FLiP Gives Thanks

Hi, FLiPs.  With Thanksgiving upon us, I wanted to share two (of the many) things I'm thankful for. 

One, I'm thankful for you, our phenomenal readers.  I continue to be inspired by your smart, thoughtful work in this sector -- and your willingness to share your successes with all of us.  The FLiP generation is a collaborative and creative one – we’re not afraid to take risks, and we seek to work together to advance our careers and our field.  Thank you for using FLiP as a forum to teach, learn, and connect.  If you have an idea for a post, I’d love to hear from you – eanderson@changingourworld.com.

Two, I say thank you for the innovation that continues to take philanthropy to the next level.  Case in point: Philanthropedia.  The folks at this new social venture imagined the impact on the sector that would result from donors being able to access the knowledge of hundreds of experts and give to an entire social cause rather than just one nonprofit.  Their appropriately-named Foundation for Everyone helps all donors access the type of knowledge usually reserved for the largest foundations.  Experts in various social causes identify top nonprofits and pool them into nonprofit “mutual funds” for donors to fund.  It’s a new model, and it’s one to watch.  If you are interested in signing up, visit the site; you can also purchase Philanthropedia gift cards to say Happy Holidays to all your forward-thinking FLiP friends. 

Enjoy your turkey, FLiPs, and we’ll see you next week.

FLiP Has It Covered: "From dot.com to dot.org" Event at NYU

Ed. Note: FLiP contributor Jordan Walker brings you coverage from the event we posted about on Tuesday.  Read on for all the details!

By Jordan Walker

Yesterday FLiP attended “From dot-com to dot-org: Three activists speak out,” a Lunchtime Conversation presented by the NYU Heyman Center for Philanthropy & Fundraising.  The event was moderated by Michael Evers, Adjunct Professor in Fundraising; and panelists included Laurie Lock, VH1 Save the Music Foundation; Phil Suarez, NYC Medics; and Obaid Kadwani, eyeBLINK.org.

In sharing their personal paths to their current endeavors, the panelists made one thing clear: there is not just one way to forge a career in the nonprofit world.  See below for some key insights from the panelists, which can apply in a variety of ways no matter what your goals and direction.

“You can’t avoid what you’re meant to do.” – Laurie Lock
Trained as a violinist and developing a career on Broadway at the time, Laurie Lock made the life-changing decision to pursue a career with VH1 Save the Music Foundation when she fortuitously saw the Foundation’s first PSA while at the gym.   Lock characterizes her involvement in the nonprofit world as one that was inevitable, explaining that both of her parents were involved in nonprofit work and she had felt a social obligation since age ten, when she first created a recycling program for her neighborhood.  Ten years into her career at Save the Music, with an Executive MBA to her name, Lock has translated her love of musical performance to a passion for bringing music education back into public schools.

“When it comes to gut versus head, go with your gut…but don’t forget your head.” – Michael Evers
When asked how his role in the NGO he founded, NYC Medics, mirrors his profession as a paramedic, Phil Suarez summed it up neatly: “When you receive a 911 call, you get the call, and you drive there.”  Suarez created NYC Medics in response to the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.  The organization fills a gap by supplying paramedics in the immediate aftermath of a disaster before larger NGOs can step in.  At the time of the organization’s founding, however, Suarez acted on impulse, making phone calls, mobilizing friends, and gathering supplies wherever available.  NYC Medics works because it fills a specific need and doesn’t overlap with the offerings of more established NGOs.  More importantly, it enables Suarez and fellow volunteer paramedics to utilize their unique skills in a meaningful way, and this personal motivator is the driving force behind the NGO’s success.

“It’s less about the ‘path not taken’ and more about adding additional paths.” – Michael Evers
Obaid Kadwani has his hands full, and with the success of “Pizza for the Hungry,” he has become even busier.  Kadwani has an active entertainment career, hosting Namaste America and Doc-Day on the Sundance Channel, as well as running eyeBLINK, a nonprofit organization dedicated to challenging social and cultural stereotypes in the arts.  When Kadwani read about a pizza party thrown in a homeless shelter, he immediately sought to replicate the idea through eyeBLINK, adding live music as an artistic component.  This concept, which partners musicians with local homeless shelters, provides benefits at the individual and community levels, and as such has grown exponentially over the last three years.  In 2009, Pizza for the Hungry operated out of 25 states and remained entirely volunteer-driven.  Like Lock and Suarez, Kadwani drew upon his own personal skills and interests as well as passion for a cause to make a significant difference.

