The online (micro)charity organization ‘Crowdrise‘ has grown in presence and influence since its founding a bit over a year ago. Its goal was/is to raise money by encouraging people to sign onto ‘teams’ that use their social-media presences to reach out to their friends. The team thus pools its time and the money collected, and […]
Harsh Op-Ed On ‘Charitable Scrooges’
Debates about social media as catalyst, about political responses to economic crises, about open internets, about the care of our health… can help us sharpen our own positions and/or encourage us to take on ideas that we had avoided. This particular blog outlet tends to focus on the nexus of nonprofits, politics, and communications technologies, […]
Twitter And Philanthropy In The Holiday Season
“Twitter and philanthropy. They go together like a horse and carriage….” Well, it does not rhyme, but at least you are not hearing my Sinatra impression. The philanthropic and nonprofit communities have been on the forefront of many extensions of the uses of social media, largely because the financial investments are minimal. The rewards can […]
If Charities Can Not Market Apps, Then Text Them Your Support
So Apple is uninterested in working with the nonprofit and charitable community to give them access to the iTunes Store for money raising. There are other ways that bypass the Byzantine process of Apple acceptance and still offer means to support (some of) your favorite charities with your mobile device. Even your iPhone: Texting donations […]
NeighborWorks America Helps Small Businesses Too
NeighborWorks America has been helping citizens finance their homes since 1968, when Dorothy Mae Richardson, a homemaker and community activist in Pittsburgh, enlisted city bankers and government officials to join with her block club to improve her neighborhood. That early, grass-roots, endeavor to improve the urban housing of Pittsburgh became the successful model replicated across […]
#Philanthropy: Apple – The Bad Apple In The Corporate Philanthropic Bushel?
We have often discussed the roles corporate philanthropy plays both in supporting environmental, social, educational (etc.) causes and in the arguments that corporations should not be preemptively philanthropic as corporations (though even those who criticize ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’/CSR tend to encourage share-holders to be philanthropic). A recent argument has flared up over Apple’s unwillingness to […]
Being Good Ain’t Enough
In a fascinating essay in the Huffington Post, commentator Matt Dunn ponders the differences between the marketing of toothpaste and nonprofits (hint: toothpaste marketing is more successful) and why nonprofits cannot presume to win support just because they do good work. Even in a season of hope, there’s nothing gained by relying on wishful thinking. […]
How Is It That Higher Educational And Cultural Institutions Still Manage To Raise The Big Bucks?
As we have often discussed on this blog, charity giving has taken a notable downturn with the economy over the last couple of years. Nevertheless, that downturn has not been as steep as the economy itself, suggesting people’s ongoing commitments to help others and try to have a greater influence with their money than boosting […]