The road not taken?
For the record, this will be the last blog post for 2008. The Nonprofit Center and I are taking a two week vacation to relax, re-energize, and come back afresh. Rather than end the year being all philosophical and pollyannaish, I thought I’d try being practical and positive. The hard reality is that many people are going to be looking for jobs in the new year. (And why, when the economy is already running roughshod over us, do we have to have Read more
December 18th, 2008 1 Comment Hark! Are those Angels I hear?
I’ve only just learned of using the term angel as part of the explicit label of some investment companies. I just thought that all venture capitalists and investors of whatever ilk were angels to someone or some organization by the very nature of what they did. But as so frequently happens, I’ve since heard/read the term a trillion times in the weeks since.
Angels in the nonprofit world, that’s another story. We all have been looking for them since our inceptions, I’m sure. Unless, Read more
December 12th, 2008 0 Comment My Aching Head
My doctor says I need to ease up on the head banging. I’d actually let up a little until I received a response to my recently published Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed. The commentary suggested that those laid off from for-profit jobs should look to the nonprofit sector for satisfying employment: their skills and talents are needed and will be valued and they can feel good while doing good. The responses to this piece was phenomenal and all extremely positive, with Read more
December 5th, 2008 0 Comment Role Models
Instilling in children a sense of responsibility to help others less fortunate than they and to give back to others and communities is a challenge under the best of circumstances. When children grow up with one of two images—absolute devastation, as witnessed on September 11, 2001 or in the aftermath of bombing raids or Katrina and her sisters and brothers, or extreme opulence, as seen through the lives of entertainers, sports figures and other “celebrities”—it Read more
December 2nd, 2008 0 Comment The Mother of All Sins?
Greed. I am not the only one to put at the feet of greed the current financial mess in which America currently finds itself. Larger lifestyles, larger profits, larger risk. All to get more. Greed, greed, greed. As a result of these voracious appetites —which most of us were taught is not a trait to be coveted or embraced—folks are actually being rewarded. We have bailouts in the works for greedy homeowners, greedy bankers, greedy insurance companies, greedy mortgage companies, even Read more
November 21st, 2008 0 Comment Merger is not a 4-letter Word
While I was hoping to get away from the theme of tough economic times, it seems nigh impossible to do so right now. But I don’t like what I’m hearing from the board rooms and want to offer an alternative that should be considered.
The knee-jerk reaction to tough economic times is to cut: cut, cut a little more and then cut yet more. One executive director I know has been asked by her board to bring back several scenarios for Read more
November 14th, 2008 0 CommentA Lost Art
During tough times, be it the current one effecting all of us and brought on by the seeming collapse of our economic system or those more idiosyncratic to a particular organization, it is important to pay attention to our most valuable asset—people. So, what are you doing to express loudly and clearly just how much you appreciate all of the good work your paid and volunteer employees do for your organization and the clients it serves?
And before the “but” escapes Read more
November 7th, 2008 1 Comment One of these things is not like the other
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If ever there were a time to be reminded that all nonprofits are not alike, now is it. Independence Blue Cross is not the same as a health clinic in a poor neighborhood. A university is not the same as the local literacy or GED Read more
October 31st, 2008 1 Comment Teach Your Children
One of the most important lessons of economic downturns gets lost in the panic of the moment, allowing too many to miss the lesson. I don’t want that happening. The lesson is quite simple: prepare now for a healthy financial future. If we are always preparing for the future, the present will be taken care of as well. Instead, far too many organizations, and individuals, take care of the present, never thinking about the future.
While many things go through my mind in thinking about the Read more
October 24th, 2008 0 Comment Take Heart
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Unless this year is the exception to the rule, nonprofits should not be worrying about whether or from where their next dollar will be coming. Relax; it will be coming.
According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University (the Center), philanthropy is stronger than the stock market, social upheaval Read more
October 17th, 2008 0 Comment 