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Facebook co-founder donates $20 million to elect Hillary Clinton
Mark Zuckerberg's other half, Dustin Moskovitz, has pledged to donate $20 million to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic efforts this election year. Moskovitz, a co-creator of Facebook and founder of Asana, outlines his intentions in a Medium post that criticizes Republican candidate Donald Trump and praises Clinton.
Bowie tribute concert at Radio City will be streamed on Skype
A pair of concerts will offer a tribute to David Bowie in New York City this week, and you'll be able to stream one of them. Due to "unprecedented interest," concert organizers are teaming up with Skype and Ammado so that Bowie fans around that world can watch live performances from Radio City Music Hall on April 1st. This is actually the second show, added after the response for the first event that's set for Thursday at Carnegie Hall. The Carnegie Hall date for "The Music of David Bowie," a tribute show that will raise money for music education, was announced just before the singer passed away in January. Both nights sold out immediately.
Google donates $5.3 million in Chromebooks for refugees
To give some of the millions of refugees in Europe access to education and asylum application information, Google is equipping nonprofits in Germany with Chromebooks. The company announced a $5.3 million grant and the launch of Project Reconnect, an initiative with NetHope that will distribute the computers to organizations working with refugees. Google says the Chromebook has a proven track record when it comes to education, and in this case, it can be used to run learning and language apps or provide access to government info for those seeking asylum.
Facebook is testing a new set of tools for nonprofits
Facebook wants to make it easier for nonprofits to collect donations and spread awareness of their causes. The social media giant recently announced that it's testing a new feature called "fundraisers", a dedicated channel found on a nonprofit's Facebook page. It lets charities tell their story, gather supporters, collect donations and track progress all from the one place. People who want to help can give money and share the nonprofit's information with their friends, with the existing Donate button included in each shared post, meaning folks don't have to leave their News Feed in order to support a cause. The button is also going to appear at the top of Pages, giving nonprofits more opportunity to raise money. These new features are currently being tested with 37 partner organizations and should expand to others "in the future".
Google will match your donations to migrant and refugee relief
As you're no doubt aware, Europe is facing a crisis: it's struggling to accommodate scores of migrants and refugees coming to the continent in search of a better life. If you're wondering how you can help, you'll be glad to hear that Google is making things easier. It just launched a campaign that will see it match donations until it raises a total of €10 million ($11.3 million) toward migrant and refugee relief. Any money you send will be distributed to four nonprofits (Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, Save the Children and the UN) providing food, security and shelter to those in need. Google's effort won't solve everything, but it's worth checking out if you previously felt powerless to help. Update: (9/19): Google announced that it has reached the €10 million goal, and its website has links for those still interested in donating to contact the programs directly. [Image credit: AP Photo/Selcuk Bulent]
Facebook's 'Donate Now' button makes it easy to help non-profits
If you've ever wanted to make an online contribution to a non-profit but were put off by having to wade through the organization's website, Facebook has your back. It's deploying a "Donate Now" button that can pop up both in ads and on non-profits' social network pages. Click it and you can go straight to a donation link instead of tracking it down yourself. It'll take a while before you see the button in your feed, but it could be a big help the next time you're eager to fund a good cause.
Londoners can now give to charity by paying for travel with a contactless card
More Londoners than ever are using contactless payments to get around the capital, and now, a new initiative called "Penny for London" is asking commuters to add charitable donations to their daily routine, too. The idea is that every time you use a contactless card to pay for travel, you also put aside a nominal amount -- between 1p and 10p -- for charity. Then, at the end of the each month, Penny for London charges the accumulated total to the same card, and forwards the money on to the Mayor's Fund for London, Cash for Kids, The Prince's Trust and other charitable organisations. To get involved, all you need to do is register the card you use to travel on the initiative's website, where you can also keep track of your donations, set up caps and change other preferences. While Barclaycard is responsible for developing the "micro-donation" system, any Visa or Mastercard can be used. The hope is other retailers that accept contactless payments will also sign up to participate in the initiative, but for now, at least you can feel like you're embarking on cramped, uncomfortable Tube journeys for a good cause.
