PhilanTopic

TED on Sunday: Geoff Mulgan on Social Innovation and the New Capitalism

Two-plus years after the global financial system began to melt down, we find ourselves in a "strange twilight zone" characterized by paralysis and retrogade thinking, argues Geoff Mulgan in this talk from the 2009 TED Global conference. Even as governments around the world borrow trillions of dollars from future generations in an attempt to reignite economic growth, many measures of social and environmental health are deteriorating. Indeed, says Mulgan, director of the London-based Young Foundation, the financial crisis has made plain the fact that economic growth doesn't automatically translate into social progress or human growth. Too much of it goes into boosting unsustainable consumption; too much of it leaves people feeling they aren't allowed to be useful -- and when people aren't allowed to be useful, they soon start to think they are useless. The question is, What are we going to do about it? Mulgan's answer may surprise and inspire you.

(Filmed: July 2009; Running time: 17:57)

Liked this talk? Try one of these.

• Elizabeth Gilbert on Creativity
• Hans Rosling on the Global HIV Pandemic
• Bill Gates on the Importance of Being Optimistic
• Clay Shirky on the Transformed Media Landscape
• Katherine Fulton on the Future of Philanthropy
• Seth Godin on Leadership
• Barry Schwartz on the Paradox of Choice
• Alex Tabarrok on the Benefits of Globalization
• Majora Carter on Environmental Justice
• Al Gore on Climate Change
• Sylvia Earle on Saving the 'Blue Heart' of the Planet
• James Howard Kunstler on the Death of Suburbia
• Clay Shirky on Epochal Change
• Mark Bittman on How We Eat
• Hans Rosling on the Dimensions of Development
• Sir Ken Robinson on Education and Creativity

And for those who can't get enough of TED, check out Jim Simpson's post about a cool hidden feature of most TED Talks.

-- Mitch Nauffts

Weekend Link Roundup (October 17 - 18, 2009)

Our weekly roundup of news and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Climate Change

This year’s Blog Action Day, on October 15, saw bloggers from 155 countries contribute posts and resources related to climate change and the environment. For a roundup of featured posts, check out the Change.org site.

Communications/Marketing

On her Getting Attention blog, nonprofit marketing expert Nancy Schwartz shares a recent case study in which Tracy Mitchell, general manager of the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York, explains how she "tackled her marketing dilemmas, even before the recession hit in full force."

Community Improvement/Development

Referring to the recent incident involving ACORN workers who were caught on videotape allegedly advising individuals how to evade the law, Nonprofit Board Crisis blogger Mike Burns argues that as "in the public...and private sectors, mistakes...can be made by individual nonprofits." What is worrisome, says Burns, are the efforts by some members of Congress to use the incident as an excuse to repeal the Community Reinvestment Act, which, as Burns notes, was designed to end redlining -- the nefarious practice of "walling off" inner-city neighborhoods from mortgage loans. Adds Burns: "When [an organization’s] failing becomes a rallying cry to turn against parts of society that have limited voice, it's time for the nonprofit sector to take a stand."

Fundraising

After reading a new study from the Center on Philanthropy which found that donors who were asked to give in person by someone they knew were more likely to give than those asked by phone, mail or email, Todd Cohen says nonprofits need to "get back to basics" and "invest the time...to understand, cultivate, and engage their givers."

International Affairs/Development

A lively debate erupted early in the week as bloggers responded to an october 2 post by the Center for Global Development's David Roodman in which Roodman argued that popular microfinance site Kiva isn't quite what it seems. According to Roodman, that's because fewer than 5 percent of Kiva loans are disbursed after they are listed and funded on the Kiva site -- the way most people think the site works. After defending that practice in a separate post, Philanthropy Action editor-in-chief Tim Ogden raised other questions about the microfinance lender. Writes Ogden: "First, all losses from Kiva-securitized loans are borne by the Kiva user. Second, Kiva's monthly repayment reports are not based on actual repayment data." Then he asks: Will the "illusion...of person-to-person" giving lead to Kiva's demise, as it did for sponsor-a-child organizations in the '90s? Tactical Philanthropy's Sean Stannard-Stockton weighed in with his own thoughts on the controversy (here and here), as did Holden and Elie at GiveWell (here). By week's end, Kiva co-founder and CEO Matt Flannery had posted a thoughtful response to Roodman, and, as GiveWell reported, the Kiva team had made some changes to its donor-facing page.

On her Business of Giving blog, Seattle Times reporter Kristi Heim takes a closer look at Africa Rural Connect, an online community that uses crowdsourcing technology to find a "solution for Africa's development challenges."

Nonprofit Management

According to a recent article in the Wall Sreet Journal, the "Great Recession" is over. (And we have a bridge in Brooklyn we'd like to sell you.) If that's true, says Sean Stannard-Stockton on his Tactical Philanthropy blog, nonprofits should move quickly to "reset the future path of [their]...financial health." According to Stannard-Stockton, that means:

• developing the next generation of your most effective program;
• putting in place an outcome measurement system;
• creating and starting to build a reserve fund;
• upgrading your technology infrastructure; and
• hiring a top notch fundraiser.

Uncharitable author Dan Pallotta argues on his Free the Nonprofits blog that the so-called psychic benefits of nonprofit work are overrated. Writes Pallotta:

Most nonprofits are small and starved for capital, preventing employees from fully capitalizing on their personal potential. Nearly every good idea is met with a dearth of resources, a prohibition on taking risk, or a broken donated computer. Whatever psychic benefit that theoretically might have accrued from putting those good ideas into action is outweighed by the grind of shoestring budgets and overstretched systems that is the reality....

If you work for a nonprofit, you'll want to read the rest of his post.

