Nonprofits will be evaluating the results of the text-based Haiti relief fundraising initiative to determine if texting strategies make sense for their organizations. While texting donations is not new, it had not been seen on such a massive scale until the Haiti relief effort. The growing use of social media and the increased familiarity with texting have contributed to the dramatic results of the campaign.

The latest national statistics show that both the number of volunteers and the rate of volunteering increased during the past year.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the figures for the federal fiscal year, ending in September 2009, show that 63.4 million Americans, or 26.8 percent of the population volunteered at least once during the year. In 2008, 26.4 percent of people volunteered.

For the first time in Ohio, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection section has opened its doors to handle complaints from nonprofits and small businesses being preyed upon by scammers and deceptive vendors.