Grassroots.org

We need your help! We are approaching a major milestone in our organizations history. Just this month, we surpassed the halfway mark of helping 10,000 organizations with free tools and services. We would like your help in updating our membership database so that we can deliver new and exciting products and services at no cost to you. Please take a minute to fill out our short survey.

Grassroots.org wants to hear from you about how we are doing. Here is your chance to tell us what you think about our services and how we could improve our services. If there is a service you would like us to add to our Toolbox, tell us.

The application period for the Social Venture Consulting program is closing on October 31st! If you would like to be considered to be matched with an MBA student to help develop a business plan for your organization, go to 'Project Consulting' in the Grassroots.org Toolbox and sign up.

For more information on the service, click here.

If you are not already a member, you must first complete a membership application. You will need to be a Grassroots.org Member to use this service. Feel free to contact us with any questions at [email protected]

The Social Ventures Consulting program is now accepting applications for the Fall semester! In spite of our Toolbox issues, the SVC program can still function. In case you are not familiar with the SVC program, it matches our members with MBA students to help develop business plans tailor-made for their Nonprofit. To read more about the program you can go here.

If you would like to be considered for this semester's program, fill out the Online Application

What kind of tool is DonatePortal?
DonatePortal is a fundraising tool that goes right on your website. You can use it to generate funds for your organization simply by signing up and placing the tool on your web page.

How should nonprofits use DonatePortal?
This is a great way to fundraise for your nonprofit without spending time on the phone or on the streets. The way it works is after you sign up, you get an HTML code and you can embed this on your website. This will have create a link on your page that when clicked on, will direct visitors to consumer sites and you will earn commissions on those sales.

Your commission will trend depending on which company the visitor uses to purchase. A check will be mailed to your address quarterly (every 3 months) with the accumulated amount.

How can my organization sign up for DonatePortal?

To sign up go to DonatePortal.com

iThrough is launching a Twitter campaign to raise money for Grassroots.org! They want to acknowledge what Grassroots.org has been doing for the Nonprofit community and want everyone to take a part! So how it works is for every person that retweets their twitter message about Grassroots.org, iThrough will donate a little more money to our cause!

All you have to do is log onto Twitter, go to iThrough's profile page and retweet this:

"RT #helpithroughhelp and @ithrough will #donate 50c per RT to grassroots.org".

It will be tweeted later today so keep your eyes out and help iThrough help us!

Grassroots.org member Phebe Dennis-Fortt of Relief, Inc., recently participated in our SEO Consulting service. New to the world of SEO, Phebe signed up for the service through the Grassroots.org Toolbox and a couple weeks later returned with positive results. Relief, Inc. is a nonprofit member dedicated to the benefit of the country of Liberia and local communities in Northern California.

"The meeting went very well, it was an eye opener." said Phebe. "So much to learn/know in so little time. Since my meeting, I searched the web as a person that does not know Relief, Inc. and realize that I’ve done so much work without keywords required to be searchable or how to place them in the body of contents that I have written. I also realize how critical this is to the growth and success of my nonprofit."

To read more about the SEO consulting service, click here.

The due date for applications for this fall semester is closing in! Have you had a chance to submit your application this semester? The Social Venture Consulting pairs members with MBA students to help develop a business plan for your organization and this year it has expanded to three new universities as well! Meaning your chances of being selected are even higher!

The application period was originally supposed to end November 30 but due to a low number of applications, we are accepting late submissions this semester. If you have not yet applied and are looking to be involved this semester, please go to http://www.grassroots.org/social-venture-consulting-application and fill out an application as soon as possible.

If you have any questions feel free to email us at [email protected]

The Social Ventures Consulting program with the University of Maryland is getting an early start this year! This year the program will also be expanding to three additional universities, allowing more member applications to be accepted than ever before!

Applications for the Spring semester will open starting November 1st, and will be closing at the end of the month. Make sure you do not miss the opportunity and to fill out an application go to: http://www.grassroots.org/social-venture-consulting-application

To read more about the service, go here: http://www.grassroots.org/services/sv-consulting

We invite you to check out www.estore.grassroots.org, Grassroots.org’s new promotional product website. Thanks to the help of Eric Mohr owner of EBM Direct Marketing Services LLC and marketing representative of Larick Associates, Grassroots.org will now be earning 4% of all sales generated through this estore!

The site allows users to purchase unbranded items ranging from clothing, office items, outdoor gear and other accessories to brand with your logo and text. It’s a great way to purchase promotional products you normally order to help Grassroots.org’s cause! You can upload your logo, FREE of charge, to see a “virtual” sample on item(s) as often as you like. The Grassroots.org logo you see on some merchandise is an example of a “virtual” image and is not actual Grassroots.org merchandise. You can also help spread the word by using the social bookmarks on the site (twitter, Facebook etc).

You can visit the site by going to www.estore.grassroots.org to order online. Orders are processed by Larick Associates. Contact Larick Associates, 516 883-1489 or email them at [email protected]. If there is something you cannot find on the site, please contact Larick Associates. They have extensive research and can find the item(s).

Help Grassroots.org further our cause with 4% contributions. Please pass along this information to anyone who might be interested and visit www.estore.grassroots.org.

About Larick Associates: A 90 year old promotional product distributor having extensive skills in the area of promotional product marketing. They work with for profit and not for profit companies.

About EBM Direct Marketing Services LLC: A digital and direct marketing company specializing in maximizing customer revenue through performance driven marketing programs such as Search, direct marketing, email marketing, relationship marketing, web development and optimization and promotional products. Contact Eric Mohr at 516 874-7839 or email [email protected] for program information about estore.

What kind of tool is OpenOffice.org?
OpenOffice.org is open-source office suite for your computer and is a great free alternative to paid software, such as Microsoft Office. It has the ability to open and create all kinds of documents such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint. It is completely free and compatible with Windows and Mac. The suite includes programs for text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawing, database and formula.

Some might be skeptical about relying on free software but to reassure you, OpenOffice.org has won the Best Open Source 2009 Award from PortalProgramas.com; as well as the Editor’s Choice Award by received a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars from Softronic.

How have we used OpenOffice.org at Grassroots.org?
Several Grassroots.org staff members do not have Microsoft Office on their computers, so we use OpenOffice.org in its place. It is easy to download and install to your computer.

How should nonprofits use OpenOffice.org?
Having to buy software can sometimes become pricey, especially since products come with limited licenses usually around 5 (one per computer). To avoid this you can download this software and any new updates that they come out with. You will still be able to download any files that are sent to you from Microsoft Office users.

How can my organization sign up for OpenOffice.org?
There is no registration required, you can download the software at OpenOffice.org.