Philanthropy

In part three of her "Decoding the Future" series, Lucy Bernholz offers further insights into the possible future nexus of philanthropy and technology. The big issues front and center in any such discussion, notes Bernholz, include "networks + network governance, the [giving] commons, [and] cloud technology."

Social Media

Ten Gen Y bloggers, including Allison Jones, Rosetta Thurman, Elisa M. Ortiz, Tracey Webb, and Kevin Gilnack, have formed the Nonprofit Millennial Bloggers Alliance to help "young...bloggers reach wider audiences and collectively bring important issues...to the forefront." Congrats and best wishes to all involved.

Social media has moved beyond "shiny new object syndrome," says Future Buzz blogger Adam Singer, and that means the key to success for organizations (and individuals) hoping to establish a meaningful presence in an increasingly crowded landscape is to be the starting point of conversations. Adds Singer:

[T]hose who continuously start conversations in a niche become referential for the rest of that niche. And once people are conditioned to go somewhere on the web for certain type of content, it is a habit that may prove hard to break. If this place is your site, you’ll greatly benefit. This is because we have designed the web to be a very social place -- and so the places where people regularly converge will continue to grow....

On her blog, Beth Kanter explains how to put "social learning" (aka "learning in public") into practice.

Volunteerism

On Friday, President Obama visited former President George H.W. Bush in Texas to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Points of Light movement, which was created to bring "individual citizens together in their own organizations to solve problems in their own communities." Writing on the Huffington Post, Points of Light CEO Michelle Nunn argues that while the movement has been a resounding success, "the call to citizens to step up and make a difference has never been more important."

Women

Last but not least, Allison Fine offers her takeaways from the recent Voices Against Violence blogathon. Sponsored by the Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham and NBC Birmingham affiliate Channel 13, the event was designed "to raise awareness of the terrible toll of domestic violence on women and communities." And it was a success, says Fine, because

the importance of the partnership between broadcast media and social media was clearly highlighted....Rather than being threatened by the bloggers, NBC and the Women’s Fund recognized the importance of building a strong relationship with them. The future won’t be social media or broadcast, it will be social media AND broadcast -- in some combination that we are still developing....

We couldn't agree more.

That's it for now. What did we miss? Drop us a line at rnm@foundationcenter.org. And have a great week!

-- Regina Mahone

TED on Sunday: 'Acid Test'

I've been a little derelict about curating new TED talks over the last month or so. But instead of a new one today, I want to share a beautiful twenty-minute film titled Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification.

Narrated by Sigourney Weaver and produced by the National Resources Defense Council, the film argues that the burning of fossil fuels is steadily compromising the rich biological diversity of the planet's oceans and threatens to turn them into a "sea of weeds." The canary in the coal mine? Coral reefs, which, if current trends persist, could be extinct in twenty to thirty years. If you care about the future of the planet, you'll want to watch. (Running time: 21:34)

We'll be back with a new TED on Sunday talk next week. In the meantime, here's a list of some our favorites. Enjoy.

• Hans Rosling on the Global HIV Pandemic
• Bill Gates on the Importance of Being Optimistic
• Clay Shirky on the Transformed Media Landscape
• Katherine Fulton on the Future of Philanthropy
• Seth Godin on Leadership
• Barry Schwartz on the Paradox of Choice
• Alex Tabarrok on the Benefits of Globalization
• Majora Carter on Environmental Justice
• Al Gore on Climate Change
• Sylvia Earle on Saving the 'Blue Heart' of the Planet
• James Howard Kunstler on the Death of Suburbia
• Clay Shirky on Epochal Change
• Mark Bittman on How We Eat
• Hans Rosling on the Dimensions of Development
• Sir Ken Robinson on Education and Creativity

And for those who can't get enough of TED, check out Jim Simpson's post about a cool hidden feature of most TED Talks.

-- Mitch Nauffts

2009 CGI: Where Did Our Love Go?

Can't put my finger on it, but the mood at this year's Clinton Global Initiative is, well...different. I'm not saying the event has jumped the shark. But something -- okay, a lot -- has changed over the last year. In no particular order, here's a short list:

• The Democratic Party has a new star, and his name is not Clinton.
• The rich donors and donor countries that were supposed to save the world almost drove it off a cliff (and still might). The idea that nonprofits and NGOs have much to learn from Wall Street and Harvard MBAs has been opened to question, if not ridicule. People don't want to hear the CEOs of Goldman Sachs and ExxonMobil, both of which pulled in record profits last year during the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, talk about leverage or incremental approaches; they want to hear what resource-rich organizations are doing to address and fix problems now.
• The financial crisis has drawn the curtain on the complex, interdependent systems that drive the global economy, causing many people to feel helpless and/or disempowered. Who can say that he or she is master of his or her own destiny anymore?
• In the wake of the financial crisis, previously flush-feeling donors and foundations have cut back on funding, leaving many to anxiously wonder what philanthropy in the Reset Economy is going to look like.
• The explosion of social networking and social media tools -- and the collapse of traditional media business models -- has put lots of people out of work and served as a reminder to the rest of us (as if we needed one) that all bets are off, there are no guarantees, and the only constant at this hinge moment in history is change itself.
• The suffocating security in advance of President Obama's appearance at the opening plenary on Monday (and, for that matter, ever since) is a sobering reminder that extremism, foreign-bred as well as homegrown, is alive and well.

Or maybe it's just because since Sunday I've been battling what I hope is only a cold.

So as not to be a complete drag, I'll leave you with this thought from Alan Cohen, the popular speaker and best-selling author:

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power....

I hope so.

-- Mitch Nauffts

Apocalypse Now?

Introducing Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd at the opening plenary of this year's CGI meeting, Bill Clinton suggested that Rudd's drought-stricken country, perhaps more than any other, is on the front lines of accelerating climate change.

What on earth could he have been talking about?

