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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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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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 live to be outdoors. For me it’s mostly about fishing, but I enjoy hunting, hiking, kayaking, and pretty much anything else that gets me out in the wilderness. The tough thing is that I like to get away from civilization, but civilization is constantly encroaching on the wilderness. We need to find a balance, and that means getting more people involved in outdoor activities so that they’ll stand up to protect what needs to be protected. It’s better to share our special places with other enthusiasts then have them get turned into strip malls. The best way to get more people involved is to start them young, and that’s what Bay Area Wilderness Training is all about. They’re an Oakland, CA based non-profit that was “founded with the idea that California’s bountiful wilderness areas are a vast – yet untapped – resource for local youth-serving organizations.”
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About two months ago an organization that I’m a member of organized a letter writing campaign to prevent permits from being issued to allow fracking in an environmentally sensitive and recreationally (and economically) important area. The group is fly fishing focused, so it’s not the most tech savvy bunch. But we were able to spread the word quickly enough to get what we were asking for. Social media makes action like this much easier, but it can be hard to organize. Amicus is a New York, NY based company that turns a “nonprofit’s supporters into fundraisers and advocates.” They claim they can triple the effectiveness of outreach and fundraising efforts.
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While it has become increasingly apparent that graduating college isn’t close to enough to get you a job these days, we also know that not having gone to or graduated college makes finding a good job so much harder. If young people are going to succeed in life, they need to start with success in high school and college. Bottom Line is a Boston, MA, Worcester, MA and New York, NY based non-profit (they also are working in Chicago) that “has helped thousands of low-income and first-generation students stay in college and earn their degrees.” The organization was founded in 1997 and now reaches more than 3,000 students every year.
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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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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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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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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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We moved to a tree lined street recently, and I love it. I can walk out my door on a 90 degree day, and it still doesn’t feel oppressively hot. My car is nice and cool when I get in (though it tends to get covered in bird poop), and if it rains, it has to rain pretty hard to actually get me wet. Soon the leaves will fall off and it will get colder, and then the sun will shine through the branches and keep things a little warmer. Trees make living in a city way better. That’s the premise behind Canopy, a Palo Alto, CA based “environmental nonprofit that engages the community in the growth and care of our urban forest.” While they only focus on Palo Alto and it surrounding communities, they’re making a big difference through the power of trees.
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My wife’s first job was as a management consultant. It came with lots of travel and a serious expense account. When you’re running thousands of dollars in expenses through your credit card on a weekly basis, you need to be savvy about how you do it. Not only will it help you keep your credit clean, but you can earn all kinds of rewards and perks, so opening a business bank account and a personal one will help you with your finance. Luckily for Amy, she worked with a bunch of huge nerds. They had already put in the hours to figure out the optimal decisions for a typical consultant, and they put together documents detailing the pros and cons of every possible option (which credit cards to get, which loyalty programs to use, where to stay, and much more). While your situation probably won’t be as extreme, it’s still important to make the right personal finance decisions. If you don’t have nerdy co-workers, you can go to NerdWallet. They’re a San Francisco, CA based company that “empowers consumers to make better decisions about their personal finances, travel plans, health bills, or higher education.” NerdWallet does all of the research, and you just have to make the choices that best fit your lifestyle
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I remember when social media was a great way for upstarts to get a lot of attention. It wasn’t that long ago, and it’s still possible, but we’re already at the point where big brands dominate social. Why did this happen so quickly? Because brands can afford to throw big bucks at expensive agencies to do social for them. One of these agencies is BLITZ, a Santa Monica, CA based company that makes “brands Favorites by building digital ecosystems that result in durable connections between brands and consumers.” And when they say brands, they mean BRANDS. We’re talking Nike, Dell, Adobe, Starbucks, Red Bull, Disney, Microsoft, and lots more.
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If you want to change something, you need to be able to measure it. Whether you’re talking about weight, revenue, or toxic emissions, establishing a yardstick for success is the first step in accomplishing a goal. The problem is that some of the most important things that we want to change are the hardest to measure. The environment is a perfect example, and that’s exactly what Global Footprint Network is focused on. They are an Oakland, CA based non-profit that was “established to enable a sustainable future where all people have the opportunity to live satisfying lives within the means of one planet.” As a result, Global Footprint Network is focused on “measuring human impact on the Earth so we can make more informed choices.”
