Nine percent of the Western Hemisphere’s mammals—and up to 40 percent in some regions—may not be able to outpace climate change. “I think it’s important to point out that in the past when climates have changed—between glacial and interglacial periods when species ranges contracted and expanded—the landscape wasn’t covered with agricultural fields, four-lane highways and parking lots, so species could move much more freely across the landscape,” says Joshua Lawler, associate professor of environmental and forest sciences at University of…
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Most Topular Stories
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Mammals may not get to cool climates in time
Holy Kaw!16 May 2012 | 12:09 pm -
Akilah Institute for Women: Social Media Workshop
Beth’s Blog16 May 2012 | 8:24 amAkilah workshop View more presentations from Beth Kanter After the ACE leadership training, I had the opportunity to spend a day in Kigali. I volunteered to do a Social Media and Professional Networking workshop for second year students at the Akilah Institute for Women. The mission is to empower young women in East Africa to transform their lives by equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to find meaningful employment and launch ventures in the fastest growing sectors of the economy. The organization was founded by Elizabeth Dearborn Davis and Dave Hughes. I… -
Sharing Our Way toward Equality: Social Media and Gay Rights
NTEN15 May 2012 | 6:56 amBy John Hoffman, Director of New Markets, ZeroDivide Since the moment that President Obama stated that he supports same-sex marriage, there’s been a flurry of social media activity, both pro and con, on the issue. It’s obvious by now that social media has played a huge role in shaping Americans’ attitudes toward LGBT issues. But I would go a step further. Despite the unavoidable struggles and setbacks that lay ahead, the inherent qualities of social media make the passage of same-sex marriage and equal rights for LGBT individuals and families inevitable. Here’s why: 1. Social media is… -
Personal Attention Reduces Poverty
SSIR Articles16 May 2012 | 12:00 pmAs a single mother with two kids, Heidi Wilson struggled to pay her bills. She says she hocked her belongings in pawnshops, took out high-interest payday loans, and bounced checks. What she needed most, though, wasn’t more money—it was a good friend. Wilson, 39, says she had no one in her northern Idaho town whom she could regularly turn to for advice and support. Everyone she knew was stuck in a cycle of poverty, and as a college student with a part-time job, she was actually better off than many of them. At the social services office, the caseworkers who approved her food stamps… -
Meg Worden, Feed Me Darling : How I Have Fun, Do Good
Have Fun • Do Good16 May 2012 | 8:42 amThe fourth blogger in this run of the Have Fun, Do Good guest post series is the delicious Meg Worden (I say delicious because I love her e-cookbook, Salad Alchemy). Meg is a writer, speaker, storyteller and a certified Holistic Health Coach. She is the founder of Feed Me Darling, a business that helps professional women eradicate food cravings and gain lasting control over emotional eating. Meg works with clients to heal and balance their bodies so that they can do their best work in the world. She writes for Elephant Journal, The Nervous Breakdown, Jack Move Magazine and has been published…
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Holy Kaw!
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Mammals may not get to cool climates in time
16 May 2012 | 12:09 pmNine percent of the Western Hemisphere’s mammals—and up to 40 percent in some regions—may not be able to outpace climate change. “I think it’s important to point out that in the past when climates have changed—between glacial and interglacial periods when species ranges contracted and expanded—the landscape wasn’t covered with agricultural fields, four-lane highways and parking lots, so species could move much more freely across the landscape,” says Joshua Lawler, associate professor of environmental and forest sciences at University of… -
Time of year matters for vitamin D risk
16 May 2012 | 12:08 pmWhen considering a patient’s blood vitamin D levels, it may be best to consider a lower threshold for concern, as well as the time of year. "In evaluating health risk," the University of Washington researchers conclude, "season-specific targets for Vitamin D blood concentration may be more appropriate than a static target when evaluating patients health risk." Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
The (not so correct) anatomy of sea life
16 May 2012 | 11:52 amMarine biology, scharine schiology. Pleated Jeans skips scientific facts for its series of sea life diagrams. Via Pleated Jeans. (H/T @laughingsquid) Laughing is good for you. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
The mechanics of eclipses [infographic]
16 May 2012 | 9:11 amWhen the moon passes in front of sun, as viewed from Earth, the eclipse that occurs is visible from a narrow path on Earth that corresponds to the location of the moon's shadow. During a total solar eclipse, this path is known as the path of totality. WARNING: Never look directly at the sun during an eclipse with a telescope or your unaided eye. Severe eye damage can result and scientists use special filters to safely view the sun. Via Space. The view from space. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Clean air improves heart health, Olympics show
16 May 2012 | 8:39 amUsing the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a lab, researchers found evidence that even short-term reduction in air pollution exposure improves a person’s cardiovascular health. “Beijing is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and the Chinese government had proposed to reduce pollution levels to be comparable to other Olympic host cities,” says USC Professor Junfeng (Jim) Zhang. “We wanted to take advantage of such a huge intervention and look at what happens to people biologically.” Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Permalink |…
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Beth’s Blog
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Akilah Institute for Women: Social Media Workshop
16 May 2012 | 8:24 amAkilah workshop View more presentations from Beth Kanter After the ACE leadership training, I had the opportunity to spend a day in Kigali. I volunteered to do a Social Media and Professional Networking workshop for second year students at the Akilah Institute for Women. The mission is to empower young women in East Africa to transform their lives by equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to find meaningful employment and launch ventures in the fastest growing sectors of the economy. The organization was founded by Elizabeth Dearborn Davis and Dave Hughes. I… -
Social Media, Networking, and African Women’s Leadership Training in Rwanda
15 May 2012 | 8:00 amFor the past ten days, I’ve been in Rwanda, Africa. I was honored to be a trainer as part of the launch of the ACE Leaders Project, a program developed by the Institute of International Education Sub-Saharan Regional Office and supported by the Packard Foundation. The project is under the visionary leadership of Cheryl Francisconi who is the director of IIE’s office in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and has vast expertise in developing, designing, and implementing transformative leadership programs for several decades. The project mobilizes leading women’s organizations and… -
Need Answers: LinkedIn Has Them
14 May 2012 | 8:44 amNote from Beth: I’m just finishing up an intensive training here in Rwanda. I was out in a rural area where Internet connectivity was a huge challenge, so was not able to blog, But now that I’m back in Kigali with a good Internet connection, expect to hear more about my experience teaching social media and the Networked NGO. Right before I left for this trip, Geri Stengel, shared a guest post about nonprofits and use of LinkedIn that was of interest to many folks. So, when Geri offered up this second post about nonprofits and LinkedIn, I couldn’t… -
Are You Being Left Behind as Technology Ushers In a Whole New Approach to Philanthropy? #CoFLA
4 May 2012 | 7:25 amNote From Beth: Just before I left for Rwanda, I caught some interesting discussion threads about organizational adoption of networked ways of working on Twitter coming from the #COFLA hashtag as a result of the Council on Foundations gathering in Los Angeles. I discovered that it was Larry Eason from DotOrgPower and his colleague, Shelley Wenk, offered to write this summary of the discussion as a guest post. When I landed, I was able to get the guest post from Shelley via email and publish it because Rwanda has one of the better Internet connectivity infrastructures for the countries… -
Attention Data Nerds: Nonprofits Miss Out on the Power of LinkedIn: Learn How to Tap It
3 May 2012 | 8:02 amNote from Beth: By the time you are reading, I’ll probably have been on a jet plane for far longer than I want to be and maybe have landed in Rwanda. Once I recover from the journey, expect read reports about the Networked NGO in Rwanda and use of social media to support Women’s Rights organizations. If you’re motivated to go deeper on LinkedIn after reading this summary, you will want to check out my curated list of nonprofit and LinkedIn resources here. Nonprofits Miss Out on the Power of LinkedIn: Learn How to Tap It – Guest Post by Geri Stengel …
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NTEN
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Sharing Our Way toward Equality: Social Media and Gay Rights
15 May 2012 | 6:56 amBy John Hoffman, Director of New Markets, ZeroDivide Since the moment that President Obama stated that he supports same-sex marriage, there’s been a flurry of social media activity, both pro and con, on the issue. It’s obvious by now that social media has played a huge role in shaping Americans’ attitudes toward LGBT issues. But I would go a step further. Despite the unavoidable struggles and setbacks that lay ahead, the inherent qualities of social media make the passage of same-sex marriage and equal rights for LGBT individuals and families inevitable. Here’s why: 1. Social media is… -
Google Drive: Does It Matter?
14 May 2012 | 10:48 amTJ Rainsford Chief Technology Officer 501cTECH Google Drive is still brand new and not without limitations, but its capabilities are pretty hard to ignore. On April 24, Google announced the much anticipated Google Drive service, a cloud-based "disk drive" where individuals and organizations can store there documents, spreadsheets and a host of other electronic files. That may sound like a big deal but organizations and individuals with Google accounts could do that already using Google Docs. So does Google Drive really matter? In short, the answer is yes! -
Member Round Up: Change and Opportunities!