(Caption: Sidney Harbour Bridge, Sept, 23, after dust storm blankets the city. Courtesy: Getty Images)

-- Mitch Nauffts

2009 Clinton Global Intiative Annual Meeting

As I have for the past couple of years, I'll be blogging the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City next week. Billed as "the only venue where business, government, and civil-sector leaders work together to plan and launch specific projects to address global economic, environmental, and social challenges," this year's CGI meeting will overlap with the 64th session of the UN General Assembly and the G-20 summit (Sept.24-25) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and, per usual, will feature a Who's Who of public-, private-, and third-sector leaders.

Here's the schedule:

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Opening Plenary: A Call To Action
Time: 4:00 – 5:45 P.M.

The opening plenary will frame the agenda for the three days to follow. World leaders will identify critical areas for action and collaboration across a multitude of sectors, ranging from education, energy and climate change to global health and the reduction of poverty. Recognizing the stresses that stakeholders are feeling due to the economic downturn, CGI's four program areas will stress achievable ways to empower communities; harness innovation for development; strengthen infrastructure; develop human capital; finance a sustainable future; and invest in girls and women.

• William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President, United States of America; Founding Chair, Clinton Global Initiative
• Her Excellency Michelle Bachelet, President of the Republic of Chile
• The Honorable Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia
• Mike Duke, President and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
• Muhtar Kent, President and CEO, Coca-Cola Company

Special Session: The G20 and its Impact on Global Challenges
Time: 6:00 – 7:00 P.M.

With a focus on major modern challenges -- growing populations, natural resource scarcity, global warming, dynamic global and financial markets, strains on social systems, and incomplete economic opportunity for billions of people -- this session will enable G20 Heads of State who represent the largest economies in the world to preview their positions in advance of the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Special Session: Approaches to Innovation
Time: 9:00 - 10:30 A.M.

At a time when the world finds itself on an unsustainable course, facing an increasing number of complex challenges for which traditional approaches are no longer sufficient, innovation -- the transformation of ideas into new strategies, products and practices -- stands as a key to addressing many of the issues confronting us today, from energy and education to healthcare and the environment. During this session, innovation experts will discuss the importance of innovation as a vehicle for building a sustainable future. Where does innovation begin? What should be the role of government in promoting and facilitating innovation? Which countries are leading the charge, and how do you best position yourself and your organization to take advantage? This panel will provide a broad introduction to innovation, various approaches to cultivate it, and implications for those who pursue it and those who don't.

• John Kao, Chairman and Founder, Institute for Large Scale Innovation

Plenary: Investing in Girls and Women
Time: 10:45 - 12:15 P.M.

Even though women make up 50 percent of the world's population, girls and women continuously lack the same access as men to education, health care, jobs, and the political arena. Smart businesses appreciate that increased support for girls and women is integral to fostering successful markets for the future. Innovative programs are already producing remarkable results, and far-seeing countries and organizations are finding that reaching out to girls and women deepens confidence, creates opportunity, and raises profits. This panel will examine a few notable success stories.

• Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director, World Bank
• Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO, Women for Women International
• Diane Sawyer, Co-Anchor, Good Morning America, ABC Broadcasting
• Rex Tillerson, Chief Executive Officer, ExxonMobil Corporation
• Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Women’s Issues, U.S. State Department

Plenary Session: Harnessing Innovation for Development
Time: 1:00 - 2:15 P.M.

2008 will come to be recognized as the turning point, when a series of crises gripped the planet: the spike in oil prices, the world food shortage, and the global financial meltdown. Add these crises to the list of ongoing mega-problems and it becomes clear that innovation on a massive scale is required to move us toward a more sustainable world. This plenary will explore the innovation strategies needed to effectively address the planetary crisis we now face.

• Matthew Bishop, New York bureau chief and American business editor, The Economist
• Al Gore, Co-Founder and Chairman, Generation Investment Management
• Jack Ma, Chairman and CEO, Alibaba Group,/li>
• Judith Rodin, President, Rockefeller Foundation
• Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director, Grameen Bank
• Robert Zoellick, President, World Bank Group

Special Session: From CEO to NGO
Time: 5:00 – 6:00 P.M.

During this session, former executives will come together to discuss the importance of philanthropy and how their background in the private sector has allowed them to effectively run nonprofit organizations and foundations. Now that their main focus is on improving the global community not their bottom line, what advice do they have for the private sector? And what do they know from their current work that they wish they had known when they were running multi-million dollar enterprises?

• Eli Broad, Founder, Broad Foundation
• Chrystia Freeland, U.S. Managing Editor, Financial Times
• Ted Turner, Chairman, Turner Enterprises, Inc.
• Bob Wright, Co-Founder, Autism Speaks; Senior Advisor, Lee Equity Partners

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Plenary Session: Strengthening Infrastructure
Time: 9:00 – 10:00 A.M.

Strong and vibrant infrastructure is central to solving pressing global challenges, from improving healthcare delivery and reducing poverty and hunger to fixing slums and responding to global warming. But today we are seriously under-investing in the world's physical and institutional infrastructure. Public works investments and new information technology can provide a foundation for recovery by facilitating job creation, unleashing private-sector investment, and promoting an equitable transition to a lower-carbon and more prosperous global economy. This plenary will explore how strategic public investment in smarter infrastructure can create opportunities for industry, address deep social needs, promote effective public-private collaboration, and jumpstart the world economy.

• Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General, United Nations; Chairman, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
• John T. Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco
• Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO, Renault Nissan
• Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO, General Electric
• Ray Suarez, Senior Correspondent, The NewsHour

Plenary Session: Creating Good Jobs and Strong Communities
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 P.M.

