 reasons why NOW is the best time ever to be working in the nonprofit sector, and other messages of turning a seemingly bleak situation into productive progress. For example in an article on the Huffington Post, Put service on steroids, John Bridgeland and Bruce Reed constructively assert that service among millennials is an important part of the solution to our nation's unemployment problems:

As America struggles to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the nation's top priority is finding jobs for the 10 percent of men and women out of work. An even more staggering figure often gets lost in the debate: four million unemployed people between the ages of 16 and 24, and record teen unemployment of 27%. If the U.S. wants to make a real dent in unemployment, young people are the place to start - and a sweeping call to national service may be the answer.

With the private sector short on certainty and Washington short on cash, creating jobs isn't easy these days. That's why targeting young people makes so much sense. Not only are jobless youth in ample supply, but they're cheap to hire, they're eager to serve, and a national network of non-profits and service organizations already exists to put them to work.

As individuals think about their next jobs and careers, whether they are already in the nonprofit sector or looking to make a switch into it, the sector and its 1.8 million employers have much to offer and much to gain from the talent that's out there. That's why over the next months, we will feature a variety of leadership perspectives on employment in the nonprofit sector, such as that of John Bridgeland and Bruce Reed's above, as well as highlight resources that can help individuals with their nonprofit job search and careers.

To start, here are three resources that we find incredibly helpful:

What are other nonprofit career resources have you found useful? Look out for an interview with Ami Dar, CEO of Idealist.org, next week!

HOPE in Haiti

sokuntheas — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:38:12 +0000

Alongside the stories of devastation and trauma due to the recent earthquake in Haiti are stories of personal and community strength, compassion and hope. It has been heartening to see the world - including individuals, businesses and institutions, governments, and the nonprofit community - rally to help this country in distress through the rapid pace and significant amount of dollars raised for relief efforts.

Yesterday, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that over the past 13 days, donors have contributed more than $470 million to relief efforts in Haiti, with the record-breaking success of online and text to give campaigns and celebrity telethons. These dollars went to 39 U.S. nonprofit groups. These organizations are doing amazing work fundraising, sending relief, and working on the ground.

One of the nonprofits on the list is Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere). Project HOPE's mission is "to achieve sustainable advances in health care around the world by implementing health education programs and providing humanitarian assistance in areas of need."

We recently received the note below from their President and CEO, Dr. John P. Howe, III, with an update on the progress they are making in Haiti. We know there are many other messages of hope and progress such as this one, so please share them by commenting on this post.

I want to give you a quick update on some of the work Project HOPE has undertaken in the past few days to help address the overwhelming disaster in Haiti. I hope you’ll be inspired as I am.

The USNS Comfort arrived off the coast of Port-au-Prince on Wednesday. Dr. Harold Timboe, HOPE Chief Medical Officer assisted the Navy’s medical staff in caring for the first 60 Haitian patients to be admitted to the 1,000-bed floating hospital ship.

Also, HOPE volunteer Dr. Larry Ronan from the Massachusetts General Hospital assisted Navy personnel to identify a location for a 150-bed Expeditionary Medical Facility in Haiti.

Within the next 24 hours, we hope to receive final U.S. Navy approval to immediately deploy the first 50 HOPE medical volunteers.

Two HOPE Gift-in-Kind logistics specialists have been in the Dominican Republic and Haiti this week establishing transportation routes to pulse in much need medicines and medical supplies to hospitals on the border of the two countries and to rural hospitals outside of Port-au-Prince.

More than $1 million of medical supplies are already secure in a warehouse operated by long-time HOPE partner Order of Malta in Santo Domingo. During the past two days, some of the medical supplies, such as bandages, braces, wraps and pain relief medicine, have been shipped to hospitals and clinics in the border town of Jimani where several thousand Haitian refugees have fled for relief.

Within the next 12 hours, another shipment of medicines and medical supplies valued at more than $1 million will leave the HOPE Distribution Center in Winchester, Va., for the Dominican Republic.

HOPE’s Director of Women’s and Children’s Health, Ruth Madison, is in Haiti today, to solidify partnerships with three hospitals that will be potential sites for HOPE volunteers and gift-in-kind. The three hospitals are: Sacre Coeur Hospital, Milo, Haiti (special thanks to Steve and Deb Rusckowski for their assistance); The Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Deschapelles, Haiti; and Jimani Hospital, Jimani, Dominican Republic.

In the first week of outreach, corporations have donated and committed over $600,000 in cash for HOPE’s relief effort. In addition to outright gifts, companies are generating funds through workplace and online giving campaigns, and special matching employee gift campaigns. Among the companies and associations that have made generous cash commitments: Alcon, American Medical Association, AT&T, Baxter International, BB&T, BD, DeVisscher, Eli Lilly, Ferring, Fulbright & Jaworski, General Dynamics, Hanger Orthopedics, Merck, Millipore, Quest Diagnostics, SpencerStuart and SRA International.

The situation in Haiti is desperate. Now, more than ever, is a time for HOPE. As you can see from the examples above, HOPE is making a difference in Haiti.

CECP: What do you expect of business in solving social problems?

sokuntheas — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:15:22 +0000

This season's issue of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP)'s publication, The Corporate Philanthropist, is out and available online and in PDF. Each issue focuses on different areas of corporate philanthropy, and this current Winter 2010 issue provides different perspectives from industry executives, leaders and experts on the question:

What do you expect of business in solving social problems, now and in the future?

Here are some key thoughts and insights gleaned from the issue. Go to CECP for their full opinion pieces.

An Investor Perspective from Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., President & CEO, TIAA-CREF:

We need to appreciate that efforts to “do well by doing good” can have strategic relevance for all businesses by reducing risk, enhancing corporate reputation and competitive position, and providing opportunities for growth. By encouraging businesses to adopt a more rational, long-term approach, we can enhance financial security. Individuals need similar help and guidance.

A Global Policy Perspective from Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations:

The relative importance of business in society has increased as companies have grown and merged, as governments in Washington and elsewhere have become financially stretched, and as globalization has raised the salience of economic issues. Businesses have on-the-ground knowledge from their global presence. And contributions from the private sector are needed in developing the technologies and deploying the resources to meet this era’s principal challenges, from terrorism and climate change to pandemic disease and poverty.

