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HIVOS (The Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation)
Subject: Community | Health | Human Rights | Media & Arts | Social & Human Services
Deadline: None
Hivos is a Dutch NGO. Together with local organisations in developing countries, Hivos strives for a world in which all citizens – both men and women – have equal access to resources and opportunities for development. Hivos funding is approved for specific activities, programmes or organisations as a whole. The organisation is committed to poor and marginalised peoples in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It strives for the long-term improvement of their circumstances and for the empowerment of women in particular. Hivos supports organisations in a limited number of countries. These are: Belize, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tanzania, Timor Lorosae, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They support organisations in a limited number of policy areas. These are: Financial Services & Enterprise Development; Sustainable Production; Human Rights & Democratisation; Hiv/Aids; Arts & Culture; Gender, Women & Development; and ICT, Media. Further application criteria are included on the website.
Read more | HIVOS homepage (english translation)

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USAID Strengthening Ecuadorian Justice Project
Subject: Community | Human Rights | Social & Human Services
Deadline: 16th November 2009
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for Assistance Agreements from qualified organizations interested in implementing a program entitled 'Strengthening Ecuadorian Justice Project' This is a full and open competition, under which any type of organization (U. S. or non-U.S., large or small commercial [for profit] firms, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations) is eligible to compete. Applicants under consideration for an award that have never received funding from USAID will be subject to a pre-award audit to determine fiscal responsibility, ensure adequacy of financial controls and establish an indirect cost rate. Subject to the availability of funds, USAID intends to issue an award with a total estimated cost in the range of $5,600,000 to $6,611,000 covering a total estimated period of three years. USAID reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted. Applicants should design their proposed budgets based on an initial obligation of $2,564,000. Award will be made to the responsible applicant whose application offer the greatest value to the U.S. Government.
Read more | Grants Gov. homepage

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USAID HIV Prevention for At-Risk Populations in Russia
Subject: Health | Social & Human Services
Deadline: 4th November 2009
HIV Prevention for At-Risk Populations in Russia aims to contribute to the Government of Russia's fight against HIV/AIDS, specifically promoting HIV prevention programs targeting most-at-risk populations. Qualified applicants may be U.S. private voluntary organizations (U.S. PVOs) and/or U.S., Russian or other non-U.S. non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or private, non-profit organizations (or for-profit companies willing to forego profits), including universities, research organizations, professional associations, and relevant special interest associations. Public International Organizations (PIOs) and faith-based and community organizations are also eligible for award. In support of the Agency’s interest in fostering a larger assistance base and expanding the number and sustainability of development partners, USAID encourages applications from potential new partners, particularly if they are joined with a more experienced organization.
Read more | Grants Gov. homepage

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U.S Department of Health & Human Services
Subject: Medical Research
Deadline: 16th April 2010
Brain Disorders in the Developing World: Research Across the Lifespan encourages grant applications proposing the development and conduct of innovative, collaborative research and research training projects, between High Income country (HIC) and low- to middle-income country (LMIC) scientists, on nervous system function and disorders throughout life, relevant to LMICs. The collaborative research programs are expected to contribute to the long-term goals of building sustainable research capacity in LMICs to address nervous system development, function and impairment throughout life and to lead to diagnostics, treatment and prevention strategies that are applicable worldwide.
Read more | U.S Departmen of Health & Human Services homepage

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The Maypole Fund
Subject: Community | Environment | Human Rights | Social & Human Services
Deadline: 31st January 2010
The Maypole Fund was set up in 1986 by women involved in the peace movement, especially with Greenham Common. Today, we are a group of feminists coming from various political backgrounds. Applications are accepted from women and for projects and activities in the following areas: Peace initiatives, disarmament and action against the arms trade; Anti-militarism and action against male violence; Nuclear issues; Environmental issues; The promotion of women’s social and political autonomy throughout the world; International, national and/or regional networking between women for the above purposes. Precedence is given to projects by individual women or women’s groups over women’s initiatives within mixed groups of women and men. They prefer specific one-off projects and projects not yet started to projects already started or completed. They particularly welcome applications from women who do not have access to other sources of money or whose projects find it difficult to attract funding elsewhere.
Read more | Maypole Fund homepage

