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There is a Tech for Good contest for nonprofits to show how they are using Microsoft software to do good and Microsoft is donating $5000 in cash/up to $100,000 in new software to the winner.

Microsoft hosts a conference called Tech for Good Contest, where eligable nonprofits prove why they deserve the donated money anywhere from 5 to 100 thousand dollars worth of Microsoft software. Along with it they will receive consulting from the organization teaming up with Microsoft, NPower Seattle.

Microsoft is holding a contest for nonprofits to win money through use of technology and holding a technology seminar for non profits next month

This is admittedly NOT nonprofit related.  But I thought some of you might be interested to know you can get Windows 7 Professional for just $30 from Microsoft.   If you're running Vista, BUY THIS NOW. Windows 7 runs noticeably faster in my experience than Vista on the same hardware. If you're running Windows 7 Home, it's not as big of a deal (if you're on XP, it can get messy to upgrade. Ask me if you have questions). Andy

Found this article very interesting in how technology business such as Microsoft is donating so much to charities

Microsoft Community Affairs and TechSoup recently hosted a webinar focused on how moving to the cloud can benefit nonprofits.

This article is too brief for content but the message is that cloud based Microsoft Office is here now. Anyone can try it out supposedly.

Open APIs (application programming interfaces) are VERY important to look for when considering cloud-based solutions. Think about the implications for nonprofits selecting an online solution... would you want one with an API or not? (BTW... take a look at the APIs for both Google Apps online and Microsoft Office365 online. Let me know what you find.)

This is the video I showed during the 1/31 class re: APIs. (Cards vs. Candyland)

It is increasingly apparent that finding the perfect cloud platform is a lot like getting married. The perfect partner if hard to find. Yes there are 5 major players as of today that include Google, Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon but even they aren't identical in this field. A better bargain might be found with one of these baby clouds so it appears to be worth the look. All of the usual IT issues are what will last, what's next and how much did that cost? The clouds are coming no matter what though....

This article covers donor database implementation for a non-profit. Giftworks was endorsed for ease of use. Administrators are happier with a more customized solution when its possible. Microsoft Access was criticized because it seems less directed toward the non-profit sector. It was interesting to note that the competition for donor dollars is increasing. A highly integrated database clearly outperforms segmented data. The online database with a trained rep might be the best choice of all.

Charity Technology Trust helps nonprofits save money on software. They give tips to your organization so that more money is coming in. They receive donated hardware from places like microsoft and sell it to nonprofits for cheap. roughly, 6,000 charities have benefited from CTT

Technology is increasingly important to the American Red Cross. We are an old organization proving we can learn new ways of doing good. Our ultimate goal is to empower the American public to get help or give help during emergencies. A healthy dose of passionate people, tools, and gadgets are required to do this effectively.  

The Apple iPad, one of apple's hottest sellers, is seeing frequent use by those in the government sector. With the seemingly endless amount of apps available for use with the iPad, many help government workers to become more efficient. The apps that are seeing the most use include twitter, quick office, evernote and flipboard. Twitter is helpful to disperse quick messages to others in the work place, and obviously has social networking benefits as well. Quick Office is seeing a lot of use as a microsoft office productivity tool. Evernote allows the user to take notes, record sound bytes, add pictures and video, and other helpful pieces of information into one "note" that is easily dispersed to others in one piece, together. Flipboard is presented almost as a "personal magazine", where feeds from social networking sites and other sites the user selects appear directly on the iPad's interface.

The Microsoft Unlimited Potential Blog discusses important themes from from the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference. It will be interesting to look back on this later and see just how much things have changed.

Food shortages and distribution issues have become a major problem in the aftermath of the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan. In many areas, supermarket shelves are empty, particularly as people stock up on food and other items as they face uncertainty around the nuclear situation in the country.

UNICEF is playing with the idea of using QR Codes to encouraging people to donate items on a 1X2 (buy one, give one) basis while shopping at the store. It is a pretty neat way to utilize the technology, and encourage people to donate.