Convio puts the money where their mouth is for 09NTC

As Jordan Viator explains on the Connection Café blog:

It’s no surprise that every other blog post you read these days talks about how to raise money, stretch funds and build supporters in the current economic climate. In the nonprofit technology community, I’ve heard stories of cut backs on “nice to have” items and expenses such as travel and training so that organizations can focus on their most critical goals first and cut back on what they deem not to be completely necessary.

Rather than list off the top things you can do to raise money and spread your money right now, we decided to instead put our money where our mouth is – quite literally – and make a concerted effort to help the entire nptech community by raising money online for scholarships to none other than the 2009 NTC Conference in San Francisco. That’s right. We’re raising money, and matching funds up to $10,000, to help make sure we get as many great, deserving people to this year’s conference as possible. (An event, I might add, that might be seen as one of those “nice to haves” in your budget meetings but is, of course, completely important to anyone working in nonprofit technology! Just take a glimpse at the excitement Beth Kanter and Amy Sample Ward are already buzzing about around this year’s NTC…)

But like Holly mentioned on the NTEN blog, we’re going to need your help to do it and have a few ways you might be able to lend a helping hand:

1. Give to the Scholarship Fund.  NTEN will be able to waive registration fees for up to 57 attendees with scholarships this year.  Every dollar of your gift will be matched by Convio, up to $10,000.
2. Donate Airline Miles.  Airfare can be one of the pricier parts of getting to the NTC.  If you have airline miles you’re willing to share, NTEN will help you find a scholarship recipient who needs them.
3. Spread the Word.   Put this great little widget made by NTEN to good use!  Just click the “Share” button to add it to your site, blog, Facebook or MySpace profile (most of our readers work in nptech so put your creative social media knowledge to use and share it throughout your many networks).

If you would like to receive a scholarship or airline miles, simply contact the folks at NTEN, and they’ll get back to you sometime after February 28.

A major hat tip to Beth for the fabulous and creative idea of coming together as a community and helping one another. I’m excited to see everyone pay it forward to help the overall community, and I hope to see you ALL at NTC this year!

Check out the widget! You can add this to your posts or site as well:

I am really looking forward to the 2009 Nonprofit Technology Conference, as I’ve explained before, and this is a perfect example of why:  the community.  The nonprofit tech community is one that supports itself, its members, and the sector.  Check out the Day of Service for more information about how you can support the community as part of the conference.

See you in San Francisco in May!