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Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition/Ashoka Changemakers
Subject: Health | Social & Human Services
Deadline: November 25th 2009
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and Ashoka's Changemakers have announced "Improved Nutrition: Solutions through Innovation," a new online competition to identify innovative solutions for communities currently lacking access to adequate nutrition or unaware of its benefits.The competition is open to all types of individuals and organizations (charitable organizations, private companies, or public entities) from all countries. The program will consider all entries that demonstrate system-changing solutions that expand and improve nutrition to undernourished populations, and that indicate growth beyond the stage of idea, concept, or research.
Read more | Changemakers homepage

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Inter-American Foundation (IAF)
Subject: Community | Education | Environment | Health | NGO Capacity Building | Social Services
Deadline: None
The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) is an independent foreign assistance agency of the United States government, working to promote equitable, responsive, and participatory self-help development in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is the purpose of the Foundation, primarily in cooperation with private regional, and international organizations, to: strengthen the bonds of friendship and understanding among the peoples of this hemisphere; support self-help efforts designed to enlarge the opportunities for individual development; stimulate and assist effective and ever wider participation of the people in the development process; and encourage the establishment and growth of democratic institutions, private and governmental, appropriate to the requirements of the individual sovereign nations of this hemisphere. The guiding principles of the Inter-American Foundation are to support people, organizations, and processes; channel funds directly to the non-governmental sector; promote entrepreneurship, innovation, and self-reliance; strengthen democratic principles; empower poor people to solve their own problems; and treat partners with respect and dignity.
Read more | Inter-American Foundation homepage

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The Global Environment Facility - Small Grants Program
Subject: Environment
Deadline: None
Small Grants Program: The focal areas of the program are on biodiversity conservation; climate change mitigation; protection of international waters; prevention of land degradation (primarily desertification and deforestation; and elimination of persistant organic pollutants through community based approaches. Grants are channelled directly to CBOs and NGOs in participating countries. Maximum grant value is $50,000 however the average grant is $20,000.
Read more | The GEF Small Grants Program homepage

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Grant Activity

Identifies funders who make cross border grants and gives examples of actual funding.

Gates Foundation pours $115 million into new malaria drugs
Health experts around the globe were chilled earlier this year by the discovery that malaria in Cambodia has evolved resistance to the most promising drug in medicine's arsenal.
With the effectiveness of artemisinin under threat, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is stepping up its investment in new malaria drugs with a $115 million grant to the Geneva-based Medicines for Malaria Venture. The grant brings the foundation's total funding for the group to $317 million.
Malaria has long been a top priority for the Gateses, who in 2007 took the controversial step of calling for eradication of the disease. Many experts question whether that will ever be possible, but foundation CEO Jeff Raikes recently said the world's biggest philanthropy is refocusing its malaria programs with the goal of eradication in mind.
The "E-word," which some malaria scientists utter with trepidation based on past failures, is repeated three times in MMV's four-paragraph press release on the new grant.
In February, MMV and drugmaker Novartis introduced a sweet-tasting version of the combination malaria drug Coartem for African children. The group is funding work on more than 50 drug candidates, ten of which are in clinical development. Read more
Source: Seattle Times

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International health funding scheme launched
The UK-based international health charity, THET, and the British Council, the UK’s international body for cultural relations have launched a pioneering funding scheme supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Department of Health.
The scheme is aimed at strengthening partnerships, or ’links’, between UK health institutions and their counterparts in the developing countries.The International Health Links Funding Scheme (IHLFS), worth 3 million pounds, is a three-year scheme that provides grants and support for links.
The primary purpose of links is to build the capacity of developing countries’ health systems. Link activities can be very broad and include training and capacity building for staff, providing practical skills, continuing professional development and curriculum development.
This scheme will greatly contribute to the UK’s commitment to international development. The IHLFS will be divided into small grants of up to 3,000 pounds for ’brokering’ or supporting the development of new and young links; medium grants of up to 15,000 pounds over one or two years, and large grants of up to 60,000 pounds per year for three years. Grants will be given to links that contribute to the achievement of priorities defined in the national health plans of target developing countries, an official of British Council told APP.

