Archive for category: Nonprofit Organizations and NGOs

Information and stories about nonprofit organizations and NGOs

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4 Impassioned Humanitarian Leaders

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Below is a list of four impassioned humanitarian leaders who are fighting to make the world a better place.

1. George Soros

George Soros has given billions of dollars over the years to humanitarian organizations. He is the financier and founder of the Open Society Foundation, an international foundation that promotes the expansion of human rights and democracy throughout the third world.

Founded in 1998, the group funds and has helped institute health and educational programs while also being driven to provide “greater fairness in political, legal and economic systems” throughout the world. The program touts initiatives such as the Burma Project, which promotes freedom of expression, as well as helping suppressed minority and political groups communicate their human right grievances in the political repressive nation of Burma.

The foundations has various programs throughout countless countries promoting freedom of expression and basic human rights.

2. Jon Hunstman

Jon Hunstman Sr. began his humanitarian activities after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1993. Founder of the successful Huntsman Corporation, his donations have accounted for billions of dollars. He founded the Hunstman Cancer institute, a non-profit research company that builds hospitals and develops new cancer fighting techniques.

The Hunstman Corporation regularly donates money to education institutions as well.

For example, the foundation donated 26 million dollars to Utah State University to help expand the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. They donated another 2 million dollars to enact the Hunstman Awards for Excellence in Education that reward exceptional school teachers and volunteers.

The foundation believes a strong domestic educational system will help enact significant positive change in America.

3. Tegla Laroupe

Female Kenyan runner Tegla Laroupe came to prominence in 2003 after winning 2 interntional half-marathons, attaining multiple world marathon records, and countless other titles. After retiring from marathon running, she devoted all her time to affect change in devastated communities throughout the world.

In 2003, she established the Tegla Lorupe Peace Foundation, an organization based around helping housing projects and educating children orphaned by political violence. The foundation has built schools throughout Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Southern Sudan.

The organization raises money through various programs, such as the Peace Races. The Moroto-Uganda Peace Race was held in the Moroto district of Uganda and helped raise money for orphaned children in the volatile region plagued by an unstable political situation and “banditry.”

4. Bill Gates

Bill Gates, founder of computer software powerhouse Microsoft, has spent his days of retirement giving back. He founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which spends most of their efforts fighting poverty and health risks such as malaria. The organization tackles grave crises through 4 major program initiatives.

The Global Development Division deals with food insecurity throughout impoverished communities, as well as sanitation and housing. The Global Health Division, furthermore, promotes technological and scientific studies such as vaccines and medical treatments throughout the developing world.

Their foundation also tackles domestic issues through the United States Division through supporting higher level education and high school.

The Global Policy & Advocacy Division is, in fact, the strategic portion of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which works to help advance their policies through national and international frameworks.

– Joseph Abay

Sources: Open Society Foundations (OSF), Huntsman Corporation, Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Photo: Channels

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Seattle Nonprofit Internships at The Borgen Project

 

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View Telecommuting and Seattle Nonprofit Internships at The Borgen Project.

 

Are you looking for an internship that will give meaning to your life?  Do you want to contribute to the reduction of poverty on a global scale?  There are 9 different nonprofit internships in Seattle at The Borgen Project, each with its own set of responsibilities and functions.  Let us begin by briefly reviewing the available positions:

Web Developer Internship

This position serves as the “go-to” for implementing new features for the Borgen Project website.  Responsibilities will include trouble-shooting website issues as they arise, developing and implementing tools for improving the website, working with plugins, develop and implement SEO tools and taking on various challenges as needed.

Political Internship

This position requires that one recruits political volunteers in targeted United States congressional districts and post volunteer openings to key groups and sites, represents The Borgen Project at events and takes on various tasks as needed.

Graphic Design Internship

The graphic designer will create visuals for the website, create infographics that communicate key stats and factoids, update and assist with design of internal and external sites, and create signs, T-Shirts, and posters.

Public Relations/Marketing Internship

This position requires that one edits content for the blog and magazine site, manages PR and media campaigns, utilizes and coordinates social media strategy and takes on assignments as they arise.

Human Resources Internship

This intern will review resumes and schedule interviews with top candidates, interview and screen applicants, and post volunteer openings on various sites.

Development and Fundraising Internship

This position focuses on identifying potential donors and seeking their support. Intern will search and research potential donars and foundations to indentify and evaluate potential funding sources, generate new ideas and business opportunities to increase fundraising and fund development to meet and exceed revenue goals, and represent The Borgen Project at community meetings, outreach events and other community settings.