11 May 2012 | 2:23 pmFlickr:MarkusramWe can feel it - the season is changing! How do we know? NTEN members are providing more educational opportunities, asking for more help on amazing projects, and announcing even more technology tools than ever before. With all the change going on, make sure you learn about all the ways NTEN members are making a difference in the world. Have more news to share? Drop us a line or include your links in the comments!Women rule! And Women Who Tech just created an awesome infographic that details exactly why women rule. For example, did you know that women represent 56% of the… -
Engaging Volunteers in Technical Roles
11 May 2012 | 11:54 amWould you trust a volunteer to help maintain your organization's servers? Okay, probably not, but what about taking out an iPad to collect constituent data? Or setting up wi-fi hot spots after a disaster. Volunteers are the lifeblood of many a nonprofit, and there are many ways you can engage them in technical roles – but it requires a special skill set to manage them. We'll explore the pros and cons of a volunteer workforce supporting technology at our upcoming webinar, "Engaging Volunteers in Technical Roles". Learn more and register today >> In this webinar, you'll learn: How to… -
Developing a Cloud Migration Strategy, Part 2: Process, Costs & Things to Consider
10 May 2012 | 2:57 pmMatthew Eshleman Director of Professional Network Services Community IT Innovators The promise of the cloud is that you don't have to worry about servers anymore. The reality of the cloud is that you have a lot of other things to think about. We may have jumped the gun a little by discussing what systems to migrate in part 1 of this look at developing a cloud migration strategy, but now we're going to ask and answer the question of How to Migrate. Migrating to a cloud based application or service is different from installing some software or server in your office. It is imperative that…
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SSIR Articles
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Personal Attention Reduces Poverty
16 May 2012 | 12:00 pmAs a single mother with two kids, Heidi Wilson struggled to pay her bills. She says she hocked her belongings in pawnshops, took out high-interest payday loans, and bounced checks. What she needed most, though, wasn’t more money—it was a good friend. Wilson, 39, says she had no one in her northern Idaho town whom she could regularly turn to for advice and support. Everyone she knew was stuck in a cycle of poverty, and as a college student with a part-time job, she was actually better off than many of them. At the social services office, the caseworkers who approved her food stamps… -
Risky Business
16 May 2012 | 12:00 pmSPONSORED SUPPLEMENT TO SSIR The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Guiding Principles state that the foundation “focuses on the most serious problems facing society where risk capital, responsibly invested, may make a difference over time.” The foundation’s grantmaking strategies, with goals ranging from mitigating climate change to reforming California’s fiscal policies, reflect the board’s and staff’s considerable tolerance for risk. This article outlines our framework for investing in strategies where the likelihood of success is small and often difficult to quantify. -
Shared Outcomes
16 May 2012 | 12:00 pmSPONSORED SUPPLEMENT TO SSIR Across every sector of society, decision makers are struggling with the complexity and velocity of change in an increasingly interdependent world. The context of decision-making has evolved, and in many cases has been altered in revolutionary ways. In the decade ahead our lives will be more intensely shaped by transformative forces, including economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological seismic shifts.1 As part of its response to this global dynamism, the Rockefeller Foundation has translated its 1913 mission of promoting the well-being of… -
Leveraging Research for China
16 May 2012 | 12:00 pmAs China’s economy boomed, classrooms in rural provinces emptied. One in four teenagers were dropping out of junior high to work in factories to help their impoverished families. Giving cash to students as an incentive to stay in school, as many nonprofits have done in other countries, seemed like an obvious solution. But for Scott Rozelle, a good idea isn’t good enough—it has to be backed by empirical evidence. So Rozelle, founder and co-director of the Rural Education Action Project (REAP) at Stanford University, designed an experiment: 300 of the poorest seventh-graders in an area of… -
Framing the Issue
16 May 2012 | 12:00 pmSPONSORED SUPPLEMENT TO SSIR In recent years, the philanthropic sector has neared consensus on the need to improve measurement and evaluation of its work. Although the philanthropies they lead use different methods, members of the Aspen Philanthropy Group (APG) have agreed that basic principles and practices can inform efforts to monitor performance, track progress, and assess the impact of foundation strategies, initiatives, and grants. They hope to build a culture of learning in the process. Over the past two years these CEOs of private, corporate, and community foundations have supported a…
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Have Fun • Do Good
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Meg Worden, Feed Me Darling : How I Have Fun, Do Good
16 May 2012 | 8:42 amThe fourth blogger in this run of the Have Fun, Do Good guest post series is the delicious Meg Worden (I say delicious because I love her e-cookbook, Salad Alchemy). Meg is a writer, speaker, storyteller and a certified Holistic Health Coach. She is the founder of Feed Me Darling, a business that helps professional women eradicate food cravings and gain lasting control over emotional eating. Meg works with clients to heal and balance their bodies so that they can do their best work in the world. She writes for Elephant Journal, The Nervous Breakdown, Jack Move Magazine and has been published… -
Blogging for Nonprofits + Juicy Blogging Circle and E-Course
13 May 2012 | 10:10 amHello Have Fun * Do Gooders! I wanted to let you know about 4 blogging workshops coming up, in case you're interested. ****** Juicy Blogging Circle: Grow Your Blogging Habit May 16-June 6, 2012 Virtual A fun group blog coaching experience! Each week you'll: Check in with the Circle on a weekly conference call, and/or on the private class blog. Share your blogging goals for the week. Celebrate your successes. Ask for suggestions for how to move through challenges. Support other Circle members with their successes and challenges. Receive ideas, tips, resources, and cheerleading from the… -
Christine Egger, In Conversation: How I Have Fun, Do Good
9 May 2012 | 6:52 amThe third blogger in this run of the Have Fun, Do Good guest post series is the wonderfully wise, Christine Egger. Christine is a facilitator, network weaver, and catalyst. She works with individuals and organizations whose mission is to increase our capacity for empathy, generosity, and creativity. You can learn more about Christine at cdegger.com, or find her on Twitter at @cdegger. How do I have fun and do good? I create conversations. In my experience the most fun, most good-doing conversations are the kind in which the participants not only learn about themselves and each… -
Jocelyn Harmon: People, Words, Technology & Truth: How I Have Fun, Do Good
3 May 2012 | 8:36 amMy second guest blogger in this run of the Have Fun, Do Good guest post series is the warm and wonderful Jocelyn Harmon. Jocelyn is passionate about helping nonprofits to succeed online so that they can change the world! As Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Network for Good, she is privileged to lead the team to help over 5,000 nonprofits raise more friends and funds online. Prior to joining Network for Good, Jocelyn was Director of Business Development for Care2, where she worked with some of the most respected national nonprofits, including ASPCA, Environmental Defense Fund,… -
Plant a Kiss Day
1 May 2012 | 6:35 am"Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty" ~Ann Herbert On Sunday, my friend Heather of Create Your Own Beautiful, and I participated in Plant a Kiss Day. Plant a Kiss Day was organized by pal Sherry Richert Belul to celebrate the message behind Amy Krouse Rosenthal's book, Plant a Kiss, a story about how one small act of kindness can bloom. Heather teaches an awesome dance fitness class, ShimmyPop!, at Hipline on Sundays, so after class we "planted a kiss" by giving all of her students flowers and oranges. Fun! Today through May 4th, 16 bloggers (including me) are…
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Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog
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Giving is up, and it’s still about relationships
16 May 2012 | 12:03 amMy organization, Network for Good, sits at the intersection of many forms of digital giving—via nonprofit websites like yours, portal sites like Charity Navigator, and social networks like Causes.com. Today, we release the Q1 2012 update to The Network for Good Digital Giving Index, which analyzes giving across these channels, and we have interpreted the results so you know what the data means for your organization. The headline is that online giving is up across all channels. The healthy growth of digital philanthropy continues apace. We continue to find the winning formula online to… -
Social lipstick on a network pig: 4 ways your online efforts can go awry
15 May 2012 | 12:25 amThis post on social media for nonprofits is adapted from The Nimble Nonprofit: An Unconventional Guide to Sustaining and Growing Your Nonprofit by Jacob Smith and Trey Beck. Jacob blogs at brightplus3.com. Should your nonprofit dive headlong into the world of Web 2.0? The simple answer is to first know your audience, how it communicates, and how its members interact with each other and with organizations they support. You may be able to mine some of this information from your personal knowledge of supporters and prospects, from your member database, or from analytics on your web site. … -
A good formula: Email plus social media
14 May 2012 | 12:44 amIf there’s anything that’s become clear in fundraising, it’s that no single channel is a silver bullet. Email alone - or direct mail alone or social alone - aren’t enough. What works best is using them in combination. Donors are channel agnostic, so you can’t give them only one way to give. Here’s a nifty infographic from GetResponse on the merits of using email and social media in combination. Enjoy! -
How to Make Your Big Idea Really Happen
11 May 2012 | 12:18 amThe title of this post comes from a new article at the Harvard Business Review blog which provides some solid pointers for people like us. According to John Hagel and John Brown, turning a grand idea into reality requires five critical concepts. Here is my paraphrase of those factors, along with my thoughts. 1. Create a Compelling Shaping View To mobilize supporters,say Hagel and Brown, you have to create a compelling view of what the future-state could look like. Think “I have a dream” or Kennedy’s man on the moon speech. Don’t just pitch your cause -… -
How to get unstuck when you lack inspiration
10 May 2012 | 12:24 amVery young kids’ drawings usually don’t feature a person’s neck. Why is that? My theory is that if you’re two or three years old and your perspective is pretty low to the ground, you don’t see people’s necks when you look up. You see a head sitting on arms. Perspective is everything, isn’t it? If you’re feeling stuck, you may not have writer’s block or marketing problems or any other creative limitation. More likely, you’ve lost the perspective you need to do your best work—that is, the perspective of…
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PHILANTHROPY 2173
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ReCoding Good: Impact investing, philanthropy and the new social economy
14 May 2012 | 12:51 pmReCoding Good: Part 5 | Stanford Social Innovation Review The next ReCodeGood charrette is May 15th. We will be looking at the policy implications of a social economy in which impact investing, new enterprise forms, philanthropy and nonprofit co-exist. You can read the full blog post at Stanford Social Innovation Review. -
Putting data in context
12 Apr 2012 | 9:05 am(logo from NFF Financial Scan) The Nonprofit Finance Fund has a new tool out, called Financial SCAN, that is quite exciting. It takes the deep financial analysis for which NFF is noted as a framework for gathering and making sense of nonprofit organizations' 990 data. In partnership with Guidestar, Financial SCAN pulls information from nonprofit profiles and presents it in a templated form built from NFF expertise. A user gets the best of aggregated web data - you can search for any nonprofit - and the expertise of financial experts who've been working with nonprofits for decades. I hope this… -
Governance in the 21st Century
11 Apr 2012 | 8:33 amRemember the public pressure on the Komen Foundation that led the organization to change a board decision? I said back then this was a harbinger of a new expression for public accountability that foundations need to understand. It is an early edge of a new kind of governance capacity for which most foundations (and most nonprofits) are not prepared. If you think it's about a social media strategy, you're wrong. The Gates Foundation is experiencing this right now. The Foundation provided grant funds to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC works on many policy issues. In the… -
ReCoding Good - Are Nonprofits People, Too?
