OXJAM - See How Oxfam is Using Technology as a Path to Engagement

What is OXJAM?

Oxjam is a music festival with a difference. Across the UK, from now until the end of October, people like you will be putting on Oxjam music events to raise money for Oxfam.

And we are asking musicians, promoters - in fact, everyone - to get together this month to make music, raise money and help end poverty.

Fancy yourself as a bit of a player? Well, there is still time to organise your own Oxjam event - big or small. See below for ideas on how to get started.

Aside from using on-line sign-up forms and links to media sponsors, the folks at Oxfam are actively courting their supporters.

Take a look:

• You Tube
• Flickr
• My Space
• Technorati

[Photo Credit: Guardian Unlimited: 24 hours in pictures, October 2 2007.]
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Tags for information about: for:vsef, NGO, Oxjam, Oxfam

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Doonesbury marks a philanthropic generation gap. Way ... cool!

While BC Business extols the new face of philanthropy in British Columbia, Doonesbury notes a benchmark.

The image links to Sunday's strip, then you can read the exchange between the characters.

[A nod to Lucy for beating us to the post.]
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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver | United Kingdom | United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Nonprofit, Philanthropy

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[Opportunity] Relationship Analyst - SeaChange Capital Partners

You might not know about SeaChange, but this New York Times article will help you understand the pedigree.

SeaChange is seeking a "Relationship Analyst", here are the details:

SeaChange Capital Partners is a new nonprofit established by former leaders of Goldman Sachs. Our mission is to enhance the flow of growth capital from wealthy donors to select high performing nonprofits and help contribute to the vital long-term effort of creating more efficient financial capital markets for the social sector. We intend to identify nonprofits with records of measurable success and to present opportunities for supporting them to a network of potential donors, including wealthy individuals, foundations, and others.

Job Summary:
The person we hire will be enthusiastic, self-motivated, and able, preferably someone who is fascinated by innovative philanthropy and the world of nonprofit organizations and who is keen to help nonprofits expand their contributions to society.

We are looking for a confident, energetic, articulate, and talented individual to work with the small but growing SeaChange staff. The person we hire will have a desire to grow personally and professionally, and will see this as an opportunity to learn about philanthropy and nonprofits and to develop important transferable skills.

This position requires the individual to work one-on-one and collaboratively with everyone involved in SeaChange, including our partners and other staff members, donors and potential donors, and nonprofit organizations. The individual must speak clearly and write quickly and well, must be analytical and organized, and must be facile with a computer and basic word-processing and other kinds of software.

Some of the regular responsibilities will include:

• - Managing administrative needs like scheduling meetings and maintaining the staff calendar, updating a database of contacts, making travel arrangements, completing and submitting reimbursement vouchers and purchase orders, and assisting with research on a variety of projects, as well as answering the phone, sorting mail, and handling day-to-day office details;


• - Managing and helping to build relationships with key donors, funders, and other outside supporters;


• - Assisting with the creation of presentations (often using PowerPoint) for various audiences, including the Board of Directors, staff, donors, and others;


• - Managing aspects of events hosted by SeaChange and other speaking engagements, and major fundraising events and trips; and


• - Coordinating details associated with SeaChange Board Meetings, included scheduling meetings, handling correspondence with Board members and their assistants, creating advance materials; and creating presentations for meetings.


• - Taking on projects that an investment banking analyst would be tasked with, as needed. While we need clerical and administrative help, we have much to do and need a superstar who will view this as a tremendous growth opportunity.

Qualifications:

• - B.A. or B.S. degree; preference for two years of similar work experience in a nonprofit, philanthropic, or business organization


• - Meticulous proofreading skills


• - Excellent written and oral communication and organizational skills


• - Command of MS Office, including superior knowledge of PowerPoint and Excel; knowledge of Salesforce database or another contact management system desired


• - Preference for someone familiar with nonprofit accounting basics and for someone able to perform simple calculations in Excel and other financial programs


• - Demonstrated ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment, lead projects, meet deadlines, organize time and priorities, and work well as a member of a team


• - A demonstrated passion for our work


• - Creative thinking and diplomatic skills


• - A demonstrated work ethic and a sense of humor

The firm is headquartered in South Norwalk, Connecticut. This position is for our Midtown Manhattan office in New York City. Unfortunately, we cannot offer to pay relocation costs for this position.


To Apply:
Send your cover letter and résumé to the attention of Tom Hyland and Sarah Chiles.


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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver United Kingdom United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Philanthropy, ESG, SeaChange

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[TechSoup/Stock] Business Objects: Crystal Reports

Wanted to send along the 'heads up' on the availability of Crystal Reports, a Business Objects application, for nonprofits and currently available via CompuMentor's TechSoup programme.

Crystal Reports is a report-sharing service allowing organizations to instantly share crucial information via the Web. Organizations can make their reports
available for up to 10 people to view on the Web from anywhere in the world, whether or not they have Crystal Reports installed on their computers.

Information captured using Crystal Reports can also be shared in PDF, Excel, and Word formats.

This product is available at TechSoup Stock for an admin fee of US$85 (compared to a retail value of US$3,600), thanks to a generous donation from Business Objects.

Learn more and place a product donation request at TechSoup.

Learn about all donated products from Business Objects.

Ask your questions about Crystal Reports in this forum.

Business Objects is a Vancouver based company. Maybe Pat Bjerrisgaard, Senior Director, WW Community at Business Objects, or Steve Williams, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Business Objects OnDemand, will stop in and expand on why nonprofits would use Crystal Reports.
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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver | United Kingdom | United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Nonprofit, TechSoup

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10 questions for public innovators

Are you a public innovator?

Here are ten questions that were posed over the past weekend at a gathering of VSEF members. The questions spurred a rich discussion.

Hope you enjoy them too. Ofcourse, deep appreciation to Redeeming Hope.

• 1. How can I position my organization so that it not only provides worthy services or programs, but is catalytic and creates systemic change in the community?


• 2. How can I genuinely engage other people to see why I’m pursing the path that I am in my work – and when do I decide to keep moving forward despite their resistance?


• 3. How do I move my organization or group to focus on the tough, underlying questions at hand rather than to reach for the easy answers? And how do I avoid watering down our mission?


• 4. How do I keep our efforts aligned with the reality of our capacity, so that we have a chance to achieve results, and avoid doing things that sound good but ultimately won’t make a real difference?


• 5. How can I place my work in a larger conceptual framework – so that it’s possible for me and others to see the bigger picture of what we’re trying to do and why?


• 6. How can I sustain people’s engagement over time, especially when things get tough or move too slowly?


• 7. How do I take effective action when oftentimes there is limited capacity for action within our community?


• 8. How fast can I expect progress to come, and what should I do when everyone around me expects change seemingly overnight?


• 9. How can I engage my funders and supporters who don’t want to take the time to truly understand what we’re trying to do?


• 10. How can I keep myself going as I pursue my path?

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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Nonprofit, Innovation

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[Support] NetSquared - Technology Innovation Fund

Some of you might have been following the NetSquared campaign to garner project proposals that "utilize the technologies, tools and communities of the social web to create societal impact in a sustainable fashion."

If you didn't know ... you can see the project guidelines here.

Of the projects proposed, twenty will by selected by the NetSquared community to send two representatives (expenses paid) to the NetSquared Conference happening May 29th – 30th in San Jose, California.

Take a look at the proposals. They are inspired.

If you're a member of the NetSquared community, don't forget that voting takes place from April 9th - April 14th.

Here's more information if you're interested in, or wish to support, the NetSquared Technology Innovation Fund.
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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Nonprofit, NetSquared

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