January Podcast: Copyright with Lesley Ellen Harris

For this month's podcast, I had the opportunity to interview Lesley Ellen Harris (www.copyrightlaws.com) about copyright issues for librarians working in nonprofits. In this short podcast, Lesley shares helpful knowledge and tips that would be of great interest to the listener concerned about copyright. Here are the links to the podcast files (same file, different formats):

WAV
https://s3.amazonaws.com/onlinefiles/Interviews/LEHarris_Copyright_WAV.wav
MP3
https://s3.amazonaws.com/onlinefiles/Interviews/LEHarris_Copyright_mp3.mp3

Many thanks to Ms. Harris for her participation.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. Policy Making Billionaires; Nytimes.com, November 26, 2011
Brief Introduction: Over the past 30 years, as the gap between wealthy and poor grew ever wider, total philanthropic giving almost tripled, according to annual estimates published by the Giving USA Foundation and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. In an age of widening partisanship and plummeting trust in government, this outpouring of philanthropy has produced a distinct breed of philanthropist: The policy-making billionaire.

2. To advance their cause, Foundations buy stocks; Nytimes.com, November 24, 2011
Brief Introduction: Earlier this year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invested $10 million to acquire a stake in Liquidia Technologies, a biotechnology company working on new ways to deliver vaccines. The foundation bought its shares using a program-related investment, or an investment that can be counted toward federal requirements that it pay out 5 percent of its assets each year.

3. Great way for boomers to prepare for nonprofit work; Forbes.com, November 22, 2011
Brief Introduction: Today, Civic Ventures, a nonprofit think tank that focuses on boomers and encore careers with social purpose, announced a program with the Santa Clara, CA-based chip maker to offer all of Intel's U.S. employees who are eligible to retire the chance to apply for Encore Fellowships – paid, part-time, yearlong assignments working at local nonprofits.

4. Donations inch back up after recession decline; Usatoday.com, November 28, 2011
Brief Introduction: Giving totaled $291 billion in 2010, according to the 2011 annual report by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. That's up 3.8% from 2009 and follows two consecutive years of declines.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. At G-20, Bill Gates addresses leaders about helping poor; WashingtonPost.com, November 4, 2011
Brief Introduction: Organizations representing the world’s poor have had a fitful relationship with the Group of 20 world leaders. They arrive en masse to hold news conferences and usually get a nice mention of food security and health in any communique, but they mostly see their larger aims shoved aside by whatever crisis has hit major banks or currencies. Enter Bill Gates, literally. In what may mark a signature breakthrough, the Microsoft chairman and Gates Foundation philanthropist was given 90 minutes before a group that’s become a kind of executive board for the global economy.

2. Nonprofits get creative; WashingtonPost.com; November 6, 2011
Brief Introduction: Nonprofits have had to become ever more creative as the economic slowdown lingers — and their work is only just beginning. Two of the region’s largest philanthropic organizations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced plans to phase out their charitable giving. Corporations are becoming much more selective in their philanthropy. And foundation budgets remain largely stagnant — they are handing out fewer grants — amid fears of continued budget cuts from the federal government.

3. Students could save millions on open-source texts; The Seattle Times, October 31, 2011 Brief Introduction: College students in Washington state will be the first beneficiaries of a state project to make inexpensive, open source textbooks available for the most popular college classes. But the $1 million the state invested in creating educational materials for 42 classes will benefit more than just students in Washington. That money was matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

4. The MacArthur Foundation examines the link between housing and human and community outcomes; The Nonprofit Quarterly, November 4, 2011
Brief Introduction: Some of us thought it was quite a coup when the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation landed Mike Stegman as its director of policy and housing. Stegman was a phenomenal researcher on housing and community development at the University of North Carolina before a stint as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And he’s been generating some great stuff at MacArthur.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. Facebook teams up with Department of Labor, nonprofit groups to launch social jobs partnership; Scribbal, October 20, 2011
Brief Introduction: Facebook has teamed up with the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), DirectEmployers Association (DE) and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) to create the Social Jobs Partnership. The main aim of the initiative is to get unemployed Americans back to work by harnessing the power of social networks.

