NPC CommonGround Networking Party May 6th, 5-7PM SLT

What: CommonGround Networking
When: Thursday, May 6 at 5:00PM SLT
Where: slurl to Nonprofit Commons http://bit.ly/bjAvLe

On May 6th, join us for our Splash Soiree water-themed party and costume contest (winner gets to pick the nonprofit that gets the evening’s donations). Our event sponsor is the ALS Association and our DJ is LilTank.

Did you know that May is ALS Awareness month? The ALS Association is the only national not-for-profit health organization dedicated solely to the fight against ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Enjoy networking and dancing, and learn more about what nonprofits, educators, humanitarians, scientists, and artists accomplish in Second Life!

Written by: DustyArtaud

Project Jason Founder Wins U.S. Department of Justice 2010 Volunteer for Victims Award

We believe this is the first time in the history of this event that this award has gone to someone from the cause of missing persons, so it’s a huge deal to our cause! It also signifies a shift in this cause now deemed in the “crime” category by the Department of Justice.

I (with some fantastic help of a few special people) submitted this award nomination. So I am almost as jazzed as Kelly about the award 🙂

This article is from AOL News writer David Lohr, who is very special to the cause of missing persons.

Congratulations, Kelly!

— Ronnie Rhode

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/her-mission-for-the-missing-earns-…

Her Mission for the Missing Earns Mom National Kudos

4/20/2010
By David Lohr

(April 20) — A Nebraska woman who emerged from the “nightmare” of her son’s disappearance to bring hope to other families of missing people has received unprecedented national recognition for her efforts.

The U.S. Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime last week named Kelly Jolkowski, president and founder of the Omaha, Neb.-based nonprofit Project Jason, as its 2010 Volunteer for Victims Honoree.

The announcement came at the National Crime Victims’ Service Awards, which paid tribute to Jolkowski and eight other people for “outstanding work on behalf of crime victims.” The awards, which were held Friday in Washington, D.C., are part of the OVC’s National Crime Victims Rights Week, April 18-24.

What makes Jolkowski’s award especially significant is that it’s the first one in memory to be given to an advocate of missing people.

“I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of all missing persons, the families who miss them and in my son’s name,” Jolkowski said upon receiving the award. “The secondary victims, the families, deserve a voice and to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect as they go through what is undoubtedly the most difficult time in their lives.”

One Mother’s Story

Jolkowski’s own family ordeal began almost nine years ago, as she recalled in a recent interview with AOL News.

“It was June 13, 2001, and Jason was 19 at the time,” Jolkowski said. “My husband and I were at work when the restaurant he worked at called and asked him to come in early. To our knowledge, Jason said he would be glad to, but told them he would need a ride — his car was in the shop. They said they would have a girl that works there pick him up at a high school that is about seven blocks away from our house.”

It’s believed that Jason got dressed in his work uniform, which included dress pants and dress shoes, and then set off for the school.

“The girl that was supposed to meet him waited and waited, and he never showed up,” Jolkowski said. “She went back to work, and I didn’t know anything until it was getting to be later in the afternoon and my husband called me at work and said, ‘Have you heard anything from Jason?’ and I said, ‘No.’

“It was not like him not to show up. He was very responsible, so we were worried right away.”

Jolkowski says she and her husband drove around looking for Jason, but did not immediately notify the police.

“Like most people, we thought we had to wait 24 hours to report him missing. That is a perception you get from TV shows, so we didn’t call the police till the next morning,” she said. “They came over and took a report. The officer was nice enough, but when he left, he said, ‘Oh, he is probably just spending the night at a friend’s house.’ I am thinking, Jason is 19 years old. He hasn’t spent the night at a friend’s house since he was probably 10.”

Jolkowski was unconvinced her son vanished of his own accord, given that he hadn’t taken his money out of the bank, and “there is also no evidence that something was going wrong in his mind that would have caused him to commit suicide,” she said.

In fact, Jason had a lot going for him and was looking toward the future, she said. “He had been attending a local college part time and doing the radio announcer curriculum. There was this radio station where the college kids are the DJs, and he just loved that. He found a niche and a personality and people just loved him.

“He was just a really good kid, and we never had to worry that he was out doing things that got him in trouble.”

