Happy Thanksgiving!   It's that time of year when we are ready to open our hearts in gratitude and do good things for others.     I'd like to highlight two wonderful campaigns that could be wonderful ways to show your gratitude. While some folks may be out shopping the day after Thanksgiving, the Case Foundation would like to invite you to go#GoodSpotting. To celebrate all of the good going on around us, they've created a huge, global image gallery of people, organizations and businesses doing … [Read more...]

Network for Good turns 10 this Saturday! It sent me back to my archives because I remember writing an online article called "Cyberfundraising" that discussed the options for this promising new form of fundraising. They included: charity malls (a primitive form of embedded philanthropy as Lucy Bernholz might say), charity portals (what Network for Good was called); and roll your own e-commerce site.   As the infographic shows, online fundraising has come a long way - both donors, tools, and … [Read more...]

Note from Beth: Last week, Washington, DC held its first ever Give to the Max Day where 1300 nonprofits were fundraising and experimenting with social media tools and raised over $2 million in 24 hours. The campaign was modeled after the grand daddy of match days that happens throughout the entire state of Minnesota. Launched in 2009, the third match day will happen on Wednesday, November 16th.  Jeff Achen gives us the inside view.  Good luck and Go Minnesota! Guest post by Jeff Achen, … [Read more...]

Last week, I attended Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen's Giving 2.0 book launch at Stanford University with my children, Harry and Sara.  The book's message is simple.   Anyone and everyone who gives anything -- time, money, experience, skills, networks -- in any amount to create a better world can be philanthropist.    She shared many stories of philanthropists with far less money and notoriety than celebrities and wealthy people we typically think of as philanthropists.   She shared some ideas … [Read more...]

I'm in Washington, DC today to kick off a training event for Give to the Max Day,  a one-day fundraising event on November 9, 2011 that will unite local Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC communities to support nonprofits serving the area.    The fundraising goal for Give to the Max Day is to get 35,000 people to support their favorite regional charity, raising more than $3 million in donations and grants in just 24 hours!   The training event, which will be live streamed starting at 9:00 am, … [Read more...]