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.