As the days passed with no word, Jolkowski had trouble finding a source of advice or comfort — partly because Jason’s age meant he was classified as a missing adult, rather than a missing child.

“We were so numb in the beginning that we didn’t know what to do,” Jolkowski said. “It seemed like it took awhile to get out of that initial shock. … I went to a computer and started researching on the Internet and finding another shock, of how many missing persons there were. I would look at those and I would say, ‘That won’t be us. This nightmare isn’t going to continue,’ but, unfortunately, it has.”

While conducting her research, Jolkowski discovered the Iowa Missing Person Information Clearinghouse website, which collects and displays information and photos about that state’s missing people. She learned that the clearinghouse had been created as a result of a law — and saw an opportunity.

“I took that Iowa law and patterned it for Nebraska and tried to get that passed in Nebraska,” Jolkowski said. “I knew nothing about politics and the legislation and how that works, so I pretty much was learning from scratch as we went along.”

Jason’s Law eventually was passed, but it took several years of hard work and determination. During that time, Jolkowski decided to start a nonprofit to assist the families of missing adults and children. She would call it Project Jason.

Reaching Out to Others

The frustrations of her own search for answers were still fresh in Jolkowski’s mind as she envisioned Project Jason.

“When Jason went missing … we didn’t know anything about getting fingerprints off his possessions or saving something of his for DNA or trying to get dental records,” Jolkowski said. “Nobody came to us and told us these things.

“We did not know where to turn for advice or support,” she continued, “which is why we started Project Jason. Our goal is not only to raise awareness, but to provide families of the missing with useful information.”

In addition to helping families better understand the search process, Project Jason also offers resources such as free online counseling, bimonthly poster campaigns and organization for grassroots efforts to pass missing-persons legislation.

Since Project Jason was founded in October 2003, it has helped countless families and, in some cases, reunited them with their loved ones.

“We had a case of two missing children who had been abducted by their mother, and the [rest of] the family found us on the Internet,” Jolkowski said. “I convinced them to write the story, and we published it on our website.” When a man in a distant city — who had seen the girls and suspected they were abducted — saw the story, he contacted the police; as a result, the children were reunited with their father.

In another case, a mentally ill man who had been missing for 14 years was located after someone recognized him on the Project Jason site.

“It doesn’t matter if they are a child, an adult, someone suffering mental illness, a prostitute or a drug abuser,” Jolkowski says. “I don’t care what the situation is; all the cases are treated alike. If they are missing, there is a family out there that loves them, and that family deserves answers.”

Despite the organization’s successes, Jolkowski said, she still has to navigate a lot of hurdles — like the sheer expense of keeping it running.

“It’s really hard to get donations,” Jolkowski said. “After we started, we got a lot of media attention, and I had this dream that I would go to the post office box and it would be full of donations. I went there a few days later, and there was nothing. Some months, you get no donations; sometimes you will get $25 or some small amount, and that is what we work with.”

‘Catalyst for Change’

Being named a Volunteer for Victims Honoree by the OVC, however, could go a long way toward raising awareness of the cause, as Jolkowski herself noted during Friday’s ceremony.

“For this work to be honored can be a catalyst for the change of the mindset of the public,” she said, “as it pertains to the aid given to these suffering families.”

The OVC was established by the 1984 Victims of Crime Act to oversee diverse programs that benefit victims of crime. It provides substantial funding to state victim assistance and compensation programs — the lifeline services that help victims to heal — and supports the training of criminal justice and allied professionals in the rights and needs of crime victims.

Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, is one of many who believes Jolkowski was the appropriate choice for the OVC award.

“We thank the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office for Victims of Crime for recognizing such a worthy member of our community in such a significant and prominent manner,” Allen said in a press release. “Furthermore, we applaud Kelly Jolkowski, whose outstanding work on behalf of the missing and their families resulted in this deserved honor today. We are proud of her and fortunate to benefit from her knowledge, her talents, and her dedication.”

Written by: Ronnie

Events at Nonprofit Commons: Webinars, Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day from the green fairy of NPC! Over the past few months it has been a great honor and pleasure to host events at the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life, from informational webinars to celebrations of great organizations and emerging new success stories. We have some of this ready for you now at NPC in Second Life:

WEBINAR TODAY at 10AM: Listening Stations!
Join us at the Plush Nonprofit Commons amphitheatre to participate virtually in this event.