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NIH's Fogarty Center Grants $9.2M for International Informatics Programs
The Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health has awarded $9.2 million to support health informatics programs in South America, Africa, and India.
The National Human Genome Research Institute and the National Library of Medicine also are participating in the international informatics projects, which are aimed at training scientists in low- and middle-income nations to design information systems and use computer-supported management and analysis in biomedical research.
Two of the grants will go to new informatics programs in South America. One program, a collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh and Javeriana University in Bogota, Colombia, will focus on developing individuals' capacities in clinical informatics. Another grant will fund a collaboration between Oregon Health and Science University and the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires, Argentina, that will develop clinical and translational research informatics resources. Read more
Source: Genome Web

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Gates Foundation Awards $7.6 Million to Fund Novel Ideas Improving Global Health
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced grants of $100,000 to 76 researchers with unconventional ideas for transforming public health in developing countries. Awarded through the foundation's Grand Challenges Explorations initiative, the five-year grants are designed to encourage scientists to pursue bold ideas that lead to breakthroughs in global public health, with a focus on ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and diarrheal diseases. Newly funded projects include efforts to develop a paper cup that turns tuberculosis-positive sputum samples a bright orange; using a peptide found in scorpions to block development of the malaria parasite; and adapting a protein that parasites use to seal their egg cases as a "sticky coating" for intranasal vaccines. Other projects receiving support include the development of an "electric nose" to diagnose tuberculosis; using a compound found in chocolate to keep malaria at bay; and developing a chewing gum to detect malaria biomarkers in saliva. Through its first three funding rounds, the initiative has awarded grants to 262 researchers in thirty countries.For a complete list of third-round grantees, visit the foundation's Web site.

Disasters Emergency Commitee - Appeal for Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam
In one week from Saturday 26 September the East Asia region was hit by 3 separate natural disasters; Typhoon Ketsana swept through the Philippines that day and onto Vietnam on the 29th causing extensive damage and flooding; on 30th September in Indonesia an earthquake registering 7.6 on the Richter scale struck western Sumatra followed by an aftershock of 6.6 a day later.
Well over a 1000 people are thought to have died in Sumatra but this is likely to be a low estimate whilst many thousands are trapped underneath collapsed houses. It is estimated that 20,000 people have been injured.
In the Philippines over 2.5 million people have been affected by destruction and flooding leading people to leave their homes for higher land. Diseases are starting to spread amongst survivors and a further second typhoon, Parma, has now hit the country.
Finally in Vietnam over 1 million people have been affected by flooding and damage to infrastructure from the typhoon. Many areas remain underwater as more rain is falling and high winds are battering the region. Thousands have been evacuated.
DEC agencies and their longstanding partners are responding in all three countries, rescuing survivors, giving first aid, and distributing prepositioned relief stocks including clean up kits, shelter items, water trucking, water filters and containers and disbursement of cash grants.

Donate Now to the DEC Disasters Appeal Indonesia Philippines & Vietnam.

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Global Economic Think Tank Launched With $50 Million Pledge From George Soros
In response to the challenges presented by the global economic crisis and the need to develop fresh approaches to economic theory, a group of academics, policy makers, and private sector leaders that includes financier George Soros has announced the creation of a new economics policy think tank.
Featuring a star-studded roster of economists from around the globe, the Institute for New Economic Thinking will award research grants, convene symposia, and publish a journal that explores the regulatory implications of the global financial crisis. By year's end, the institute will announce its initial round of grants to scholars at leading universities worldwide, followed, in April 2010, by its first conference at King's College in Cambridge, England. To help establish the institute, Soros has pledged $5 million a year for ten years through the Budapest-based Central European University.
Innovative Thinkers Join Forces to Meet Challenges of Global Economic Crisis. Institute for New Economic Thinking Press Release

