News | Neighborlink Network Foundation

Two New NeighborLink Network Non-Affiliates Launched!

2012-05-01T13:43:35Z

Please join me in welcoming our sixth and seventh NeighborLink Network partners. These are the second and third non-affiliates who have chosen to license the technology and make slight modifications to meet their specific community needs.

Neighbor2Neighbor Owensboro - Owensboro, KY

About five or six years ago, Michele Ison of Neighbor2Neighbor Owensboro read an article written by one of the co-founders of NeighborLink, John Barce, about the NeighborLink model. At that time, she knew after reading it that it would eventually be part of the story of Crossroads Owensboro, a new community outreach organization she was working on. CrossRoads is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation created to establish an interdependent network of individuals and organizations working together to combat poverty and homelessness in Daviess County, Kentucky.

Michele contacted us about six months ago, told us that story, and said it's time. Michele and the team at Crossroads will keep much of the NeighborLink model as is, but wanted to launch it under the Crossroads 501(c)(3) and leave the option to do a few things slightly different than traditional affiliates. They have been up for about a week and already have their first completed project!

Community One - Evansville, IN

Eric Cummings of Community One came to us after visiting our first non-affiliate in St. Louis, Community Loop STL, and learning about their work in reaching vulnerable homeowners in their neighborhood. After realizing they had a web based system to track projects and coordinate volunteers, Eric immediately contacted us about it. Community One is using the NeighborLink website to unify a larger housing re-development organization that was started in the past year. Community One will be organizing complete house rennovations, a weatherization program, and basic home maintenance/repair projects that are common to NeighborLink.

We are excited to see the model being adapted and used in two new communities. What's remarkable is the fact that God is doing unique things in every community that approaches us to license the website. Both Neighbor2Neighbor and Community One may use the website differently, but they both have the same purpose of reaching the community with practical, neighbor-to-neighbor expressions of God's love.

We are excited to start hearing the stories that come out of these locations and hearing about the what they're learning that will have a positive effect on the rest of the NeighborLink affiliates and non-affiliates.

NeighborLink Launches Crowdfunding Tool!

2012-04-19T11:39:38Z

We are extremely excited to announce that the crowdfunding tool we've been working on is finally done and live. It is currently live on NeighborLink Fort Wayne's website, and will be in a testing period on that website for a short time in order to work out any bugs and refine some of the features before rolling out to other NeighborLink Network affiliates and nonaffiliates. The project image above is live and could use some funding. So, click on the image and give it a try!

Crowdfunding has had an explosion of success for hundreds of organizations, special projects, and products. Just this week, a project on Kickstarter reached over $5 million dollars in funding through their popular crowdfunding site. I don't suspect any of our projects will ever hit $5 million in funding, but we do expect to receiving new levels of project specific funding.

We set out to build this tool to continue our effort in creating a web-based environment where recipients and volunteers have as few barriers as possible to getting things done. What this tool does is give the volunteer who's working with the recipient the abilty to tell the full story of the recipient's challenge and invite both volunteers and funders into the story of transformation with very little administrave challenges from NeighborLink.

Here is a list of features we're excited about:

Everything is Coach driven. Project details, communication, and project management.

Full circle communication. Making sure we keep all volunteers and funders in the loop throughout the project's life-cycle matters to us.

100% of Donations go to projects. Any shortfalls will be madeup and any overages will go to our normal NeighborLink project fund.

Look forward to regular updates on how this system is working. We believe it's a pretty revolutionary tool that fits into the NeighborLink model really well and will have a big impact on all NeighborLink partners.

NeighborLink Fort Wayne Has Record Year

2012-01-09T16:02:56Z

NeighborLink Fort Wayne volunteers really went above and beyond to reach out to the community of Fort Wayne in 2011.

Below are the statistics from that location.

The volunteers completed over 225 more projects in 2011 than 2010. New churches, new home communities, and the deepening commitment of existing volunteers all contributed to the increase in completed projects this year. Fort Wayne also saw their volunteers take on more involved projects this year and completed complex projects like roof replacement, entire house rennovation, and complex plumbing problems. It's encouraging to see more and more volunteers joining the movement in Fort Wayne and not shying away from the difficult situations that many homeowners are facing.