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Almost all of are here (in the United States) because of immigration. Whether it was you, your parents, your grandparents, or a passenger on The Mayflower, someone in your family decided that he or she wanted a better life and left a lot behind to come here. How long you’ve been here doesn’t really matter. What does matter is what you’re going to do while you’re here; however, being new to the country brings a lot of challenge. Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians is a Philadelphia, PA based non-profit that “connects newly arrived individuals from around the world with the economic opportunities that they need to succeed.” The Center has been around for a decade now, and in that time they’ve helped more than 8,000 people from well over 100 countries.
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Happy Mother’s Day! I’m lucky enough to get to spend today with my mom. She’s in town for some wedding planning stuff, so we’re enjoying our first Mother’s Day together in years. While I have great memories of all of the amazing things my mom has done for me, some of the most important things that she did happened before I can remember. Good mothering is most essential in the first few years of life, and that’s why the National Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition was started as a response to the US Surgeon General’s conference on infant mortality. They’re an Alexandria, VA based non-profit that “is a recognized leader and resource in maternal and child health, reaching an estimated 10 million health care professionals, parents, and policymakers through its membership of over 100 local, state and national organizations.”
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I come from an extremely artistic family. My Dad is an architect, my mom is a graphic designer, and my sister is a painter, yet I have almost no artistic ability. Still, I realize how important it is for every person to engage in some form of creative expression. For me it’s building websites and cooking, but for many people it’s some type of art. Art Enables is a Washington, DC based non-profit that has found that “often people with developmental disabilities are better able to express themselves in images than in words.” The organization fosters this creativity by providing a group of about thirty people (the program is open to those “18 and over from throughout the Washington metropolitan area who are diagnosed with developmental disabilities and who have the desire and the discipline to work at becoming professional visual artists”) with “the resources and supports they need to become visual artists.”
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When we cover non-profits, we end up focusing mostly on organizations that operate at the national level. The only reason for this is that these organizations typically get more exposure and are more likely to have multiple job openings. There are tons of locally focused organizations with great career opportunities, and many of them fill similar niches in different communities. FACETS is a perfect example. They’re a Fairfax, VA based non-profit that helps “parents, their children and individuals who suffer the effects of poverty.” FACETS is entirely focused on the Fairfax County area, so they can tailor the help they offer to the unique needs of the community.
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I love cooking for friends and family. There’s something extremely rewarding about feeding people and helping to fulfill one of their most basic needs. But there’s more to it than that. Sharing a meal creates a connection and brings people together. That’s why Food & Friends exists. They’re a Washington, DC based non-profit that fosters “a community caring for men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses by preparing and delivering specialized meals and groceries in conjunction with nutrition counseling.” The organization started in a church basement in 1988, and has continued to grow since. They are now able to serve 5,300 square miles surrounding the DC area.
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Cancer is a scary word, and it’s at its scariest when we’re talking about kids. It would be nice if kids didn’t even have to know what cancer is, but every year in the U.S. about 10,000 kids under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer. About 1,500 will end up dying from the disease. Pablo Thrailkill Castelaz was one of the kids who didn’t make it. He died just days after his sixth birthday in 2009 after a “valiant yearlong battle with bilateral Wilms Tumor, a rare form of childhood cancer.” In his memory The Pablove Foundation was formed. It’s a Los Angeles, CA based non-profit that is “fighting childhood cancer with love.”
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Early spring! That’s what Phil says. I love Groundhog Day, so ever year I’ve highlighted it in my post. It started in 2007 with the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, and I followed with NOAA, MyPunchbowl, Toro, and Weather Underground. This is the first year for me that the holiday has fallen on a Saturday, so I went in search of something like the Groundhog Protection Fund. The closest that I could come up with was The Wildlife Center of Virginia, which is a Waynesboro, VA based organization that “was formed in 1982 to provide quality health care, often on an emergency basis, to native wildlife.” I realize that the location probably isn’t a good match for most of you, but there are similar organizations all across the country that also have career opportunities worth considering. Use the holiday as inspiration!
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My high school had an excellent community service program. We were all supposed to do at least 25 hours per year, so there was a mix of in-school and out-of-school service opportunities. One of the organizations that we worked with was AmeriCares. I can’t for the life of me remember what project we worked on, but I know that I had a t-shirt with their logo on it that ended up covered in paint (that may have been from a completely different service project). AmeriCares is a Stamford, CT based “nonprofit disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization which provides immediate response to emergency medical needs – and supports long-term humanitarian assistance programs – for all people around the world.”