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Grameen Trust, Fundacion Carlos Slim Launch $45 Million Microfinance Program
Grameen Trust and the Fundacion Carlos Slim have announced the launch of Grameen Carso, which will work to expand access to affordable microcredit in Mexico.
The organization will focus on Mexico's poorest residents in an effort to create income-generating opportunities and help lift them to a higher standard of living. To that end, Fundacion Carlos Slim has committed $45 million to the effort, with $5 million to be used for grantmaking and $40 million guaranteed for microcredit loans. To date, 195 women have received loans totaling more than $49,000. The organization plans to serve more than 100,000 borrowers during its first five years of operation.
To be managed by Grameen Trust, Grameen Carso will initially focus its operations in the southern state of Oaxaca, where its first office opened in July. Using the continuous group training lending model pioneered by Grameen, Grameen Carso will provide microloans to poor individuals so that they can create or expand small entrepreneurial initiatives. The loans will not require collateral and instead will use a system of mutual support among the borrowers to encourage repayment.
Grameen Trust and Fundación Carlos Slim Launch the $45 Million Grameen Carso Microfinance Program. Grameen America Press Release

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Clinton Global Initiative Concludes With $9.4 Billion in Commitments
Closing the fifth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative recently, former President Bill Clinton announced that CGI members had made 284 commitments valued at more than $9.4 billion which, when fully implemented, could improve the lives of 200 million individuals worldwide.
Although meeting organizers said they expected less money to be pledged this year as a result of the global financial crisis, commitments made exceeded the dollar value of commitments made at the 2008 meeting by $1.4 billion. Commitments announced last week included $30 million from the UN Foundation and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to help eradicate polio worldwide; $30 million from the Omidyar Network to support global entrepreneurship; $25 million from the Nature Conservancy to help people and natural habitats adapt to the effects of global warming; and $24 million from Women for Women International, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the NoVo Foundation to support the economic empowerment of women and girls.
In addition, the Rockefeller Foundation committed to support the Global Impact Investing Network, which works to enable more effective impact investing around the world; the Maternal Health Task Force at EngenderHealth, Ashoka, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation committed to support individuals working to reduce maternal death and disability; Right To Play International, ExxonMobil, and the Wasserman Media Group committed to join the United Against Malaria partnership; and PATH and its partners committed to improve the health of more than 800,000 schoolchildren in India by expanding a meal fortification program.
President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Close Fifth Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. Clinton Global Initiative Press Release

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Landmark tax ruling on cross-border donations
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity wins fight for tax relief on Belgian legacy.
A British charity has won a landmark case that entitles it to a charitable rate of tax on a legacy left by a foreign taxpayer. The Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity was left a legacy worth about €1.2m (£1.1m) from a Belgian resident in 1996. The Belgian government ruled that because the charity was not Belgian the tax on the donation should be 80 per cent rather than the 8.8 per cent rate afforded to domestic not-for-profit organisations.
However, a Brussels court ruled this month that the charity should have been charged the 8.8 per cent rate, meaning it will receive €1.5m (£1.4m), including interest on the delayed payment.
The case comes after a legal victory last year for a German donor, Hein Persche, who won tax relief on an €18,000 (£16,300) donation to a Portuguese charity. This latest case is the first involving a British charity.
Charles Whiddington, partner and head of the competition and EU regulatory group at Field Fisher Waterhouse, which represented the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, said the case set an important precedent for recognition of the British charity model, which is different from the legal structure used by continental. Read more
Source: Third Sector

GuideStar - Connecting People with Nonproft information
Encourages nonprofits to share information about their organizations openly and completely. Any nonprofit in the database can update its report with information about its mission, programs, leaders, goals, accomplishments, and needs–for free. [View] (US) [View] (UK)