NeighborLink Fort Wayne is shooting for 1000 completed projects in 2012. We wish them God's blessings as they attempt to reach that goal for the Kingdom.

Coming Soon - Crowdfunding Donation Tool

2011-10-11T19:51:02Z

We're excited to announce that work has begun on a new website feature that will allow our volunteers to begin using our website as a donation platform for the projects they've taken on. With the advances in web based technology and popularity of sites like Kiva.org and Kickstarter.com, it's getting easier than ever for supporters to donate to projects online. Kickstarter.com just announced that they just had their 1,000,000 supporter of projects on their site. This confirms that people are interested in supporting initiatives via online donation and they want to direct where their funds go to.

Here are a few screen captures of what our layout will look like.

It's not getting any easier to find big sponsors or to get funding from local foundations for the type of work we're doing. Plus we believe that everyone can and should play a role in supporting these projects through donating their time and financial resources. This new tool will give those interested in supporting the work of NeighborLink volunteers the option to direct 100% of their funding to the project they choose in order to ensure the volunteers who are giving their time can get the project done.

How it will work: Coaches will choose a project and determine if resources are needed at the time they review the project. Then within their Dashboard page they will have the option to request funds for the project and upload additional info about the project, the amount needed, date of the project, and whatever pictures/video they have for the project. Once that's done, it goes for approval from each NeighborLink's director who will then make the request live to the general public and other NeighborLink supporters. Once the funding goal is reached, the NeighborLink director will work with that Coach to secure the materials needed for the project.

In order to make sure we're close the communication circle when the project is finished, the Coach will be required to update the project and the site will notify everyone involved with that project that the project is done and how it went. All of these tasks are designed to keep everyone connected to the project to let them know that their support was used how they intended it to be used.

We see this being a tremendous way to empower our volunteers to take projects and meed the needs of those they meet through NeighborLink. It also invites and gives so many more people the oppotunity to participate in the great work God is doing through NeighborLink.

We're excited to get this new feature rolled out in the next month. We hope to enter testing by the end of October, early November at NeighborLink Fort Wayne. Once testing is over, we'll roll it out to our other NeighborLink affiliates and make it available for all new NeighborLinks that launch through the Network.

You can email me, Andrew Hoffman, if you have questions about this new feature.

Download Information on NeighborLink Network

2011-10-11T16:53:29Z

The NeighborLink Network is an affiliate network of independent non-profits who share a simple mission of performing practical neighbor-to-neighbor expressions of God’s love.

Over the past 7 years NeighborLink has been developing and refining a web-based platform for neighbors with resources to find those who need help. This website is the landing zone for all of the tangible needs with which low-income, aging, and disabled people need help, who otherwise fall through the cracks of traditional social services.

The Neighborlink Network is a tool for networking within your community to show God's love through service.

You can download our 1-sheet PDF handout if you missed our booth or like things electronically like we do.

Just click this link or the image below.

NeighborLink Fort Wayne Volunteers Exceed 500 Completed Projects in 2011

2011-10-06T18:54:05Z

It’s incredible to see volunteers self-mobilize themselves to meet the needs of their neighbors throughout our cities. NeighborLink Fort Wayne volunteers have just completed the 515th project in 2011 which exceeds our total projects completed in 2010, and it’s more than they've ever done in one year.

"There is a shift in the way the churches, service groups, neighborhoods, and community-minded individuals throughout Fort Wayne look at our collective responsibility to improve our community, and I believe our numbers represent that." - Executive Director, Andrew Hoffman says.

We’re grateful for their support, volunteer efforts, motivation, and for spreading the word about how others can get involved with NeighborLink.

NeighborLink Fort Wayne is shooting for 700 completed projects this year, so we they some work left to do!

We’re Headed to Indianapolis for CCDA!

