We tracked and blogged about America's Giving Challenge and the Causes Challenge, sponsored by the Case Foundation and Parade Magazine, which challenged individuals to leverage their friends, families, and online networks to raise money online for their favorite causes. The idea was to encourage many people to give small donations, proving what Jean Case so eloquently stated in a Slate article: "Small amounts of money given by large numbers of individuals can be combined to do great things."

Today they announced the official winners, including the cause championed by "NTEN Member for Life" Beth Kanter, with the help of Michele Martin. Their cause, "Route Out of Poverty for Cambodian Children," raised $41,673 from 1650 donations, and earned another $50,000 from the Case Foundation for coming in first in the Global Causes category, sponsored through GlobalGiving.

Congratulations, Beth! You can read more about her successful campaign, including from her campaign wiki and her giving challenge diary, here.

We also want to congratulate and thank all the individuals who participated in and organizations who helped sponsor these challenges. Many in the NTEN community participated and discussed the challenges, and we all saw another example of the power of technology for good -- another reminder that the real power comes from you!

[Ed. Note: As you probably know, the Case Foundation, together with Facebook Causes and Parade magazine, is going to award $750,000 to charity. To help illuminate the process and generate discussion and ideas, the NTEN Connect Blog will be posting occasional updates from actual participants in the Challenges.]

Mark Miller, Children's National Medical Center

Today is the last day of the Parade and Facebook giving challenges. Unless we receive about 1,500 donations through our charity badge today -- there's still time to give! -- we won't be among the top four nonprofits that will win $50,000.

But as I wrote earlier, the value of participating in the Parade and Facebook challenges is that it's helped us attract new donors, raise our national profile, and educate our staff and supporters about the potential of online giving. I applaud the Case Foundation, Parade magazine, and Facebook Causes for their creativity in designing these initiatives, and I can't wait to see what they do next.

Today's the final day of America’s Giving Challenge and the Causes Giving Challenge. We've given over blog space for updates from a few participants, and mentioned others in our newsletter, and as they round the corner into the home stretch, 3 of the causes we've touted are in position to finish in the final 4 of the Global Causes category:

• Michelle M's Route Out of Poverty for Cambodian Children (Beth Kanter's birthday cause) is currently in 1st.
• Scott Beale's Invest in International Development Leaders stands 4th, right at the cut-off for the $50,000 prizes.
• Suzanne P's Education for 900 Rural Girls in Burkina Faso is in 5th, but not far behind.

I've been following the leaderboard this week, and I believe the top 5 have all increased their number of donations by at least 50% just this week. Scott's cause, which has been as high as first, slipped to 5th before recovering today.

[Ed. Note: As you probably know, the Case Foundation, together with Facebook Causes and Parade magazine, is going to award $750,000 to charity. To help illuminate the process and generate discussion and ideas, the NTEN Connect Blog will be posting occasional updates from actual participants in the Challenges. You may want to read Mark's first post.]

Mark Miller, Children's National Medical Center

Watching the Facebook and Parade challenges unfold has been fascinating.  Because we are doing very well in the Parade challenge, winning that one has become our main focus.  In fact, we have had some success using Facebook to drive people to our charity badge for the Parade challenge.

Last I checked, our charity badge, featuring Mike Green of the Washington Capitals, was a donation or two out of the top 10 leaders.  Among nonprofits focused on children or children’s health, we are first. (I have a dog and generally like animals, but I have to wonder if the current trend will hold up -- three of the top four leaders are nonprofits looking out for our furry friends.)

We’re picking up steam, thanks in part to the Washington Capitals, who have really gotten behind this challenge. They created an ad for their homepage, featured the campaign in their online newsletter, and helped us reach out to bloggers – whose support I can’t say enough about. And owner Ted Leonsis promoted it in his blog.

A few lessons:

[Ed. Note: As you probably know, the Case Foundation, together with Facebook Causes and Parade magazine, is going to award $750,000 to charity. The NTEN Blog has been running profiles on some of the participants.]

To celebrate her 51st birthday on January 11th, Beth Kanter is "...trying to get 51 people to donate $10 in 51 hours to the Sharing Foundation's America's Giving Challenge over at Global Giving."

Now, while we here at NTEN in no way believe that Beth is actually 51, we certainly support her efforts on behalf of the Sharing Foundation's Roteang Orphanage. NTEN community, you know what to do:

• Read Beth's birthday blog post
• Contribute to her cause
• Wish Beth a Happy Birthday on Friday

Thanks for all your efforts on behalf of the NPTech community and the world in general, Beth.  You rock.

Happy Birthday from Brett, Holly, Annaliese, Karl, and Anna.

[Ed. Note: As you probably know, the Case Foundation, together with Facebook Causes and Parade magazine, is going to award $750,000 to charity. To help illuminate the process and generate discussion and ideas, the NTEN Connect Blog will be posting occasional updates from actual participants in the Challenges. You may want to read Ruby's first post, as well.]

Ruby Sinreich, Fellowship of Reconciliation

First, an update: My attention to Facebook recruiting fell off during the holidays and has not recovered much since. In addition, the realization that we not going to win any prizes has been demotivational. Our cause, "Peace and Justice through Nonviolence", is now up to 81 members and $235 in donations. As Beth Kanter recently pointed out, social networks are often not as effective for fundraising as they are for awareness raising.

This week, I bring you some advice for marketing your cause on Facebook, or anywhere else: Write a personal note!