This is great and I hope they raise a lot of money

A tree-mendous month! Due to all of our upcoming events we are extending our inaugural MillionTreesNYC Month through May 18. Find out the latest events.

About A Million Trees:
MillionTreesNYC, one of the 127 PlaNYC initiatives, is a citywide, public-private program with an ambitious goal: to plant and care for one million new trees across the City’s five boroughs over the next decade. By planting one million trees, New York City can increase its urban forest—our most valuable environmental asset made up of street trees, park trees, and trees on public, private and commercial land—by an astounding 20%, while achieving the many quality-of-life benefits that come with planting trees.

The City of New York will plant 60% of trees in parks and other public spaces. The other 40% will come from private organizations, homeowners, and community organizations.

Hat tip to City Room blog.

Hat tip to TechCrunch, “Microsoft’s i’m Initiative, which launched in March 2007, has expanded to include Hotmail. The program donates a portion of the ad revenue generated through Hotmail and Messenger to any of ten worthwhile causes.”

Background on Microsoft i’m:

i’m is an initiative from Microsoft. Every time you use Windows Live™ Messenger or Windows Live Hotmail®, our free webmail service, Microsoft shares a portion of the program’s advertising revenue with an organization of your choice from a selection of some of the world’s most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. We’ve set no cap on the amount we’ll donate to each organization. The sky’s the limit. And it’s free.

If you’re interested in lunch with Alan Greenspan, check out the CharityBuzz auction going on right now!

Seth Godin says that there will be a coming backlash over green marketing. He references a marketing campaign that says Tumi will plant trees if you buy a specific line of luggage. Also relevant is this story about “green” Barbie: The Ultimate Greenwashing: Barbie Goes Green.

The fact that it’s so hard to quantify a product’s carbon footprint is the root cause of this marketing problem. (It’s the classic measurement issue that we see recurring in the social sector). For now, we have, from the FTC: Part 260 — GUIDES FOR THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING CLAIMS.

And if you’re a marketer that really cares about being green, Seth says you “should be scrambling right now to find a number or an organization that can defend the green brand. If not, it’s going to be worthless and a great opportunity for improvement is going to be lost.”

Sorry, but you’ll have to read his post to understand what he’s saying.

Here’s some new research from Deloitte on skills-based volunteerism:

Many corporate CEOs say acquiring and developing the right talent is their number one challenge. So it’s not surprising that the business community invests heavily in it - upwards of $100 billion a year, according to the American Society of Training & Development. The new research from Deloitte suggests that as business leaders grapple with the effects of a shaky economy, including intense pressure to more quickly and cost-effectively develop the next generation of business leaders, most are overlooking a valuable option that’s right under their nose: skills-based volunteering.

Link to Deloitte.

boardnetUSA is a website that’s designed to be a marketplace where nonprofits looking to fill board seats can connect with individuals looking to serve on nonprofit boards.

The Volunteer Consulting Group, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization in New York City with over 30 years of experience aiding in the development and strengthening of nonprofit organizations, initially developed the concept of boardnetUSA. With assistance from philanthropic and corporate supporters the Volunteer Consulting Group serves as the primary management and coordinating entity of the growing national network that is boardnetUSA.

Link to site

Peep Laja writes:

Hi guys,
Something you might be interested in:

A friend of mine is starting a social venture where she is helping to empower the indigenous women of Ngoble-Bugle (a tribe living in northern Panama) through giving them access to the world market by selling their amazing handicraft to the world. These women make the most amazing bags from plant
fiber. It takes 2-3 months to make one bag, and they are awesome.

Until now these women had no access to the market. There are hardly any roads leading to where they live, not to mention anything else. Sometimes a buyer goes to the villages and forces these women to sell their bags for just a couple of dollars. Couple of dollars for bags which took over a thousand years
to design and over 2 months to make. Now Sarah (the social entrepreneur in the making) is giving them a fair price for the work and providing these women access to the whole world.

She started a blog where she is talking about each step of setting up this venture. A great way to see positive change happening step by step. Link: http://www.bagsmakeadifference.com

Best,
Peep

The YouthBuild Public Charter School, a cutting-edge educational facility blending the widely acclaimed YouthBuild national service program with a service-oriented and non-traditional academic curriculum, seeks nominations and applications for their next Executive Director. YouthBuild Public Charter School (YouthBuild PCS) is one of the only bilingual alternative high school in Washington, D.C. and offers students ages 16-24 who have either dropped out or have been expelled from traditional schools, but who have decided to make positive changes in their lives, the ability to earn both their GED and the practical skills necessary for success in the real world.

A longer, more detailed position description may be found at: http://www.nonprofitprofessionals.com/searches/ybpcs-ed.htm.

Global Social Venture Finals are today. Check out www.socialvc.net for details.

Here’s the page if you want to see the teams in the finals

Bio Power Technology- Prasetiya Mulya Business School, Indonesia

BioVolt- MIT Sloan School of Management

Build Your Own Village- Gordon Institute of Business Science, South Africa

Defen Safety Syringe- National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Fair Planet Brasil- ESSEC Business School, France

Greenlight Organic- University of California, Davis

Husk Power Systems- Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia

Market for Change- Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

MicroEnergy Credit Corporation- Columbia Business School

Wine with a Passion- Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University