Google

Google wants Bay Area residents to pick the groups with the best ideas for transforming local lives. Google.org, the search giant’s philanthropic arm, is seeking public input on its Google Impact Challenge grants to “change-makers and forward-thinkers who challenge the status quo ... with big ideas for an even better Bay Area,” as it says…

The 2015 M+R Benchmark Study is out. This year, M+R surveyed 84 nonprofit organizations on its fundraising metrics through social media, email marketing and online revenue. While it is an admittedly small sample, the findings are detailed enough to warrant a look. So what’s new this year? Social media is still growing, email list size is increasing but that growth is sluggish compared to previous years, and monthly giving has increased in popularity.

Recent tweets on nonprofit technology (#nptech).

The augmented reality and virtual reality markets have yet to get off the ground. But market advisor Digi-Capital estimates that the combined markets will reach $150 billion by 2020. Digi-Capital Managing Director Tim Merel believes that augmented reality—where you can add a virtual overlay to glasses that enable you to see the real world in a new way—will be four times bigger at $120 billion than virtual reality, which immerses you in a virtual world via goggles.

Facing a loss of high-profile corporate sponsors, a conservative state-level policy group—the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)—threatened action in recent weeks against activist groups that accuse it of denying climate change. Attorneys for ALEC sent letters to Common Cause and the League of Conservation Voters asking them to immediately “cease making false statements” and “remove all false or misleading material” suggesting that ALEC does not believe in global warming.

Once or twice a month, similar scenes are unfolding at Boston-area nonprofits, many of them small enough that a six-figure contribution is akin to hitting the lottery. The out-of-the-blue phone call or voice mail. The unlikely caller. The astonishment that leads some people to assume they’re victims of a prank.

And, finally, the dawning realization that the man on the line bearing gifts is, indeed, New England Patriots owner and billionaire businessman Robert Kraft.

Keeping your team focused on your conversion analytics, not just your traffic analytics, keeps everyone on the same page: driving as many online donations as possible from your limited online marketing budget.

Tim Cook is planning to give away all of his near $800 million fortune before he dies, the Apple boss said in a surprisingly frank interview. Cook, 54, who took over as Apple chief executive from Steve Jobs in 2011, told Fortune magazine that he planned to donate all of his wealth to charity after providing for his 10-year-old nephew’s education.

Recent tweets on nonprofit technology (#nptech).

Without a doubt, the free staffing of corporate volunteers can be invaluable. But the unfortunate reality of corporate “days of service,” well-meaning as they are, is that they can be burdensome, time-consuming headaches for nonprofits, and of dubious value. The “help” may not be all that helpful.

A company may want to organize a team-building project to paint a community center, when what that center actually needs is a volunteer social media strategist to teach its staff to use Twitter, for example.