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Interview with Partnership for Families

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Partnership for Families (PFF) provides resources for vulnerable families with young children to ensure a solid education while creating safe and healthy environments for children to grow and thrive. PFF partners with other organizations that engage in early literacy and learning that will benefit families to better support their children. A challenge that PFF faces … Read more

Volunteer opportunities for IT4Causes!

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IT4Causes is a nonprofit organization that is also an IT consulting firm. We work to understand our nonprofit agencies’ needs and deliver the most useful services to improve their outcomes. With an organization like us, we are always looking for and reaching out to volunteers and those who are interested in working with us. Here … Read more

Let Freedom Ring!

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As the 4th of July is upon us, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on freedom, and what it means to us at IT4Causes.  We believe that people helping people is one of the things that makes this country great, and we’re here to enable people in information technology to do this on their … Read more

Meet One of Our New Interns

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Hello! My name is John Rymer, and I am excited to be serving as one of the Nonprofit Management Interns for the summer. I am a rising senior studying Business Management and Marketing at the University of Richmond. This summer, I’ll get to help IT4Causes with reaching new partners and foundations, and hopefully gain some … Read more

What Are Nonprofits Saying About IT4Causes

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The partnerships with our local nonprofits have been very successful. We interviewed our clients about the services that we provided, and how we helped these organizations thrive. Let’s hear what some of our happy customers have to say about IT4Causes and the impact that we helped create! If you are interested in learning more about … Read more

New Partner: Leadership Metro Richmond

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We are excited to announce our new partnership with Leadership Metro Richmond Leadership Metro Richmond is a regional chapter that focuses on community leadership development and engagement organization. LMR was started in 1980 to improve racial, gender, and socio-economic divides in our area’s community leadership. LMR conducts a 10 month leadership development program called Leadership … Read more

ReEstablish Richmond Community Summit

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ReEstablish Richmond

IT4Causes conducted a Community Summit on IT Investment. We had many amazing nonprofit partners attend as we shared our progress and plans for the future. We also recorded some of our partners speaking some of the things that were discusses. Above is linked a video of Kate Ayers describing a small portion of the impact that IT4Causes has been able to have on ReEstablish Richmond. ReEstablish Richmond strives to provide culturally competent services to refugees who have been resettled in Richmond. They design every program with specific strategies to meet their diverse needs. Supplying them with all the tools they will need to successfully maneuver an thrive, ReEstablish Richmond works to support refugees and help break down the barriers along their path to self-sufficiency.

IT4Causes is proud to have helped Reestablish Richmond with a wide variety of assistance, including converting to Office 365 email, setting up a fundraising system, and integrating many different spreadsheets into a more comprehensive client tracking system. To do this work, we leveraged a small grant from Flashpoint Fund.

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Subscription For Event Series

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2017 Event Series Logo

Hello to all of IT4Causes, supporters, volunteers, and peers! We are so excited to announce our new Traveling Events Series!

This series will be held on different dates from April  to November and throughout the series you will be able to enjoy various unique experiences with food, drinks, networking opportunities, and some pretty exciting amusements that will create an unforgettable time at different locations all around Richmond. We will have live music performances at the Firehouse Theater, go riding on a Canal Cruise downtown,  share a belated Fourth of July barbecue at Ardent Craft Ales, and enjoy the sunset from the rooftop at 804RVA. The series finale will be our Tech4All 2.0 event, where you’ll get to meet many of the nonprofits we serve while also discovering some cool new technologies.  This is definitely something that you do not want to miss, so to ensure that you can guarantee your spot at every event, we are offering a special Event Series Subscription.

Subscriptions give you guaranteed admission to all events and cover all food, drinks, and entertainment for each event, as well as early access to networking.  Plus you get access to all 5 events (and perhaps a subscriber-only event, too) for the price of just 4.  If you’re unable to make one event, Subscriptions give you the ability to transfer your admission to a friend or colleague who might want to come instead. Subscriptions also include a number of Plus 1 tickets to each event that allow you to bring friends at a discounted rate.

If the subscription option isn’t the right fit for you, there is still the option to buy tickets for each individual event (not at the great cost offered by the Subscription though). Tickets include the coverage of food and drink as well as the chance to network with different nonprofits and small businesses. However, no matter what option you choose, everyone will be able to have unique experiences and entertainments for every event.

We can’t wait to present our Traveling Series to you! We guarantee it will not be one to miss!!

Click here to Subscribe!

