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Very interesting article by S. Derek Turner on CNET. Will the market prevail? There may be money to be made by investing in a scarce commodity (bandwidth). And, if so, increasing available might adversely affect the price.
See the recent article on the NYT Blog about Anthony Ward cornering the chocolate market for a tastier example than a broadband market.
Links to reports and statistics from the OECD.
Excellent site from the FCC about the National Broadband Plan. Documentation, events, and interactive maps (more data on the way). This is the starting point. And don't forget to subscribe to their excellent RSS feed of news (with a separate RSS feed for comments if you want).
TAC is the economic development outreach service of SUNY Plattsburgh. It does broadband consulting. More info here.
CBN is the not for profit company developing a six county broadband network in the North Country. More info here.
Washington Post article about the announcement along with a comment suggesting that it might more properly be called 3.5G
This article from CNET summarize the proposed legislation (there's a link to the PDF file) that would restrict the FCC's powers to regulate broadband.
Making contributions to nonprofit organization with text messages is taking off rapidly. If can provide benefits for nonprofit organizations large and small not to mention time-pressed donors who can act quickly on the urge to contribute without worrying about giving out credit card numbers or suffering those pesky paper cuts from traditional mailed-in donations. Following up on the 1/26 Roundtable segment, here are some URLs for some of the main players in this world:
Information has been gathered from the appropriate web sites, but follow the links for the latest information. If you have comments, please feel free to add them (you must register--no charge--to verify your email address).
For incorrect or updated information, use the General Queries link under Contact Jesse at the left of most pages.
Mobile Giving Foundation (MGF) provides a link between the mobile carriers and the Application Service Providers (ASPs) that provide mobile fundraising services to non-profits. ASPs are typically for-profit organizations; MGF is a non-profit.
The MGF guidelines for non-profits are here. Always refer to that link to get the latest version.
The mGive Foundation (TMF) works with carriers to certify nonprofits. Works with a variety of vendors including mGive.com.
Their guidelines for non-profits are here.
Wireless Factory/mDonation clears through Mobile Giving Foundation. Pricing is here.
Russ Reid clears through Mobile Giving Foundation.
mPower Giving clears through Mobile Giving Foundation. Pricing is here.
Mobile Cause provides support for nonprofits through their Text2Give program. They clear through Mobile Giving Foundation. Pricing is here.
iLoop Mobile clears through Mobile Giving Foundation.
Give on the Go clears through Mobile Giving Foundation. Their pricing information is here.
Give By Cell clears through Mobile Giving Foundation.
Through 1/31/2010, they offered a four-month special trial. Check to see if it has continued.
g8Wave clears through Mobile Giving Foundation.
Causecast is a mobile agency that clears through Mobile Giving Foundation.
Causecast provides mobile giving services to small non-profits. Their monthly fee is $99; the transaction fee for $5 and $10 donations is $0.50, which is slightly higher than the companies that service large non-profits (with > $500,000 in annual donations).
Giving plans from $500/month. Clears through Mobile Giving Foundation and uses their non-profit standards.
One of the earliest and still most common uses of Drupal is to build websites for community organizations and nonprofits. The reasons are obvious: as open source software, there's no up-front or continuing cost, and the Drupal modules provide enormous functionality right out of the box (or out of the download to be more specific).
In addition, the wide array of social media/social web modules means that you can have a modern website up and running quickly. My rule of thumb is that it typically takes half a day to a day to put up a site like this. That means a site that has appropriate security settings so that a variety of people can update and maintain it and so that its long-term prospects for survival are good. One of the problems with webmaster-based websites is that when the webmaster moves on to another project, the website languishes.
This series is based on experiences, comments, and questions many of which have come from others for which many thanks.
I'm trying to keep the technology in the background. It's based on my book, Sams Teach Yourself Drupal in 24 Hours which covers just about all of the technology here. In addition, there are updates about the modules mentioned on northcountryconsulting.com.
This is a work in progress, so comments and requests for other topics are welcome.