Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
MAY 3, 2004
Benetech's Dr. Patrick Ball has just been awarded the ACM's 2003 Lawler Award for humanitarian contributions using computer technology. The ACM is the leading organization for computer science professionals. It's exciting to have one of our own honored by the technology community, and for the open source software that Patrick has so passionately advocated for.
Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media
JANUARY 19, 2004
Some might be asking - why did Beth stop blogging for six months? Well, there was the stalker incident - I can't say any more about that. But, more importantly, I been busy, no overwhelmed, with the new addition to our family, a daughter named Sara Botum. She arrived in October, 2003 from Cambodia at age 2.5. Her Cambodian name means "Princess," so we named her Sara which also means princess.
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Michael Stein's Non-profit Technology Blog
DECEMBER 31, 2004
Would you like to be informed whenever there is a new posting to read on this - or any other - site? It easy - if you know how to subscribe via RSS. A study done by Yahoo in October claims that only 12% of internet users know what RSS is, and only 4% are actively using it. But its REALLY easy. So here's the poop. What is RSS? RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
DECEMBER 20, 2004
I had a rewarding time at the WRI Bottom of the Pyramid Conference last week. The basic concept was that business can help the 5 billion people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. My takeaway is something that many people has pointed out: that the cell phone has become an incredible engine of change for the poor. Earlier this year, I remember buying roasted cashews from a woman on the street in Maputo, Mozambique, who had her wares balanced on her head.
Speaker: Tim Sarrantonio, Director of Corporate Brand
Do you really know your donors? Not just what they give, but who they are? 👥 In this interactive session, we’ll break down how nonprofits can use behavioral indicators (affinity, recency, frequency, and monetary value) to build prospecting segments that go beyond wealth screening and actually align with donor identity. You’ll walk away with practical strategies to move beyond basic demographics and cultivate supporters based on how they already engage with you!
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
DECEMBER 5, 2004
Check out the Bookshare.org Amazon.com Wish List. This contains a list of books we'd like to add to our digital library for people with print disabilities, Bookshare.org. Books donated to Bookshare.org should be tax deductible, since Bookshare.org is operated by Benetech, a qualified tax exempt organization. Give the gift of reading this holiday season!
Nonprofit Technology brings together the best content for nonprofit technical enthusiasts from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
NOVEMBER 29, 2004
Laptops roasting by a wood fire. Imagine if you will, a group of free/open-source software internationalization/translation/localization evangelists gathered in an artist's studio in snow-covered Warsaw, heated by a wood-stove, but with high-speed wireless internet access! That's the report I had today from Anna Berns, who is a product manager for our Martus Project.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
NOVEMBER 23, 2004
Bookshare.org News. Bookshare.org has the ability to move quickly! On Monday morning, the 2004 National Book Award winners in fiction and nonfiction were made live on our Bookshare.org site, providing rapid access to these books to readers with disabilities. Announced in the middle of last week, these two new books are two outstanding accounts of remarkably different histories.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
NOVEMBER 22, 2004
I am delighted that our Martus Senior Product Manager, Marc Levine, has been chosen as a ZeroDivide Fellow by the Community Technology Foundation of California (CTFC). When I spoke to the first group of ZeroDivide Fellows last year, I realized what a great opportunity this would be for an activist like Marc. It's been hard sitting on this news for a while, but the formal announcement went out while I was traveling.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
NOVEMBER 19, 2004
I hit a major personal milestone last week: I stepped down from my last executive job in the for-profit high technology sector. I was the founding CEO of RAF Technology, Inc. from 1989 to 1995, and have been the Chief Financial Officer since then. For the last few years, it has been a part-time job as I have had a very strong Controller in Alwynn Lewis.
Speaker: Jennifer Hill
Payroll compliance is a cornerstone of business success, yet for small and midsize businesses, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of federal, state, and local regulations. Mistakes can lead to costly penalties and operational disruptions, making it essential to adopt advanced solutions that ensure accuracy and efficiency.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
NOVEMBER 16, 2004
The summit last week on digital libraries for the disabled was quite exciting. It was fascinating to meet with major players from the different libraries around the world and talk about how to build the global digital library. We are working together to refine our outcomes, but it was gratifying to see how in tune we all were with the general objectives.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
NOVEMBER 15, 2004
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship tried something new this year for their annual summit. Rather than being held in Geneva at the headquarters of the World Economic Forum, Pamela and her team moved the summit closer to some of the social entrepreneurs by holding the event in Brazil. The best part of that move was including something called "Live the Experience," where attendees were able to visit social entrepreneurs before the summit.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
NOVEMBER 8, 2004
I just returned from Brazil yesterday: an exciting and meaningful trip that I'll talk about more later, I hope. Today I was at the beginning of the Microsoft Global Library Forum, and Bill Gates spoke to our (reasonably small) group. Gates was well informed about most of the technical issues around this meeting, which is the heads of libraries for the print disabled from around the world.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
OCTOBER 31, 2004
The social entrepreneurship movement is very important to me: after being a social entrepreneur for ten years (and not knowing the term), I found out that there is a vibrant national and international community around this. Although we are doing a myriad of different things, these are the people I feel are my community. We have common challenges and a common interest in changing society.
