Tech for Good

10 Can’t Miss Sessions at SXSW 2015

Posted on by Case Foundation

We are getting ready to head down to Austin, TX, for SXSW Interactive—a five-day festival that showcases a mix of digital creativity, emerging technology and unique networking events. From March 13 through 17, members of the Case Foundation team will be on-site learning about new trends in social good, philanthropy and technology from thought leaders in the sector… and leading three sessions on social good issues that we hope you will join us for:

We’re also excited to take part in the many sessions that promise to stretch our minds, inspire our creativity and just have fun. We’ve compiled a list of 10 events that we’re particularly excited about below. Have another can’t miss SXSW session we should know about? Tweet us the details using @CaseFoundation and #CFBlog so we can share it with our community.

Saturday, March 14

  • 12:30 pm: Running a Non-Profit Like a Startup! – Austin Convention Center, Room 9ABC
    Do you want to learn how operating like a startup can help nonprofits overcome challenges? Join a group of social entrepreneurs for a discussion about starting and scaling a nonprofit guided by practices until recently associated with startups.
  • 3:30 pm: City 2.0: Why Local Gov. Bets on Civic Innovation – Austin Convention Center, Room 10AB
    Civic innovation is taking root in municipalities across the country. But is it effective in tackling real urban problems? Join Leaders from Boston, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco for insights into how these cities are betting on a new era of policy-making by using open data and leveraging the talents of their citizens.

Sunday, March 15

  • 11 am: How to Make it Rain: Impact Investors Tell All – Austin City Hall
    This panel will explore ways impact investors, social entrepreneurs and traditional investment vehicles can collaborate to help create a strong impact eco-system.
  • 5 pm: Millennials: The Unstoppable Force – Austin Convention Center, Room 10AB
    During this session, participants will hear from Millennial elected officials who are putting aside partisan labels and working to change the future together

Monday, March 16

  • 11 am: How Potato Salad Killed/Saved Crowdfunding – Austin Convention Center, Next Stage
    Join our SVP of Communications, Allyson Burns, for a conversation with Gary Wolfheil of Crowdrise and some of crowdfunding’s biggest names including Zack Brown, the Potato Salad Guy and Ryan Grepper, creator of the Coolest Cooler, for an in-depth conversation about the future of crowdfunding for nonprofits, for profits and individuals.
  • 12 pm: Impact Investing Rumble Hosted by the Case Foundation – Trinity Hall
    Join the Case Foundation for a memorable Impact Investing point/counterpoint debate exploring whether or not impact investing really is the next big thing when it comes to creating change in the social sector.
  • 3 pm: Elevate: How Businesses & Entrepreneurs are Taking Social Good to the Next Level – Trinity Hall
    Come hear how three leading companies built corporate philanthropy into their culture. This panel will provide insights into the benefits of fostering a culture of corporate citizenship for both internal and external stakeholders, how to engage all employees and how to build programs that can make the world a better place.

Tuesday, March 17

  • 10 am: Look at Me: On Ego, Hype, and Social Entrepreneurship – Trinity Hall
    United Kingdom based veteran social entrepreneur and impact investor, Liam Black, cuts through the hype of social entrepreneur industry to talk honestly about what really motivates and drives entrepreneurs who want to change the world.
  • 11:30 am: Be Fearless Breakout Session Hosted by the Case Foundation – Trinity Hall
    Are you and your organization ready to make big bets that will change the world? Join the Case Foundation for working group to explore ways that you can integrate strategies and tactics to create impact and meaningful social change. Click here to sign up.
  • 2:00 pm: Data Visualization for Social Good – Trinity Hall
    During this hands-on session, participants will work with open data from the City of Austin to create prototypes that visually represent public data and invite exploration and explanation.

Not headed to SXSW this year? Follow along with the Case Foundation team members on Twitter with @CaseFoundation. We also invite you to share your own recommendations, updates or thoughts on Twitter by using the hashtag #CFBlog!

