Philanthropy for Military Families

Americans give $2.5 billion annually to the over 40,000 charities with military-related missions.

These organizations provide a variety of services, including mental health and supportive services, financial assistance for food, utilities, and medical expenses.

To find a curated list of the most highly rated of these organizations, visit the Charity Navigator which provides ratings in three categories: Wounded Troops charities, Military family charities, and Military social service organizations.
Here are ten of the top veteran's organizations:
1. Bob Woodruff Family Foundation
2. Homes for our Troops
3. Operation Second Chance
4. Puppies Behind Bars
5. Operation Homefront
6. Fisher House Foundation
7. Hope for the Warriors
8. Yellow Ribbon Fund
9. Air Warrior Courage Foundation
10. Gary Sinise Foundation

#nonprofit #charties #giving #military #vetrans #vetranscharities #miliaryfamilies #Woundedtroups #homesforvetrans #mentalhealthsuport

Clean Water

For my Friday gratitude, I was thinking about how much I take clean water for granted.

It automatically comes from my faucet at will. I can take hot showers when I want, wash clothes, cook all without a thought about where my water comes from and how it is cleaned.

There are so many parts of the world where water is scarce. Over 2.2 billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water.

This is Water Poverty.

So I wanted to recognize these five water charities that are working to change this equation.

Generosity.org—was completed over 800 water projects in 20 countries impacting half a million people. “ Our goal is to move from a place where communities rely upon us, to a place where communities utilize the tools that we provide to become proud and progressive stewards of their own destiny.”

Pure Water for the World—works in Central America and the Caribbean provide children and families with the tools and education to develop sustainable water, hygiene, and sanitation solutions. They provide families with water filtration systems, latrines, and safe drinking water, along with sanitation education.

Blood:Water is a nonprofit that partners with African grassroots organizations to bring clean water and HIV/AIDS support to one million people in 11 countries.

Water for Good works with communities in the Central African Republic to establish sanitation best practices, improve agriculture, and empower people to create sustainable clean water access. Their current campaign is to mobilize children to contribute to clean water funding and solutions.

Charity Water is bringing safe and clean water to families around the world. e believe that sustainable work is locally-led. Along with implementing community-owned water projects, our local partners help facilitate comprehensive water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programming to protect everyone’s long-term health. They have done 79,000 plus water projects reaching 13.2 million people in 29 countries.

Now You: Have you thought about your access to water?

#nonprofit #nonprofitfundraising #charity #water #watercharaties #waterpoverty #humandevelopment #globalphilanthropy #abundance #charitywater #waterforgood #Blood:water #purewaterfortheworld #generosity.org

Creating Bigger Tables

When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of the big tables we create to accommodate family and friends.

The tables are usually cobbled together from several smaller tables.

In our work, we also think about creating bigger tables. Bringing people together from different organizations, disciplines, and lived experiences creates a richer table.

It may not be easy.
You may have to think carefully about who sits where, but all are welcome at the table.

In this divisive time, we might focus on what brings us to the table instead of what keeps us apart.

Now you: Are you creating bigger tables in your work?
#nonprofits #fundraising #nonprofitleadership #collaboration #biggertables #biggertogether #work

Creating an Organizational Neural Network

Our organizations need to scan vast amounts of information to understand our present operating landscape and predict where the opportunities might lie in the future. We need to turn information into usable data that guides our efforts and decision-making.

But how do we accomplish this when the landscape is so vast and complex?

We create an organizational neural network. Neural networks are a phenomenon of the human brain.

Our sensory system perceives information, our strategic networks determine how to use the information we perceive and express what we know, and our affective system ascribes meaning to the information from an emotional perspective.

What is remarkable about the human brain is that all of these functions get integrated in order for us to act in the world. Now we have harnessed the capabilities of AI and machine learning to create neural networks that help us to recognize patterns and solve common problems using deep learning.

We can also create powerful organizational neural networks by harnessing the talent in our organization and increasing connectivity. Rather than thinking about vertical hierarchies and roles, we think about people in our organization as nodes in our network. Each person is gathering information about the internal and external environment.

They are involved in numerous communities, participate in professional convenings, interact with other organizations, and interact with our beneficiaries on a regular basis.