SnapDonate makes giving to charity as simple as taking a photo on your phone
Everyone likes the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with donating some of your hard-earned to charity, but sometimes you simply don't have any change to pop in the bucket. Many of us also have chugger-dodging down to an art form, but now there's a simple, quick way to give to charity that doesn't involve a ten-minute lecture. A new app called SnapDonate, available on Android and coming soon to iOS, turns your smartphone's camera into a "magic lens" capable of identifying the logos of 13,000 UK charities. After you've "snapped" a logo, the app then allows you give up to £50 to the charity in question, or save the donation to a to-do list for revisiting when you've got some spare dough. The payment can be taken from any PayPal account or bank card, with that part handled by trusted online donations platform JustGiving -- a name you'll recognise all too well if you work in an office full of marathon-loving masochists.
YouTube now lets you tip your favorite video makers
If you've been itching to tip YouTube video producers, you'll be glad to know that you can finally reward those people for their hard work: the Fan Funding feature has launched in Australia, Japan, Mexico and the US. If a video host sets up a virtual tip jar, you can use your Google Wallet account (including any attached credit cards) to contribute right from a video page or the Android app. You can specify any amount you like, although YouTube will take a small cut to handle the deal; in the US, it's five percent of your donation plus another 21 cents. Support is coming to both other countries and iOS users soon, so don't despair if you can't contribute to your favorite channel just yet. [Image credit: Rego Korosi, Flickr]
Elon Musk pledges $1 million to help build Nikola Tesla Museum
Nikola Tesla just scored a very generous birthday present. The "father of electricity" was born 158 years ago today, and several fans are trying to preserve his legacy with a museum, to be built on the site of his final laboratory in Shoreham, New York. A 2012 Indiegogo campaign helped raise more than enough to cover purchasing the land, but nowhere near the $8 million that's needed to refurbish the property and actually build a museum. Fortunately, Elon Musk, the father of the modern day Tesla, has pledged $1 million and has promised to install a supercharger in the parking lot. That's still not enough to complete the project, but you can help out by making your own contribution here. [Image credit: Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe]
Microsoft donates $1 billion to help US schools buy PCs (update: not direct funding)
Microsoft isn't just supporting White House's ConnectED education program by lowering the cost of Windows -- it's also giving schools the cash they'll need to buy Windows PCs. The company is donating $1 billion to make sure that students have the tech they'll need for both getting online and learning technology skills. The funding comes alongside a new device pricing program that should make the PCs more affordable -- to start with, it's offering sub-$300 systems from Acer, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic and Toshiba.
Broderbund founder donates company archives to National Museum of Play
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? She's currently lurking at The Strong museum in Rochester, New York. Broderbund Software founder Doug Carlston has donated company records, design documents and games for permanent archival at the The Strong's International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG). The Strong's Broderbund Software Collection includes material documenting the creation of Lode Runner, Prince of Persia, Myst, SimCity, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, and other landmark PC releases. The collection spans Broderbund's founding in 1979 up until 1997, when the developer was acquired by The Learning Company. The new collection supplements a previous donation of archival materials from SimCity creator Will Wright. Featured material is available for research purposes on request. [Image: ICHEG]
Awesome Games Done Quick tops $1 million in last 24 hours
Awesome Games Done Quick, a charity marathon of video game speedruns that donates money raised to the Prevent Cancer nonprofit group, concluded its weeklong streaming session yesterday on what you might call "a high note:" a $100,000 surge during the group's final game pushed the donated total to more than $1 million - $1,007,136 to be specific. Some other stats, according to the AGDQ website (which is still being updated and refreshed): There were 27,171 donations, spread across 17,902 donors. These numbers would make the average donation amount $37, which is kind of crazy when you think about it - for roughly the price of a season of Breaking Bad per person, AGDQ raised more than $1 million for cancer research. Good job, Internet. [Thanks, Jonathan!]
Google's charity donation app comes to iOS for the holidays
It's the season of giving, and this year, iOS users will be entitled to share the love with Google's One Today app. Each day, users will be shown the details of a different non-profit and encouraged to make a $1 donation. It's a nominal amount, but the company's hoping people would challenge their friends to match their pledges through social media. Note that Google still takes 1.9 percent per $10 to cover credit card charges, but the company swears it gives the rest of the amount to charities. For now, the project remains US-only, so those outside of the country will have to resort to other methods to help out those in need.