Donor Relations & Communications Internship

This position focuses on processing donors and communicating with donors.  Intern will track and process donations, manage all communications with donors including Thank you letters and solicitations and represent The Borgen Project at community meetings, outreach events and other community settings.

Recruiter Internship

This intern is responsible for increasing the number of volunteer applicants the organization receives nationally by positing volunteer openings on key sites, research groups and organizations to reach out to, email job descriptions to potential partners, and interview and screen applicants.

Editor

The Editor is responsible for reviewing and editing articles submitted by The Borgen Project’s national team of writers while working with the writers to improve their articles and coordinating with the Content Team Manager to address any issues.

All nonprofit internships in Seattle at The Borgen Project require 360-hours.

– Sunny Bhatt

 

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Heavyweight Helps Syrian Refugees

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Evander Holyfield, former world heavyweight boxing champion, is taking on an even greater role in helping displaced communities of the Syrian refugee crisis.

On November 13, Holyfield announced that he would be working to aid the alleviation cause for an estimated of 6,500 refugees fleeing from the war-torn Syrian nation, those of whom have settled in Bulgaria. During the announcement, Holyfield noted, “Somebody helped me and that gives me the opportunity to help someone else.”

The refugee crisis that has taken shape out of the Syrian civil war has become staggering. It’s estimated that 9 million Syrians have been displaced out of a population of 23 million.  Syrians are settling in nearby countries such as Jordan and Turkey, most of where large camps have drawn the majority of foreign assistance — muting attention for the relatively small amount that has ended up in Bulgaria.

Holyfield and the Global Village Champions Foundation, the organization where he works as a Goodwill Ambassador, hope to raise awareness and deliver support for these refugees. To future add to the impact of celebrities bridging successful traction to raise awareness, the head of the Global Village Champions Foundation is musician, Yank Barry, from the 1960s band “The Kingsmen.”

The pairing might seem odd, but they are united in their hope to make the lives of the Syrian refugees at least somewhat easier.  In an interview with CNN, Holyfield stated, “at some point in time, when you leave this earth… they’ll say: What did you do for the least of them?”

Yank Barry may not be as well known in modern pop culture, but he has been actively philanthropic in recent years.  Barry founded the Global Village with Mohammed Ali in 1995, and they worked together until Holyfield took Ali’s place within the organization in 2012.  Since the founding of the organization, it has sent out 900 million meals to the needy around the globe and, according to Barry, including “5,000 tons of food to (Syrian) camps” since last year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEInSPRIVDY

During the 1990s, Holyfield’s biggest worries were Mike Tyson’s left hook and how he would retake a heavyweight championship belt that he ended up winning five separate times.  Now, he has taken it upon himself to help the world community that he once entertained.  While recent reports have claimed that Holyfield has not retained the fortune he accumulated over the course of his boxing career, his reputable standing as a celebrity can still help causes for those that never had the opportunities he did.

While the help from private foundations like the Global Village is welcomed and inspiring for others to emulate, the global community still has plenty of work to do.  The UN says that the number of Syrian refugees registered in various EU countries ranks over 62,000 with more likely to come.  With so many of them looking for ways to get by, the hungry continue to appreciate the influencers like those in the U.S. for the help that such refugee communities could barely survive without.

– Eric Gustafsson

Sources: Fox News, CNN, Huffington Post
Photo: Vintage 3D

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Stop Hunger Now

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Engendered in 1998 by Ray Buchanan and colleagues, Stop Hunger Now (SHN) is regarded as a successful international hunger relief organization, having received a four-star rating by Charity Navigators for its excellent management of resources. The organization is primarily sponsored primarily by corporate and individual donations.

With the establishment’s headquarters located in Raleigh, North Carolina at the intersection of the intellectual and innovative Research Triangle Park (RTP,) the organization has established itself as a powerful combatant against global hunger.

By distributing much-needed resources such as food, medicine, and other supplies to impoverished countries, SHN aims to reduce the extent of suffering and plight in the world. Over the past 15 years, SHN has generated more than $100 million in aid to 65 countries in need.

In addition to raising monetary funds for hunger relief, ever since 2005, the organization has also taken part in the ubiquitous creation and distribution of meal packages. These inexpensive packages, costing a mere 25 cents apiece, are rich in necessary nutrients such as soy, vegetables, and 21 crucial minerals and vitamins.

The assemblage of these vital packages are often constructed by volunteers and undertaken as a community-wide endeavor often taking place at local institutions such as Raleigh’s North Carolina State University. Additionally, completed meal packages serve a dual purpose as they provide much-needed relief to impoverished communities yet, in their completion, simultaneously educate volunteers about international hunger.

