Help Send Grassroots.org to TRAFFIC Las Vegas
TRAFFIC, Conferences & Tradeshows February 1st, 2008
Does anyone have a spare ticket to TRAFFIC Las Vegas that can be used by Grassroots.org? I was speaking with Angela Siefer, the director of this non-profit organization, and she said they don’t have the $2,000 budgeted to pay for a ticket to the show. Perhaps someone has a ticket they aren’t using, or maybe someone would be willing to make a tax deductible contribution to help them attend the conference.
Grassroots.org assists small to medium size charities establish an online presence (free web hosting, free first year domain registration, free SEO advice, volunteer web designers…etc), and they match select charities with MBA students to provide business and organizational advice. Their strategy is to utilize their connections within the Internet industry for the benefit of the nonprofit industry.
Donations to Grassroots.org in the form of a ticket or cash would be tax deductible. For more information about Grassroots.org or to make a donation (cash or domain donation), please contact Angela - angela[at]grassroots.org.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:37 am
Or the TRAFFIC organizers can send her a free invitation
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Domain Roundtable, GeoDomain Expo and DOMAINfest all give them multiple free passes for Grassroots.org staff and a free booth. TRAFFIC has declined. These folks are out there putting a good face on domainers and our industry. Let’s help them out. I personally pledge $200. Any one else willing?
***UPDATED BY ELLIOT***
I will add $100.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I cannot imagine TRAFFIC organizer Rick Schwartz not stepping up and offering Angela a Ticket. Rick is a stand up guy who wants to see this industry of ours grow, branch out and be a positive force. Grassroots.org is one of these places that will help do this and with all the other major confrences stepping up I suspect Rick will shortly.
***UPDATED BY ELLIOT***
Whether he does or doesn’t, we have raised over $300 to support Grassroots.org. I am happy to make my contribution.
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I have little sympathy for these non-profits who are typically quite weathly with often substantial income and assets.
The nonprofit organizations pay little if any income tax and enjoy other huge benefits.
Michael Mann is believed to be one of the wealthiest domainers of all time. Let him pay for TRAFFIC like everyone else. Just my 2 cents.
***UPDATED BY ELLIOT***
Oftentimes non-profits are founded by wealthy people who give a major donation, attach their names to the cause, and act on its behalf, however it’s quite unreasonable to expect them to foot the bill for everything. I don’t know what the financial situation of Grassroots.org is, but I was told they don’t have the money budgeted to attend. I think their mission statement is a worthwhile one, and that is why I blogged about it.
February 2nd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I received this email from Rick this morning:
“Hi Elliot,
We would love to help but the last 23 people have asked me to come for free or reduced rates and we just can’t do it. As much as I am a person who tries to say yes, we have very substantial costs and if we say no to one we say no to all. If we say yes to one we have to say yes to all. I hate always being in the position to say no. It sucks. But I have no choice.
Sorry.
Rick”
Whether Rick can give a free pass isn’t the issue right now. The issue is that Grassroots.org cannot fund the ticket from their budget, and they are looking to the domain community to help. It’s important for their mission that they attend, and if someone can offer support that would be great.
February 2nd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Trader, if you are ever uncertain about how a nonprofit spends its funds or where its funds come from you can research it on www.guidestar.org. You can even see how much the staff are paid. In our situation just enter Grassroots.org into the search box on Guidestar. Nonprofits must operate under full transparency. Grassroots.org has a $400,000 budget. Only 10% is spent on administrative costs.
We must fundraise to cover our budget. We cannot rely upon Mike Mann for two reasons: 1) If we were to be funded only by him then the IRS would not define us as a 501(c)3 public charity. 2) Relying upon one individual for funding is not a sound strategy. We need a diversified funding plan. Our income currently comes from foundations, Mike Mann and other individual donors.
I encourage folks to check out our site and see what we do. I am very proud of our services. We are currently assisting over 1000 charities and continually adding services. Not a minor accomplishment.
If you have questions about Grassroots.org, our services or our budget please contact me.
February 2nd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I appreciate that you posted the request in your blog asking if any businesses might have an extra ticket they could donate for use by a worthy nonprofit organization. The donated ticket could be a tax deduction and allow a nonprofit staffer to go to an event they could otherwise not afford to attend…and which could help them in their work. As Angela at Grassroots.org pointed out in her comment, a great way to learn more about a specific nonprofit that you might want to support is to go to www.Guidestar.org.
One of the ongoing issues for nonprofits is that they frequently have VERY limited funds for administrative costs which includes travel for professional development. Some donors, especially businesses, often will only provide dollars for program costs and direct service provision. There is a misconception that all nonprofits waste money on administration. OK, there have been a few cases where that was the case but all businesses are not Enron. Neither are all nonprofits wasteful. Most of the nonprofits I work with can squeeze so much value from $1, I am constantly amazed. How can any organization (nonprofit or not) provide quality services without proper management and oversight? The staff time and overhead expenditures needed to make that happen are critical and they aren’t free.
So back to the extra ticket - if you have one, give it to these folks. Sounds like a great opportunity to contribute a resource you will hardly miss…to do good.
For other ideas about how businesses can support nonprofits, go to www.businessphilanthropycoach.com or www.bnconnections.com.
February 2nd, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Susan, I SO appreciate your post. Thank you. It is also important to note that the nonprofits Susan describes are the nonprofits we assist. The large nonprofits do not need our services. The ones working on very tight budgets, those are the ones we assist. Those are the ones working on the ground to make a difference in their communities.
February 2nd, 2008 at 10:23 pm
One of the online apps we encourage our clients to set up is a way to accept online donations. There are various applications available to choose from. Folks can make a donation to Grassroots.org online at www.donate.grassroots.org and can choose how they would like the donation spent.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Are the people who attend TRAFFIC the type that GrassRoots.org helps? These attendees are the top in the industry and quite frankly don’t need GrassRoots.org’s service. Why attend the conference?
Furthermore, GrassRoots.org is already well-known with these folks. Anything Michael Mann touches is blasted out via his personal distribution list.