The Microsoft Elevate America community initiative is a new grant program that supports nonprofit organizations in offering employment services, including technology skills training and job placement, in local communities across the United States. To support this initiative, Microsoft are committing $4 million in cash, $6 million in software and technology skills training curriculum over the next two years.

Vodacom is hosting three challenges to support people who are using mobile technology to solve problems dealing with education, health, or community information that are deployable in South Africa. Their hope is to find projects that can demonstrate value for users, ease of use and deployment, scalablability, sustainability, and innovation. The winning teams will receive R20,000 ($2,646) and the winner with the most promise will receive an additional R20,000.

Salesforce.com is a popular cloud computing customer relationship management (CRM) database that’s used by tens of thousands of companies around the globe. Nonprofits are utilizing Salesforce CRM to manage donors, activists, community members, contacts and more. Through the Salesforce.com Foundation product donation program, qualified 501©(3) organizations are able to receive a donation of 10 Salesforce CRM licenses. If you want to learn more, join us for this upcoming free webinar.

Are you concerned about creating computer access for everyone? If so, you may want to consider using assistive technology. Not sure what this is or how it’s applicable to a public computer setting? This is the webinar for you! Kami Griffiths from TechSoup will interview Jane Vincent from Center for Accessible Technology. We will discuss hardware and software solutions, their costs and what it takes to get started.

This webinar is ideal for anyone who manages or volunteers in a public computer center, either in a library, housing development or social service agency. But also applicable to IT managers looking to better address staff needs.

Good distance learning and e-learning programmes for aid workers  are hard to find. I just posted a list of seven courses and programmes that I know of - from Human Rights to Mine Action and from a complete university degree to a short module on H1N1. Please leave a comment if you know of more.

 http://sm4good.com/2009/10/26/distance-learning-for-aid-workers/

You understand how to track the success of your programs, but when it comes to social media you’re at a loss. How do you show that this new technology is something worth the staff time invested? If you are interested in implementing a social media program (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Digg) but are unsure how to measure the impact or know what success looks like, attend this free TechSoup Talks webinar.

Register: Understanding the ROI of Social Media

Kami Griffiths will interview John Haydon and Chris Garrett to learn more about the impact we can expect to see from these tools, how it can be tracked, and how to adapt to get the most return on your investment.

Is your organization looking to expand your reach and communicate more directly with your supporters and community? Are you considering starting a blog to help you do this? Join Becky Wiegand from TechSoup during this free webinar as she interviews Allyson Kapin, blogger for Care2's nonprofit marketing blog Frogloop, and Jason Griffey, who literally wrote the book on blogging for libraries to discuss the ins and outs of starting a blog for your organization. From considerations like which tool to use, how much staff time to commit, whether volunteers and interns should help, best practices, and how to launch your blog into the blogosphere, we'll discuss all the basics of how to get started. Register today!

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server is a comprehensive set of tools that — when supported and deployed well — can help nonprofits and libraries simplify collaborative efforts, organize documents and institutional knowledge, and manage electronic content. Microsoft makes SharePoint available for donation to eligible organizations through TechSoup. This webinar will help you determine if this tool is the right fit for your organization.

Are you a social entrepreneur or the leader of a social venture, or do you know someone with a social venture that could benefit from capacity building, in-depth consultation on their business plan and mentoring by Santa Clara University faculty and Silicon Valley start-up veterans?

The Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI™) is a capacity building program for leaders of social benefit enterprises run by Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology and Society.

Enter now for a chance to attend.

Okay, I'm back.

Thanks to you who are emailing me privately and commenting here on the blog.  Let's jump right in.  I got this message anonymously (this is part of a longer email)...

"I have a somewhat specific interest that I thought I'd pass along in the spirit of two-way media.  I am a young professional working at a membership-based environmental nonprofit.  My background is nontechnical...  I am trying to transition some...academic knowledge into job skills.