Furthermore, since the establishment’s adoption of the meal-packaging program, SHN has packaged and provided 127,964,644 meal packages. Approximately 70 percent of these meals are allocated for transformational development programs such as schools, orphanages and clinics, aiming to eradicate hunger at its source by promoting education and autonomy.

Not only do these meal packages provide subsistence for impoverished communities, they also deter activity that often ensnares youth in the cycle of poverty. According to a student at the Lakay School in Haiti, “For many children like me, the food we eat at Lakay is the only plate of food that we eat all day. With this food we are able to make sure that we won’t have to do bad things in the street in order to survive.”

Having raised $100 million in relief efforts and providing over 127 million meal packages to disadvantaged communities, within its mere 15 years of operation, through fundraisers and its unique meal-packaging program, SHN has upheld its vow to help reduce world hunger one meal at a time.

– Phoebe Pradhan

Sources: Stop Hunger Now, North Carolina State University, Rice Select
Photo: Spring Hill College

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How to Start a Foundation

How to start a foundation
Starting a business is arguably one of the great American dreams conjured in the minds of many. Combining the freedom to be your own boss and the ability to pursue a passion to the fullest lures many to become entrepreneurs. The same can be said for those who want to start a foundation, social enterprise or a nonprofit organization. There are many parallels between a for-profit venture and a nonprofit one, such as possessing working knowledge of laws and creating an organizational structure. Perhaps the largest difference comes in the core mission; nonprofits work with their communities in mind rather than their pocketbooks.

So how do you start a foundation? NOLO.com explains that incorporating, similar to starting a for-profit business, is an initial and crucial step. Next comes filing for nonprofit status with the federal government, specifically the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A piece from Entrepreneur makes it clear that while filing for this special tax-exempt, 501(c) 3  status is made easier with help from an attorney, individuals can complete the process themselves.  Hurwit & Associates, a Newton, Mass. law firm that specializes in nonprofit law, provides the filing requirements for each state. Additionally, there are professional services like legalzoom.com that specialize in helping potential entrepreneurs start their firms and offer an easy three step process wherein they complete and send the nonprofit paperwork to you. The cost is highly agreeable versus hiring an attorney and starts at $99.

Obtaining 501(c) 3 status is contingent upon completing IRS Form 1023 and can be a difficult process. NOLO contends that the best time to file that form is “…within 27 months of the date you file your nonprofit articles of incorporation.  If you file within this time period, your nonprofit’s tax exemption takes effect on the date you filed your articles of incorporation…”  The 1023 Form itself is made up of 11 parts in which you disclose the full structure of your venture.

Entrepreneur, advises from Jeff Hurwit of Hurwit & Associates for the next step, “The foundation must be governed by a set of bylaws…provisions for the organization’s governance and board selection process, general decision-making, required meetings and conflict-of-interest policies.  GrantSpace.org provides a good collection of bylaws information and samples.” The following steps involve being very selective and discerning in who to award foundation money to and building a strong board of directors. The board might ideally be composed of individuals who are considered experts in their field and therefore would lend credibility to decision making and the overall donation and award process. Last, the organization must practice good money management to remain viable and sustainable.  This includes strong fundraising efforts.

Chris Guillebeau, entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author of The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future, contends that following one’s passion can be done today with very little money. Speaking to Forbes, Guillebeau explains his experiences meeting fellow entrepreneurs who began with little planning and startup cash, advising young people to take a chance and follow their passion. Specifically, he advises specifying ideas, acting now, networking heavily and committing to growth.

Going into business for oneself or starting a foundation are nearly synonymous at their inception. Both involve paperwork, commitment and proper management in all phases. With a plan, a little cash and unwavering passion for a cause, getting a venture off the ground is definitely something doable for anyone.

– Dave Smith

Sources: NOLO, Entrepreneur, LegalZoom, Forbes
Photo: Giphy.com

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Digital Green and Nutrition Education

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In 2006, a non-governmental organization called Digital Green was created as a spin-off from Microsoft Research India’s Technology for Emerging Markets Team.  Digital Green operates with the purpose of “integrat[ing] innovative technology with global development efforts to improve human well being.”  Teams of trained mediators are assembled in various target villages in order to educate community members on locally relevant health and agricultural practices using low cost and adaptive equipment.

Digital Green has already produced over 2,600 videos and has shared these videos with more than 150,000 households in India and throughout Africa.  Each video is content and context specific, based on the community’s individual needs. Digital Green’s efforts have noticeably improved agricultural development efforts in these areas.

