Fund launched to help nonprofits with technology needs

• Date: 01 July 2020
• Published date: 01 July 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30810

NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR JULY 2020

12 © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

disabled.

It also claimed there were no allegations that the

plaintiff was treated improperly based on his disabil-

ity because: (1) all of his supervisors had been aware

since 2013 that he was taking various medications

and seeing a psychiatrist; (2) the adverse employment

actions concerning promotions, vehicle use and over-

time only began after the contentious 2017 meeting

and (3) all of those adverse actions were a direct result

of his disruptive behavior at that meeting.

EMPLOYEE WINS ➔ However, the district court

judge refused to dismiss the claim, ruling that the plain-

tiff’s allegations had sufciently supported an inference

of the requisite causal connection between the adverse

employment actions and a perceived disability.

Scotto v. The City of New York, et al., U.S. District

Court for the Southern District of New York, No.

18-CV-04228, 12/09/2109). ■

News

Companies adapting giving

strategies due to COVID-19

New data released by nonprot software provider

Blackbaud show that U.S. corporations have modied

giving strategies in response to COVID-19-related

causes. The data were collected via Blackbaud’s

YourCause CSRconnect solution, which compa-

nies use to manage their corporate philanthropy

programs and their employees engagement within

CSR initiatives. The results show that companies by

and large are stepping up to support their nonprot

partners and their employees during the pandemic.

Key insights include:

• 82% of companies are giving employees a choice

of which nonprot to support for COVID-19 relief.

This is leading to much higher engagement rates—

those offering COVID-19 fundraising opportunities

are seeing employees engage 15 times more than

average, the data show.

• Nearly 50% of companies have donations spe-

cically allocated to COVID-19 efforts.

• Corporations are matching their employees’ COV-

ID-19 relief donations at a rate of 1.6 times: 60% of

dollars donated to COVID-19 efforts have been funded

from the company’s portion of the match program.

In April and May, Blackbaud CSR customers con-

tributed to more than 5,000 nonprot organizations

and more than 58,000 donations have been transacted

every business hour during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blackbaud is supporting these efforts through en-

hancements to its platform, such as built-in tagging

integration with its nonprot-oriented software so

that charities can designate activities directly as-

sociated with COVID-19 efforts. This integration

allows companies and their employees to easily nd

COVID-19-related virtual volunteer and fundraising

opportunities in their area, the company said.

Blackbaud has also been proactively encouraging

nonprot organizations to register for Automated

Clearing House (ACH), so they can receive donations

electronically, the company said.

For more information, visit https://www.blackbaud.

com.

Fund launched to help nonprots

with technology needs

TechSoup, a leading provider of technology

solutions for nonprot organizations globally, has

launched the COVID-19 Response Fund to help

grassroots nonprots make necessary technology

investments—even while continuing to serve their

constituents in the midst of a global pandemic.

According to the company, the Response Fund

supports technology hardware and tools, training and

services to charities, with priority going to small or-

ganizations that provide social services. The Fund has

already secured support and funding from a number of

companies, including VMware and Microsoft Corp.,

as well as foundations like the Funders 2025 Fund.

“As a nonprot network operating in 236 countries

and territories, we’ve heard from NGOs around the

world that COVID-19 is placing unprecedented de-

mands on their operations, just as they are needed

most,” said TechSoup CEO Rebecca Masisak.

The Response Fund launch comes as TechSoup has

seen a substantial increase in demand for services from

its nonprot clients, which has led to surges in website

trafc, increased engagement with organization news-

letters and a change in technology acquisition patterns.

In addition to making new products available to

nonprots, TechSoup will host virtual workshops on

managing the impact of COVID-19, covering tools,

strategies and resources to help nonprots manage

remote workers.

For more information, visit https://www.techsoup.

org. ■