TechSoup Blog

Idealware recently released its  Fundraising, Communications and Outreach. Unlike their earlier guides (to inexpensive donor databases, content management systems, online donation tools, etc.) this one is an actual book (84 pages, paperback) and costs actual money ($19.95, plus, I assume, shipping and maybe tax). They describe it as follows:

What types of software should your nonprofit be using? It's hard to even know even what types exist, let alone what might work for you. Through a friendly, easy-reference format, this book helps you pinpoint the types of software that can help your organization based on your needs and your level of technology savvy, and provides user-friendly summaries to demystify all the possible options.

The 84-page Field Guide includes an overview of 35 different types of software, helping you to understand what each is, how it fits in with your needs, how much you might expect to pay, and some of the most common vendors in the area.

Full disclosure: I reviewed an early draft, but haven't seen the final version. It's likely to be a useful guide to nonprofits who are planning to purchase (or request donations) of a lot of software in the near future.

You can get more information and order a copy on their site.

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Donations via text message for Haiti relief efforts have surpassed $37 million, more than quadruple the amount when we posted about SMS donations originally.

There are also lots more organizations accepting donations via text messaging through mGive, who set up the SMS donation platform.

Click through for an updated list of text messaging codes and the organizations who receive them, followed by participating carriers.

Text messaging charges apply for most carriers, but you can check out our original post to see which organizations you can donate to free of charge if you're with one of the big four carriers.

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With Macworld Expo shifting into high gear just a few blocks from our office, and Apple's big iPad announcement, we thought we'd give a shout out to all of our Mac-using nonprofits and libraries and let you know of the OS X compatible products our donors have generously made available through TechSoup.

In addition to the Symantec, Adobe, MYOB, and Microsoft software products listed here, the majority of our hosted (SaaS) products and Flip Video are also Mac compatible. Coming soon to TechSoup: 2010 versions of Intuit's Quickbooks for Mac and MYOB's AccountEdge (single user and network addition). Stay tuned!

Got a question? Want to dish on the iPad and whether or not it will live up to the hype? Head over to our discussion forums – we'd love to hear from you! Check out other resources below.

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Our Nonprofit Commons in Second Life project has a new video! It combines real world video footage with Second Life video (machinima) and gives many examples of how nonprofits can benefit from virtual worlds.

As the tragedy lingers on in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, the generosity of individuals, organizations, and nations around the world has brought a glimmer of hope for the stricken nation. O-Matic Software, maker of the Raiser's Edge plug-in Import-O-Matic, is helping out in a different way.

For organizations providing assistance and relief to the Haiti effort and use Raiser's Edge, O-matic will be donating their Import-O-Matic software to expedite your data processing. For organizations deluged with donations over this last while, this could mean more aid going to those on the ground.

For more information check out their special Haiti relief page.

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TechSoup is working to redesign/develop our website to make it easier to use so we can get more donated products into the hands of the many organizations who need them. As part of that process, we need some folks to help us test things out and tell us how to make our future implementation better.

With that in mind, we would like to invite you to participate in a key usability study to help TechSoup improve our website. Testing will take one hour and can be done remotely or on-site at TechSoup offices in San Francisco. We'll be holding usability testing on the following days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time:

On Thursday, February 11, 2010 from 12:00-1:30 p.m. Eastern time, our donor partner Mission Research (which donates it's fundraising and donor-management software GiftWorks to eligible nonprofits and libraries) will host a free webinar for nonprofits on building an effective development committee.

Linda Lysakowski, AFCRE and co-author of The Essential Nonprofit Fundraising Handbook, will lead a discussion of who should serve on the development committee, what the committee's role is, and how to recruit the right people. Participants will learn how to formulate job descriptions for committee members and to develop a strategic recruiting plan. 

To reserve your seat, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/494294552

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Originally published on AshokaTech.

One of the many sessions in Hyderabad that I'm really excited about is a discussion on intellectual property with Richard Jefferson of Cambia, John Wilbanks of Science Commons, Phil Weilerstein of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, and Ashoka fellow Bright Simons of mPedigree.

Here's a great interview with Richard Jefferson that ABC TV Australia ran a few months ago. Jefferson explains how Cambia is enabling biotech innovation by rethinking how scientists deal with IP issues. He makes the alluring point that open source - something we often think of as a recent development - has actually existed for millennia, much longer than proprietary technologies.

It's Backup Month! Throughout February, we'll be discussing tools, resources, and strategies to help you keep your data backed up and ready to restore. Check out our new resources each week and join in the discussion.

Week 1

• Your Nonprofit's Backup Strategy (Learning Center)
  Regular backups are vital insurance against a data-loss catastrophe. Developing a solid back-up plan requires an investment of time and money, but the cost is far less than the burdensome task of recreating data for which no backup exists.
• Symantec Norton Ghost 15.0 (TechSoup Stock)
  This professional-grade backup and recovery tool offers full, partial, and incremental backups, compresses files to save storage space, and works with Windows 7.
• Freestore Foodbank: Standardized Practices and Disaster Planning (TechSoup Blog)
  Learn how one organization standardized its systems across multiple branches and put regular backups in place just in time for a disaster.
• Free Download: BackupPC (Free Download)
  BackupPC is a high-performance, enterprise-grade system for backing up Linux, WinXX and MacOSX PCs and laptops to a server's disk. BackupPC is highly configurable and easy to install and maintain.
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At the end of the registration process (outlined in the blog post TechSoup Account Management 101: Registration) you will be instructed to submit a Qualification Checklist and documentation to verify your organization's status with the IRS and the information that you registered with. The documents can be sent by mail, fax, or email. The following documentation must be sent in to complete the qualification process:

• The 501(c)(3) Tax Determination Letter supplied by the federal government
• Non-501(c)(3) public libraries do not need to send in documentation in order to be qualified as we are able to verify library information through the IMLS website.
• If the name or shipping address differs from the information provided on the 501(c)(3) determination letter, we will also need a clarification letter on your organization's letterhead which lists the TechSoup account information, the information on the determination letter, a brief explanation of why these are different, and a signature. Asking for this clarification letter may seem a bit unusual, but since we are helping to distribute donation programs and our partners need to be certain that the donated products are reaching the nonprofit that is registered, any time the information differs from what the IRS has on file we need to have something in writing that states what the differences are and why.

Documents can be faxed to (415) 633-9444, emailed to qualification<at>techsoup<dot>org or mailed to TechSoup Stock Customer Service at 435 Brannan Street, Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94107.