Can you help Flood Victims here in Central Texas?

::Special Guest Post from my friend Austin ::

On September 7th this year, the aftermath of hurricane Hermine washed into my childhood home in Round Rock and displaced my parents.  More than a foot of water washed through our stuff leaving soaked carpet, mud, and a huge mess to clean up.  It was a disaster that hit more than 600 families in Central Texas across 7 counties.  Whether it was a single foot of floodwater or 12 feet, the families affected now have to rebuild their lives.

What has amazed me in the midst of the rebuilding effort is how many people have donated their time, resources, and even donated money to the rebuilding effort.  I think that these “volunteers” are a bigger variable than the disaster itself.  The floodwaters will come, and the thing that we get to choose is how we react and respond to each disaster that hits our community.

The day after the flood I began working with the Austin Disaster Relief Network to organize more than 350 volunteers to work in Round Rock in my old neighborhood.  Working with the ADRN we also organized more than 30 volunteers to begin rebuilding the home of Charles and Gaye Lynn Bailey, one of the families who needed the community to support them.

On October 9-10 with 30 people, monetary donations, donated garage doors, bathtubs, and drywall, we as volunteers began work on the Bailey home to help them begin to rebuild.  All in all, the volunteers did almost $20,000 of work on the house in a weekend. That’s the power of volunteer work.

Now with FEMA’s refusal to grant the State of Texas’ request for disaster funds, self-organized volunteer efforts like this one are how the Central Texas community is going to rebuild.  The Austin Disaster Relief Network is taking the model we created on the Bailey House and spreading it to other volunteer projects and is going to be recruiting volunteers to adopt families that were displaced by the flooding.  In the coming weeks, you’ll have the opportunity to make the difference to a family like the Bailey’s by volunteering to help them re-build.

If you want to get involved, please volunteer or pledge to the Austin Disaster Relief Network using HelpAttack! HelpAttack is a cool online giving platform that let’s you tweet to donate to your favorite causes.

- Austin Gunter

The Future of Field based Fundraising Staff?

Now I try and remain vendor agnostic but this was a great demo of very cool software from the folks at BlackBaud.

Of course how much would an ipad cost for each of your fundraising folks? But would that be worth the investment if it was their full time work machine?

Groupon helping Nonprofits?

Looks like the folks over at Groupon have started a small nonprofit program. Here is how it works and you can apply here:

“Groupon followers who want to do good, have fun, and make a real impact can now join forces through G-Team campaigns.

G-Team campaigns range from ridiculous flashmobs to fundraisers that benefit local community organizations. Every G-Team campaign connects you with enough people to achieve something awesome that you couldn’t have done alone.”

Lights. Camera. Help. is coming to South Carolina

In partnership with The Greater Park Circle Film Society, Lights. Camera. Help., a national nonprofit organization, is holding a local event at the Olde North Charleston Picture House on September 25, 2010 at 7 p.m. to celebrate cause-driven films. Tickets are available online for a $10 donation and day of at the event.

Lights. Camera. Help. is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to encouraging other nonprofit and cause-driven organizations to use film and video to tell their stories.

“Lights. Camera. Help. is the world’s first film festival for nonprofit and cause focused films,” said David J. Neff, director of Lights. Camera. Help. “Our mission of outreach to nonprofits and filmmakers across the U.S. is accomplished by amazing events such as this one in Charleston. We are honored to be a part of such a great film community.”

Lights. Camera. Help. Presents: Charleston will feature jury prize winners from this year’s recently held Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival, which focused exclusively on nonprofit and cause-driven films. Winning films that will be shown include:

·         GIRLS OF DARAJA, submitted by the Daraja Academy and director Barbara Rick, which won best short film for its portrayal of the Daraja Academy’s work to improve education opportunities for girls in Kenya.

·         ECOVIVA: AN INTRODUCTION, directed by Spencer Stoner, which won best PSA, promotes nonprofit EcoViva’s efforts to help community organizations in El Salvador.

·         INCLUDING SAMUEL, submitted by the Institute on Disability and filmmaker Dan Habib, which documents one family’s efforts to include a child with cerebral palsy in every facet of their lives.

The second half of the event, presented by Unimedia, will focus on locally-produced cause-driven films and a presentation from a nonprofit leader behind the cause.

Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to attend and see how film and video can help further their missions. Individuals interested in filmmaking, film appreciation, or local nonprofits and causes are encouraged to show their support.

The event is sponsored by Unimedia, a local visual communications firm that provides turn-key creative solutions for medium to larger businesses and organizations; Blackbaud TV, an online video portal from Blackbaud where nonprofit professionals can learn, interact, and share stories about how they make the world a better place; and Coastal Community Foundation, a public grant making foundation fostering philanthropy for the lasting good of the community.