2011-10-06T16:59:10Z

Christian Community Development Association's (CCDA) annual conference begins next Wednesday, October 12th, in Indianapolis, IN. NeighborLink Network members from Fort Wayne, Porter County, and Van Wert County will be attending. CCDA's annual conference really is a highlight of the year for many of us that have attended the past few years due to it being one of the only times we have the opportunity to be with close to 3,000 others who are actively working in the community development realm within the context of a ministry. We're looking forward to exposing some of our newest NeighborLink members to CCDA and are hoping the find the same value as we do.

We'll also have a booth space again this year and we hope to connect with new folks who are looking for an innovative way to increase the capacity of their organization through volunteer mobilization. We've met a lot of great people the past few years and hope that our tool can help others be more effective in meeting needs in their communities.

We encourage you to stop by Booth 47 anytime to shake hands and say hello. We'll have our website up and can give guided tours to whoever wants to learn more.

We'll also be on the Twitter Machine, so follow and interact with us there. You can find us at www.twitter.com/NeighborLinkNet or you can follow me personally at www.twitter.com/BeTheLink. We'll have some of our favorite Love Your Neighbor t-shirts on hand, so watch our Twitter stream for an opportunity to get one of those. If you can't make it to Indianapolis this years and are on Twitter, you can follow the hashtag #CCDA2011 to get the latest and greatest thoughts by those in attendance.

Hope to see you there!

Andrew Hoffman

NeighborLink Fort Wayne Executive Director Selected for CCDA’s Emerging Leaders Cohort

2011-09-09T18:49:19Z

NeighborLink Fort Wayne's Executive Director, Andrew Hoffman, was selected earlier this summer to become a member of Christian Community Development Association's (CCDA) 3rd Emerging Leaders Cohort. Andrew joins 19 other members selected by CCDA from across the country with ages ranging between 25-39 years old. This group of leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and work settings.

The mission of CCDA is to inspire, train, and connect Christians who seek to bear witness to the Kingdom of God by reclaiming and restoring under-resourced communities. The leadership of CCDA has started a new Emerging Leaders Cohort each of the last three years in an effort to invest in the upcomming generation of leaders connected to their association.

"I'm honored to be one of the 20 people selected to be a part of this cohort. I'm excited to learn from such gifted leaders as well as my peers that are doing some incredible work around the country. It's a blessing to be connected to such a great organization made of people trying to love people well and improve our communities. The next two years are going to be transformational." Hoffman said.

The cohort will meet several times a year in a retreat format at various spots around the country for the next two years, including the national CCDA conferences. This year's conference will be in Indianapolis, IN.

Two NeighborLink Network Affiliates Selected as Finalists in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good Program

2011-05-05T18:52:31Z

UPDATE! - Community Loop WON a new Toyota Tundra pickup truck and NeighborLink Fort Wayne unfortunately did not. We're excited for Community Loop and can't wait to hear how much it's helping them get materials from site to site.

Two of the five affiliates of the NeighborLink Network have been named finalists in Toyota's 100 Cars for Good Program. Toyota is giving 100 cars away beginning May 9th through August 16th. Each day, five organizations go head to head at Facebook.com/Toyota and try to rally their supporters to gain the most votes for that day. The next day, the winner is announced.

Community Loop will be competing on May 18th, and NeighborLink Fort Wayne will be competing on Saturday, June 4th. Please mark you calendars and make it a priority to vote for each organization. Both organizations could use a new Toyota truck to increase their capacity to support their volunteer teams.

Watch both of their videos to see their volunteers in action.

Team NeighborLink

2011-04-18T15:20:48Z

NeighborLink Fort Wayne has developed what they're calling Team NeighborLink. Team NeighborLink is NLFW's efforts to connect at a deeper level with their supporters who are into outdoor activities such as running, cycling, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, etc. Team NeighborLink will have athletes running 5ks, mini-marathons, sprint-triathlons as well as various road and mountain bike raises wearing Team NeighborLink gear in 2011.

The two main functions of Team NeighborLink are to 1.) Raise Awareness of NLFW in the greater Fort Wayne area and to 2.) Raise funds for NLFW projects. The team has set a goal of raising $2,000 through the sale of gear to participating members.

Below are the designs NLFW has chose for each team.