2. GlaxoSmithKline , Bill Gates -backed vaccine cuts Malaria infections by half; Forbes.com, October 18,2011
Brief Introduction: A vaccine invented at drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation cut the rate of malaria infection in small children roughly in half, providing real hope of cutting the toll from a mosquito-borne disease that infects 250 million people a year and kills 800,000 children annually in sub-Saharan Africa.

3. Nonprofits bear burden of Illinois' unpaid bills; Bloomberg Businessweek, October 17, 2011
Brief Introduction: Illinois ranks first nationwide when it comes to nonprofit groups reporting late payments from the government, according to a survey last year by the nonpartisan Urban Institute. More than 80 percent of Illinois groups say their money doesn't come on time.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. Three cars "for good" go to local nonprofits; JournalStar.com, September 28, 2011

Brief Introduction: The 100 Cars for Good promotional program was launched by Toyota in May, and nonprofits across the land competed to land a car. Local winners survived several rounds of cuts to make it to the final 500 -- and then each was assigned a day. On that day, they competed head-to-head with four other nonprofits of similar size, gathering votes via Facebook, Twitter, email and good ‘ol word-of-mouth.

2. The White House and National Science Foundation announce new workplace flexibility policies to support America's scientists and their families; WhiteHouse.gov, September 26,2011

Brief Introduction: Today, White House Council on Women and Girls Executive Director Tina Tchen, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John P. Holdren, and National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Subra Suresh announced the “NSF Career-Life Balance Initiative,” a 10-year plan to provide greater work-related flexibility to women and men in research careers. Among the best practices that NSF will expand Foundation-wide, are ones that will allow researchers to delay or suspend their grants for up to one year in order to care for a newborn or newly adopted child or fulfill other family obligations. — maximizing current policy to facilitate scientists’ reentry into their professions with minimal loss of momentum.

3. Meeting with Bill Gates, Nigerian president Jonathan re-affirms country's commitment to eradicating polio within two years; Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, September 30, 2011

Brief Introduction: In a meeting at the presidential villa on Thursday, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan told Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "that he was determined to eradicate polio within two years after the crippling disease re-emerged earlier this year."

4. High school students gain college credits at Akron Early College High School at University of Akron; Cleveland.com, October 2, 2011

Brief Introduction: Early college high schools, aimed at low-income, first-generation college students, were developed and funded in 2002 by several organizations, including The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation. More than 230 schools have opened in 28 states, including 10 in Ohio.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. Increasing transparency to galvanize impact; Huffington Post, September 23,2011
Brief Introduction: Through the efforts of the Global Corporate Citizenship Program, BCLC will be launching a new tool to dramatically change the way we learn from each other and work together across sectors. At the 2011 Adding Value in Emerging Markets and Local Communities Conference, BCLC will be launching the Business for Good Map. This online, interactive map will catalog our members' work in communities based on geography and sector. Whether you're looking for education initiatives in Brazil, HIV programs in South Africa, or water programs in South East Asia, you'll be able to view all of these programs on one application.

2. Melinda Gates goes from 0 to 17,000+ Twitter followers in a day; The Seattle Times, September 22, 2011
Brief Introduction: Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Gates Foundation, joined Twitter Wednesday ("Excited to be joining the conversation on @twitter," she said) and, in some 24 hours, has gained more than 17,000 followers.

3. Health IT key to patient engagement; iHealthBeat.org, September 19,2011
Brief Introduction: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality have teamed up on a new initiative aimed at boosting patient engagement in an effort to improve the quality of health care in the U.S. Health care experts argue that patient empowerment is key to driving health care improvements.

4. White House targets innovative education technologies; Information Week, September 19, 2011
Brief Introduction: The White House has formed a nonprofit organization aimed at creating innovative learning technologies to transform education in the United States. The National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies, aka Digital Promise, will engage exclusively in research and development (R&D) to use the most advanced technology to improve learning at all educational levels.

The Department of Education, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation are providing startup funds and support for the nonprofit, which brings together a coalition of business leaders and educators.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. Public-Interest lawyer and choral director among MacArthur Genius prize winners ; Chronicle of Philanthropy, September 19,2011
Brief Introduction: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today announced the 22 recipients of its annual MacArthur Fellows awards.

