Non-Profit

Two key reports released on Second Life and education / non-profit sectors

The first is entitled: Best Practices from the Second Life Community Convention Education Track 2007 and was prepared by Cathy Arreguin, MA Educational Technology.

Get the report here or further details on it here

The second is Best Practices for Non-profits in Second Life – Fall 2007 by Rik Panganiban.

Get the report here or further details on it here

If you work in either the education or non-profit sector these are well worth a read.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Kiva – real outcomes for the real world

I’m a bit slow off the mark with this one. Kiva is a brilliant non-profit organisation that funds disadvantaged individuals via microfinance. Essentially, you donate a minimum of $25 US to fund a person’s business and within 6-12 months the amount is paid back and you can choose to re-invest that amount in another venture or withdraw it from the scheme. The default rates are well below the developed world and Kiva has received a lot of attention from Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey which has grown Kiva substantially so it now has 16 staff administering the loans throughout the world.

I’ve invested some money in Kiva in recent months but was unaware that Kiva has been in Second Life for quite awhile. They’re launching some new in-world offices on the 5th January at 10.30am SL Time (6th January at 5.30am AEDT). If you can’t make the launch, do take the time to walk through their offices to find out more about the work they do.