Donor Spotlight: Carole H. Lake

I decided to help increase the Bookshare collection by financially supporting the purchase, processing, and proofing of books that are requested by members and that are not covered by grants or otherwise made available directly as digital files by Bookshare publisher partners. If one person wants that book, that’s good enough for me. It’s about each individual member being able to read exactly what he or she wants. Today. Right now, by immediate download. Now that’s a good thing!

The Gift of Reading, a Circle of Life

A group of Benetech supporters recently came together to give the gift of reading in honor of our long-time board member Jim Kleckner. Jim recently lost his father, retired ophthalmologist James Franklin Kleckner. We decided to create the James Franklin In Memoriam collection, with a focus on science and technology books written for the lay audience. With a gift of just $50, we can add a new ebook to the Bookshare collection, making that book available to hundreds of thousands of Bookshare members with disabilities. You can now give the gift of reading by joining Benetech’s fundraiser campaign as part of the Skoll Foundation’s second annual Skoll Social Entrepreneurs Challenge.

Join Us in the Skoll Foundation’s 2014 Social Entrepreneurs Challenge

Benetech’s work is made possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters. To continue to provide our services, and to explore new ways in which targeted technological applications could address unmet needs of disadvantaged communities, we definitely need your help. Please join us in the Skoll Foundation’s second annual Skoll Social Entrepreneurs Challenge—a fundraising campaign committed to strengthening the capacity of organizations like ours to accelerate impact on some of the most critical issues of our time. The Challenge launched on October 27 and runs through December 5th.

Hunting for Rocket Fuel

I’m on the hunt for rocket fuel because new social enterprises—ones that five years from now could reinvent a part of the social sector—cost money to identify, to explore and to grow the most promising ones into self-sufficiency. Just like for-profit tech ventures search for angel investors, we need you—the philanthropic investors—to provide the rocket fuel that drives innovation. Are you a social investor? Are you a donor with passion for BIG ideas that can lead to BIG change? Then we have the opportunity for you! This Giving Tuesday, give different. Invest in innovation with Benetech and become part of the creative process that yields disruptive solutions for social good.

This Holiday Season Give Different: Drive Social Change at Scale

Because you care about what we do, we’ve been able to create good in the world. We do that through technology innovation that has exponential and global impact—and with your help we can do so much more. As we explore the next big ideas, we hope you will make a donation to drive social change through technology. Your philanthropic gift of any amount is an investment with high returns for social good and will directly impact real people around the world.