Girl Meets Business

There is a great new blog out there called Girl Meets Business. The sites blogger, Angela, is writing for Gen Yers who are new to the workplace. Her advice is spot on and also helpful for all age groups. She has recently written a great post about accepting critism (don't we all love to do that). From Angela:

Hearing criticism, even constructive and polite criticism, can be painful. I mean, really, who wants to hear about the things they do wrong?I’ve got news for you - You do! The fact is most people, when hearing a criticism about their work or their actions or whatever, will immediately go one of the following routes:
Denial. “What you mean that report was wordy? It wasn’t wordy. You’re wrong. It was great.”
Dismissal. “The fact that you just told me my report was wordy isn’t even worth considering.”
Defensiveness. “The reason the report was too wordy was because you didn’t give me enough time to edit it. If you’d given me enough time, I could have pared it down. My other reports haven’t been too wordy.”
Disregard. “Did you say something to me?”

Here’s the deal: The report was wordy. Your clothes do fit you poorly. You do need to improve your organizational skills. You are too confrontational when you speak to your boss. Read the rest here.

Don't forget to enter the philanthropy memoirs contest here.

Microloans for Housing Projects

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently had an interesting article at Habitat for Humanity's plans to start a microlending program to fund building projects. From the Journal:

Habitat for Humanity is looking to grow funds by borrowing a developing-world concept: microloans. The Atlanta-based nonprofit, which builds homes for people in need, is expected to announce Thursday the launch of a microloan program in partnership with the Maryland-based Calvert Foundation. It will allow individuals to invest in — rather than simply donate to — Habitat's philanthropic mission.

Investors can buy a stake in Habitat's microloan program for as little as $100. If the program is a success, investors eventually would receive interest payments on their money.
Microloans are typically used to provide small amounts of credit to people or businesses that do not qualify for traditional loans. The concept has become increasingly popular in the developing world, but it is a first for Habitat, which has subsisted almost entirely on donations, grants and proceeds from home sales. Read the rest here.

What do you think about this plan? Will nonprofits that have the capacity to pay back funds begin fundraising more and more in this way?

Don't forget to enter the 6 word philanthropy memoirs contest here. Entries will be accepted until August 7th.

Six Word Philanthropy Memoirs Contest

I read a review about an interesting book called Not Quite What I was Planning, which is filled with six word memoirs from famous and not so famous people. I love the idea of distilling your life story into six words and wondered if I could pack in my passion for the nonprofit sector and my love for staff development into six little words? I also wondered what sort of amazing 6 word manifestos you would come up with, so I am hosting a contest. From now until August 7th you can post your own 6 word memoir in the comments section of this post. There will be some sort of amazing prize for the winner, as determined by me. I could be more descriptive but what is better than a surprise prize?

My career in 6 words is:

Helping do gooders do good, better.

The Everyday Program Officer

I recently read two articles that got me to thinking about personal philanthropy practices. The first was from the Democrat and Chronicle out of Rochester, NY. Mark Hare wrote about the Rochester Women's Giving Circle, a group of 33 women who started a philanthropy group by having each woman pledge at least $1,000 each when they started in January and in June announced six grants totaling $37,500. The women in the giving circle were very specific when they started, specifying that grants must go to organizations that "help poor women and girls take control of their lives and be successful". The women didn't simply give their money to a local foundation and said "this is our intent, now run with it". While a local foundation does provide administrative help, the women reviewed proposals, interviewed applicant staff and expects the grantees to report measurable results. Sound familiar to the Program Officers in the reading audience?

The second article, Paul Bray's "The Power of Philanthropy", discusses the coming transfer of wealth and the potential for giving to non-profit organizations. An anticipated $41 trillion nationally is expected to transfer between generations over the next 50 years. Of that amount, $6 trillion is estimated to go towards charitable bequests and the rest will go to heirs. What are these folks gonna do with all that money?? Mr. Bray hopes they will put it towards charitable organizations through either individual accounts with local foundations or network with others to form giving circles. He emphasizes that anyone can do this, not just the Gates' or Rockefellers.

What impressed me about the women's circle in Rochester was the diligence and hands-on approach they took when considering where to put their money. They acted just like a foundation Program Officer to ensure that their funds were going to organizations that provided effective programs with documented results. With the coming intergenerational transfer of wealth, will others be this diligent or will they simply write a check?

As emerging leaders in organizational philanthropy, I wonder whether we are also emerging leaders in personal philanthropy. How much do we scrutinize the organizations we donate to? Do we look at their program results--not just how many the serve but how they actually change the lives of their clients? Do we look at past financial performance of the organization? We probably use Guidestar when reviewing applicant proposals for our jobs, but how often do we look at that before we donate our own hard-earned money to an organization? Do we direct our funds to a specific purpose (programs, operations, etc.)?

As we go through our daily lives working in foundations, we should stop and consider how much due diligence we practice in our personal giving. Should we be content with our annual check to our favorite non-profit, or should we dig deeper to ensure that our funds are actually creating change? I would hope that we begin doing the latter.

(BTW, shout out goes to Resource Generation. They're the only organization that I'm aware of tackling this head-on with affluent young people.)

Help a Reporter Out

Being a young professional, it is important to brand yourself as an informed source in your chosen field. I think this is important for a variety of reasons but one of the most important is to lend credibility to the work that you do. A way that top executives get this credibility is by hiring a PR person that will get them in front of the media or by subscribing to services that list sources that reporters are looking for as they write stories. Both of these options are probably out of the price range of most young professionals but I have found a great service at my favorite price, free.
Help a Reporter Out is the brainchild of Peter Shankman. Peter is the founder and CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc., a boutique Marketing and PR Strategy firm located in New York City, with clients worldwide. Help A Reporter (www.helpareporter.com) connects journalists with the sources they require using a social media platform. HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is already over 14,000 members and growing, and has a growing stable of national journalists using the service on a daily basis.

If you are looking for an effective way to get your name or your organization's name out to a national audience, check out this option. Peter is a great guy that manages this service at no cost because he believes good Karma follows those that help each other out.