Five Key Ways Social Good Organizations can Engage with Millennials on Facebook

Posted on by Case Foundation

This post was written by Meg Rulli on behalf of the Case Foundation:

One of the many benefits to being a social enterprise is that the powerful work you’re doing is incredibly interesting to others – and others want to get involved.

This is especially the case when it comes to your organization connecting with the Millennial community. According to Deloitte’s third annual Millennial Survey conducted in 2014, 63 percent of Millennials donate to charities, 43 percent actively volunteer or are a member of a community organization and 52 percent have signed petitions.

And do you know where those Millenials spend a ton of time? The answer is online—engaging with others and with content on various social networking platforms such as Facebook.

How can you best connect with this passionate community when it comes to your strategy for Facebook marketing?

I’ve highlighted five simple tips you can use to ensure your organization’s reach within the Millennial community is maximized on Facebook. For even more Facebook marketing tips and case studies for social enterprises, you can download the free Facebook chapter from my book, Get Social – The Ultimate Online Marketing Guide For Social Good.

Five Key Ways for Social Good Organizations to Engage with Millennials on Facebook

1. Use photo heavy content for visual storytelling – Visual content is the most popular content to share on Facebook, so use this social network as a place to share your story and stir emotions in the millennial community. Let your work shine on your Facebook page through photos with inspiring quotes, photos of your local events, photos of employees at the office, and photos of your volunteers collaborating with your organization. For even more reach on your Facebook posts, be sure to tag people in pictures, which will bring visibility to your organization through these individuals’ personal networks.

2. Share emotionally moving statistics and information – Millenials want to be apart of initiatives that create change and improve the world. Entice them to rally behind your organization with powerful statistics and information related to your organization. To go along with this, share news on Facebook about celebrities and influential leaders rallying behind similar causes to your own.

3. Connect your Instagram and Vine accounts to your Facebook page and cross promote – While Facebook is still a huge social media platform for Millennials, social networks such as Instagram and Vine are big for younger generations. Be sure to have a social media presence on these platforms (if your audience is located there) and connect your content on Instagram and Vine on your Facebook page. This is an easy way to share even more visual content on your page and will help you bring your Facebook fans over to these other social networks.

4. Share your events and community outreach initiatives on your page (as well as local events related to your cause) – When it comes to helping social organizations, Millennials want to be in the trenches. They are excited to get out and engage with their favorite organizations and causes. Take advantage of their social butterfly tendencies and leverage your Facebook page to share fun events hosted by your organization and related community outreach initiatives in your local area.

5. Gamify your Facebook page – Millennials are competitive and are always looking for fun ways to rally with their friends around their passions. Harness this energy by creating contests to advertise on your Facebook page (i.e., contests for fundraising efforts), poll your audience in your status updates, host giveaways on your page… Get creative and make sure you Facebook page ENGAGES your audience.

Your turn: What tips do you have for connecting with your millennial audience on Facebook? We’re always looking for suggestions from our community, so please share with us on Twitter!

For more pro tips and case studies on how to connect with Millennials on Facebook, be sure to download the free Facebook chapter from Get Social – The Ultimate Online Marketing Guide For Social Good.

Meg is the Co-Founder of ModMark Group – a marketing and PR agency working with social good companies to grow their communities and expand their global impact. “Carpe diem” is her favorite cliche and motto. Meg is a high-energy girl living in Portland, OR, that loves traveling, being active, spending time outdoors and eating (A LOT)!

Introducing the Three Pillars of the Case Foundation

Posted on by Case Foundation

Ask anyone at the Case Foundation what kind of response they get when they explain the work of our foundation through our tagline: “We invest in people and ideas that can change the world,” and they’ll tell you they are often met with a smile followed by more questions. “Hmm… interesting, like what?” or “So are you about education, poverty or healthcare?” This challenge of finding the right way to talk about our work has dogged us for some time, especially since we are not an “issue” oriented foundation, but rather one that is driven by opportunities to innovate and spark new movements—that can develop in a wide variety of different areas. So in the last year we set out on an ambitious effort to find more effective ways to communicate what we really do. The official launch of our new website today is just the first of several changes you’ll see in the coming months.

