While the United States may not hold the patent on freedom, I’m pretty sure that we hold the trademark. Freedom and liberty are a huge part of our national identity, though a nation, almost by definition, imposes limits on freedom. That’s generally where political differences arise from–how much and what types of freedom should be limited? The people at The Institute for Humane Studies would probably say not much and not many. They are an Arlington, VA based organization (housed at George Mason University) that “advances a freer society by discovering and facilitating the development of talented, productive students, scholars, and other intellectuals who share an interest in liberty.”
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Have any of you seen the movie North? Roger Ebert said, “North is a bad film – one of the worst movies ever made” (and Siskel agreed). I sheepishly admit that I liked it. It’s about a kid who sues his parents so that he can be a free agent and have potential new parents try to woo him. I think the reason that so many people found the movie so distasteful was that North, the main character, has an exceptionally good life–and this makes light of the fact that there are so many real-life kids who really could use legal help to get out of truly terrible situations. Luckily, there’s a real-life organization to help them. It’s called the Juvenile Law Center. They are a Philadelphia, PA based non-profit that “plays a leadership role nationally and in Pennsylvania in shaping and using the law on behalf of children in the child welfare and justice systems to promote fairness, prevent harm, secure access to appropriate services, and ensure a smooth transition from adolescence to adulthood.”
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I am a fisherman. I love to eat fish, catch fish, watch fish, read about fish, and talk about fish. Obviously I’m extremely worried about the state of our fisheries–both commercial and recreational. While we would all probably be healthier if we ate more fish, we have to be sure to make decisions that allows us to keep eating lots of fish well into the future. That’s why Future of Fish was started. They’re a Seattle, WA based non-profit that “envision a global seafood supply chain that produces legal, traceable, trustworthy fish; that rewards responsible fishing with better prices; and that fosters resource conservation.” They’re trying to revolutionize a very old industry, so they certainly have their work cut out for them.
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Bikes have to be one of the most versatile inventions of all time. They’re transportation, entertainment, and exercise all in one. You can even rig one to turn human power into electricity if you really want. They may have been around for a long time, but they’re still a surprisingly good solution to many of our society’s problems. That’s why the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition was started to promote the bicycle for everyday use. They’re a San Jose, CA based non-profit that is working to “to create a healthy community, environment, and economy through bicycling for people who live, work, or play in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.”
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I spent yesterday morning teaching kids how to fly fish. It’s my favorite thing to do, so I am thrilled to share it with young people to ensure the future of the sport. Those who enjoy the outdoors need to do everything they can to share their passion with people from all backgrounds. That’s what Environmental Traveling Companions is about. They’re a San Francisco, CA based non-profit that “opens the beauty and challenge of the great outdoors to people with disabilities and disadvantaged youth.” They’ve been around since 1972, and in that time they’ve helped thousands of people enjoy activities like whitewater rafting and alpine skiing.
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I have a thing against Boston. Actually, that’s not true. It’s just Red Sox fans. Boston is actually a pretty cool city. There’s great seafood and a ton of history–it might even be the most historically important city in our country. That’s why The Bostonian Society exists. They’re a Boston, MA based non-profit that “is dedicated to studying, and preserving Boston’s uniquely important history, embodied in materials, records, and structures.” It’s easy to lose our past in the push to create a better future, so it’s good that there are organizations like The Bostonian Society to preserve what’s important.
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One cool thing about art is that anyone can create it. You don’t have to be a profession or even have any training. And even if you don’t create, you can still enjoy other people’s art. The only problem is that sometimes the arts community can get a little stuffy and exclusive. It goes against everything that the arts are about, but it happens. That’s why ArtStream was started. They’re a Washington, DC based non-profit “whose mission is to create artistic opportunities for individuals in communities traditionally under-served by the arts.” That includes “persons with disabilities, seniors, people with short or long term illnesses and their families or caregivers, immigrants, veterans, people who are grieving, and students and teachers.”
