Non-profits typically exist to make the world a better place. What that means varies by organization, but our government recognizes that a wide variety of causes should be supported with tax-exempt status. By definition a non-profit’s goals are non-financial, but that doesn’t mean that finances don’t matter. GuideStar is a Williamsburg, VA and Washington, DC based organization that aims to “revolutionize philanthropy by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving.” Unlike Charity Navigator, they don’t rate or rank non-profits. Instead, GuideStar “collects, organizes, and presents the information you want in an easy-to-understand format while remaining neutral.”
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When I was kid, I’d go with my church to bring Easter baskets to people at a local nursing home. I always started the visit a little scared–a nursing home can be an intimidating place for a little kid–but by the end I was usually happy to be putting smiles on so many faces. While DOROT probably isn’t delivering Easter baskets considering that it’s a Jewish organization (though they describe themselves nonsectarian), they are doing similar work. The New York, NY based non-profit works to enable “seniors to live with dignity, independence and improved health in the community.” They do this by “mobilizing volunteers of all ages to improve the lives and health of the elderly, addressing the challenges of an aging society.”
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Yesterday I was telling you about all of the wildlife that I’ve seen during my vacation in Aruba. While there have many interesting fish, birds, and reptiles near the beach, I haven’t seen any marine mammals. Luckily, I have a few more days to watch for dolphins and whales since United canceled my flight and might have left me “stuck” here until Wednesday, but I doubt I’ll see any because they’re not very common here. Marine mammals are far more common in places like California’s Bay Area. That is why The Marine Mammal Center is located in Sausalito, CA. They are a non-profit “veterinary research hospital and educational center dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of ill and injured marine mammals – primarily elephant seals, harbor seals, and California sea lions.” They’ve been at in for nearly 40 years and have rescued or treated close to 20,000 animals.
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I’ve been on vacation in Aruba for the past 10 days or so, and I’ve gone fishing every day. The fishing has been decent, but I’ve also see all kinds of wildlife from pelicans and sea turtles to eels and frigate birds. It’s amazing how much life a marine environment can support and what you can learn just from experiencing the ecosystem. This need not be formal education, but it can be. The Chincoteague Bay Field Station is a Wallops Island, VA based non-profit that makes a marine environment academic by providing “outstanding multi-disciplinary, educational and research opportunities that celebrate the rich natural, cultural, economic, and technological resources of the mid-Atlantic Coastal region through field-based and hands-on learning, often in affiliation with multiple public and private partners.”
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I used to be an extremely picky eater, but I’ve grown as a person and become a… somewhat picky eater. There are a number of foods that I find completely unpalatable (mayo, eggs, nuts, and most cheeses are the big ones). While the smell of eggs makes me physically ill, it’s not an allergy. I understand that nothing too terrible is going to happen to me if I eat these foods–I’ll just have a terrible taste in my mouth. Unfortunately, it seems more and more people can suffer severe consequences from eating certain things. The Food Allergy Research & Education is a McLean, VA based non-profit that “works on behalf of the 15 million Americans with food allergies, including all those at risk for life-threatening anaphylaxis.”
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I’m currently reading a book called Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws who Hacked Ma Bell. One of the stories is about a blind man who had immense technical talent when it came to the phone system, but couldn’t land even the most basic job because of discrimination. He concocted a plan to get arrested for phreaking (phone hacking) because he knew the publicity would lead to quite a few job offers. The plan worked. Nobody should have to go to those lengths to overcome a disability or the discrimination based on it, and that’s why PROVAIL exists. They are a Seattle, WA based non-profit that “supports people with disabilities to fulfill their life choices.” It’s all about expanding opportunity and breaking down barriers that might keep people with disabilities from living the lives they want to live.
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Yesterday we talked about how living in a big city after college can give you access to all kinds of organizations that will help you meet people in places that you want to be. Some, like yesterday’s CUP, are geared towards broader audiences of professionals, while others, like today’s The New York Academy of Sciences, have a more specific focus. The aforementioned organization is a New York, NY based “international, nonprofit membership organization working to advance scientific knowledge, mobilize science to address major global challenges, and increase the number of scientifically informed individuals in society.” It’s coming up on two centuries of existence, and today they boast more than 20,000 members worldwide.
