Among the many thousands of after school programs in the U.S. in schools, libraries, local governments, and nonprofits, it was tough to choose just one to profile this week, but I chose YouthBuild Boston because of my fondness for green tech. They even use TechSoup Microsoft software donations to rehab...

April was Earth Month but extending green habits all year-round not only benefits the planet - it helps your organization too. The April edition of Nonprofits Live looked at environmental policy, sustainable practices, and nonprofit sustainability case studies. NPLive welcomed guest contributors Jon...

TechSoup’s Refurbished Computer Initiative (RCI) has provided warrantied refurbished computers and other IT devices to nonprofits and libraries for seven years now. In taking stock of things this Earth week we thought we’d take a look at how far we’ve come. Just the environmental benefits...

In a time when climate change and developing the green economy are somewhat passé, nonprofits have not given up on the mission. One nonprofit doing great work effectively and with great agility is 350.org . 350.org is building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis and push for...

As part of celebrating Earth Day throughout the month of April, we'll be featuring posts about how to make your nonprofit or library more environmentally friendly. This post, from Bo Bandy at our donor partner ReadyTalk , originally appeared on their blog . As government agencies continue to document...

As part of celebrating Earth Day throughout the month of April, we'll be featuring posts about how to make your nonprofit or library more environmentally friendly. This post, from John at our donor partner ReadyTalk , originally appeared on their blog . As government agencies begin to implement telework...

Are you working to reduce energy costs, cut back on paper use, or to bring cloud IT to your team? Most organizations attempt sustainable efforts but few create comprehensive campaigns to be greener and accountable for resource use. For the month of April and Earth Day we are focusing on green technology...

This roster of shocking statistics about wasting paper was originally part of TechSoup's GreenTech Initiative's Reduce Your Paper Use challenge. These statistics, we hope. convey why it is so important to conserve paper in your organization's office. Office Paper Use In this decade, it is...

It's hard to get companies to stop sending junk mail and catalogs, but it is a colossal waste of paper. Here are some practical things that nonprofits, businesses, and consumers can do about reducing all the junk paper cluttering their offices. Why Opt Out? Getting rid of junk mail is worthwhile...

It’s nearly time for spring cleaning, so get your tech in order and improve your efficiency with some simple do-it-yourself activities that can be done in just a day. Particularly important for smaller nonprofits and libraries, troubleshooting problems, maintaining your technology, learning new...

Over the last few months NTEN has been surveying U.S. nonprofits on their use of cloud services. Their results are now in and are quite interesting. To quote Annaliese Hoeling, NTEN’s publications director: A couple of the biggest take-aways for us were that 91 percent of nonprofits taking our...

This is a guest blog post from Salem Kimble, the manager of social media development at TechSoup's donor partner, BetterWorld Telecom . It’s National Telework Week - March 5 - 9, where individuals and organizations pledge to telework for one week. In celebration, BetterWorld is offering special...

This is a guest post from Salem Kimble, the manager of social media development at TechSoup's donor partner, BetterWorld Telecom . It is a testimonial and review from Brooke Towne of FishWise, a nonprofit that received donated equipment and discounted services with BetterWorld Telecom through TechSoup...

In 2010, TechSoup's GreenTech initiative held a travel reduction campaign that we called our TeleGreen Your Work . It turned out to be a lame name, but we did compile some pretty useful information. I liked our 10 technology tips to help you reduce your need to travel, and also our travel reduction...

Long-time technology journalist Ed Bott just came out with his seven favorite Windows 7 utilities that he installs every time he sets up a new PC. Definitely worth a look at this top seven list. The utilities he likes are: 7-Zip File Manager ClipMate Ninite Ninite Updater RoboForm Snagit 10 Synergy 7...

The media is constantly going on and on about iPads and other tablet computers, but computer makers this year seem to be betting on a different type of computing device – the ultrabook . Most ordinary people I talk to about ultrabooks haven’t a clue what they are, but the fact remains that...

The big computer makers are not the only ones who offer free and responsible end-of-life recycling of their PCs that have finally reached the end of their usefulness. TechSoup’s Refurbished Computer Initiative (RCI) does as well. Just like Dell and HP, we want make sure that our RCI computers are...

One of the great things about smartphones is that they are so easy to carry around. They’re especially convenient for email. Too bad it’s so hard to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files on them – or is it? Check out some cool apps that do just that. Mobile Apps for Office Productivity...

Over on the NetSquared blog , we’ve just announced the winner of the 2011 Net2 All-Star Invitational, an event we hosted to highlight the work and impact of NetSquared social innovation projects. We want to offer our congratulations to the winners: the folks at Open Green Map! Open Green Map is...

This past July the Obama Administration announced its National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship . It is the United States' first comprehensive policy that addresses the proper handling of used or discarded electronics devices. The policy is designed to increase industrial capacity in electronics...

This week we’d like to introduce you to a unique TechSoup Refurbished Computer Initiative partner, InterConnection, a nonprofit computer refurbisher in Seattle. What, you may ask, makes InterConnection unique? I’m so glad you asked. InterConnection is a nonprofit refurbisher that has figured...

This is an update of a TechSoup article we posted online in September 2009. During those two years, not only has the used computer market been in question, but also there has been major buzz in the IT press about whether or not we're entering a “post-PC” era. The post-PC era was announced...

On November 2, we wrapped up our Cloud Computing Worldwide campaign with a tweet chat on cloud computing for nonprofits, NGOs, and public libraries. TechSoup.org coproduced the chat with our partners TechSoup Canada and Connecting Up Australia . It was a great chat, made even more interesting by the...

Refurbished computers are not for every organization, so we thought it’d be interesting to talk to someone who is using refurbished equipment in their nonprofit to find out how it’s going. This is an interview between Keli Sullivan, TechSoup’s RCI Program specialist and Candice Erdmann...

One of our missions at TechSoup Global is to supply low-cost refurbished IT equipment to nonprofits and libraries. That in itself is good and useful, but a surprising additional aspect of this is that refurbished and remanufactured electronic devices provide the most environmentally friendly way to acquire...