Due to the success of the video project, Digital Green is teaming up with Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING) – USAID’s global nutrition project – to try to use similar methods in a new project.  The initiative includes using videos to endorse maternal, infant and child nutrition and hygiene practices.

Digital Green, SPRING and other partners have already made 10 videos designed to educate on nutrition and hygiene techniques in developing communities.  The videos are shown at small women’s groups on a projector.  Participants are encouraged to give feedback, exchange ideas and engage in discourse to improve conditions based on the experiences of others.

SPRING hosted a webinar on December 17, 2013 to highlight and examine Digital Green’s video methods.  Through nutrition education, the process is a testament to how the collaboration between technological innovation and the ability of communities to work together improve quality of life for developing regions.

The Digital Green and SPRING collaborative videos on nutrition can be found at the following links:
Digital Green, Collection of Maternal and Child Nutrition Videos
SPRING Webinar, “Seeds of Change: Leveraging Community Video for Agriculture and Nutrition Behavior Change in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa”

– Daren Gottlieb

Sources: USAID Blog, Digital Green, SPRING Nutrition
Photo: Vintage 3D

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Empowering Education: Girls Learn International

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One in six girls in the developing world will not complete an education past the sixth grade.  Add this sobering statistic to shocking numbers which illustrate that the entire continent of Africa has less than a 60% literacy rate, and one can see just how many challenges in completing an education the youth of the developing world face.  However, girls in particular face an even greater challenge due to the widespread gender inequalities that still exist.

Girls Learn International (GLI) is a nonprofit, student-run organization and movement that encourages U.S. students to promote education for women throughout the world.  Lisa Alter founded the movement with her two teenage daughters in 2003.  Alongside Arielle and Jordana, Lisa began to inspire various youths to get involved in humanitarianism and women’s rights while still in school.  As a result, GLI currently has 114 chapters in over 26 states across the country. GLI also boasts partnerships with 47 schools in 11 countries, including Afghanistan, India, and Ghana.

Countries not providing equal access to education for women will end up losing out on $92 billion for their respective economies, according to Girls Learn International.  Additionally, 7 million cases of HIV/AIDS could be prevented if every child received a primary education, hence why GLI lives by the creed, “Women’s Education is a Basic Human Right.”

Furthermore, GLI has numerous partnerships and sponsors.  GLI is part of the Feminist Majority Foundation, the  Feminist Campus, and is a sister organization to Ms. Magazine.  The organization has also partnered with the Global Campaign for Education’s U.S. Chapter while also fielding a delegation to the United Nations Commission of the Status of Women.

The organization seeks to empower young women and have them take initiatives towards working for global education.  However, gender equality cannot be achieved without the contributions of idealistic young men as well.  To drive this point home, GLI boasts having an all boys’ chapter in Pennsylvania.  Regardless of gender, if you are a young person interested in providing education for women everywhere, GLI is the organization for you.

– Taylor Diamond

Sources: Girls Learn International, Global Campaign for Education
Photo: The Alternative Press

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Homes for the Homeless: “Names for Change”

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Nonprofit organization Urban Ministries of Durham partners with advertising agency McKinney in order to create “Names for Change,” a venture that allows the renaming rights to household products.

The concept is simple: the items available at the shelter are open to be rebranded with the proceeds going towards providing homes for the homeless. The prices range depending on the product, and can vary from a jar of peanut butter to a refrigerator.

The renaming can be for oneself or can be offered as a gift for someone else. Afterwards, there is a choice to create an official poster of the given product.

From there, a serial number and certificate of authenticity is branded on the product, further immortalizing the newly named item and the step towards helping a recipient out of homelessness.

To date, the campaign has raised $41,065, enough to raise eight individuals out of homelessness.

Jenny Nicholson, the brainchild behind the naming campaign, is associative creative director at McKinney, a company part of the larger mother communications corporation Cheil Worldwide.

Hailing from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s social work master’s program, Nicholson teamed up with Urban Ministries, a homeless shelter, to start up an online game that engages the issues of homelessness.

The online game “Spent” allows players to offer a donation post-game and proposes over 169 new items to having its respective naming rights changed.

Executive director Patrice Nelson mentions the collaboration with Urban Ministries wherein the non-profit serves over 600 meals per day in its community café as well as offering community shelter, a clothing closet and food pantry.

With winter snowstorm Hercules settling in the northeast and key communities declaring Code Blue, the Durham community itself is rallying its homeless to available shelters. Durham Rescue Mission notes that alcoholism and drug addiction keep these individuals away from the shelters

The hope behind “Names for Change” is to create a permanent household that will eventually render shelters as a solution to the problem.