A Humanitarian Perspective from Raymond Offenheiser, President, Oxfam America:

For Oxfam, best practices begin with efforts to engage and be accountable to corporate stakeholders—affected communities, consumers, farmers, and workers. To these ends, Oxfam calls on companies to:

Make clear, public commitments to human rights and sustainability.

Take responsibility for the full “sphere of influence.

Measure, evaluate, and report.

Innovate new solutions.

A Foreign Leader Perspective from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia:

My government’s commitment to a robust private sector is starting to pay off. Critical infrastructure, such as roads and electricity, is improving. The strengthened business climate is reflected in the fact that Liberia has been one of the fastest improving performers on the World Bank’s Doing Business Survey over the last three years. And a recent report from Transparency International shows significant progress in the fight against corruption. As government strives to do its part, we remain acutely aware that it’s the private sector that will ultimately determine whether we reach our goal of rapid, inclusive, and sustainable growth.

An International Advocacy Perspective from Kevin J. Jenkins, President & CEO, World Vision:

Our human history holds plenty of paradoxes. There have always been the wealthy and the powerful alongside the poor and the vulnerable. Nations have risen and fallen. New forms of governance and power structures have evolved over time... World Vision proposes that the next revolution must involve “convergence,” a new form of collaboration and cooperation between civil society, government, and the private sector. A convergence model allows the major players to cooperate early on by identifying mutual goals and sharing analyses and concepts; then they continue collaborating to provide resources and technology for mutually beneficial solutions.

A Consumer Perspective from Jack Leslie, Chairman, Weber Shandwick:

Why does trust keep falling when so many companies are adopting strong corporate social responsibility policies? The fact is that trust in most institutions has declined, and Americans increasingly expect companies to act responsibly. It’s become table stakes, particularly for well-known brands... The most successful companies of the future will match their skill sets to social needs and create legions of advocates in the process. For business, it turns out that doing the right thing is doing the smart thing.

A Civil Society Perspective from Diana Aviv, President & CEO, Independent Sector:

Many businesses have used their corporate foundations, social responsibility programs, and outreach efforts to help create a climate that fosters a positive view of their firm. Such activities are welcome and encouraged for sure. Equally, if not more important, is recognizing and acting on the fundamental principle that it is in the best interest of business to attend to the larger environment in which it operates. Being a good corporate citizen is one thing; building communities in which people thrive and work to their maximum potential is another... Perhaps one of the most effective ways to create wealth for shareholders and stakeholders is for a business to leverage its powerful assets – innovation, efficiency, and creativity among them – to improve human lives and the world in which we live. Doing so reflects not only enlightened self-interest, but sound business practice.

A Private Foundation Perspective from Luis Ubiñas, President, Ford Foundation:

Many of the issues the Ford Foundation strives to impact have substantive implications for businesses around the world and could benefit from their constructive engagement. These goals include ensuring that societies remain stable by encouraging democratic values and challenging corruption and abuse... Our society and societies around the world face challenges of an unprecedented scale and complexity. To address this new generation of challenges, we need to come together with a shared sense of responsibility and a renewed sense of patriotism.

A Corporate Strategy Perspective from Lenny Mendonca, Director, McKinsey & Company:

It is demonstrably clear that success of the economy and society, as well as the corporations that operate within them, is determined in great part by their collective effectiveness in solving the most pressing problems. The health of each is shaped by the skills generated by our education system, the quality of our water and air, and even the sustainability of our pension programs... External shocks, the likes of which we have just experienced, rarely arise without warning. Many threats to business arrive after considerable indications of a coming storm. Leaders whose strategies embed and build the capability to sense, shape, and prepare for long-term horizon risks and opportunities are better positioned to handle the trends that will hurt their competitors. This is the mandate for winning business strategies for the future.

E-cycle in DC this Saturday

sokuntheas — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:04:39 +0000

I’m still on a kick of cleaning and organizing from New Year’s Eve (traditionally Scottish culture welcomes a new year by having one’s household appear the way you hope it will be for the remaining 364 days; warm, full of food and drink and clean!). So I was very excited to see a retweet about E-cyling from @aklundy letting folks know about @goinggreendc’s latest blog post Out with the Old: Recycle Your Old Electronics.

Certain Whole Foods shops in the DC Metro area are accepting electronic items for recycling this Saturday from 10am-3pm. Since recycling electronics can be costly and complicated I’m thrilled to take advantage of this simple and free fix. Have a look in your office/home and see if you have any electronic items languishing that you’d do well to start 2010 without!

Application deadline extended: It's not too late to intern with us this Spring!

sokuntheas — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:34:45 +0000

We are looking for energetic and talented college students with a passion for civic engagement and philanthropy to join us for the spring semester as interns at The Case Foundation. If you or someone you know fits the bill, please read on or forward the job description below!

Internships at the Case Foundation offer college students invaluable resume building work experience and networking opportunities! Not only will Interns work closely with members of the Case Foundation team and have the opportunity to learn about and contribute to many aspects of our business, but they also get to interact with our partner organizations and participate in events that feature leaders in the community.

Job Responsibilities:
Interns are a valued part of our team will handle a variety of projects to support the Foundation's mission of investing in big ideas that can change the world. They will support our social innovation programs, social media strategy and office operations on a range of tasks including, but not limited to:

Conduct research and prepare reports or write posts for Foundation blog
Assist with grant administration tasks
Perform project-specific outreach to nonprofit and other external partners
Assist with special event planning and organization
Contribute and help maintain/enhance social media and networking presence
Assist in blogger outreach
Perform project-specific marketing and communications outreach
Help with online photo gallery, video gallery and image search needs
Support team administrative needs, when needed (including data entry, filing, mass mailings, schedule coordination and taking and preparing meeting notes)

Job Requirements:

Undergraduate and graduate college students
Ability to commit at least 15 hours per week (flexible structure, either broken out into 2 or 3 days per week)
Excellent written, oral and interpersonal communication skills is a must, as successful candidate will work both internally with Foundation colleagues and externally with applicants and grantees from diverse populations and communities
Interest in and ability to work in both a team environment and alone with minimal direction
Demonstrated personal computer skills, including basic troubleshooting and use of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and the willingness to learn other software tools
Demonstrated use and comfort navigating Web 2.0 sites and tools, including blogs, social networks, video and photo sharing, etc.
Interest in building capacity in underserved communities and championing individuals, nonprofits and social enterprises that connect people, increase giving and catalyze civic action

Compensation:
This is an unpaid internship. The Foundation does offer transportation reimbursement.