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Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
OCTOBER 29, 2004
Benetech's human rights programs are going to be a key part of the. Technology for Human Rights: International Colloquium being held in Amherst early next month. It's part of the growing movement to use technology to support the fight against human rights violations around the globe.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
OCTOBER 18, 2004
I've had many opportunities to give talks over the last few weeks, in a wide array of venues. Usually, I'm giving the general Benetech social entrepreneurship story, talking about how technology can be benefiting humanity even more, to audiences as varied as the Palo Alto Rotary Club, a Stanford Business School class, and a cocktail party for one of our funders.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
SEPTEMBER 27, 2004
From time to time, I recommend organizations that I believe are important. One that I am especially enthusiastic about is the Social Enterprise Alliance. SEA is the grassroots group formed by and for social enterprisers, the people who operate businesses in the social sector. I first met this community in 2000, as I was shifting from operating a single social enterprise and getting ready to start several at Benetech.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
SEPTEMBER 17, 2004
The nature of demining operations: foreign aid. This post (one of a series) will concentrate on the big picture issues of demining operations at a national level. First of all, demining is mainly funded through foreign aid. And, this foreign aid is often channeled through national governments. For example, the U.S. is a very large funder of demining efforts through the State Department (and USAID).
Speaker: Tim Sarrantonio, Director of Corporate Brand
Is your organization ready to build a recurring giving program that not only sustains but also propels your mission forward? 🚀 In this new webinar with industry visionary Tim Sarrantonio, we’ll guide you through the critical steps to establishing and scaling a successful recurring giving program. Whether you’re starting fresh or enhancing an existing program, this session will provide the strategies you need to deepen donor relationships and secure long-term support!
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
SEPTEMBER 8, 2004
Ethan Zuckerman blogged my talk at the Berkman Center last week. He did a good job capturing the spirit of the discussion. Ethan Zuckerman's Weblog : Jim Fruchterman's talk at Berkman. We talked about intellectual property and its interaction with disadvantaged communities. We talked about books, software, drugs and instruments, and how to bring the benefits of these ideas to the world's disadvantaged communities.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
SEPTEMBER 5, 2004
Benetech's Director of Human Rights Programs Patrick Ball contributed a chapter to a recently published volume by the Society for Applied Anthropology entitled Human Rights: The Scholar as Activist. Ball's chapter looks at the application of data mining and statistical techniques to human rights, and he reflects more generally on the role of science in human rights activism.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
SEPTEMBER 1, 2004
The opportunity to talk to brilliant people is one of the best parts of my job. I've been in Boston this week, and had the opportunity to visit WGBH/NCAM (nation's leading captioning group for the disabled), National Braille Press, as well as folks at BU, MIT and Harvard. The proximate cause for being here was delivering my oldest child to college (Jimmy is now a freshman at Brandeis U.).
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
AUGUST 25, 2004
The Landmine Problem: introduction. We have been studying the landmine problem for some time. The Benetech approach is similar to the standard high technology approach: try to understand the customer's needs and see if a novel solution can deliver a better solution. Different members of our team have spent time with leaders in the humanitarian landmine field, and we have learned a great deal.
Speaker: Andrew Olsen, CFRE - EVP, Fundraising Solutions at DickersonBakker | Kat Landa, CFRE, CSD - SVP, Talent Solutions at DickersonBakker
Across the nonprofit sector, organizations invest heavily in donor retention efforts, yet the struggle of cultivating lasting relationships remains. While attracting new donors is crucial, the lack of repeat donors poses significant financial risks. Through a comprehensive analysis of industry data, experts argue that there is a direct correlation between donor burnout, donor retention, and the talent retention crisis.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
AUGUST 8, 2004
Benetech likes to respond to customer demand, and this sometimes is surprising. We've never had the ability to donate to Benetech or its programs as a link on our website. Lately, this has come up from people who have been looking for that link and unable to find it, especially for Bookshare.org, where a specific donation can be linked to a tangible benefit, such as the purchase and scanning of a book for people with disabilities.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
AUGUST 5, 2004
I'm very proud of the people who work at Benetech, and that pride extends to our alumni. Brendan Nyhan was an outstanding member of our team, doing great things for us while running the Spinsanity website. Spinsanity has been one of the nation's leading political websites, deconstructing spin from both sides of political aisle. Brendan is now getting his doctorate in political science at Duke, and just published his first book.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
AUGUST 3, 2004
Benetech is pleased to announce that we have finalized a contract with the Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation (CAVR) of Timor-Leste (East Timor). Benetech will conduct statistical analysis of the Commission's four databases, including personal testimonies, gravesite registries, military unit deployment records and a retrospective mortality survey.
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society
JULY 29, 2004
Last week I was reading the Sunday paper (the San Jose Mercury News) and I saw a speech that Jeff Skoll gave upon receiving a major philanthropy award. It was great to read about the nice things he had to say about Benetech in his Commonwealth Club speech ! I also saw an article in the Mercury yesterday about the Social Entrepreneurs boot camp at Santa Clara University.
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