Syam Buradagunta is president and co-founder of Blue Sky Collaborative, a company that offers online pledge event software (Sweet) to nonprofits for walkathons, bike-a-thons and similar peer-to-peer fundraising events. The company also provides custom websites and a content management system. Syam and his co-founders worked in nonprofits before starting their firm in 2003. The interview […]
#Interview: Rob Wu, Founder of CauseVox, On Building Online Tools For Nonprofits (Part 2 of 2)
Last week, we introduced one of the founders of CauseVox, Rob Wu, who told us about the integrated platform he and Jefferson Chang developed after their experience working with nonprofits in Uganda in 2008. The young men saw the need to bring together online tools like website customization, social-media outreach, and donor tracking for smaller […]
#Fundraising: Smaller Donations Can Bring Bigger Change During Recession
The definition of a ‘microdonation’ can be tricky, or at least scalable. For many of us, a $50 donation to our favorite cause is no micro-gift. To the CEO of a bank, a $1 million gift might be small price to pay for some good PR. To the nonprofits that receive these gifts, the term […]
#Interview: Marc Pitman, Owner of the “Fundraising Coach” Blog, Author, and Fundraising Consultant
Marc A. Pitman writes the Fundraising Coach blog, in addition to writing books, giving seminars, engaging in social media and consulting with clients. His own fundraising career began at a small New England liberal arts college, but by 1999 he found the consulting life fulfilled his desire to teach and help people. Marc was interviewed […]
#Philanthropy: President’s Jobs Bill & Tax Proposal Not Warmly Welcomed By Charities
As arguments over what to do with and about the US economy and the federal deficit continue to shed more heat than light, President Obama sought to take the fight back to the Republicans with the ‘American Jobs Act’ announced last week. The act contains a mix of tax realignments likely to gain some Republican […]
#Philanthropy: Could Text Messages Circumvent Apple’s Restrictions On Donation Apps?
Apple Inc. has been unwilling to allow fundraising/donation-soliciting software for the iPhone to be developed and sold through The App Store because Apple’s contract expects a cut of the profit and expects some control of the money flow. Apple claims (not without cause) that its iTunes/iPhone success is built on consistent user experience and unified expectations […]
#Philanthropy: How to Find and Solicit the Biggest Corporate Donors
In the midst of the present economic crisis, the debate about whether corporations should have social responsibility to give to philanthropic causes has grown heated. Some argue that CR (Corporate Responsibility) departments actually diffuse problems rather than solve them and corporations should put their resources to better, profit-driven, uses for the betterment of all. Others counter […]
#INTERVIEW: Jason Dick, Owner of “A Small Change” Fundraising Blog
“A Small Change” is a blog about fundraising. Its creator, Jason Dick, works full-time as a major gifts officer for Evergreen Healthcare Foundation in Kirkland, Washington. His seven years of fundraising experience include previous positions at a community college foundation and in human services. He started his blog four years ago. The interview was conducted […]