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Pictured from left, are Steve Skardon, executive director, Palmetto Project; Brady Quirk-Garvan, program coordinator, Palmetto Project; and Laura Deaton, founder of Pluff Mud Connect.

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The former Charleston resident who now resides in Tallahassee, Florida is still extremely involved in the Charleston community.

Deaton has worked with many local organizations such as the YWCA, Charleston Symphony Orchestra and Charleston Breast Center.

She kept receiving calls for consulting purposes and thought of a “way to connect with the resources in the Charleston area.”

Her Web site, www.pluffmudconnect.com, a Web-based matching service for nonprofits and local businesses, launched on May 15.

She launched the site so that local nonprofits would not have to get to a crisis point and would have a direct link to the  resources they need.

“We are loaded with talent here [Charleston area],” Deaton said, explaining why she wanted nonprofits and local businesses to forge a bond.

The Pluff Mud Connect is free to nonprofits while consultants and providers pay a small annual enrollment fee, putting their services directly in front of those that need them.

The Thrive! Prize fund is fueled through a portion of the enrollment fees paid by the local consultants, service providers, and businesses that join the service. Pluff Mud Connect is offering five $1000 prizes for projects for nonprofits organizations.

Each nonprofit had to answer the simple question: “If your organization received an

extra $1000 that could only be used for a one-time project…what would you do?”

Between July 1-31, applications flooded in.

Finally, 10 semi-finalists out of the 50 that applied were chosen.

And the  winners were: Mount Pleasant-based Palmetto Project, Alzheimer’s Respite & Resource, Born To Read Inc., Mediation and Meeting Center of Charleston and Rural Mission, Inc.

Mount Pleasant Open Space Foundation was one of the semi-finalists and received a small donation as well.

The folks at the Palmetto Project turned in the following answer to the question.

“With 25-plus years of experience – and over a dozen programs in action – the Palmetto Project has proven its own sustainability. Developed in the last century, the nonprofit’s Web site isn’t easily updated, can’t accept donations and can’t record e-mails and other user data. In a word: it’s the online equivalent of a dead letter department. Receiving the Thrive! Prize will allow the organization to post an equal match and overhaul their current site to be better optimized, more donor friendly and easily updated.  

 “A new Web site will provide a sustainable way for us to better reach donors, allow us to better serve those in need, and help us continue to transform and bring innovative solutions to South Carolina,” said  program coordinator, Brady Quirk-Garvan, in their submission.

Steve Skardon, executive director of the Palmetto Project, was thrilled to be a winner.

“The money that we receive from the award will enable us  to put up a Web site that will have dozens of ideas to solve problems in the community,” he said. “We want a Web site so that everyone in South Carolina can have access to innovative ideas and proven strategies for creating change in their neighborhoods or towns.”

According to Skardon, the new Web site will be a simple place for community groups or individuals to find new approaches to solving problems. Touchpoint Communications proprietor Colleen Troy said, “We’ve always been committed to working with nonprofits in our public relations and marketing business.

“This new connection makes it easy for us to raise our hand and tell them we’re here. They know what we do, and that we want to do it for them.”

According to Deaton, Pluff Mud Connect already counts more than 100 members on the site. Collectively, the buying power of its registered nonprofits totaled more than $96 million as of mid-June and business members provide services across more than 75 sub-categories, including infrastructure and technology, Web design and other marketing services, printing and direct mail, fund-raising, human resources, legal services, accounting services, and more.

Visit the Web site at www.pluffmudconnect.com.

(Helen Ravenel can be reached at helen@moultrienews.com.)

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