To Apply:
Please email resume and cover letter to contactus [at] casefoundation [dot] org, using the subject line: “Spring Internship” by January 22nd. We will only contact candidates who will be asked to come in for interviews.

AGC Success Stories: Challenge winners get creative with video

sokuntheas — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:30:54 +0000

Recently, we announced the winners of the 2009 America’s Giving Challenge. These winners - and all of the Giving Challenge participants - have unique and amazing stories to tell, not only about the work they’re doing, but also how they were able to motivate and rally their networks to support them during the Challenge. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll highlight some of those stories and outreach strategies, so others may be able to learn from them.

One fun and effective technique used by many of the Challenge participants is video. As Michael Hoffman of See3 Communications wrote in his recent guest post on sustainable nonprofit video strategies:

There is something magical about video. Video brings your supporters into the world you live everyday; it lets people share the work you’re doing in their own communities; it can even turn a stale issue on its head. But video shouldn’t be magic—it should be strategic.

Two organizations that stand out with their savvy use of online videos to promote their participation and encourage supporters to donate during America's Giving Challenge are Atlas Corps and Darius Goes West, both $10,000 award winners. Of course, they had other strategies that were crucial to their success, such as those detailed in this Chronicle of Philanthropy interview with Scott Beale of Atlas Corps.

Atlas Corps is an organization that is described as a reverse “Peace Corps” and brings talented individuals from abroad to the US. Scott, the founder and CEO, started using videos to promote their participation early on in the competition to get people ready for the Challenge, throughout for support, and then a final rally push. For those who paid attention at all to the Giving Challenge this year, it's hard not to have heard about the Atlas Corps “captain” who pledged via video to ride his bike 30 miles from Washington DC to Great Falls in his underwear if he could get 100 unique donations to the cause. Of course, they did, and he did. The video of his ride had 339 views as of today!

Darius Goes West not only had creative use of video to promote and encourage participation, but video is at the heart of their organization's fundraising strategy. Darius Goes West is focused on finding treatments and a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). They created a documentary about Darius, who has DMD, and his cross-country adventure to raise awareness; the organziation's main fundraising goal for the year was to sell 1 million DVDs, with proceeds benefitting the cause.

Clearly an organization that understands the value of video, they also used humor to spur support for the Challenge with this video of Darrius and John Madden (ok, it wasn't actually John Madden, just Darrius with a wig, but it's hilarious), and the follow-up one below, which had 597 views as of the last time I checked today! After their success in the Giving Challenge, they went on to participate in the Chase Community Giving Challenge, and of course, created another fun video to promote their participation.

A quick search on YouTube produced the list of videos below of Causes that used video in their participation in the Giving Challenge this year. Did you create a Giving Challenge related video or come across one not on here? If so, add it to this list via comments!

A Place to Bark
Fugees
EARTH University Foundation had many videos both in English and Spanish
Whisker City
Tomorrow’s Youth
PEPY
And, of course, our partners' videos - Parade with Matt Damon and MTV

Congratulations to the Chamber's BCLC Corporate Citizenship Award winners

sokuntheas — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:39:28 +0000

Last night was a big night for corporate citizenship, as the US Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center awarded their annual Corporate Citizenship Awards to businesses that have exemplified ethical leadership and corporate stewardship. It was a great gathering and celebration of businesses from all different industries, such as Intel, UPS, Goldman Sachs, Estee Lauder, and CVS, that all clearly see the value in giving back to the community.

The winners of the night were:

Wegmans won the Corporate Stewardship Award for its commitment to social responsibility; in 2008, in the company and its employees donated 16 million pounds of food for hunger relief, awarded over $67 million in scholarships, and facilitated more than $2 million in customer donations to food banks at their markets;
Abbott won the International Community Service Award for its public-private partnership with the government of Tanzania to improve its health system, including expanding access for HIV testing and treatment;
UPS won the US Community Service Award for its Road Code program that teaches safe driving nationally; and
Chevron and Discovery Global Education won the Partnership Award for their Learning Center Initiative which has established 65 Learning Centers in underserved schools in Africa and South America.

All of the winners and runners up are doing amazing work in their communities nationally and internationally. It was terrific to hear the heartening stories of how these companies care. As they are getting more innovative with how they engage with their communities and nonprofits to create change, BCLC is applying innovative ways to communicate the good work they're doing! It was really fun for me to see how they integrated the use of social media into this year’s awards and event. For the first time ever, the Partnership Award winner was actually selected via a live public online vote via Just Means, a social media platform focused on CSR. More than 20,000 people visited the site and participated! And, at the event, there was live blogging and tweeting using the hashtag #bclcawards.

Want to intern at the Case Foundation during the spring semester?

sokuntheas — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:25:26 +0000

Conduct research and prepare reports or write posts for Foundation blog
Assist with grant administration tasks
Perform project-specific outreach to nonprofit and other external partners
Assist with special event planning and organization
Contribute and help maintain/enhance social media and networking presence
Assist in blogger outreach
Perform project-specific marketing and communications outreach
Help with online photo gallery, video gallery and image search needs
Support team administrative needs, when needed (including data entry, filing, mass mailings, schedule coordination and taking and preparing meeting notes)

Job Requirements:

Undergraduate and graduate college students
Ability to commit at least 15 hours per week (flexible structure, either broken out into 2 or 3 days per week)
Excellent written, oral and interpersonal communication skills is a must, as successful candidate will work both internally with Foundation colleagues and externally with applicants and grantees from diverse populations and communities
Interest in and ability to work in both a team environment and alone with minimal direction
Demonstrated personal computer skills, including basic troubleshooting and use of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and the willingness to learn other software tools
Demonstrated use and comfort navigating Web 2.0 sites and tools, including blogs, social networks, video and photo sharing, etc.
Interest in building capacity in underserved communities and championing individuals, nonprofits and social enterprises that connect people, increase giving and catalyze civic action

Compensation:
This is an unpaid internship. The Foundation does offer transportation reimbursement.

To Apply:
Please email resume and cover letter to contactus [at] casefoundation [dot] org, using the subject line: “Spring Internship” by January 15th. We will only contact candidates who will be asked to come in for interviews.

