Network for Good

With less than two weeks left before the holiday giving seasons ends, many charities have already raised more compared with 2010 — and some are even expecting a windfall, a new Chronicle of Philanthropy poll finds.

Fifty-four percent told The Chronicle that they raised more money in November and the first part of December than they had at this point last year. One out of five of the 152 organizations in the survey said contributions are outpacing last year’s donations by 20 percent or more.

Nominations have now opened for the sixth annual Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest, the nation's highest honor for software developers working with nonprofits to help advance innovative social change.

Tides is now accepting nominations for this year's $10,000 prize through October 31. The 2012 winner will be announced in April at the Nonprofit Technology Network annual conference in San Francisco.

Network for Good has updated The Network for Good Online Giving Index with insights and trends from the first two quarters of 2011. This Index builds on data and observations from The Online Giving Study released last December and is updated quarterly to provide timely and relevant snapshots of the state of online charitable giving.

Darian Rodriguez Heyman, managing partner at the CODE Green Agency and former executive director of the Craigslist Foundation, talks about his book, "Nonprofit Management 101."

E-donations facilitator Nadanu today launched a new platform called MyCharityBox that lets non-profits easily collect funds from donors.

A user registers with Nadanu’s Push-K platform and then “drops coins” which represent monetary donations from a donor’s credit card, PayPal or Authorize.net into a graphic designed to look like a traditional coin box for their favorite charity.

The eCharityBox is programmed to wait until it hits a predetermined amount; when “full,” it sends the donation on to the chosen charity.

Kudos Community announced the launch of its new online coupon platform. Geared toward small businesses, consumers and non-rofit organizations, Kudos Community delivers risk-free, targeted coupons and offers to consumers to drive online engagement into real-world transactions for businesses. Kudos Community donates 25 percent of its revenue providing a new revenue stream to nonprofits and community organizations. Coupons are currently available in the Seattle metro area with plans to expand to other metropolitan cities across the U.S.

You already know that technology can help you and your organization create the change you want to see in the world. The Nonprofit Technology Network's mission is to help you do that. As part of that effort, NTEN is excited to introduce NTEN:Change, a quarterly journal for nonprofit leaders. Through in-depth articles, case-studies, best practices, leader profiles, and discussions, NTEN:Change will provide the guidance and practical considerations crucial to making the sound investments and decisions that will help your organization achieve its mission.

The strongest-ever earthquake to hit Japan triggered a tsunami that moved across the Pacific Ocean. The Associated Press reports that at least 300 people have already died.

Here are early responses from large international-aid charities, grant makers, and other groups:

It took almost a decade for donors to trust Donate Now technology. Similarly, it might take years for them to trust apps and widgets (and mobile-giving technology), but can you imagine if we had listened to the naysayers and thrown out Donate Now buttons in 2005 because the results weren't immediate?

The author of "Big Impact in Small Places: 9 Ways to Write Better Email Subject Lines, Headlines, Tweets and Facebook Updates" discusses how fundraisers can effectively commnicate via e-mail and social media.