Change the world; change yourself.
All the panelists agreed that their impact was evident on so many levels, touching the volunteers who helped the organization,the actual recipients of services, and the communities and other nonprofits involved in the cause.  Additionally, all panelists discussed the personal growth and challenges their activism has produced in their own lives.  In dedicating so much of themselves to these passions, each cause has become an even more integral part of each panelist’s identity.  The panelists urged participants to draw on their own skills and strengths (and add to these through continuing education and volunteerism!) to make a difference in the world.  It’s up to each of us in our own lives to figure out what we want to achieve and how to make it happen for ourselves.

For more information about the NYU Heyman Center and the nonprofit organizations mentioned in this post, check out the following websites:
NYU Heyman Center
VH1 Save the Music Foundation
NYC Medics
eyeBLINK.org

Event at NYU to explore shifting to careers in nonprofit sector

From Dot-com to Dot-org: Timely NYU Event on Switching Careers to Non-Profit Sector

Wednesday, Nov 18 @ 12:00 p.m.

WHAT: From Dot-com to Dot-org: Young Activists Speak Out, a lunchtime panel discussion featuring three young professionals who made the successful jump to nonprofit careers, hosted by NYUs Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising.

WHO: Former music teacher Laurie Lock who founded VH1-Save the Music (www.vh1savethemusic.com), which raises money for instruments for schoolchildren in underfunded public schools

TV host, producer, and entrepreneur Obaid Kadwani (www.obaidkadwani.com), who founded Pizza for the Hungry, which helps feed the New Yorks homeless.

EMS worker Paul Suarez, who helped found NYC Medics (www.nycmedics.com), a group of emergency services workers travel to crisis zones across the world to help the wounded and less fortunate.

NYU Heyman Center adjunct instructor Michael Evers, president of the fundraising consulting firm Drumlish Corporation, will moderate the conversation.

WHERE: NYU Midtown Center, 11 West 42nd Street, room 1027

WHEN: Wednesday, November 18, 12-1:30 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public. As space is limited, reservations are required. Please RSVP to scps.giving@nyu.edu or 212 998-6770.

The Social Impact Exchange Launches

Collaboration is the name of the game these days, right FLiPs?  Check out this new one -- it's a first-of-its-kind collaboration of philanthropic funders, practitioners, researchers and others designed to make it easier for top-performing social programs to expand widely to communities that need them.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Growth Philanthropy Network and Duke University recently announced The Social Impact Exchange (“The Exchange”) -- a cross-sector, member-driven group that will act as a focal point for studying, funding and implementing large expansions of proven social purpose organizations -- will also hold a yearly competition to identify programs with the highest impact and readiness to grow, and support them with financial and consulting awards, the strategic partners said.

Check out The Exchange's website to learn more!

Reminder- buildOn event next Wednesday, Nov. 11th

FLiPs,

Just a quick reminder-- our friends at buildOn NY are having a gathering next week to help kids around the world and at home. Check them out!

New COF Report on Leadership

Listen up, future leaders.  We've got a must-read for you about a topic none other than philanthropic leadership.  The Council on Foundations recently released their Career Pathways to Philanthropic Leadership 2009 Baseline Report, which examines the characteristics of foundation and grantmaking executives appointed during a five-year period (2004-2008).  The report looks at how the philanthropic sector chooses its leaders and what leaders themselves say about the process.  The report is part of the Council's broader initiative, Career Pathways to Philanthropic Leadership, which focuses on inclusive practices in philanthropic leadership, talent acquisition, and management.

Microsoft Launches "7 Ways to Change the World"

Today at the Business for Social Responsibility Conference in San Francisco, Pamela Passman, corporate vice president of Microsoft Global Corporate Affairs, announced “7 Ways to Change the World,” a new online competition to celebrate the general availability of Windows 7 tomorrow, and the power of technology to help change the world.

The competition challenges people to share their idea about how a new PC could help a nonprofit, school or non-governmental organization (NGO) to make an even greater impact in the world. People can submit a short video explaining or illustrating their suggestion at www.7waystochangetheworld.com. The 7 people with the best submissions, as chosen by the judges, will each win a new PC running Windows 7. Each winner's chosen community organization will receive a $7,000 grant from Microsoft.

