Update: We've extended the deadline for Project submissions to December 5, 2008. To participate in the USAID Development Challenge please Register and Login. To view, comment on or star a Project visit the USAID Project Gallery.

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DonateNow Mashup Challenge

DonateNow Mashup Challenge

UPDATE:The DonateNow Mashup Challenge is no longer accepting applications.

DonateNow Mashup Challenge

How would you mashup the Network for Good donation processing service with other services to make it easier for nonprofits to raise money online? We’re working with Network for Good, the Case Foundation, and the NetSquared community to enhance the online donation process.

There are two categories to enter:

Build a mashup using Network for Good’s donation API, with a particular focus on enhancing the donor experience.
Build a mashup using Network for Good’s donation API,with a particular focus on improving or revolutionizing a nonprofit organization’s ability to fundraise.

Winners in the each category will be awarded a $10,000 prize by a panel of judges present at the N2Y3 Conference.

In addition, each winner will be granted a one-year license for the Network for Good API to be donated to an organization of their choice (if the winner is an organization, it can choose to donate the API to itself).

Want to learn more about mashups? See Wikipedia’s definition.

Challenge Details

Network for Good’s donation API allows developers to integrate NFG's donation-processing functionality into their website or web application. Developers using the API should have a familiarity with SOAP Web Services.

Participants in the DonateNow Mashup Challenge will receive a developer license to the Network for Good Donation Web service. This free license is valid until June 30, 2008. Organizations interested in purchasing a developer license for use beyond this date should contact customerservice@networkforgood.org.

The submission process will open on April 22, 2008. All project ideas must be submitted by May 19, 2008 at 5:00pm Pacific Time.

The submissions will be judged by a panel at the N2Y3 Conference, in San Jose, CA from May 27-28. Participants will not be required to attend the conference.

Entries will be judged on four criteria:

Uniqueness & Creativity
Utility
User Experience
Execution

The judging panel will weigh each category as equally as possible, depending on the focus of your mashup. Exceptions will be made if any one category is incredibly well executed.

IMPORTANT NOTE: While building a working mash-up by the deadline (May 19) is not a requirement, doing so may improve your likelihood of winning. In addition, if you are selected as one of the winners, the monetary prize is contingent upon building an actual working mash-up by June 30, 2008.

Employees of Network for Good, the Case Foundation and NetSquared as well as their immediate families are ineligible for the challenge.

How to Apply

Follow the three easy steps!

Step 1: Download the Network for Good developer API. You must use this API to participate in the DonateNow Mashup Challenge.

Step 2: If you already have a project published in the Project Gallery and you intend to use the Network for Good API, simply add the tag 'DonateNow Mashup' (yes, include the quote marks!) in the prize tag field. You do not need to go through the application process again.

If you do not currently have a published project and want to submit a new idea for the DonateNow Mashup Challenge, please register and log in. Once you are logged in, please click your username in the upper right hand corner to access the Submission Form. Make sure to add 'DonateNow Mashup' (yes, include the quote marks!) in the prize tag field.

For more information about the Submission Form, please refer to the initial NetSquared Mashup Challenge FAQ.

Step 3: Develop your project!

If you have questions, thoughts or feedback please send us an email at: DonateNowMashup@techsoup.org.

Key Dates

4/22/2008

The Submission Form opens.

5/19/2008

The Submission Form closes at 5:00pm Pacific Time. All submissions will be sent to our panel of judges. Participants can continue working on their idea through the NetSquared community, but any changes after this date will not be considered for the challenge.

5/27/2008-5/28/2008

Projects will judged and winners announced at the N2Y3 Conference.

6/30/2008

The last day that applicants will have access to the Network for Good donation API as well as the deadline for the winners to complete their mashup.

FAQ

Q: Where do I obtain the Network for Good API?
A: Email DonateNowMashup@techsoup.org

Q: Are there examples of the Network for Good API in use?
A: Yes, go to Change.org’s nonprofit pages. The ‘make a donation’ functionality is powered by Network for Good.

Q: I already have a project in the Project Gallery. Can I participate in the DonateNow Mashup Challenge?
A: Yes. If your current project can be edited to include the Network for Good API, you can submit it for this challenge. Be sure to add 'DonateNow Mashup' (yes, include the quote marks!) in the prize tag field.

Q: Can I submit a new idea to the Project Gallery just to enter the DonateNow Mashup Challenge?
A: Yes. Make sure to add 'DonateNow Mashup' (yes, include the quote marks!) in the prize tag field.

Q: Where is the ‘Prize Tag’ field located?
A: The “Prize Tag” field is located in the Categories section of the Submission Form just below “additional cause area tags”.

Q: What will happen to my published project if I do not win the DonateNow Mashup?

A: Your project will remain in the Project Gallery to be eligible for additional upcoming challenges unless you choose to delete the submission. We encourage you to keep your project updated via the edit tab.

