Chuck Harris

Thank you, thank you, and thank you! We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of Chuck’s Challenge, our recent online fundraising campaign. In two short months, we raised over $25,000 online from seventeen committed supporters of Echoing Green. This group includes many old friends, but remarkably, more than 40 percent are first-time donors. Thanks to each of you for helping to fund a 2008 Echoing Green Fellowship. And, of course, a special thank you to Chuck Harris for posting the initial challenge grant.

One of the best parts about all of this support is the momentum that it brings to our cause (to find and foster the best rising talent in the field of social entrepreneurship). Several months ago, Kristin Resnansky, the chair of our Social Investment Council was inspired to make her first online gift to our initial 2008 Fund-A-Fellowship campaign. Recently, she approached us and asked to make a second gift; this time to post a challenge gift of $25,000 for our next campaign.

So today, we are not only celebrating the completion of Chuck’s Challenge (Horray!), but also introducing Kristin’s Call to Action (Woohoo!), our next online campaign.

And, one final note: we are also excited to unveil our brand-new giving "widget" which is integrated with Google Checkout for credit card processing. Not only is the service easy to use, but it's also free of processing charges for nonprofits. Thanks Google!