Monthly Archives: November 2006

Social Capitalists

Fast Company’s 2007 Social Capitalist Awards

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Social Capitalist Awards
Fast company has listed the 43 Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing The World in the annual Fast Company/ Monitor Group Social Capitalist Awards.

The amazing organizations that received the Fast Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Awards have found a better way to do good: They’re using the disciplines of the corporate world to tackle daunting social problems. In our second exclusive ranking, we used a similarly hard-nosed approach to find the 43 best social entrepreneurs.

Check out the website for the winners’ statements and information on how to donate or get involved. Of course you can always pick up the Fast Company Dec/Jan 2006 issue at the newsstand if you want a hard copy of the article.

General, New York City, Tips and Resources

Thanksgiving Day: Volunteering At Your Local Soup Kitchen

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Thanksgiving Day
There is no better way to give thanks on Thanksgiving Day than to head down to your local soup kitchen to volunteer. If you live in New York City, here are some resources for you. The Bowery Mission is probably the most popular, but there are several other organizations that are well known in the city and that do good work.

The Bowery Mission in New York City: Thanksgiving Volunteer Information. [NOW FULL] You’ll need to fill out an online form to register before you can volunteer.

City Meals On Wheels: Citymeals-on-Wheels’ Senior Centers need your help on Thanksgiving Day. Help PREPARE, SERVE and DELIVER MEALS.

New York Cares: New York Cares has hundreds of different ways that you can make a difference in our city this holiday season.  Help prep and serve a Thanksgiving dinner for the clients of the Yorkville Common Pantry on the Upper East Side.  Check out there blog here. (I’ve participated in several New York Cares events and they are top notch.)

EDIT: More organizations to volunteer at on Thanksgiving Day– Feel free to send me other organizations that I can add to this list.

VolunteerNYC: Opportunities to volunteer (LINK FIXED!) – The Isaiah J. Jones Memorial Foundation will be hosting their third annual Thanksgiving dinner for our homeless. VolunteerNYC lists opportunities with various charities and nonprofits in the NYC area.

Robin Hood- Volunteer opportunities.  The following organizations best match your interests. Click on the name of an organization to find out more about the available volunteer opportunities as well as who to contact to get involved.

Hope for NY- Lists many different types of volunteer opportunities in and near New York City.  Please visit there site to browse through the opportunities and RSVP for any that interest you.

  • Put together food boxes (to be delivered to the needy).  Can be done with the family. RSVP HERE.
  • The Bowery Mission.  You won’t be working directly with the homeless but since this is a big operation, there are plenty of opportunities to help with the logistics, planning, and coordination.  The catch is that you have to attend a training on Nov 15.  There are four shifts you can RSVP for: 6:30am-10am; 9:30am-1pm; 12:30pm-4pm; 3:30-7pm.

 

Tech + Social Ventures

Ebay Giving Works Helps Nonprofits Raise Money

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Ebay Giving Works
Ebay Giving Works is a program that allows non profits to use ebay to generate revenues and a way for consumers to support non profits by buying on eBay.

Giving Works is powered by MissionFish, which is the exclusive “charity solutions provider” of eBay.

MissionFish helps you support your favorite causes through trading on eBay! Since 2000, we’ve been providing our technology, tools and support to thousands of organizations and donors, and raised millions of dollars through online auctions. MissionFish is the exclusive charity solution provider for eBay Giving Works, and a service of the Points of Light Foundation.

Interesting background information about MissionFish– it actually began as a for profit with venture backing but switched over to become a nonprofit.

The “how it works” section on the MissionFish website offers a simple description documenting the entire process. Here is a summary of how it works from the seller’s side:

1. Nonprofit registers with eBay Giving Works
2. MissionFish screens the nonprofit to make sure it’s legitimate
3. Any seller on eBay can choose to donate a percentage of their sales to eBay’s list of screened nonprofits
4. Seller must list with MissionFish

Here is a summary of how it works from the nonprofit direct seller’s side:
1. The nonprofit registers for a sellers account on eBay.
2. The nonprofit registers with eBay and MissionFish screens the nonprofit to make sure it’s legitimate
3. The nonprofit can list items for sale on eBay, with no fees

There’s a lot more information on both the eBay Giving Works and MissionFish websites, including information about marketing, managing auctions, success case studies, and a discussion forum with lots of user generated information.

General, Tech + Social Ventures

cMarket – A Charity Auction Startup

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cMarket online auction
cMarket, a online charity auction site, is creating some buzz these days. The venture was recently written about in a Businessweek article detailing the company’s goal:

Having already raised $20 million in venture capital, Carson says the company is out to fine-tune the charity-auction process and develop a “national marketplace.”

The article also delves into some of the challenges that the business faces, most notably, differentiating itself from online auction giant Ebay:

CEO Jon Carson says, is designed to give each group a “walled garden,” as opposed to eBay’s sprawling agora. With more items to choose from on eBay, he says bidders don’t necessarily confine themselves to charity items. He adds that cMarket gives each group its own auction Web page, where it can also gain sponsorship revenue.

How does the site make money? By taking a cut of each sale, just as Ebay does, and also collecting a fee for introducing organizations to vendors that sell discounted products or products tailored for charity “drives”.

So check out cMarket, and buy something to support a charity!

Note: Ebay has a pretty compelling charity offering called Giving Works, where buyers can buy items sellers can sell items to support charity. I’ll write a more detailed about Giving Works next week.