IdealistNews is a project of Idealist.org and Reddit where users like you can submit nonprofit news stories from around the web and vote on your favorites. Here's a roundup of some of this week's hottest stories.
Via Flickr user Terje S. Skjerdal
Here are some of the top stories for this week:
Have you posted a link to IdealistNews yet? It's easier than ever with the "bookmarklets" tool. You can drag it to your toolbar or to your bookmarks and submit a link with the click of a mouse. Find out more.
To find more stories or share your own, be sure to visit IdealistNews.
Musings from Celeste.
Obelisk photo courtesy puroticorico
On a recent train ride to the suburbs of Buenos Aires, Argentina, I saw a billboard ad campaign for breast cancer that was quite provocative to say the least. The ad featured 19 photos of bare breasted woman, complete with the slogan, "To you, they're all different. To cancer, they're all the same." The reaction of the locals was striking: many of them sat indifferent, while my American friends and I stared with mouths agape. Personally, I thought the ad was compelling and effective. But later when I Googled it at home, I found various comments from foreigners who were appalled (e.g. "...that breast cancer ad makes me sick. Please, if you see one; vandalize it").
This made me think about the different cross-cultural rules and boundaries to consider when it comes to promoting your cause. For example, Argentina is quite unabashed when it comes to public sexuality, with giant underwear ads plastering city streets and adult magazines on plain display in kiosks. It's not unusual to see brazen HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns. A couple of years ago, the city of Buenos Aires placed a giant pink condom on its downtown obelisk. Now, try to think of its equivalent in the U.S. – say, putting a giant condom over the Washington Monument. That would never fly. Not for one second.
That's not to say we don't rely on shock value in the U.S. In January, environmental organization Surfrider Foundation teamed up with ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi LA to create a guerrilla campaign aimed at raising awareness about ocean pollution. They collected trash such as used condoms and aerosol cans from across U.S. beaches, packaged them as if they were seafood, and dumped them off in local farmer's markets. Titled "Catch of the Day," the idea was to directly connect the consequences of careless garbage disposal with what we eat. In-your-face and controversial, the faux fish certainly made some waves.
All three pose a bigger question no matter where you are from: Do provocative or shocking ads make you think more about the particular cause, or are they distracting?
Photo via the East SA blog
In our latest podcast episode, Idealist.org's Jung Fitzpatrick talks with Regina Garner, the Director of Student Financial Services for the Monterey Institute of International Studies, to dispel some common myths that working professionals have about qualifying for financial aid and to learn more about the ins and outs of financial aid for graduate education. Listen now.
Whether you're thinking about graduate school or are already on your way, this podcast helps answer many questions about the financial aid process. Topics include the basics of how financial aid is determined, the role of The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 in debt forgiveness and loan repayment as well as other issues for professionals transitioning to graduate school.
Click here to listen now or to learn more about our graduate education-related resources.
Ideas from Put Barber. Click here to browse the entire "A Little Bit More" series for ideas on how we can all help one another in tough economic times.
There are two routes to becoming a philanthropist.
"Calculator," by Flickr user ansik
You can play a real-world version of Monopoly, gather up all the railroads and the dark-blue leases and then flip the board over and start playing Give-it-all-away. (Note to Parker Bros.: You’re welcome to the idea of marketing a version of this venerable game that models generosity on one side of the board and acquisitiveness on the other.)
Or you can sit down with a blank sheet of paper and make yourself a plan for personal philanthropy. Having a plan is all it takes. Philanthropists come in all sizes, shapes and colors. They are the people who think carefully about what kind of community and what kind of world we should share. Once they’ve done that, these people are in a stronger position to put energy, attention and money to work to move things in that direction.
Oh no, you might say, these days I don’t have enough money to make that kind of thinking worth bothering with. I’ll just give what I can, when somebody asks, and hope I’m making a difference.
Well, the reports from people who have made personal philanthropy plans suggest there are good reasons for making a plan even when the amounts of time and money you have to think about are small. Here are a few:
- You can start with the kinds of change you want to see happen, the causes you want to advance. Then you can choose a moment to check out organizations that can help you multiply the effect of your volunteer time or your donations. (Idealist.org is, obviously, one good place to start exploring these possibilities.)
- Once you find organizations that match your goals, you can focus your philanthropy—of whatever size and form—on them. Everyone who studies nonprofit finances says fewer larger gifts and genuinely committed volunteers are the keys to efficiency and effectiveness. And those are outcomes every philanthropist wants to see.