6 Apr 2012 | 2:34 pmStanford Social Innovation Review just posted the latest in our series of #Recodegood updates. Here is the synthesis of the conversation on March 20 about Citizens United, political giving, and the nonprofit sector. The SSIR post has links to the previous updates as well. The conversation also catalyzed thinking about data - here is that post. There are several presentations and materials linked off the article. Would love to hear your thoughts. -
Data and ...
3 Apr 2012 | 1:59 pmOn March 20 a group of researchers, policy makers, data experts, and nonprofit policy experts met to talk about Citizens United and the Future of the Social Sector. This was one of the #ReCoding Good charrettes I'm organizing as part of the Stanford Philanthropy, Policy and Technology Project - and a full synthesis of the meeting will soon be available on SSIR. In the meantime, I wanted to highlight a few themes from that meeting that are very much on my mind. 1) Data and stories We were honored to be joined by Jane Mayer of The New Yorker at the March 20 event, along with Dan Newman of…
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A Small Change
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Campaign Volunteer Recruitment
21 Apr 2012 | 12:21 pmIs it better to commit a campaign commmittee member to giving and a job description or engage them slowly? The simple answer is yes. If you have volunteers that you can go to and ask to get heavily involved in campaign fundraising, it is always prefered to set high expectations from the start. However, most organizations do not have a large quantity of major gifts level volunteers who are willing to invite there friends to join them in giving. And, if your organization does have these people they are likely on your board. Practically you will seed your committee with a couple of solid board… -
An Ask is An Ask
7 Mar 2012 | 8:52 pmYou may have heard a guideline, “ask for three times what you’d like a donor to give.” This is a mantra that’s often used as a technique to get a stretch gift. That guideline is a very poor rule of thumb. A good ask is one the donor feels they could stretch to make but does not feel like is out of their ability. The magic of asking for a specific amount is that you can encourage a donor to think about a larger gift than they would traditionally do. If a donor has said yes to you soliciting them for a gift, then they have already indicated that they are… -
It’s All Greek to Me
6 Feb 2012 | 6:12 pmI recently joined a committee that funds social services projects in the city in which I live. At one of our meetings the committee was discussing setting our funding guidelines. I’ve been a part of the grant writing process for many years and have seen the result of some of the stranger and more involved funding questions. Maybe it was just my revenge on the funders but I realised quickly that funders and nonprofits do not always speak the same language. The intention behind a funding guideline does not always translate into the intended results. Here are a couple of examples that came… -
Fundraising is Not a Narcotic
23 Jan 2012 | 9:48 pmOver the last few months I have been secretly peddling drugs. My blog was hacked and, unknown to me, written into the metadata was advertising for a narcotic. I’m very sorry that I did not catch it sooner. I deleted my site and reposted everything and have solved the problem. I was thinking about what I want my website to be about and I reflected on what fundraising is about. There is not a lot in common between fundraising and drugs. Fundraising is about capacity building for good work in our communities. It is about providing people a chance they never had before. However some people… -
Don’t Forget Your $1,000 Gifts
17 Oct 2011 | 7:00 amEvery organization understands the value of their very top 20 donors. It is easy to see the importance of a $10,000 annual donor. Many organizations have a cut-off as to when the “major gift” starts; often times this is $1,000. Don’t forget the value of those donors that are right at and right before that cut off. This group knows they are not your top donors but are giving because your organization is an area of passion for them. They want you to keep in touch but don’t expect as much attention. (This group is a really great group to talk with about planned gifts. If a donor can give…
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Rosetta Thurman
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How to Resign Gracefully From Your Nonprofit Job
15 May 2012 | 4:06 amThe following is an excerpt from Chapter 7 of my book How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar: 50 Ways to Accelerate Your Career. For many professionals, advancing your nonprofit career may involve knowing when to leave your current job to pursue new opportunities. Use these tips as a guide to handle your own resignation when you’re ready to move on (and hopefully up). Of course, you’ll find much more in the book to help you navigate your professional journey! Sometimes, you start a great nonprofit job, and it’s just not what you expected. Maybe you really love… -
8 Things Every Nonprofit Leader Should Know About Social Media
1 May 2012 | 11:54 amThis post is part of my ongoing Social Media 101 series to encourage leaders to learn more about social media and use it effectively in their work. Last week, I gave a “Social Media 101 for Nonprofit Leaders” presentation at James Madison University’s Towards Nonprofit Excellence Conference in Harrisonburg, VA. It may have been the first time I’ve been in a room full of passionate nonprofit leaders who were already sold on the value of using online tools to further their mission and just wanted to learn more! Although social media has been around for… -
Lead with Intention: How to Practice Conscious Entry
23 Apr 2012 | 9:20 amLast month, I had the pleasure of presenting a workshop for the ASAE Women’s Executive Forum: 6 Ways to Rock Your Association Career. I love working with women, especially when we get to explore issues that intersect both personal and professional development. While I spent a bit of time delving into the six main concepts from my book, we spent the bulk of our time going through the process of developing a personal mission statement so that participants could gain clarity around what they wanted for their lives, not just their work. One thing I’ve been doing at most of my… -
Four Nonprofit Fellowships for You (April Deadlines)
13 Apr 2012 | 9:25 amI’m so excited to see a flurry of fellowships open this year, several specifically for nonprofit professionals of color! Here’s a current list (as of April 13, 2012) of fellowship opportunities that you should totally consider applying for. Remember, even if you don’t think you’re awesome enough, believe me – you are. Sometimes, it can hurt to be too humble, especially if it means talking yourself out of opportunities like these. But it never, ever hurts to try. P.S. If you get into any of these programs, would you let me know? I love success… -
5 Simple Ideas for Supporting Young Nonprofit Professionals at Work
9 Apr 2012 | 6:18 amEven though we know that Millennials want to be supported in the workplace, most nonprofits seem to view professional development as a burden on their already limited resources. But what if we began to re-frame the conversation about nonprofit leadership development? Yes, it’s an essential part of cultivating a new generation of leaders, but it doesn’t have to cost a ton of money. Here are a few strategies that nonprofits (even tiny ones!) can implement to support their younger staff. 1. Provide a certain number of hours per month “on” for…
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Bridgespan - All RSS Feeds
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You May Be Looking for the Wrong Measurement Director
2 May 2012 | 5:00 pmYou May Be Looking for the Wrong Measurement Director 2012 05 03 Matthew Forti Nonprofits on the journey to using measurement as a continuous improvement tool will eventually need to decide whether to create a full time position to -
Government's Role in the Social Services Industrial Complex
30 Apr 2012 | 5:00 pmOnce funding starts flowing through legislative committees and administrative agencies to organizations in the field to carry out a particular social policy, all the participants-inside government and out-tend to have a vested interest in sustaining the influence and power that flows along with the money. It is this combination that gives the complex its political juice, which can surprise even experienced political hands. -
The Social Services Industrial Complex
24 Apr 2012 | 5:00 pmThe dirty little secret of the social sector is that once government money starts flowing, the nonprofits that have advocated for it and/or who are benefitting from it have a vested interest in keeping it going, even as evidence shows “weak or no positive effects." -
Making Measurement More Than an Add-on
22 Apr 2012 | 5:00 pmMaking Measurement More Than an Add on 2012 04 23 Jacob Allen In this guest post on the "Measuring to Improve" blog, Bridgespan Manager Jacob Allen discusses the concept of 'embedded measurement,' an intentionally integrateive approach to measurement for -
Data’s Not Just for Donors—It Can Improve a Nonprofit’s Work
31 Mar 2012 | 5:00 pmData’s Not Just for Donors—It Can Improve a Nonprofit’s Work 2012 04 01 Matthew Forti Kathleen Yazbak Nonprofits, it appears, are not spending enough effort to measure how well their programs and organizations are doing. Over the last decade,
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Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
