This guest post is written by Ben Davis, visionary of THE BAY LIGHTS, a project to light up the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, CA to raise money and awareness for Bay Area arts organizations.  Check out his project at www.causes.com/thebaylights

THE BAY LIGHTS is an iconic light sculpture designed by internationally renowned artist Leo Villareal. Similar to the ambitious lighting of the Eiffel Tower for its 100th anniversary, THE BAY LIGHTS will commemorate the Bay Bridge’s 75th Diamond Anniversary (at seven times the scale of the famous Parisian landmark). The installation will live for two years, providing a stunning fine arts experience for the entire Bay Area and its visitors. More than 50 million people will directly experience the artwork, with a billion more seeing it in the media and online.

When it was first proposed, many deemed the project impossible.  But something magic happened. The people within the agencies required to permit the project became inspired by it. There was no precedent for a project of this scale, so new paths for collaborative success were established. The success of THE BAY LIGHTS will be a new model for what is possible within these agencies.

The next seemingly impossible hurdle is money–$7 million in private funding is needed. Although nearly all of that money would go to creating jobs, the sum seemed daunting—until more magic happened: a generous initial donor provided more than $100k before even being asked. This lit a fundraising fire. A pipeline of heroic patrons now exists—people with the means and character to give upward of a million dollars—and the response to date has been highly encouraging. The project is now flush with optimism and there is confidence that the required funding will come.

Some doubted that the community would support such an ambitious project. In a polarized world, how could we gain widespread support? Then more magic: the project was adopted by several of the Bay Area’s leading arts and cultural institutions who vowed to work collaboratively toward its success. An ever-expanding community has stepped forward in a magnanimous gesture of support, and the region is pulling together to make an impossible vision become a shared reality. It’s inspiring to be a part of.

And now Causes has invited The Bay Lights to join its generous community at causes.com/thebaylights. I hope you’ll take a moment to explore the project, give what you can, and help spread the word. And when the project goes live in the fall of 2012, I hope you’ll find a way to join us in celebration, knowing you’re a part of the community that brought The Bay Lights to life.

Yours truly,
Ben Davis

Welcome to our series, “Great Nonprofits,” where we highlight a Nonprofit Partner that changes the world and uses Causes to tell their story. This week our Great Nonprofit is Carol’s Ferals.

You don’t need a big budget to be successful with social media – with some passionate champions for your cause, you can gain tremendous support online. Carol’s Ferals, a small nonprofit based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is one of my favorite examples of this type of success. Their mission is to “end feline overpopulation in west Michigan through community education and empowerment”, and volunteers make up the vast majority of the organization’s workforce.

Carol’s Ferals has done amazing work in mobilizing supporters on Causes. Through its community of 2,400 people, Carol’s Ferals has raised over $12,000! After watching their “Welcome to the Cause” video, you get a sense of what makes the organization so special: every person involved has a genuine passion for the mission and the work. Enjoy the video below – and join their cause!

Guest Post from Charlie Edelen, Missouri Jobs with Jusice

Every year, Missouri Jobs with Justice holds a “Scrooge of the Year” party. Member organizations of MO JwJ nominate candidates who they think should be awarded “Scrooge of the Year” – the politician, lobbyist, corporation, organization, or 1%er who has done the most damage to working families in Missouri. Missouri Jobs with Justice holds these every year in Kansas City and St. Louis. Its a “fun”draiser  – 1 dollar = 1 vote, and the candidate with the most votes is elected ”Scrooge” of the year. This is also a fun, festive way for the diverse groups in Jobs with Justice to come together, share stories of the struggle, and educate one another on various campaigns, contract negotiations and harmful legislation. You can vote for any of the following candidates by visiting the Missouri Jobs with Justice cause.

This year’s candidates are:

St. Louis:

Rep Darrell Issa (CA), nominated by American Postal Workers Union Gateway Area Local, for refusing to move a bill (that has 230 co-sponsors!) out of committee, which he chairs, that would make the United States Postal Service solvent.

Rep Todd Akin (MO), nominated by the Missouri AFL-CIO, for wanting to slash Medicare, Mediciad, Social Security; refusing to meet with his constituents time and time again; for publicly saying that “at the heart of Liberalism is a hatred for God.”

Frank Kartmann, President of American Missouri Water Company, who was nominated by Utility Workers of America (UWUA) Local 335 for wanting to privatize the water services in St. Louis county. Privitizing these public water services would decrease the quality of water services, drive down pay and benefits of its employees, increase the wait time for customer service, and even threaten the quality of St. Louis’ notoriously tasty water supply.

Rex Sinquefield, nominated by St. Louis JwJ Workers’ Rights Board, is a St. Louis billionaire who has made no attempts to hide his buying of politicians and legislation for the 1% in Missouri over the past few years. Recently, Rex has been throwing millions of dollars at eliminating the state income tax and replacing it with a much higher, much more widespread sales tax on everything you buy – houses, rent, child care, health care, toiletries food, car repairs…which is why we’re calling it the “Everything Tax.” This regressive tax would require 99% of Missourians to pay more taxes while corporations and the super wealthy would pay even less of their fair share than they already do.

Kansas City:

Rep Darrell Issa (CO), nominated by American Postal Workers Union Gateway Area Local, for refusing to move a bill (that has 230 co-sponsors!) out of committee, which he chairs, that would make the United States Postal Service solvent.

MO State Senator Jane Cunningham, nominated by National Nurses United – Kansas city and SEIU HealthCare, first gained national attention on Jay Leno for filing a bill in Missouri that would repeal our child labor laws. Mostly recently she has done the work of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) by filing legislation that would gut regulations to benefit corporations. She has done everything she can to block and manipulate the Affordable Care Act in Missouri.

Wal-Mart, nominated by Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 6355/MO State Workers Union for paying its employees as little as possible and then encouraging them to collect Medicaid from the government – while collecting an average of $3 million per store in government subsidies itself. Wal-Mart has lobbied for the repeal of Missouri’s minimum wage laws, the corporate franchise tax, and anti-discrimination laws.