Access to education, health care, and work is an essential foundation for a prosperous community. It is more important than ever in the face of the recession, which has cost 50 million jobs and pushed millions back into poverty. Yet some 180 million children work instead of attending school. Many in school fail to achieve their potential because of a lack of teachers. Even in developed countries, young people do not get the education they need to succeed in the high-tech knowledge economy that will determine future competitiveness. But there are inspiring examples of partnerships between companies, governments and civic leaders who are building opportunity in a way that makes sound business sense. This session will identify practical ways for more partners to act.

• Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
• Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman and CEO, Carlson Companies
• Nicholas D. Kristof, Columnist, The New York Times; Co-Author, Half the Sky
• Andrew Liveris, President, CEO and Chairman, Dow Chemical Company
• Carlos Slim Helú, Chairman and CEO, Grupo Carso
• Hilda Solis, United States Secretary of Labor

Friday, September 25, 2009

Plenary Session: Moving from Crisis to Opportunity – Financing an Equitable Future Time: 9:00 – 10:00 A.M.

The plenary will address how to move beyond the current economic and financial crisis to tap innovative sources of financing that can provide stable, ethical, and scalable funding for organizations addressing the world's most challenging problems.

• Fazel Abed, Founder and Chairman, BRAC
• Maria Bartiromo, Anchor, CNBC
• James Dimon, Chairman and CEO, JP Morgan Chase & Co.
• Peter Sands, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered PLC

Closing Plenary Session
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 P.M.

The closing plenary will highlight progress over the past five years, showcase the accomplishments of the 2009 Annual Meeting, and inspire attendees to continue their work via Commitments to Action in the year ahead with a keynote address from Hillary R. Clinton, United States Secretary of State, and closing remarks from President Clinton.

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Should be an interesting three days. And the CGI team always does an excellent job with the live feed. Stay tuned for details.

-- Mitch Nauffts

Weekend Link Roundup (August 8 - 9, 2009)

This week's roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Climate Change

The American Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation, has launched a virtual companion to their special exhibition Climate Change: The Threat to Life and A New Energy Future. Organized into five sections (Causes/Evidence, Impacts, Adaptations, New Directions, Solutions), the slideshow "explains the science of climate change and explores the future implications" of a warming planet.

The folks at the New York City-based Open Society Institute have posted a video of "The Adaptation Imperative: Food Security and Climate Change," an hour-long conversation featuring Ecoagriculture Partners founder Sara Scherr, OSI fellow Mark Hertsgaard, and author Ross Gelbspan (Boiling Point, The Heat Is On).

Communications/Marketing

On the Future Leaders in Philanthropy (FLiP) blog, Eduardo Arias explains how Google's grant program for nonprofits works.

Diversity

The NonProfit Times has published its annual Power and Influence Top 50 list, which (as Mitch noted earlier in the week) "honor[s] nonprofit executives who are creating impact." Leaders are nominated by NPT staff, contributing editors, former nominees, and "a few elected, plugged-in people." Writing on her blog, Rosetta Thurman argues that "Whenever we hold up a mirror to our sector by creating one of these lists...we also assume the responsibility of reflecting our sector as best we can." But she's not convinced that this year's list passes that test.

Nathaniel Whittemore agrees, though for different reasons. On the Social Entrepreneurship blog, Whittemore writes that while this year's P&I Top 50 is "full of amazing people," the list does not include any bloggers or social media gurus. And that is an oversight, says Whittemore, because "it is no longer [just] the presidents of foundations who get to convene conversations and have a say in how the field is changing."

Impact/Effectiveness

Guest blogging on Tactical Philanthropy, John MacIntosh of SeaChange Capital Partners rebuts Sean Stannard-Stockton's definition of "high performance" in a nonprofit context.

On the Minnesota Council on Foundations' Philanthropy Potluck blog, Lisa Johnson, MCF's manager of professional and e-learning, interviews Phil Buchanan, president at the Center for Effective Philanthropy, about CEP's research on foundation effectiveness.

Nonprofit Management

Earlier this summer, on the WSJ's Laid Off and Looking blog, Dawn Jordan, former operations VP at Bank of America, weighed the pros and cons of starting a nonprofit as a way to "move [past] a layoff." Blogging at Nonprofit Board Crisis, Mike Burns urges Jordan to think twice before taking the plunge. "[N]onprofit businesses are struggling just as much as for-profit businesses," writes Burns, "and while the entry costs may be relatively low...there are also many operational and long-range/sustainability questions that must be answered."

Charity Navigator has released its 5th annual CEO compensation survey, which finds that the top executives of the 5,448 charities in the CN database earned an average salary of $158,075 -- a year-over-year increase of 6.1 percent. Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, recently spoke with Fox Business News about the survey.

The NonProfit Times has launched Best NonProfits to Work for '10, a survey and recognition program dedicated to finding and recognizing the best employers in the nonprofit industry.

Philanthropy

On her Non-Profit Marketing blog, Katya Andresen takes a closer look at Steven Goldberg's recent book Billions of Drops in Millions of Buckets: Why Philanthropy Doesn't Advance Social Progress. In the book, Goldberg argues that "big donors should be more willing to concentrate massive resources in single approaches over the long haul to take promising programs to scale." Although Andresen agrees that donors should invest more in programs that work, Goldberg's call "for centralized giving goes too far and neglects...local groups." (Read a review of the book by William Schambra, director of the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, here.)

In a followup to his much-discussed high performance/high impact post, Sean Stannard-Stockton asks whether the argument in the book Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits is flawed because "the twelve organizations from which the six practices...[were] derived have not...achieved impact." Forces for Good co-author Heather McLeod Grant weighs in with her own thoughtful comment.

Social Change

Lucy Bernholz has compiled a terrific list of upcoming "conferences that matter" on her Philanthropy 2173 blog.

