[November 22, 2009] Helping nonprofits stay alive Tweet Nov 22, 2009 (The Berkshire Eagle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Stayin' alive. The old "Saturday Night Fever" lyric could be the mantra of any number of nonprofits these days as they struggle to do just that in tight times. As the holiday season approaches, many will be making appeals for donations before the 2009 tax year comes to an end. In that vein, the Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield's public library, is hosting a free all-day training workshop Dec. 1 for people who write grants for nonprofit organizations. Foundation Center research librarian Ines Sucre will give an orientation to the resources of the Foundation Center Web site and cover grant-seeking basics and strategies for searching the Foundation Directory Online -- the Foundation Center's database of grant-making foundations. The Foundation Center is a national nonprofit service organization based in New York City that collects information about foundation grant funding If you go, bring your own laptop, if you have one. A limited number of Athenaeum laptops are available. Registration is required and can be made by e-mailing Madeline Kelly, supervisor of reference services, at [email protected] or through the Athenaeum Reference Department (413) 499 9480 ext 202 during regular library hours. n Beyond that, small nonprofits can get mileage of some new online fund-raising approaches. JPMorgan Chase, for example, is letting Facebook users help it decide how to give away $5 million to small, local charities. The "Chase Community Giving" program, described on Page D5 today, will let Facebook users nominate charities that the bank probably hasn't even heard of. The 100 charities getting the most votes by Dec. 11 will each get $25,000 from Chase. In the program's second round, starting in January, one of the 100 will get a grant of $1 million For more information, go to facebook.com/chasecommunity giving or www.jpmchase.com /grants n Another Internet-based initiative I heard about a while back is "Kickstarter," described as "a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists ..." You get the idea. What you do is post the project you want to fund on the Kickstarter Web site, then ask for pledges toward a specific goal over a specific time. You can find out more at www.kickstarter.com To reach Charles Bonenti: [email protected] To see more of The Berkshire Eagle or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.berkshireeagle.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, Mass. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]