Laura Benack's Field Reports

Happy Holidaze

Laura Benack — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:55:37 -0700

Hey VISTAS,

I hope you have all been enjoying the holiday season and a much-needed break before the start of 2009. I had a great time at home in Pittsburgh, but am ready to return to NYC and ring in the new year in style!

As for the J-O-B, it has a been a busy few weeks at Grassroots.org. I recently started to manage our online fundraising efforts, beginning with a holiday giving campaign. Last month I took a one-day Internet Fundraising course at NYU, so I was eager to get started by updating our online donation page (Tip: make sure your donation form is extrememly simple and asks for no unneccessary information - this means even eliminating a title field from your form. Oh yes, and Network for Good reccomends "Blazing a trail to your donation page" - place a DONATE button all over!).

In addition to the fundraising campaign, we launched a new tool this month in the Grassroots.org toolbox - graphic design! The program works just like our web design tool - by matching volunteers with nonprofits in need. In the first week alone, we had 3 of our members sign-up for volunteers to help them design logos, letterhead, etc. Which reminds me, if any of you talented VISTAs are graphic designers and are looking for some great experience, hit up our volunteer board.

Okay, I better go pack so I don't miss my flight! HAPPY 2009!!!!!!!

-Laura

Autumn in New York

Laura Benack — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:35:10 -0700

I've never seen that movie...but since Richard Gere is in it, I'm sure I wouldn't like it very much at all. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well in your respective locales across the country! Last week was pretty crazy with the election FINALLY happening..I didn't go to Times Square to watch the results, but in my opinion my couch was just as exciting.

In other news, things are going well at Grassroots.org - our team welcomed a new Executive Director recently and he has been pumping a lot of energy into the organization and putting a focus on the 'numbers' - measurable outcomes and how to track them. In addition, I'm now in charge of our volunteer web design program - thanks to an article posted on monster.com, we had a huge influx of 50+ new volunteers sign up with us! So, nonprofits are getting matched with volunteers much more quickly which is great news. Here's our volunteer map:

Also, we introduced our new World Lingo website translation tool and will be unveiling our graphic design program soon!

FYI, if your organization is not yet a member of Grassroots.org, refer your director to our services page so that they can learn about all the free services available to you! And ask me or Alice if you have any questions..

Working on team Grassroots is a lot of fun - we work hard and reward ourselves with staff trips to Pinkberry! (Next time you are in Pinkberry, ask for Mochi, its the secret topping that my coworkers revealed to me mwahaha).

That's all - if you're in ze big apple, let me know!

Laura

Great start

Laura Benack — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:12:50 -0600

Hello VISTAS!
I hope everyone is officially settled in their new locations and that the first few weeks on the job have been progressing smoothly. Things in NYC have gotten off to a "Great start", as the title of this field report confirms. Along with Alice, I have been learning the ropes at Grassroots.org and getting a better idea of what the year will bring.
One of the things I've been working on with our website (which provides other nonprofits with free technology/online services) is helping to coordinate our Volunteer Web design program.
When a non-profit signs-up to be a Grassroots.org member, they have the opportunity to apply for a volunteer web designer to help them create or improve their site! The volunteers come from all over the world and it's great to see how many talented people dedicate themselves to our member nonprofits. Some of my tasks include connecting/outreach to new volunteers (Craigslist, Volunteermatch, idealist.org) and finding a more effective way for our organization to measure the impact of the volunteer program(tracking the hours volunteers spend on each site).
You can see the Grassroots.org volunteer site here . If the program sounds cool to you and you have web design experience check out the "Opportunities" section to see if there's an organization that interests you!!

Hope to hear about everyone's work soon :)
Laura