Social Media

This was a rough week for Twitter, which experienced a denial-of-service attack on Thursday that took the site down for half a day and continues to cause it problems. Teething pains aside, Twitter is the "great flattener," a "sledgehammer," writes consultant Mitch Hurst on his With or Without You blog, that threatens to subvert highly structured organizations and create challenges for foundation and nonprofit managers for years to come.

In a post and video on Beth's Blog, Jill Finlayson, marketing manager at the Skoll Foundation, explains how foundations can use social media to position themselves as thought leaders.

In "Crowded Roads Ahead for Charity 2.0," Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, suggests that social networkers may be getting "fed up" with the blizzard of requests for donations from charities and nonprofits on Facebook and Twitter. When the message a nonprofit spreads about their good work "starts to seem like spam," writes McCarthy, it may be time for the organization to reevaluate its social media strategy.

Responding to McCarthy’s article, Beth Kanter predicts that "movement building around causes/issues versus brands is going to be more and more important." Kanter also offers these reflections on cause fatigue and the issue of overcrowding on social networking sites:

• It's important to be in the more "crowded" places so your social networking presence on your own site doesn't become an isolated silo. It gets beyond a unique presence into building deeper engagement and building relationships.
• The issue of scaling. Nonprofits that are doing this work are involving the entire organization…. We need to get away from the idea that one organization has to do it all - that working in networks of organizations - focused on overall issue is part of the future. This involves simplifying and focusing on core strengths - networking the rest of the instrastructure.

Science/Technology

In India to accept the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, Bill Gates suggested during a seminar that "Technology holds the key to solving many of India's health-care and education challenges." But on the Business of Giving blog, Seattle Times reporter Kristi Heim argues that when it comes to philanthropy, "high-tech solutions don’t always work."

And that's it for this week. What did we miss? Use the comments to send us your suggestions, or e-mail me at rnm@foundationcenter.org.

-- Regina Mahone

Weekend Link Roundup (June 27 - 28, 2009)

This week's roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Climate Change

Mark Tercek, president and CEO of the Nature Conservancy, explains why the American Clean Energy and Security Act, passed earlier this week by the House of Representatives, is an important milestone for conservation and climate change efforts in the U.S.

Communications/Marketing

Nonprofits and foundations are invited to enter the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards competition. Submit your organization's tagline here.

Economy

The mortgage crisis left a large number of homes vacant in cities across the nation. The Weakonomist wonders why Habitat for Humanity -- a nonprofit organization whose mission is to build homes for people in need -- has not adapted its tactics to account for this reality. "The continuation of the program in [its] current form," writes the Weakonomist, "is a bit insensitive to the times." The head of HFH Los Angeles responded via Twitter, ensuring all that the organization has programs in place to address the needs of people who have lost homes in the economic downturn.

So-called innovation prizes like the X Prize were a big trend in 2008. This year, in contrast, writes Lucy Bernholz on her Philanthropy 2173 blog, we're seeing a lot more "charity challenges" that involve some form of matching grant. Surely another sign of these uncertain economic times.

Nonprofit Management

A recent National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy report concludes that many of the foundations which lost money in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme had fewer than five trustees on their boards. "Small [board] size or not," writes Mike Burns on his Nonprofit Board Crisis blog, "this failure by foundations was about systems and policies and due diligence -- none of which appear to have been in place enough to prevent this very ugly and sad outcome for all."

Social Innovation

On IssueLab's new Footnotes blog, Gabriela Fitz asks how social innovation will be funded over the next couple of years if budget-constrained foundations and philanthropists only support their existing grantees, and what sorts of innovative projects will simply disappear because they don't have the necessary funds to continue their work? Excellent questions, Gabriela.

Social Media

On the Buzz Machine, Jeff Jarvis offers his always sharp take on what the confluence of events in Iran and Michael Jackson's death tells us about media, social media, and the future of journalism.

The Case Foundation has published an assessment of the foundation's first-ever Giving Challenge. Allison Fine, co-author of the report (along with Beth Kanter) offers her take on the fifty-day event, which raised $1.8 million from more than 71,000 donors and benefited thousands of causes.

Volunteerism

Does All for Good, an aggregation platform for volunteer opportunities in the U.S. built with support from the Craigslist Foundation and Google, compete with existing Web sites such as Social Actions? That's a question many people are debating on the Social Edge site, where Social Actions founder Peter Deitz is hosting a discussion about competition and collaboration in the social sector. It's an important conversation, and dozens of people have weighed in with comments.

The Obama administration's enthusiasm for community service has inched the country closer to embracing a culture of service, writes Rachel Chong, social entrepreneur, on the Huffington Post. However, there's more work to be done. Writes Chong:

We are still far from a world where every nonprofit can access pro bono services or where every professional can easily give his or her skills. Through the Web, we've brought volunteers and nonprofits together, but now we must figure how to get them work together in ways that consistently result in positive outcomes. The cultural gap between the nonprofit and for-profit worlds is vast. We need a scalable solution that helps nonprofit managers and for-profit professionals communicate effectively so that both parties get the most out of their volunteer experiences together. When we've accomplished this, not only will service be part of the fabric of American lives, but nonprofit and for-profit professionals will be finally speaking the same language....

Women

In a recent PhilanTopic post, Christine Gumm, president and CEO of the Women's Funding Network, offered her take on a new report issued by the Foundation Center (in partnership with WFN)which spotlights the growing trend of giving by and for women. Gumm points out that women's funds have developed a democratic model of giving, "with donors and grantees sharing grantmaking decisions." On her Nonprofit Leadership 601 blog, Heather Carpenter says that's all well and good, but then asks, "Why is it that only women's philanthropy strives for mutuality?" Adds Carpenter, "If we are truly trying to change the world, wouldn't it be best if all of philanthropy strives for collaboration and mutuality?"

What did we miss? Use the comments section below to submit your favorite recent posts.