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Foundation Search
FoundationSearch is a leading source of US fundraising information for non-profits and charities. This online resource includes more than 120,000 foundations, representing billions of dollars in annual granting, and includes tools to locate grants by type, value, year, recipient, donor and historical giving trends, and much more. [View]

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Charity Commission Database
The Charity Commission for England and Wales is established by law as the regulator and registrar of charities in England and Wales. Their aim is to provide the best possible regulation of these charities in order to increase charities’ efficiency and effectiveness and public confidence and trust in them. [View]

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OSCR: Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
OSCR is the independent registrar and regulator for Scotland's 23,500 charities. They are a Non-Ministerial Department and form part of the Scottish Administration. [View]

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Directory of Social Change Trustfunding Database
Trustfunding details all trusts included within Directory of Social Change (DSC) and Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) publications and is updated regularly throughout the year.
It includes information on over 4,200 UK grant-making trusts with a total of over £3.1 billion a year. [View]

Gates Foundation Announces 2009 Access to Learning Award Winner
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced that the Fundacion Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM Foundation) in Medellín, Colombia, has received this year's $1 million Access to Learning Award Now in its tenth year, the award is presented by the foundation's Global Libraries initiative to libraries and similar organizations outside the United States that provide free access to computers and the Internet. Microsoft, which partners with the Gates Foundation to help public libraries connect people to the Internet, will provide the EPM Foundation's network of libraries with software and technology training curricula.
The EPM Foundation is being honored for helping to provide people in the Medellín metropolitan area with the skills and tools they need to improve their communities and their lives. The organization's library network provides residents of Medellin – most of whom do not have a computer at home – with access to information and technology through nearly three dozen libraries. Organized into five "library parks" in some of Medellin's most marginalized communities, the libraries have become cultural centers providing broad, community-based access to information and educational resources, including training programs on how to use a computer, how to access information online, and English for the Internet.
“Colombian Organization Receives International Award for Advancing Learning and Economic Opportunities Through Access to Information and Technology.” Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Press Release

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Hilton Humanitarian Prize to Be Presented at Global Philanthropy Forum Conference
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the Global Philanthropy Forum have announced that the $1.5 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the largest humanitarian prize in the world, will be presented at the annual GPF conference starting in April 2010.
Established in 1996, the annual prize honors a charitable or nongovernmental organization that has made extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering anywhere in the world. Steven M. Hilton, president and CEO of the Hilton Foundation, will join GPF's advisory council, while a Hilton representative will serve on the GPF conference steering group.
All nominations for the 2009 Hilton Prize will be reconsidered for 2010, while new nominations will be considered for 2011. Recent Hilton Prize recipients include Seattle-based PATH (2009), Bangladesh-based BRAC (2008); Tostan in Senegal (2007); and Women for Women International, in Washington, D.C. (2006).
“Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Global Philanthropy Forum Announce Strategic Alliance.” Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Press Release

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The Tech Awards
The Tech Awards is an international awards program that honors innovators from around the world who are applying technology to benefit humanity. The Tech Awards program inspires global engagement in applying technology to humanity's most pressing problems by recognizing the best of those who are utilizing innovative technology solutions to address the most urgent critical issues facing our planet. People all over the world are profoundly improving the human condition in the areas of education, equality, environment, health, and economic development through the use of technology. It is the goal of The Tech Awards to showcase their compelling stories and reward their brilliant accomplishments.
Deadline for entry: 31st March 2010
www.techawards.org

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What Support for the Third Sector Through Recession? Considering Capacity Building and Increasing Collaboration
Westminster, London on Wednesday, 9th December 2009
Keynote address at this event will be given by Baroness Jill Pitkeathley, Chair of the Office of the Third Sector Advisory Board.
This Westminster Briefing will give delegates the opportunity to discuss and be informed of the Government’s plans for providing support to the third sector, and consider the options and innovations available to charities to retain the capability to provide services for their clients through recession.
Participants will have the chance to engage with the panel in investigating such issues as:
How can the third sector access funding and capacity building resources?
How can charities adapt to increases in demands for their services?
Investigating examples of innovative collaboration within the sector.
How can the sector better engage local authorities and other commissioning organisations?
How can the third sector strengthen its local partnerships with the private and public sector? 
What changes can the sector expect from a potential Conservative government.
For full details please visit the Westminster Briefing website.

