BigTent Blog | Product updates and news for groups

As we kickoff another school year, we’re excited to tell you about a program where $200,000 is being donated to school projects across the country. Yahoo! has teamed up with DonorsChoose.org for the second annual Yahoo! Homepages for Homerooms program to help teachers get the funding they need to see their classrooms flourish.

We are asking you to rally your group members, schools, friends, and communities to make Yahoo! their homepage in support of classrooms in need. Yahoo! will be donating $25,000 per week for 8 weeks across the top homepage-generating projects (up to $600 per project).

Here is an example of a project that needs funding:

Project Name
Differentiated Instruction Through Guided Reading

Teacher’s Description
My students are beginning to discover the magic of books. I have students asking me to get books for our library; after reading aloud to them “The Circuit” and “Esperanza Rising”. They want more guided reading books to discuss, connect, and write about what they read. My students are mostly Latino and African American. They come from an economically disadvantaged background. All of the students are in the government reduced/free meal program. They are hard working students with a thirst for knowledge. In order for them to exceed in their education; all they need is the opportunity to be motivated and exposed to literature, technology, and differentiated learning instruction. By reading and being exposed to more books they will develop a passion for reading and become life long learners.

What the students need
My students need 3 collections of Guided Reading books at their reading level in order for me to differentiate their instruction. We also, need a variety of other books (5 titles) to enhance their reading comprehension.

Teacher/ School
Mrs. Berger  |  Florence Avenue Elem School  |  Los Angeles, CA

Individually we can cast a vote, but together we can fund projects!

Please take a few minutes to find a project that you are passionate about and pass this message onto your family, friends, and community.

This program ends on October 16th, so get your votes in now.

Go visit Yahoo! Homepages for Homerooms to find a project to support!

Thanks,
- The BigTent Team

Ever wonder how you can spread the word about your BigTent group to your community?

Well, we have and we’re sure you have too! To help you publicize the great work of your group, we’ve developed 25 easy tips for growing your group. Tips include ideas such as posting your group to Craigslist, partnering with local business, and referral contests for members.

Download the tips here: http://www.bigtent.com/l/growgroup

Tell us how you’ve successfully grown your group by leaving us a comment. The BigTenter with the most creative idea will win a cup of coffee on us!

Cheers,
The BigTent Team

We’re always eager to share our features and functionality with new groups. If you’re just learning about BigTent, and looking at us as an alternative to Meetup, a special welcome to you!

A quick about us:

We’re the free online home for trusted groups. We work with 20,000+ communities across the United States and are a one-stop shop for communicating, connecting and organizing.  Our features are designed to keep things easy for organizers, while giving members a great user experience.  We support communities that range in size from 10 people to hundreds of thousands of members.

We offer several features that you may be comfortable with, if you’re accustomed to using Meetup:

• Calendaring
• Photo sharing
• File sharing
• Forums (accessible online and via email)
• Event RSVP and payment
• Member renewals and registration
• Public web pages and website integration with widgets
• Online payments processing

Some additional features unique to BigTent that help our groups’ thrive include:

• Sub-groups
• Ability to manage multiple groups in one integrated view
• Easy to delegate roles and permissions
• Sub-group management
• SSL encryption of member information
• Unlimited free file storage
• Group news/blog
• Classifieds
• Product and service reviews

Here’s a quick tour of the feature you’ll find in BigTent:

It’s easy to get started, just visit our sign-up page: www.bigtent.com/signup.  Our community support is unmatched, from our current group leaders, to our community support team, we’re here to make sure your group is engaged and growing as part of BigTent!

All the best,

Laney Whitcanack
BigTent Co-Founder