Presumed Abundance

Have you all seen this? I pray that this concept exists somewhere in the nonprofit world. You see some nonprofits do make it big. And they would be happy to fund other nonprofits. I know I would be happy to do that with Lights. Camera. Help. Read on to find out more on why this would be a genius thing to start in the NPO world. We would just have to tweak it a little, no?

The idea:
We provide startup capital for your company. Instead of buying equity for ourselves, the equity we purchase goes directly into our angel fund. Upon a liquidity event (merger/acquisition or IPO), the equity we purchased becomes available as seed stage capital for new social enterprises.

The twist? You are now our angel partner, with an equal voice in determining where to invest that money.

Non Profits, Gaming and Virtual Worlds! Oh My!

How cool is this? Ever combined the Web, World of Warcraft, Real Life, Second Life, Google Earth, Nintendo, Facebook, Moore’s Law and the unfolding human experience into a single thought (which, perhaps, you then Twittered over your iPhone)? Do you dream of saving the world in 8-bit superhero style?

Our goal is to bridge the divide between nonprofit organizations, virtual worlds and game developers and enthusiasts. There are superheroes in each realm, and we plan on bringing them together for a world-class brainstorm bash. Building on the awesome community that Games for Change has created, we’ll be kicking off a long-term community and development project, shaped by the participants of this meetup. We hope to organize a collaborative working group that mashes up serious and social gaming with nonprofits and virtual world producers, and we’re exploring a collaborative game design challenge that would be great to have your input on before the Games for Change Festival in NYC.

Topics we intend to cover:

• Creating frameworks for collaborative game design
• Leveraging the platforms of nonprofits, gaming and virtual worlds to create collaborative community development projects
• Identifying resources, collaboration methods and tools
• Creating content across platforms
• Nonprofit applications of games and integration with virtual worlds

When: Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 from 3-6pm EST

Where: Green Spaces, 394 Broadway 5th Floor (between Walker & White), NYC

This event is free but tickets are limited so please RSVP soon.
This event will also be available in Second Life at http://bit.ly/NPCBrainstormBash for those who cannot join in person.

Come with your game-changing thoughts and ideas!

RSVP and share the Facebook page with your colleagues!

Join the NPCGames Google group and post your introductions – we want to know who you are!

Nation’s First Cause-Driven Film Festival Now Open to Submissions

Hey Readers! It’s that time of year again. Help us spread the word! Lights. Camera. Help., the premier film festival exclusively for nonprofits and cause advocates, has officially opened its doors for 2010 entries!

In its second year, the festival celebrates cause-driven films and their messages.

No other film festival brings together filmmakers and nonprofits to share their stories and promote their causes. Last year’s festival brought in over 140 submissions of documentaries, PSAs and short films focusing on cause-driven issues.

“We really want to foster the growth of this industry and offer a place where people looking to use their talents for good can collaborate,” said David J. Neff, creator and co-founder of the organization.

Submissions will be open until June 30 and the submission form can be downloaded at the Lights. Camera. Help. Web site. The festival will be held July 29-August 1 in Austin, Texas.

On March 27, Lights. Camera. Help. commemorated the opening for the call for entries by hosting their Reel-to-Reality party. Bringing together the filmmaking and nonprofit community to support cause-driven films, guests got to preview films by such organizations as Southwest Key, Consumers Union and the Scottish Rite Learning Center. Filmmakers behind the submissions discussed the creative process while members of the different nonprofits explained how cause-driven films have aided their missions.

“We believe that film and video are the best way for nonprofits and other cause-driven organizations to share their stories with the world,” said Rich Vázquez, Lights. Camera. Help. co-founder. “That’s the whole reason behind the film festival and, ultimately, the nonprofit organization overall.”

In July, Lights. Camera. Help. will judge the submissions based on the cinematic quality and the ability to tell the nonprofit’s story, among other factors. The winning films are then awarded the proceeds from the festival’s ticket sales.

NTC Re-Cap

Hey Gang,
I recently attended the Non Profit Technology Conference (NTC) in Atlanta GA. I had an amazing time learning and growing with my fellow NTC friends. I was also lucky enough to present on two panels.

Results here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%2310ntc.wives

Results here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23bestntcpanelever

More personal notes here: http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B9VF2B3gqZmZZTVhYzIyYWItYmNmMS00MGI2LTgxNmMtOGZmM2VhZmY0ZGU0&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

NTC truly is one of those conference that can not only change minds (technology, strategy and practices) but can also change hearts (Mission, polar bears, cartwheels and youtube parties). That’s something that is a rare find these days.  My hats off to the NTEN crew who made this all happen. Please leave your thoughts and comments in the comments field below.