Software/Technology

uContribute.net allows consumers to make everyday online purchases through its Internet website and donate to their favorite charity at the same time, without spending any additional money. "It's a win-win situation," says Vice President of Client Relations Troy Wilson. "Consumers just make their regular purchases through our site, and the Charity of their choice makes a percentage of that purchase. Having affiliated with every major retailer on the Internet, and with many retailers providing exclusive discounts to consumers who shop through their site, uContribute.net has had an overwhelming response from non-profits seeking a share of the 200 Billion dollars in annual online sales."

Today saw the global launch of bettertheworld.com, the world's first, effortless fundraising platform that provides tools to empower millions of people to raise money for charity simply by surfing the web. The platform targets internet users who have no money to give to charity and charity supporters who want to do more.

The Centre for Social Innovation in connection with TechSoup Global, Microsoft Canada Co., and the Information Technology Association of Canada today launched the TechSoup Canada portal  — offering Canadian non-profits access to technology donations.

When you think of YouTube, perhaps it’s the do-it-yourself entertainment of lonelygirl15 or the mysteriously faceless Pachelbel’s “Canon” guitar whiz that comes to mind.

You probably know Facebook as a social-networking site that allows people to connect with friends, co-workers and classmates; upload photographs; share links and videos; and join community networks that mirror their interests.

But Facebook now is stepping into the fundraising field by allowing users to buy virtual gifts or icons to send to their friends to benefit charity.

Feeling kind of limited by the communications, networking and advocacy-building capabilities of the real world? Never fear … plenty of opportunities abound in the virtual one.

Second Life, for example, is a three-dimensional virtual world built and owned by users — now numbering more than 4 million worldwide — that some nonprofits have begun to use in innovative ways to expand their reach and programs.

Nonprofit organizations can create customized, multi-lingual community toolbars that supporters can download to their browsers to increase campaign awareness, encourage community participation and drive fundraising.

Toolbars — offered and hosted free of charge by marketing platform Conduit — can include features such as one-click donation buttons, RSS-driven action alerts, news tickers, weather updates, links to community chat rooms and podcasts, and e-mail alerts. Toolbar Web searches are powered by Google and, according to Rena Jadhav, chief marketing officer for Conduit, 50 percent of the revenue Conduit generates through searches goes to the nonprofit.

Someone 20 years old, or 30 or 40 — even 50 — might never become a direct-mail donor. He or she probably will give online from the beginning. And there’s evidence that online donors might act quite differently than their direct-mail responsive parents and grandparents.

In early December 2006, Network for Good launched the beta version of its Charity Badge fundraising widget, which allows individuals to raise awareness and money for a cause on their personal blogs, social-networking sites or Web pages.

Online message boards can transform your Web presence from a one-sided mouthpiece for your organization to a place for interactive dialogue that allows visitors to communicate with you and with each other. Message boards not only encourage communication, but they foster community and accessibility. Message boards offer a specific location where constituents can gather, allow almost real-time communication and easy navigation through message threads, and archive conversations, writes Susan Tenby, online community manager for TechSoup, online provider of nonprofit technology services that include news and articles, discussion forums, and discounted and donated technology products, in her white paper “Using Message Boards to Build Community.”