Originally posted on my blog at AmySampleWard.org - join the conversation and comment on the original post, too!

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The 5th Annual DoGooder Video Awards are off to a record start with over 1,350 videos from over 800 organizations - that's a lot of tear-inducing, action-starting, video storytelling! Now comes the hard part: voting. Along with the other partners, See3 Communications and YouTube are hoping that you can vote now and vote often to help select the winners!

How to Vote

As you may have seen posted at the beginning of this month, I’m about to embark on the next adventure. But, before I get to that, I want to say thank you. All that has happened in the last two and half years has truly been a community-driven effort and I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to be part of the team helping this community achieve so much!

The DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards, from See3, in partnership with YouTube, are back again for the 5th year! The Awards are open for submissions from members of the YouTube Nonprofit Program until March 2nd.

Over the last two weeks, we have posted parts 1 and 2 in a 3-part series, sharing some of our observations and planning concepts, and hoping to gather feedback and ideas from you. The first part in the series focused on Local and Gloal and the second highlighted opportunities to Expand our Impact.

For 23 years, TechSoup Global has been working to build networks—networks of organizations that need technology support, networks of corporations that are willing to donate their products, networks of funders interested in building the capacity of civil society, and networks of technical volunteers. In the last six years, we have built two formal networks—one of more than 24,000 on-the-ground technology activists via our NetSquared initiative; and the other of capacity-building organizations, capable of delivering technology solutions to other NGOs in 35 countries around the world.

Over the last two and a half years, I’ve had a great opportunity and a whole lot of fun working to build community around the world at the intersection of technology and social change through the NetSquared program and TechSoup Global’s partner network.

Last week we started a 3-part series, sharing some of our observations and planning concepts, and hoping to gather feedback and ideas from you. The first part in the series focused on Local and Gloal - if you missed it, please do check it out and let us know what you think! This week, we want to focus on expanding and evaluating impact - a topic we really think you can help with!

Do you ever wonder whether your current phone system is best suited for your needs? With the new technologies available, perhaps there is a system out there that is less expensive and more robust. With all the acronyms like VoIP, vPBX, UC, and POTS, who can understand all the options?

Attend this free webinar and hear from Matt Bauer, CEO of BetterWorld Telecom. He will discuss:

Like so many people working on projects focused on the issues, technologies and strategies that help strengthen communities, we spent the end of 2010 reflecting on our findings (check out the year-in-review post series). As we dash forward with our plans for 2011, the NetSquared team would like to begin a dialogue with our users around the evolution of the NetSquared initiative.

Recent conversations with community members surfaced three key topics that we’ll be exploring in a series of posts over the coming weeks: The Inter-Play Between Local & Global Programs, Expanding & Evaluating Impact, and Developing a Compelling Network Narrative.