Sponsorship Event Series

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IT4Causes is excited to kick off our 2017 Event Series! This event series will be unique as we will hold numerous events starting in April and ending in November in different unique locations throughout Richmond. This event series is meant to enable fundraising and multiple networking opportunities for all those who participate. However, we cannot … Read more

Highlighting Our Community: Keith Reynolds

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It4Causes is excited to highlight Keith Reynolds. Keith is one of the co-founders of Synapse Hubs, a networking platform that seeks to create connections between small businesses and nonprofit organizations. We had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Keith and interview him on the amazing work that he is accomplishing in Richmond. Keith … Read more

Our New Client : United Spinal Association

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IT4Causes is excited to present one of our newest clients, the United Spinal Association Chapter in Richmond, Virginia. Their mission is to support and provide resources to people with Spinal Cord Injury/Disease (SCI/D) and assist them in achieving their highest level of health, independence and quality of life. They also provide support and educate the … Read more

Valentines Day:  We love our supporters

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It’s Valentine’s Day! and we at IT4Causes just want to give a huge shoutout to say that We Love Our Supporters! To everyone that has volunteered for us. To all who have sponsored and donated. To anyone that has attended any of our events. To our amazing partner agencies and those who have helped us network … Read more

February Volunteer Newsletter

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We hope your off to a great new year! Last year was a great year for us and we hope it was a good year for you as well. Thanks to your generous gifts of time and talent, IT4Causes served 22 agencies across the Richmond area! As the new year gets rolling, we hope you’ll … Read more

IT4Causes is Hiring and Recruiting Volunteers for Lynchburg, VA!

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IT4Lynchburg

There’s a new way to get IT done for nonprofits, and it’s coming to Lynchburg.  Help IT4Causes enable Region 2000 agencies to become more effective and efficient using a proven model for success.  Because most nonprofits can’t afford their own Chief Information Officers and full-time technology staff, we give them access to top-notch IT professionals through contracts that blend paid and pro bono experts, volunteers, and workforce development participants.  We’ve been using awesome people, great technology, and best practices to deliver world-class information technology solutions to nonprofits in Richmond for over two years, and now we’re looking to expand our impact into the Lynchburg-Roanoke region.  We need civic-minded IT professionals of all skill levels and disciplines to help us make good programs better & improve the lives of many in the region.  Here’s who we need to make it happen:

IT Director/Fractional CIO for Nonprofits (paid position)
(skip to volunteer positions)

We’re looking for an IT leader with broad experience in technology, who can think strategically, plan tactically, manage practically, as well as perform some system administration tasks.  We’ll provide you with at least one initial nonprofit client in Lynchburg to get you started, and help you identify and land additional work with other agencies in the region.

Our ideal candidate has the following attributes:

Skills:

  • Consultant-grade ability to listen, understand current technology capabilities, follow emerging industry trends, and envision new approaches
  • Core knowledge across many technical disciplines, including networks, communications, info security, systems administration, client-server, and cloud-based solutions
  • Knowledge and ability to support Windows servers, third-party applications, networks, security systems, virus protection, and hardware configurations
  • Ability to effectively communicate technical concepts to non-IT audiences
  • Unending desire to learn new technologies as well as troubleshoot and maintain existing ones
  • Excellent written and verbal communications as well as presentation skills
  • Outgoing personality that builds professional networks across organizations
  • Exceptional project and time management skills to work with multiple clients and projects simultaneously
  • Confidence to make informed decisions

Experience:

  • Proven leader of organizations, projects, and people, including volunteers
  • 10+ years leading/deploying 3rd party applications to solve for business needs and/or managing IT operations
  • Some experience recruiting and managing volunteers as well as staff
  • Demonstrated capability to sell strategic IT improvements to non-IT customers

Values:

  • Cares about having an Impact
  • Values collaboration over competition
  • Loves innovating and start-up thinking, especially to benefit the community
  • Appreciates the experience and knowledge of others
  • Believes in developing others through mentorship and guidance

Full compensation will be dependent upon ability to help close deals for additional work at new clients.  We offer help with health insurance premiums, and an unparalleled opportunity for IT professionals to have an impact in their communities.  If this sounds like you, and you’re looking for a unique way to be a force for good through technology, please contact IT4Causes CEO Tom Anderson at 804.241.2555  or Thomas.anderson@IT4Causes.org.  We look forward to hearing from you soon!


