Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Scanning QR codes with a mobile device is one of the most popular ways to donate money. I’m on a mission to discover all the different ways you can scan-to-give. As a cause marketer, I’m especially interested in how businesses and nonprofits are using QR codes to trigger giving. Here are four ways QR codes let your donors scan-to-give, their advantages and disadvantages, and how real-life businesses are using them.

During the 2012-13 Oklahoma City Thunder season, Chesapeake Energy Corp. is running an advertising campaign spotlighting six Oklahoma City nonprofit organizations: the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma, Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oklahoma and Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma. Chesapeake’s “Cheering For Champions” campaign will highlight the six nonprofit organizations through TV, radio, billboard and in-arena advertisements that encourage Thunder fans to learn more, volunteer and donate.

As the year-end giving season gets under way, a new effort aims to steer more donations to nonprofits that can prove they get results and have a plan to expand to help more people. The Social Impact 100 Index features high-performing nonprofits that focus on education, health, poverty alleviation and youth development, bringing them together on a Web site that makes it easy for donors to learn more about the groups and to give.

During the America East Conference Basketball Championship, Newman’s Own Foundation unveiled the top grant recipients of its third-annual Campus Community Service Challenge.  Engineers Without Borders, in partnership with University at Maine, received the top grant of $25,000. Earth Day Southern Tier working with Binghamton University’s SUNY VINES (Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments) received $15,000. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region, who partnered with University of Albany’s Reclassifying All Children Equally (R.A.C.E.), and Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, who partnered with University of Vermont’s Adaptive Sports, each will receive a $10,000 grant.

Promotional products retailer 4imprint donated in-kind to 47 nonprofit organizations and charities throughout the U.S. and Canada in the third quarter of 2011 as part of its one by one(TM) philanthropic giving program. These donations come in addition to the 113 donations already made in the first and second quarters of this year.

According to Philanthropedia, Big Brothers Big Sisters is not just making a difference but has been ranked best of the best on a list of most recommended, high-impact national nonprofits serving at-risk youth. The nation's leader in quality, youth mentoring, Big Brothers Big Sisters received praise for its effective mentoring model that leads to positive and measurable youth outcomes for children who face adversity, as well as for its organizational leadership and community outreach.

While Wall Street has slowly returned from the depths of the financial crisis, nonprofit groups that have come to depend on the industry’s donations are still struggling. With the global market turmoil and the threat of a double-dip recession, many big banks are clutching their cash or rethinking their giving strategy to maximize their dollars.

The changing nature of Wall Street giving has touched many corners of the nonprofit world. Financial firms accounted for the largest amount of corporate cash donations in 2010, according to the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy.

The NBCUniversal Foundation has awarded $800,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations across the country. The grants are part of NBCUniversal’s ongoing commitment to improving public secondary education in underserved communities.

This is the sixth year of the successful NBCUniversal initiative, which targets nonprofits in cities with large NBCUniversal employee populations and significant education needs. Since the Foundation’s inception, close to $7 million has been directed to nonprofits that have demonstrated a commitment to improving educational opportunities for public school students in the 6th through 12th grades.

The Boys and Girls Club of Eden, Be-A-Friend Program Inc./Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County, and Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services joined more than 60 nonprofit organizations over the last 16 years to receive the keys to a new Ford passenger van, compliments of the Western New York Ford Dealers’ Ford Friendship Express Program.

Fundraising professionals shared four ways to justify donor acquisition to the higher-ups during the 2011 Washington Nonprofit session "Asking Up: Making the Acquisition Justification to Your CFO/CEO/Board."