EARTH DAY: Friday April 23rd Celebration at ECO Commons

This Friday morning from 8:30 – 11AM PST at the ECOCommons in Second Life the Nonprofit Commons will be celebrating the one year anniversary of this earth-friendly collaborative effort within the virtual workplace. Avatar volunteers, organizational leaders, committed earth stewards and caregivers will join gardeners, green technology speakers and the nonprofit avatars of the NPC for this special Earth Day celebration. Teleport to http://bit.ly/ECOCommons to join the celebration!

Morning speakers will include gardeners, urban chicken caregivers, virtual workplace efficiency experts, organizations making the most of green materials and methods along with international nonprofits sharing their sustainable outlook for future collaboration. A networking party will be hosted from 10-11AM where guests new to the Nonprofit Commons can take a tour on a flying eagle while exploring the open lands of ECO Commons in Second Life.

For the last four years nonprofit leaders from technology to conservation have been meeting at the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life and activating new endeavors through @NPSL and the NonprofitCommons.org blog and website. Nonprofits can earn a free virtual office space within the commons in exchange for their participation as educators, volunteers, organizers and thought leaders within this dynamic international community. Over the last four years our resident avatars have logged thousands of hours of virtual work within our community, collaborating across borders without the cost of travel, conferences and summits while exploring the efficiencies of virtual work.

For more information browse through our site here and follow us on Twitter @NPSL for frequent updates from our avatar changemakers.

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Written by: InKenzo

Tracking Praise and Addressing Concerns

We’re always tracking what people are saying about us on the web, tracking praise, and learning from criticism, and letting people know we’re watching and listening.
I thought it would be good for the community to see how these things are addressed, so here is a recent response that I wrote to this blog:
New Political Documentary

My response:

We here at the Nonprofit Commons would like to inform you that we have a very diverse community consisting of worldwide nonprofits and their enthusiastic volunteers and supporters. Hence the various ways in which our tenants express themselves, by sending you objects as you tour our areas, and the various ways in which they present themselves in their offices and the common areas. 

We apologize that the streaming radio station in our networking party area was not to your liking. Our residents use the music and the monthly party in that area to attract people who may want to meet members of our community in an informal manner at a time other than the weekly meetings. People who work for nonprofits still need times where they can relax and get to know their community, and meet new people.  

As a humorous aside, its not my type of music either, so I listen to other radio stations when I attend the parties. But many of the members of the community seem to enjoy it, so it works out for all of us.

We can assure you that our tenants take their work for their nonprofits very seriously, and at least 40 to 60 people attend our weekly meetings. 
Our purpose here is to network, collaborate, and learn from each other. We also feature guest speakers from time to time. 

Everything that you see in our community was donated or built by a member or a supporter. If it did not have real world impact, no one would participate in it. Its sole purpose is to give everyone something to take back with them into the real world. There are also many people who utilize Second Life to overcome physical and geographical limitations as well. 

Here is a blog I wrote about the impact that working in the Nonprofit Commons, which is owned by TechSoup, had on me: Social Innovation Awards Blog

And here are our latest visitor statistics: 
Second Life in Numbers

You are more than welcome to attend one of our weekly meetings, which occurs at 8:30am SLT every Friday. There, you can meet the people who make this great community what it is, feel free to speak to any of them and ask them about what they do.

www.nonprofitcommons.org is our website, where you can read blogs about what is happening at the nonprofit commons and other nonprofit related events around Second Life. 

I really hope that you will visit once again, and learn more about us and what we do. I appreciate your criticism and we will examine your comments and see how we can make our sims more user friendly for visitors. 

Thank you, 

Layal Rabat

So, everyone, what do you think of the blog that was written, and what do you think of our response to it? Would you have handled it differently?

Let’s discuss!

Written by: Layal

Where we are on the web

We often get asked where people can find us, so here is an almost exhaustive list of the various places where we can be found. If you have any other suggestions, please add them as a comment and I will edit this blog.

