Volunteering Milestone

As some of you know, I volunteer each week with cancer patients at Georgetown University Hospital's Lombardi Cancer Center. I volunteer in the infusion center, which is where patients go on an outpatient basis to do their chemotherapy. I volunteer in honor of my mother, who died of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) in 1994. Mainly I'm just there to hang out with the patients - chemo can be many things: nauseating, tiring, and... boring. Some patients have to sit there for hours. So I chat with the people who want to chat, bring patients drinks and snacks, discuss what's on TV or what's going on with the news, hand out bagged lunches... and when the nurses need help, I help with paperwork, patient education handout and materials, and other good stuff.

I always say that I think I get more out of my volunteering than the patients do. It's my therapy. For 3 hours a week, it is completely, totally, and utterly not about me. It's not about my problems, my stresses, my concerns... it's all about other people.

One of the best things about volunteering at the same time each week is that I get to know the same patients. It's funny, because for some of them, we have pretty intimate conversations, but I don't even know their names. Or I'll really get to know a patient, and then their treatment is over and I don't see them again. I try really hard not to miss my weekly volunteer slot, and I've come to schedule my life around it.

I've shared some great laughs and some touching moments with the patients, and I've loved getting to know the nurses and administrative staff.

Last week, after my weekly volunteering, I went to Georgetown's annual Volunteer Recognition Event - a reception with food, an opportunity to mingle with other volunteers, and someone from the hospital talking about the volunteers' work. Then, they give out certificates that recognize us for the hours we've served. I got my 200 hour Certificate of Appreciation.

I feel like I've really accomplished something with those 200 hours. I'm proud of it. There were other volunteers there who have given thousands of hours, and maybe I'll get there someday, too. But 200 hours feels good. (I've actually given more than that, but they give out the certificates in 100 hour increments!)

I want to share my story to hopefully inspire someone out there to volunteer, and also to emphasize how great it is to volunteer on an ongoing basis with the same population, week to week. You really build relationships that way. I'm starting to feel that with the youth group that I've been volunteering with for about a year - I'm starting to really develop relationships with the girls.

I feel really, really grateful for what my Georgetown volunteering has given me. I've gotten so much more than I've given.

Where do the candidates stand on philanthropy?

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has created a great resource on its web site that outlines where the Presidential candidates stand on non-profit issues (including issues such as arts, healthcare, poverty, the arts, education, international aid, national service, religious groups, etc.) Check it out at:

http://philanthropy.com/campaign2008/

McCain gave 26% of his income to charity!

Today's Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that John McCain gave 27% of his income to charity in 2006! "The senator’s campaign also said that Mr. McCain has donated to charity a total of $450,000 since 1991— money he received from increases in his Senate salary — 'because he opposed the Congressional pay increase at that time and pledged not to accept the pay raises.'"

I'm no Republican, but... wow! That being said, it probably helps that his wife is an heiress to a beer distribution company. She has a reported wealth of $100 million, and she files a separate return.

Charity Donors are Happier than Stingy People

This piece from today's Chronicle of Philanthropy web site says it all:

March 21, 2008
Charity Donors Are Happier Than Stingy People, New Research Finds

People who give away money are happier than those who do not, according to new research published today in the journal Science.

Elizabeth W. Dunn, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, started her experiment by trying to prove the ways in which accumulating money led to more happiness. She and two colleagues surveyed 632 Americans, asking about their level of happiness, personal spending habits, and how much they donate to charity, reports Forbes.

Ms. Dunn found that while people tend to think that spending money on themselves rather than giving it away will make them happier, the opposite turns out to be true. The researchers used a variety of settings and tactics to test the hypothesis that giving away money leads to more happiness, and the results held — whether on a college campus and in a corporate setting.

New film about the income gap

I heard an interesting piece on NPR this morning about a new documentary film by Jamie Johnson, young heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune. His new film is called "The One Percent," and it focuses on the concentration of wealth in the U.S. among a smaller and smaller group of families. I really liked his last documentary, which was about young heirs like him and their attitudes towards money, the world of work, etc. Check out the interview on NPR's web site.

