GiveCamp is a weekend-long event where technology professionals from designers, developers, and database administrators to marketers and web strategists donate their time to provide solutions for non-profit organizations. Since its inception in 2007, the GiveCamp program has provided benefits to over 150 charities, with a value of developer and designer time exceeding $100,000 in services. If you have already been involved in a GiveCamp, you also know what a rich, rewarding experience this is personally and for the community. For more information, visit givecamp.org and http://givecampstartersite.codeplex.com/.

In 2011, the weekend of October 21-23, has been designated National GiveCamp weekend. If you currently have a GiveCamp scheduled, you do not need to move it. However, if you can move it, Microsoft is putting together several partnerships to help ease some of the logistics for the National GiveCamp weekend so organizers and participants can focus on supporting non-profit organizations:

• Free Venue: We are putting in national partnerships to provide venue space. Space is limited and available on a first come, first served basis – so sign up early! Send your request to usgcamp@microsoft.com.
• Food & Beverage sponsors: We are enlisting national sponsors to have food and beverage service delivered to participating GiveCamp volunteers throughout the weekend of 10/21 – 10/23.
• Promotion: We will provide you email templates and resources for your use in promoting to non-profits, as well as soliciting potential volunteers. We will also put resources behind amplifying the impact of your GiveCamp to your community by helping create buzz around your GiveCamp event to help draw volunteers and increase community awareness for the non-profits benefiting from GiveCamp.

GiveCamp is a great opportunity for people to work together, develop new friendships, and do something important for their community! It is our dream to see over 50 Give Camps held over the National GiveCamp weekend of 10/21 – 10/23.

Will you join us?

Next Steps:

1. If you are interested in organizing a GiveCamp: by Monday, 8/1 reply to usgcamp@microsoft.com with the information below

2. Set-up your GiveCamp site with the starter site kit here: http://givecampstartersite.codeplex.com/.

3. For more information, visit givecamp.org.

I recently released a new blogging platform for GiveCamp.org, but forgot to update the RSS feed back to Feedburner.  That means that any of you that have been subscribed to the feed there haven�t gotten any updates since it went live a couple weeks ago.  Sorry about that, but the problem is now fixed.

If you haven�t been over to GiveCamp.org lately, you should check it out.  Following the advice of a few friends, I switched the platform over to PHP on Windows using WordPress.  So far, I�ve been really happy, although the plethora of plugins, themes and widgets, while at first seemed awesome, quickly became overwhelming. I finally did find a theme I liked, was able to customize it enough, and plugged in all the right widgets. I even added a map with all the known (and future) GiveCamp event locations that will get updated as the events evolve.

SO � back to the original topic of this post.

IF your feed reader recently found our new little web site at http://givecamp.org and you subscribed to the RSS feeds, it�s time to refresh your pointer because we�ve moved the RSS feed over to FeedBurner at http://feeds2.feedburner.com. If you have any trouble with the feeds, just let me know and I�ll do my best to fix your problem.

I�m thrilled to announce a new partnership with GiveCamp! Our good friends at DiscountASP.NET have agreed to start partnering with GiveCamp to offer FREE WEBSITE HOSTING to all charities and non-profits that participate in a GiveCamp event! This is great news, as many of these groups don�t have a website presence at all. I�m really looking forward to working with DiscountASP.NET in future GiveCamps!

Check out our Partner Page to see who else we value as partners of GiveCamp!

There�s a new GiveCamp in town, and it�s located in Southern Maryland�

Southern Maryland GiveCamp Announced! : GiveCamp.org

A couple of years ago, I had this crazy idea to get a bunch of developers together over a weekend to build web applications for local area charities.  Thanks to the hard work of Toi Wright (ASP.NET MVP, President of the Dallas ASP.NET User Group and Geeks in Pink) and several of our local community champions, we�re pleased to announce the latest installment of the GiveCamp effort � The We Are Microsoft Charity Challenge Weekend is alive and kicking! 

Scheduled for the weekend before the Martin Luther King national holiday, this event is a weekend-long gathering of geeks of all shapes and sizes that come together to build web applications for local area charities.  Registration now open for developers, volunteers and (most importantly) non-profits – so get out to www.wearemicrosoft.com and register today. If you would like to advertise the event on your website, please go to http://www.wearemicrosoft.com/WAM/AboutUs.aspx to view the available links.