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Online Fundraising Stats and Trends for Nonprofits
16 May 2012 | 10:24 amLast month, I highlighted some benchmarks in both social media and email marketing that were released in recent reports so that you could see how your nonprofit stacked up. Today, we are going to look at online fundraising. Using the 2012 Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study by Convio and the 2012 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study published by M+R and NTEN, we see that online fundraising continues to grow in importance, especially to smaller nonprofits. Here are the key findings from each report: 2012 Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study (Convio, which includes orgs of… -
Building an Effective Nonprofit Mobile Strategy
14 May 2012 | 10:45 amTonia Zampieri Tonia Zampieri is back with some more advice on how to get your nonprofit’s mobile marketing strategy in place. Also, she shares how you could have the chance to win a mobile marketing strategy session with Atlantic Business Technologies. Guest Post by Tonia Zampieri of Atlantic Business Technologies. I love nonprofits, well heart them actually. I love the idea behind why they exist, the feeling I get when I witness people doing loving acts, helping others in need — the whole sha-bang. But I’m concerned. Most US nonprofits are not addressing mobile… -
Mixed Links for Nonprofit Marketers
11 May 2012 | 9:17 amAnother Friday, another round of Mixed Links… Volunteering Did you know volunteers give up to 10 times more than a non-volunteer? With new perspectives on the value of your volunteers, Convio is offering a free on-demand webinar called 5 Volunteer Trends that Can Improve Your Fundraising Bottom Line. And to help you get those volunteers, Robert J. Rosenthal guest posts on Getting Attention.org’s blog on Secrets to Great Volunteer Recruitment. Engagement Human Interest Films, a production company in Los Angeles is looking for testimonials from individuals who were influenced by the… -
How to Blog Daily
10 May 2012 | 1:30 pmI’ve been blogging Monday – Friday (or darn close) for about 18 months now. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. Here are a few tips based on what I’ve learned along the way: Sketch out an editorial calendar. Even if you don’t follow it exactly (and I rarely do), it helps you keep on track with the kinds of things you want your blog to be known for. Get help from guest bloggers. We try to publish a guest post about once a week. It takes some of the pressure off and freshens up the voice. Come up with some regular features. We publish Mixed Links, a round-up… -
But What If . . .
9 May 2012 | 2:04 pmI just sent our weekly e-newsletter out with an article about a guy who got fired for liking his boss’s political opponent’s Facebook page, and a federal judge upheld the firing. (Here’s the newsletter if you aren’t already subscribed.) I urge you to not let these and other “but what if . . .” scenarios stop you from doing your job, and doing it well. In my book, I have a section called “Get Fear Out of the Way” in the chapter called “Find the Time: Get More Done in Fewer Hours.” Fear, I write, is the second biggest time waster in…
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SocialFish
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Associations are More Advanced Than You Think!
16 May 2012 | 10:37 am…. Ha. This includes all the associations we’re working with (and those we aren’t) who are working on their Social CRM. So there!! (Source) -
Social Business for B2B in Healthcare [case study]
16 May 2012 | 5:00 amThis short and sweet B2B case study discussed by Sandy Carter of IBM shows us some numbers on how Premier, an alliance of 2500 community hospitals, leverages their online community. Awesome. -
Human Motivation: The Forgotten Element in Our Theories and Practices
16 May 2012 | 5:00 am“Companies that are afraid to commit to goals that lie outside the range of planning,” Gary Hamel and C.K Prahalad conclude in their booklet, Strategic Intent,“are unlikely to become global leaders.” The authors argue that strategic planning fetters companies to the present and filters their views of possibility through the limiting lens of their current assumptions and limitations.Their alternative to strategic planning is Strategic Intent: harnessing resources and human motivation to an all-consuming, shared ambition, such as beating competitors or innovating far beyond their… -
Got E-learning?
15 May 2012 | 11:51 amNeed your feedback please! Does your organization rely on e-learning to drive revenue or member retention? Are you managing multiple e-learning platforms and software to deliver webinars, hybrid events, virtual conferences and more? Association Forum wants to give you access to the professional development you need to maximize the impact of e-learning. Complete this brief survey by 11:59 p.m. CT on Tuesday, May 22, to tell us whether you’re using e-learning, how and why, and you’ll receive the survey results and an executive summary report. Your feedback will allow us to design… -
Tracing the Path of the Digital Learner
15 May 2012 | 5:00 amCheck out this Google Insights study about Education Trends Through the Eyes of Your Customer. In a fast-changing world, education is still in high demand online. Google looked at internal search query data, Compete clickstream data and commissioned a brand perceptions study with Ipsos OTX to understand the 2012 landscape and found: 80% of education search query paths end without a conversion. 1 in 4 education researchers never even look outside the web. 9 in 10 don’t know which school they want to attend at the onset of the journey. 2 out of every 3 researchers who use video do so to…
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AFP Blog: Recent News of Note
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IRS Remains On Hunt For Revocations - TheNonProfitTimes
16 May 2012 | 8:10 amIRS Remains On Hunt For Revocations - TheNonProfitTimes: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revoked the tax-exempt status of almost 280,000 organizations last year but potentially missed more than 15,000 others, according to a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). The IRS made extensive outreach efforts but almost 25,000 organizations did not receive reminders -
Adoption Campaign Taps Iconic Animals As Pitchpets | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce
16 May 2012 | 7:06 amAdoption Campaign Taps Iconic Animals As Pitchpets | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce: Iconic characters of popular culture have a long history of advertising tie-ins. Notable pairings have included the controversial (The Flintstones and Winston cigarettes), the catchphrase-spawning (The Simpsons and Butterfinger), and the downright bizarre (Alf and Telecom USA)--and you can now file -
Study: Many Nonprofits Misreporting Solicited Donations - San Diego News Story - KGTV San Diego
16 May 2012 | 6:08 amStudy: Many Nonprofits Misreporting Solicited Donations - San Diego News Story - KGTV San Diego: orty-one percent of all 37,987 charities and other nonprofit groups that collected at least $1 million according to their most recent report to the Internal Revenue Service made what experts agree is a ridiculous claim: They raised significant amounts of money without spending a dime to do so. -
About Us � AFP Florida Caucus
16 May 2012 | 5:54 amAbout Us � AFP Florida Caucus: About the Florida Caucus The AFP Florida Caucus is a coalition of the 17 AFP Florida Chapters and the Puerto Rico Chapter. The AFP Florida Caucus is dedicated to advancing philanthropy by enabling people and organizations to practice ethical and effective fundraising through education, training, mentoring, research, credentialing and advocacy; and under an informal -
Institute expands and takes on sole fundraiser - Civil Society - Fundraising - News - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits
16 May 2012 | 5:36 amInstitute expands and takes on sole fundraiser - Civil Society - Fundraising - News - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits: The Institute of Fundraising is to hire a fundraiser and six other new posts as part of its new strategy focusing on research and policy work.
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Wild Apricot Blog (RSS 2.0)
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Summer Marketing Internship at Wild Apricot
15 May 2012 | 6:31 amHere's a great internship opportunity for an up-and-coming marketing professional in Toronto’s growing technology sector. Wild Apricot is cloud-based membership software for small associations and nonprofits. Our marketing philosophy revolves... -
Nonprofit Social Media Policy Workbook
14 May 2012 | 5:42 amIf you need to develop a social media policy, here's an overview of a great workbook and social media policy template from Idealware. -
Creating a Membership Website in Wild Apricot - My Experience
11 May 2012 | 5:35 amHere's the first in my series on my experience creating a membership website in Wild Apricot. -
7 Secrets to Getting Donors – Free Video Series
10 May 2012 | 6:37 amIf you'd like some expert advice on gaining confidence and getting donors, you might want to check out a free 7-part video series. -
Volunteer Recruitment Checklist and Guide
9 May 2012 | 6:30 amHere are two new resources from Wild Apricot - Getting Started with Volunteer Recruitment and Volunteer Recruitment Checklist - designed for the staff or volunteers of small non-profits and membership organizations who are new to volunteer recruitment.
