E-Philanthropy

Green America, a Washington nonprofit that wants the American economy to be dominated by environmentally friendly companies, has started a deal-of-the-day Web site called GreenDeals.

In partnership with Q4 Marketing, of Boston, Green America carefully screens businesses, allowing only those that it defines as environmentally friendly and socially responsible to offer discounted deals.

reen America says it’s on its way to raising $24,000 as part of the deal with Q4 Marketing, which is expected to make a bit less from the partnership.

Online donations rose sharply last year, say three big organizations that handle Internet gifts.

Convio says online donations to its 1,300 clients topped $1.3-billion, a more than 40-percent increase.

Giving to 5,000 charity clients of Blackbaud grew by more than 10 percent in December alone, though the company wouldn’t give the precise increase. It's preparing a fuller report on 2010 results to release within the month.

And Network for Good says it processed 20 percent more in charitable donations last year than it did in 2009.

In a webinar last month, Jeff Patrick and Sarah Desilets discussed the fundraising capabilities of Facebook Causes and tips on how to use the application for your organization.

If you don’t think Congress should have extended the Bush-era tax cuts this month, why not donate your own tax savings to charity? That’s an idea that three professors are promoting on a new Web site called Give It Back for Jobs.

The site, which helps people calculate their own tax cut under the deal that President Obama struck with House Republicans, was created by Jacob Hacker, a professor of political science, and Daniel Markovits, a professor of law, at Yale University; and Robert Hockett, a professor of law at Cornell University.

WPP, the world’s largest communications services group, announces that it has agreed to acquire all the assets of privately held Blue State Digital, LLC (BSD) in the United States and the United Kingdom through WPP Digital, the digital investment and operating arm of WPP. Blue State Digital is a full-service digital agency specializing in advocacy, membership and fundraising campaigns for nonprofits, educational and cultural institutions, political campaigns and corporate brands.

This year the Whitney Museum of American Art offers devotees a respite from licking envelopes and stamps. The non-profit museum’s new donation videogame, Clickistan, asks online visitors to score points and advance levels—before asking their appreciation.

Clickistan is a witty and sometimes biting respite from instant-gratification Flash and Facebook games. On the last screen, players can choose to donate as little as $5 and as much as $10,000. (The more goal-oriented can also skip all of the levels to make their online donation.)

After the dot-com bubble burst and took down his online grocery store, Webvan Group Inc., Coppy Holzman got back in the game by auctioning unique experiences for charities, like a backstage meeting with Paul McCartney. Then he took it global on the Web.

With his Charitybuzz.com, Holzman serves as a broker who finds the celebrity and runs the online auction. Instead of an upfront fee, he gets 20 percent of the sale proceeds. He doubled Charitybuzz’s business to $25 million this year over 2009.

Here are six online donation tools recommended by Idealware.

AFP CEO Paulette Maehara shares her thoughts on Convio's positive 2010 Holiday Giving Survey findings.

Based on the findings from The Online Giving Study, Network for Good offers four tips to maximize online fundraising.