-- Regina Mahone

TED on Sunday: Katherine Fulton on the Future of Philanthropy

What comes to mind when you think about philanthropy? Chances are, says Katherine Fulton, president of the San Francisco-based Monitor Institute, you'd end up with a list that includes words like closed, small, slow, fragmented, and short. But it doesn't have to be that way. As Fulton explains in this short, powerful talk, the same disruptive technologies that have upended industry after industry are beginning to transform philanthropy in profound ways. And while we don't yet have a language to adequately describe this transformation, we can recognize some of the innovations that are driving it, including mass collaboration, online marketplaces, aggregated giving, innovation competitions, and social investing. Where is it all leading? We can't be sure, says Fulton -- in part because we are acting our way into a new way of thinking, rather than thinking our way into a new way of acting. But we should take comfort from and be inspired by the fact that each of us has more power to make a difference and create a better, safer, more just world than at any time in human history. Are we are up to the challenge? Time will tell. (Filmed: March 2007; Running time: 12:34)

Liked this talk? Try one of these:

• Seth Godin on Leadership
• Barry Schwartz on the Paradox of Choice
• Alex Tabarrok on the Benefits of Globalization
• Majora Carter on Environmental Justice
• Al Gore on Climate Change
• Sylvia Earle on Saving the 'Blue Heart' of the Planet
• James Howard Kunstler on the Death of Suburbia
• Clay Shirky on Epochal Change
• Mark Bittman on How We Eat
• Hans Rosling on the Dimensions of Development
• Sir Ken Robinson on Education and Creativity

-- Mitch Nauffts

Documentary Film and New Media

(Kathryn Pyle is producing a documentary film about the post-conflict period in El Salvador. In her last post, she wrote about the "green trees" movement in Washington, D.C. )

New media wasn't the only topic on the agenda at the "Fundraising and Financing for Documentaries" event this weekend at Hunter College in New York City. But it was certainly the elephant in the room -- in this case, an auditorium filled to overflowing with aspiring documentary filmmakers seeking advice and an opportunity to pitch their projects to a star roster of funders and broadcasters.

Presented by Women Make Movies and New York Women in Film & Television, the program featured representatives from HBO, the Sundance Channel, A&E, the public TV series POV and Independent Lens, as well as funders such as Cinereach, Chicken & Egg, the National Black Programming Consortium, and Independent Television Service (ITVS). Those in attendance were rewarded with lots of advice on presenting proposals to funders (summary: "read the guidelines") and making award-winning films. Character development, artful storytelling, stunning visuals, and compelling social issues are still what broadcasters and audiences want, and filmmakers were encouraged to share their passion when approaching distributors; passion can tilt the balance and convince a distributor to pick up a film, especially if it happens to be a film by a first-time director -- the astonishing Trouble the Waters being an example.

Later in the day, a panel of independent doc-makers described their use of Twitter, MySpace, and other social networks for fundraising. The examples ranged from simple, self-managed email solicitations sent to friends and acquaintances to the use of commercial online fundraising sites that post worthwhile projects and a time-limited fundraising goal for each project -- sort of a cross between a Jerry Lewis telethon and eBay. The panelists also focused on the ways they use their own Web sites, blogs, and Facebook pages to build an audience and create "buzz" for their films through the posting of actual clips, regular updates on the film's progress, and links to partner organizations.

Of course, new media figured in every discussion. Without abandoning standards, the funders and broadcasters urged members of the audience to experiment with all types of new media and technology -- for making, marketing, and getting their films distributed. Many also mentioned ongoing efforts within their own organizations to adapt, adopt, and sift through the new media noise to identify what might be useful over the long term. PBS's MediaShift, for example, offers thoughtful news and analysis of "the digital media revolution," and PBS staff at the event reported on new initiatives in the pipeline designed to build the capacity of PBS partners and better align the broadcaster's internal policies with the new media options available for film distribution.

The event's organizers also highlighted Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media's new Media Database, which aims to marry the interests of philanthropists and electronic media projects in need of support. I'll be attending a roll-out of the database at the SILVERDOCS conference next week in Silver Spring, Maryland. Look for a followup post from there.

-- Kathryn Pyle

Giving While Living

To be or not to be? That seems to be the question for a growing number of family foundations, a new report from the Foundation Center and the Council on Foundations finds. Based on survey responses from more than a thousand foundations, the report, Perpetuity or Limited Lifespan: How Do Family Foundations Decide? (46 pages, PDF), found that while perpetuity is the norm for most family foundations, a relatively small number plan to have a limited lifespan (12 percent), while a larger segment (25 percent) are undecided -- either because they haven't discussed the issue or due to uncertainty about the family's future involvement in the foundation.

(Image courtesy of Northern California Grantmakers)

"Uncertain" isn't a word one would use to describe John Hunting, the Steelcase Furniture heir who created the Beldon Fund in 1982. In 1998, Hunting, a committed environmentalist, endowed the foundation with $100 million from the sale of his stock in Steelcase, which had gone public the year before, and made the decision to spend out its assets over the next ten years. In his late 60s at the time, Hunting gave four reasons for spending out: foundations should have a limited lifespan; mounting environmental problems couldn't wait; the so-called intergenerational transfer of wealth would replenish the philanthropic "well"; and he wanted to enjoy the results of his philanthropy in his lifetime.

Hunting hired Bill Roberts, a former executive with the Environmental Defense Fund, to be the fund's executive director (Roberts was succeeded in that position by Anita Nager in 2001), and over the next decade they used the fund's resources to build public and policy support for environmental protection, spending between $10 million and $15 million a year.

As a still-vital Hunting explained when he and Nager dropped by the offices of PND last week, the goal from the outset was to focus the fund's relatively modest resources over a short period of time so as to maximize the fund's impact. When asked whether he and his colleagues had succeeded in that goal, Hunting didn't hesitate: "Absolutely." (We'll be posting a transcript of our conversation with John and Anita in a week or so.)