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PhilanTopic
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A Strategy for Nonprofit Hospitals
16 May 2012 | 10:52 amOver the last few years, eight- and nine-figure gifts like those received by New York University's Langone Medical Center and Sandford Health have obscured the fact that not-for-profit hospital revenue is growing at its slowest rate in two decades. Indeed, a new report from Wilmington Trust suggests that one of the drivers of revenue growth in the sector, however modest, has been high-net-worth families -- households with a net worth of over $1 million or net income of $200,000. In 2009, for example, 70 percent of high-net-worth families gave to healthcare organizations, compared to 23… -
Movement Building and System Change
14 May 2012 | 1:00 pmThe bad old days of the '70s and '80s are a distant memory for many, but New York City in 2012 isn't without problems. The list includes a public education system that fails too many kids, a chronic shortage of affordable housing, immigrant populations that lack basic protections, and rising income inequality. The city is home, however, to roughly ten thousand nonprofit organizations, some 70 percent of which provide direct services to constituents. A sizable percentage of these groups work at the grassroots level and many have a social justice orientation, working in and with communities and… -
Weekend Link Roundup (May 12-13, 2012)
13 May 2012 | 11:54 amOur weekly roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector.... Communications/Marketing On her About.com blog, Joanne Fritz says nonprofit communicators don't always "make it easy for people like me to share their information" via social media. If they really want to get their message out, adds Fritz, organizations should blog frequently, add images to their posts, use video when possible, encourage retweets on Twitter, and add RSS feeds to their online platforms. Fundraising On the AFP blog, Reed Stockton shares findings from a recent study which found that nearly… -
A 'Flip' Chat With Helena Monteiro, Executive Director, Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support
11 May 2012 | 9:26 am(This video was recorded as part of our "Flip" chat series of conversations with thought leaders in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. You can check out other videos in the series here, including our previous chat with Courtney O’Malley, vice president of the Starr Foundation.) Founded in 2000 by a group of philanthropy support organizations, Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support, or WINGS, today comprises a hundred and fifty philanthropic "infrastructure" organizations representing fifty-four countries that work to strengthen philanthropy and a culture of giving through mutual… -
Pride & Prejudice: (What) Can Nonprofits Learn From the For-Profit World?
9 May 2012 | 7:12 am(Richard Dare is managing director and CEO of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and an entrepreneur. The article below, which appears here with permission of the author, originally was published on the Huffington Post's Culture blog.) No one, least of all I, would argue nonprofits do anything less than important work. In addition to providing vital art, theater, and music experiences, as Senator Bradley once noted, nonprofits have done everything from creating the polio vaccine to building the Sesame Workshop to inventing the nationwide 911 system we all benefit from. They've protected endangered…
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Pamela Grow's Grantwriting Blog
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Fundraising in the Trenches | The year of the individual donor
15 May 2012 | 2:19 pmToday, as part of our Fundraising in the Trenches interview series, I’m talking with Leslie White Clay. Leslie is the Chief Development Officer of Hope Cottage Pregnancy and Adoption Center in Dallas, Texas. When Leslie mentioned in a tweet that Hope Cottage had deemed 2012 “The Year of the Individual Donor” I knew that we had to talk. Small (and mid-sized and large as well) development shops can learn much from Leslie. 1. Leslie, tell us a little bit about your job at Hope Cottage Pregnancy and Adoption Center. When did you begin as DD there? In August 2009… -
Fundraising in the Trenches | Surveying
9 May 2012 | 3:19 amToday’s guest post comes by way of Mary Cahalane. Mary is Development Manager/Individual Giving for Riverfront Recapture, a nonprofit organization dedicated to “leading the effort to reconnect metropolitan Hartford with the Connecticut River and provide community access to the waterfront through four beautiful parks in Hartford and East Hartford.” Mary has learned the value of listening to her donors by way of surveying and shares some of her tips. I have just mailed my second donor survey, and I’m pretty excited. I thought I’d share with you why I’ve added these to my calendar,… -
Where’s My Million Dollar Grant?
7 May 2012 | 3:27 amToday’s guest post comes from the Wildwoman of Fundraising, Mazarine Treyz, who relates a situation that many of us can relate to. So, you just came into a new nonprofit. In your interview, your potential boss said, “We’re making $500,000 a year now, and I want to ramp up to $1 Million this year.” And even though you were going to be the only development staff person, you said, okay. You’re walking to your desk, it’s now month three. Your boss yells, “SO! Where’s my million dollar grant?” (This actually happened to me). What do you say? Managing Up. If… -
3 questions your donors are asking
16 Apr 2012 | 8:56 amCommunity Foundations are a great barometer for what donors are looking for when deciding which nonprofits to give to. In today’s Movie Monday’s video, Mark Hurtubise of the Inland NW Community Foundation talks about the shift from need to outcomes. Do you have a strategic plan? Do you have 100% board giving? What are your outcomes? Where’s your impact? Remember, donors see themselves as investors. What kind of difference are they making…through you? Social Bookmarking -
Every Board member should have a copy
4 Apr 2012 | 12:06 pmHow appropriate that the dedication in Gayle Gifford’s newest Emerson & Church book, Make Your Board Dramatically More Effective, Starting Today: A Board Member’s Guide to Asking the Right Questions leads off with this quote from Gandhi: “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” For I have always admired the author’s gentle, quiet intelligence coupled with a steely determination that could move mountains. Like other books in Emerson & Church’s “1-Hour Book” series, Make Your Board Dramatically More Effective is a short (114 pages) read. Divided into three…
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PhilanTopic
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A Strategy for Nonprofit Hospitals
16 May 2012 | 10:52 amOver the last few years, eight- and nine-figure gifts like those received by New York University's Langone Medical Center and Sandford Health have obscured the fact that not-for-profit hospital revenue is growing at its slowest rate in two decades. Indeed, a new report from Wilmington Trust suggests that one of the drivers of revenue growth in the sector, however modest, has been high-net-worth families -- households with a net worth of over $1 million or net income of $200,000. In 2009, for example, 70 percent of high-net-worth families gave to healthcare organizations, compared to 23… -
Movement Building and System Change
14 May 2012 | 1:00 pmThe bad old days of the '70s and '80s are a distant memory for many, but New York City in 2012 isn't without problems. The list includes a public education system that fails too many kids, a chronic shortage of affordable housing, immigrant populations that lack basic protections, and rising income inequality. The city is home, however, to roughly ten thousand nonprofit organizations, some 70 percent of which provide direct services to constituents. A sizable percentage of these groups work at the grassroots level and many have a social justice orientation, working in and with communities and… -
Weekend Link Roundup (May 12-13, 2012)
13 May 2012 | 11:54 amOur weekly roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector.... Communications/Marketing On her About.com blog, Joanne Fritz says nonprofit communicators don't always "make it easy for people like me to share their information" via social media. If they really want to get their message out, adds Fritz, organizations should blog frequently, add images to their posts, use video when possible, encourage retweets on Twitter, and add RSS feeds to their online platforms. Fundraising On the AFP blog, Reed Stockton shares findings from a recent study which found that nearly… -
A 'Flip' Chat With Helena Monteiro, Executive Director, Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support
11 May 2012 | 9:26 am(This video was recorded as part of our "Flip" chat series of conversations with thought leaders in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. You can check out other videos in the series here, including our previous chat with Courtney O’Malley, vice president of the Starr Foundation.) Founded in 2000 by a group of philanthropy support organizations, Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support, or WINGS, today comprises a hundred and fifty philanthropic "infrastructure" organizations representing fifty-four countries that work to strengthen philanthropy and a culture of giving through mutual… -
Pride & Prejudice: (What) Can Nonprofits Learn From the For-Profit World?
