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We recently launched another great Soapbox site, this time for Mercy Investment Services, an asset management program for the collective investment and professional management of the endowment, operating, and other funds of the Sisters of Mercy and the eligible sponsored and co-sponsored ministries that choose to participate, all of which are tax-exempt organizations engaged in religious and charitable activities. The idea behind the program is that, by combining their assets, participants may obtain lower costs for the investment of their funds and access to better performing investment managers than each would otherwise have. Here are some of our favorite, and notable features for the new site:
Mercy Investment Services is connected to the Sisters of Mercy Communities, for whom we’ve built several community sites. You can read more about those here and here.
We’ve been newly minted as a grade A, bona fide B Corporation and we couldn’t be happier with the certification. As described by the B Corporation website, “B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.” That’s PICnet, in a nutshell, and we’re happy to join the growing community of 250+ B Corporations dedicating themselves to more than just the bottom line. That’s exactly the kind of folks we want to be associated with and we’re proud of the company we’ll be keeping If you want to learn more about our fellow B Corporation friends and details of what it means to be certified, check out http://www.bcorporation.net. Last week, I attended a beginner Joomla! training. As someone who doesn’t deal with Joomla! or Soapbox or much of the other projects that my colleagues do on a daily basis, this was a new experience for me. I learned how to add articles online, connect websites (such as Google and YouTube) to the training website using Joomla’s wrapper feature, and was even able to start the design of my own site online! I may not be a Joomla! wizard just yet, but I thought it was a great introduction to some of the cool stuff our PICnet team works on, and the information is invaluable to me better understanding Joomla and Soapbox. Thanks to PICnet and the NOVA JUG for making this happen!
KIPP NYC is an organization focused on results and results it has shown. Over its lifetime, it can consistently grown to educate more students from low-income families and give them a true opportunity to seek higher education. Their programs have extended from kindergarten to college prep, all supported by a dedicated staff of dynamic teachers. These programs have helped 95% of students score at or higher than the state average in math, 93% of students to finish high school, and 86% of graduates go to college. In December, PICnet launched a brand new website for the organization, encasing information on various programs, a professional design, and multimedia on staff and students. It consolidated information from several websites on different programs onto one universal and streamlined site. Some key components of the project:
KIPP NYC is on track to having 50% of their graduates finish college in 6 years in the next two years. The organization’s goal is to strengthen and expand their programs so that 75% of their graduates complete their college degree, compared to national average of 10% for low-income communities. If you would like to learn more or support these students and teachers in their endeavor, please visit them on the web at http://www.kippnyc.org/. Start the New Year off right by attending the next Soapbox Salon at PICnet. You bring your Joomla! or Non-Profit Soapbox questions, ideas, and lunch, and we’ll bring answers and refreshments. At this month’s session, join members of the PICnet team as we discuss cool tips to help your Web site rise in the Google rankings, without the snake oil or magic potion. When: Thursday, January 28, 2010 Please RSVP by Wed, January 27 by clicking the link below and registering for the event. Questions? Contact Julie Dennis at julie@picnet.net or by calling (202) 585-0273 Register here: http://bit.ly/57K0C2 We hope to see you there! You have a very large video file, pdf or document… or you have a large number of smaller files. These can become too large to store on your web server, and they can quickly push your beyond your bandwidth allowance. So, what do you do? One solution worth considering is Amazon’s S3 cloud storage solution. S3 allows you to store large amounts of data at a surprisingly low cost. Additionally, the cost structure is scalable, so you will only ever pay for what you use. All that means is that it is a service that allows you to store data in the “cloud” in a way that is fast, cheap and reliable.
The new site is informative and engaging, with aggressive integration through Democracy In Action for events, campaigns, and eNewsletter sign-up and templates. It also includes liberal use of WuFoo custom forms for robust online grant and fellowship applications. One final cool feature is a Google Map integration displaying more than 100 charter schools in New York that links to more details and content within the site and to the individual schools’ websites. As the newest PICnetter, I am so grateful to be finishing this year working at a company that helps promote non-profits through technology. I have truly enjoyed working with everyone thus far and seeing how our team work really paid off. However, one of the things I’m most looking forward to next year is actually meeting the other PICnetters! Because we have two branches (one in DC and one in San Francisco) as well as employees in Rhode Island and Chicago, I have spoken many times with my fellow co-workers and seen pictures of them, but I have yet to meet them in person. Our annual retreat, to be held sometime next spring, should take care of this problem! Each year, our team gets together from our various cross-country destinations to discuss goals within PICnet, chat about life, and have some sightseeing fun in DC. I’m looking forward to helping plan and attend next year’s retreat to learn more about these PICnetters I’ve only heard via the phone or written via email. Perhaps that sounds dorky, but what can I say? I just love meeting people – especially people I feel I already know so well:) So many of our clients give back to their communities year-round, which we love. And we’ve shared some stories with you this year of our PICnetters giving back through service over the last few months, so it’s only fitting to give a little update on how our team is spreading the holiday spirit.
Although PICnet doesn’t have a direct role in giving back to the community, all of our employees feel a strong sense of sharing what we have with others who are less fortunate. At PICnet, we’re always looking for new talent, and right now we’re on a mission: adding another stellar Project Manager to our team to help deliver the high-quality service our non-profit, association, and congressional clients expect. We’re specifically looking for fun individuals from our non-profit sector with experience in the Web development process (Joomla experience is a huge plus). Our Non-Profit Soapbox platform is a Joomla-based content management system used by non-profits and socially responsible businesses to easily manage their Web communications. We’re looking to keep up with demand by adding the right project management talent to our team. Think you’ve got what it takes? Read on… |
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