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Yesterday I heard that Y Combinator is funding its first non-profit. It’s pretty cool to see a for-profit incubator dipping its toes into the non-profit world, but there have been non-profit incubators around for a long time. One of them is Earth Island Institute. They’re a Berkeley, CA based organization that acts as a “hub for grassroots campaigns dedicated to conserving, preserving, and restoring the ecosystems on which our civilization depends.” So far they have incubated over 100 startup environmental projects and helped them get off the ground by providing administrative and financial resources that are essential for early stage non-profits.
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In a place like New York City, it’s nearly impossible to build something without tearing something else down. That means that a lot of still useful stuff is sent off to the dump while new construction material is shipped in from afar. This is not only wasteful, but it’s also terrible for the environment. Build It Green! NYC is a New York, NY based non-profit that is “working towards reducing the amount of unnecessary construction and demolition (C&D) waste clogging our landfills.” They do this through two stores that make Build It Green! NYC “New York City’s only non-profit retail outlet for salvaged and surplus building materials.”
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While the Holiday Season is a time that many of us offer help to the less fortunate, it’s usually in the form of gifts or donations. This kind of help is great, but it’s typically temporary. Homelessness and poverty are both societal and individual problems, so bringing about real change is going to take a lot more than a few weeks of giving. Real Change is a Seattle, WA based non-profit that “exists to provide opportunity and a voice for low-income and homeless people while taking action for economic justice.” By focusing on helping the individuals while at the same time pushing for societal change, Real Change is able to make a meaningful difference.
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Christmas is widely known as “the most wonderful time of the year,” but for many that doesn’t ring true. If there’s any group that deserves to have an joyful holiday season, it’s children. Most kids just want to receive a few gifts and know that someone loves and cares about them. Unfortunately, for millions of children that isn’t a given. Luckily, there are a number of non-profit organizations that help make it happen for kids who may not otherwise have a Merry Christmas. We looked at Toys for Tots last year, and this year we’re going to talk about a program called Angel Tree “that connects parents in prison with their children through the delivery of Christmas gifts.” It’s part of a larger non-profit called Prison Fellowship. The Lansdowne, VA based organization that envisions “a future in which countless prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families, are redeemed, restored, and reconciled through the love and truth of Jesus Christ.”
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I went to the same college as both of my parents. There’s no doubt that this made my transition to college easier–I knew what I was getting into, and they knew what I was getting into. The statistics back this up. Students whose parents went to college are far more likely to graduate than first-generation college students. So how do we give these students the advantages and support that typically come with a parent or parents who went to college? New York Needs You is a non-profit that is taking a crack at it. They are aiming to enable “first-generation college students to realize their college and career ambitions” through an intensive fellowship program.
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Helping people find jobs is pretty cool. There’s a reason that I’ve been doing it for the past 5 years. I’ve built a nice list of success stories, but there’s no way that I “created over 218,000 hours of employment and generated $2.5 million in wages” in 2010 like Chrysalis did. They’re a Los Angeles, CA based non-profit that is “dedicated to creating a pathway to self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income individuals by providing the resources and support needed to find and retain employment.” Employment solves all kinds of societal and individual problems, but creating jobs isn’t nearly as easy as politicians make it sound. Luckily, Chrysalis has developed programs that help people turn themselves into desirable employees. It’s the next best thing.
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When I was a kid I was jealous of the kids who went to one of the other elementary schools in town because they had an awesome carnival. I was kind of a wimp about carnival rides, so the most intense ride that I would go on was called the Himalaya. All it did was spin you around kind of fast. While the painting on the ride was certainly accurate to the name, I’m not sure that it was a very good representation of Himalayan culture. The Rubin Museum of Art in New York, NY is. It’s “a dynamic environment that stimulates learning, promotes understanding, and inspires personal connections to the ideas, cultures, and art of Himalayan Asia.” It also won’t make you nauseous like the ride might.
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I don’t know why adults even bother asking kids what their favorite class is. They’re obviously going to either say recess or make something up because they know that they’re not supposed to say recess. As a kid I felt bad for liking recess more than the rest of the school day, but now I realize that recess is totally underrated. It’s a time for social interaction, safe risk taking (or are monkey bars banned now?), decision making, and more. It’s also a fantastic way to get kids to burn off energy so that they can be more focused in the classroom. Playworks is an Oakland, CA based non-profit (but they work in cities across the country) that aims to “improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.” In other words, they’re all about recess.
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