Grassroots.org

Launched by Grassroots.org, Faces of Change is a series of videos that highlight how individuals are contributing to change in their communities. Our latest video is from:

Kris Lundberg is an active member of grassroots.org. She is the founder and artistic director of the Shakespeare’s Sister Company, a theater company which supports women in theater with literacy development, women empowerment workshops and mentorships for children who are interested in honing their talents and becoming great artists. The organization's commitment unites female directors and actresses in performing great new plays and established theatrical works by female authors. For more information, please visit the Shakespeare’s Sister Company on the web at www.shakespearessister.org.

Welcome to this week's edition of "Grassroots.org Tool of the Week," our growing list of tech tool reviews from Mike Mann's Web Development Best Practices. Check the archives for our previous reviews, and come back next week for more insight on the web’s best tools for nonprofits.

What kind of tool is Jotform?

From surveys to contact sheets, Jotform is a free, easy-to-use form builder tool. Jotform's drag-and-drop system lets users quickly create and wadd drop-down menus, check boxes, Captcha, birthdate picker, etc., to forms. You can also incorporate payment tools that sync up with your accounts such as Paypal and Google Checkout. Jotform gives you the ability to pick different themes and modify by simply dragging the tools. Once you have completed building your form, you can easily copy the html and embed it onto your site.

How have we used Jotform at Grassroots.org?

Often, members ask us about form-builder applications. The only relevant feature that is part of our services is the Doodlekit Form Builder upgrade, so we typically suggest Jotform. Because the Doodlekit Add-on Form Builder tool costs money (even for Grassroots.org Members), Jotform is an excellent and free substitute. Many members have used the Jotform service to create applications and forms they need to build on their websites -- even Doodlekit sites.

How should nonprofits use Jotform?

Like any business or organization, nonprofits need to collect information or have people to sign up for something (ex. mailing lists, fundraising drives, collecting donations, etc). Forms are an excellent way to gather that information efficiently. If you ever need to have people filling out forms online, you can create one with Jotform and click on the "Source" button to view the code. Once the Source page has been accessed, you can copy the code and embed it onto your site.

The Jotform website offers several helpful tutorials; watch them to answer any questions you have while creating the form.

How can my organization sign up for Jotform?

Visit Jotform, and sign up for a free account. There is an option to sign up for a premium account, but it is not required. The free account should meet your needs.

The team at Grassroots.org is excited to share some great news. We have been selected to participate in an awesome fundraising competition sponsored by Razoo: The March Goodness Tournament!

With your support, your $10 donation could potentially be turned into $20,000 for Grassroots.org! The tournament begins today and runs through March 30. Each participating nonprofit has created a March Goodness Project page to accept donations that count toward the competition. Razoo will track the donations and post results on leader boards showing the "votes" that each nonprofit has received. A visitor must make a donation (minimum $10) through the Project Page in order for the vote to count. Nonprofits will be ranked by unique donors to their official March Goodness Project Page.

Our goal is to have 500 supporters by March 30. To "vote" for Grassroots.org (and donate $10), please visit:
Grassroots.org's Razoo Project Page.

Please share this cause with friends and family. Thanks in advance for your support!

Launched by Grassroots.org, Faces of Change is a series of videos that highlight how individuals are contributing to change in their communities. Our latest video is from:

Jill founded Create Now in 1996 after teaching two screenwriting Workshops to incarcerated youth and seeing their amazing transformations. She has matched dozens of mentors with hundreds of vulnerable children in Southern California and given seminars about the benefits of mentoring at-risk youth at the 2007 Friends for Youth Mentoring Conference in San Francisco, the 2008 Western Regional Council on Educating Black Children and the Youth Mentoring Symposium in Los Angeles in September 2009.

She was featured on “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360°,” locally on NBC-TV, Fox11 News and ABC-TV, as well as in the Los Angeles Times. In addition, Jill was one of eight people in the country honored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center to be part of an exhibit at the Museum of Tolerance called “Everyday Heroes.”

Jill was one of 26 community youth leaders selected by the British Council to participate in a six-week international exchange program in Belfast (Ireland) and Durban (South Africa) taking place in January and March 2010, with activists from six different countries.

She is a member of the Association of Mentoring Professionals, Arts for L.A., Americans for the Arts, and the Violence Prevention Coalition – ReEntry Action Group. Jill has just completed writing "Mentor Youth Now: A Guidebook for Transforming Young Lives."

Jill would like to show appreciation to the late writer/producer Leslie Stevens, who donated crucial seed money in 1996 so that Create Now could become a reality.

Check out Create Now's site for more information!

Making a Difference for Good USA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization working with MaD for Good! Cambodia on humanitarian projects in Siem Reap, Cambodia. MaD USA and MaD Cambodia share a dedication to working in partnership with impoverished rural communities to help them gain access to the essentials in life such as clean water, healthcare and education. Some of our recent projects include: installing and repairing water pumps, building homes, teaching kids English and providing foster care for eight children.

We registered with Grassroots in 2009, hoping to polish our website and marketing materials. After submitting an application for a Graphic Designer, we heard back from Jacee. Before even contacting us, she had thoroughly investigated our website and had come up with a proposal on where to begin the work. We now have an amazing logo and brochures in the making that convey thoughtfulness and professionalism. These will be used to attract future donors and volunteers and to expand our nonprofits reach. We hope to continue working on expanding our marketing platform, as well as utilizing the other tools that Grassroots has to offer.