Q: If my project does not win and I want to purchase the Network for Good API for use beyond June 30th, what do I do?
A: Network for Good currently offers two levels of its API: 1) Donate and 2) GuideStar Search & Donate. Organizations interested in purchasing a developer license for use beyond June 30, 2008 should email customerservice@networkforgood.org. The cost ranges from $6,000 - $9,000 depending on the type of organization, and which level of web services are being used. While we wish we could give the API away for free, there are significant internal and third-party costs incurred by Network for Good in supporting the API which must be recovered.

Q: Why would I want to use Network for Good's donation processing instead of PayPal, Google Checkout, or merchant accounts?
A: Unlike PayPal, Google Checkout and other services, Network for Good is a donor advised fund that is legally registered in all 50 states + DC. Currently, over 40 states require nonprofits conducting online fundraising campaigns to register with their state. This includes any other state into which solicitations (including e-mail) are directed.

All donations processed through Network for Good's API are covered under our state registration.
All donations are sent directly to the nonprofit, as opposed to being held in a PayPal or Google account.
We also verify the 501(c)3 status of all beneficiaries, and only accept donations to organizations in good standing with the IRS.
In addition, Network for Good's API allows developers to build a true donor experience without being pigeonholed into a shopping cart metaphor. This includes supporting recurring giving, automated donor tax receipting, full donation reporting for the beneficiary organizations, and donation payment by EFT.

Q: Can international organizations participate?
A: The Network for Good donatation API can only be used by U.S organization and can only process transactions from North American credit cards. However, international organizations and individuals CAN participate in the DonateNow Mashup Challenge and are eligible for the $10,000 prize. However, they would have to donate the one-year license for the API to a U.S organization of their choice.

Q: How do I view projects submitted to the DonateNow Mashup Challenge?
A: Visit the DonateNow Mashup Challenge Participants Page.

Q: Who will judge the submissions?
A: The projects will be judged by a panel of nonprofit technology experts:

Eric Johnson
Director of Web Development, Case Foundation

Eric Johnson, the Case Foundation's Director of Web Development, makes online work to support grantees and to encourage donating and volunteering online.

With a background in coding and writing, he has taught Mississippi State University's Communication Department, and web development teams in the private sector. In previous jobs, he's contributed to public web-based systems for the US Department of Labor, and more secret ones for clients like the Connecticut State Police.

He finds projects like The Make It Your Own Awards, the Case Foundation's first public grant competition, to be much more fun for all.

Beth Kanter
Social Media Consultant

Beth Kanter is a trainer, blogger, and consultant to nonprofits and individuals in effective use of social media. Her expertise is how to use new web tools (blogging, tagging, wikis, photo sharing, video blogging, screencasting, social networking sites, and virtual worlds, etc) to support nonprofit. She has worked on projects that include: training, curriculum development, research, and evaluation.She is an experienced coach to "digital immigrants" in the personal mastery of these tools.

She is a professional blogger and writes about the use of social media tools in the nonprofit sector for social change.

Holly Ross
Executive Director, NTEN

Holly has spent more than five years at NTEN, combing through all the technology fads and listening to the NTEN community to line up the webinars, conferences, and research that will help members use technology to make the world a better place. From ubiquitous access to technology leadership to social media trends, Holly brings the wisdom of the NTEN crowd to the nonprofit sector.

Holly came to nonprofit technology after working for social change at CALPIRG and during her college days at UC Berkeley. In between meetings and emailing, Holly tries to raise her 3 year old daughter and occasionally pays attention to her fabulous husband.

Bill Strathmann
CEO, Network for Good

Bill Strathmann is Network for Good's CEO and is a member of its Board of Directors. He is a social entrepreneur, who throughout his career has traversed sectors, bringing good business practices to corporations and nonprofits alike. Bill came to Network for Good from BearingPoint, where he provided strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions consulting to corporations and nonprofit organizations across the nation. With Andersen Business Consulting, he developed and led a consulting practice serving large nonprofits including the Nature Conservancy, National Geographic Society, National Association of Home Builders, and the United Way.

Throughout his career, Bill has been an influential speaker on the topics of philanthropy, the role of technology in fundraising, corporate social responsibility, strategic planning, performance management and mergers and acquisitions. Bill is a co-author featured in the book, People to People Fundraising - Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities. He has a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Haverford College and a master's degree in business administration from the Darden School at the University of Virginia. Bill serves in advisory roles for the Nonprofit Congress, Independent Sector and the Social Enterprise Alliance, and he also serves on the boards of The Anacostia Watershed Society and The Shohola Scholarship Fund.

Marnie Webb
Co-CEO CompuMentor/TechSoup

Marnie Webbis the Co-CEO at CompuMentor/TechSoup. She works towards optimizing TechSoup and TechCommons, CompuMentor's knowledge-focused services, to help address the nonprofit sector's systemic technology challenges. She focuses on increasing these programs' impact through collaboration with and stronger integration of all of the sector's key players.

She is one of the driving forces behind the TechSoup NetSquared initiative to increase nonprofit effectiveness through the use of web-based social tools.

Marnie is a frequent speaker and writer on nonprofits and technology. Her areas of focus include Internet Strategies, online communication, and advocacy.

Her blog can be found at: http://ext337.org. She is one of the founding members of the Nonprofit Emerging Technology Exchange and an organizer of the NPTech tagging experiment.