If we have a system that connects and shares all of the information coming from each of our nodes, we create a highly intelligent network that is far more sensitive to changes and opportunities in the landscape. Technology systems can facilitate the network, but humans are the real source of intelligence.

Now you: Have you ever created or been part of a human network that increased your smarts?

#nonprofits #technology #people #nonprofitleadership #neuralnet #fundraising #agilefundraising #agile #human #GPS #leadership

Stone Soup

Are you appreciating the contributions of your different team members?
Think of Stone Soup.

Many years ago, a man on a journey, landed in a village where he knew no one. He was very hungry, so he knocked on the first door for some food. Suspicious of strangers, the person turned him away. He walked further down the road, and knocked on the second door, and then the third, and so on...
After a long while, he had an idea.

He went back to the first house and asked to borrow a pot. Reluctantly, the person gave him the pot.

He then went to the center of town, lit a fire, and heated the pot. He took a stone and put it in the bottom with some water.

Soon a townsperson came and asked what he was cooking. Stone soup he said. The villager said I have a carrot to contribute. So the women went back to her house and brought the stranger a carrot.

Soon another villager came and smelled the soup and brought a potato, then another contributed an onion. Soon villagers were opening their doors and upon smelling the delicious soup were offering chicken, cabbage, and some rice.

The village was abuzz, tables were set in the center of the town square. The villagers gathered from near and far. Fresh bread was offered. The delicious soup was shared. People talked and laughed, kids ran about. Everyone ate heartily.

The stranger became a friend.

So too with our teams, we all have a little something to contribute which may be ordinary by itself but is extraordinary when combined with the gifts of others.

Now You: Have you ever made a stone soup out of the ingredients of your team?
#nonprofit #nonprofitleadership # #people #team #gratitude #agilefundraising #fundraising #collaboration #teams

Women's Philanthropy is Down

The not-so-surprising way the pandemic has disproportionately affected women…

Women's philanthropic giving is down.

According to a report released by the Women in Philanthropy Institute, while giving by all household types has increased during the pandemic, both single women and married/partnered couples gave less to charity as compared to before the pandemic and compared to single men.

This is the reverse of typical trends over the last few years.

There are many contributing factors to the pandemic strain felt by women…
📌Women—especially mothers of school-aged children—have left the workforce in high numbers.
📌Women in the U.S. lack access to high-quality affordable child care. Public policies in the U.S. are less supportive for childcare as compared to are disadvantaged due to a lack of public policies that support childcare as compared to other developing countries.

📌 the economic impacts of the pandemic on households’ giving is clear: losing a job or losing income were strongly negatively associated with giving as well as volunteering.
📌Health and wellbeing challenges, including caregiving for loved ones that are ill.

During the pandemic, many women are also approaching their giving in different ways, some have shifted to health and crisis efforts, while others have shifted to community organizations that are having a direct impact where they live.

In this time of disruption, fundraisers need to be flexible about their message and approach knowing the strain many families are under.

💡Now you: How have you changed your giving this past year?

#fundraising #nonprofits #nonprofitleadership #agile #agilefundraising #philanthropy #womeninphilanthropy #charitablegiving

Fundraising as an Investment

How would I respond when a nonprofit says “we just can’t afford to invest in fundraising right now. Everything is too tight. We are just scraping by….”

I would first communicate that I understand the situation they are in and I know the stress that is causing the organization.
Then I would respond…
· It is important to get out of a scarcity mindset into abundance.
· You need to grow yourself out of your financial hole, not backfill.
· Fundraising is a core capacity, an engine for growth.
· Fundraising needs to be fully integrated into the way you work, your culture, and your mindset.
· Rather than constrain resources, use them strategically to generate new opportunities.

Now You: Do you agree with the idea that sometimes you need to spend money to make more money?

#fundraising #nonprofits #nonprofit #nonprofitleadership #nonprofitfundraising #agilefundraising #growth #abundance #culture #work #work #opportunities #mindset

Generosity

Nonprofit Leaders: If you want your organization to be more entrepreneurial and agile, this one thing is critical….

Generosity.

When we focus on amplifying value for others, we create more value in the ecosystem.

This may seem counterintuitive. Isn’t entrepreneurship and agility about finding the space that no one else occupies?

Perhaps.

But when enhance your connectivity, you create more value and relationship capital.

The ecosystem is energized. It creates more opportunities.

