Happy New Year

“And now let us welcome the New Year full of things that have never been.”
Rainer Maria Wilke

As part of our New Year’s resolution here at Partnership in Philanthropy we as a staff plan to engage more with our nonprofit neighbors and do some serious internal planning to be able to hit the ground running once the economy does come back.

To that end our PIP staff will be traveling to Princeton on January 29th to attend the Princeton Community Works Conference. We will be there to present a workshop on best practices in fund development.

In thinking about best practices in fund development what we’ve heard over and over again is that this year will be a difficult one for the nonprofit sector. Foundations, corporations and individuals have not rebounded as well as we had all hoped and therefore won’t be giving away more charitable dollars, rather less. So what is a nonprofit to do? I say plan, plan, plan.

Let’s be introspective this year and take a good look at ourselves. Let’s get out there and network with one another, find out what’s working for our nonprofit neighbors and what’s not. Talk to our funders and let them know what we’re doing this year where we see our strengths and our weaknesses. Engage our volunteers, board, and staff in ongoing discussions on where the organization is and how we can do things better, where we can cut back and what is most essential that absolutely must continue regardless of cost.

So in this New Year, which has yet to unfold, let us imagine and embrace what has never been and let’s all keep moving forward.

Holidays

News came on December 21st that Israeli officials announced the discovery in Nazareth of remains of the first dwellings ever found that date back to the time of Jesus. The Bible tells us that this is the town in which Mary was visited by the Angel and told that she would bear the child of God, the same small town in which Jesus grew up. Nazareth at this time was a town of about 50 residents; the dwellings were “simple” and the residents were of “modest means.” This dwelling therefore may have belonged to one of Jesus’ neighbors; may even have housed some of Jesus’ extended family.

As I read this story I could not help but be carried back two thousand plus years to the weeks surrounding Mary’s pregnancy and Jesus’ birth. How the neighborhood must have buzzed with the rumors of Mary’s pregnancy; can’t you just picture the grandmothers clucking and the mothers shaking their heads in disbelief? How could this happen; she was such a quiet shy girl…..who would have dreamed she would become an unwed mother? How the town folk must have gossiped when Mary and Joseph returned from Bethlehem with their small baby and set up house in the village.

Back then there were no nonprofit agencies to deal with the stigmatized and marginalized; simple folk of modest means who had to scrape together a living to support an unplanned baby on a carpenter’s salary. There were no nonprofits to bring food to the hungry, clothe the poor and goods to the jobless. They were cared for by the extended family and neighbors.

Today we write our checks and mail them off to our favorite charities knowing that they will steward our donations to those in need. We rely on the expertise of these wonderful nonprofits to provide for the homeless, the jobless and the hungry. At this time of year, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, let us be mindful of the great work that our nonprofits do; let us open our wallets wide so that they can continue to do their good works. And let us never forget that helping those in need is timeless, it is our responsibility and it still is, as it was two thousand years ago, our privilege and our own way of serving God.

Let’s “talk turkey!”

I just attended two full-day conferences on philanthropy: One was “Power of Partnering” hosted by Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation for its grantees and the second was the annual conference given by the NJ Chapter of The Association of Fundraising Professionals. And, of course, the major topic was the economy. Everyone has an opinion. One speaker said that philanthropic giving would not even begin to recover until at least 2011. Another said that we were already seeing some indications of recovery. Let’s face it folks…….no one knows for sure.

But I can tell you this……”T’is the season” to count our blessings and give thanks for all we have. “T’is the season” to flock to family reunions and renew relationships ignored all year long. “T’is the season” to eat, and drink and be merry with rare abandon.

But, how can we in good conscious eat, drink and be merry if we ignore the less fortunate at our doorsteps? How can we turn our backs on the marginal, the disenfranchised, the sick, the handicapped, the poor, when we have so much. I once said to someone, “I never met a nonprofit I didn’t love” and it’s true. They all fulfill a worthy mission, they all provide an essential service, they all have hearts as big as all outdoors.

So in order to really enjoy eating that turkey, let’s first talk turkey! Open up your wallet and give, give give to the best of your ability. Give to the little nonprofits that serves food in your neighborhood and give to the large nonprofit that helps returning wounded soldiers. Give for the victims of floods on the other side of the world and give to the church of your choice. Give to the scholarship fund at your alma mater and give to the regional theatre downtown. And if you have some money left, please give to PIP, because by giving to PIP you give to all the nonprofits above.

If you give freely, you will enjoy that turkey dinner so much more. Happy Thanksgiving.

A cup of tea

PIP just put out its Annual Appeal Letter and it was somewhat of a departure for us: We included in each letter an individually wrapped PIP tea bag and we wrote about the economic difficulties that nonprofits are facing as “hot water.” If you put a tea bag into hot water, there is a dramatic change to the water; it takes on an entirely new and different character. In much the same way, when you place a PIP consultant into a nonprofit, with mentoring, training, motivation, understanding and commitment, the board and the staff of that organization can flourish in the hot water.

