Awards

Nonprofit software provider Blackbaud has been named to ZDNet's CRM Watchlist 2012, receiving the top score for technology firms. Blackbaud not only received the highest score for technology firms, but the highest overall score of any CRM company on the list.

In a town near Ndola in Zambia, women with little choice but prostitution to feed their children are learning how to make a living sewing school uniforms.

A Pennsylvania nonprofit organization is helping make that possible. Forgotten Voices International provides $2,750 in donated seed money every six months to train the women and give each her own sewing machine, fabric and startup cash.

Founder Ryan Keith doesn’t see himself as an entrepreneur, but Forgotten Voices is helping create jobs. For his efforts, the Harrisburg Regional Chamber named Keith its Entrepreneur of the Year for 2011.

When Riley Miller opened her first lemonade stands in 2005, she was hoping to raise at least $1,000.

When she closed the stands with $15,000 in hand, she decided to run more stands the following summer. Six years later, Riley, a 17-year-old from Bowling Green, Ky., has raised $140,000 and will soon be honored as 2011’s Stand Host of the Year for Alex’s Lemonade Stand — a national organization that raises money for childhood cancer research.

She will receive the award in Philadelphia on Jan. 14.

Petaluma, Calif.-based Polly Klaas Foundation has been named the 2011 Missing Children Nonprofit Organization of the Year by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

The award was presented to Robert De Leo, the foundation's executive director by federal officials and honors the foundation for "its outstanding contributions and commitment to missing and exploited children."

Yup, folks, TODAY is the deadline for your 2012 Fundraising Professionals of Year nominations. If you haven't already made your nominations, you have until the end of the day to get them to us. The nomination period will officially close at end of business day today, Monday, Dec. 19.

Yup, folks, TODAY is the deadline for your 2012 Fundraising Professionals of Year nominations. But you know what? Take the weekend. If you haven't already made your nominations, you can have until Monday to get them to us. The nomination period will officially close at end of business day on Monday, Dec. 19.

The Skoll Foundation announced the 2012 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship Tuesday. The Skoll Award provides a three-year core operating support grant for recipients to extend their already impressive reach. This year’s Skoll Awardees join the growing global network of 91 Skoll social entrepreneurs from 74 organizations who are tackling the world’s most pressing problems.

This year's winners are Gawad Kalinga, Landesa, Nidan and Proximity Designs.

DMW Direct, a direct response advertising agency, announced that it won five MarCom Awards, an international awards competition that recognizes outstanding creative achievement by marketing and communications professionals. The company received two awards in the Platinum category, three awards in the Gold category, plus two Honorable Mentions.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the Association of Fundraising Professionals' National Philanthropy Day in New York to honor some of the fundraising sector's best and brightest — including FundRaising Success' very own editor-in-chief, Margaret Battistelli.

The Chicago White Sox were named recipients of the Commissioner's Award for Philanthropic Excellence, created in 2010 to recognize outstanding community efforts of a Major League club.

The White Sox were acknowledged Thursday by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and MLB at the General Managers and Owners Meetings for the "White Sox Volunteer Corps" program. The initiative is designed to activate the White Sox fan base to give back to the greater Chicago community through service. MLB will give the White Sox a $10,000 grant for the recognition.