we hit a huge milestone this week! congratulations to you chattanooga! we are continually blown away by the giving spirit that thrives in chattanooga. we truly are creating a kind of community involvement that allows the culture of chattanooga to thrive! we're so proud to live in a city full of civically engaged citizens!

last week causeway kicked off the "i love chattanooga" photo contest on our facebook page. over 100 photos and counting have been posted on instagram and tagged with the #ilovecha hashtag and @causeway.

if you haven't checked them out already, you should! these chattanooga photos are amazing and it's cool to see different shots that embody why we love our city. public voting will remain open through thursday night at midnight, and you can vote 1x every 24 hours for your favorite. 

what's up for grabs?

our chattanooga-themed prize pack is getting bigger by the day! the 1st place winner with the highest number of votes will win:

• 4 tickets to the aquarium
• 2 family pass tickets to see rock city
• a moonpie t-shirt and moonpies
• a 1-year membership to bike chattanooga plus a bike chattanooga t-shirt
• 1 free night's stay at the crash pad (private room or 2 super bunks)
• $100 credit to the flying squirrel (opening soon!)
• a coca-cola bottling plant t-shirt
• and more!

we also have prizes for second and third place (plus the top 10 winners will receive a causeway t-shirt and "i love chattanooga" bumper sticker.

while in our "beta" phase, we're constantly trying to fine-tune the causeway platform, roll out new features, and incorporate the feedback we have heard from you! since the new year we have had one of the biggest website updates yet! here's what we've rolled out:

social log in

• we have always wanted causeway to be easy to use. integrating facebook and google is just another step in the right direction. now you can create a profile quickly by logging in through your facebook or google accounts. let's be honest; sometimes you just don't have enough time to fill out all of your information. we heard your cry and have brought you a solution with just a click of a button (literally. just click "facebook" on the sign-up screen!)

homepage design

• map - peruse our interactive map to find a cause in your neighborhood! click on a pin to see some quick info and then jump to the main cause page.

• featured cause - some causes just need a boost, or are really gaining momentum and we want to help out! that is part of the reason for a featured cause section. also look forward to some mini challenges and opportunities for our causes to get the coveted spot on the homepage!

new cause pages

we have completely redesigned the cause pages to be more transparent and to better organize the amount of information each cause contains.  now get all the info you need at a glance and change tabs between the cause, the way, and updates to find out more. 

• contribute - clearly see what has been given to a cause already and what the cause has requested in the contribute area. this was one of our main feature requests and we couldn't agree with you more! you can also see when the requested resources have been completed by a checkmark in the contribute area.
• completed causes - causes that are completed are now marked with a "completed" banner and the contribute section of that cause displays the resources raised. this is just our first step in showing results! so be on the lookout for more to come in our next big update.
• interactive categories - by making the categories of the cause clickable, you can now jump to a filtered view of other causes marked with the same category.

let us know what you think of the changes or what you might like to see on causeway. just like our causes, we are looking for the absolute best way to get things done, so help us out and you may see your suggestion in our next big update! 

we here at causeway couldn't be happier. the fine folks at chatter chose to spotlight us in their january issue! how cool is that?! but before you go scoping it out, i must warn you. this article has strings attached.

here are 3 warnings about our article in chatter, that you need to know:

1. this ain't your typical nonprofit - make no bones about it - causeway is different. 

●  from top-to-bottom, it is operated 100% by volunteers. 

●  this non-profit is run like a 'startup' for-profit business. i'm talking about bootstraps people! 

●  it's hyper local. causeway is 'by chattanoogans' and 'for chattanoogans'. to put it another way, causeway is in the business of connecting & empowering our fellow citizens to make chattanooga a better place.

 2. our math doesn't always add up…in a good way - not only does causeway pass along 100% of your donations, if you do a good job rallying support for your cause, 110% will be passed along. how can you beat that?!