With generosity see the opportunities quicker because you are in not only where the action is, you are creating the action.

Generosity creates enduring relationships.

No doubt you will need collaborators to go where no one has gone before.

Now you: How are you generous in your ecosystem?

#agile #agilefundraising #nonprofits #nonprofit #nonprofitleadership #leadership #ecosystem #generosity #go-givers #fundraising #collaboration #entrepreneurship #opportunities #leaders

Social Good Hackathons

How can you put your company’s passion, creativity, and capabilities to work for social good?

Host a 24-hour hackathon in collaboration with a local nonprofit to develop some creative solutions to their challenges.

In a Dec. 6 Fast Company article, Hackathons are one way a company can give back to the nonprofit sector.

A hackathon is an event usually hosted by a tech company or organization, where programmers and designers come together for a short but intense period, to create a program or prototype to solve a societal or business challenge. I

t does not even need to be tech-focused, it can put to use the diverse skill sets of a company’s employees and develop business, marketing, or innovations that help the nonprofit meet its mission.

Hackathons are often structured as competitions to generate energy and alternate solutions. For example, in 2020, Databricks sponsored its first virtual global “Hackathon for Social Good” with data teams competing to tackle climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, or issues unique to their local communities.

Hackathons also provide the company with a culture-building exercise of teamwork, craft, and creativity. It is one way a company can put its specific expertise and assets to work for the common good.

In the Fast Company article, Barry Fiske of Live Area (Merkle) suggests that the “resulting digital experiences, products, and content will prove as valuable for your own team as they are for the nonprofit”.


Now You: Have you ever participated in a hackathon?

#nonprofits #nonprofitleadership #corporatesocialresponsibility #corporatephilanthropy #volunteering #socialimpact #agilefundraising #corporatevolunteering #hackathons #hackathonforsocialgood #Fastcompany #nonprofit #team #business

Julia Child and Lessons in Leadership

What can we learn from Julia Childs to lead our nonprofits?

Julia Childs, the beloved chef, author, and tv personality, was very influential to many of the famous chefs. But she was just as influential to the home cook, bringing classic French cooking techniques to the public.

Julia was the first “celebrity” chef before this phenomenon was born. There is a new documentary coming out about her life. This made me think about her, and some of the reasons I think she was such a great example of leadership…
· The Oops factor--On her show, the French Chef, she would often spill, tip or flip food out of her pan onto the floor or counter. She was both humble and unapologetic at the same time about making mistakes. She would scoop up the mess and keep going.
· Democratization—One of Julia’s biggest influences was to bring fine cooking into our homes. She translated highfalutin cooking techniques for a lay public. She did not dumb cooking down, rather provided clear instructions and coaching.
· Passion and Optimism: She had an infectious energy and a belief that we all could do this. She was all in and committed.

When we lead our organizations, it would be great to take a page from Julia’s book.

Bon Appetite!

Now You: Have you ever tried to make one of her recipes?
#nonprofit #nonprofitleadership #leadership #fundraising #agilefundraising #JuliaChilds #Joy

Small But Mighty

Here is a surprising truth about the nonprofit sector in the U.S….

The vast majority of nonprofits and charitable organizations have annual revenues under $50,000.

This means that the social support system largely resides in small community organizations.

According to Candid in their new Social Sector Dashboard, there are 955,000 nonprofits that are under $50,000 in revenue.

This is in contrast to 63,000 that are between $1 million and $5 million in revenues and 39,000 over $5 million.

As a sector, nonprofits have revenue of $3.7 Trillion.

Given the economic disruption and the increased demand caused by the pandemic, it should sharpen our focus on the stability and viability of small nonprofits.

Perhaps this is a time to consider more strategic partnerships and mergers to scale service delivery and impact.


Now You: What is your favorite small nonprofit in your community? Give them a shout-out!
#nonprofitleadership #nonprofit #partnerships
#nonprofits #socialsector #fundraising #funding #impact #nonprofiteffectivenes #community #nonprofitleadership #leadership #agilefundraising

Embedded vs. Consultative

A few years ago, I went from an embedded leadership role within one nonprofit to an external consulting role with many nonprofit organizations. Here are my observations on some of the differences….

· Embedded increases your commitment and sweat equity.
· Consultative gives you a wider lens and experience in many contexts.

· Embedded involves you in more of the organizational challenges and politics
· Consultative gives you a more bounded role.