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One cool thing about living in a major city after you graduate college is that it’s easy to get involved with groups of people with similar interests. This is obviously great for your social life, but it can also help your career. Meeting people who are in the places that you want to be is always good. The Council of Urban Professionals is not only a way to do that–it’s also a way to do good in your community. They are a New York, NY based non-profit that “molds diverse business and civic leaders, and empowers them to exert influence, achieve their individual goals and create collective impact through a range of programs and initiatives.” It started in a living room with 62 young urban professionals (that’s a big living room!), and now the organization has well over 5,000 members.
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I don’t remember what methods my teachers used to teach me how to read, but I do remember that it all came together on while my family was traveling to Florida on a train for vacation. For me it felt like a binary thing–one minute I couldn’t read, and the next minute I could. I’ll assume that’s the desired outcome, even though we all known that literacy is much more of a progression. The progression happens more quickly with the right methods, and that’s what the Children’s Literacy Initiative is about. They are a Philadelphia, PA based non-profit “that works with teachers to transform instruction so that children can become powerful readers, writers and thinkers.” While most literacy focused non-profits work directly with children who are learning to read, CLI ensures that the people working with those children are properly prepared for such an important job.
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Our government spends a lot of money. $10 billion is essentially a rounding error in the Federal budget. The problem with that is that even the tiniest amount of government spending can have a huge impact on people’s lives. It’s important that our elected officials do a better job of spending our money on the right things. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a Washington, DC based non-profit that “conducts research and analysis to help shape public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that policymakers consider the needs of low-income families and individuals in these debates.” This is an organization that sees the people in the rounding errors.
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I believe that entrepreneurship is the natural human state; however, today most people choose the security of a more stable work situation. Our society needs more entrepreneurs, but it’s hard to take such a big risk without circumstances that make it a less risky proposition. Since we can’t give everybody rich parents, we need to provide people with information and resources that will increase the likelihood of success in entrepreneurial endeavors. This is what Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center does. They are a San Francisco, CA based non-profit “small business development organization dedicated to helping women and men who traditionally lack access to resources and information to achieve financial self-sufficiency through entrepreneurship.” Every year they help more than 1,500 low-moderate income people in the Bay Area “launch and grow businesses.”
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I went to both a public and a private university, yet I never transferred, and I only got one degree. How did I do this? I went to Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. It’s a New York State school even though it’s part of a private university. While it wasn’t always obvious, there were definitely times when I noticed distinct differences between how the public and private sides operated. Public universities and land-grant institutions often have common constraints, and that’s why they work together through the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. It’s a Washington, DC based non-profit “research, policy, and advocacy organization representing 219 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and related organizations.”
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Skin is the barrier between you and the rest of the world–it’s extremely important both cosmetically and medically. We all have skin issues at some point. It may be as simple as a pimple or as serious as cancer, but more than 100 million Americans are afflicted with some sort of skin disorder. The American Skin Association is a New York, NY based non-profit that brings “patients, families, advocates, physicians and scientists” together to “to defeat melanoma, skin cancer and disease.” If it has to do with the body’s largest organ, the American Skin Association is on top of it.
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I often hear from readers that we cover too many opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Unfortunately, I have no control over where the best opportunities pop up. San Francisco’s economy has been booming for a while now, and that makes an already exciting city even more exciting. The San Francisco Foundation is a non-profit that was founded in 1948 “to pull the community together to create pride and unity and improve quality of life” in the Bay Area. Having awarded more than $800 million in grants over the past decade, the Foundation has certainly played a strong role in making San Francisco the place it is today.
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In 1961 John F. Kennedy initiated the Alliance for Progress, “a 10-year, multibillion-dollar aid program for Latin America.” The goal was to revitalize relations with our neighbors. In 1964 Partners of the Americas was founded “as the people-to-people component of the Alliance for Progress.” It’s a Washington, DC based non-profit that works to “build partnerships that create opportunity, foster understanding, and solve real-life problems.” This is done through a chapter model that encourages countries and states to build north-south partnerships.
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Going to the opera is the ultimate stereotypical thing that male tv characters do to make the women in their lives happy. You almost get the sense that nobody wants to go to the opera–they just want to influence other people’s opinions of them by going. While I’m sure there’s some of that, I’ll bet that most people who go to the opera truly love it. I’ve never been, but I’d like to go at least once. When I do, maybe I’ll go to The Metropolitan Opera in New York, NY. It’s the largest classical music organization in North America, and it’s been around for just over 128 years. The Met’s goal is to be “a vibrant home for the most creative and talented artists, including singers, conductors, composers, orchestra musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers from around the world.”