– Miles Abadilla

Sources: Herald Sun, McKinney, Names for Change, Weather.com, WNCN
Photo: Giphy.com

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Relief Organization: Stop Hunger Now

Stop Hunger Now
Stop Hunger Now (SHN) is a hunger relief organization with the mission to end world hunger by providing food and other life-saving aid to children and families in countries all over the world. The organization believes addressing the problem of hunger is the single point where they can leverage relief for all humanitarian issues.  

In 2005, SHN created its meal packaging program, which dedicates to make and distribute meal packets for countries in need. People working and volunteering in the program combine rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a flavoring mix including 21 essential vitamins and minerals into small meal packets. According to SHN website, each meal costs only 25 cents. The food stores easily, has a shelf life of two years and transports quickly.

This program has branches in the United States, South Africa, Malaysia, Philippines and Italy. Many religious institutions, civic organizations, corporations and schools have organized SHN meal packaging events. One SHN packaging event can result in the packaging of more than 1,000,000 meals.

So far, SHN has provided over 70 percent of its meals to support transformational development programs across 65 countries, such as school feeding programs, vocational training programs, early childhood development programs, orphanages, and medical clinics. It has packaged about 127 million meals.

SHN aims to allocate 80 percent of its meals to transformational development programs by 2015.

This organization partners with many non-profit organizations around the world to provide food and other aid to those in need. Those partners are chosen based on a comprehensive evaluation, including their effectiveness, sustainability, ability to import, store and distribute meals and impact.

In December 2013, SHN built a partnership with Share Your Calories (SYC,) a movement to improve people’s health and to end world hunger. It dedicates to impact both weight-loss issues and hunger issues by empowering users to take control of their own health and to make an impact in the fight against world hunger.

SYC is developing a mobile app, which is expected to be available in May. The app will allow users to track calories consumed and burned off.  Users can store unused calories into a Calorie Bank and then donate them to SHN by “sharing” them via the app. Every 250 shared calories will be converted to $0.25.

SHN believes that the world has sufficient resources to feed everyone and it is possible to end hunger in people’s lifetime.

– Liying Qian

Sources: Stop Hunger Now, Stop Hunger Now-2, Stop Hunger Now-3, Share Your Calories

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Catalysts for Change

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A first of its kind, Catalysts for Change, an innovative and interactive online game, was run by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Institute for the Future last year in the beginning of April. The game prompted participants worldwide to discuss and come up with ways to battle the plentiful issues of poverty. The game itself was designed around four catalysts: new evidence, new capacities, new rules and new stories, all of which contributed to the card-based gaming platform.

Players could share ideas through Positive/Critical imagination cards – these had the potential to be built on by others through Momentum, Antagonism, Investigation and Adaptation cards. Leaderboards were also created, displaying points players had earned through using and gaining said cards. These could furthermore be categorized as Scenario Fail, Common Knowledge or Super Interesting based on the players’ personal perception of presented ideas. Achievements spanning across seven levels, going from Inspired to Legend, were available for unlocking before being recorded in player profiles.  Each card played was then cataloged by category, available for public viewing on a special dashboard.

A game blog recorded all progress and presented new missions and challenges in real time. Two weeks before the actual game start, several preparations were made including social media advertising and buzz-building, recruitment, email exchange between coordinators across the world and various sponsor partnerships which led to further awareness among people. Most follow-up cards played were either Investigation or Momentum; of the top-tier, Critical versus Positive imagination were played, the latter being more than twice as frequent. Around 53% of all cards had follow-up cards attached, spanning overall very optimistic and fruitful discussions. As expected from discussions concerning poverty, themes such as education, work and community were amongst the most common. A few top innovative ideas that were brought up include:

–  Alternative economic systems or a universal currency
–  Empathy, i.e. teaching children from an early age to perceive worldly problems
–  Entrepreneurial education and new business funding as a common endorsement for all
–  Socially engineered ways around corruption
–  Sharing to eliminate waste

Although the aim of the game was not to implement any policy for actual poverty reduction, it managed to fulfill its purpose: to motivate and bring together people in their desire to make a change. Several of the players, engaged among one another, even discussed ways they could contribute beyond playing the game, such as starting a non-profit together centered chiefly around their ideas. The attention on social media (Facebook and Twitter) that Catalysts for Change received helped further spread the cause. Thoughts shared by players are still accessible on the website today, providing ‘food for thought’ for anyone hungry for making a difference. Although the game spanned for only 48 hours, it attracted 1,616 players from 79 different countries who used a total of 18,207 cards.

– Natalia Isaeva

Sources: The Rockefeller Foundation: Catalysts for Change, Institute for the Future
Photo: Vimeo