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We all know that childhood is one of the most important periods in our lives. It sets the stage for what we’ll do and how we’ll do as we become adults, and it’s a time where it’s extremely important to make sure that the basics are accounted for. That’s why Cradles to Crayons exists. They’re a Brighton, MA based non-profit that is focused on “providing to children ages 0 to 12 some of the most important basics of life—free of charge.” For Cradles to Crayons, the focus is on hard goods–things like clothes, school supplies, and toys.
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There are a lot of people who want to do good in the world, but few have the resources to do it on a large scale. That’s why development and grant writing are such big parts of running a non-profit. Unfortunately, those two activities don’t often direct fund where they’ll be most effectively used. That’s why Dr. Ted Caplow started a non-profit called the Whole New World Foundation that works “to crowd-source the most promising solutions to important challenges” by offering cash prizes. The Miami, FL based organization branded this contest as Children’s Prize and gave $1 million to a Pakistani doctor who said he would be able to save 165 lives with the money.
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I’m currently in Colorado on a vacation with my wife’s family. Few things make me happier than getting away from the city and enjoying the outdoors. Unfortunately, it seems as though more and more people prefer to stay inside. This seems nice at first because it means less traffic in all of our favorite places, it’s a really big problem on the conservation front. If there isn’t a critical mass of people who care about our natural resources, they’ll be very hard to protect. That’s why The Mountaineers exists. They’re a Seattle, WA based non-profit that has “been teaching skills, sharing adventures, creating volunteers, and conserving land” for more than a century. For The Mountaineers the focus is on the Pacific Northwest, but that’s only because it’s their backyard. They want to teach people how to “enjoy the lands and waters” there and beyond.
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For some people a rug is a functional thing, for others it’s art. A handmade carpet can drastically improve the way a room looks–it can bring an exotic flair to an otherwise muted decor. The problem with handmade rugs is that they are often made by children. Child labor continues to be a problem across the world, and it’s especially bad in the handmade carpet industry–there are more than 250,000 children currently being exploited. Goodweave is a Washington, DC based non-profit that “is helping to combat this problem and transform the rug industry by certifying child-labor-free rugs and by providing education and opportunities to rescued and at-risk children.”
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The Internet has made travel so much easier. Not only can you fully research all of your options, but you can use sites like Expedia and Airbnb to find affordable places to stay all over the world. Additionally, you have social networks like Facebook that allow you to stay connected with friends who might have a spare bedroom or couch in a city that you’re visiting. Before all of these options, there were hostels. Hostelling International USA is the Silver Spring, MD based American affiliate of Hostelling International, and they’re “a non-profit membership organization that has been serving young travelers for 79 years strong.” They have a network of more than 50 locations that each offer “a unique and local stay experience” with “inexpensive, safe, clean and fun accommodations.”
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I already told this story when I wrote about the Poetry Foundation, but when I was in tenth grade my English teacher had each of us memorize, recite, and analyze a poem. I ended up with “Out, Out–” by Robert Frost. I really liked the poem, but I don’t think that I’ve intentionally read any poetry since high school. However, for many poetry is the ultimate form of expression. These people are likely members of the Academy of American Poets, a New York, NY based non-profit membership organization that focuses on “fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets.”
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Chances are that there’s something happening in your community that bothers you and you’ve done nothing about it. Most of us could stand to be a bit more engaged in our democracy, but it’s harder and harder to get yourself engaged as you get older. That’s why Generation Citizen wants to start while kids are in high school. It’s a Boston, MA based non-profit that “teaches teenagers direct political action through an innovative in-class curriculum” where “students work with local leaders to fix local problems.” These classes are taught by “near-peer college Democracy Coaches” (college student volunteers) alongside secondary school teachers.
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Most people see urban centers as the antithesis of nature, but nature always seems to find a way. That’s why we have many thriving ecosystems in the heart of our cities. You may not notice them at first, but they’re there if you look–and with a little help they’ll become truly special places. Natural Areas Conservancy is a New York, NY based non-profit that “works with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to protect, restore, and manage expansive natural areas already within the city’s urban park system.” Whether it’s forests, wetlands, rivers, streams, or meadows, they’re aiming to create a better “home to more than 2000 species of plants, and host to 350 species of birds.”
