Archive for June, 2011

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June 30, 2011

BrightWorks launches new microvolunteering app!

by Ben Rigby

Just got a ping from @benrmatthews at BrightOne about a new microvolunteering service that they’ve launched called “BrightWorks.” It’s great to see some fresh new ideas in the space. Here are a couple of screenshots:

Screen shot 2011-06-30 at 11.43.03 AM
Screen shot 2011-06-30 at 11.42.55 AM


I love the idea of a more loose visual representation of a collection of tasks. In particular, they’re working on one area that’s been vexing us for a while… which is how to say “I’ll do this” for any given component of a larger project. It’s one of the areas that isn’t quite working yet on Sparked… and looks like BrightWorks has the beginning of a good solution here.

All around, one of the most interesting/smart/exciting microvolunteering apps that I’ve seen to date. Looking forward to seeing how it evolves (and to cribbing some of their smartest ideas).

Posted in Microvolunteering | 2 Comments »

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June 29, 2011

Microvolunteers to the rescue: SQUASH ME!

by Ben Rigby

This post is part of an ongoing series that features real results from Sparked, the microvolunteering network. Learn more about Sparked here.

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The nonprofit: Glenwood Sunday Market.

The challenge: Create a poster for the Squash festival.

The result: Wow! This challenge isn’t over yet, but I came across it and loved the two designs submitted so far so much – that I wanted to share them here with you. Also saw some great collaboration from a non-designer, still awake at 3am, who suggested using the phrase “Come and Meet Sassquash”… ha ha. And then Genie D. incorporated the phrase into her awesome poster. See for yourself:

And then another great submission from Lesley G.

Posted in Nonprofit Success Stories | 1 Comment »

June 20, 2011

Microvolunteers to the rescue: Design Collaboration

by Shauna Carey

This post is part of an ongoing series that features real results from Sparked, the microvolunteering network. Learn more about Sparked here.

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The nonprofit: NCGives is a statewide organization on a mission to celebrate and strengthen the giving of time, talent and treasure in North Carolina — particularly among women, young people and communities of color.

The challenge: Create a distinct logo for our signature program that matches our organization logo.

The result: As Melinda from NC Gives puts it, “I’m still in a little disbelief that [microvolunteers] are willing to help out complete stranger nonprofits,” so you can imagine her surprise (and delight) when a few short days after posting her first design challenge on Sparked, she was in the revision process to refine the final product with two talented designers. ”This is part of a much bigger project that we’ve hired a local design agency to handle,” she explains, noting that the free logo two microvolunteers, Greg and Tanya, came up with has saved them several hundred dollars. “And I can’t believe how quickly we came to a final product, too,” she continues, “what a nice surprise.”

For their part, Greg and Tanya enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate for a good cause, with Greg submitting the initial design, and Tanya helping to refine the typography. “The end result is far better due to a good team effort,” say Greg, who calls microvolunteering, “a nice way to give back a little bit every week.”  He and Tanya can now look forward to the day (very soon!) when their logo will be prominently displayed as the visual representation of NC Gives’ flagship program.

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June 13, 2011

Microvolunteers to the rescue: Portuguese Edition

by Shauna Carey

This post is part of an ongoing series that features real results from Sparked, the microvolunteering network. Learn more about Sparked here.

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The nonprofit: More than 2 billion people in the developing world live in rural and remote communities that lack basic access to information and communications technologies, such as telephony, computing, and Internet access. Social enterprise Inveneo works to bring such technologies to the most underserved parts of the developing world, with the aim of improving, and sometimes saving, lives.

The challenge: Translate our marketing documents from English to European Portuguese for use by Mozambican entrepreneurs.

The result: In some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, Inveneo’s work bringing Internet Communications Technology provides the only jobs and connectivity to remote communities, so making sure that they reach as many commuities as possible is priority number one. In an effort to do just that, Mira from Inveneo posted a challenge to Sparked asking for their bid template to be translated into European Portuguese for entrepreneurs in Mozambique. “We’ve heard from a Mozambican partner that Brazilian Portuguese is as hard to understand for them as English,” she says, underscoring the importance of having the document translated by an actual native speaker.

Luckily for her, Susana Moreira, a PhD candidate in the United States — originally from Portugal, saw the challenge and decided to give it a go.  A few days later, Susana uploaded the final Microsoft Word document with the Portuguese translation, to which Mira responded with profuse thanks and a reminder of the impact Susana’s work would have: “Our partners in Mozambique appreciate [it] very much!”

(Screenshot is of Inveneo’s website: www.inveneo.org)

Posted in Nonprofit Success Stories | Leave a Comment »

June 6, 2011

Microvolunteers to the rescue: Quantifying Need

by Shauna Carey

This post is part of an ongoing series that features real results from Sparked, the microvolunteering network. Learn more about Sparked here.

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The nonprofit: Based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, Cradles to Crayons works to make sure all children up to age 12 living in homeless and low-income situations have the essentials they need to feel safe, warm, ready to learn, and valued.

The challenge: Research poverty statistics for Philadelphia and the surrounding area.

The result: Joseph from Cradles to Crayons says that having up-to-date poverty statistics is extremely important in attracting donors as well as conveying impact, but they aren’t always easy to get ahold of.  ”We currently have some research on Philadelphia but struggle to find and compile poverty statistics for the surrounding counties,” says Joseph, who posted the collection of accurate statistics as a research challenge on Sparked.

Microvolunteers Maxine, Chandni, Michael, and Paola responded to the call, compiling a list of relevant statistics that Joseph calls amazing. ”We have already implemented them into our daily grant writing and are hoping for some success,” he says in his thank-you message to volunteers, adding that compelling statistics, “go a LONG way in helping us to serve more children in need.”

Learn more about Cradles to Crayons on their website, or favorite them on Sparked to be notified of any future challenges they post.

(Photo courtesy of Cradles to Crayons)

Posted in Nonprofit Success Stories | Leave a Comment »

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