To learn more about our organization, visit our website at www.madcambodia.org or contact ash@madcambodia.org.

-Ashkon Jafari
Making a Difference for Good USA
ash@madcambodia.org

Launched by Grassroots.org, Faces of Change is a series of videos that highlight how individuals are contributing to change in their communities. Our latest video is from:

Jon Garrou at SOS Outreach

Jon Garrou is SOS Outreach's Global Program Director. He joined the SOS team in July of 2006. Jon grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and after completing his degree from Oklahoma State University, Jon moved to Colorado where he worked for a nonprofit summer camp serving children and adults with disabilities as the Program Director. Jon looks to combine his love for the outdoors with his passion for serving those in need.

Check out the SOS Outreach site for more on their outdoor adventures!

A few weeks ago, I came across a new company at the forefront of the mobile web movement that I believe nonprofits should know about: ur mobile. This innovative group is revolutionizing the way that donors give to nonprofits. Over the last few years, we have all witnessed the booming prevalence of the smartphone: "the Swiss Army knives of the Digital Age" (New York Times). The ur mobile team knows that this trend will undoubtedly continue and believes nonprofits should do all they can to take advantage of the mobile revolution.

Ur mobile optimizes nonprofit websites for mobile devices, making it easier for supporters to learn more and donate to nonprofits via their smartphones. Often, the experience of viewing a website on a mobile browser leaves something to be desired. Cluttered pages and too much information can overwhelm visitors that might otherwise engage with your organization. If the information mobile visitors seek is easily accessible, they are more likely to become donors.

Text-to-give is a popular way to donate to causes via mobile phones. However, there are many limitations with this method of giving. Namely, this method does not allow nonprofits to capture donor information, making recurring donations near impossible. Mobile browser giving allows you to translate online giving best practices to smartphones. To see for yourself how the Mobile Engagement Process works, check out the site urcause.org on both your desktop/laptop and mobile browser and observe the difference.

To learn more about ur mobile or mobile giving, visit urmobile.com.

We're answering your questions on the Toolbox, web tools and nonprofit resources in our new Nonprofit Q&A section. Check out this month's member questions for tips you can apply to your site! If you have a question or need advice, email question@grassroots.org

Q: I just finished creating and designing my site. how do I publish my site, and "go live"?

Congrats! Now that you've completed, make sure your hard work will be displayed properly to visitors. Login to your webhost (where your site files are stored) and domain registrar (where you purchased your URL) to link these two accounts. Your site is only live when and if your webhost and domain registrar are linked properly. If you're a Doodlekit user, check the URL of your homepage. If you see "doodlekit.com' in there, you're probably missing a step. If it's been a while since your site's launch, perform regular checks to verify that all pages have updated info and that your domain and webhost accounts are still active.

Q: My website is up and running, but how can I increase visibility? We are a local community organization, and it's difficult to reach new audiences on the web.

It's great that your site is a popular destination for current supporters but even small organizations can attract new supporters! Remember, search engines are usually where the curious start, so focus on your Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, to boost traffic. Apply for a Google Adwords Grant, which will help you . Just because a visitor clicks to view your site doesn't mean he;she will stay, so create compelling content, ensure that international visitors can read your site and make sure your site is user-friendly.

Launched by Grassroots.org, Faces of Change is a series of videos that highlight how individuals are contributing to change in their communities. Our latest video is from:

Raphael Louis grew up within a philanthropic environment in Haiti with a familial tradition in public service. Aspired to make government more transparent, Raphael Louis' socio-humanitarian achievements and experiences are notable throughout the creation of the Federal Association for the Advancement of Visible Minorities (FAAVM)--a national and international civil rights and human rights organization working locally and globally.

Braulio Vilar
New Media Intern

My name is Braulio Villar. I am currently a Studio Arts senior student at the City College of New York. I moved to New York City from the Dominican Republic about six years ago. My interest in the nonprofit sector was not evident until today, when I learned about the tremendous role and the impact that nonprofit organizations can have in our society. I have never worked for an organization that is willing to help the nonprofit sector, but I feel very fortunate for my passion for the arts has led me directly into that path with Grassroots.org. I truly believe that in times of economic recession and financial crisis is when we most need an organization like Grassroots.org that provides access, free of charge, to the technology and resources needed to help the nonprofit sector establish a presence in a world currently exposed to a financial crisis and/or economic recession.

While still studying at the City College of New York, I am able to work in a Computer Lab where I have to ensure that students can get access to computers and communication resources. I aid them in the use of software applications and many aspects of the Internet, in support of their curriculum needs. As a result, I am a student constantly exposed to these technologies and have noticed that the digital age has generally influenced our lives and means of communication and information sharing. For instance, we have become constantly exposed to new technologies, software and ideas and skills that are only made possible with the help of the Internet. The Internet has allowed us to incorporate share and or borrow ideas, while at the same time we have become more dependable upon it. The development in growth of the visual communication has been highly influenced by the increase of information sharing and networking, brought about by the digital age.

In a Digital Era, where the Internet is the norm of the day and where social networking sites have revolutionized social networking, I strongly support and believe in the mission of Grassroots.org, to ensure that nonprofit organizations can get access, free of charge, to the technologies and resources needed to establish a virtual presence in a world currently exposed to an economic recession.

I am very excited to work for Grassroots.org, a nonprofit organization that is willing to help the nonprofit sector!