When it comes to choosing your costume this Halloween, try this one on for size: go as a do-gooder.
Even though Halloween typically takes the back seat to Thanksgiving and Christmas when it comes to charitable holidays, this festive day has plenty of potential to serve as an opportunity to help those in need.
Whether collecting money for a charity you support door-to-door, or giving that leftover candy to those who might need it more, here are some ways to treat others this fall...while still getting to save some chocolate for yourself.

In recent months we’ve seen several third party websites raise money for charities based on user’s online behaviour, but according to US company Bellstrike, only 27 percent of not-for-profit organizations collect donations online themselves. Bellstrike offer a free web design, build and hosting service to remove the hassle from online fundraising.

Seven Tips for Successful Holiday Marketing Campaigns It's no longer a question of either-or. Savvy entrepreneurs know that both email and social media are important parts of a successful marketing strategy. Using the right tools to get the right message to the right audience is critical over the holidays, when businesses and organizations are pulling out all the stops to capture consumers’ attention and dollars.

Eastern Turkey was hit by a large earthquake of magnitude 7.2 yesterday. The earthquake, whose epicentre was about 16 km north of Van province, devastated the area where many buildings were demolished with many people buried under the ruins.

What’s a Vivanista exactly? It sounds like a woman’s name, but it’s actually an anagram for the different characteristics that represent this organization that supports causes through fundraising and event best practices. (Learn what each letter stands for here.)

In preparation for the November 9 Give to the Max Day, nonprofits in the DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia communities participated in person or tuned into the live stream of a one-day online fundraising workshop with the industry’s top experts.
Beth Kanter kicked off the event with a campfire story setting, sharing insight from her experience as a free agent fundraiser. It took a lot of hard work, but after conducting several online fundraisers, she found a few key elements for success:

America’s big charities expect fund raising to rise in 2011, but the increase won’t come close to making up ground they lost in the downturn.

The Dallas Cowboys just got “pinked.” And not just the Cowboys. The entire Cowboys Stadium here. Pink is everywhere: around the goalposts, in the crowd, on the players’ cleats, towels and wristbands.

In the wake of humanitarian disasters, such as the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 and the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan in March 2011, Americans unfailingly respond with a rapid outpouring of donations to nonprofit organizations that mobilize to provide emergency aid and rebuilding assistance.  This eGuide provides insights gleaned from ten years of powering those disaster donations and proactive recommendations to help companies expand their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs to include timely and effective disaster giving campaigns for customers and emplo