Events

TribeHR Corp., a leading social human resources platform for small and medium business, and Impact99, organizers of the first Canadian social media and HR conference, announced the Innovate for Impact contest. The contest, which is open to nonprofit organizations in Canada and the U.S., is designed to showcase and share the innovation that takes place in today’s nonprofit workplace. Innovate for Impact is sponsored by the HR Council for the Nonprofit Sector and Capacity Waterloo Region.

Cold Stone Creamery and the Make-A-Wish Foundation invite the country to the 10th Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social Sept. 27 for a free Sprinkled with Wishes Creation as the culmination of a month-long fundraising event. Proceeds from the event benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Throughout September, every Cold Stone store nationwide will sell paper wish stars for $1 each. The month-long fundraiser concludes with the 10th Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social Sept. 27. During the social, Cold Stone will give away 3-ounce portions of the Sprinkled with Wishes Creation from 5-8 p.m., encouraging guests to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

How can you best spread awareness about your special event to as many potential supporters as possible when you have limited budget and resources? Leverage social media to get the word out quickly and efficiently throughout your nonprofit's network.

Announcing the 2011 Special Events Campaign of the Year, American Jewish World Service's 25th anniversary campaign.

The T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS Research is proud to announce the honorees for the 36th Annual Awards Gala, which will take place Nov. 3rd in New York. The award winners are Bea Perez, chief sustainability officer at The Coca-Cola Co.; Scott Borchetta, president/CEO of the Big Machine Label Group; golf legend Arnold Palmer; and actor/comedian Drew Carey. Each honoree is heavily involved with nonprofit organizations and fundraisers dedicated cancer and AIDS research.

Toyota is set to deliver the first three vehicles to winners of its “100 Cars for Good” program. 100 Cars for Good is a major new philanthropic program from Toyota that is awarding 100 vehicles to 100 nonprofit organizations over the course of 100 days, based on votes from the public.

Toyota kicks off the vehicle deliveries by awarding vehicles to representatives of the Community Soup Kitchen and Outreach Center, Laura Recovery Center for Missing Children and Sol Collective.

Last week, Southwest Airlines announced its first set of 10 winners for the 1,600 ticket giveaway in honor of Southwest’s 40th anniversary to spread the LUV even further to the communities we serve. The second set of 10 winners were announced: American Association of Blacks in Energy, Home Front Hearts, Aguila Youth Leadership Institute, National Federation of the Blind, Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values, 1N10, National Park Foundation, Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment, Team Rubicon and Urban Health Plan.

Opportunity is everywhere, and not just strictly in the form of donors and dollars. Sometimes it wears a mask, and it hides in plain sight. But most development professionals have the innate skills to find it, learn from it and use it to help with future challenges. Here are two examples of what I mean.

Fundraising events are a foundation for many nonprofit fundraising programs. But they are the most inefficient way of raising money.

Lots of fundraising is built around socializing, isn't it? Whether it's a formal fundraising event or not, we are often organizing large or small groups of people in social situations. So it's really important to know your social skills and be able to throw a fabulous party.