2. Map tracks antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' online; The Washington Post, September 21,2011
Brief Introduction: The "Resistance Map” was launched Wednesday by “Extending the Cure,” a research project that studies the rising problems of antibiotic resistance based at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, a Washington-based nonprofit. It is funded in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

3. Social Good Summit 2011; Mashable.com, September 20,2011
Brief Introduction: Mashable, 92Y and the UN Foundation are excited to get day two of the second annual Social Good Summit under way. The event, held in New York City during UN Week, is off to a great start after yesterday’s inspiring sessions with digital philanthropy leaders such as Ted Turner, Nicholas Negroponte and Christy Turlington.

4. Gates Foundation taps Novartis executive; The Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2011
Brief Introduction: A senior executive at the pharmaceutical company Novartis AG will join the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as president of the philanthropy's global health group, a position that can influence the health of millions of people worldwide.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1.The Post-Jobs era: Tim Cook brings philanthropy back to Apple; Wired, September 8, 2011
Brief Introduction: Mr. Cook announced on Thursday morning in a company-wide e-mail that Apple would now honor a charitable matching program.

2. Menino set to coax nonprofits into hiring; Boston.com, September 5, 2011

Brief Introduction: To encourage job growth, Mayor Thomas M. Menino today will propose financial incentives for hospitals, universities, and other nonprofits to hire out-of-work Boston residents.

Institutions that hire jobless Bostonians would receive a $1,000 or $1,500 credit that would be deducted from the money nonprofits are asked to pay each year in lieu of property taxes. Boston’s top five employers - four major hospitals and Boston University - contributed more than $8.6 million to city coffers last year despite their tax-exempt status.

3. Pay for female nonprofit CEOs lag; Orlando Business Journal, September 8, 2011

Brief Introduction: Despite more women holding CEO positions at nonprofits, women CEOs earn 13.4 percent to 24.6 percent less than their male counterparts, according to an annual survey released Sept. 8.

4. Big Boost to African Cassava Project; The Scientist, September 7, 2011

Brief Introduction: The Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project recently received $5.5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, $5.5 million from The Monsanto Fund; and more than $850,000 from the Howard Buffett Foundation.

Big Picture, Small Budget: Knowledge Management in Non-Profits

Ms. Jan Combopiano will be presenting a 30-minute session on knowledge management in non-profits on July 26th @3PM EDT. She currently serves as the Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer for Catalyst. The session description is provided below:

Big Picture, Small Budget: Knowledge Management in Non-Profits
Money isn’t everything – knowledge management can be successful in non-profits, even with little (or practically no) resources. A strategy, however, is essential. Learn how change management principles can be adapted for this purpose, as well as practical advice for the reality of working in a non-profit.

CFL members can register using this link.

In-world look at Second Life - Nonprofit Commons

I created a quick screencast tour of the Nonprofit Commons in SecondLife. Here is the video - there may be some lag time between the video and the audio. Do you think the use of virtual worlds will become more commonplace as nonprofits look to connect with large amounts of people in a more cost-effective way?

Second Life and Nonprofits

How many of you are aware of Second Life? If you are aware of this virtual world, do you know that many nonprofits are making use of it to raise awareness of what their organizations do and raise funds for their causes? In fact, many nonprofits can be found on a virtual island called the Nonprofit Commons (you can read more about this here).

Within this virtual world, people make use of avatars to interact with other SL residents. Nonprofits in SL connect with visitors by creating virtual representations of their organizations to inform visitors of their cause and sometimes seek contributions in the form of Linden Dollars (read more here and here). Linden Dollars have remained relatively stable at the exchange rate of L$ 250 to $1 U.S. Those organizations that collect donations in Second Life can cash out their L$ for U.S. dollars when they are ready.

So how have some philanthropic organizations taken the leap into this virtual world? Well, the MacArthur Foundation has led the charge by creating MacArthur Island. They have also held public forums to educate others of their experiences with the virtual world (read more here).

Has your organization thought about creating a virtual presence in Second Life?