- And—a surprisingly important result for many people who have followed this route—you’ll have a strong and respectful answer when you’re asked to contribute to a cause or organization that isn’t part of your plan. You can say to a friend, or to someone who interrupts your dinner with a fund-raising call (grrrrr!), “I respect the work you’re doing but I have a plan for what I can give this year and I’m sorry that it doesn’t have room for anything more right now.” If you have any enthusiasm for the cause at all, you can add something like “If you send me some information about your work, I’ll put it in the file so when I’m thinking about next year I’ll be able to remember your ideas.”
If you become a philanthropist—by the simple step of making up your own plan for how and where to give—you gain confidence that you’re supporting the causes you care most about, you maximize the effect of your gifts, and you have a ready-made way to turn away appeals that might otherwise make you uncomfortable. In the list of ways to do a little bit more, this one seems like a slam dunk.
If you’d like to share your personal philanthropic plan with someone, you can send it to pbarber@idealist.org; we might even do a follow-up post with some examples (with your permission, of course).
Posted by Scott Stadum.
By Flickr user Symlinked
I've been a fan of the " buy local" movement for as long as I can remember and really love ideas like Carrot Mobs and San Francisco's My Farm. So naturally I was excited to read about The 3/50 Project.
What is it?
The project asks you to pick 3 independent stores in your community that you would miss if they went out of business. Stop in, say hello and purchase a few things. According to the project's site, "if half the employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue."
That's great, but here's the kicker: "For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures."
Here's a thought – let's combine Carrot Mobs and the 3/50 Project to buy local and promote social and environmental responsibility!
Roundup from Scott. On IdealistNews his alias is BlueOrange.
By Flickr user Gary Denness
So many great headlines this week on IdealistNews! What are some of this week's top stories?
Have you posted a link to IdealistNews yet? It's easier than ever with the "bookmarklets" tool. You can drag it to your toolbar or to your bookmarks and submit a link with the click of a mouse. Find out more.
To find more stories or share your own, be sure to visit IdealistNews.
Tax advice from Put Barber, editor of the Nonprofit FAQ.
By Flickr user iowa_spirit_walker
US nonprofits that are registered as tax-exempt are required to file a report every year with the IRS. If an organization doesn't file a report for three consecutive years, its tax-exempt status is automatically revoked. (The tax exemption can be restored, but that's a convoluted process that no one would get themselves into on purpose.)
Big organizations file a complicated information return called Form 990. Small ones file an "e-postcard" called Form 990-N. If the organization's fiscal year ends on December 31, then the report is due by May 15th. Friday!
Filing a 990-N is simple; the process is entirely on-line. There is no "paper" version of a 990-N. Lots of information about how to do it is on the IRS website at this link.
2009 is year two of the Form 990-N requirement. As of this week, only 265,000 organizations have filed the required report. There are a lot more groups on the IRS tax-exempt list that haven't done it yet.
If you're connected to a nonprofit that has tax-exempt status but normally receives less than $25,000 in revenue each year, you might want to check and make sure the 990-N has been filed. (You can search the list of filings on the IRS website.)
Calendar pages turn over fast. You wouldn't want to wake up on May 16, 2010, and discover an organization you care about has just lost its tax-exempt status. This is a small task for small organizations, but the risk is a big one. It's worth a few minutes to make sure the organization you care about is up to date with this filing and can continue to enjoy tax-exempt status for as long as the need exists.
By Flickr user Matt Hamm
Editor's note: This is a guest post from Max Gladwell. We made some edits purely because of length limitations. Read the full post at MaxGladwell.com.
Our children will inherit a world profoundly changed by the combination of technology and humanity that is social media. They'll take for granted that their voices can be heard and that a social movement can be launched from their laptop. They'll take for granted that they are connected and interconnected with hundreds of millions of people at any given moment. And they'll take for granted that a black man is or was President of the United States.
What's most profound is that these represent parts of a greater whole. They represent a shift in power from centralized institutions and organizations to the People they represent. It is the evolution of democracy by way of technology, and we are all better for it.
For most of us, social media has changed our lives in some meaningful way. Collectively it is changing the world for good. Given the pace of innovation and adoption, change has become a constant. Every so often we find the need to stop and reflect on its most recent and noteworthy developments, hence the following list.
Please note this is not a top 10 list, nor are these listed in any particular order. It's also incomplete. So we ask that you add to this conversation in the comments. If you'd like to Retweet this post or take the conversation to Twitter or FriendFeed, please use the hashtag #10Ways.
1. Take Social Actions: The nonprofit organization Social Actions aggregates "opportunities to make a difference from over 50 online platforms" through its unique API. It recently held the Change the Web Challenge contest in order to inspire the most innovative applications for that API. The Social Actions Interactive Map won the $5,000 first prize. The result is a virtual tour of the world through the lens of social action. You can also join the Social Actions Community, which is powered by Ning...which now boasts more than one million individual social networks.