9 May 2012 | 7:12 am(Richard Dare is managing director and CEO of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and an entrepreneur. The article below, which appears here with permission of the author, originally was published on the Huffington Post's Culture blog.) No one, least of all I, would argue nonprofits do anything less than important work. In addition to providing vital art, theater, and music experiences, as Senator Bradley once noted, nonprofits have done everything from creating the polio vaccine to building the Sesame Workshop to inventing the nationwide 911 system we all benefit from. They've protected endangered…
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Dan Pallotta
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How to Avoid Shocking Legal Bills
1 May 2012 | 7:40 amAs an entrepreneur or small business owner, nothing can strike terror into your heart like the arrival of a fat envelope containing what you know to be the latest invoice from your law firm. You open it, race to the bottom of the last page, only to see that the number is worse by half than your wildest nightmare. Then you notice that the billings only go through March 15th and it's now April 30th, so another six weeks' worth of time has already been racked up that doesn't even appear on the damned thing. I have painful memories of these envelopes. One contained a $14,000 shock, another a… -
Nonprofit Pathology
18 Apr 2012 | 8:00 amSome people say — though never publicly — that the elephant in the room of the nonprofit sector is that people work in the sector because they can't cut it in business. That's not what this post is about. Allow me to introduce a brand new elephant to the room: Maybe people get into the compassion business full-time not because they're more compassionate than others but because they're codependent. Maybe the driving force is really inverted narcissism — an unhealthy and unexamined addiction to care-taking or to self-neglect. I grew up in the 60s. The images and words of… -
The Kony 2012 "Controversy"
13 Mar 2012 | 1:40 pmLast week, Invisible Children launched a brilliant video aimed at making Ugandan rebel warlord Joseph Kony "famous" in the interest of capturing him and ending his reign of deranged brutality. The group hoped for half a million YouTube views by year end. They're up to 76 million today. And now they're being attacked — not by Kony, but by critics whose voices are raised louder about this video than they ever were by Kony's atrocities. Founded by three college students in 2003, Invisible Children is a human rights organization. They intended to make a documentary on Darfur. Bullets in the… -
A Unified Theory of Social Change
8 Mar 2012 | 12:15 pmMost conversations about changing the world eventually degenerate into despair or, after a hands-in-the-air "well, anyway..." segue, they lapse into a conversation about something more practical or pressing. That's because most discussions related to big change are about tactics rather than strategy at the scale of the question — and nothing's more depressing than a tactical discussion when a strategic one is required. It creates the illusion of impossibility; makes us feel like we're no match for the huge social challenges facing us. We start to doubt that they can actually be… -
Multiplication Philanthropy
17 Feb 2012 | 6:49 amLeverage is the mantra of the times in philanthropy, and rightly so. People want to know that the charities they support are using donations as effectively as possible. Donors and institutional funders are more demanding, more discerning, and less detached. They're no longer content with writing a check and securing their place in heaven. They want results. But they're looking for them in the wrong places. They're missing the greatest leverage point of all: the multiplying effects of smart investments in fundraising. If you want to maximize the social effects of your donation, why would you…
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Pamela Grow
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Nonprofit Email Marketing | What small nonprofit organizations can and should be doing
14 May 2012 | 7:18 amWhat’s your first thought when someone says “nonprofit social media?” Facebook? Twitter? LinkedIn? YouTube? And yet, what’s the first thing that you check every morning? According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a full 92 percent of adults polled are sending and receiving email, with 61 percent doing so on a typical day. Where does that leave social networking sites? Pew notes that 65% of adult internet users now say they use a social networking site like MySpace, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Clearly email is the “social” tool of choice for most. So… -
Lessons from my in-box
8 May 2012 | 6:13 amI confess. There are times when I’m pressed and this is exactly how I handle my email. That said, whatever would compel me to open your email? Yes, despite the fact that I have supported this organization in the past, I could give a Rat’s a$$ about their “spring fund drive.” Study headlines. Pay attention. What draws you in? What compels you to take time away from your busy day? Related Posts:I support Planned Parenthood – do you?Creating WOW stewardship on a limited budgetIn-the-trenches fundraisers: Let us hear from you!Anatomy of a successful thank… -
Are you playing to your fundraising strengths?
7 May 2012 | 5:30 amAs a Kindred Spirit, I could really relate to this week’s Movie Monday’s video. Are you working within your own personal asking style? We’re not all event-planning party-goers, not by a long shot. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t be a phenomenal fundraiser. Knowing your own unique asking style, and that of your colleagues and board, will create a marvelous synergy that will grow your relationships and in turn, your fundraising, exponentially. As your grandmother always told you, “be your own best self and everything will fall into place.”… -
Creating WOW stewardship on a limited budget
30 Apr 2012 | 5:25 amHow can your organization really WOW your donors, with limited resources? Listen to how Gina Hall of the Seattle Goodwill talks about their strategy for stewarding donors. It’s been so successful, that she’s been able to hire more staff. She’ll tell you what they’ve done over the last few years and the success they’ve had. Related Posts:I support Planned Parenthood – do you?Are you playing to your fundraising strengths?In-the-trenches fundraisers: Let us hear from you!Anatomy of a successful thank you letterLessons from my in-box -
Creating a culture of philanthropy | Cara’s Motivations
24 Apr 2012 | 8:02 amOne of the tenets of Simple Development Systems is “you can’t do it alone.” A successful fundraising program is built around a culture of philanthropy – and that means that everyone in your organization has a role to play. But this isn’t a “have to” or an obligation. Quite the contrary, building a culture of philanthropy can and should be fun, and inspirational! So when I learned about the Cara Program’s daily “Motivations,” I asked their Communications and Individual Giving Manager, Sarah Mansberger, to pen a guest post. …
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Switchboard, from NRDC
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Greener Washdays Ahead
16 May 2012 | 1:51 pmEd Osann, Senior Policy Analyst, Santa Monica In the years ahead, new clothes washers and dishwashers sold throughout the US will be dramatically more energy- and water-efficient, and that’s great news for consumers. Today’s announcement of new efficiency standards by the Department of Energy (see here for clothes washers; see here for dishwashers) will mean that appliances from all ends of the spectrum, from budget machines to stylish, high-end models, will reduce wasted energy and water while continuing to wash clothes and dishes just as well. Under an agreement… -
Ahmedabad to Atlanta: Partnership Advances Innovative Project to Protect Communities Against Extreme Heat in India
16 May 2012 | 12:31 pmMeredith Connolly, Energy Law and Policy Fellow, San Francisco Co-authored with Kathy Tran, Master of Public Health, Global Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health Our innovative heat adaptation project in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat, gained important momentum last week. Dr. SP Kulkarni, the Chief Medical Officer of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), met with Dr. Jeremy Hess and Kathy Tran at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health while traveling to Atlanta, Georgia to discuss the latest developments in… -
Kathy Tran Guest Blog: Ahmedabad to Atlanta - Partnership Advances Innovative Project to Protect Communities Against Extreme Heat in India
16 May 2012 | 12:31 pmAnjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco Guest Blog by Kathy Tran, Master of Public Health, Global Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health Our innovative heat adaptation project in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat, gained important momentum last week. Dr. SP Kulkarni, the Chief Medical Officer of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), met with Dr. Jeremy Hess and Kathy Tran at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health while traveling to Atlanta, Georgia to discuss the latest developments in our collaborative… -
Extreme Rain Storms Double in Midwest: Time to Act
16 May 2012 | 12:10 pmTheo Spencer, Senior Advocate, Climate Center, New York NRDC released a report today along with the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization using new analysis that shows rain storms that dump more than three inches in a day have doubled over the last 50 years. Those storms are linked to increased flooding because they’re coming closer together. When we set out to do this report, we didn’t expect such startling results. But the results are startling: The most severe downpours have doubled over the last century. In the eight Midwestern states for the worst storms (three inches or more… -
The Light Bulb War: Ideologues Fight for Your Right to Buy Inferior Products
16 May 2012 | 11:01 amPeter Lehner, Executive Director, New York City House Republicans are preparing to make war on light bulbs once again, attempting to block efficiency standards that will save consumers $100 a year on energy bills and are already creating thousands of jobs across the country. If ideologues in the House get their way, we all miss out on a chance to save money and energy, no matter what kind of light bulbs we choose to buy. And we risk hurting the domestic lighting industry, which has invested millions of dollars in developing better, more efficient bulbs. The efficiency standard does not, as…
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NYT > Environment
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South Kingstown Journal: In Rhode Island, Protecting a Shoreline and a Lifeline
16 May 2012 | 11:13 amCoastal erosion near Matunuck has imperiled seafront structures and threatened the only road that residents can use to get in and out. -
Boca Sanibeni Journal: Dam Project Would Displace Villages in Jungle Valley of Peru
16 May 2012 | 11:08 amA hydroelectric dam supported by the country’s president would send thousands of people to live elsewhere. -
Green Blog: Hatched and Wild Salmon: A Bad Mix?
16 May 2012 | 11:08 amA compilation of research suggests that hatched salmon could threaten the long-term survival of wild salmon unless precautions are taken. -
Green Blog: A New Skirmish in the Ethanol Wars
16 May 2012 | 10:49 amA study backed by automakers contends that an ethanol blend approved by the Environmental Protection Agency damaged some car engines in tests. -
Observatory: Brittle Stars Put Their Best Foot Forward
16 May 2012 | 10:43 amDespite lacking bilateral symmetry, brittle stars, related to starfish, can choose one of their five limbs to be front-facing and use two others to move.
