Microsoft Offers Not-For-Profit Organizations Free Cloud Services
Microsoft's philanthropic arm has announced that it will donate $1 billion in cloud computing resources over the next three years to not-for-profit organizations and nongovernmental organizations worldwide. The donation is part of an initiative that includes providing a suite of Microsoft cloud services, expanding access to cloud resources for 900 faculty researchers at universities and reaching 20 underserved communities in 15 countries with broadband connectivity and cloud services.
Microsoft's goal is to serve 70,000 not-for-profit organizations through one or more of the offerings in its cloud services suite by the end of 2017. The company will focus on increasing that number in subsequent years. Organizations must work through TechSoup (Microsoft's partner in the donation program) to satisfy a variety of eligibility requirements to participate. To determine if your organization is eligible, visit http://bit.ly/1RSECd2.
Report Details Volunteerism Efforts
According to the annual "Volunteering and Civic Life in America" report issued by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the National Conference on Citizenship, approximately one in four Americans, or 25.3%, volunteered with an organization in 2014 — which has remained relatively consistent over the past decade.
In addition, 62.5% of Americans engaged in informal volunteering in their communities. For example, helping neighbors with tasks such as babysitting shopping or house sitting. Notably, the research also found that volunteers are almost twice as likely to donate to charity as non-volunteers. Organizations can use information in this report to help fine-tune your volunteer program. To keep your numbers healthy, you can find out more about your volunteers' skills and interest, and then assign them to tasks accordingly. You can also offer incentives for volunteering, such as increased visibility and recognition and free admittance to your events.
Not-For-Profit Organizations Warned About E-mail Scam
According to published reports, more than two dozen Virginia organizations, as well as organizations around the country, received e-mails from an individual in England, unknown to the organizations, offering an approximately $30,000 donation.
Here's how the check-kiting scheme works: After receiving the original e-mail, the not-for-profit organization gets a check for $40,000. Another e-mail arrives concurrently, saying that the overpayment is the result of a clerical error and asking the not-for-profit to return the excess payment. A victim organization might deposit the check and not know for several days that it bounced, during which time it might send a $10,000 "refund," money that will never be seen again.
You should maintain a healthy level of professional skepticism when responding to any unknown correspondence regarding donations or other business matters. It could happen to anyone.
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