· Embedded creates a strategic view of opportunities over the long-term and a commitment to see them through.
· Consultative gives you a long-term strategic view with the knowledge that you will not be the one to see this through.

· Embedded gives you colleagues with all sorts of expertise
· Consultative means you have to create your own colleagues, mentors and supporters.

Now You: Do you prefer embedded or consultative roles?

#nonprofit #nonprofitleadership #nonprofitconsulting #consulting #leadership #strategicplanning #strategicadvancement #fundraising #agilefundraising #agileteams #teams #fundraisingconsulting

Strategy, Agility and Growth

“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.” Abraham Maslow

Growth requires both strategy and agility. So do nonprofit strategic advancement efforts. Growth requires strategic top-down drivers as well as agile opportunistic drivers percolating up from a dynamic environment.
Through careful long-term strategic advancement planning, a nonprofit can create a systematic portfolio of fundraising and business development activities designed to produce the revenue it needs to grow and thrive.

Combining this with Agile Opportunity Generation, an organization can focus on the dynamic and rapidly changing landscape of opportunities with the agility needed to drive the action.

Agile fundraising, which was inspired by agile software development, focuses on iterative design innovation, partnership development, and fundraising in an integrated way.

Agile fundraising addresses the limitations of traditional fundraising where planning and implementation phases are distinct and sequential.

Now you: What is one thing you do that is agile?

For more information on agile fundraising, approaches contact me at lpoller@agilefundraisingstrategy.com


#nonprofit #nonprofitleadership #agilefundraising #fundraising #strategicplanning #strategy #funding #growth #success #agile

Treasure, Time and Talent

Treasure, time, and talent.
Increasingly corporate social responsibility programs are adopting skills-based volunteering in nonprofits with their employees. Skill-based volunteering enables a corporation to use its unique expertise and the specific capabilities of its employees to support nonprofit partners. This is a more targeted and aligned volunteer strategy.
For example,
· A regional bank offers its HR expert to a nonprofit to develop a recruitment strategy with them to diversify and grow its core staff.

· A technology company offers a volunteer software development team to help a local food bank set up a system to track the distribution of food contributions from regional suppliers.

· A STEM education organization secures a group of career mentors from a Company’s engineering and design departments.

In a panel discussion today hosted by Philanthropy Massachusetts, corporate social responsibility directors shared that they are working toward transformative relationships rather than transactional ones, in order to address large societal challenges.


Now You: How have you used your professional talents to further a nonprofit’s social mission?

#nonprofits #philanthropy #strategy #education #team #corporatesocialresponsibility #CSR #volunteering #skillbasedvolunteering #impact #fundraising #corporategiving #corporatephilanthropy

Accepting Money from Corporations

Should your nonprofit accept funding from a company that is trying to repair their image following a controversy or scandal?

Let’s face it, sometimes companies want to affiliate with a nonprofit as an offset for bad publicity or worse, criminal behavior.

Take the recent settlement with the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma the makers of OxyContin. Under the $4.5 billion bankruptcy settlement and opioid suit, the Sackler family has been banned — temporarily — from putting their name on buildings of institutions where they have donated.

“You can’t buy your way to redemption or a good name, no matter how much money you have.” — Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

A company that has been responsible for devastating so many lives should not be able to use its charity to further its reputation. The Sackler family will also give up control of two charitable foundations that fund cancer research.

There are many other examples, oil companies who make environmental contributions following devastating spills, or professional sports franchises that have used social justice movements in their commercials to redeem themselves following crackdowns on players themselves participating in protests.

There is no easy answer. Our field needs to continue to develop business practices that reflect our core values and serve as standup examples of positive social engagement.

Now You: Do corporate publicity campaigns that reflect social movements impress you or distress you?
#nonprofit #charity #engagement #engagement #money #corporatesocialresponsibility #corporategiving #corporatesponsorship #nonprofits #nonprofitleadership #fundraising #agilefundraising

The Antidote to Languishing

“Your antidote to burnout is not necessarily less work. It could be more meaning.” Adam Grant

Adam Grant has been talking and writing a lot these days on “languishing” which is a period when you are experiencing your life as neither good nor bad. Just “meh”,
so so, or
indifferent.
For many of us, the pandemic has made this feeling much worse, without the stimulation of the external world is compelling, or perhaps distracting.