Winners will be announced beginning Nov 16. More information is available by:
• Visiting the competition website: http://www.7waystochangetheworld.com
• Following the latest news on the competition via Twitter and Facebook

Also, Microsoft is announcing a special opportunity for non-profit organizations and NGOs to request donations of Windows 7 upgrades at http://www.techsoup.org/go/windows7.

The competition and the program with TechSoup are two of many initiatives Microsoft has to provide NGOs with access to software, knowledge, and best practices. For more information on how Microsoft believes technology can transform the ability for NGOs to advance social and economic opportunity, please see the recently published whitepaper: Technology to Advance Social and Economic Development.

buildOn New York

Perhaps you've seen coverage on NBC's Today Show about the remarkable work of buildOn, a national organization that empowers American students, primarily in urban areas, not only to volunteer in their communities but also to help eradicate illiteracy and poverty internationally by building schools. Learn more about buildOn here.

On November 11th, the leadership committee of the New York chapter is hosting its first annual fundraiser in support of this effort.

Clearly, we're a fan. It's an open invite to all FLiPs. We hope you can join in!

Our Compliments to the Chefs

Enjoying a Le Cordon Bleu student-prepared dinner before taking in a private screening of Julie & Julia?  Who knew philanthropy could be so…delicious! 

And FLiPs who are working on building or implementing volunteer programs at your organizations, take note; be inspired by this creative example: Career Education Corporation launched its new partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) with the special Le Cordon Bleu promotion, of which RMHC was the beneficiary. In Columbia Pictures’ Julie & Julia, Julia Child attends and graduates from Le Cordon Bleu Paris before becoming a culinary icon for professional and home cooks.  Fourteen of  the Le Cordon Bleu schools in the U.S., owned by Career Education Corporation, celebrated the film’s release with an exclusive “Dinner and a Movie” series. On Aug. 5, Le Cordon Bleu students created and served a special movie-inspired menu.  Each dinner guest also attended a private screening of the movie in his or her area.  More than $13,000 was raised and donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities.

But the partnership only begins there.  Employees, faculty and students at Career Education Corporation’s headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill., and 68 ground and three online institutions in the U.S. will make monetary and in-kind donations and provide volunteer services to support global and local RMHC operations and programs.  Career Education Corporation’s more than 90,000 students and 12,000 employees in the U.S. represent a substantial volunteer workforce to support RMHC and the nearly 3.7 million children worldwide it serves every year.  The company has established a number of programs with its schools to facilitate relationships and generate monetary donations for individual Houses across the U.S.

For more information on RMHC, please visit www.rmhc.org. For more information on Career Education Corporation, please see the company’s website at www.careered.com.

Standard Chartered Bank Scores More Goals for Girls

 
 FLiP friend Alisha Fernandez Miranda, who works in Community Investment for Standard Chartered Bank in London, writes to us with good news.  Standard Chartered Bank has committed to a large scale expansion of its Goal programme, aiming to empower 100,000 adolescent girls over the next four years. Goal will bring its combination of sport training and life skills education to five countries across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The announcement was made last week by Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive, Standard Chartered, at the second meeting of the World Bank Private Sector Gender Leaders Forum.  He commented, “Standard Chartered realizes that women are key drivers of economic development in its markets. Goal gives young women in deprived communities the skills and confidence they need to fulfill their full potential and support their families, communities, and economies for years to come.”

The global expansion of Goal will target girls in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Jordan with a training programme including sport, financial literacy, health and hygiene, communication skills and rights. In addition to direct participants, the expansion is expected to reach an estimated 5 million family and community members.

A number of studies have shown a strong return on investment for programmes focused directly on women and girls. In India for example, where Goal began as a pilot in 2006, an estimated $32.6 billion in growth per year is lost due to girls out of school. Further, it’s been shown that when women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families.

Standard Chartered is now in the process of identifying NGO partners with deep local knowledge of their communities to deliver the programme alongside staff volunteers. 

At its core, Goal is about transformation and building self-confidence, empowering girls with limited opportunities in the past to create a better future for themselves and for their families. Congratulations to Alisha and her team on scaling up and scoring more goals for girls!

To learn more about Goal, visit www.goal-girls.com.