There is no doubt that many New Jersey nonprofits find themselves in financial hot water, despite all their good intentions. In these difficult times, clients ought to be knocking down our doors, lining up around the block, pulling out all the stops to be awarded one of PIP’s coveted affordable, long-term consultancies that can help reverse the financial stress and impact the future for struggling organizations. Have you taken the time to visit PIP’s web site and read what PIP clients say about PIP? Have you taken the trouble to call any former PIP clients to ask their results? Have you spoken to your fellow board members, met with your executive director or approached your board president to inform them of all that PIP can offer your NPO? Why not? There is no better time to begin the dialogue with PIP to see if you are a good match. There is no better time to take that first step to get you out of the hot water that you are in.

Why PIP?

We should not be defined by what we are not

It’s kind of ironic that Partnership in Philanthropy is a “not-for-profit” because if there’s anything that we exist “for”, it’s to make a profit. We are a nonprofit that’s all about making a profit. We work hard with our clients to make them donor-worthy so that they can raise the funds, to pay for the services, which increase the quality of life of the people they serve. We are “for” building reserves for a rainy day; we are “for” hiring and retaining the best possible staff to serve the organizations; we are “for” recruiting the most competent and involved board members to govern the organizations; we are “for” creating profitable enterprises that have longevity and stability, even in times of economic hardship.

So I ask all the nonprofits out there: what can PIP do “for” you? Because we exist solely “for” you…to make you profitable in every way.

Surprises...

Remember when you were a kid how you loved surprises? There was nothing more fun that an unexpected present, an unscheduled trip to do something special, some event that was totally random and delightful?

Now, not so much. In our maturity, and given some time, we’ve learned that we like to be prepared, have our bases covered, know all the consequences before we act. In other words, the element of surprise can be a bit disconcerting for us now that we comprehend that it’s not all fun and games.

It used to be that the nonprofit arena was not afforded the same intense scrutiny as the for-profit world but that changed dramatically a few years ago, and understandably so. It was a little of the “one bad apple….” scenario and wham bang, expectations and demands shifted for us all.

Total transparency is the new more acceptable concept in today’s culture. No secrets, no hidden agendas, open communication, total honesty. In the business and the nonprofit worlds, best practices demand that people divulge all the intimate details of their lives in an attempt to have no surprises. This can go a bit far and become a legitimate threat to our personal lives and our right to privacy. But taken at its face value, I believe it is an attempt to regain that honestly and innocence that we, as a society, seem to have lost somewhere along the way.

What we need to find is a healthy balance between the two. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the pendulum would swing back just a little and we could once again experience that sense of pure delight, without any unease, when we sense a surprise coming on?

Dead Tree Standing

Last weekend I took a wonderful walk through the woods with some life-long friends. As we ambled along and talked, one of my colleagues stopped dead in her tracks, looked up and said, “Dead tree standing”, referring to a tall tree in our path that had no foliage left on its bare trunk.
She then said, “I recently attended a lecture on the importance of leaving dead trees standing. The reason is that their root systems are so intricately entwined with their neighbors’ that by taking them down, it jeopardizes the support of all the neighboring trees.”

I started thinking what a great metaphor this is for life. Each trees’ root system is so intricately entwined with its neighbors’ that if disturbed, it could weaken the forest. And as individuals, many of us, when depleted or ill, continue to depend upon the root systems of our more healthy neighbors for strength.

Apply this same metaphor to philanthropy. Many nonprofits are facing drastic times and the people who depend on them face perilous days ahead. Those of us still standing tall with healthy branches and vibrant leaves have to reach down deep to help provide an infrastructure for others to build on. That is the principle behind Partnership in Philanthropy (PIP). The skill sets and expertise that PIP consultants bring to struggling organizations is like the root system that can help them stand tall in the face of economic woes.

Fresh Produce

I recently spend an hour ambling through a Farmer’s Market. Everywhere I turned there were signs for “Fresh Produce.” And I thought to myself how wonderful it is that year after year the earth yields up fresh, tasty, nutritious fruits and vegetables with little or no effort at all and how difficult it is for us to produce the same kinds of results.

I do try to keep my ideas fresh and relevant; my projects inspired and imaginative. But my day to day tasks prevent me from keeping the ground moist, taking the time to look up at the sun, and plucking away the weeds that tend to strangle my crops. Try as I may, my garden gets parched and unappealing.

As harvest time is fast approaching, my “new year’s resolution” is to make this year’s crop count as among my very best; plump, juicy ideas, creative tidbits, and above all, fresh produce that is consistently safe for consumption in this very challenging growing season.