The ambitious effort to understand how we could do better began by engaging a third party set of experts to perform an extensive audit of our communication channels among our peers, partners and influencers from a range of sectors. We surveyed and interviewed these groups and individuals to help us better understand how we could more effectively share information on the work of the Case Foundation, offer lessons learned and inspire others to create change. The feedback we received—from a combination of web surveys and in-depth conversations—provided a wide variety of insights for our team. This process was invaluable to us and we are grateful to many of you who participated and allowed us to identify a number of areas for improvement, from tweaks to the way we were engaging with our audiences on Twitter, to suggestions for refining our messaging, to wholesale changes to our strategy in some areas.

As we were presenting the feedback we received from the audit to our Board, my husband, who serves as Chair of the Case Foundation, offered a simple insight: “Can’t we find a way to talk about our work in a few ‘buckets’ people might understand?” I think a light bulb went off at that moment for all of us.

Armed with a charge from the Chair, and with valuable insights from many of our stakeholders, friends and followers, a new way to convey our work began to emerge. At about the same time, we added a valuable new senior member of our team, Sheila Herrling, whose detachment from our history proved invaluable in helping us reimagine how we look at and organize the various areas of our work.

So with the launch of this new website today, you’ll see how we’ve found our “three buckets” – only we now refer to them as “pillars.” They encapsulate what we see as our three main areas of interest – Revolutionizing Philanthropy, Unleashing Entrepreneurship and Igniting Civic Engagement – and within each pillar resides our various programmatic initiatives such as impact investing, Be Fearless and Millennial engagement. We purposefully designed the three pillars so that they stand independently, yet also clearly overlap to illustrate where we recognize how our work may intersect. While there still may be an occasional outlier that doesn’t perfectly fit into one of the buckets, we think these three areas hit the mark. And while we still embrace the mission that we invest in people ideas that can change the world, these new pillars provide more clarity around the vision and aspirations of our work, as conveyed in the
image below.

diagram_image[1]

This elegant image, as a graphical representation of our three pillars, by no means indicates that our work is done here. Our approach with the website, just as with change and innovation overall, is based on iterations–based on the Lean Startup principle we strongly embrace at the Case Foundation, known as “minimum viable product.” As a team, we debated if we felt comfortable launching today, when there are still some parts to fill in, and some enhancements we’ll add. In the end, we made the decision that we want to continue to refine and make better our attempts to share content, learnings and opportunities for engagement–and so with the launch today we are committing to watching and listening. We will continue to adapt our new site to reflect the changing needs of our audience and the work of the Foundation to deliver the best product possible.

On the technical front, there’s quite a lot of exciting new enhancements and we invite you to “go behind the scenes” and discover the new generation of technology and tools we’ve deployed to make your time on the site most engaging, efficient and fun – – this companion blog by our very own Allie Burns and Brian Sasscer, goes deeper into both the features and some of the thinking that led to our new look and feel. Allie and Brian did most of the “heavy lifting” on this effort and once again I feel so grateful for our amazing team! As always, we warmly welcome your feedback and insights as we move forward.

Let us know what you think on Twitter using the hashtag #NewCFsite!

Welcome to Our New Website!

Posted on by Case Foundation

This post was written by Allyson Burns and Brian Sasscer on behalf of the Case Foundation:

After a few weeks of being in “stealth mode,” we’re incredibly excited today to unveil a new look and feel here at CaseFoundation.org! This is the first step in the rollout of our new “Digital Roadmap” to ensure we’re putting our best digital foot forward on all fronts.