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Environmental News Network
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European Airlines provide early data on carbon emissions, show slight reduction
16 May 2012 | 5:42 amAirlines operating in and out of European airports have complied with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and handed over data despite the refusal of carriers from China and India. The airlines have provided emission information ahead of the introduction of mandatory reporting. And according to the latest information provided by Member State registries released today, emissions of greenhouse gases from all installations participating in the ETS decreased by more than 2% last year. -
Radiation and DNA
16 May 2012 | 5:34 amRadiation exposure is not too good for one's health and well being. But how much is enough and how much is deadly? A new study from MIT scientists suggests that the guidelines governments use to determine when to evacuate people following a nuclear accident may be too conservative. The study, led by Bevin Engelward and Jacquelyn Yanch and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found that when mice were exposed to radiation doses about 400 times greater than background levels for five weeks, no DNA damage could be detected. -
Wind, Solar...Coconuts: Small Island Developing States Commit to Renewable, Sustainable Energy for All
15 May 2012 | 1:20 pmTypically heavily reliant on the cost of high and volatile diesel and fossil fuel imports, small island developing states are also on the front line when it comes to having to cope with climate change. Now they're realizing there's a lot in the way of cleaner, more efficient and less costly power and fuel resources right at home. They're increasingly, if belatedly, establishing ambitious renewable energy programs and setting aggressive targets to employ local renewable energy resources to reduce CO2 and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, working with a range of international development… -
Africa may struggle to extract groundwater, experts say
15 May 2012 | 11:10 amVast groundwater resources have been revealed in Africa by the first continent-wide quantitative maps. But the resources may not be easily accessible because of political and technical challenges and costs, say experts. -
Collapsing Volcanos
15 May 2012 | 10:24 amThe bottom of the sea to many must be perfectly calm and placid. Well maybe not so... Volcanoes on the seafloor can grow or collapse tens of meters in just a few days, a new study has found, suggesting that the seabed is much more unstable than previously thought. Researchers, led by Professor Tony Watts of Oxford University’s Department of Earth Sciences, report in Nature Geoscience how they surveyed the topography of the active Monowai volcano, a submarine volcano on the southwest Pacific Ocean floor near Tonga, in May and June 2011.
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Orion Magazine Articles
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America the Possible: A Manifesto, Part II
25 Apr 2012 | 3:12 amby James Gustave Speth Part one of this article. WE NEED A COMPELLING VISION for a new future, a vision of a better country—America the Possible—that is still within our power to reach. The deep, transformative changes sketched in the first half of this manifesto provide a path to America the Possible. But that path is only brought to life when we can combine this vision with the conviction that we will pull together to build the necessary political muscle for real change. This article addresses both the envisioning of an attractive future for America and the politics needed to… -
False Idyll
25 Apr 2012 | 3:11 amby J.B. MacKinnon OF ALL THE FEELINGS said to sweep over us in wild places—awe, peace, a sense of the divine—there are a few that rarely get mentioned. My last two-week trip into the woods, for example, was frankly depressing. The year had been a cold one, and the forest was not its usual refulgent self. A black bear was hanging around, skinny and sickly from the bad berry crop and probably bound for death by starvation in its winter den. Pink salmon had just begun to spawn in a nearby creek, where their battered bodies were a reminder of the grand cycle of life, yes, but were… -
Manifest Destiny
25 Apr 2012 | 3:10 amby Luis Alberto Urrea THIS IS HOW I CAME to be standing inside a sodbuster’s hut at the edge of the Badlands, breathing 1876 air and hearing Spanish in my mind . . . Maybe it was Jim Morrison’s fault. Maybe it was Okie Bob’s. I have always had a mystical urge toward the biggest, emptiest, western landscapes—they promise mysteries and verities, room to spit and walk about. I spent barrio boyhood Sunday mornings with Okie Bob’s corral of cowboy movies and old western music in vivid black and white on channel six. But my nights? They belonged to The Lizard King. -
Sand County, the Sequel
25 Apr 2012 | 3:09 amby Sandra Steingraber ALDO LEOPOLD was a righteous man—in a midwestern sort of way. When it came to nature, he disapproved of “tinkerings,” as when domestic species are substituted for wild ones, and he advised against “readjustments” of the land’s circulatory system. In fact, he insisted calmly, the land should be appraised not as a commodity but as a living community that commands our respect because it is the source of both human culture and human freedom. To narrate the message, the father of wildlife conservation took us to his own beloved plot of land… -
The Place Where You Live
25 Apr 2012 | 1:38 amby our readers In this department of the magazine, we offer a space for people to exercise their sixth sense and tell us about their place, their connection to it, its history and future and imaginary life. It’s a web feature as well. Priscilla Kinter Hexenkopf Hill, Pennsylvania HEXENKOPF, the witch’s head. Mountain summit in Northampton County. Peak elevation: 791 feet. Isolated prominence on a ridge of South Mountain. Home. The ghost of a headless hunter, the ghosts of witches, and strange lights have been seen here. Strange sounds come from the woods. The stone that makes up…
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GOOD
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Sleep Study: Apps That Track Your Slumber #30DaysofGOOD
16 May 2012 | 12:30 pmThings are easier said than done, or so the old adage goes, and we couldn't agree more. That's why we do The GOOD 30-Day Challenge (#30DaysofGOOD), a monthly attempt to live better. Our challenge for May? Sleep better. If you use apps to measure things like your exercise and eating habits, you know how self-quantifying can help inform your daily decisions and contribute to better quality of life. Consider adding one of these sleep-tracking apps to your regimen. They examine your sleep patterns, offer visualizations of your sleep data, and even offer personalized suggestions… -
A Public Art Project Symbolically Reverses Detroit's 'White Flight'
16 May 2012 | 11:15 amThe late artist Mike Kelley spent most of his career working in Los Angeles, but his origins lie in Westland, Michigan, a working-class town 16 miles outside Detroit. One of his final works before his suicide in January reconnects with those roots using a replica of the classic ranch-style home he grew up in in the 1950s. The public art piece, called "Mobile Homestead," toured through Detroit and surrounding towns on a flatbed truck to demonstrate a symbolic reversal of the "white flight" from a struggling city to its suburbs. The project began in 2005 when Artangel, a… -
The Past 12 Months Were the Warmest Ever Recorded
16 May 2012 | 8:30 amData released yesterday shows that the last 12 months were the hottest ever recorded in the United States. In Texas, the droughts were so bad that some towns ran out of water. Wildfires burned millions of acres of dried-out land. In the Northeast, winter never really came. February felt like spring. Some of this warm weather can be traced to a weather pattern called La Niña. And most climate scientists are still reluctant to blame climate change for causing any particular weather event. But consider the context: This is the 326th month in a row that temperatures across the nation have… -
Florida Teen Starts 'Giving Library' for Homeless Kids
16 May 2012 | 3:00 amThere’s nothing like curling up in bed with a good book before you go to sleep, but far too many low-income kids don’t know what that’s like. Two-thirds of poor children have no age-appropriate books at home, and the nation's 1.6 million homeless children have even fewer options. Fifteen-year-old Florida resident Lilli Leight wanted to help provide homeless kids in her community with access to books, so she created a "giving library" at a Miami homeless shelter. To staff the library, she formed a teen book club to encourage her classmates to volunteer. Her… -
What's Killing the Electric Car? The Price of Batteries
16 May 2012 | 3:00 amAt last week's Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles, a consortium of automakers from the United States and Europe unveiled a speedy new standardized charger for electric vehicles. Under the old system, a full charge would take two to three hours; with the new system, put together by Big Three American automakers Ford, GM and Chrysler and their German counterparts—Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen—a vehicle could charge in as little as 15 or 20 minutes, while you’re in the grocery store or the doctor’s office. The initiative represents a step toward an…
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Coyote Crossing
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An open letter to the right wing in the wake of the passage of Amendment One in North Carolina
8 May 2012 | 11:17 pmWe have been incredibly patient with you. Who’s “we,” you ask? Good question! And it’s a question that has the kind of answer we’ve noticed you seem not to like very much, because its complicated. We’re socialists, sure, some of us. And feminists. And Muslims. But we’re also patriots, and conservatives of the old school, and rich people and poor, black and white and Native and Latino and Asian, and Christian and atheist and Jewish and people who don’t really think about religion much. We are environmentalists and developers and engineers and… -
The Mojave Crux
2 May 2012 | 1:41 pmI opine on the Mojave Cross settlement over at KCET. -
Out of the mouths of babes, desert solar edition
28 Apr 2012 | 8:43 pmWe’re going to win on the broader desert solar issue. Today was the day I realized it. Annette and I went out to catch the tail end of a picnic organized by the local Stonewall Democrats organization. We got there as people were starting to think about packing up the sign-up sheets and petitions, but a volunteer welcomed us, after we stood looking around for a few moments, and invited us to help ourselves to some of the food sitting out on a picnic table.I walked over and grabbed a burger. A man straightening some things on the table turned to me and held out his hand, introducing… -
Vote Solar to Tortoises: Drop Dead
26 Apr 2012 | 2:58 pmUpdate: Partly in response to this post, Vote Solar has removed the sentence to which I objected most from their large-scale solar page. Vote Solar’s Adam Browning tells me that it was an older phrasing that no longer reflected Vote Solar’s position but which had remained online due to work overload. That’s certainly an explanation I can relate to. There’s still much I disagree with on the page, but I appreciate that change. As suggested by Adam in comments here, he and I will be talking sometime soon. I’ll keep you posted. I got a piece of bulk email today from… -
