Tranquil Space Foundation Charity Soiree 10/14/2010

Please join me for this fun event to celebrate four years of bringing yoga, creativity, and leadership training to women and girls. See you at Darlington House (in Dupont Circle) on the 14th!

TRANQUIL SPACE GALA

Give to Pakistan

This story in today's Washington Post is gut-wrenching: A Pakistani flood victim was forced to give birth in a graveyard that currently is filled with hundreds of thousands of flood victims. According to the article, she is one of 500,000 women impacted by the floods whom the United Nations expects will give birth over the next six months. The article goes on to describe the challenges of delivering aid to 8 million (that's right, 8,000,000) flood victims in Pakistan.

An article in last Monday's Chronicle of Philanthropy compared the $10.6 million that 22 US aid groups had raised so far to help the victims of the Pakistan floods, versus the $560 million that 40 aid groups had raised to help Haiti's earthquake victims two weeks after that disaster. There are fewer aid groups working in Pakistan than in Haiti, which explains part of the fundraising gap, but still... we can do better than this.

I'm making my first donation to help Pakistan today. (I'm donating through the American Red Cross, www.redcross.org, but there is a big list of places where you can donate at the end of the Chronicle of Philanthropy article). Will you join me?

Washingtonians - open your wallets!

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, giving by Washington area charitable foundations dropped in 2009 by more than the national average. Giving by Washington area foundation dropped by 9.6%, while the national average was 8.4% (and 8.4% was the largest drop ever tracked by the Foundation Center).

So... if you live in the Washington area, please consider giving a little extra this year! Need some ideas? You can always make a gift to the Neighbors in Need program at the Community Foundation for the National Capitol Region - which provides for basic needs like food and shelter during these tough economic times. Or you can give to your favorite park, museum, school, homeless shelter, faith community...

Very small nonprofits - heads up!

If you are involved in a very small nonprofit - a PTA, a little league, etc. - heads up! You may not have had to file with the IRS in the past (if you had less than $25,000 in revenues), but there is a form you have to file now, and if you do not do so by May 17, you may lose your nonprofit status.

The IRS is concerned that word has not gotten out about this new requirement, and as many as 300,000 nonprofits may lose their status. I've heard/read stories about this in the Chronicle of Philanthropy and NPR over the past couple of days, so I'm doing my part to spread the word! You can find more information HERE.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=222668,00.html?portlet=6 is a link to the IRS site with more information on this easy-to-file form.

400 hours!

Last night I went to the volunteer appreciation event at Georgetown University Hospital, where I have been volunteering for four years. I was thrilled to be presented with my 400 hour pin! Meaning that I have given more than 400 hours of volunteer service to the hospital. (I volunteer in an area called Oncology Infusion, where the patients are primarily cancer patients who come to the hospital on an outpatient basis to get chemotherapy).

Volunteering at G'town Univ. Hospital is the highlight of my week. Literally. So here's my unsolicited advice: find a place to volunteer, and make a commitment to volunteer there on an ongoing basis. You will get so much out of it, by forming longterm relationships with the "clients" and staff.

What are your volunteer commitments? Or what commitments would you like to make?

Focus on What's Working

I am a fan of the Heath Bros. (kinda like the JoBros, but without the skinny jeans and screaming pre-teen fans) Chip and Dan Heath wrote Made to Stick, one of my favorite "work books," which focuses on which message are "sticky" and which ones don't stick with you.

In a recent article in Fast Company Magazine, they talked about one of their theories: don't just focus on what's broken and trying to fix it; look at what's working and try to do more of it. Chip Health recently spoke about this idea at a Council on Foundations meeting, and sighted a great example from the nonprofit community. Read about his talk HERE.

My new favorite word: Slacktivism

In the May issue of Fast Company, Nancy Lublin turned in another great column, this time on the benefits and pitfalls of "Slacktivism" - thinking you can change the world by just clicking your mouse, sending a text, or posting the color of your bra on your Facebook profile (anyone else remember that one?!). Turns out, Slactivism has done some good, but is it really encouraging ongoing activism and philanthropy? Read Nancy's column HERE.

Twitter Tampon Trend and Nonprofit Fundraising

Finally, a real use for Twitter!

Check out this article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. When people on Twitter starting making fun of the new iPad, calling it the iTampon, a resourceful nonprofit staffer saw this as an opportunity to bring attention to a project at her organization, GlobalGiving - providing eco-friendly feminine products to girls in Uganda.

"Narcissistic Praise Hounds"

Interesting article in today's Chronicle of Philanthropy about charitable giving among Generation Y (born 1981 - 1991) and Generation X (born 1965 - 1980) donors.

Robert Lappin is a class act!

As reported in the Chronicle of Philanthropy on 12/22/09:

Madoff Victim Recognized for Making Up Staff's Pension Losses

Robert Lappin, the Massachusetts real-estate mogul and philanthropist, has been named one of The Boston Globe’s Bostonians of the Year for restoring his employees’ retirement funds after they were decimated by Bernard Madoff’s fraud.

Mr. Lappin and his family paid more than $5.1-million into staff members’ 401(k) accounts, which, like his family’s wealth, had been heavily invested with Mr. Madoff. Mr. Lappin, whose foundations are major supporters of Jewish causes, lost most of his $20-million personal fortune to the Madoff scam.

There's a special place in heaven reserved for this guy!