BlogWorld 2009, perhaps we're no longer bowling alone

sokuntheas — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:39:22 +0000

In her post, Are We Still Bowling Alone?, Jocelyn Harmon poses the questions: "Will online communities help to rebuild our faith and trust in each other? Better yet, will online communities help us to build the social and financial capital we need to change the world?" We're so glad that Joecelyn notes programs like America's Giving Challenge, with its experimentation in using social media to encourage giving, are making headway in answering this question positively, and after this year's BlogWorld, I am convinced the answer to Jocelyn's questions are a resounding yes.

She also goes on to say in her post:

It's true, there may never be a better substitute for in-person organizing. Face-to-face meetings fulfill a basic human need for connection and will always be central to helping us come together to learn about and care for one other. But newer online tools may be just the complement we need to rebuild and galvanize our American spirit of advocacy, volunteerism and giving.

BlogWorld and New Media Expo is an industry-wide conference that has historically left the nonprofit sector out. However this year, Cause Media Group, eBay, and PayPal came together to create a Cause/Activism track, and, it's due time they did! For instance, when I tweeted about this prior to the conference, here's one of the responses I got:

@Michael_Hoffman: Now I wish I was going to BlogWorld. I was there last year, didn't find too much of our kind of stuff, let me know what u find

The Cause/Activism track sessions were fantastic; check out JD Lasica's recap of a session he moderated on Social Brite and Chris Noble of Cause Media Group's Twitter stream for live reporting from the sessions.The integration of this track into conference is a coup in itself, Even more impressive was the cross-industry, cross-sector representation of people involved in these sessions - from large corporations like PayPal and Ebay, to nonprofit representation by organizations like Architecture for Humanity and Alex's Lemonade Stand, to creators of innovative social media campaigns like Amanda Rose/Twestival and Drew Olanoff/Blame Drew's Cancer.

But, the broader conference itself and everyone's support and participation in adopting "beating cancer" as its cause through Beat Cancer Everywhere is what truly shows the progress made in how newer online tools are complementing our offline ability to impact our nation's spirit of giving, volunteerism and civic engagement. For a 24 hour period, real people at the conference - including Don Lemon of CNN and Chris Brogan - encouraged their communities and networks through social media and other online methods to promote the hashtag #BeatCancer to raise money (1 cent per hashtag use donated by eBay, PayPal and Miller Lite) and set a Guinness World Record for social media mentions. By the end of the 24 hour period, the record was set and others were joining in to up the ante and contribute more dollars.

To go back to Jocelyn's questions, I think examples like this are true evidence that online connections are helping to strengthen our communities and mobilize people to take action and make an impact. I look forward to tracking what others think and look forward to other ways causes will be integrated in the mainstream and how online communities and tools will further amplify our personal connections, voices and progress in social good.

A Message from Marguerite Kondracke, President & CEO of America's Promise Alliance

sokuntheas — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:25:52 +0000

Since we launched America's Giving Challenge, we have been delighted to have the support of some of the largest and most effective associations of the nonprofit sector. Organziations like Council on Foundations, Independent Sector and America's Promise Alliance work on a daily basis to ensure their members have the tools, resources and knowledge to successfully serve communities nationwide.

As we talk to these organizations, whate we find the need to inspire nonrprofits to determine new and innovative ways to leverage social media to raise money and reach new audiences is at the core of their interest in the Challenge. Marguerite Kondracke, President & CEO of America's Promise Alliance, recently posted a message on their site about this topic.

She says:

America’s Promise Alliance was built on the foundation of giving – giving our children the resources they need to become successful, productive adults...

Now, we are working to mobilize the nation to cut the high school dropout rate in half by 2018. By achieving this goal, we will ensure that 90% of today’s fourth graders graduate from high school, and with our continued support they will graduate ready for college and the 21st century workforce.

To achieve our “Grad Nation” goal, we must all work together. We must see beyond our silos and realize that we are all working for our common futures and the future of our country. We must also think creatively, reaching new audiences with fresh approaches, tapping into the power of social media to spark change, and collaborating in ways we never have before. When America’s Promise Alliance was asked to become part of America’s Giving Challenge, we jumped at the chance. We know that our country’s economic challenges have made giving more difficult for many individuals and organizations, so it has forced all of us in the non-profit community to value every contribution, no matter the size. In fact, it has forced us to embrace the power of small donations to make a big difference in the life of a child.

To read the rest of her message, go to America's Promise Alliance's website.

We appreciate Marguerite's thoughts and look forward to participation from the America's Promise community.

Video: Ask the Guru with Sarah Koch

sokuntheas — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:17:27 +0000

Our final Gear Up for Giving Ask the Guru session before America's Giving Challenge launches took place today with Sarah Koch from Causes. We were excited to end our series with this session in order to give our audience a chance to ask an expert from Causes, the technology platform for the Giving Challenge, their questions about the tool and how to best leverage it for their fundraising and outreach efforts.

Sarah addressed many questions, including:

Should nonprofits ask their Facebook supporters to join both as a Cause member and a Fan or just use one approach? If both, then should they generate entirely different content for each?
What is a better strategy for getting more dollars and supporters - starting one cause or multiple causes?
how often should I be sending out announcements to members without frustrating them?
how can international organizations benefit or participate?

With the Giving Challenge just days away, the staff as Causes has decided to host a series of webinars to help educate nonprofits on their application in preparation for the Challenge. Make sure to take advantage of this opportunity to learn tips and strategies from people who know the application inside and out. Then, use what you learn to make a difference for a cause you really care about!

Update 10/8/2009: The transcript of Sarah's session is now available!

Get ready for the next America's Giving Challenge with the staff at Causes

sokuntheas — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:27:14 +0000

After we announced that the next America's Giving Challenge will be launching on October 7th at 3pm ET, we have gotten such a great response from individuals and nonprofits eager to gear up for the Challenge. Since this year's Giving Challenge will take place on Causes on Facebook, the experts at Causes themselves have decided to host a series of Webinars to help nonprofits learn how to use and leverage the application in preparation for the Challenge. Here’s your chance to learn tips and strategies from people who know the application inside and out. Then, use what you learn to make a difference for a cause you really care about!