Languishing is a state where creativity, hope, and passion are not accessible.

But his anecdote for burnout or languishing is not doing less or
focusing on self-care as many have suggested.

It is “Flow” the state of mind where you become fully immersed in an activity.
Coined by positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszemtmihalyi, in flow ego falls away as you become completely involved in and focused on what you are doing.
Grant suggests that this does not have to be something big or ambitious. It can be something like “learning to juggle” or creating a kitchen garden.

It can also be a more significant or momentous goal like eliminating food insecurity in your community.

What is important is creating momentum and immersion. To do this, Grant suggests that you focus on mastery, mindfulness, and something that matters to you.

You counter the burnout with purpose, the languishing with effort, the indifference with mindfulness.

Now You: Have you ever done something where you felt the state of “flow”

#Purpose #mindfulness #mindset #mastery #burnout #AdamGrant #Flow #Success #Creativity #Happiness #community #work #learning

Corporate Sponsorship is More Than a Funding Transaction...

Corporate Sponsorship is more than a funding transaction...

It creates connections and relationships.

"AT & T Social Responsibility—Our purpose is to create connection – with each other, with what people need to thrive in their everyday lives and with the stories and experiences that matter."

When you think of developing a corporate sponsorship, think about relationships you create and the connection you foster with the communities where your organization and the companies’ employees live and work.

Think about the value you are creating and an expansive relationship with many points of connection.
The connection can be created in a number of ways…
1. Volunteer opportunities: An important part of securing a corporate sponsor is being able to provide meaningful volunteer opportunities for their employees. It can be a one-day event like a neighborhood park cleanup, or an ongoing commitment, like stocking boxes in a local food bank and working the distribution table twice a month. These opportunities create connections to people and purpose.
2. Consider how the corporation can use its skills, influence, and unique capabilities to join your organization in addressing a local or societal challenge. Often companies want to use their core expertise in service of societal goals. For example, BNY Mellon used their technologists to help City Year create a system for tracking attendance for their high school participants engaged in a service year in their city. Verizon
3. Corporations are also matching employee volunteer hours in charities of their choice with cash donations or giving employees a specific number of paid days each year to perform community service.
4. When disaster hits, many corporations provide immediate and substantial relief as part of their social contract, whether or not the disaster has impacted the communities where they live and work.

Now You: Where have you volunteered, and did it enhance your sense of connection?

Creating Value for Your Corporate Sponsors

Nonprofit Leaders: How do you create more value for your corporate sponsor than you expect to receive in return?



The Go-Givers philosophy rests on the idea that value is created through giving, which in turn creates a virtuous cycle.

This may seem challenging to apply when developing corporate sponsorships. Usually, we enter these arrangements with unequal power. Corporations are large, sophisticated entities with many more resources at their disposal.

You may desire to create a balance between your need for funding and the Corporation’s need for visibility, service, etc.

You may be worried about giving too much away or whether the amount of work that you might have to do is worth it.

While practical, these concerns represent a transactional view of the sponsorship. What if instead, you focused on paying forward? Provide value with the goal of providing value independent of compensation.

The Law of Value states that your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.

The Law of Influene states that your influence is determined by how abundantly you put other people’s interests first.

In the end, this abundance mindset will produce way more funding and influence than seeking to satisfy these needs up front.

Look for posts this week on how to create value for your corporate sponsor.

Now You: How are you creating value for your partners today?


#nonprofit #nonprofitleaders #leadership #funding #fundraising #corporatesponsorship #gogivers #agilefundraising #abundance #thelawofvalue #thelawofinfluence #mindset #power

Boundaries

The most compassionate people I have ever met are also the people with the most boundaries—Brene Brown

I am doing puppy kindergarten this morning with my 5-month-old Havapoo. What I have learned so far, is that the training is for me. My behavior demonstrates to my puppy what I expect. My repetition and consistency reinforce the desired behavior. The boundaries I set help the dog understand the lane he needs to be in with me.

This is also true of our human relationships although not as consciously. We teach others how we expect to be treated. We do this consistently in a variety of contexts. When we set boundaries, it helps the other person understand the lane they need to be in with us.

Boundaries also allow us to be safe, compassionate, and present.
#boundariesarehealthy #brenebrown #beinghuman #compasion #growth