Last year, we embarked on a full audit of the Case Foundation’s digital presence to understand how our entire web portfolio, including CaseFoundation.org, as well as our social media outlets, could serve as a more effective tool for engaging with our key constituents. The audit process involved gathering detailed feedback from our partners, friends and peers in the sector – without which this new digital roadmap would not be possible.

The newly designed CaseFoundation.org draws on some of the latest tools and technologies, and is designed to more clearly highlight our work and provide valuable resources for the sector based on what we’re learning. Our hope is that this new design will make it easier for users like you to find the information they want.

And as our CEO, Jean Case, has explained, related to the work of the new website – and this inquisitive process – is a new way we’ll talk about our work going forward. It was a high priority for us to take the learnings from our audit process and translate them into a user-friendly website design, content and strategy. Engaging a creative web design team, we set out to provide a fresh look with bold features, engaging content and imagery and an intuitive flow of information. You will now see an intuitive speaking navigation at the top of every page with easy-to-use drop-down menus to help you explore the site. There is also a new “Who We Are” section that features language explaining our philosophy, team structure and history (be sure to check out the interactive timeline at the bottom of the page). Another significant addition to the site is a new section titled, “What We Do” that introduces the three pillars that ground the work of the Foundation, including: civic engagement, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. We invite you to explore these pillars and the evolving program areas that are built upon them including Impact Investing, Be Fearless, Economic Mobility, Millennial Engagement and more.

We took design inspiration from a number of sites, including: TED Ed, Kickstarter and Apple, and embraced new features such as conversational filters, immersive images and “sticky” fixed navigation. The site is also now responsive, meaning you can easily view on your desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile device without compromising the viewer experience.

You’ll also see us continue to roll out changes across our digital platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, some of which we’ve already begun to implement. For example, you may have noticed a shift away from sweepstakes and contests as a way to interact with our communities and attract new members. Rather, we are now focused on publishing more targeted posts related to relevant social sector content tailored for each platform in an effort to garner more meaningful engagement. While we still actively review analytics related to our social media outreach, engagement is the name of the game and trumps impressions and likes.

We also heard loud and clear from the digital audit that you wanted to hear more from the individuals on our awesome team – so you’ll see us making a more concerted effort to lift up the diverse viewpoints and experiences of our team members across digital platforms. This also translates into our email strategy. Feedback from users indicated that email is a vehicle through which they want to receive updates, news and information from the Foundation. So we’ve made it easier to sign up for email and have started implementing a detailed segmentation process to make sure the information becomes more targeted and specific to reader’s needs and wants. (If you’re not signed up for our email list already, please make sure to do so in the form provided at the bottom of this page!)

That’s it for now, but the new website is a work in progress to be sure. Check back with us regularly to see what other changes and improvements we have made. And after you’ve taken a spin within the new pages, we invite you to share any feedback, as that will help us continue to improve the site.

Let us know what you think on Twitter using the hashtag #NewCFsite!

Reimagining our cities: the Techonomic future

Posted on by Case Foundation

There are few settings more appropriate than Detroit for a conference focused on the intersection of technology and the economy – and its effect on the way we live in cities in the US and around the world. Detroit has, of course, seen its share of challenges over the past few decades, but as the city comes out of bankruptcy, there is a palpable energy amongst individuals across the business, nonprofit and public sectors who are all playing a key role in reimagining Detroit’s future – a future in which data, new technology and innovative new approaches will be critical.

It is because of that energy that we were excited to return to Detroit for the third annual Techonomy Detroit conference, which brings together a group of influencers and thought leaders from across sectors to “better understand how to move the U.S., and the world, into an urbanized, technologized, inclusive future.”

We were proud that our CEO Jean Case was invited to participate in a fascinating discussion alongside Rip Rapson, CEO of the Kresge Foundation, about the ever-changing role of foundations in cities; moderated by Nolan Finley of the Detroit News. The Kresge Foundation is known for its leading role in several initiatives focused on building for Detroit’s post-bankruptcy future, as part of its $25.5M Re-Imagining Detroit portfolio. When the foundation decided to take the risk and new direction of stepping in where government could not, Rapson shared that not everyone was sold on the idea: “what push back didn’t I get?” he joked.