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I went to a pre-Thanksgiving party last night. I didn’t eat a crazy amount, but I definitely had my fill of turkey, stuffing, and plenty of other delicious dishes. Over the next month and a half many of us will fight to not overeat, which makes it easy to forget how many people go hungry this time of year (and all times of year for that matter). The numbers are mind-boggling. In the Delaware River valley alone, there are nearly a million people facing hunger on a daily basis. Philabundance is a Philadelphia, PA based organization that holds the “simple belief that no man, woman or child should go hungry.” They do this by providing emergency food and services to people in 9 counties across Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
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The world of non-profits revolves around money. I know it’s counterintuitive, but only the leanest organizations can operate without significant funds. When you’re a business and you’re using money to make money, you typically have some margin for error. But when you’re trying to use money to do good, every bit of effectiveness makes a difference. That’s why The Center for Effective Philanthropy exists. They are a Cambridge, MA and San Francisco, CA based non-profit that works “to provide data and create insight so philanthropic funders can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness – and, as a result, their intended impact.” They are what I like to call a meta-non-profit; an organization that serves other charitable organizations.
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I mentioned earlier in the week in the post about Museum Hack that I can sometimes get a little bored at museums. That’s not true at kids’ museums. I’m not sure what is says about my maturity level, but when I was in college, Amy and I would get really excited to take her sister (15 years younger) to the local science/children’s museum. She loved it, but I think we loved it even more. Next time we go to the West Coast, we might have to visit the Bay Area Discovery Museum. It’s a Sausalito, CA based museum that “is designed to ignite creative thinking in children.” What makes it sound even more awesome than other children’s museums that I’ve been to is that they put their 7.5 acres of natural space to use as part of the experience.
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This is the time of year when homelessness becomes more visible for many people. The colder weather combined with the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons help us remember that not everyone has a roof over his or her head. In fact, there are “633,782 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the United States.” The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a Washington, DC based non-profit that, as its name indicates, would like to bring that number down to zero. As a leading voice on the issue of homelessness, The Alliance “works collaboratively with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to build state and local capacity, leading to stronger programs and policies that help communities achieve their goal of ending homelessness.”
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I admit to liking bad music. I don’t listen to music all that often, but when I do, I’m perfectly happy listening to Top 40 stuff. I know that most of it is musically questionable, but I can’t help that I like it. I’ve tried listening to Classical music, but I can’t get into it. Maybe one day that will change. And if it does, I’ll have to check out the Handel and Haydn Society. They are based in Boston, MA, and they are “considered America’s oldest continuously performing arts organization.” They’re coming up on 200 years of excellence “in the field of Historically Informed Performance” (see here for a more in depth explanation). In other words they perform pieces “using the instruments and techniques of the composer’s time.”
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InvestmentNews is our sponsor this week, and they would like to tell you about their NextGen Virtual Career Fair on November 8th. It’s an awesome opportunity for students and interns to network and find finance jobs on the spot.
Good leadership always seems to be in short supply. There are plenty of situations where nobody is willing to lead, and there are plenty of others where those who are leading aren’t quite as fit for the job as they should be. I’ve seen a lot of non-profits that focus on developing young people into leaders, but it’s not all that common to find an organization devoted to promoting leadership at all levels. That’s exactly what Leadership Greater Washington does. They are a Washington, DC based non-profit that was founded out of The Greater Washington Board of Trade, The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation and The Junior League. Its goal is to “foster communication and cooperation among the area’s established leaders” and to aid “leaders in every stage of their leadership journey.”
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InvestmentNews is our sponsor this week, and they would like to tell you about their NextGen Virtual Career Fair on November 8th. It’s an awesome opportunity for students and interns to network and find finance jobs on the spot.
Although I always knew that I wanted to run my own business, it took me until after I graduated college to actually do something about it. It’s a shame because there are all kinds of resources available for entrepreneurs who are enrolled in college. A great example is the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. They are an Amherst, MA based non-profit that supports “technology innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education to create experiential learning opportunities for students and successful, socially beneficial innovations and businesses.” The organization exists to bring all of the great thinking ideas that happen on college campuses to life through business.