Earth Day Redux
22 Apr 2012 | 9:00 pmIt’s been quiet here, I know. I’ve been alternately busy and lazy. I write more frequently over at KCET and this will likely be the case for the near future, as they pay me. But I wanted to get something else up on the top of the pile here, so it’s time for the old Clip Show trick. I wrote this five years ago. I wouldn’t change much here were I writing it again, except to make it less about my concerns of the moment back then, and to add 5 to some of the numbers and change the President’s last name. Earth Day I am reminded that yesterday was Earth Day. I should…
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About.com Yoga
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Yoga FAQ
15 May 2012 | 5:23 pmMy yoga FAQs are based on actual frequently asked questions that I get in my email, plus things I wish someone had told me when I first started yoga. You'll find basic info like "what is yoga?" to weight loss to what to do about a slippery mat. If you don't see your question here, check the Ask Aunt Yoga archives. And if you still don't see it, find out how you can drop Aunt Yoga a line here. -
King Dancer - Natarajasana Is the Yoga Pose of the Week
13 May 2012 | 5:14 pmI learned a cool transition last week: king dancer to sugarcane pose. Basically, you just tip forward in king dancer until your hand reaches the floor, et voila, you're in sugarcane. For extra credit, try coming back up. -
Arthur Boorman's Yoga Transformation
10 May 2012 | 4:28 pmThe latest yoga video to go viral (over three million hits!) is this inspirational YouTube clip featuring Gulf War veteran Arthur Boorman, a former paratrooper who was severely overweight and could not walk unassisted. Boorman started doing a yoga program created by pro wrestler "Diamond" Dallas Page and, within a year, had dramatically transformed both his body and his outlook on life. For those wanted to know more, Boorman was featured on Good Morning America today. I'm curious about the cardio portion of the program mentioned in the GMA clip and the "eating guidelines" referred to on the… -
Prenatal Yoga Dos and Don'ts
8 May 2012 | 3:45 pmPrenatal yoga is a popular way to forge a mind-body connection, plus get in some stretching, for expectant moms. If you take a prenatal class, your teacher should be trained ...Read Full Post -
Working Through Handstand-phobia
7 May 2012 | 3:32 pmI've been a little bit obsessed with handstand lately. It seems like every teacher I have has been obsessed with it too, because it's come up in class after class. I think this prevalence has something to do with teachers looking for an alternative to headstand, which got a bad rap during the recent yoga injuries brouhaha. Whatever it is, every time we were told to bring our mats to the wall, I felt that rush of fear and began to grit my teeth. Handstand and I were not getting along. Finally, I decided to do what has worked for me in the past when confronted with a difficult pose: workshop it…
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HBR.org
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Putting Facebook in Perspective
16 May 2012 | 12:12 pmEvery day brings some new bit of information — or hype — about social business. If you actively follow the social space, it's easy to get caught in the never-ending stream. If you don't, you may find all the talk about social overwhelming. So it's useful to step back, gain some perspective and see the bigger picture. And it is a big picture. Communication revolutions like this have happened before, but you have to go back to Gutenberg in 1450 to find one as significant. Before Gutenberg's printing press, monks laboriously produced written manuscripts and few people could read. The… -
The Inexperience Advantage
16 May 2012 | 8:53 amEver been shut down by someone who supposedly knows more than you? It happens to me daily. I get denied by people that are more senior, more polished, and more knowledgeable than me. I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed professional rejection, but I try my best to dust myself off and move forward, reminding myself that that a series of controlled failures are necessary for eventual success. Not surprisingly, I'm not the only one getting ignored because of my inexperience, and the rejections can be downright vicious. Just last week, Kate called me in tears after attending a media conference with… -
Are Women Held Back by Colleagues' Wives?
16 May 2012 | 8:33 amThe new millennium has not brought much progress for women seeking top leadership roles in the workplace. Although female graduates continue to pour out of colleges and professional schools, the percentages of women running large companies, or serving as managing partners of their law firms, or sitting on corporate boards have barely budged in the past decade. Why has progress stalled? A recent study suggests the unlikeliest of reasons: the marriage structure of men in the workplace. A group of researchers from several universities recently published a report on the attitudes and beliefs of… -
Great Businesses Don't Start With a Plan
16 May 2012 | 8:29 amYou want to start a business. So you need a plan, right? No. Not really. As part of the research for a book I'm co-authoring — Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck, due out in August from HBR Press — my colleagues and I interviewed and surveyed hundreds of successful entrepreneurs around the globe to better understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur and build a really great business. One of our most striking findings was that of the entrepreneurs we surveyed who had a successful exit (that is, an IPO or sale to another firm), about 70% did NOT start with a business plan. Instead,… -
The Myths That Prevent Change
16 May 2012 | 8:14 amYou probably think that the barriers to innovation are negative elements of your organization — that is, the wrong people, behaviors, and processes. But the most subtle and pernicious barriers to innovation may be the seemingly positive myths about what has made your organization successful. Every organization has myths about who are the great leaders, what are the behaviors to admire and imitate, what business you are in, what customers want, what are the best skills to run a process. Whenever someone proposes an idea, it is explicitly or implicitly screened with the myths.
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Christine Sculati's blog
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A point of reckoning: California state parks nearing closure date
12 May 2012 | 11:14 pmGarrapata State Park, Rocky Ridge Trail - Flickr photo by sidstamm. This park does not have a potential partner to help keep it open. In November 2010, 58 percent of California voters turned down Proposition 21, which would have raised $500 million a year through an $18 vehicle registration fee for California’s 279 state parks. With the failure of that proposition and the major budget cuts that ensued, the next chapter for California’s state park system looks bleak. We are close to witnessing the closure of state parks for the first time in our state’s history due to a $22… -
Nonprofit signs agreement to fund Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park
1 May 2012 | 12:04 amThe nonprofit Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks signed a three-year agreement with California State Parks to fund maintenance and operations of Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park in a historic district of downtown Santa Cruz. Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, the educational partner to state parks in Santa Cruz County since 1976, agreed to raise $45,000 per year to prevent the park from closing on July 1 due to state budget cuts, reported the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Located on the southern edge of Mission Hill, the park is home to the oldest building in Santa Cruz County. Built between 1822… -
California’s first urban state park will close soon without funds
25 Apr 2012 | 1:13 pmJackrabbit Cove, Candlestick Point State Recreation Area Today, Bay Nature published a story I wrote on Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, a park slated for closure and recently vandalized. Despite being at the center of a multi-million dollar wetlands restoration project and one of the largest redevelopment efforts San Francisco has seen since the 1906 earthquake, California’s first urban state park is set to close July 1, 2012 due to state budget cuts. A rare slice of nature for southeast San Francisco Candlestick Point State Recreation Area hugs the shoreline of San Francisco… -
Happy Earth Day
22 Apr 2012 | 10:02 amThe love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond our reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the only home we shall ever know; the only paradise we ever need – if we only had the eyes to see. – Edward Abbey Bobcat on ridge above Olema Valley, Golden Gate National Parks Elephant seal with her pups on beach in Año Nuevo State Park Great egret, Bothin Marsh Open Space Preserve -
Jack London State Historic Park becomes first park saved under new law, AB 42
10 Apr 2012 | 8:00 pmIn September 2011, California State Parks honored volunteers from Valley of the Moon Natural History Association in the old winery ruins of Jack London State Historic Park Today, California State Parks approved the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association’s bid to run Jack London State Historic Park near Glen Ellen in Sonoma County. Congratulations to Greg Hayes, Elisa Stancil and their colleagues for working hard to keep this treasure alive. The ultimate word is I LIKE … The thing I like most of all is personal achievement … The more difficult the feat, the greater…
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NYT > Education
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The Learning Network Blog: Lesson Plan | 'Hunger Games' Science: Investigating Genetically Engineered Organisms
16 May 2012 | 12:31 pmLesson | Students learn about the risks and benefits of research on genetically modified organisms, explore the growing D.I.Y. biology movement and develop proposals on restricting or permitting research in this area. -
SchoolBook: In District 75, Using the Arts in Everyday Academics
16 May 2012 | 12:26 pmWith help from a federal grant, special education teachers in New York City are learning how to better incorporate the arts into academics. They're getting new strategies through a program called Everyday Arts for Special Education, which runs on the basic principal that students need to have fun in order to be fully engaged with learning. -
M.I.T. Chooses Its Provost for President
16 May 2012 | 12:02 pmL. Rafael Reif will lead the institute beginning in July, replacing Susan Hockfield. -
The Choice Blog: M.I.T. Chooses Its Provost for President
16 May 2012 | 11:49 amRafael Reif has served as the institute's provost for seven years, our colleague Tamar Lewin writes. He will step in as president on July 2, succeeding Susan Hockfield. -
About New York: A Queens College Student Goes From Boilers to Dartmouth Medical School
16 May 2012 | 11:39 amChris Navas, a high-school dropout who loves the gym, earned a scholarship to medical school at Dartmouth.
