The Philanthropy Primer is brought to you this week by the letter E and the number 1
Yes, “The Primer” is a day late.  I had a paper on ethics due yesterday and only exceeded the page limit by 1 thin slice of dead tree… I hope an appendix isn’t counted as part of the paper.  To all my fellow P & D peers, I feel your pain 

The seemingly impossible is possible
Please take a look at the video.  It’s 20 minutes long, but worth every second (except for the first minute… which is pretty slow)
Don’t forward this to Jon Duschinsky, I already did.
http://www.gapminder.org/video/talks/ted-2007—the-seemingly-impossible-is-possible.html

Put your money where your heart is
http://www.dailytarheel.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=d85332d0-7c94-44be-adc6-eee94987ebd1
Looks like Gen Y is at it again, not even graduated and already they are looking to restrict their gifts.  At least they aren’t donating a paddle boat for Cedar Lake or a mural for the Gavalyte 

In Case You Care… Other Items Worth a Glance

Short and sweet this week, because I have things at home that need to get done… and I’m a one man show.
Ben

A Crossroads on the Path of Professionalism in Fundraising 
Props to Lilya for an excellent reflective on fundraising as a career and it’s slow journey to profession… or are we technicians?
http://www.onphilanthropy.com/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7233&security=1&news_iv_ctrl=1042

Rap video makes college telemarketing cool
I laughed at this when I watched it… and I thought of Jen, Carol and Stacie (caution, contains swears) 
http://donttellthedonor.blogspot.com/2007/09/rap-videos-make-college-telemarketing.html

Art for Art’s Sake? Hardly!
I think this is a article worth review considering the bad rap arts gets in the world of philanthropy 

http://www.philanthromedia.org/archives/2007/09/art_for_arts_sake_hardly_1.html

Checklist For Year-End Appeals
This article reminded me of the Howard Taylor approach… 
Pre-phone #1, Pre-phone #2, Email #1, Email #2, Don’t Phon-a-Thon, Send “sorry-we-missed-you-when-we-were-calling” letters #1 & #2 
http://www.theagitator.net/index.php?/archives/814-Checklist-For-Year-End-Appeals.html

More philanthropy news items can be found here:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/08736056237804700469 

As always send comments or suggestions.

Hello Neighbor!
This weekend, courtesy Susan Stirewalt’s Amish sweet bread starter, I baked six loafs of bread.  As I sat waiting for the loaves to finish baking I saw little bit of a TV interview with Tim Madigan, author of the book I’m Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers .  I mention this because today I came across a weblog post related to Mr. Rogers fundraising before congress for $20 million.  Please enjoy the video clip provided by YouTube, and goose-bumps courtesy of Fred Rogers. 
http://philanthropy.com/giveandtake/article/317/mr-rogers-a-lesson-in-fund-raising 

I’m sure you’ve heard the discussion regarding fund raising as a profession…
Regardless of where you fall in this debate, it’s an important activity on so many levels. 
In response to the the weekly group weblog session dubbed “Giving Carnival,” Gift Hub’s Phil Cubeta comments on the connection between Relationships and Philanthropy.  I love his quote, “Maybe we treat the client as a moral agent in her own right and see ourselves as helping her bring into being her best self, through a morally heroic action, or an action much in character for her, in community with others to high and noble ends.”
http://www.gifthub.org/2007/09/are-relationshi.html 

Top Ten for the week
How one pilot makes flying less awful – Tocknell, give me a shout next time you’re in town
What is good: being relentlessly generous – Carol Lee, the key word here is “credit”
Video Tips for Nonprofits – Hat tip to Justin Perkins at FrogLoop.com keep up the good work!
Reaffirm a donor’s decision to give — and hurry!
Advice from another new voice
Children Slipping Further Behind after Katrina – Zeamer, Roberts, Arboleda, Schroeder, Eldred… I heard back Re: what we can do to aid in Katrina relief, so expect follow-up soon!
Kiva growth – check the metrics
10 reasons fundraising ain’t all that bad
Great new packaging? Let it speak for itself – You’re welcome Longo   Just Kidding (but seriously)
How You Can Salute the Troops 

Thanks for reading The Philanthropy Primer this week.  The articles listed above as well as several other items worthy of your time and attention are linked here: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/08736056237804700469

Greetings from Charlotte, NC.  Here’s all the philanthropy that’s fit to print.

Antioch College president ousted from his position, that’s the bad news. Good news is that Antioch University McGregor is opening a new facility just down the street.  If you remember, the MBA program move from the college campus to a university specific location off-site is what spurred the college closing debacle.  Stay tuned, you haven’t heard the end yet.  Any alumni base that can raise $5.3M (in a weekend) isn’t going to let it’s alma mater go down without a fight. 

If you’re a donor to The University of North Texas, odds are you’ll have a hard time finding your name on an annual donor list. Best quote of this article is “ We’ve never had a problem with it, but it’s not in the best interest of donors to list their names.”  Mr. McQueen might be right, the last thing you want to have on your hands is a Mean Green donor (pun intended).

Other events significant to higher ed advancement:
Colleges add student fees to respond to decreased support
Restricted giving in the news in Lynchburg and Princeton

What do the Cayman Islands, Congress and hedge-funds have in common… if you guessed “ideal location for a slimy photo-op” you’re wrong.  If you guessed “there’s an off-shore storm brewin’ and I don’t mean hurricanes” you’re not far off.  See what the Chronicle of Philanthropy has to say about the debate being brought to congress.

If I said it once, I’ll say it a million times… take another look at online giving, only this time do it like you mean it.  Oh, but don’t forget the Boomers .

Two posts that I think merit a full read:
Emotion & Logic in Philanthropy
Leveraging Philanthropic Assets

Okay, you know the drill.  Feedback and comments are strongly encouraged.  First to respond with an interesting news item not referenced in my Google Reader list: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/08736056237804700469 will win a great surprise (courtesy of Carol Lee).  Honestly Carol, what am I gonna do with 99 red ballons?

Philanthropy Thoughts is now The Philanthropy Primer

Several thought provoking articles during the past two weeks…

Not necessarily philanthropy related, but a good book “ Made to Stick” first recommended to me by John Sebald of the Arizona Lutheran Academy, is reviewed at the website Lifehack.org

The topic of a The Donor/Charity Contract is addressed in the magazine FundRaising Success.  This aspect of philanthropy will only increase in importance as Gen X and the Millennials look to have greater involvement/control of their giving and have higher expectations regarding communications.

Red Cross and Johnson & Johnson dispute trademarks as the nonprofit ventures into tapping the resource of related business income.  This has HUGE implications as for-profits move into the nonprofit territory for purely commercial interests ( i.e. Dove’s Self Esteem Fund).  Both sides are looking to capitalize on the benefits of the other side… the corporate side of this topic is further explored by the NonProfit Times.

The nonprofit sector is seeing important mergers in the data support fields.  First Convio purchased GetActive, now Blackbaud has purchased eTapestry.  Credit to Paul Roberts to bringing this to my attention days before the story hit the news.

Looking to start a “Women in Philanthropy” interest group within your nonprofit?  Future Leaders in Philanthropy (FLiP) asks if their approach to philanthropy is different from that of men and wonders if this will change the direction of philanthropy.

Thanks for your interest in advancing philanthropy.  Please let me know if you’d like to be removed from this periodic listserv.  If you come across any helpful sites or philanthropy related news feeds, please pass them along.  Thanks!