Relevant Links:

TechSoup Global: http://www.techsoup.org

Presentations from the NPSL community about our work: http://www.slideshare.net/tag/npsl

Flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/npsl/

NPSL tag on del.icio.us (blog articles, news, relevant links): http://del.icio.us/tag/npsl

Nonprofit Commons: http://www.nonprofitcommons.org

Wiki: http://npsl.wikispaces.com

Twitter: @npsl http://www.twitter.com/npsl

Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/TechSoup-Second-Life

TechSoup: http://www.techsoup.org/tools/howtousetechsoup/

Facebook TechSoup Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/TechSoupGlobal

Facebook Nonprofit Commons Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/nonprofitcommons

LinkedIn TechSoup Group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=39037&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

LinkedIn Nonprofit Commons Sub-Group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2112519&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

Avatars United Nonprofit Commons Group: http://www.avatarsunited.com/groups/nonprofitcommons

TechSoup Second Life Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/TechSoup-Second-Life

Weekly Networking Event: Wharf Ratz, Aloft every Tues., 8PM SLT: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Aloft%20Nonprofit%20Commons/162/236/2

Monthly Networking Event: The first Thurs. of every month, at Common
Ground, Plush, 5 -7PM SLT: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/128/220/26

Nonprofit Commons Calendar: http://bit.ly/2tMEYh

Written by: Layal

Save the Date: April 12 Global Kids Roundtable on Nonprofits & Virtual Worlds

You are cordially invited to Global Kids’ Winter 2010 Roundtable on Virtual Worlds and Nonprofits on Monday April 12, from 12-1pm PST on MacArthur Island in Second Life (teleport link). Representatives of six nonprofit organizations will give brief presentations on their initial explorations of Second Life and other virtual worlds, and how they are thinking of integrating these virtual tools into their organizations’ respective missions. Afterwards, there will be an open discussion about the applications of virtual worlds for various public good purposes.

The event is open to the public, with a special welcome to nonprofits, activists, educators, and developers.

Representatives of the following organizations will be presenting:

  • Child Welfare League of America
  • Health Consumers Alliance of South Australia
  • Hip-Hop Education Center
  • Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health
  • United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland, Inc
  • V.O.I.C.E. Community Development Corp

Each of these organizations has just completed the Global Kids’ Virtual World Capacity Building Program, a four-week intensive exposure to virtual worlds for public good institutions. The event will be moderated by Global Kids and take place at the MacArthur Island Amphitheater (click here to teleport.) For more information about the Virtual World Capacity Building Program join the program’s group on the EdgeProject.org or Contact Amira Fouad at amira@globalkids.org. The VWCBP is supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

About Global Kids
Founded in 1989, Global Kids’ mission is to transform urban youth into successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Through its leadership development and academic enrichment programs, Global Kids educates youth about critical international and domestic issues and promotes their engagement in civic life and the democratic process. Global Kids’ Online Leadership Program (OLP), now in its ninth year, integrates the use of social media — from blogging to games to virtual worlds — into GK’s innovative pedagogical approach. See http://www.globalkids.org for more info.

Written by: rikomatic

TechSoup Wins Financial Times 2010 Social Innovation Awards

NPC is happy to share that TechSoup Global won the open-vote portion of the Justmeans/Financial Times 2010 Social Innovation Awards . There were 88 other contenders for this Citizen’s Choice Award, but because your participation, we went from 116 to 1,545 votes . Great work everybody, and we deeply appreciate the help from the entire virtual community.

To win the vote, NPC/TechSoup employees and volunteers sent emails to personal contacts and deployed a grass-roots social media campaign to reach out to supporters around the world.

Volunteers rallied fans to take action through Second Life, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Avatars United, as well as through private email campaigns and on blogs.

NPC’s Layal Rabat wrote a powerful blog post which was tweeted to get folks psyched, and as voters left comments about TechSoup, we captured and tweet-shared these from Tweetphoto .

The response was phenomenal! The tweets went viral, Facebook and LinkedIn groups shared the message with other groups, and residents of Second Life reached out to their constituencies in the nonprofit, education and business communities.

What We Learned from Barack Obama’s Social Media Strategy

So how did we win when we were up against multi-million dollar companies with hundreds of thousands of employees and fancy PR firms?

First, we learned from Barack Obama’s social media strategy. For his presidential campaign his team used email, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and many other platforms to get his message out. He maintained a consistent message for his audience, centering around “Hope”. He connected with specific groups and encouraged supporters. Since his supporters believed that he could deliver on his promise, they actively helped him get his message out.

