Community Buzz
Citizen-Centered Funding
> A new initiative by the Case Foundation, Make It Your Own, seeks to encourage grassroots leaders involved in local and neighborhood level projects. As reported in the New York Times, the pool of candidates who submit ideas for improving their communities will be narrowed by judges, but the 4 finalists will be voted on by the public.
Searching for Altruism
> GoodSearch has added a layer to Yahoo's search engine to help nonprofits and schools. Select the organization you choose to support on GoodSearch's home page, and they will contribute -- giving away 50% of their advertising revenue, or about a penny per search -- to charitable causes. Through the power of aggregation, donations can add up quickly.
> The Do Good Toolbar implements a similar idea, geared toward online shopping. They, too, promise to donate at least 50% of their revenue to charity, though their list of supported organizations is much smaller.
Google Everywhere
> Nonprofit technology has received two big boosts from Google in the last 30 days. First, Google officially launched its nonprofit outreach program for its Google Earth product, as we reported in our blog. Groups as diverse as Appalachian Voices and the Jane Goodall Institute are already using Google Earth to tell stories with their data.
> Then, at an event co-hosted by NTEN, Google extended its Google Apps Education Edition to nonprofits. With Google throwing its weight behind Software as a Service, nonprofits will find it easier to spend more time working toward their objectives and less time worrying about back-ups, bugs, and other bothers.
Mobile Campaigning
> Nicholas Sullivan's You Can Hear Me Now chronicles GrameenPhone's efforts to extend telephone service in Bangladesh through microloans, along with several other examples of the power of cellular networking. You can watch a brief video interview with Nicholas about the project on YouTube.
> For more information on how mobile campaigns can help your organization, be sure to read Robin Good's essay "Mobile Phones as Mass Media", as covered in our blog. You may also want to watch the NTEN webinar, Mobile Campaigns Made Easy, moderated by our very own Katrin Verclas. And don't forget to check out MobileActive.org, a resource for practitioners worldwide using mobile phones in social change work.
Pizzigati Prize Deadline
> The deadline for the $10,000 Antonio Pizzigati Prize For Software in the Public Interest is coming up on August 1st. If you are working on software for social change, you should definitely looking into it. For more information see our blog post.
