If you’re like most people who work at nonprofits, you’re inspired by quietly changing the world each and every day.

But sometimes it’s not easy to stay inspired – especially because you’re a human being with good days and bad days!

Reinspire your sense of mission by participating in the Heart & Soul grant

The CTK Foundation has just launched the 2012/2013 Heart & Soul Grants, with over $55,000 to assist nonprofits like yours in accomplishing your mission.

But, more important than the money is the process for applying, which is unlike any other grant program!

How to apply for a Heart & Soul grants

All you have to do is submit a 4- to 8-line poem expressing the heart of your mission at www.communitytech.net (organizations must be U.S.-based 501 c3s).

The intent behind submitting a poem is for you to refresh, nurture and reawaken your sense of mission!

The Grant Application opens today and closes at noon CST on Jan. 7, 2013.

The Heart and Soul grant will provide one eligible nonprofit organization to receive the main award:

• A $10,000 cash and
• A professionally written and recorded song by the Grammy Award-winning group, The Original Blind Boys of Alabama.

Both the song and the accompanying $10,000 grant will help the selected nonprofit to better accomplish their unique mission in their community.

If you have questions about the grant, please see the FAQ page on the Heart & Soul site.

Additional 2012/2013 Heart & Soul Grants

Additional 2012/2013 Heart & Soul Grants include:

• $10,000 HHS Grant — available to an Austin, TX-area nonprofit specializing in the provision of At Risk Children and Families — a gift from the Cipione Family Foundation of Austin, TX
• Two $5,000 Grant Awards to 2 US Nonprofits
• Five $1,000 Grant Awards to Community TechKnowledge, Inc. customer organizations attending the 2013 Outcomes Immersion Certification Training
• $20,000 in matching cash grants to nonprofits for CTK software purchases
• Three autographed guitars: one by The Original Blind Boys of Alabama, one by Los Lonely Boys, and one by Sunny Shipley

The CTK Foundation was established by Community TechKnowledge, Inc., to recognize and celebrate the work nonprofits do and seek to promote the use of technology in managing the accomplishment of their mission.

For regular updates or questions about the Heart & Soul grant submissions and awards, check out the CTK Facebook Page.

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How one foundation increased Facebook fans by 1000% in 13 days

Target audience: Nonprofits, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, cause organizations, brands, businesses, Web publishers.

Afew weeks ago, Facebook announced that Facebook was doing away with Welcome pages. As with most changes that Facebook makes, the people who hate change were very upset.

The assumption was that fan gating would be less effective. (Fan gating refers to the digital welcome mat that organizations put out to attract new fans. Some nonprofits and businesses display certain content or contests only to users who like your Facebook page, inducing newcomers to “unlock” the content behind the tab.)

But the critics are wrong. Strategy will always trump technology, and the only real limitation is simply a lack of creativity.

For example, Community TechKnowledge increased their Facebook Page fans almost 1,000 percent in 13 days by having Facebook users like their Page to vote for a nonprofit hero.

They accomplished this using the following strategies:

• They promoted their voting app to organizations that had a participating nominee. Email and Facebook were used to promote the initial push.
• Participating organizations naturally used their networks to promote the voting app in hopes that their hero would win $5,000.
• Finally, users of the app were encouraged to share the campaign with their friends, exponentially expanding each organization’s network.

Fan gating can still be used to give away something valuable in exchange for liking your Page. What matters is what you offer and how you promote it (without violating Facebook’s Terms of Use for pages).

How are you using fan gating?

Socialbrite articles on Timeline

• What story should you tell in Facebook Timeline?
• How to clean up & optimize your Facebook Timeline
• Make Facebook Timeline about your community

The post One way to attract new fans with Facebook Timeline appeared first on Socialbrite.

The people who inspire us the most are often quietly changing the world each and every day. They’re not on the front page of the newspaper, and they’re not mingling with the Gates and Buffets of the world. They’re everyday people like you and me who have shown extraordinary commitment to making this world better than when they found it.

The CTK Foundation Heroes with a Heart Grant Award asks you to nominate a “Hero with a Heart,” and give them a chance to win $5,000 – a simple thanks for the hard work that they do.

What are the details of the Heroes with a Heart grant?

At top is an overview of awards the CTK Foundation will offer and details on how you can nominate your hero.

Applications for all Heroes with a Heart grant awards open today and close Wednesday, Feb. 29, at midnight. Finalists will appear on the CTK Facebook page for public voting during April and winners will be announced on May 1. This award is open to registered nonprofits or charities of all types and sizes, worldwide.

Go to communitytech.net/foundation to nominate your Hero with a Heart today!

For regular updates on the Heroes with a Heart Grant, check out the CTK Facebook Page.

Good luck, heroes!

The post Heroes with A Heart grant recognizes unsung nonprofit heroes appeared first on Socialbrite.

Socialbrite helped enlist a network of socially conscious bloggers to spread the word about this worthy project. Here is CTK Foundation’s guest post about the Heart & Soul program.

Guest post by Juan A. Garcia Cid
Marketing and Media Manager, Community TechKnowledge

How often does your organization step back and remember your mission? Sure, you know what your mission is, but how often do you refine the sense of mission that exists in the hearts of your staff, board members and supporters?

This year’s Heart & Soul grant program, put on by the CTK Foundation Fund, is designed to do just that.

To win, you have to channel your creativity to write an original four- to eight-line poem or stanza that reflects the work or mission of your nonprofit. No poets on staff? Ask your supporters to write a poem for you.

The first place winner will receive $10,000 and will have their submission turned into a song to be used in public education or awareness. The song will be written and recorded by songwriter Bill Dillon — who was recently exonerated after 27 years in prison thanks to Innocence Project of Florida — and produced by Jim Tullio of Butcher Boy Studios. The contest is open to all nonprofits in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The winning nonprofits will receive one of the following awards:

• 1st place award is the song, plus a cash grant of $10,000
• 2nd place award is a cash grant of $5,000
• The 2011 Bloggers Choice Award, where a randomly selected blogger participating in spreading the word among nonprofits about the H&S Grant Award Program will choose a nonprofit applicant to receive a $1,000 cash grant
• 2 steel-stringed guitars, signed by all members of Los Lonely Boys (which you can auction for fund-raising)
• Up to 20 technology grants, valued at $10,000, to nonprofits that indicate an interest

There is a quick turnaround on these grants. You must submit an application by midnight on March 28, and you’ll be notified if you’ve won on April 10. Nonprofits can visit communitytech.net/foundation to apply.

Follow the effort on Twitter at #ctkgrant.

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