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Two weeks ago it was my birthday. Amy wanted us to do something fun and new in Chicago, so she surprised me with trapeze lessons. Unfortunately, she forgot that I have an elbow injury that would make doing such things a bit painful. We called the place to see if they could give us a credit for future lessons, and they were able to. While I certainly didn’t want to mess up my elbow more, I have to admit that the idea of soaring through the air scares me a little bit. Maybe if I had been exposed to acrobatics at an early age through a program like AcroSports, I would have had a better attitude about trying trapeze lessons. They are a San Francisco, CA based “non-profit organization whose mission is to teach and develop the physical, performing, and circus arts.” They’ve been at it for two decades now serving their “community in a safe, positive environment, offering activities that encourage teamwork and build strengths and self-esteem, and enhancing life’s experience.”
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Garçon went on his first hunt yesterday (he still needs to grow into his tracking collar). A friend of mine took us along with his well-experienced dog to try to find some grouse and woodcock. The search was unsuccessful, but Garçon loved running through the woods and learning to use his nose. He’s more of an upland dog, but I hope at some point we’ll be able to hunt ducks together too–because I love ducks. Many of you are probably asking, “If you love ducks so much, why would you want to shoot them?” The simple answer is because they’re delicious, but the more complicated answer is that the people who utilize a resource are often the ones who care for it the most. Without an organization like Ducks Unlimited, our waterfowl population wouldn’t be close to what they are today. The Memphis, TN based non-profit has become “the world’s leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation” because a small group of hunters were worried about the loss of wetlands habitat and what it would do to the ducks.
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We all know how hard cycles are to break. Even something silly like leaving clothes on the floor can get out of control if you let it. But with a cycle like that, all it takes is 10 minutes of cleaning up to get back on track (much easier said than done). There are other kinds of cycles that individuals have very little control over. The cycles of poverty and violence are a perfect example–individuals can rarely break them on their own. Full Frame Initiative is a Greenfield, MA based non-profit that is working to break these cycles by ensuring that “people and communities experiencing poverty, violence and trauma have the tools, supports and resources they need to thrive.” The organization took its name from a film making term that means to “pull the lens all the way back” and see the entirety of the situation.
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It sounds stupid to say, but it feels like science is making a resurgence in popularity. It’s hard not to notice when your friends keep liking Facebook posts from “I [expletive] love science.” Science always has been and always will be exceptionally important to the human race, but its popularity seems to vary quite a bit over time. The Society for Science & the Public is a Washington, DC based non-profit that is “dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education.” They realize that science isn’t just for scientists and that keeping the average person engaged with the study of science can have big payoffs.
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Today is my birthday. My wife has an exciting day planned for me, and that obviously makes me feel very special. Everybody should feel special on their birthdays–especially children. Unfortunately, children who are living in homeless shelters often have their birthdays forgotten. Birthday Wishes is a Newton Centre, MA based non-profit that believes “that all children, regardless of their living situation, should celebrate their birthdays joyfully, surrounded by family, friends, and others who care.” The organization was founded in 2002, and is getting close to celebrating 20,000 birthdays a year. That’s truly amazing. I’m off to celebrate my own special day, so I’ll send you to Birthday Wishes’ Idealist page. They don’t have any internships posted right now, but I know that they’ve had interns in the past. They’re also always looking for volunteers.
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My parents will tell you that I’ve always liked to argue. That’s why I joined the Debate Club in high school. The club only put on one debate (and I can’t remember the topic), but I definitely participated. I always love competing in anything, and I think it’s silly that most schools endlessly promote competition in sports but shy away from any formalized academic competition. Things like Debate Clubs are great for kids, and that’s why the Boston Debate League was started. It’s a non-profit organization that is “transforming school culture through debate.” They’ve only been around since 2005, but the organization has already expanded to the point where they expect to serve 800 debaters this school year.
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When I was a kid I had a chemistry set. Unfortunately, it was a pretty watered down version. I could create reactions that made liquids change colors, but that was about it. I always dreamed of having the chemistry set that my Dad had during his childhood. While it was a bit more dangerous, it sounded way more fun (explosions!). Maybe if I had access to a better chemistry set, I would have pursued Chemistry past my 10th grade class (my teacher that year didn’t help). That’s what the Chemical Education Foundation wants more kids to do. They’re an Arlington, VA based non-profit that “is committed to enhancing science education among every generation, beginning with our youth, by emphasizing the central role of chemistry in all the sciences and in our everyday lives.”
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