Mark your calendars now:

Thursday, October 1 at 1PM ET: Sarah Koch will be available to answer questions during the live Q&A Ask the Guru session
Tuesday, October 6 at 1PM ET: Matt Mahan will be answering questions during Network for Good's Free Nonprofit 911 Teleconference
Wednesday, October 7 at 4PM ET: "Special Launch Training for America's Giving Challenge" with Susan Gordon
Thursday, October 8 at 1PM ET: "Recruiting, Fundraising and Running Effective Campaigns on Causes" with Sarah Koch
Tuesday, October 13 at 1PM ET: "America's Giving Challenge, Week 2: Update and Q&A Session" with Susan Gordon
Thursday, October 20 at 1PM ET: "America's Giving Challenge, Week 3: Final Update and Q&A Session" with Sarah Koch

Or you can add single sessions or the whole schedule to your calendars below. We'll update you as we get registration information on the webinars.

Add to your calendar: iCal/Outlook or subscribe: RSS

Another way to get ready for the Giving Challenge is to hone up on your social media skills to get ready for leveraging your networks online and off. Go to Gear Up for Giving to watch past sessions, where some of the best experts on social media for social good have made themselves available to answer people's questions. Don't miss the next session with Beth Kanter on Tuesday at 1PM ET.

Check back regularly for more information on America's Giving Challenge, presented in partnership between the Case Foundation, Causes, and PARADE.

Video: Ask the Guru with Holly Ross

sokuntheas — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:52:20 +0000

We had another great Gear Up for Giving Ask the Guru Session yesterday with Holly Ross, Executive Director of NTEN. Not only were viewers enthusiastically asking great questions, but Holly got to quickly crowdsource a name for the NTEN penguin mascot. Talk about social media in action!

Watch the taped session below to see answers to the following questions and more.

How do you measure the ROI of your social networking efforts?
Are donors and funders really using social media to evaluate a nonprofit for funding?
What five social media applications can’t you live without? Twitter applications?
There is a lot of talk about listening via social media. What does that mean and how is it done?
How much do your demographics matter? Should you approach different demographics, for example youth versus adults, differently?
Does all of the activity on your social media presences drive people away from your organization’s website? If so, is that good or bad?

Tune in next Tuesday at 1PM ET for our next session with Beth Kanter. Get ahead in the question queue by sending them in advance to gearup [at] casefoundation [dot] org or tweet them using the hashtag #AGC.

Update 9/25/2009: The transcript of Holly's session is now available!

Video: Ask the Guru with Marnie Webb

sokuntheas — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:08:06 +0000

Thanks to all who participated in today's Gear Up for Giving Ask the Guru Session with Marnie Webb, co-CEO of TechSoup Global. If you missed the live session, you can still get her great advice from the video below.

Here are some key questions that were addressed:

How can "less glamorous" causes, that don't readily have a pull-at-your-heartstrings appeal, use social media as effectively?
Much like cause fatigue, are people getting social media fatigue in general?
How important is it for nonprofits to monitor their brand on social media?
How should organizations that don't have good technology infrastructure or perhaps don't have steady internet access approach getting involved with social media?
What are some of the tools and techniques organizations can use to help them "listen" to what is being said about them in social media?

If you didn't see your question addressed or have other ones to ask, you still have three more chances to get them answered during Gear Up for Giving. Our next session is this Thursday with Holly Ross, Executive Director of NTEN. We want to make these sessions as valuable as possible for you, so send us your questions in advance to gearup [at] casefoundation [dot] org or tweet them using the hashtag #AGC.

Update 9/25/2009: The transcript of Marnie's session is now available!

Video: Ask the Guru with Allison Fine

sokuntheas — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:22:37 +0000

As we wrap up the third installment of our Gear Up for Giving Ask the Gurus session with author and activist Allison Fine, we are thrilled with the thoughtful and strategic questions the audience continues to email, chat and tweet in.

Below are a handful of key questions asked in Allison's session. If you missed it, watch the video recording to hear her answers and advice on how nonprofits can better use and leverage social media to achieve their goals.

What does it mean to take the idea of social media and create social culture?
What are some suggestions for creating an organizational policy for utilizing social media?
Is there a line between professional and personal on social networks?
How do we drive people to our social media venues?
How do you introduce high level nonprofit boards to your social media activities?
How important is it for nonprofits to monitor their brands on the social web?

Remember to tune in to the remaining live sessions, taking place every Tuesday and Thursday at 1PM EST through October 1. We still have an amazing line-up of the experts in the field of social media for social good to come and answer your questions. Send us your questions now to gearup [at] casefoundation [dot] org or tweet them using the hashtag #AGC.

Make sure you check out the recordings of Geoff Livingston and Katya Andresen if you haven't already, and come back for the next session with Marnie Webb, Co-CEO of TechSoup Global.

Update 9/23/09: The transcipt of Allison's Q&A session is now available!

Highlights from NCoC

sokuntheas — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:40:29 +0000

Happy Constitution Day! As today marks the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, we’re pleased to share with you some highlights from last week’s National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC). Perhaps the most notable difference between this event and those of years past was the proliferation of social media and Web 2.0 technologies, that allowed the conference discussions to go virtually beyond the walls of the Library of Congress, where the conference took place, to engage hundreds of individuals across the country.

The Case Foundation partnered with NCoC as the official online engagement sponsor, and are thrilled to be a part of helping more individuals participate in the rich discussions and redefine what modern citizenship looks like. Enjoy the quick recap video below, and for more information go to NCoC's site.

Introducing Gear Up for Giving: Social Media Tutorials for Nonprofits

sokuntheas — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:31:31 +0000

We are thrilled to launch our Gear Up for Giving: Social Media Tutorials for Nonprofits initiative today. As mentioned in previous posts, Gear Up for Giving is a month-long series of trainings designed to help nonprofits understand how to best leverage social media to create awareness for your cause, raise funds, and engage with new constituents. To get started, we invite you to watch this fun introductory video.

Our puppet host, Click Daly, addresses some important issues, including:

how social media affects monitoring and control of your brand
using social media for fund- and friend-raising
who within your organization should be responsible for social media

After you've watched this video, head over to our site for more information. We have scoured the web and compiled our favorite resources on some of the most popular social media tools and techniques, so you can learn more at your own pace.

Since you'll likely have more questions after going through the resources, we want to provide you access to some of the best experts on the subject. You can ask these "Giving Gurus" specific questions about social media strategy for your organization during our live online Ask the Guru sessions. Check out these tips on how you can participate, and make sure to tune into our first session this Thursday at 1PM ET with Geoff Livingston.