We're excited to see what type of success NeighborLink Fort Wayne has with Team NeighborLink in 2011. Finding funding while creating engagement among supports in a grass-roots nonprofit is always a challenge, but creative and innovative ideas like Team NeighborLink always increase the odds of success.

If you're in NE Indiana and happen to participate in an event, keep an eye open for a Team NeighborLink member.

Please visit TeamNeighborLink.com if you're interested in joining the team.

Introducing NeighborLink Van Wert

2011-03-18T14:06:39Z

We're excited to announce the launch of the fourth NeighborLink in Van Wert County, Ohio. After several months of planning and organizational development, NLVW is now official.

NeighborLink Van Wert is a result of what happens when you've done a few NeighborLink projects in another community and realize the community that you live in needs one too. That's what has happened for the NLVW's executive director, Lindsay Hotmire.

Lindsay, her family, and the home community of the church they belong too have been taking NeighborLink Fort Wayne projects on a regular basis over the past few years. They live in a small town called Van Wert, OH, which is on the far western edge of Ohio and close to the eastern edge of Fort Wayne. Lindsay began asking us questions about what it would take to get a NeighborLink in Van Wert, and so we gave her a list of things that she would need to do in order to gauge the interest in that community.

A few months later, Lindsay reported back to me that she had completed all the items on that list and she had a group of church leaders that wanted to meet with us to begin the process. Not long after that initial meeting, they began working on the necessary nonprofit paperwork and we began working on their website.

We're excited to welcome Lindsay and the NLVW board of directors to the NeighborLink Network. They have a passion to provide additional opportunities for people in need to find help as well as mobilizing the churches in that area to work together to provide community solutions. Just what we hope for in a new Network partner.

“We Just Need A Website”

2011-01-14T20:13:04Z

I've been in a lot of community and committee meetings in the past year and the central theme of the meetings seems to revolve around the idea of, "we just need a website." Why is it that we think a website will solve all of our information and communication problems? If you haven't figured it out yet, it won't.

If your network of agencies, volunteers or churches have an information sharing problem, a website won't solve it. A website works the same way a phone or email does. Information is shared from one person to another. A website can transfer information in a lot of incredible ways, but not without someone or a group of people using it.

A website is a communication tool and a powerful one if used correctly. Think about it in practical tool terms. Think about a lawnmower. Depending on how much money you spend you can get a really nice one or one that will get the job done. The more you spend the more features it has like, zero-turn radius or the ability to mulch. You buy the mower to cut the grass and you buy the type of mower based on your yard size and budget. Pretty simple stuff right? We all agree though, that if no one uses the mower, the grass won't get cut.

A website is no different. You can spend lots of money or a little bit of money. You can also get lots of features or only a few. On and on.

We can get caught up in the scale of social network sites like Facebook or we can get blown away by the amount of self-generated content on Wikipedia. The impressive amount of people and the activity we see causes us to generalize web use and not accurately translate that into our local communities. We relate our own internet experiences of sharing on blog posts or reading a new article that someone else commented on and we believe this is the norm. The massive amount of content shared on these platforms isn't the norm and no one ever really talks about the number of employees these websites have nor geographic span from which people come from.

NeighborLink is no different.

It's a tool developed to simplify the process for volunteers to find individuals that need help who can't find help anywhere else. In Fort Wayne alone, over 90% of the posted projects are posted by me that I receive via phone. As much as I wished everyone could post their own project or the agencies that choose to refer to us would post it for their clients, it's just not going to happen.

Where NeighborLink is different though, is in our desire to share our tools with others. We've spent a lot of money developing our tool and we feel we can bless other communities by giving our tool away to communities that are willing to put in the effort to use the tool. If that's you, contact us.

For everyone else, I encourage you to rethink your own website strategy and consider what the goals are and what it's going to take to make them happen. If you don't have access to those resources, then you're going to have to rethink your strategy. I hope you find the right tools to move your nonprofit, church or organization forward.