Unmarried Women Give More to Charity than Unmarried Men

The web site of the Association of Fundraising Professionals reports the following: "Unmarried women contribute more to charity on average in every income category as compared to unmarried men, according to the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College University."

While households headed by unmarried men gave an equal amount to charity as households headed by unmarried women, "female-headed households earned just 71 percent of the income and owned only 55 percent of the net worth of male-headed households. Controlling for income, unmarried women gave slightly more than unmarried men at lower income levels, with the disparity growing wider as income levels rose." For example, in households earning more than $200,000, unmarried men donated an average of $6,526, and unmarried women donated an average of $28,171.

This should tell fundraisers something about where they should concentrate their efforts! Particularly because "there were 31 million households headed by unmarried women in the U.S. in 2004, compared to just 17 million households headed by unmarried men. On aggregate, giving by unmarried females exceeded $23 billion while giving by unmarried males reached just $12 billion."

10,000 Women

Today, Goldman Sachs announced a $100 million investment in an organization called 10,000 Women - a program that will offer business training to women entrepreneurs in developing countries around the world. What an amazing program! Through my travels in places like Uganda and India, I have personally seen the ways in which (uneducated or under-educated) women can take the most meager of resources and build small businesses to help their families and communities: from weaving tribal shawls to sell to visiting tourists, to running small home based bed&breakfasts, these women can be powerful drivers for the local economy. Some of the top business schools in the U.S. are partnering on this project.

Americans Volunteer!

One of the things that makes me proud to be an American... I just saw this in the Association of Fundraising Professionals' web site:

"(Feb. 25, 2008) The percentage of Americans who volunteer grew by 10 percent in 2007, according to a study by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and reported in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. The survey, which polled 1,000 adults across the United States, found that 74 percent of American adults said they participated in some type of volunteer service in 2007."

I think it's pretty incredible that approximately 74% of American's volunteer! We are a nation of generous people. Now, if only our foreign aid could catch up to the rest of our giving spirit... but that's a blog post for another day...

I'm back!

Just back from an incredible, exhilarating, exciting, exhausting trip to southern India. Saw beautiful temples, amazing wildlife (elephants, bison, deer, boar, monkeys, etc.), sublime beaches, and some of the craziest drivers I have ever experienced. And the food... the food!

There's nothing like backpacking through a country like that for 3 weeks to really put in perspective the amounts of STUFF I haul around with me - what I need, and what I think I need. For example, do I really need that extra pair of sneakers, or would I rather give up the couple of extra pounds in my backpack? Do I really need to wear a clean pair of pants every day, or can I make due with less?

Don't get me wrong - I'm not a minimalist, and I don't think there is anything wrong with having nice things. If that makes you happy (and there are certainly plenty of nice things/possessions that make me happy), go for it! I'm just saying that carrying around everything you need on your back for a few weeks really helps you think about what you need and what you want... and it helps you appreciate the little things, like a nice clean skirt, a newly washed T-shirt, or that travel yoga mat that you weren't quite sure you should bring!

Clinton Comments on Nonprofits

A group called the Nonprofit Primary Project (run by the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits) has been trying to get the Presidential candidates who were swarming the state of New Hampshire to talk about the non-profit sector in their public appearances. Here's an excerpt from the January 6, 2008 edition of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, "Nonprofit Leaders Question Presidential Contenders" (by Suzanne Perry):

(Sentator Clinton responded to a question at a campaign rally with a lengthy response...) “The whole nonprofit sector in America not only delivers essential services, but is a huge employer,” she said. “The number is close to 10 percent of people who work for the nonprofit sector.”

Senator Clinton, who began her career at the Children’s Defense Fund, praised what she called the “third leg of the stool” of the American economy (along with business and government). “It is essential that I as president do everything I can to expand the nonprofit sector.”

She promised to work to allow people who don’t itemize their taxes to get deductions for charitable donations, to help nonprofit groups compete for government contracts, and to highlight the work nonprofit groups do — for example, through White House conferences — and said she was looking for other ideas.

Here's hoping that the candidates, and the people attending their rallies, continue to keep the nonprofit sector on their radar screens!