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ShareTraining: A Guide to Sources for International Prospect Research
Web seminar | 10th November 2009
Time: 12:00 - 13:30pm Eastern US / 17:00 - 18:30pm UK
This presentation will focus on how to find corporate, stock, real estate, philanthropic, biographical and other information on individuals outside the United States and Canada.
Special emphasis on India, China/Hong Kong, Dubai/Middle East. Global, regional and country-specific resources will be presented along with several case studies.
More info / book a place

Social media helps DEC raise £3 million in one week
The Disasters Emergency Committee has acknowledged that social media has contributed significantly to the income it has raised for its current appeal.
In the first week of the DEC's appeal for Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, over £3 million was donated, over £1 million which was given in the first 24 hours.
BBC websites have been the most significant online referrer to the DEC donations page, but Twitter, which the DEC only started using on 2 October, was the second most important. Facebook, which the charity had previously used very little, was the third largest source of traffic.
The appeal for emergency aid for the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the earthquakes, typhoons, floods, and landslides in East Asia was championed early on by Twitter users Sarah Brown and Stephen Fry who, between them, have more than 1.5 million followers.
@Stephenfry wrote at 13:35 on 4 October: "Do see if you can find it in your heart support the DEC Disasters Appeal for Indonesia, Philippines & Vietnam - donate now at www.dec.org.uk "
@Sarahbrown10 wrote at 20:33 on 6 October: "RT @decappeal - Big international call to support #DEC disasters appeal: www.dec.org.uk Help them make a difference!"
DEC were able to take advantage of the almost instant impact of social media by opening its phone lines and website for donations on Sunday 4 October ahead of the main appeals broadcast on Tuesday 6 October. DEC also uses Flickr and YouTube

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Institute of Fundraising Online Shop
Good Fundraising Guide
The Good Fundraising Guide is a unique source of accurate, up-to-date information and offers practical guidance on issues surrounding good fundraising practice. The Guide is: an accessible, lively and informative guide for all fundraisers a unique source of accurate, authoritative and up-to-date information a source of practical guidance on issues relating to good fundraising; including top tips and best practice excellent value for money, minimising effort, saving time and money illustrated with case-studies.
More information / Buy today

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Charity websites good on content but not donor engagement, say Dotmailer
Digital marketing agency dotMailer has analysed the websites of 15 major charities and found that, while many follow best practice in terms of design and content, most fail to capitalise on the opportunities of building a loyal online visitor base.
As a result, dotMailer says that the charities "are failing to put their website at the centre of a wider digital marketing strategy and neglecting donor contact and up sell opportunities".
The benchmark study, Hitting the Heart, has been published recently. It details the 15 charity websites against 26 best practice criteria, awarding each a total score out of 100.
Cancer Research UK leads the index with a score of 81% followed by Save the Children (80%), Action for Blind People (79.5%) and British Heart Foundation (79.5%).
Homepages generally scored good marks overall for design, layout and clarity of message with high average scores in particular for putting key messages above the fold (78%), fresh content (78%) and easy-to-use search (100%).
However, only one in three of the charities assessed managed to score over 70%, with Crime Concern at the bottom of the table with 47.5%.
Where charities scored low was in the important areas of collecting permission based email signups and contact data, encouraging existing donors to give more, and in following donations up with relationship building emails. The document contains best practice advice for all website owners and include top tips and practical examples from dotMailer's team of specialists who work with charities such as Fairtrade Foundation, Cancer Research UK and WaterAid. Read more