 

 

 

IT Pro Bono Experts and Skilled IT Volunteers

IT4Causes’ success depends on the service of community-minded IT professionals who are willing to commit their time and expertise in bite-sized chunks to help nonprofits better serve their missions.  If you’ve got IT knowledge and would like to volunteer, IT4Causes is here to guide you to the right opportunity.  Our staff are expert at taking the business requirements of nonprofits, identifying solutions, and breaking projects into small tasks for individual volunteers.  In general, we try to break work into pieces that the right volunteers can execute in 8 hours or less, over the course of 2 weeks.  Once that commitment is done, you can take on more or walk away knowing your time and talent contribution will be combined with the work of others as part of a sustainable solution for a great cause.  While we are actively seeking to build a base of IT pros in Central Virginia, most of our current assignments could be performed remotely. Our volunteer needs are constantly evolving with our client and project base, and right now we’re looking for volunteers with skills in these areas:

  • IT Consulting
  • Networks
  • Windows Small Business Server and Exchange Server
  • IT Security
  • End-user support
  • IT Project Management
  • Electronic Health Records
  • Access and/or SQL Database
  • Case Management Systems
  • CRM and fundraising solutions

If you’re ready to use your IT skills to help those who serve your community, please visit www.IT4Causes.org/volunteer and complete our volunteer application.

Better Housing Coalition

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BHC

Founded in 1988, Better Housing Coalition is the Richmond region’s largest not-for-profit community development corporation. Their mission is to change lives and transform communities by combining long term solutions with high-quality, affordable housing and ongoing support services for residents.

Better Housing Coalition’s focus is to build more than just a building but to create buildings that individuals can call home. Driven by respect for residents, community, and the environment; the Better Housing Coalition use sustainable materials while preserving neighborhood character in order to allow seniors to age in place, families to prosper financially, and children to aspire to bright futures. They are dedicated to tending to distinct resident needs through becoming permanent residents of the community and developing long lasting relationships. Better Housing Coalition rebuilds communities from the inside out to ensure the practice of healthy vibrant communities inclusive to all. Better Housing Coalition believes that by doing so they are able to build a better future with lasting change one brick at a time.

IT4Cause is helping BHC’s employees get access to internal company data by building an Intranet using Microsoft’s SharePoint technology.  We’ve engaged a pro bono SharePoint expert from Impact Makers, who is bringing a great process to the effort, facilitating conversations with the client, and teaching our interns how to build individual department pages.  One intern has developed mocks of what the pages will look like, so customer expectation are set appropriately, and we’re providing training so that BHC staff can maintain this system on their own going forward.  So far, everyone loves the process and the output, and we expect to wrap up the effort in a couple weeks, leaving the agency with a great way to communicate with their own people.

For more information on BHC, please visit their website http://www.betterhousingcoalition.org
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IT4Causes Is Proud To Introduce Our New Intern

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In order to invest in the Richmond community and continue our efforts of paying it forward, IT4Causes has opted to hire another VCU student to intern for us.

Introducing Amanda Barnes, she is a senior who is currently embarking upon completion of her last semester at VCU. She is majoring in Painting and Printmaking with a double minor in Art History and Gender Women’s Studies. Amanda expressed that she has always had a passion for the arts as well as community service. She aspires to combine these two joy of hers in hopes to help and empower her community .

Amanda will be apart of our management and social media sector. By utilizing her skills as a trained artist combined with her innovative ideas, she will to help promote IT4Causes events and ideals to continue to help bring new information technology solutions to other nonprofits in order to help them better achieve their missions.

Upon graduation Amanda looks forward to continuing to work with other nonprofits in order to advocate for changes needed as well as address different issues that the Richmond through her practice in art.

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Why it’s important to log your IT4Causes volunteer hours

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Last year was a great year for us and we hope it was a good year for you.
Thanks to your generous gifts of time and talent, IT4Causes was able to serve 22 agencies across the Richmond area in 2016.

While skills and time are invaluable direct contributions to our agencies, did you know that your volunteer hours also support our agencies in other ways, too? Logging your volunteer hours allow IT4Causes to:
• Build business plans that show how we offer low cost solutions using skilled volunteers
• Provide the details we need when writing grants that also support our work
• Document the project recaps required by our sponsoring companies
• Provide accurate reporting to the IRS to support our 503c status

So…. please log those volunteer hours. Your time matters, and so does the data about your time!

Use this conveniently provided link to enter any hours you have volunteered for us. If you are retracing steps, exact dates don’t matter, but please be sure to reflect the number of hours you gave in each month as accurately as possible.

If activity covers more than one day in a month, please use last date you volunteered in that month. Please use a separate entry for each month.

Some employers like Capital One provide a donation to nonprofits based on the hours volunteers log into their systems.  If you work for one of these firms, please be sure to record your service hours in that system, too, and please consider designating the funds to IT4Causes (our tax ID 47-1992190 in case your employer needs it).

Finally, be sure to check out our current volunteer opportunities.

Thank you as always for your gift of time and talent.  We simply couldn’t serve the community like we do without your help!

