NDLON

Software and technology companies like Microsoft, Intuit - Quickbooks, Adobe, and many others usually have donation programs for nonprofits.  But unless you do some research and make a bunch of calls, it’s quite a difficult process to obtain the donation.  Techsoup.org brings them all together and offers a simple way for nonprofits to access excellent deals.  There are no membership fees and usually all you pay is a low cost admin and handling fee. 

Pablo Alvarado came to the United States from El Salvador in the 1990s and worked for five years as an undocumented laborer. Today he works for the National Day Laborer Organization Network (NDLON) and helps to fight for the rights and dignity of day laborers. I learned of his story when the Taproot Foundation partnered with Pablo and NDLON and recently sat down to capture his inspiring story. The immigration debate in this country has become really ugly in recent years. Yes. Day laborers have become the public face of immigration. They have been demonized. Many people have described the day laborers as unwanted people and criminals. People who are murdering and harassing women. I think we are capable of having a debate in which people are not dehumanized in the process.

by Linda Greenhouse, New York Times, 05.02.2012 I found last week’s Supreme Court argument in the Arizona immigration case utterly depressing, and I’ve spent the intervening week puzzling over my reaction. It’s not simply that the federal government seems poised to lose: unlike the appeals court, the justices appear likely to find the heart of Arizona’s mean-spirited “attrition through enforcement” statute, S.B. 1070, permissible under federal law. Poring over the argument transcript and the briefs, what finally came through as most deeply troubling was this: the failure of any participant in the argument, justice or advocate for either side, to affirm the simple humanity of Arizona’s several hundred thousand undocumented residents.greenhousenew york timessb1070supreme court

       As NDLON’s Director of Finance and Development, I always look to make smart investments that help our network and member organizations engage in fundraising more effectively.  In learning to identify what matters most in a strong fundraising plan, no other institution has provided more support and guidance to NDLON than the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT). arvizugiftgrassroots fundraising

Congratulations to Eric Rodriguez for his Excellence in Community Service Award from MALDEF. 

When the Supreme Court hears the Department of Justice lawsuit challenging portions of Arizona's Senate Bill 1070 today, what will be debated has much higher stakes than the limited constitutional questions of federal and state powers that will be before the court. Perhaps those are the narrow arguments that will pass between lawyers, but SB 1070 isn't about a battle between federal and state power. It isn't even about immigration policy, nor is it about Arizona. SB 1070 is about all of us. How we respond to crisis, how we treat each other and whether we will let the bill's defenders stand in the doorway of history or whether we will refuse to have the hard-fought advances in our rights be turned back. arizona republiccarlos garciaop-edsb1070supreme court

While many focused on the US supreme court's consideration of Arizona's SB1070 on Wednesday, events on the streets of Phoenix and not in the court, foreshadow the future of the country's immigration debate. Within the supreme court, a very narrow legal principle was discussed – as to whether Arizona was infringing on the federal government's right to set immigration policy. In Phoenix, hundreds of demonstrators were clear about what was really at stake in the high court: a negative decision would clearly worsen Arizona's human rights crisis, but even a positive ruling would not solve it.arizonificationguardianop-edsarahi uribesb1070supreme court

By Ken Camp, Managing Editor | Source: BaptistStandard.com Published: March 30, 2012 They gather at dawn at day-labor centers or designated parking lots where contractors hire workers. Some stop on their way to pick up a cheap breakfast taco at a convenience store, buying their meal from an employee earning minimum wage. At the store, they wait in line with members of a crew purchasing gas for the mowers and trimmers they will use to cut the grass of other people's lawns. Men line up early on a brisk morning at a North Texas day labor center, hoping to be hired for a work crew. (PHOTO/Ken Camp) They are the working poor—people who may work more hours a week than the average salaried employee, but they do it at a cobbled-together assortment of part-time jobs without benefits. Some find themselves trapped in the situation because they lack the education or technical skills to find a better job. Others lost salaried positions due to economic recession and are working part-time or temporary jobs to try to make ends meet.

Says he was forced to work 12 hours a day for little pay By Erica Pearson, New York Daily News | Tuesday, April 3, 2012, 10:14 AM

Any day now Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will announce a second round of "reforms" to the disgraced "Secure Communities" deportation program, S-Comm. And once again, it appears that ICE is more interested in spin than substance. The timing of the announcement--immediately before the DHS Office of Inspector General Report--seems primarily designed to take the pressure off of ICE rather than an honest attempt to address the fundamental flaws of the program. huffington postpablo alvaradoreforms-commsecure comunities