What should a 2013 not-for-profit look like?

The good people behind OpenTech 2013 posed a great question as one of their potential sessions for the event happening on 18th May in London: What should a 2013 not-for-profit look like? It caught my eye a few weeks ago and I’ve been pondering it ever since, not only because I’ve had experience in starting … Read more

28 tips from freelance websites that you can use to be a successful freelancer

Each of the main online freelance job sites – Elance, oDesk, PeoplePerHour and Freelancer.com – have guides detailing what they think it takes to be a successful freelancer, communicate well with clients and run effective freelance projects. While undertaking freelance work in these online marketplaces is an art in itself, there’s loads of useful information … Read more

How Charities Are Using Instagram to Engage Their Communities

Instagram, the mobile photo sharing community, are doing a great job of showcasing how different charities are using the platform to engage with a new community of users, all through sharing photos. They list 3 examples in their post on Nonprofit organizations using Instagram: Robin Hood NYC, Oceana and Charity: Water. Here’s the tactics being used … Read more

Video: the next big communications tool

Videos can be a powerful communications tool which can convey the messages of your organisation in a dynamic, genuine and engaging way. Social causes can benefit from video in many ways, including volunteer recruitment. demonstrating social impact by showing happy volunteers and clients, and as a promotional tool to raise money. With the rise of … Read more

Sending Out an SMS

Last night I went to an event organised by 160characters and the Mobile Entertainment Forum called Sending Out an SMS: Charities Prepare To Go Mobile. Although charities have been slow to pick up the potential offered by mobile the barriers to adoption are crumbling. With a growing number and range of successful case studies, the … Read more

Watsi becomes Y Combinator’s First Nonprofit Investment

Watsi, “an online peer-to-peer crowdfunding platform that allows users to fund life-changing medical treatments for underserved people in developing countries”, has become the first nonprofit that the start-up incubator Y Combinator has chosen to invest in. Perhaps one of the reasons that Watsi are the first non-profit to become part of Y Combinator is because … Read more

A Clearly Amazing Idea

IdeaPaint, but for any surface: CLEAR can be applied over any type and any color of interior paint to achieve a dry erase think space that seamlessly blends with any decor. It is also certified low-emission, virtually odorless (insert happy dance here). This is one of those companies who make innovative products with a conscience … Read more

Havana, Cuba in one week: budget travellers’ guide

"Havana,

Havana, Cuba’s capital city, was amazing, We spent the whole week in Havana in the end, with a few day trips here and there. We went in March 2015, just before the first direct flights from the US started flying to Cuba.

Cuba is very tourist friendly, but there is also plenty to do to get off the beaten track, but it can be hard to plan too much before you get there, as things change quickly, so thought I’d quickly jot down my thoughts in case I can help out and give tips if anyone you know is planning on going.

Here are some Havana tips and some more from our friend Laurie too. Leave any questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer, while the unbelievable experience of Cuba is still fresh in my mind!

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How to drink whisky

The first thing to know about how to drink whisky is that only you can decide how you prefer to drink whisky. Whisky comes in many different flavours, ages, colours, smells and serves. Part of the fun of drinking whisky is finding which flavour, age, colour, smell or serve is the one you like the … Read more