Channeling our Be Fearless campaign, Jean reflected on the need for foundations to take risks and shared more about our role in creating catalytic initiatives and cross-sector partnerships that we hope will build the foundation for innovating when it comes to solving our big social challenges. (You can watch the full video of the session here).

The day also featured sessions with a range of thinkers and doers all playing a role in rethinking the way we get around, how we pay for goods and services, what and how we share (information and physical assets), how we improve the connections between government and the citizens they serve, and how we unlock value from the wealth of data available to us.

It’s probably not surprising that the last point was a constant throughout all of the sessions. Local governments are leveraging data to improve civic services; data is a key driver for sharing economy companies to appropriately allocate resources and assets; and citizens can tap into data to evaluate the performance of public officials/services and companies.

But not everyone is so bullish on data. In a passionate and provocative talk, TechCrunch’s Andrew Keen, author of the book “The Internet is Not the Answer,” shared his view on the dangers of sharing so much information and data for free. He warned about the intentions of companies who are collecting our data, reminding the audience that these organizations are ultimately in the for-profit business, a point that was countered in an engaging discussion between Detroit CIO Beth Niblock and Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and CEO of Square. Jack shared more about his current endeavors at Square, which is focused on providing crucial access to capital for merchants, and noted his company’s vested interest in helping small businesses – crucial to growing and maintaining a strong economy – as a social impact that is baked into their business model.

When asked what keeps him coming back to Detroit, Dorsey said it was “the energy, the soul, the fight” he sees in the city. That beautifully sums up our excitement about the future of cities like Detroit – a future that will be driven by technology, transparency and an “all oars in the water” approach that brings citizens, business, government, academia and philanthropy together.

Curious to see more? A recording of the full Techonomy Detroit conference can be found here.

Data Visualization for Everyone

Posted on by Case Foundation

This post was written by Andrew Hill on behalf of the Case Foundation:

If your nonprofit is looking to make maps with your data, or just wants to update some of your existing maps—your timing is perfect. It has never been easier to turn data into an interactive map to better inform and engage your readers.

The open source community is actively working together to make mapping tools more mainstream. For almost three years now, the team at CartoDB has been creating a platform that is not only accessible, but also a force for good. CartoDB is a hosted mapping service designed to help people create maps from their data. Today, many nonprofits are using our tool to add interactive maps to their websites and to communicate their work and their findings through their blogs and social media.

The focus of the service is simplicity. Our goal is to address many of the obstacles that have traditionally stood in the way of creating interactive maps online. For example, we have removed the need for any desktop software and tried to support many of the data formats that people are already working with in the day-to-day, including spreadsheets and CSVs.

For our part, we have been building projects like Torque and Odyssey.js to help you make maps in totally new and interesting ways. Nonprofits and other organizations are quickly taking advantage of this progress.

Beyond technological advances, it has also become abundantly clear that nonprofits can tap into the power of maps to communicate complex ideas. Unlike charts and graphs, people seem to have a willingness to explore and to try and understand complex data when summarized neatly on a map. Projects like Global Forest Watch and Food Security Map are making important data accessible through simple and well-designed interfaces.

Here are three tips to help you get started if you’re interested in turning data into a map.

1. Tell a story – While data visualization can be well designed and engaging on the surface, your work will have far greater impact if you integrate it more fully and use it to tell a meaningful and clear story.

2. Don’t be afraid of errors – Data is almost never perfect, but that doesn’t mean you have to let that hold you back from putting it out in the world. Sure, you’ll want to make it clear if you think your data might contain discrepancies, but if you do it openly you’ll be surprised how many people want to help make it better.

3. Iterate – You are rarely going to get it right the first time when it comes to data visualization, and even when you do things change. Think of data visualization and mapping as an ongoing process. Take time after you’ve posted to make your designs better, refine your story and improve the application of technology.