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I’m the kind of person who thinks that businesses are the solution to most of the world’s problems, but I realize that businesses also create their own set of new problems. This is especially true when businesses get beyond a certain size, and our governments only seem to exacerbate these problems. I’m not sure what the answer is, but SumOfUs thinks it begins with “a new world-wide movement for a better global economy.” They’re a New York, NY based non-profit that is starting a “member-driven movement” to put people before profits. What does that mean? It means speaking out when large corporations are behaving badly.
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I started One Day One Job because I couldn’t land a job. After taking a bit of a break after graduating college, I realized that employers weren’t too keen on hiring someone who had been on the job market for a while. The only way that I was going to get experience was to create it for myself. People with criminal histories face a similar, but much more dire problem. That’s why Defy Ventures was started. They’re a New York, NY based non-profit that “provides carefully selected, ambitious men and women who have criminal histories with life-changing entrepreneurship, leadership, and career opportunities.”
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A few years ago I was on the board of a startup non-profit. Our programming was going pretty well, but raising money was really hard. We had meetings with a few grant makers, but we didn’t impress them enough to get any money. A grant maker’s job is to give away money, but they need to offer more than that if they want that money to be put to the best use. Grantmakers for Effective Organizations is a Washington, DC based non-profit that is “committed to advancing smarter grantmaking practices that are most critical to bolstering nonprofit success.” They’ve been working towards a non-profit ecosystem with “more grantmakers providing general operating support, an increase in support for nonprofit leadership development as a capacity-building strategy, and more grantmakers seeking input from grantees and community members to shape effective solutions.”
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Earlier in the week we took a look at Balboa Capital, a company that helps businesses finance equipment. While they offer a great service to companies that need help making capital expenditures, their motive is profit driven. Some businesses need a different kind of help by utilizing the right technology to improve your business, and that’s what Mission Asset Fund offers. They’re a San Francisco, CA based non-profit that is “transforming the financial services sector with the best tools for finances so that all hardworking families have a shot at achieving their dreams.” How do they do this? It ranges from conducting groundbreaking research to social lending.
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Think about your favorite small business. If you like it enough for it to be your favorite, they’re probably doing a lot of things right–but chances are that they still face a lot of serious challenges. Unfortunately, they’re small, and that means that there are a lot of factors that they have little control over. That’s why many small business owners have banded together to start Small Business Majority, a San Francisco, CA based “national small business organization, founded and run by small business owners to focus on solving the biggest problems facing small businesses today.” They have offices in thirteen cities across the U.S. that are working to “bringthe voices of small business to the public policy table.”
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This year Amy and I signed up for a CSA (it stands for community supported agriculture). It’s essentially a share of a nearby farm’s output for the growing season. That means we get a ton of locally grown fruits and vegetables every week, and it forces us to eat them. I already feel healthier because of it. The only problem is that it’s pretty expensive. We can solve a lot of societal problems “by increasing affordability and access to fresh, locally grown food.” That’s exactly what Wholesome Wave does. They’re a Bridgeport, CT based non-profit with a mission “to empower people in underserved urban and rural communities to make healthier food choices.” Not only can this be good for the environment and public health, but it can also stimulate local economies.
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Yesterday we looked at an L.A. based non-profit called The Music Center that is all about supporting the live performing arts. Today’s organization is also based in Los Angeles, CA, but their focus is on movies. The American Film Institute is a non-profit that calls itself “America’s promise to preserve the history of the motion picture, to honor the artists and their work and to educate the next generation of storytellers.” The organization was founded in 1967 with Trustees including Gregory Peck, Sidney Poitier, and Francis Ford Coppola, so there was nod bout that they could what they set out to do.
