Causes

Lots of new stuff in today's Quick Hits - from social media strategies, to training programs and service legislation:

• Yesterday the Washington Post threw-down the gauntlet, claiming that Facebook Causes was a disappointment because it had failed to open the spigot of small dollar donations hoped for by nonprofits. Allison Fine immediately rose to the defense of the Causes Application, noting that the Washington Post piece misses the true nature of fundraising on the web, and the true purpose and value of Causes to non profits.
• Campus Progress notes that 1/3 of all unemployed Americans and call for the creation of a New Deal for Young Workers.
• USA Today notes that public universities are about to see hefty tuition hikes.
• At the Politics Online Conference, Nancy Scola reports on an interesting conversation about how mobile activism differs from traditional online activism.
• Over at his other blog, FM contributor Kevin Bondelli explains how the Young Democrats rapidly grew their membership on Facebook in the last month.
• PolitiCorps, the political boot camp operated by the Bus Project, is accepting applications for their summer program.
• James Carville is fully on the youth bandwagon. In his new book, he notes that the GOP has become the Grand OLD Party.
• Peter Levine reports that the size of Americorps is about to triple. He's also got some very interesting thoughts on how Obama has developed a deeper than usual conception of service.
• On a related note, the Huffington Post reports on service as a new kind of patriotism.

The League of Young Voters, one of the most inclusive, kick-ass youth organizations around is competing in a Facebook Giving Challenge for $50,000. But they need to rack up more "unique donors" than their competing organizations. It doesn't matter how much they raise, what matters is how big their donor base is.

If you donate to their cause today, they have a chance of winning $1,000 for their organization. If you donate between now and February 1st, they have a chance at winning $50,000 - which would be a huge boost and help them launch more programs, hire more staff, etc. for 2008.

I just gave $10. If you can, go throw a little bit of cash their way. It's a great cause, and even if they don't win it's money well-spent.