3. causeway isn't for the apathetic. causeway, at its very core, is about action. nothing gets done without you and your friends and your neighbors. it's that simple. so if you read the article and it clicks, the ball is in your court. take action! you can start a new cause, contribute to existing causes, or help other causes rally support.

we're really excited about causeway, and we hope you are too. chattanooga needs lots of civic-minded citizens, just like you. folks who are willing to leverage their skills, time, brain power, and resources for the good of our community.

there. consider yourself warned.

congrats to the 35.85 guild & andrew mollenkof

the voting has ended, and we have a winner for our first causeway video contest! the 35.85 guild and filmmaker andrew mollenkof will receive $1,000 each. if you'd like to learn more about the 35.85 guild, watch the video andrew created below and check out their cause, helping artists connect, grow, and thrive!

thanks to our finalists and participants

we'd also like to say a big thank you to all of the nonprofits and filmmakers that entered the contest. if you haven't seen these great videos or read the causes submitted, we'd encourage you to do so! chattanoogans from across the city are working on some amazing causes. we hope these short videos bring awareness and rally support for these nonprofits that are working to improve the lives of individuals in our community.

We have absolutely loved seeing all the amazing things people are doing in Chattanooga to better our city and help the people who live here. We received some great entries for our first Causeway Video Contest (check out the videos and the worthy causes they promote).

The Finalists

As we originally stated in our video guidelines, the winner will be decided by a combination of public 'support' votes and a panel of judges. Due to the lack of votes we are extending the voting portion of the video contest until 6:00 PM Friday December 7th! Our judges did not want to make the decision solely on their own, so now it is Chattanooga's turn. The judges have made their decisions based on the criteria and have chosen the top 3 videos. The top three causes that are still in the running are:

• Helping Artists Connect, Grow and Thrive! by the 3585 Guild
• The Folk School of Chattanooga is Growing! by the Folk School of Chattanooga
• Unite. Wear White. to End Human Trafficking by Second Life of Chattanooga

(We are only counting new supporters of these causes from the beginning of the contest on October 1st until 6:00pm Dec 7th.)

Time to Vote!

Now it is up to you! Vote for your favorite finalist by creating a profile on Causeway (if you don't already have one) and clicking the "Support" button at the top of the cause you want to win.  

Rally support for your favorite video and cause via Facebook, emails, Twitter, good ole fashion word of mouth and whatever else you can think of. Once again, the three finalists are:

• Helping Artists Connect, Grow and Thrive! by the 3585 Guild
• The Folk School of Chattanooga is Growing! by the Folk School of Chattanooga
• Unite. Wear White. to End Human Trafficking by Second Life of Chattanooga

What They'll Win

The winner of the contest (both the filmmaker AND the nonprofit) will receive $1,000 each. We'll be announcing the winner on Monday, December 10th - so stay tuned!

nothing says it's fall time like carved vegetables, so we made our very own causeway pumpkin! the weather is just now starting to get cold, but it is definitely fall! many folks like to volunteer in the winter around christmas time, but why wait? now is the perfect time to find a cause you care about or submit your own. 

what's new?

we're excited about all the updates rolling out over here at causeway. in the past few months we have seen a lot of growth and have put in a few more updates to make causeway.org even better! we know that we're not perfect, but that's why we have a "beta" phase. so keep the feedback coming and help us, help you, help chattanooga!

editing causes

when you submit a cause, you can now go back and edit that cause at anytime! gone are the days when you would have to submit every typo change to us for approval. we understand these causes are important to you, and this is just one way we can make things easier!

this also means that if you want to submit a cause, you can now save a draft of that cause before submitting it for approval. a lot of work and information goes into a cause and sometimes life interupts. no problem - save your draft and come back later! 

Share your thoughts

we love brainstorming and getting input and feedback from others so we brought this concept to causeway. as you scroll through a cause, you will now see a "share your thoughts" button for each section. if you have a question about a specific section or have some ideas that might strengthen a cause, then click on "share your thoughts" and add a comment directly to that section!  

having a good plan is important in order to address your cause. sometimes we just don't have all the answers and we need input from others. we implemented "share your thoughts" to help causes get the best possible plan in place so it can move forward, rally support, and be addressed. 

Rally support

this is a huge part of causeway. submitting a cause doesn't magically drum up support. it's a lot of work too! to help you with this, we have now added an "email" button at the top of each cause along with all of the popular social sharing buttons so you can quickly and easily broadcast your cause to all your friends, family, and neighbors.