Coming soon to a TV network near you: "iParticipate Week!"

Over 60 network television shows will incorporate service into their plots, which is a great thing for our sector. But it gets even better. The Chronicle of Philanthropy has partnered with the Entertainment Industry Foundation to create the VolunTV Challenge. Your plot ideas could be used in your favorite show!

In addition to seeing your ideas acted out on the small screen, you might even win the Grand Prize: a $5,000 donation in your name to your charity of choice; two Silver Prize winners will each receive a $2,500 donation.

So what are you waiting for? Get to writing! The deadline is October 26. Just don't steal my idea:

Flickr: ThomasBrandtFrom  the number of "out of office" replies I get anytime I send an email to the NTEN community, it looks like we're well into vacation season. If you're one of the lucky ones taking some vacation time to get out and about this summer, the folks at iwith.org have an assignment for you:

Take your camera and shoot some pics that demonstrate the digital divide.

It's the third season for this Barcelona and Switzerland-based organization's digital divide photo contest, and you're invited to participate. They'll be accepting submissions all summer -- through September 20th -- and they'll publish the selected photos on their site starting September 27th. 

Read full contest details here, and you can see the 2008 photos here.

NTEN folks probably know we're big fans of haiku (thanks in most part to Holly's particular appreciation of the form). We're glad to see member organization ZeroDivide shares our appreciation and is deploying it for educational and rewarding purposes:

The ZD Technology Haiku Contest!

From their site:

Flickr Commons Project: Smithsonian InstitutionI've been neglecting my Member News roundups, but it's not because I don't care -- it's a combination of you guys all being super active and NTEN being consumed by NTC prep. It's been info overload around here, but that's a good thing!

So, it's due time to give shout-outs where shout-outs are due:

When I heard about this contest, I asked myself, "Who would I know with API coding skills and a passion for government transparency -- and who likes winning money?" Duh: the NTEN community! Here's the lowdown:

Apps for America will award developers for the best applications, based on data from Sunlight and its partners, that make Congress more accountable, interactive, and transparent.

There are only a couple more days to participate in our CRM and Consulting give-away contest, so don't forget to enter. It's easy: just vent about what you wish your CRM could do for your organization but doesn't.

While you're waiting to hear who wins on Friday, join us for the free-for-members webinar about working with your CRM: Get More From Your Database, today at 2pm ET / 11am PT. Sign up here!

In other Member Appreciation news, I'm also happy to announce today's NTEN give-away:

Each morning when I get ready to blog about that day's Member Appreciation winner and activities, I first think, "They're probably going to get tired of this. . ." Then I remember, "Hey, I'm giving away free stuff here. How can folks get tired of that?"

So, I'm giving away more free stuff today!

To start things off, I'm happy to announce today's member receiving an NTEN give-away, a free NTEN Webinar:

NTEN's Member Appreciation Month has gotten off to a great start with 5 days of prizes and 2 member-appreciation-webinars.

But you haven't seen anything yet!

I'm excited to announce a special Member Appreciation event and opportunity for this week:

• Join us for a free-for-members webinar this Wednesday, "Get More From Your Database", where you'll see and hear about what you probably should be doing with your CRM (that you aren't, because your CRM can't cut it, or because you just hadn't thought about using it that way).
• Enter to win 2 free seats for Convio's new CRM, Common Ground ($2400 value). You'll also get 10 free consulting hours ($1600 value) to help you get started with your new tools, thanks to Causeway Interactive.

Here's how to play:

Good deeds do get rewarded! If you know someone who’s been toiling in the open source vineyards, developing software that’s helping nonprofits succeed, check out the Tides Foundation Pizzigati Prize, a $10,000 annual award for outstanding contributions to software in the public interest. The competition, judged by a panel of national leaders in public interest computing, is now entering its third year. The application deadline for this year’s prize: September 1, 2008. You can find out more at www.pizzigatiprize.org.

The last winner was announced at the NTC in New Orleans.  

Katya Andresen and Stacie Mann, authors of the report "The Wired Fundraiser", mention a couple of times that contests are a great way to engage constituents.  In that spirit, Planned Legacy, a provider of technology to nonprofits, is running a contest to collect best practices and suggestions for interacting with donors. One randomly selected entrant will win an iPod Touch; everyone who enters (presumably with real suggestions) will receive a copy of the final document.  Hopefully, the document will be released to the nonprofit community at large, as it may well gather some interesting information.