Grassroots.org

I know it's been a long time since I posted, but I'm ready to make good on my tardy New Year's resolution to blog more.

I am going to begin a help blog to offer people visiting the site a chance to find out how to use the tools that we are offering in a better way. Possible topics include domain name basics and nonprofit website fundamentals. Of course, if you have any questions that you're dying to know about (or a better title), then please email support@grassroots.org and we will try to answer your question in the best way that we can.

You all should also know that I am ready to celebrate because Chicago has finally warmed up to the point where I am able to bike to work. In the past few months, I have been working on a variety of projects ranging from client intake to a huge member inventory to some work with Drupal that gives you folks a gallery where you can see the sites that volunteer designers have made for clients. (http://grassroots.org/membergallery) Aside from that, I will be attending the Better Deal Conference (http://www.abetterdealconference.org/) in Washington DC in May and possibly giving a talk about nonprofit technology tools there.

So get excited everybody. See you soon!

In the past two weeks, I've spent an hour a day making phone calls to different organizations all across the US and Canada to tell them about our Social Ventures Consulting Program—a very cool program, in my opinion. I did this earlier in the year, which means I'm nearly a pro, despite the fact that it's hard to not sound like a genuine telemarketer out to rob from the poor and give to the rich.

But it's worth persevering because it's for a good cause (or it's a good cause for a good cause). We're offering free business consulting in partnership with the Dingman Center at the University of Maryland Smith School of Business. We can't offer service to everyone who applies since we only have a limited number of students in the program. We can offer consulting services from business focused individuals to organizations with a specific business need. I am learning that running a nonprofit includes dealing with a lot of unwanted but necessary overhead and organizational issues. It's nice to know that I'm part of an organization that tries to help others getting through this so that our members can work on doing what they do best.