EVE Evolved: Donate your old spaceships to charity
The Philippines recently suffered its worst natural disaster in living memory when typhoon Haiyan made landfall on November 8th, leaving over half a million people displaced and millions without food and basic supplies. Countries and organisations around the world have been sending relief aid into the region, and gamers have once again proven to be a generous bunch. Several livestreamers have been running donation drives; the developers behind Luvinia Online even promised to donate 100% of the income from three new in-game items to the Philippine Red Cross. EVE Online has now also joined in the fundraising by reactivating its popular PLEX for Good scheme. CCP started the PLEX for Good scheme back in January of 2010 as a way for players to donate in-game assets and ISK to help people in the real world. EVE Online players have collectively donated over $150,000 US in aid following 2010's Haitian earthquake, tsunami devastation in Japan, flooding in Pakistan, and tornadoes in the US two years ago. Players hope to smash all fundraising records this time around with dedicated fundraising auctions, events, and liquidation firesales happening across the game. There are even ways for ex-players without active subscriptions to donate their idle in-game assets to charity. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the PLEX for Good scheme, the fundraising efforts players are using to help out a country in need, and how you can donate your ISK to charity even if you've long since quit EVE.
Typhoon Haiyan victims to be aided by CCP 'PLEX for GOOD' campaign
CCP, developer of EVE Online, DUST 514 and the upcoming World of Darkness MMO, is currently holding a donation drive to help aid those affected by Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines earlier this month. Each donation of an EVE player's Pilot License Extension (PLEX) during this "PLEX for GOOD" campaign funnels $15 toward the Icelandic Red Cross, and CCP is prepared to give up to a maximum of $75,000. The drive will last until December 7. For those who haven't yet launched into the vast and open world of EVE Online, PLEX is not only an in-game item, but also how players subscribe to the game. By either purchasing PLEX outright with real-world currency or earning it in-game, players are allowed to fly their ships for 30 more days. In other words, players aren't just donating in-game items, they're donating the item that allows them to play. To thank them for their contribution, CCP is rewarding donors with a special in-game shirt. Those who want to donate can read more about the process over on the EVE community blog.
Apple begins collecting Philippine typhoon donations for the American Red Cross
Apple is now offering people the ability to donate directly to the American Red Cross in order to help support the Philippine typhoon disaster relief. The donations are being advertised on Apple's home page and in iTunes. iTunes users can donate in increments of US$5, $10, $25, $50, $100 and $200 in the US iTunes store. Check your local iTunes store for currency amounts there. Of note, 100 percent of every donation will go to the American Red Cross. Apple does mention that because it does not share iTunes user data with anyone, people who donate will not get an acknowledgment from the American Red Cross, but they will receive an iTunes receipt noting their contribution.
Wayback Machine web archive survives destructive fire but needs help to recover
If you're one of the many people who've relied on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine recently, for example when government websites were taken offline during the shut down, then the non-profit organization is now calling for your help in return. A fire broke out at its main scanning center in San Francisco yesterday, causing an estimated $600,000-worth of damage. No one was hurt and no digital data was lost, since the Wayback Machine uses multiple server centers around the world. However, it sounds like the fire destroyed some books and other materials that were in the process of being scanned. The Internet Archive is calling for assistance in two forms: cash donations and fresh scanning projects from anyone who has physical collections they want to preserve, because the group has a second scanning center and needs to keep its employees busy. Follow the source link to find out more.
Google donates 17,000 Nexus 7 tablets to help New Yorkers still affected by Hurricane Sandy
A year has passed since Hurricane Sandy came ashore, but the northeastern US is still feeling its impact through closed facilities and lost jobs. Google hopes to tackle some of those longer-term challenges by donating 17,000 Nexus 7 tablets to the New York State Community Action Association. The non-profit will primarily hand out the Android slates to community centers, libraries and business development groups for both education and job training. Some devices will go to senior centers, where they'll help older residents communicate with friends and family that would otherwise be out of reach. While the donation won't have as much of an immediate effect as direct aid, it could be useful to New Yorkers who need more than just the basics to get back to normal.
Google's One Today donation app exits pilot mode as more charities are invited to sign up
Right around a month ago, Google opened up the flood gates and let any US-based Android user download its One Today app -- a program that makes it wildly simple to donate a dollar (or more, of course) to a different charity each day. Now, Google is officially releasing the entire project from pilot mode, inviting the masses to both download the app (still US-only, unfortunately) and get their charities into the 'Google for Nonprofits' database. Signing up for One Today is completely free, and Google has provided resources for those looking to get their charity authorized for inclusion. Be aware, however, that Google charges a 1.9 percent processing fee when taking in payments; in other words, each $10 donated translates to $9.81 in usable funds for charities. The real kicker, we're surmising, is the social tie-in. The more people who donate and then share to various social networks, the more likely their friends and peers are to follow suit. And, ideally, we all join to solve all of the world's problems.