Case studies of social media success

sokuntheas — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:22:01 +0000

If you read our blog, you know that we really care about social media for social good. Our team puts a lot of time and thought into how we can help nonprofits use innovative techniques and tools to help their organizations build awareness, support and donations, through our programs and content. For instance, we have Josh’s Learn the Lingo series which attempts to break down the social media tools you hear about but may not understand, so anyone can easily get started. Or, our Tech for Good posts, where Eric takes it a step further and muses on what’s happening in technology and how it relates to nonprofits. Maybe it’s my online communications background, but for me, one of the best ways to learn more about something is through stories and examples of how others do it, and do it well.

Last month, we released an Assessment and Reflection Report authored by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine on America’s Giving Challenge, a program we launched in order to test and encourage the power of individual giving online. As part of this report, Beth and Allison featured three case studies on organizations that were successful in mobilizing their supporters during the Challenge. The case studies are based on interviews with remarkable individuals leading their Challenge efforts and winning $50,000 each for their causes.

I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight these organizations again in case you missed them. Below are short summaries to pique your interest! Make sure to check out the report if you haven’t already, and let us know of other organizations that are successful in using social media for social good.

Love Without Boundaries: Amy Eldridge
Love Without Boundaries (LWB) works to support over 1,500 children from over 100 orphanages in China. Amy Elridge and five friends had all adopted children and were desperate to do something more for children in Chinese orphanages. The organization was born in 2003, out of a sheer goal of helping these children and grew from a small organization helping individual children to a substantial foundation supporting children across China. They have been working to embrace new technologies, with a website, a vigorous blog, several Yahoo! Groups, and an active use of Skype between American volunteers and Chinese contacts. At the time of the Challenge, they were relatively new to Facebook, but after their site was hacked during the winter holidays, they joined the Causes Giving Challenge in an attempt to recoup donations. Despite their late start and initial hesitancy with the tools, LWB embraced the world of social media as well as utilized traditional fundraising techniques to emerge as a Challenge winner.

Students Helping Honduras: Erin Kelly
Students Helping Honduras (SHH) is a great example of how you can quickly mobilize supporters, and how much can be accomplished in just a short period of time. Founded by Shin and Cosmo Fujiyama after a 2005 visit to El Progreso, Honduras, SHH is an organization that aims to inspire and empower at-risk Honduran orphans. Originally a small group of students that fundraised and collected donations between two colleges, SHH is now a non-profit organization with chapters at college campuses across the nation. After hearing about the Challenge through an email from a friend only two weeks before the Challenge's end, Erin Kelly was convinced that it was still worth a try. Kelly, her chapter and others went into overdrive, employing multiple social media techniques and proving that youth movements and efforts are powerful driving forces to pay attention to.

IDEA League: Steven Hollister
IDEA League (International Dravet Syndrome Epilepsy Action League) is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization working to increase awareness about Dravet Syndrome and raise funds for research. IDEA League was founded in October 2005 by parents whose children suffer from the disease, which causes severe, unpredictable seizures. After reading about the Challenge in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Steven Hollister motivated the organization to get involved. While originally not a user of social networking or other social media tools, Hollister understood how to tell a story and fundraise using traditional methods. Taking what he calls a leap of faith, he jumped into the Challenge, deploying traditional fundraising techniques, while testing out new ones using social media, and the combination proved to be a stellar success.

Sleep "good" with Hotels that Help

sokuntheas — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:53:48 +0000

A couple months ago, many bloggers participated in the Embedded Philanthropy Blog Series and responded to the statement: "Embedded philanthropy is transforming business as usual for the public good." Although there were differing views on the concept (also referred to as embedded giving), one thing is certain: it is here to stay. It's increasingly a part of our daily transactions. Kari Saratovsky said in her contributed post: "we can wear 'good,' shop 'good,' drive 'good'..." Now, we can also sleep good (pun intended), because of organizations like Hotels that Help (HTH).

Hotels that Help is a customer-giving charitable donation program that focuses on hotels, inns, and similar transient lodging establishments (e.g. campsites, RV parks). It helps these companies quickly and easily implement an embedded giving program, where customers can donate to a charity at the point of their lodging stay transaction. Some bloggers in the Embedded Philanthropy series questioned the value of such programs, including Sean Stannard-Stockton of Tactical Philanthropy, who asked, Does It Matter? After speaking with Jim Abrams, President of HTH and retired CEO of the California Hotel and Lodging Association, I think it does matter, and HTH is a model that shows how CSR programs such as this really transform how business is done and make a positive impact for companies and their communities. Our discussion is below.

Sokunthea: We really value programs that make giving an easy part of people's everyday lives at the Foundation. What makes HTH's program unique?
Jim: HTH is similar in purpose and philosophy to customer-giving charitable donations you might have seen in grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses (e.g. "Would you like to add $1 to your grocery bill today to help fight breast cancer?"). There are some other hotel-specific programs that ask guests to contribute a small amount of money to help support charities, for example, Sage Hospitality (based in Denver) has such a program, as does Starwood in Europe. But HTH is, to my knowledge, the only one intended to be initiated in all hotels and other transient lodging businesses throughout the country, and not be just for the hotels in a particular company. It is our goal to have it become a norm for the lodging industry and hoteliers to all have a program of this type in operation. And unlike some similar programs, HTH operates at absolutely no cost to the hotel and has no strings attached in terms of selecting charities to support and how to operate. Simply stated, our sole mission is to make hotels aware of the tremendous value of this kind of program - for their bottom line, for their employees, for the charities they chose to support, and for their communities - and to give the hotels, in a turn-key condition, everything they need, free of charge, to start their respective programs. There is nothing in it for HTH or anyone associated with it; we just want to help hotels do good things. Given the number of hotel rooms in the country, and assuming even a 50% occupancy rate each night, this represents over $800 million in new money to local charities each year!