IT4Causes Pays It Forward With VCU Interns

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In a recent article in VCU News, Brian McNeill talks about how VCU graduates like IT4Causes founder Tom Anderson are helping the next crop of students get a leg up on full-time careers by offering internships to current VCU students.  IT4Causes currently has a total of eight interns, including 6 from VCU.  Read the whole … Read more

Another successful internship – Michael Taylor

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Over the summer, Michael Taylor, a student from J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College and a participant of Courage To Succeed from Charterhouse School, had the opportunity to intern with IT4Causes. Michael benefited from his internship both personally and professionally. He gained skills in web design and gained experience working within a professional organization, which is much different than simply doing assignments for school. He was able to work with clients and see his web design ideas put into practice. He was eager to learn from Tom and eager to master the tasks he was assigned.

Michael also grew in his social skills during this internship. He improved in his ability to greet Tom in the mornings and to stay on topic in conversation. He expressed gratitude for all of the time and assistance he got from Tom throughout the internship. By the end of the internship, Michael expressed sadness that it was over and wished the experience could continue! Michael was pleased to be offered the opportunity to continue to work with some of his clients on an as-needed basis under Tom’s supervision.

Michael recently wrote this about his internship experience:
“This summer I had an internship with IT4Causes I did very well. However I was not the only one with an internship as each summer everyone in C2S who is going to be partaking in classes the next semester has to have an internship.
This is about me however, in my internship I worked on websites in WordPress. I helped fix problems with the sites, as well as made improvements. I did so well that one of the clients of IT4Causes asked me to do maintenance on the site I worked on for his nonprofit! ….

You never know what will happen with an internship!”

The Courage to Succeed program is a college and transition support program for young adults with neurological differences. This program is a part of Charterhouse School at the nonprofit UMFS. The goal of the program is to assist students in pursuit of their academic goals while also strengthening social skills, independent living skills, emotional well-being, community involvement and self-advocacy skills.

To learn more about this Courage to Succeed and how you can get involved, go to https://www.charterhouseschool.org/courage-to-succeed/.

Michael Taylor

Volunteer Spotlight: Chris Tetzlaff

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Chris Tetzlaff has been doing quite a bit of work for IT4Causes recently as a way to give back to organizations in the Richmond Community. He has been involved in various forms of volunteer work for over 20 years and has said, “I really value being able to contribute through volunteer organizations.” Chris has been … Read more

Our New Client: Assisting Families of Inmates

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Meet our New Client: Assisting Families of Inmates! AFOI was created in 1978 as a transportation program to help families visit relatives in state prisons.Today, the organization provides opportunities for regular, meaningful visitation, referrals to community resources, and other services that help families cope with incarceration and prepare for release and reunification. Last year, AFOI assisted … Read more

Internship Opportunities at IT4Causes!

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It’s the start of a new school year!  When you graduate, will you have the experience that employers want to see, and a strong network of local businesses and professionals who can help you land a great job?  IT4Causes can help you get ready for post-graduation success, if you’re willing to help us deliver great … Read more

Our Newest Client: ReEstablish Richmond

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Meet our newest client: ReEstablish Richmond! This amazing nonprofit was started by Patrick Braford after he noticed the issues facing refugees who were new to Richmond. ReEstablish Richmond’s mission is to help refugees establish roots, build community, and find self-sufficiency. ReEstablish Richmond (ReR) provides programs that help newcomers to the River City adjust and become … Read more

Meet Our New Intern

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My name is Ben Simpson and I am a Washington D.C. native going into my senior year at the University of Richmond. I am very excited to be interning with IT4Causes this summer, helping to improve the processes for the business development pipeline. Bringing expertise in leadership studies and Latin American/Iberian studies, I am keen … Read more

Tech4All Sponsorship

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IT4Causes is looking for sponsors and vendors for the First Annual Tech4All fair! If you are looking to get your product or service in front of a technology hungry audience a couple of weeks before Black Friday, now is your chance to lock in space at this exciting new event! Tech4All is shaping up to … Read more

Meet Our New Intern

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Hello Everyone! My name is Amanda Crittenden and I am the Event Management Intern for summer and fall. I am currently a VCU senior working towards my Bachelor’s in Business Management with a concentration in small business and entrepreneurship. I have lived just outside of Richmond in New Kent my whole life. Since I started … Read more

Planning Meeting June 8

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Please join us for the first planning meeting for the First Annual Tech4All Fair. This meeting will introduce a number of topics to be discussed and planned over the coming months in order to make this event a success.   Location: Impact Makers Date: Wednesday June 8 Time: 6-7:30pm   Light refreshments will be provided. … Read more

AmazonSmile for Father’s Day

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Are you shopping online for Father’s Day this year? If so, head over to AmazonSmile and do some good while you shop. Just use this link and shop for the perfect gift knowing your purchase will help out a local nonprofit. Don’t forget, Father’s Day is June 19!