So what are you waiting for? The moment is right and the reasons are clear on why you should start experimenting with data visualization. Have a map or data visualization tip to share? Please post in the comments or tell us on Twitter @CaseFoundation.

10 “Can’t Miss” Sessions for SXSW 2014

Posted on by Case Foundation

We’re packing our suitcases and heading down to Austin this week for SXSW Interactive—a five-day festival that showcases a mix of digital creativity, emerging technology and unique networking events. From March 6 through 11, members of the Case Foundation team will be on-site and keeping an eye out for new trends at the intersection of technology and social good, fearless ideas around disruptive philanthropy and creative thought-leaders and entrepreneurs who are changing the world.

With close to 30,000 attendees, 1,800 speakers and 1,000 sessions, parties and events to choose from, the event can be overwhelming to say the least. We’ve highlighted the top 10 events that we’re excited about, and we hope you will join us! SPOILER ALERT – Don’t miss out on Jean Case’s session, “A Fearless Approach to Social Change” on Friday, March 7th, and Steve Case’s session, “The Rest is Rising: Entrepreneurship in America” on Saturday, March 8th.

Not headed to SXSW this year? Follow along with the Case Foundation team members on Twitter with @CaseFoundation. We also invite you to share your own recommendations, updates or thoughts on SXSW below in the comments section for this blog or via Twitter!

THURSDAY, MARCH 6:

Dewey Winburne Community Service Awards

At SXSW, we also like to honor community do-gooders who make the world better via innovative applications of digital technology. Remember that the Dewey Awards are FREE to attend — a SXSW badge is not needed to enjoy this inspiring evening.

FRIDAY, MARCH 7:

A Fearless Approach to Social Change

Featuring: Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation and Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, Host/Producer of HuffPost Live
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM at the Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon H (500 E 4th St.)

In this session, Jean Case will outline the five key elements of a fearless approach to social change and share examples of great breakthroughs and innovations that have taken place when organizations across sectors have adopted these principles. The session will also feature a mini “fail fair,” where audience members will be invited to share and celebrate their failures.

SATURDAY, MARCH 8:

The Rest is Rising: Entrepreneurship in America

Featuring: Steve Case, founder and CEO of Revolution and Emily Chang, Anchor of Bloomberg TV
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM at the Austin Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 5 (500 E Cesar Chavez St.)

Join Steve, founder and CEO of Revolution and one of America’s most respected entrepreneurs, and Emily Chang of Bloomberg TV, for an in-depth conversation about the trends and ideas shaping our future. He will explore the changing geography of entrepreneurship in America, the impact of politics and public policy on our most promising startups and the challenges associated with marrying vision and execution.

For Good & Profit: Impact Entrepreneurship FTW

Featuring: Rachael Chong of Catchafire, Seth Basson of Amicus, and Tabreez Verjee of Uprising
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM at the Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon C (500 E 4th St.)

Over the past few years we’ve seen a tremendous rise in social good for-profit enterprises. This session, which includes leading social good entrepreneurs and impact investors, will examine why we’re seeing this boom and what the future of social enterprise might look like.

SUNDAY, MARCH 9:

Startup Oasis

10:00 AM – 2:00 AM at the Old School Bar and Grill (6thSt. and Trinity St.)

This year, UP Global & The Kauffman Foundation will be hosting our community on March 7-9 during the first three days of SXSW Interactive. The full schedule can be found at startupoasis.up.co – join UP Global and The Kauffman Foundation at #startupoasis.

MONDAY, MARCH 10:

SXSW Social Good Hub presented by the United Nations Foundation

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM at the Bungalow (92 Rainey St.)

A new addition to SXSW, the Hub brings together digital creative, entrepreneurs, filmmakers and other SXSW attendees focused on social change. The Social Good Hub is open to all badges and RSVP isn’t required for the event.

