Weekly news roundup: Chile, Grad Nation, trusted charity brands and nonprofit jobs

News from the Case Foundation and what people are talking about this week in the world of giving, tech and everything in between.

8.8 magnitude earthquake rocks Chile; tech again plays influential role in response We woke up last weekend to the unfortunate news of another significantly damaging earthquake, this time in Chile, which also triggered tsunami warnings across much of the Pacific Ocean. Once again, technology played a key role in numerous facets of the disaster response. Nathaniel Whittemore at Change.org's Social Entrepreneurship blog has a nice roundup of how many of the tools leveraged for Haiti earthquake response were repurposed, including Ushahidi and Google's person finder tool. And while the magnitude of Chile's earthquake was significant, the humanitarian crisis was not as widespread as that in Haiti, reflected in significant differences in terms of giving to relief efforts, particularly in the mobile fundraising arena, as outlined in this Christian Science Monitor article. Streaming video also played a significant role in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami warnings, as this Mashable article points out, millions watched online to keep up on local newscasts and the progress of any potential tsunamis affecting Hawaii and other Pacific coasts.  If you are interested in helping out or learning more, Google has published this helpful page of resources for Chile earthquake relief, including a full list of text-to-give options.

Colin Powell & America's Promise Alliance launch program focused on preventing high school dropout rates Last Monday, President Obama joined General Colin Powell and his wife Alma to launch Grad Nation, a 10-year campaign that will be led by America's Promise Alliance - an organization founded by Gen. & Mrs. Powell in 1997 - to address the high school dropout crisis.  As this ABCNews.com article notes, the President announced $900 million in government grants that will be given to help underperforming schools, which were also outlined in this New York Times article. However, the grants are only one part of the broader initiative; an article on Tonic importantly notes that "There will be many organizations working to help with this program, but individuals are as important to the program's success, if not more so."

St. Jude's and Komen named "most trusted" nonprofit brands Last week, market research firm Harris Interactive announced the results of its annual brand equity survey across numerous sectors, including nonprofits. As the NonProfit Times reports, St. Jude's Childrens Hospital and Susan G. Komen for the cure were named by respondents as the two most trusted nonprofit organizations, and also ranked in the top positions in terms of brand equity.  The survey also found that Americans are more likely to donate in 2010. The South Florida Business Journal also shared the nonprofit-focused results of the survey in its Giving Guide blog.

Cautious optimism in the nonprofit jobs sector The Chronicle of Philanthropy last week reported on a new survey from Professionals for Nonprofits, a staffing organization with offices in New York and Washington, which reported that most nonprofits in Washington, New Jersey and New York expect to fill fundraising and program staff positions in 2010. The Star-Ledger in New Jersey also covered this story. We've been focusing on the topic on our blog as well, with a series of posts focused on where to find and how to get nonprofit jobs. Our latest post, published Friday, features an interview with Ami Dar and Meg Busse of Idealist.org on trends in nonprofit hiring.