The Beldon Fund made its last grants in June 2008 and officially closed its doors at the end of May. Over the last month or so, Hunting and Nager have been making the rounds to talk about what they learned from their spend-out experience. They're also promoting a new Web site and publication, Giving While Living: The Beldon Fund Spend-Out Story (28 pages, PDF), that provide comprehensive information on Beldon's program/investment strategies, operations, and outcomes. Both are excellent.

As the Foundation Center report mentioned above makes clear, most philanthropists are still uncomfortable with the idea of a limited lifespan foundation. On the other hand, more and more donors are looking to achieve significant impact with their philanthropic resources -- and if they can do so in a limited time frame, all the better. Hunting and his colleagues have some thoughts on that score:

1. Learn quickly. Having a sunset date means that there's limited time to learn from mistakes and adjust course.

2. Use evaluation to refine strategy. Develop programmatic benchmarks of success and use external evaluations with anonymous feedback to assess progress. An evaluation that looks at the overall impact of the program strategies, rather than just individual grants, will indicate if you're on the right track or need to make changes.

3. Keep a tight focus. It's better to start with a few areas where you are likely to make a difference than to take on too many issues and then have to pare down.

4. Be bold. Develop or adopt innovative strategies geared to being change within a limited time frame.

5. Manage risk. Taking chances can lead to breakthrough solutions, but not all bets pay off. Learn from those that don't work and move on.

6. Look for synergy across program areas. Develop a strategy early on to connect, where possible, the work of major programs in order to achieve greater scale and deeper impact.

7. Ensure budget flexibility. Allocate assets to allow flexibility to respond to unanticipated funding opportunities or critical needs in the field.

8. Build the field. Hire staff members who can bring other funders to the work.

9. Use all the foundation's resources -- not just money. Capitalize on staff's issue expertise, funder connections, and ability to serve as a sounding board for problems and ideas.

You'll find more of the same -- including specific tips about spending out, promoting collaboration among grantees, building a field of practice, engaging other funders, and responsible exiting practices -- on the new Beldon Fund site.

-- Mitch Nauffts

TED on Sunday: Alex Tabarrok on the Benefits of Globalization

In this upbeat talk, economist and blogger (Marginal Revolution) Alex Tabarrok argues that globalization and the lowering of barriers it has fostered are beginning to help us repair the horrific damage created by the political and economic storms of the first half of the twentieth century. But the best, says Tabarrok, is yet to come, as free trade spreads prosperity to all parts of the world and the globalization of the market for ideas creates powerful incentives for tackling -- and solving -- many of the world's most daunting problems. (Filmed: February 2009; Running time: 14:35)

Liked this talk? Then try one of these:

• TED on Sunday: Majora Carter on Environmental Justice
• TED on Sunday: Al Gore on Climate Change
• TED on Sunday: Sylvia Earle on Saving the 'Blue Heart' of the Planet
• TED on Sunday: James Howard Kunstler on the Death of Suburbia
• TED on Sunday: Clay Shirky on Epochal Change
• TED on Sunday: Mark Bittman on How We Eat
• TED on Sunday: Hans Rosling on the Dimensions of Development
• TED on Sunday: Sir Ken Robinson on Education and Creativity

-- Mitch Nauffts

TED on Sunday: Majora Carter on Environmental Justice

In this dynamic, emotional talk, MacArthur Award-winning activist Majora Carter tells the story of the South Bronx, the New York City neighborhood that had long been a blighted, crime-ridden dumping ground for the city's waste and industrial eyesores. Thanks in large part to the visionary Carter and a handful of allies in government and the philanthropic commnity, the neighborhood has experienced a rebirth that has helped catalyze a grassroots environmental justice movement across the country. In her talk, Carter reminds us that economic degradation begets environmental degradation which begets social degradation; and that -- unlike the new Yankee Stadium -- all future development in urban areas must embrace a triple bottom line ("people, the planet, profits"). As Carter likes to say, It's time to put people first. (Filmed: February 2006; Running time: 18:36)

Liked this talk? Then try one of these:

• TED on Sunday: Al Gore on Climate Change
• TED on Sunday: Sylvia Earle on Saving the 'Blue Heart' of the Planet
• TED on Sunday: James Howard Kunstler on the Death of Suburbia
• TED on Sunday: Clay Shirky on Epochal Change
• TED on Sunday: Mark Bittman on How We Eat
• TED on Sunday: Hans Rosling on the Dimensions of Development
• TED on Sunday: Sir Ken Robinson on Education and Creativity

-- Mitch Nauffts

D.C. Gets a 'B'

(Kathryn Pyle is producing a documentary film about the post-conflict period in El Salvador. This is the final installment in a five-part series that explores the growing movement to recover and maintain the urban canopy in the Northeast. In her last post, she wrote about Philadelphia's efforts to restore its trees.)

Casey Trees, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that works to "restore, enhance and protect the tree canopy of the Nation's Capital," has issued a report card on the state of that canopy: a "B" overall, with an "A" for tree health and a "C" for protection.

"Ideally, we'd have a whole lot more trees here, all in good condition," said deputy director Michael Galvin. "But we're pleased with the conclusion of the assessment, that D.C. gets a 'B'. We hope it will help focus the work that's being done."

The assessment was based on five qualities measured over the past year: not only the coverage provided by the canopy but also the health of the trees, the rate at which trees are being planted, the protection and maintenance provided to trees, and public awareness of the canopy and the government agencies and community organizations charged with its well-being. The tree canopy, which currently covers 36 percent of the city, was determined using satellite imagery. Tree health was measured in two hundred randomly selected plots where bugs, disease, and mortality were examined. Casey Trees looked at available data from the city government to determine the rate of planting and how the existing regulations and ordinances were protecting the canopy.