2. Twitter with a Purpose: The micro-blogging sensationwas featured on our first two lists, and it's certain to be a fixture. Tweet Congress won the SXSW activism award, and celebrity Tweeps Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Rose Tweeted their two million followers about ending malaria. Max Gladwell recently initiated the #EcoMonday follow meme as a way to connect and organize the Green Twittersphere.
3. Visit White House 2.0: Inside of its first 100 days, the Obama administration has managed to set the historic benchmark for government transparency and accountability. The President's virtual town hall meeting used WhiteHouse.gov to crowdsource questions from his 300 million constituents, complete with voting to determine the ones he'd have to answer. All told, 97,937 people submitted 103,978 questions and cast 1,782,650 votes. The White House continues to raise the bar with its official Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter channels. In so doing President Obama is not just setting the standard for state and local government in the U.S. He's establishing the world standard. Because you don't have to be an American citizen to be a friend or follower of White House 2.0.
4. Unite the World Through Video: Matt's dancing around the world video inspired many to tears. Today, more than 20 million people have viewed his YouTube masterpiece, where he performs a kooky dance with the citizens of planet earth. The most recent example of this approach is Playing for Change, which connects the world through song. The project started in Santa Monica with a street performance of the classic Stand By Me and expanded to New Orleans, New Mexico, France, Brazil, Italy, Venezuela, South Africa, Spain, and The Netherlands. The project was superbly executed via social media.It's received tremendous mainstream media exposure and also benefits a foundation of the same name.
5. Host a Social Media Event: This is the year of the social media event. No meaningful gathering of people is complete without an interactive online audience, especially when it's so easy and cost effective to pull off. Essential tools include a broadband connection, laptop, video camera, projector, and screen. Add people and a purpose, such as entrepreneurship. Promote it through social media channels, and you have a social media event. A recent example in the green world is the Evolution of Green. By posing the question, "How can we go from green hype to green habit?" and including the #GreenQ hashtag, it sparked a conversation between attendees and the Twittersphere in real time. Thus was born a new mechanism for getting answers to green questions via Twitter.
6. Travel the World: More than anyone else, Tim O'Reilly knows the potential for social media to change the world. In his opening keynote at this year's Web 2.0 Expo, he called for a new ethic in which we do more with less and create more value than we capture. This provided the context for SalaamGarage founder Amanda Koster, whose presentation followed O'Reilly's. The idea is that social media has enabled each of us to have an audience. Whether through Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, or a personal blog, each of us can have influence and reach. What's more, it can be used for good. SalaamGarage coordinates trips for citizen journalists (that means you) to places like India and Vietnam in conjunction with non-government organizations like Seattle-based Peace Trees. The destination is the story, as these humanitarian journalists report on the people they meet and discoveries they make. Their words, images, and video are posted to the social web to gain exposure and because these stories just need to be told.
7. Rate a Company: The conversation about corporate social responsibility (CSR) takes place across the social web on blogs, Twitter, and YouTube, but a central hub for this information and opinion is still to be determined. SocialYell seeks to address this by building an online community around the CSR conversation, where users can submit reviews of companies together with nonprofit organizations and even public figures like Michelle Obama. The major topics are the Environment, Health, Social Equity, Consumer Advocacy, and Charity. The reviews are voted and commented on by the community in a Reddit-like fashion with both up (Yell) and down (shhh) voting. The site is relatively new and still gaining traction, but there's no question that a resource like this is needed to shine a bright light on CSR and and other related issues.
8. Green Your iPhone: Looking for an organic diner within biking distance that has a three-star green rating? There's a app for that. It's called 3rd Whale, and you can download it for free. Complete with Facebook Connect, this iPhone app locates green products and businesses in 30 major North American cities. 3rd Whale recently released a new feature that integrates green-living tips, which can show how much energy or waste you'll save by taking a given action.
Note: at Max's invitation, we're providing the last two ideas.
9. Organized Social Responsibility: Web-based ideas like Carrot Mobs, The 3/50 Project and the Good Guide make accountability profitable for social responsible businesses while engaging the local community. Want to fight the power? Forget demonstrations and protests. Educate through the proper channels, vote with your pocketbook, and have fun!
10. Finding nonprofit news with IdealistNews: Searching for the latest nonprofit news used to mean going right to the source, reading collected RSS feeds or at least checking out the latest on AllTop. Our partnership with Reddit, IdealistNews, now makes finding relevant nonprofit headlines incredibly simple. All the content on IdealistNews is user-submitted and voted upon, with the best of the articles floating to the front of the website.
