Friending, Texting and Tweeting: Social Media and Community Foundations
Terri Lee Freeman
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Last week, I attended the Larger Community Foundations meeting in Miami, Florida, which is the annual meeting of the 35 or so largest community foundations in the United States. One of our speakers was the very provocative Dr. Lucy Bernholz of Blueprint Research and Design. As usual, she challenged us by presenting how she views the landscape of philanthropy changing and the impact it will have on community foundations in particular. |
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Date: 2/1/2010
Welcome to 21st Century Philanthropy
Terri Lee Freeman
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R u n2 txtng? Well, if you aren’t, there are millions of other “givers” who are. Rap singer Wyclef Jean’s “Yele Haiti” project charges $5.00 to your phone bill when you text 501501. The State Department does the same, charging you $10.00 when you text 90999; the contribution goes to the American Red Cross.
Donating through texting isn’t just new…it’s also here to stay, and the proof is in the numbers. |
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Date: 1/15/2010
How Much Oversight?
Daniel K. Mayers, Chairman of the Board
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Community Foundation Chairman Daniel K. Mayers shares his thoughts on a recent summit examining public scrutiny of the nonprofit sector.
Recently I participated in a colloquium at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, which looked at the pros and cons of increased government controls on our nation’s nonprofits. Attendees represented the funding community and nonprofit sector, and featured presenters from Harvard’s Law, Business, and Kennedy Schools. The sessions were thought-provoking, to say the least. |
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Date: 1/7/2010
Our Youth Are "Precious"
Terri Lee Freeman
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Recently, I went to see the movie “Precious,” a sobering tale of the life trials of an abused, urban 16-year old girl. While the story is extreme, elements of the movie are reality for far too many young people in our region. |
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Date: 12/23/2009
Big Change Ahead
Tamara Lucas Copeland, President, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers
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With job losses, home foreclosures and other symptoms of the recession taking a stern toll in the Washington area, grantmakers in the region have worked hard to support efforts by nonprofits to help families ride out the storm. But grantmakers have learned a lesson from this recession, one they won’t soon forget: they need long-term strategies aimed at achieving true systemic reform–not just short-term projects that fix symptoms, but “big change” to fix big problems. Doing that requires that they mobilize the full scope of their assets–not just their dollars, but their unique capacity to bring people together to share ideas and marshal their resources.
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Date: 11/30/2009
Capacity Building: Connecting, Inspiring, Transforming…People
Terri Lee Freeman
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To be sure, “capacity-building” – that is, strengthening an organization’s infrastructure through thoughtful planning and sustained implementation – is a hot topic in the nonprofit community these days. But let’s talk about what capacity-building really means for our sector. |
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Date: 11/23/2009
On This Veterans Day...
Terri Lee Freeman
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As we mark this Veterans Day, we do so with heavy hearts. I’m referring not just to the recent, terrible tragedy at Fort Hood, but also, in the larger scheme of things, the often desperate needs that our soldiers and their families are experiencing, from financial difficulties and medical trauma to domestic strain, deep-seated psychological problems, and more. |
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Date: 11/11/2009
Not in Our Backyard
Terri Lee Freeman
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Last week, The Washington Post ran an article reporting on the unexpected growth of the U.S. economy during the third quarter, a signal, the headline read, that “the recession may have ended.” Interestingly, that part of the headline in the online version of the article was later removed.
And with good reason. As far as I can see, the recession isn’t over, folks -- at least not in our backyard. |
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Date: 11/3/2009
Shopping in the Spirit of Generosity
Terri Lee Freeman
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Last Wednesday, October 21, was a remarkable day for people in need of assistance in our region. In that one day, The Community Foundation’s Neighbors in Need Montgomery Fund (managed by our Montgomery County affiliate) received 5% of the net sales at Whole Foods Markets in Montgomery county—adding up to a total of more than $18,000. By all accounts, it is one of the most generous 5% days sponsored by Whole Foods. |
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Date: 10/28/2009
Nurturing Our Workforce, Especially in Tough Times
Sarah Oldmixon
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The unemployment forecast for the Metropolitan Washington region remains mixed. On the one hand, recent statistics suggest that unemployment may be stabilizing in Maryland and possibly even on the decline in Virginia. Moreover, a new study by IHS Global Insight suggests that Washington will return to pre-recession employment levels sometime in 2011. At the same time, unemployment in the District of Columbia is once again on the rise, with the unemployment rate now at 11.4% and more than 36,000 District residents unable to find work.