Andrew Hoffman

NeighborLink Fort Wayne

NeighborLink Fort Wayne Exceeds 400 Completed Projects

2010-11-30T22:23:02Z

NeighborLink Fort Wayne, where NeighborLink started, is at 420 completed projects this year to date with a month to go. This is a 158 project increase from all completed projects in 2009. They are also reporting that there have been 300 more project posted this year than last year, which is totaling over 800 posted projects. Projects included everything from yard mowing to electrical issues to roofing repairs.

NeighborLink has posted their complete web statistics (current as of 2.5 weeks ago) at their blog, which can be found here.

Given the fact that projects are self selected, organized and completed 100% by volunteers, 420 completed projects is unreal. It's fantastic to see volunteer take initiative to love their neighbor and figure out how best to serve those in need in the Fort Wayne area.

It's humbling to see God work in and through those volunteers as they attempt to do more than just complete project, but by building relationships with the recipients they're serving.

If you'd like to find out how the NeighborLink concept works, feel free to contact Andrew Hoffman at NeighborLink Fort Wayne. He'd be happy to talk to you about how the NL tool works.

The New NeighborLink Web Platform Has Launched!

2010-11-30T22:10:01Z

We’ve been working hard for the past several months redeveloping the entire NeighborLink website in order to improve the overall experience of our members.

This is the first major transformation to the NeighborLink website since the website was first launched in 2003. For the past 7 years, the old website has served us well in connecting thousands of people each year to serve and be blessed by one another.

Here are just a few of the new and improved features:

Easier Project Posting for First-time Users
Improved Project Posting Navigation
The Ability to Select and Deselect Projects As a Coach
More Project Types & Recipient Status Options
Coaches Can Invite Volunteers From Website to Join Their Project
Churches & Groups Can Organize Service Events
You Can Leave Comments or Ask Questions About Specific Projects
You Can Now Join Communities That Allow you to Connect With Others On The Site
Plus….more…

But, we’re not finished with it yet. Here are a few features that will be coming in the coming weeks.

Project Fundraising Tool - This feature is going to allow Coaches who have selected projects that need funding to use the website to solicit donations to buy the materials needed. It will give the donor the ability to choose from up to 10 different projects to specifically donate to.

The NeighborHood - This is going to be a new section that will tell the everyday story of what’s going on at NeighborLink. Blogs, stories, videos, pictures, etc. will fill this section to highlight what our recipients are going through and how our volunteers are helping.

Social Media Integration - We’d be missing out if we didn’t integrate the online platforms you use the most. You’ll be able to communicate about the projects you’re coaching, volunteering or donating to. All of these features will allow you to help NeighborLink raise awareness so we can grow.

Enhanced Admin & Reporting - Some NeighborLinks have over 1,000 registered members and are posting/organizing hundreds of projects each year. That's a lot of data to keep track of and mine. We're building in even more reporting capabilities and administrative functions that will help each NeighborLink effective manage & communicate to it's members.

Thanks for your support so far. Stay tuned for these new features.

So.. check out the new website! This link will take you to the NeighborLink Fort Wayne Website.

NeighborLink Network Will Be At CCDA

2010-08-25T19:37:53Z

From September 7th - 11th, NeighborLink Network will be exhibiting at the (CCDA) Christian Community Development Association's annual conference in Chicago, IL. We did a soft launch at CCDA last year as we were just formalizing the process for joining the network.

We're excited to be exhibiting again this year as we'll be unveiling the new NeighborLink web platform to potential Network members. We've completely started over with the web platform and are re-building from the ground up. The members that weve gathering in each of our NeighborLink locations hold so much power to do good in our communities that we're finally making it possible for them to connect and collaborate within the website.

You could call it a social network truly designed to do good through service. They've been coming to NeighborLink's website for over 8 years to find the projects they want to do and taking them back to their existing communities. Now they'll not only be able to find the projects they want to do, but find volunteers and resources from that entire NeighborLink online community to help get the project done. Need an electrician? Need a 24' ladder? No problem with the new system.

The website has been improved dramatically and is going to ready to go this fall.

If you're going to be at CCDA this year, come by booth 332 in the vendor hall and say hello. We'll be happy to talk to you more about how you could join the Network or license our web platform for your organization or community.

See you there.

Andrew Hoffman