For TechSoup, the words “Social Innovation” fit naturally with its core mission. This was easily apparent to the members, constituents and partners that engage daily with us on many social media platforms. So when we reached out to our global network to help us get the votes, they were there to deliver and help us get the message out.

Thank you everyone. In both the real and virtual worlds, this was truly a Citizen’s Choice award.

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Written by: DustyArtaud

Susan Tenby on Game Changing Radio

Our very own Susan Tenby @suzboop was recently interviewed by Jim Love @therealjimlove , Allan Hoving @ahoving and Janet Fouts @jfouts as the featured guest of Game Changing.

#gamechanging #npsl were the Twitter hashtags.

Susan was asked about her role as the community manager of TechSoup and the Nonprofit Commons. She discussed how the networks are connected to each other. Susan also brought up the volunteering process in Second Life, and how the Nonprofit Commons maintains a community presence outside of Second Life as well, through multiple channels.

She also reminded everyone of the Nonprofit Technology Conference which you can follow by searching for #10NTC in Twitter. Many members of TechSoup and Nonprofit Commons will be attending.

Well, I could continue to talk about it, and ruin the show for you, but you should really have a listen yourself:
Episode 22: Susan Tenby from TechSoup

Written by: Layal

Haiti Relief in Second Life: A View from the Nonprofit Commons Collaboration

The Virtual Haiti Relief campaign in Second Life has become a fascinating experiment in engagement here for us at Nonprofit Commons — I hope we can learn from this endeavor for future work. Over a dozen avatars actively shared their skills by creating interactive experiences, events, fundraisers and outreach campaigns to help raise support for the people of Haiti over 6 weeks this winter. Many hundreds of avatars visited campaign spaces, from the Benefit Music Festival to the Help Haiti Hub aid distribution center.

Haiti Benefit Festival at Nonprofit Commons

This campaign took off when Rhiannon Chatnoir and the Virtual Haiti Relief group was able to take the scripted code from the Relay for Life kiosks and create a specialized Haiti relief kiosk that was spread throughout Second Life. Let’s look at the fundraising numbers and rank of monies raised by this community on our four sims:

2) Health Commons $760 or L$197619
24) Plush Nonprofit Commons $83 or L$21440
28) Aloft Nonprofit Commons $68 or L$17541
72) ECO Commons $16 or L$3910

Total raised from NPC: L$240,510 or nearly $1,000USD (thanks to all of you for contributing!). This campaign as a whole raised L$2,000,000 or over $7,200USD. Together the Nonprofit Commons sims raised more than any other single group working in Second Life.

Much of the money raised was passive — beyond the organized music and arts festival events there were many thousands that came in just by making the means of donation available in public spaces around the sims. There are also over 40 musical acts that donated their time to come play for the festival on Aloft Nonprofit Commons, including LabGraal that packed the sim on a Saturday afternoon.

LabGraal

Lessons Learned:

* Events are essential! Most of our visitors and new guests came for the music festival (hundreds over the course of one weekend)
* Advertising is helpful: It helps to have friends on other sims who will get the word out for us
* Music & Entertainment draws crowds better than most other activities, especially if the band has a following
* It helps to make simple agreements quickly with one organization vs. longer route with foundations/coalition-building
* Offer content that informs as well as entertains — many guests appreciated our speakers and detailed information on how to get more involved in grassroots efforts

Special thanks to those here who supported these events/efforts including Rhiannon for building the kiosks and festival stage, Katydid Something for organizing the music festival, Mia Kitchensink, Brena Benoir, Ninlil Xentiltat & many others here at NPC for building various elements on our sims…thank you for your efforts to make this possible. The Help Haiti Hub will continue to exist for some time to allow us to process how aid and information flows across these spaces.

Dancing at the festival

We are finding that what works inworld connects closely to what works on the ground in Haiti:

HuffingtonPost article on Haitian Solidarity and Giving by Beverly Bell

From this HuffPo article:
“In the meantime, what saved many during the earthquake, and what is keeping them alive today, is a culture and economy of solidarity, or mutual aid. Solidarity is an essential strategy through which on-the-margins communities, and their individual members, can survive and thrive. Today the generosity is on overdrive.”

