TWINTEL Solutions

Need professional development, but don’t have a budget for travel or tuition? Here are a bunch of free or relatively affordable upcoming trainings we’ve spotted recently – ones you can join from the comfort of your own desk or couch. Special thanks to Ben Hastil for his contributions to this roundup. Telling your organization’s story [...]

Yesterday we released a new set of features to make it easier to find the people, organizations, and opportunities that matter most to you. Play around and let us know what you think! Click on any of the listing types (Jobs, Volunteer Opportunities, etc.) in the header on Idealist.org, or start a search based on [...]

We’re 10 days into the new year, which means it’s a great time for some of us to reflect on our organizations’ year-end fundraising efforts, our personal giving decisions, or both. Here’s a report (a PDF) from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project that affirms: Nonprofits of every size and description make a special effort to identify [...]

Sometimes human resources professionals get a bad rap. Nancy Kowalski, an HR Manager at a Washington, DC nonprofit, doesn’t like seeing her field depicted as a bunch of “strict, robotic naysayers.” If you don’t either, check out our latest installment of HR Connections, where Nancy offers three ways she’s positioning HR as a positive force [...]

If your New Year’s resolution was to make the everyday a little more awesome, check out today’s idea incubating model. Browse more Idea File posts here. The idea Every month, a group of 10 volunteer “micro-trustees” from a chapter of the Awesome Foundation each shell out $100 to fund an innovative idea in their city. [...]

How happy are we? Most everyone would agree that being happy is a good thing—along with the coming of spring, a robust economy, and clean air to breathe. For most nations, there are detailed, current statistics about the weather, the state of the economy, and the atmosphere (not to mention many other things). Statistics about [...]

Today Josh Sanburn of TIME Moneyland points out that since a lot of other folks are checking out for the coming week or two, this might be a good time to buckle down and focus on your job search if you have some spare time. Here at Idealist, our site traffic does slow very predictably [...]

No matter how you look at it, the next couple of weeks are sure to be full of a special seasonal energy. For some, that energy can verge on manic, which kind of takes the fun out of it. For example, gift buying can get expensive. PNC Wealth Management calculates the 2011 cost of the [...]

12.12.2011: The bullets in this post have been updated to include the percentages of social media jobs (out of all jobs posted on Idealist) each year. Fellow Idealist Jeremy and I recently ran a little test to see how frequently “social media” appears in job postings on our site. Here’s how many listings have included [...]

In a recent post on our nonprofit HR blog, we encourage hiring managers to ask behavioral questions: Behavioral interviewing enables you to deeply evaluate candidates’ past work experiences, their knowledge, and their behaviors in order to accurately predict how they will perform in your organization. This type of system … focuses on their behaviors and [...]

[UPDATE, Dec. 2, 2011: Thanks for your interest! We are no longer reviewing applications for this position.] Idealist is hiring an Accounting/Office Manager to be based in our sunny midtown Manhattan office. Want to help our audits, and our office, run smoothly? Or do you know someone else who might? Click here to read the [...]

This month’s IdealistHR newsletter is hot off the presses! November’s issue features an article about behavioral interviews (Does your hiring process need an overhaul?) and another about alternatives to the “potentially stomach-knotting office gift exchange” (‘Tis the season…). Peruse the IdealistHR archives or sign up for monthly emails by and for nonprofit human resources professionals [...]

Do you have student loans? Are you thinking about borrowing money for grad school? The latest episode of the Idealist Grad Schools Podcast takes a closer look at two student debt relief programs established by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The program requirements can be confusing, so I chatted with Heather Jarvis about [...]

“There are support services for vets, but a lot of vets don’t want to be helped,” says Joanne Dennis, Director of Program Development at Team Rubicon, a nonprofit that unites the skills and experiences of military veterans in disaster response, and also helps aid the transition back to civilian life. “Vets don’t want your pity, [...]

Student loan expert Heather Jarvis writes: On October 25, the Obama administration announced executive orders designed to assist struggling student loan borrowers. The President announced two new student loan initiatives: Pay As You Earn, making the Income-Based Repayment plan more generous for certain borrowers by fast-tracking improvements to the way payments are calculated and reducing [...]

Idealist is searching for a Director of Development to be based in our New York City office. The application deadline is November 21. If you are excited about this possibility, or know someone who would be, please check out the job listing and feel free to spread the word. Thanks!

You may have noticed some differences to Idealist.org today, especially if you logged in to your account. Here’s a rundown of some of the updates that will make your experience on Idealist easier: We’ve added quick links in the header (at the top of the page under our logo) to search for jobs, organizations, people, [...]

It’s time for our final four graduate degree fairs of 2011: Atlanta, November 1 Houston, November 3 New Orleans, November 7 Chapel Hill, November 12 All of these events are free and open to the public, so please feel free to spread the word! The better our turnout at these fairs, the more likely we’ll [...]

It’s that time of year! While many of us have been gathering treats for the goblins and ghouls who will appear at our doors tonight, fundraising and communications professionals at nonprofits across the country have been anxiously preparing their year-end fundraising appeals. Why “anxiously”? Because the year-end appeal often makes the difference between a strong [...]

Need funding and mentors to get your social change project off the ground? Here’s a handful of contests and fellowships we’ve spotted recently. If you know of others we should promote, leave a comment below. Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition WHO: University students WHEN: Deadline is November 9 WHAT: The University of Washington invites student teams [...]