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Five Tips to Strengthen the Design of your Nonprofit's Website
Is your nonprofit ready for a website redesign? Are you the one charged with making sure the organization ’gets it right this time? Before you ask a web designer to produce that first round of homepage comps, you will need to take some initial steps to set yourself up for success. Follow these tips to get started.
1. Establish a style guide and stick to it
If your organization doesn't already have a style guide, invest in the time to create one. The style guide can be simple and contain basic information on logo use, color palette, fonts, and style of imagery. This style guide should be used when creating all of your promotional materials – web, video, and print. By using this style guide steadfastly and consistently, you will strengthen your organization's brand by enforcing the look and feel across all media channels. It shouldn't matter if an individual is looking at your brochure or your website – the visual message should be the same.
2. Prioritize your website goals
Before starting the design process, it is important to not only list the goals of your website, but prioritize them. This prioritized list will guide the design by establishing a hierarchy of information. When deciding what goal should take the top spot on your website list, ask yourself, “If I could only deliver ONE message to users, what would it be?” The goal that best supports the answer to that question should be ranked #1 and be the visual focus of your homepage. Other goals should take second and third seats. After all, if every element is given equal visual prominence, your user won't know what to focus on, your message will get lost, and you won't achieve your goals. Also, make sure that one of your top five goals is to introduce first-time visitors to your organization. You can't expect new users to know what your organization is about upon their first visit to your website. Telling users who you are and what you do will establish an initial baseline of trust. Read Tips 3-5 here
Source: Frog Loop

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Blogs G&R read
Frog Loop
A non-profit online marketing blog.

CharityChannel
Connecting nonprofit professionals worldwide.

Getting Attention
Helping nonprofits succeed through effective marketing.

Marketing for Nonprofits
Jocelyn Harmon shows us how to use the Internet for change.

Nonprofit Technology Blog
Covers blogging, marketing, communications, strategy and just about everything else!

Online Community Report
A site for online community professionals edited by Bill Johnston.

About.com
Nonprofit Charitable Orgs Blog

The World's Greatest Money Maker: Evan Davies meets Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett is the greatest investor of all time. His decisions about buying shares and companies have beaten the stock market year after year and made him the richest person in the world - thought to be worth 37 billion dollars. Yet Buffett lives modestly in his native Omaha, in America's mid-West, and runs his 150 billion dollar business with a staff of just twenty. Evan Davis meets him to find out about his unique investment strategy and his eccentric lifestyle. He talks to Buffett's family, friends and colleagues about the man they call the Sage of Omaha, and Buffett's friend Bill Gates praises his philosophy of life. As the greed of the super-wealthy is widely criticised in the current financial crisis, Davis asks whether Warren Buffett is the acceptable face of the filthy rich.
(For United Kingdom only) Watch the programme on the BBC's iPlayer here.
Available until the 2nd November 2009 (60 mins)

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Why Email No Longer Rules
Email has had a good run as king of communications. But its reign is over. In its place, a new generation of services is starting to take hold – services like Twitter and Facebook and countless others vying for a piece of the new world. And just as email did more than a decade ago, this shift promises to profoundly rewrite the way we communicate – in ways we can only begin to imagine.
We all still use email, of course. But email was better suited to the way we used to use the Internet – logging off and on, checking our messages in bursts. Now, we are always connected, whether we are sitting at a desk or on a mobile phone. The always-on connection, in turn, has created a host of new ways to communicate that are much faster than email, and more fun.
Why wait for a response to an email when you get a quicker answer over instant messaging? Thanks to Facebook, some questions can be answered without asking them. You don't need to ask a friend whether she has left work, if she has updated her public "status" on the site telling the world so. Email, stuck in the era of attachments, seems boring compared to services like Google Wave, currently in test phase, which allows users to share photos by dragging and dropping them from a desktop into a Wave, and to enter comments in near real time. [Read more] Source: Wall Street Journal

September '09 -The September edition includes eight new Grant Opportunities inviting you to submit grant applications. Virgin Money Giving, a Fundraising website claims it will undercut rival Justgiving is featured aswell as an update on how the recession continues to change the non profit world. View the edition here