“Gifting and solidarity are time-honored traditions in Haiti, as around the world. The non-monetary transactions of services, care, and goods are both spontaneous and organized. They honor human relationships and attention to the well-being of the whole, not just oneself. They minimize the role of profit in economic and social relations, and thus keep respect, cooperation, and ethics thriving.”

Haiti Benefit Festival at Nonprofit Commons

We learned a lot by bringing in speakers from Ushahidi, Partners for Others, Sustainable Haiti and many other organizations working with the people on the ground to rebuild and renew.

In the spirit of giving, there are a few organizations where you can be more directly involved:
http://www.sustainablehaiti.org
http://www.crisiscommons.org
http://www.ushahidi.org

Following Ushahidi will show you up to date reports of where issues are noticed and addressed. There are many creative groups solving issues around rebuilding, permaculture and food security, water purification and medical care in remote areas. There’s a long way to go and volunteers will also be welcomed by many groups if you are interested in traveling directly to the region to help rebuild this country.

Help Haiti Hub

We are learning that there’s a lot we can do remotely to help, from fundraising to connecting organizations who are doing good work to collaborate in times of great need. Please share the lessons you have learned here so that we can begin to build better campaigns together at NPC.

Written by: InKenzo

Vote for TechSoup in the Financial Times Social Innovation Awards

I am currently an about to graduate student completing my Masters in Social Justice and Human Rights degree. It has been almost a year since I joined the TechSoup community. I started as a student looking for an interesting internship in the area of nonprofits and technology, and ended up joining a strong community of amazing people. 

I’ve met people from all over the world whose talents encompass every area of nonprofits imaginable, and push the limits of the imagination as well. While many organizations are dipping their feet into technology, TechSoup has been carrying a flag for technology for years as they connect people with other people, and the software they need to help their clients. TechSoup’s innovative use of technology to not only facilitate global social networking, but create an environment where people feel truly connected by working with each other on events and projects. Everyone can get more out of it the more they participate in the many events and activities. I very quickly realized that for each event, we not only get to bask in its success, but also form closer friendships and partnerships with those we work with on those projects. I feel like everything I do with TechSoup and its Nonprofit Commons is a win win situation for everyone involved. The TechSoup forums are an invaluable place for Nonprofits to get expert eyes on the technology questions they need answered, and to contribute their knowledge as experts in their own fields.

We have a diverse community that encompasses the globe, and it has been an honor to be able to participate. The reason you should go to the Financial Times contest and vote for TechSoup is to bring more people to the community, and give TechSoup the place on the map that it deserves. Imagine the vast networks that we have now, and how much better it will be for everyone once they join.

After graduation I will enter the Nonprofit world with a huge network of people who have taught me so much, and I can teach as well. I’ve been managing the volunteers at the Nonprofit Commons for what will be a year this coming May. It has been an amazing experience working with the tenants of Nonprofit Commons in Second Life, and participating on the TechSoup forums. Even after my internship ended, I’ve stayed on to assist, as I see a tremendous value in the community in the impact I will make on the world, which is my goal in life, and in the experiences that I continuously have.

This is just the story of one person who has benefited greatly from being a part of TechSoup. And I know that there are many stories just like mine among you, so please show the community your appreciation by putting in your vote for us. It took TechSoup years to build a community of knowledge, networking, and collaboration for Nonprofits all over the world. It will only take you a second to go to this link and vote for us in the Financial Times Social Innovation Awards of 2010

Also, please Tweet the following:

Has TechSoup helped you? You can help them with a quick vote in this Financial Times contest. http://bit.ly/6rR5nC And please RT

Since this is only my story, I would like to share what someone else has said about TechSoup’s Nonprofit Commons:

Tell us How the NPC Community has helped your nonprofit organization achieve its mission or organizational goals in some way…

We are a very small local history museum with extremely limited facilities and resources. Our presence in the NonProfit Commons area of Second Life has provided three significant benefits.
1) It has provided us with space to experiment with exhibit ideas and develop prototypes.
2) It has provided us the opportunity to meet and network with other museum professionals around the world.
3) We have developed potential collaborative opportunities with non-museum organizations that we never knew existed.

–Dave Dexter
Neenah Historical Society
Neenah, Wisconsin USA

Written by: Layal