Final note: This is Max Gladwell's third list of "10 Ways to Change the World Through Social Media." The first was posted a year ago today on Sustainablog.org, and the sequel followed five months later.
Advice and perspective from Meg Busse. Browse our Career Corner series here.
By Flickr user clementine gallot
I won’t be so flip as to say that getting laid off is in vogue, but it’s definitely becoming more acceptable and in the current economy, more understandable. This doesn’t mean it’s easy to deal with or a pleasant topic of conversation at the Saturday BBQ.
However, that should be your primary goal: to have your next career move be a topic of conversation at the Saturday BBQ. And Sunday supper. And every other event where you’re surrounded by friends and family who would like nothing more than to help you find a job. Because with employers using their networks to find candidates, word of mouth will be your best job search strategy.
So how do you bring up the subject? I have a ridiculously smart and witty friend who was recently laid off from her nonprofit job. This is the first paragraph of the email she sent out to everyone in her network:
Club Laid Off has a new member...me! It's super exclusive, like only 8% are allowed in across the whole county. I'm choosing to look at this as an opportunity of course, as you all know I'm a glass-half-full girl...and am hopeful that an even better opportunity will be coming my way. Until then, I'll available to wait at your house for the cable guy or any other chores that your pesky job gets in the way of.
Her next paragraph briefly outlined some of her skills, as well as examples of positions and companies she’s looking into in case anyone has any connections that might be of use.
What are some of the reasons this is brilliant? First of all, my friend controls the spin and tone of the announcement, and doesn't have to tell everyone individually. Her message is simple, funny, and makes it easy for friends and family to respond to with condolences/congratulations, offers for assistance, and specific contacts. With one email, her network is officially leveraged and she can follow up with more targeted requests and conversations.
When I moved a few years ago, I was unemployed, switching careers, and in a city where I didn’t know anyone. I leveraged my network to the best of my ability, but realized that I just basically needed to meet new people. To pay the bills, I worked a retail job while volunteering with organizations I thought were interesting and with people I found fascinating. This approach not only allowed me to grow my network, but to gain skills (such as grantwriting, strategic planning, board service) that strengthened my resume.
These are two tips, but there’s a slew of advice floating around about what to do if you’re unemployed. Here are some of my favorite pieces:
And if you’re employed but have friends who aren’t, read this article on how to support a friend who has been laid off.
All tips aside, it’s good that some of the stigma of being unemployed is gone. This doesn’t help the financial realities, but it does make the transition and job search process a whole lot easier.
How about you – are you unemployed? Know folks who are? What are your tips?
Post by Lorene Straka.
From Flickr user mckaysavage
In a recent "Do A Little Bit More" column, we described the benefits of making yourself a plan for personal philanthropy. If your funds are limited, and you're evaluating how your donation—however small—can have the greatest impact, consider the two "micros": micro-finance and micro-philanthropy.
With micro-finance, your contribution provides seed money for a small business venture; with micro-philanthropy, your money helps a new nonprofit organization get off the ground. Your donation can make a tremendous difference because funding in the early stages of a new project is often the most difficult to come by. The model used by organizations such as Kiva.org (micro-finance) and The ChangeXChange (micro-philanthropy) lets you select a project, see how much money has already been raised, and then make your own contribution, no matter how small. In both cases, a little bit does indeed go a long way.
By Scott Stadum, who goes by the name BlueOrange on IdealistNews.
IdealistNews is a project of Idealist.org and Reddit where users like you can submit nonprofit news stories from around the web and vote on your favorites.
From Flickr user vasta
Here's a roundup of some of the hottest stories from last week (as titled by the users who submitted them):
Have you posted a link to IdealistNews yet? It's easier than ever with the "bookmarklets" tool. You can drag it to your toolbar or to your bookmarks and submit a link with the click of a mouse. Find out more.
To find more stories or share your own, be sure to visit IdealistNews.
By Amy Potthast, who also blogs at The New Service.
Corporate social responsibility and citizen service are increasingly becoming two sides of the same coin, as more business-sector employees and clients demand opportunities to improve their communities as part of their workplace culture. Exemplifying the beneficial opportunities of cross-sector alliances is the new national partnership between the nonprofit Be The Change, Inc., and the business network Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).
The guests on our newest episode of The New Service podcast are Be the Change, Inc's Alan Khazei and PwC's Shannon Schuyler. Listen now.
Alan Khazei is the founder and CEO of Be the Change, Inc, the lead organizer of the Service Nation campaign that has galvanized support throughout the country for passage of the Kennedy Serve America Act. He is Co-Founder & former CEO of City Year, the youth service corps that helped to inspire the development of AmeriCorps.