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Date: 10/14/2009
A Bridge to Somewhere
Sally Rudney
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Last week, The Montgomery County Community Foundation (MCCF) hosted a roundtable discussion titled “Lemons to Lemonade.” When we came up with that title a few months ago, little did we know that our optimistic words wouldn’t begin to capture the truly inspiring work of three of our grantees working to build community and access to essential services in these really tough times. |
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Date: 10/14/2009
Your Neighbors Need You, You CAN Help
Terri Lee Freeman
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Despite Ben Bernake's claim that the recession is over, it is only deepening for many residents in our region and the nonprofits who serve them. Take, for example, the unfortunate circumstances facing WEAVE, Women Empowered Against Violence, reported in a Washington Post article The Washington Post Sunday, September 20. Faced with a significant cut in public funding, its board of directors made the decision to begin to shut down the organization. This decision must have been incredibly painful because the women WEAVE serves depend on them for life saving support. |
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Date: 9/23/2009
A Lesson in Civility
Terri Lee Freeman
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Lately it seems as if the public discourse on healthcare reform has shown some of the absolute worst in us. Arguments, name calling, slandering and frankly, fear tactics have seemed to be the order of the day. It seems quite contrary to the topic at hand – healthcare. I can’t imagine that all that name calling and gun toting is good for your blood pressure… Anyway, what’s worried me most about this public display of the “ugly American” is the message it sends to our children. How do we teach our children to be good citizens, to listen to other points of view, to be accepting and tolerant of difference when what appears to be glorified by the media is the salaciousness of reality television and the recent town hall meetings? Turning on the evening or morning news seemed to provide our youngsters with the image of adults who have less control over their tongues than adolescent girls quarrelling over adolescent boys! Absent a very active counterpoint from engaged and perceptive parents and caring adults, young people could walk away from these encounters, albeit brief, assuming this behavior is ok. Simply put, it’s not! While healthy debate is one of the values our country is founded on, there is never a place for blatant disrespect of people because of their differences…disagreement yes, disrespect no. |
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Date: 9/14/2009
A Community that Cared
Angela Jones Hackley
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"Who is Kate Hanley? ...I don't know, but she must have been a part of a community that cared...," reads the placard in the brightly colored entrance of the Kate Hanley Shelter, the newest shelter for homeless families in Fairfax County, VA.
This quote was the first thing that caught my eye during my recent site visit with the newly formed Fairfax-Falls Church Partnership to Prevent and End Homelessness. Nested in a middle- to upper-income neighborhood near the government center in Fairfax County, the Kate Hanley Shelter is an example of how a community that cares has come together around the issue of homelessness. |
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Date: 8/25/2009
Funding the Safety-Net: Let's Get Real!
Terri Lee Freeman
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This time a year ago I thought the Foundation would be learning about best practices in middle school education reform. Our plan called for us to identify programs in the region and throughout the country that were having success at decreasing the drop out crisis that is rarely spoken of – from middle to high school. And in fact, we were proceeding down that path when the bottom began to fall out of our economy and it became clear that more people in our neighborhoods throughout the region were finding themselves in search of the basics – food, clothing, shelter and emergency financial assistance. And the likely place to get this assistance was from local community-based nonprofit organizations. But what was happening to the nonprofits? |
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Date: 7/22/2009
The Numbers Say it All
Terri Lee Freeman
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A few weeks back, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Deputy Mayor Victor Reinoso proudly announced the preliminary results of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Assessment System (DC CAS). What was highlighted in the press release was the steady progress that DC Public Schools’ elementary and secondary students have shown during the past two years. |
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Date: 8/11/2009
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Friending, Texting and Tweeting: Social Media and Community Foundations
Welcome to 21st Century Philanthropy
How Much Oversight?
Our Youth Are "Precious"
Big Change Ahead
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