Sierra Club

American Crossroads GPS, an advocacy group that reported spending about $17 million on advertising before the midterm elections, generated controversy by using its nonprofit status to shield donors' identities.

As it turns out, the Internal Revenue Service hasn't even approved the group's nonprofit status. Crossroads filed an application in September but the agency has not acted on it.

Watchdog groups say that Crossroads and other groups active in campaigns are taking advantage of lax IRS enforcement to offer political donors anonymity.

Today Roger Craver is being inducted into the American Association of Political Consultants Hall of Fame.

Here’s what AAPC has to say about Roger …

David Broder called him “a bomb thrower”… The Wall Street Journal claimed he was the “assassin” of all things right wing.

At the Alternative Gift Fair checks and cash turned into donations for the charities that were represented there.

For the past 12 years, the holiday event has supported an array of local and international charities. Shoppers, for example, can make a gift that will pay for formula for infants in Malawi through the African Mothers Health Initiative, a school lunch that Pueblo a Pueblo will provide to youngsters in Guatemala, or a rafting trip the Sierra Club will offer to needy inner-city kids.

Atlanta, GA, September 1, 2009 — Social media solutions provider ThePort Network, Inc. announced today the availability of a new whitepaper entitled "How to Identify Enterprise-Class Social Networking Platforms." The whitepaper discusses critical factors organizations must evaluate when considering utilizing social network software and how to identify platforms that are tailored to help accomplish their mission. The whitepaper is available for free download at ThePort's website.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 22, 2009 — Convio, Inc. – the leading provider of online marketing, fundraising, advocacy and constituent relationship management software and services to nonprofit organizations – today announced the  availability of core volunteer management features and functionality as part of its innovative new constituent relationship management software, Common Ground CRM.  Convio is demonstrating the new features and functionality of Common Ground in booth 400 at The National Conference on Volunteering and Service in San Francisco.

AUSTIN, Texas, June 16, 2009 — Convio, Inc. – the leading provider of on-demand constituent relationship management software and services to nonprofit organizations – today announced that Gilbert Tuhabonye will be the keynote speaker for the fourth annual Convio Summit, November 16-18, 2009 in Austin, Texas. Gilbert is a genocide survivor of the horrible Tutsi massacres in Burundi, former NCAA All-American runner, inspirational running coach, author, motivational speaker, and co-founder of a nonprofit organization.

AUSTIN, Texas, May 20, 2009 — Convio, Inc., — the leading provider of on-demand constituent relationship management software and services to nonprofit organizations — today announced the results of a study designed to learn more about how leading nonprofit organizations structure and staff to drive results in their online marketing, fundraising and advocacy campaigns. The study identified consistent themes and practices that lead to success regardless of the size of the organization. The study provides seven steps nonprofits can take to address resource constraints and evaluate the best structure, staff size and skill sets to generate online results.

Menlo Park, Calif. — April 30, 2009 — Grassroots nonprofits get top votes for best environmental nonprofits, according to GreatNonprofits’ 2009 Green Choice Awards.   The contest, held during Earth Month in April, asked people to submit reviews and ratings about environmental nonprofits.  The results provide surprising insights into the kinds of organizations that are considered effective by volunteers, donors and stakeholders.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28, 2009 — Co-sponsors ThePort Network, Inc. (www.theport.com), NTEN (www.nten.org), and Common Knowledge (www.commonknow.com) released today results of the nonprofit industry's first-ever survey examining the use of social networking as a marketing and fundraising channel. Conducted earlier this year, the survey polled 978 nonprofit professionals about their organizations' use of commercial social networking sites, as well as their own hosted social networking communities.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 27, 2009 — Convio, Inc. – the leading provider of on-demand constituent relationship management software and services to nonprofit organizations – at NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference today announced the official launch of the Convio Solution Provider (CSP) program for companies wanting to deploy Convio software and provide related services. This new program represents Convio's ongoing commitment to provide its clients with access to consistent, high-quality consulting and implementation services around Convio products.