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My career as a musician was short-lived. I started playing the snare drum in fifth grade, got a full set in sixth grade, and sold it after 8th grade. I guess the performing arts weren’t for me (my acting career ended when I stuck out my tongue in the middle of a church Christmas pageant). Luckily, I didn’t have parents who dreamed of watching me perform at The Music Center in Los Angeles, CA. It’s a non-profit that is “one of the largest and most highly regarded performing arts centers in the country, and the place to experience the most innovative and critically-acclaimed performing arts in the nation.” Los Angeles is considered by many “the creative capital of the world,” and The Music Center only helps cement that position.
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When I was growing up, there were always rumors of a kidnapper driving around town in a van (the color of the van would change from time to time, but it was usually brown), my family would get mailing with pictures of missing kids on them, and milk cartons had pictures of missing kids as well. In my mind there was a kidnapping was an epidemic. Today the big fear seems to be online child predators. I’m not sure if much has really changed, but there will always be missing kids, and the best way to find them and get them back in a safe place will be to get the word out. That’s what the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children does. They’re an Alexandria, VA based non-profit that “opened in 1984 to serve as the nation’s clearinghouse on issues related to missing and sexually exploited children.” In fact, the organization is authorized by Congress to assist law enforcement in a variety of ways.
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I always get confused by the terms modern and contemporary. To me they sound like they should mean the same thing, but they don’t–at least when you’re talking about art. Modern means that it was “produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s,” while contemporary means it was produced very recently. MOCA is the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and they are the only museum in L.A. that is entirely dedicated to contemporary art. Their definition includes works that date back to 1940, so I guess some of their contemporary art may also be modern art–though I definitely could be wrong about that.
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From what I’ve seen, the non-profits that work at the community level often have the most impact. They may be smaller, but they’re in touch with the most pressing needs and able to react quickly to them. A great model for big non-profits might be to work through smaller non-profits. In fact, that’s exactly what Local Initiatives Support Corporation does. They are a New York, NY based organization that “has connected local organizations and community leaders with resources to revitalize neighborhoods and improve quality of life” over the last three and a half decades. They do this by bringing together public and private resources and making it easy for partners to access them.
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Becoming a new parent is hard no matter what your situation (at least that’s what I hear), but it’s typically much harder for someone living in poverty. While finances are a big part of it, there are all kinds of factors that make having a new baby especially daunting for low-income parents. Room to Grow is a New York, NY based non-profit that aims “to enrich the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their critical first three years of development.” They start their work before the baby is born and continue through the first three years with the hope that a solid foundation will prevent the child from facing many of the challenges that typically affect a kid growing up in poverty.
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When I was growing up, my church had a really nice way of celebrating Mother’s Day. They’d invite all of the kids up for the children’s sermon and give them each a flower. Then they’d invite all of the women in the congregation to stand up, and the kids would bring each woman a flower until all of the women sat down with their flowers. When I was little, I’d obviously go straight for my mom, but as I got older I got to appreciate giving flowers to the women (they were usually older) who didn’t have a child present. GlamourGals is a non-profit that does this kind of thing on a much bigger scale. They are based in New York, NY, and they inspire “teens to provide ongoing complimentary beauty makeovers and companionship to women living in senior homes.”
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When I think of a non-profit radio station, I immediately think of NPR, which is mostly talk with the occasional classical music. I know some people love it, but I usually can’t listen for more than about 15 minutes. My radio station preferences are for generic pop music or sports talk radio. I know it’s pretty lame, but that’s what keeps me entertained for parts of a long drive. Unfortunately, today most radio stations across the country are owned by the same big companies, so they tend to sound the same. KEXP is a Seattle, WA based non-profit radio station “where the music matters.” The goal is to enrich “people’s lives by championing music and discovery,” which is a far cry from what most radio stations are about today.
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I think that one of the biggest problems with the American education system as a whole is that there is very little focus on career outcomes. We loosely assert that if you learn this stuff you’ll get a job, but the past 7 years or so have proven that it’s not true. Youth need more than traditional education, and that’s what Futures and Options offers. They’re a New York, NY based non-profit that “empowers underserved youth to explore careers and guides them to further their education and become productive citizens of the community.” The organization was founded in 1995 and has served more than 4,000 teens.
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