Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes ...

Project Phoenix expands to include Australia and New Zealand, more here.

NOTE: At least one developer and project will be selected every week for the remainder of 2010.

View the Awards to date here.

Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, over the next five months, twenty-four (24) unemployed or underemployed developers will be selected because of their non-profit project proposals. One eligible developer and deserving non-profit project will be selected each week to receive a valuable package of excellent software, development tools, training, and books. We are now calling this ‘Project Phoenix’ to celebrate these developers rising from the ashes of disrupted careers.

To recap, we are inviting unemployed or underemployed developers to propose a software project for a non-profit agency, school, or church. The idea is that we will provide a package of the latest software, tools, and training resources to help you improve your skills, get up to date with current technologies, gain practical experience, potentially earn a recommendation for your efforts, and in general, enjoy the feeling of accomplishing something useful for others. We are not giving out a ‘free lunch’, just supporting your efforts to personally gain from your own ‘sweat equity’. The award packages are provided with the support and generosity of the Microsoft MVP’s and vendors listed below.

Project Criteria:

• Client is a USA IRS 503(c)3 non-profit, school, or church, OR a Canadian CRA registered charity,
• Solves a problem or satisfies a need for the client,
• Client desires the project and is supportive,
• Uses any combination of .NET 4.0, Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, or Windows Phone 7,
• May be a new software solution, or an upgrade to an existing software solution,
• Additional consideration given projects that will be posted on Codeplex with a GPL license.

All 24 selected developers will receive the following award benefits:

• Microsoft: Visual Studio Ultimate with MDSN subscription ($11,899 value),
• Pluralsight: three (3) month Standard subscription to On-Demand!™ .NET Training Library ($297 value),
• APress: three books(3) of the winner's choice ($150 value),
• O'Reilly Press: three (3) eBooks of the winner's choice($120 value),
• ComponentOne: license for Studio Enterprise components and tools ($1,300 value),
• Microsoft Learning: Vouchers for two (2) Certification Exams with Second Shot ($250 value),
• Quest Software: license for Toad® for SQL Server ($595 value),
• BillP Studios: license for WinPatrol's Host-based Intrusion Prevention System(HIPS),
• Infragistics: licenses for NetAdvantage for .NET, NetAdvantage for Silverlight Data Visualization, NetAdvantage for WPF Data, AND QuincePro.

A few of the selected projects will also be awarded one or more of the following:

• DBSophic: license for Qure for SQL Server ($5,000 value),
• DevExpress: one year subscription for DXperience Enterprise with CodeRush ($1,300 value),
• RedGate: license for ANTS Performance Profiler, ($395 value).

A few additional eligible projects may be selected and provided with one or more of the following:

• Microsoft: Visual Studio Ultimate with MDSN subscription ($11,899 value), (or)
• Microsoft: Visual Studio Premium with MSDN subscription ($5,469 value)
• InnerWorkings: Enterprise .NET Training ($1,500 value).

Award timelines:

The Awards for the first two projects were announced here on Aug 3, 2010.

Every two weeks for the remainder of 2010, two (2) additional developers and projects will be selected. Once your proposal is submitted, it will be kept in the queue for consideration. The earlier you proposal is submitted, the more opportunities for selection. If your project is selected, you will be asked to affirm that you still have time, interest and dedication to take on the project.

You may view all Project Phoenix awards here. 

Projects Available:

If you are unable to locate a suitable project, you may be interested in one of these projects submitted by qualified agencies.

Feed My Sheep

We are a community feeding program, that originally started as a 3 month summer project, one night a week we would provide a free meal for anyone who wanted to attend. We are in desperate need of a website in which we could post updates, have a calendar of volunteers and groups that will be serving each month and list special events. (This project has been accepted by a developer.)

Our Oregon

Development of a mobile app that would allow Oregonians to upload info about foreclosed homes in their neighborhood. We're a non-profit that does advocacy work for policies that advance economic fairness, and one area we focus on is getting better legislation around foreclosures. We think that a mobile app accompanying it could be groundbreaking.

If you would like more information about these projects, please use the email link on the above right of this page.

As this project matures in coming weeks, any additional supporters, vendors, benefits, or criteria will be posted on this page. Set a bookmark to easily return.