Watch this brief video for more details:

Sokunthea: Wow, $800 million to local charities each year. That’s an amazing market to tap into, but it depends on the hotels’ commitment to such a program. How are you able to engage them and how is this program valuable for their bottom lines, employees, charities, and communities?
Jim: A guest-giving charitable contribution program makes tremendous sense on a number of different levels for any hotel:

It is a way for the hotel to leverage its guests' good will (which comes from enjoying a pleasant stay in the hotel). Guests are provided an opportunity to entrust the hotel, which they have just enjoyed, with a small amount of money to support a worthy cause which the hotel has vetted and is recommending. In this day of social consciousness and voluntourism, this is a great way to build name recognition and brand loyalty, which will result in repeat and word-of-mouth business.
This costs the hotel virtually nothing. The dollars contributed are from the guest and we provide everything a hotel needs on a turn-key basis. Our website is very robust and comprehensive. A hotel can go to the website and do everything it needs to get its program up and running without ever contacting us. If a hotel wants assistance or needs help, however, HTH is happy to provide it. For example, it is obviously very important to the success of the program that hotels notify their guests early and frequently about the fact that $1/night will be added to the bill, unless the guest chooses to opt out, and that the money goes to help a specific charity. We provide hotels electronically, free of charge, with the tent cards, room key jackets, door hangers, and other notification devices they need for this purpose.
Employee morale is enhanced, which leads to greater retention and less recruitment cost and hassles. We suggest that a hotel ask its employees to be part of the decision-making process to select the hotel's charity. We also suggest that line-level staff get to take the check each month to the chosen charity.
The hotel has the opportunity for wonderful PR and exposure.
The hotel's image in the community and with local decision makers is enhanced.
And most importantly, a worthy cause that helps support the hotel’s social safety net is receiving new dollars each month! Each hotel picks its own charity, often it they are small, local charities that are part of the social safety net (e.g. homeless shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, and the like) in their community.

Sokunthea: This seems to make a lot of sense for hotels to select local charities to contribute to local charities and support the social safety net in local communities. What are the possibilities here?
Jim: We leave the choice of which charity to support completely up to each hotel. We suggest the following guidelines:

Pick a 501(c)(3).
Do some research about what it does and what it accomplishes (we provide resources for hotels in doing this research).
Everyone will get the greatest "bang for the buck" if the hotel picks a smaller, local charity, because the impact of the contributions from the hotel's guests will be more significant on a relative basis.
We urge hotels to think first about social safety net charities, because they can provide the most immediate, day-to-day support to those who need it the most, and these are the charities which are facing the greatest challenges today. That said, if a hotel wants to give to an entirely different kind of cause, that is fine with HTH.

Sokunthea: This really is an interesting model. Actually, where did the idea for HTH come from?
Jim: HTH is the outgrowth of work started by Dave Levenson in the 1990s, when he became involved with a homeless shelter near a major resort in Hawai'i. Dave concluded that if guests at the resort knew there was a homeless shelter nearby, they would be happy to add a small amount of money to their bills when they checked out to help the shelter. More recently, Dave was fortunate to work with Chip Conley, who is the founder and Chairman of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, which operates numerous hotels in California. Chip let Dave try different scenarios of guest-giving programs in his hotels, such as a "round up" mechanism, where the staff suggested guests round up their final bills (e.g. from $189 to an even $200), an "opt-in" program, where the guest was asked to agree to have a specified amount (e.g. $1) added to his/her bill each night, and an "opt-out" program, where a set amount is added to the guest's bill each night. In each case, the hotel gives all of the money it collects to a charity that it has selected. After much research and experimentation, HTH decided on the opt-out program as its default guest-giving mechanism of choice. But if a hotel wants to use one of the other mechanisms (round up or opt-in), that is fine with us.

Sokunthea: What are your future plans for HTH and how can an hotelier get involved?
Jim: We are currently in the process of rolling this program out in California and plan to take it nationwide. We are meeting with state and local hotel/lodging associations, as well as with individual hotel chains, management companies, and hoteliers. We met recently with the board of the Hawai'i Hotel & Lodging Association and with key lodging industry people in Las Vegas. We intend that this type of program will be the norm throughout the lodging industry in America. To learn more or get involved, go to our website, hotelsthathelp.org, which provides a comprehensive review of exactly how the program works and how easy it is for hotels to get their own individual programs up and running; or you can contact me at 916-425-8476 or jim [at] hotelsthathelp [dot] org.

Want to intern at the Case Foundation this fall?

sokuntheas — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:39:18 +0000

We are looking for energetic and talented college students with a passion for civic engagement and philanthropy to join us this fall as interns at The Case Foundation. If you or someone you know fits the bill, please read on or forward the job description below!

Conduct research and prepare reports or write posts for Foundation blog
Assist with grant administration tasks
Perform project-specific outreach to nonprofit and other external partners
Assist with special event planning and organization
Contribute and help maintain/enhance social media and networking presence
Assist in blogger outreach
Perform project-specific marketing and communications outreach
Help with online photo gallery, video gallery and image search needs
Support team administrative needs, when needed (including data entry, filing, mass mailings, schedule coordination and taking and preparing meeting notes)

Job Requirements:

Undergraduate and graduate college students
Ability to commit at least 15 hours per week (flexible structure, either broken out into 2 or 3 days per week)
Excellent written, oral and interpersonal communication skills is a must, as successful candidate will work both internally with Foundation colleagues and externally with applicants and grantees from diverse populations and communities
Interest in and ability to work in both a team environment and alone with minimal direction
Demonstrated personal computer skills, including basic troubleshooting and use of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and the willingness to learn other software tools
Demonstrated use and comfort navigating Web 2.0 sites and tools, including blogs, social networks, video and photo sharing, etc.
Interest in building capacity in underserved communities and championing individuals, nonprofits and social enterprises that connect people, increase giving and catalyze civic action

Compensation:
This is an unpaid internship. The Foundation does offer transportation reimbursement.

To Apply:
Please email resume and cover letter to contactus [at] casefoundation [dot] org, using the subject line: “Fall Internship” by September 1st. We will only contact candidates who will be asked to come in for interviews.

SOS is sharing. Not just strength, but also social media advice.

sokuntheas — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:39:22 +0000

In last week's interview with Suzy Twohig at Share Our Strength (SOS) on their mobile giving campaign, I promised a part two with Jeff Wiedner, SOS's Senior Manager of Online Marketing, on their experience with integrating social media tools and techniques into their strategy. Over the past few months, SOS has participated in many prominent social media campaigns, such as SXSW's Social Media Smackdown in addition to ramping up their online presence in general. Here's what they have to share with other nonprofits:

Sokunthea: SOS has never been shy from testing the latest innovations in fundraising. It seems like you have really embraced social media tools and networks. How do you stay current with trends and tools and get the leeway to experiment with them? Does your leadership play a role?