"We're issuing the report card as a way to identify what's going well and what could be improved," said Galvin.

Improvement, according to Casey Trees, depends on more effective collaboration between community groups and advocacy organizations, on the one hand, and city government on the other. The lowest grade was for tree protection, a city responsibility. Casey Trees hopes to work more closely with the city on access to key information and to consult with the environmental point people on city council to review legislation like the Urban Forest Preservation Act of 2002.

Casey Trees would like to see the tree canopy increase to 40 percent by 2035. With the canopy comprised of more than 106,000 trees, and thousands being planted by Casey Trees in collaboration with community groups, churches, schools and individual homeowners, Washington is better off than many cities. "Washington has a number of good organizations out there," says Casey Trees director Mark Busciano. "In addition to Casey Trees, the work of Trees of Capitol Hill, Trees for Georgetown, Restore Massachusetts, and the Anacostia-based Hillcrest Citizens Association have been very important; plus there are many smaller groups and thousands of volunteers. All of this contributes to the healthy canopy and builds awareness among the residents."

How is D.C. doing compared to other cities in the same climate zone?

"Comparisons are always useful as a way for people to understand the urban forest," said Galvin. "Unfortunately, there's no readily available, comprehensive data set to see how D.C. is doing relative to other urban areas. We're not aware of any other city trying to evaluate the complexity of the canopy in the way that we have. We believe this model is a good way to get data and connect people in the field, and we're eager to share it with other cities."

One avenue for dissemination is the Urban Ecology Collaborative, an informal network of organizations in Northeast corridor cities that Casey Trees works with. Best practices are shared at an annual meeting and the website offers “webinars” on programs of interest.

To reach the 40 percent goal, 8,600 trees must be planted every year for the next twenty-five years: over 215,000 new trees. Mayor Adrian Fenty endorsed the goal as part of his "green agenda" announced on Earth Day. To help the city get there, Casey Trees will convene a "Tree Summit" next year that brings together community groups and government agencies to review the city's progress.

To learn more, visit Casey Trees' brand-new interactive map for details of D.C.'s urban canopy and the trees planted by Casey Trees: http://www.caseytrees.org/geographic/maps-tools/index.php.

-- Kathryn Pyle

Philadelphia’s 'Green' Awards

(Kathryn Pyle is producing a documentary film about the post-conflict period in El Salvador. This is the fourth installment in a five-part series that explores the growing movement to recover and maintain the urban canopy in the Northeast. In her last post, she wrote about the re-issue of a beloved field guide to Washington's urban canopy.)

Washington, of course, is but an example -- maybe the best supported, thanks to the Casey gift -- of a nationwide movement to recover and maintain an urban canopy, along with other "green" activities.

Mayor Michael Nutter also has a tree plan to help Philadelphia catch up with its peer cities. Like Washington, Philadelphia suffered from the urban exodus of the 1970s and 1980s, losing 200,000 trees by 2004, including more than 20,000 removed through maintenance. New trees will be planted over the next two years to replace those removed, but the city has a long way to go.

Fortunately, the mayor has some great local partners, including Philadelphia Green, a city-wide program of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society that pioneered community gardens and pocket parks thirty years ago in response to abandoned factory buildings and the resulting decimation of neighborhoods. Philadelphia Green is still working with community-based organizations and thousands of volunteers to turn vacant lots and urban blight into locally grown food, shade, and an improved quality of life -- reducing crime and isolation along the way.

The third annual Sustainability Awards, presented by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and hosted by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society at the Philadelphia Flower Show in March, illustrates some other, complimentary approaches.

Selected from seventy qualifying projects, the five winners included the nonprofit Energy Coordinating Agency, which has helped 80,000 low-income households with weatherization rehab and recently received a $1.1 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to expand its Green Jobs training center. "Young people are streaming into this field," said Pam Carunchio of ECA in accepting the award. "We now have a convergence of a mayor, a governor, and a president who are united in the biggest infusion of 'green' in our history, so that we can build this clean energy future together."

Farm to City, a small business founded by former city planner Bob Pierson, operates fourteen farmers' markets around town, bringing local farmers' goods to urban neighborhoods, and organizes buying clubs where consumers invest in family farms for a share of the produce. In partnership with a neighborhood development alliance, the organization also has set up a nonprofit wholesale distribution center, Common Market Philadelphia, for farm products from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.

And who knew that Philadelphia's football team, the Eagles, has an extensive green program that encompasses a range of activities, from reimbursing employees for signing up for wind energy to using corn-based beer cups and recycling trash produced at the games. One hundred percent of the team's energy needs, year round, are produced by solar and wind.

Other Sustainability Award winners included Onion Flats, an architecture firm that bills itself as "just good architects" rather than "green architects" to emphasize the momentum building for all things green, and Schuylkill Banks Greenway, which was honored for having rescued eight miles of land along the Schuylkill River, creating walkways, concert spaces, and a bike path from downtown Philadelphia all the way to Valley Forge.

All these programs, Casey Trees, the Anacostia gardeners -- and similar activities and organizations across the nation -- are part of a new environmental awakening reminiscent of other periods in American history. Earth Day, April 22, was designated in one such era thirty-nine years ago. We have learned that it takes partnerships between the public and private sectors, committed professionals and dedicated citizens alike, to address the environmental challenges confronting us. As the architects at Onion Flats like to say, we have to get to the point where "green" is assumed when we talk about our homes and jobs, community development, recreation, or any other aspect of our lives. Earth Day is a reminder to pay attention: no less than the health of our communities and the planet is at stake.

Tomorrow: D.C. Gets a 'B'

-- Kathryn Pyle