Is It Possible to Change Someone’s View Online?

Featuring: Fruzsina Eordogh of Motherboard, Kristine Smith and Marta Gossage of Reddit, and Nika Nour Of the Internet Association
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM at the Sheraton Austin Capitol EFGH (701 E 11th St.)

We are witnessing a profound transformation in the way that people are able to learn about a dizzying variety of life experiences. Anonymous sites are transforming discourse in how people are able to learn – from the more nontraditional life experience to the more mundane. How is this disruptive shift affecting other forms of media and changing the way that people form their beliefs and opinions?

Social Innovation: People, Planet, Profit, Purpose

Featuring: Chris Gebhardt or Participant Media, LLC, Leah Gerstner of American Express, Lori McMahon of Intel, and Tom Scott of the Gates Foundation
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM at the Wanderlust (206 E 4th St.)

Companies with a social mission can have both great social impact and superior performance because of deeper customer bonds and greater employee engagement. Participant’s TAG division brings together brands and foundations to collaborate and create social impact with storytelling at the core. Sponsored by Participant Media.

TUESDAY, MARCH 11:

Storytelling, Innovation, & Inspiration

Featuring: Alex Cuthbert of Google
9:30 AM – 1:30 PM at the AT&T Conference Center, Classroom 103 (1900 University Ave.)

This workshop showcases examples from a variety of web, film, animation, and mobile design leaders as a starting point for learning how to build stories about transformational products and experiences. Pre-registration required.

Do You Actually Know How to Engage a Millennial?

Featuring: Brian Reich of little m media and Kari Dunn Saratovsky of KDS Strategies
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM at the Austin Convention Center, Room 5ABC (500 E Cesar Chavez St.)

Millennials have different expectations for their involvement in social causes. In large part, millennials are post-institutional—they don’t rely on just government, just nonprofits, or just the private sector to influence change. They believe it takes a blending of sectors and approaches in order to make impact. You can either be part of this conversation, or you can let it leave you behind. Join us for some straight talk about how to really motivate Millennials.

SXSW organizers have also provided some tips to maximize your festival experience – check them out in advance and make the most out of your trip this year!

1 Billion Reasons to Celebrate with Network for Good

Posted on by Case Foundation

Last week, we marked a monumental achievement for the nonprofit sector. Network for Good, the online giving portal launched nearly 15 years ago, has now processed more than $1 billion in online donations. Since its inception in 2001, the Network for Good platform has handled donations to more than 100,000 nonprofits and trained 150,000 nonprofit professionals in effective nonprofit marketing and online fundraising.

Network for Good has been a part of the Case Foundation family since its inception. When my husband Steve was serving as Chair of AOL/Time Warner, the organization was spun out of AOL and formally launched by a coalition of companies including AOL, Cisco and Yahoo!, in partnership with more than 20 nonprofit foundations and associations.

Since that time, Steve and I have taken an “all oars in the water” approach to supporting Network for Good. The Case Foundation has made significant grants to the organization, and provided pro bono board support from our senior executives. In addition, Steve and I provided a loan guarantee to help scale the organization’s growth and made a personal investment in their for-profit subsidiary. Network for Good was also a crucial partner in our America’s Giving Challenges, which generated more than $4 million in online donations for worthy causes from hundreds of thousands of individuals.

Online giving has truly gone mainstream and technology has become a force for good because of Network for Good’s work. Today, the use of technology for good is as common as sending an email. We are strong believers in democratized philanthropy, and through technology – from the internet to social media – individuals can play a meaningful role in giving, sparking social change, and learning about critical social issues.

I am especially proud today not only for our history with Network for Good and this $1 billion milestone achieved, but that the Case Foundation had the honor of making the final donation that put them over the edge on their journey to that one billionth dollar. Congratulations to Network for Good’s CEO, Bill Strathmann and the entire team, along with the millions of donors who have given to causes they care about. We look forward to celebrating the next billion together!

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