Jeff: As an online “face” of Share Our Strength, I lead our social media efforts (check out Twitter (@sharestrength) and Facebook). More and more on our team are jumping in as well—including our Executive Director, Billy Shore, who’s on Facebook and Twitter (@billshore). Like all of us, they’re eager to leverage social media to build an active online community that helps us spread the word about the issue of childhood hunger. Having leadership buy-in is key—from an organizational standpoint, I can’t imagine engaging in social media without it.

In addition, there are so many great social media gurus we’ve been fortunate to follow, work with, and learn from in recent months, including Ed Nicholson of Tyson Foods, Scott Nicholson of Media Sauce—who created the Pledge to End Hunger campaign, Danny Brown of the 12 for 12K campaign, Beth Kanter, and Chris Brogan—all of whom are doing amazing things online. We’re very grateful to them all for sharing their strength online to help support our work.

Sokunthea: Reflecting on these exciting programs you’ve just come off of -- Pledge to End Hunger, 12 for 12k, Social Media Smackdown -- what are some lessons learned that you think others who may want to run similar programs can benefit from?

Jeff: First of all, the credit for these campaigns goes to Scott Henderson and his team at MediaSauce, and Danny Brown and his remarkable followers. Through clear and compelling calls to action (tweets, videos, emails, Facebook posts), they quickly created an online community around the issue of hunger. It’s inspiring to witness what can happen when a group of committed individuals comes together to take a stand—and raise thousands of dollars in just a few hours. But a few general takeaways for us overall:

Conversation (vs. fundraising) is key, and should be 90% of your efforts. We’ve been thrilled with the fundraising results of these campaigns, but what was equally important has been the increased awareness of hunger and the ~5000 people who got engaged through these campaigns. We look forward to continuing the dialogue and working together to explore creative ways to work together to end childhood hunger in America. The long-term relationship and community building are very important for us.
Listening is really important. It’s important to regularly tap into listening tools—Twitter Search, RSS feeds, etc to find what people are saying. When you hear something, reach out to them. Get into the conversation. They may reply, may not.
Get into the conversation. Be helpful. Share resources, ideas, articles. Give people a way to talk about the issue without being so self-promotional. It's appropriate to be promotional at times, but make it the exception rather than the norm. The more compelling you are and the more helpful you are, the more exponential the growth.
Don’t be afraid to experiment. You don’t get it until you do it. Plus, each organization's audience is going to be a little different than others. What works for others may not work for you. So test aggressively. We’re all learning together.

Sokunthea: Of all of the tools, techniques and platforms you have used lately, are there ones that you would recommend most to other nonprofits?

Jeff: At a minimum, I think you have to have Twitter and Facebook, and because people are so visually oriented, You Tube, and Flickr. YouTube and Flickr are great ways to allow people to connect with your mission in a dynamic way. Often if they like what they see, they'll link to it and you get nice viral exposure.

Sokunthea: What have you found to be the greatest value in using these new technologies; is it dollars raised, promotion and awareness, garnering support in a viral way, or something else?

Jeff: Our primary goal is to build the hunger conversation. The fact that 1 in 6 kids in America is at risk of hunger (and that was before the economic downturn) is eye-opening for a lot of folks. This message resonates whatever the medium. It also helps us reach a younger audience, who may be interested in engaging with the organization in a non-donation fashion.

Meals on ... Mobile?

sokuntheas — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:23:16 +0000

There's no doubt that mobile technology can be a powerful tool for social good. You can find great examples of initiatives going on worldwide at MobileActive.org. In Megan's post on mobile giving and the Superbowl, she referenced the progress organizations like Mobile Giving Foundation and mgive are making, and pointed to stats that show mobile giving is on the rise in the US. Thus, we were really excited to learn that Share Our Strength (SOS) was embarking on a text giving campaign back in January.

Now, a few months later, we wanted to check in with them to see how their foray into mobile giving is going. I caught up with Suzy Twohig, SOS's Director of Donor Relations to get the update. As we were talking about the new and interactive strategies SOS is experimenting with, Jeff Wiedner, SOS's Senior Manager of Online Marketing, joined the conversation to give more insight into their social media efforts. Check back next week for a post on my interview with Jeff. In the meantime, Suzy shares their learnings from their mobile campaign below.

Sokunthea: Can you tell us a little bit more about your text giving campaign and its different, multi-platform, aspects?

Suzy: Sure—our text giving campaign was launched in January along with AT&T, the Communications Workers of America and the Mobile Giving Foundation. Through the campaign, users of all major wireless carriers can donate $5 to Share Our Strength by texting the word "SHARE" to 20222*. AT&T is generously matching all gifts up to $100,000, and has been fantastic in helping promote the campaign.

So far, we’ve raised more than $12,000 to support Share Our Strength’s work to end childhood hunger in America. This amount is on par with other comparable campaigns that the Mobile Giving Foundation has enabled. As we enter phase two of the campaign, we’re integrating messaging about text giving into our other platforms, including our Taste of the Nation events across the country, and are exploring a number of other venues as well.

Sokunthea: What lessons have you learned so far from this campaign that you think others can benefit from?

Suzy: Text giving is still pretty new, and we’ve found that building the trust factor with donors and helping them understand how text giving works is crucial. To that end, AT&T generously produced a video featuring Olympic Decathlete Bryan Clay (see below), which effectively walks a potential donor through the whys and hows of making a text donation to Share Our Strength.

Overall, we’ve found text giving to be a great way to reach a younger demographic and augment other fundraising efforts. In addition, our involvement in this campaign has led to ripple effect gifts, greater awareness about the issue of hunger, and increased exposure for our brand. It has also led to our involvement in three recent social media campaigns that have together raised awareness and more than $25,000 for Share Our Strength: the Pledge to End Hunger Campaign, the 12for12K campaign, and the first Social Media Smackdown.

All in all, the text giving campaign has been a great experience so far and we look forward to building upon these various efforts in phase two of the campaign, which runs through 2009--so it’s not too late to make a $5 donation to Share Our Strength by texting SHARE to 20222!

*A one-time donation of $5 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Standard messaging rates and additional fees may apply. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. Service is available on most carriers. Donations are collected for the benefit of the Share Our Strength by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/t. You can unsubscribe at any time by texting STOP to 20222 or text 'HELP' for more info.