TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards 2010

Do you know a Digital hero who deserves £5,000? TalkTalk, in association with Citizens Online and The Daily Mirror, are launching the Digital Heroes Awards 2010 to find this years UK Digital Heroes. The Awards will be recognise outstanding individuals using the power of the internet to implement bright ideas which bring about positive social change. Nominations are open now until 30 September 2010.

Read Full Post »

Can search engine marketing help your fundraising?

The Internet Advertising Bureau is a trade association for online advertising industry and has produced a number of excellent FREE guides that explains why search engines are so important when trying to reach your target audience. Although you may think of the internet as the preserve of the big brands the set includes an easy to use guide for charities that could be useful for anyone building an online fundraising strategy.

Download the Guide from the IAB website at http://bit.ly/clqVzg

Read Full Post »

New Microsoft funding announced

Microsoft has announced funding of up to £85,000 available for training in e-skills. See below for details and download the form at the end of the post.

Read Full Post »

Is iHobo patronising or a great new type of fundraising?

iHobo is a controversial new fundraising tool in the form of an iPhone App that reflects the growing use of the internet on mobile phones. It is being used to raise awareness and generate funds for Depaul UK, a charity that helps young people who are homeless, vulnerable and disadvantaged. It offers a glimpse into the life of a young homeless person and asks you to help them to decide what to do and how to survive. It is breaking new ground as a new generation of fundraising tools but it is also creating a storm of controversy as people say it is patronising and compares homeless people to Tamagotchi.

Read Full Post »

Fundraising: Email versus Facebook

The Washington Post has published a report that compares the value of using email as a core fundraising strategy rather than social networks such as Facebook. Although there is still a case for using such sites to raise awareness of your cause the income generated on Facebook was reportedly dwarfed by the fundraising from email campaigns and other tried-and-true methods.

I found this story on FrogLoop, a blog about nonprofit online marketing which you can find at www.frogloop.com/wpost

Read Full Post »

Grassroots Grants

Looking for a pot to fund the IT needs of small groups? Have a look at Grassroots Grants, which funds small groups with grants of between £250 and £5,000, on a flexible basis that encourages people to work in manageable steps.

In terms of IT this could mean, for example, that a group buys a computer and then pays for training to learn how to get the best from it, such as investing in a laptop and training for a Treasurer in budgeting to manage the finances and support fundraising. Or it could pay for a training course for a neighbourhood group to set up and maintain its own website.

A full list of local Community Foundations that cover the south east is available on the Community Development Foundation’s website.

Read Full Post »

Grant funding for media projects with young people

MIX MEDIABOX OPENS FOR APPLICATIONS Mediabox, the fund that offers 13-19 year olds the chance to create their own media projects and get their voices heard, opens its Mix Mediabox strand today. More details at http://tr.im/wOrB

Read Full Post »

Bursaries available from Capacitybuilders

Are you a third sector organisation with a turnover between £150,000 and £750,000? Do you provide services in any of the following areas to help meet the needs of communities affected by the recession?

• well being and health advice,
• information and guidance loss of income,
• training and skills

Could you work more closely with other organisations to increase your impact and extend your reach?

With a £1,000 bursary from Capacitybuilders’ Modernisation Fund Grants Programme, you could buy at least two days of professional advice to explore how you can become more resilient and work more closely with others, including through collaboration or merger.

Read Full Post »

Adobe funds for activity near south west London

Anyone who works with communities near south west London may like to know that Adobe is keen to support charitable activity that will help to make the communities around its London, Heathrow Corporate Headquarters better, stronger, and more vibrant places to live, work and do business.

Read Full Post »

BT offers free laptops and broadband connection

BT Community Connections is now open for you to apply for a free laptop and a year’s broadband connection. There are approximately 1,000 award packages on offer in 2009/10, so make sure your group doesn’t miss out!   To find out more about the scheme, read  case studies and apply online please go to www.btcommunityconnections.com

Read Full Post »

Fundraising Conference – Bookings Now Open

The Institute of Fundraising Technology Special Interest Group has announced its fourth annual one-day conference, on May 14th in London. Howard Lake of UK Fundraising is the keynote speaker, with twelve seminars to choose from on Implementing CRM, Online Fundraising and Web 2.0, and Technology Management. Speakers include individuals from Cancer Research UK, Help The Aged, Tate, Medecins Sans Frontieres, JustGiving and Artez Interactive.

Read Full Post »

Launch Date Announced For BT Community Connections

British Telecom has announced that it will be launching the 2009 Community Connections Awards on the 17th March 2009. BT Community Connections has been run by BT’s Corporate Responsibility Unit since 2000. The scheme targets community and voluntary groups that could benefit from internet access and ICT but don’t necessarily have the resources. The package is valued at £1,300.

For more information click here: http://digbig.com/4yjky

Read Full Post »

How can the Lottery help with IT budgets? And why should it?

The latest news from the Big Lottery Fund south east includes updates on grants awarded and the Big Thinking consultation about its future policies. The Lottery has an enormous influence as a funder and I think it can take a lead in ensuring that the organisations it funds have sensible IT budgets. My ideas include IT budgeting checklists in application packs, training for the people deciding who gets the money and consultants to help implement larger complex projects such as databases and websites. Here’s a quick run through of the issues I raised – if you agree with them please use the Big Thinking website to add your voice.

Read Full Post »

How small charities can take credit card donations

A new report by the Charities Aid Foundation raises concerns that cash donations are falling sharply as credit card payments and regular direct debits become more common. A 22% drop in cash donations, coupled with a predicted fall in charitable income on the back of the credit crunch is seen as a particular threat to smaller charities – in other words the vast majority of organisations supported by CVS and other infrastructure bodies in local networks across the south east.

Most small charities will not be able to afford to set up credit card payments, but there are several online systems which could help avoid the worst effects of this change. Here is a quick round of three and ideas about how to use them.

Read Full Post »

Ten ways to use ICT in Community Resource Centres

The latest Capacity Builders capital funds are focused on creating and/or updating community resource centres. The £5 million fund aims to “increase the access that third sector organisations have to high quality, relevant and affordable shared facilities and services offered by local resource centres across England.”

Because I’ve been working in the sector for so long I can remember when all we ever wanted in our local resource centre was a new Roneo machine, but now my technology wish list would include:

Read Full Post »