In The News…

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Julia Cain

Welcome to a sweltering Wednesday, Washington! New news coming your way …

DC Region Faces Another Day Of Extreme Heat— Just an important reminder, as the temperatures climb into the mid-90s: the city operates Cooling Centers within the senior service network in every ward during heat emergencies. The Code Orange alert should continue into today; and WAMU cautions that “pollution levels may be unhealthy for children or anyone with a breathing or heart condition.” DCist also offers “more [information] about watering and pledge to take care of trees near you” during the heat wave.

7 Obvious Things in Education That Are Ignored –First written for the Education Week Teacher’s blog, this post by educator Anthony Cody (an 18-year veteran of inner-city Oakland schools) appeared in the Post blog Tuesday morning. #5 sure jumped out to me: “When unemployment levels are high, and opportunities are few, students struggle to see the purpose in their education. I do not have a study for this one, just my own observations […] There need to be visible, viable pathways to successful careers in order to keep students motivated.”

Pas de Deux With Parkinson’s — The current addition of Dance Studio Life includes a great feature on the weekly Dance with Parkinson’s Disease program, an ongoing collaboration between Catalogue non-profit Bowen McCauley Dance and the Parkinson Foundation of the National Capital Area, which is in turn modeled on a program pioneered in 2001 by the Mark Morris Dance Group. While certainly not a cure for the disease, “dance classes help alleviate symptoms and promote a stronger sense of well-being and physical agility.” Catalogue cheers to Bowen McCauley!

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In The News …

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Julia Cain

Non-profit and related news for your Wednesday morning …

Shattered Missouri City Digs Out — The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that “the twister in Missouri was one of 68 reported across seven Midwest states over the weekend … the Joplin disaster extended a season of tornadoes and flooding that has staggered communities in the country’s midsection from Minnesota to Mississippi.” We discussed several ways to help out (and follow the aftermath) yesterday, plus you can check out the Kansas City’s Star’s list and the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation‘s Facebook page.

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Why I got arrested for DC voting rights — Check out this compelling Post opinion piece by Diane Bernstein of DC’s Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation. She writes: “I am proud of my work over the past 40 years as a staff member, officer, founder or funder of organizations serving the District?s children and families … It is in part for District children that I now take action on behalf of democracy in the District.” To learn more about DC voting rights, you can also check out Catalogue non-profit DC Vote.

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Forging A Bond

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Julia Cain

Talk about an intense matching grant. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Massachusetts (my place of residence from age 0 to 18) has begun consideration of “a financing approach for social-service projects that would require charities and philanthropists to obtain private financing and show results before getting state money.” In other words, public support would be contingent on a match from private donors and a “match” (in the form of results) from the non-profit itself.

Reuters reports that “President Barack Obama’s 2012 budget plan includes $100 million for these ‘social impact bonds,’ which more closely resemble private loans than debt.” For example? In the UK, the Rockefeller Foundation invested half a million dollars in an 8 million dollar project to reduce recidivism; were the project to succeed the Foundation “could reap the equivalent of up to a 13 percent annual interest rate payment.”

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In The News …

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Julia Cain

Good morning! It’s Wednesday news day …

A pattern of HUD projects stalled or abandoned — Many have likely read this already (check out the 1300+ comments), but just in case: the Post recently released the results of an investigation into over 5,1000 housing construction projects across the country, 700 of which have “have languished for a decade or longer even as much of the country struggles with record-high foreclosures and a dramatic loss of affordable housing.” And at a time when demand far outpaces supply, “early one in seven projects shows signs of significant delay.” What is your take? (Do check out the reaction on DCentric too)

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In The News …

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Julia Cain

Welcome to Wednesday! Let’s poke though the non-profit-related news …

Arts groups fight proposed ticket tax in DC — And you can too! Mayor Gray has proposed a 6% tax on tickets to arts (theater, dance, music) events in his 2012 Budget. The Washington Post reports that “arts groups say they will lose audience members and revenue with an added tax on tickets [and] it will have a ripple effect on other businesses, such as restaurants.” Check out the above link to learn what you can do.

Despite Recession, Global Giving Abounds — On Monday, PR Newswire reported that “for the first full year of the global recession private giving to the developing world has remained remarkably stable,” according to the new 2011 Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittance from the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Prosperity. For the US, aid to developing nations in fact rose slightly between 2008 and 2009 by about half a percent.

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In The News …

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Julia Cain

Good morning, folks. Here comes Wednesday’s bundle of news items …

Finalists for the Washington Post Award for Excellence in Non-profit Management — Many congratulations to Horton’s Kids, Prince George’s Child Resource Center, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, all of whom were announced as finalists by the Center for Non-Profit Advancement this past Monday. According to their press release, “The Award Selection Committee judges applicant organizations in the areas of fiscal management, information and communication, organizational development, people development, planning, resource development, risk management, and use of technology.” The winning non-profit will “receive a $10,000 grant and a scholarship for one person to attend the Georgetown University Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership?s Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program.”

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Like a Food Truck

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Julia Cain

A quick confession: I have never been a food truck consumer, unless ice cream trucks at the beach count. And I somehow doubt it. However, as food trucks themselves increase in number (and delicious smells), so too do the questions surrounding them. Take for example, these posts on Silver Spring Singular and Greater Greater Washington in the past couple of days:

In sum, the former argues that: “After my initial enthusiasm over the arrival of this new truck wore off, I started to wonder if this arrangement is really fair to more permanent Silver Spring restaurateurs. Simply by virtue of being on wheels, any new food truck spotted in Silver Spring will create a buzz that eclipses that enjoyed by most of the local ‘brick & mortar’ restaurants.”

In a direct response, the latter points out that food trucks are not competing with traditional restaurants, but rather filling the gaps in Silver Spring dining: “Successful food trucks are ones that offer something that brick-and-mortar restaurants currently don’t. They’re also ways to draw hungry customers to areas of downtown Silver Spring that haven’t finished developing, which could help the restaurants already there.”

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In The News …

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Julia Cain

Good morning, Washington. We’re going to focus on the (still-developing) news from Japan today — and we would very much like to hear your thoughts:

What are you doing to follow the news? How can we, as individuals, take action and do some good when we are so far from the crisis? On the whole, what forms of international philanthropy are most effective?

Japan Earthquake: Radiation Leak Halts Work at Damaged Reactors — Early this morning, ABC News International and the BBC (among other outlets) revealed that “a rise in radiation levels at Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant has forced workers to suspend operations.” According to ABC, “a Japanese government official also indicated for the first time that the containment vessels of all three of the reactors at the plant that exploded may be leaking, raising worries of dangerous radiation leaks.” 140,000 people live within a 12 mile radius of the planet and all have been evacuated from the area.

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What No One Else Does …

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Julia Cain

Writes Mark W. Johnson of Business Week:

Creativity, by itself, is not enough. As I’ve previously written in this space, inventions that aren’t commercialized — no matter how creative — remain inventions, not innovations. To be commercial, an invention needs to matter enough to a customer to be worth paying for. And what matters to most customers is not the invention itself but what job it enables them to do that they couldn’t do, or do well enough, before. The microwave, for example, when it was first introduced, was a terrible oven, but it was fantastic defroster.

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Category Archives: Philanthropy

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Like a Food Truck

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