Grant Opportunities is prepared specially for Chapel & York's clients.
Every time we identify a new opportunity to make an application for funds, or a new cross border grant, or a useful, interesting charity resource relating to your chosen categories (14 in total), we
will email you details. There is no charge. If you are a current Chapel & York client OR if you are
supported by a 501(c)(3) and would like to start receiving Grant Opportunities then please contact or
Head of Research, Peter Haley on +44 1342 871914 or email here

Virgin Money Giving opens to charities
Fundraising website claims it will undercut rival Justgiving. Virgin Money Giving, the new not-for-profit online donation service that it says will undercut Justgiving, has opened to charities.
Virgin Money, the finance arm of the Virgin Group and sponsor of the London Marathon from 2010, says its service will reduce the cost of raising money online by up to 60 per cent.
The site allows charities to publish their own pages and send out email alerts with links to them.
Fundraisers are not yet able to start using the site, but Virgin Money said it would announce the start of that service shortly.
A spokesman for Virgin Money said the service would raise more money for charities than other online giving sites because it would look only to cover its costs. He said it would charge a £100 set-up fee for charities and a 2 per cent transaction fee on donations, but would not charge for administering Gift Aid.
Justgiving typically charges 90p to process a £10 donation that is eligible for Gift Aid.
The Virgin Money spokesman said it would also allow charities to view data about their fundraisers and donors through customisable reports.

UK Hardship Fund - Community Development Foundation
Subject: Education | Health | Human Rights | NGO Capacity Building | Social & Human Services
Deadline: None
The U.K. Hardship Fund is a £16.7 milliion grant programme. It supports third sector organizations in England that are delivering front-line services to the most vulvnerable and disadvantaged people in society. Grants fall between £50,000 and £250,000 and are availabel to organizations with an annual income of at least £200,000 that are in financial hardship as a result fo the recession which is impacting on their ability to deliver services in the following areas: health & social care; housing support; education & training; and information, advice & guidance.
Read more | Community Development Foundation homepage

Substantial donor legislation to be reformed soon
HM Revenue & Customs is expected to propose changes to laws governing donations from major funders in the Autumn.
The proposals were developed with a series of focus groups that included charities, accountants, lawyers and major donors themselves, and examined how the legislation could be made more effective.
Substantial donor legislation penalises charities if they make payments to anyone who has made a donation of £25,000 to the organisation in a single calendar year.
It has been criticised by sector experts, who say many charities are unwittingly caught by it, and that many could be disproportionately penalised for making legitimate transactions.
"We've held several meetings in quick succession," said Nick Brooks, head of not-for-profit at accountancy firm Kingston Smith and one of the focus group members.
"It's been very productive as far as we're concerned, although there are still several hoops that have to be jumped through before anything can be changed."
Brooks said he thought charities need not worry about the legislation as long as they had no intent to carry out fraudulent activity.
"The legislation is there to stop wrongdoing, and if wrongdoing exists it can still be punished," he said. "But I think transactions in good faith should be safe."

YouTube of philanthropy will allow everyone to be a philanthropist
A new e-philanthropy initiative aims to be the ‘YouTube of philanthropy’ by allowing users to find out about charitable projects around the world in detail and donate to them online. Users can
also submit video clips of basic needs projects from around the world by creating an account
on the website, which aims to create a global philanthropic community online.
Launched in August, World Flix currently features video clips of projects in Uganda, Haiti and Tibet that require micro grants of up to $5,000 (£3,100) to address food, water, shelter, sanitation or healthcare basic needs. More projects are expected soon.
Through World Flix, donors can give to the project of their choice and, once the entire fund is collected, see their contribution at work through further video clips. Donors to the Bwindi Hospital project in Uganda will see the purchase, delivery and use of the mosquito nets they help purchase.
World Flix offers this level of feedback to donors without the means to give huge sums. Additionally it will give 100% of donated money to each project directly, covering its costs through events, grants and World Flix merchandise sales.

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