Shannon Schuyler is the Managing Director responsible for PwC's Corporate Responsibility efforts in the United States. As such she is responsible for fostering meaningful partnerships with national non-profits, including a new national relationship with Be the Change, Inc.
The collaboration between Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Be the Change Inc aims to inspire a new era of voluntary citizen service. PwC will also serve as a Lead Sponsor for ServiceNation's participation in the upcoming National Conference on Volunteering and Service.
I spoke with Alan and Shannon about their evolving partnership, about how corporate responsibility strengthens communities, and about how groups can—and must—come together across sectors to solve our most pressing social problems. Click here to listen to the episode.
From Scott Stadum, who is known as BlueOrange on IdealistNews.
Image from eszter via Creative Commons
IdealistNews is a project of Idealist.org and Reddit where users like you can submit nonprofit news stories from around the web and vote on your favorites.
Here's a roundup of some of the hottest stories from last week (as titled by the users who submitted them):
Have you posted a link to IdealistNews yet? It's easier than ever with the "bookmarklets" tool. You can drag it to your toolbar or to your bookmarks and submit a link with the click of a mouse. Find out more.
To find more stories or share your own, be sure to visit IdealistNews.
By Scott Stadum.
Photo from Beth Kanter via Creative Commons
About a month ago, the effectiveness of Facebook Causes was the focus of bloggers and journalists alike. Of the 179,000 nonprofits registered with Causes, only a tiny fraction raised anywhere near $1,000 and the median gift through the Facebook application is about $25 – while through traditional means, it's $50.
Of course there is no "magic bullet" for online fundraising and there are a number of reasons people are hesitant to give. From donor fatigue to organizational transparency issues to feelings of general disengagement, raising money online isn't so simple.
I agree that a lot more could be done to promote online giving. For example, Facebook could provide a micropayment system to help supporters evenly distribute donations to their favorite causes. Causes could provide nonprofits with the tools necessary to report the numbers behind donations so supporters could gauge the effectiveness of their donations.
But maybe donations aren't really the problem with Facebook Causes.
As much as I wish I could, I'll never have enough money to give to all the causes I care about. What I do have is time and a number of skill sets that a nonprofit might need. Facebook might have better luck providing tools that would allow nonprofits to post related volunteer opportunities and social actions.
Donating to your favorite Cause doesn't bring about the same feeling as being a part of a movement. It doesn't instill the same sense of "ownership," which means the Cause misses out on the chance to build a loyal group of followers and friends. I care about the work of Ashoka and promote corporate responsibility, but if I wanted to do more than send in $25, what are my options?
Where should Facebook start? Integrating a tool to list volunteer opportunities would be useful but starting smaller—perhaps by integrating Social Actions listings into each Cause to show related opportunities and actions—might be more realistic.
From Put Barber, editor of the Nonprofit FAQ.
Cricket photo from Flickr user prakhar
Today is World Play Day. All you need do to participate in the celebration all over the globe is play. In a park, on a card-table, online, wherever you like.
World Play Day is sponsored by the International Toy Library Association, a Belgium-based umbrella group for organizations that offer the loan of toys or opportunities for shared play.
A search on Idealist.org for "toy library" turns up only three organizations. If you know of one that serves your community, or for that matter anyplace in the world, encourage them to create an organization listing so more kids can have access to toys and more people can have the satisfaction of sharing play-time opportunities more broadly. There are 124 organizations that have "toys" in their listings; if you have some unused toys you'd like to donate, this would be a terrific day to search for an organization near you that could put them to good use.
Today will be the 10th annual celebration of World Play Day. The goal of the organizers is "A day that is FUN, shows adults and children in interactive situations promoting the healthy growth of each other in simple, self-motivated activities of their own choice."
So, no matter how busy and jangled your schedule may be today, you can connect in a moment of vicarious shared celebration with others all over the world if you take a couple of minutes—or a couple of hours—to play. After all, how often can you claim that just getting out there to play is part of an organized world-wide campaign?
From Douglas Coulter, who is known as DouglasCoulter on IdealistNews.
Photo via The Infrastructurist
IdealistNews is a project of Idealist.org and Reddit where users like you can submit nonprofit news stories from around the web and vote on your favorites.
Here's a roundup of some of the hottest stories from last week (as titled by the users who submitted them):
Have you posted a link to IdealistNews yet? It's easier than ever with the "bookmarklets" tool. You can drag it to your toolbar or to your bookmarks and submit a link with the click of a mouse. Find out more.
To find more stories or share your own, be sure to visit IdealistNews.
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