The Rundown - February 4, 2022
The latest news and notes from the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors
The Rundown - SNOW STORM EDITION!
As of the time of this writing, a massive winter storm is being forecast to hit where I am. And while we are no stranger to winter storms, this particular one seems tricky: snow, sleet, ice! And it’s the ice that has me the most worried. The most negative impact of ice is that it can wreak havoc on the power grid. Ice can accumulate on power lines and tree limbs and before you know it, power outages are everywhere.
Of course, one does not live their life wanting power outages to happen, but as more is known more about the storm, it’s becoming more clear that power outages are real possibility, which means that this newsletter will be written a little ahead of time, but will still be scheduled to be sent out on Friday. Enjoy your weekend and stay warm.
This week we dive a bit more into the world of Cryptocurrency and add NFTs tot he mix, we talk a bit how the rest of the world sees America and what that means for philanthropy and nonprofits, and we talk about how women change the world of philanthropy and nonprofit organizations (and how we all benefit from their influence!).
If you like what you have read, feel free to share this with friends and colleagues by simply clicking the link below!
Last week was Cryptocurrency, this week NFTs!
Last week we discussed a little bit about how cryptocurrency is changing the world of philanthropy and is causing fundraisers and nonprofit organizations to ask some serious questions about how exactly cryptocurrencies are playing a role in the future of these organizations.
This week, there was this story that popped up from the Coin Telegraph website, which discusses something even more confusing than cryptocurrency, the non-fungible token or NFT.
To the uninitiated, a non-fungible token is a bit like a cryptocurrency since it is data stored on a digital ledger, but these datasets are unique and usually associated with a digital file, such as a video, audio file or a picture. Their uniqueness allows the to be “one of a kind” and therefore, it can’t be easily reproduced. Imagine it a bit like a piece of art in a digital form that can’t be replicated. Instead of having the original version of an Edward Hopper painting hanging in your living room, you have a digital file of a picture stored on a blockchain ledger that has your name on it. And just like that painting in your living room, you can trade or sell your digital file as you wish.
The article goes into depth on how NFT creators and artists are working with third-party sellers and directly with nonprofit organizations to provide fundraising opportunities for organizations. In a way, it makes sense, if you have an NFT artist that has a personal connection to a nonprofit, using such an artist to help auction off an NFT could be a beneficial relationship, just as if the individual was buying a piece of art.
But as the article goes on, it’s clear that the easiest (perhaps maybe the only?) way to purchase the NFTs is through….you guessed it….cryptocurrency. One particular anecdote in the story stated how one such NFT sale garnered 235 ETH (Ethereum, a type of cryptocurrency), worth roughly about $630,000. Not a bad day at the office.
But just like the issues we talked about this week, the same issues remain. Is the NFT artist trustworthy? How about the third-party sellers? How can we be sure we are auctioning off a real NFT and not some type of scam? Plus, once the sale occurs, what do we do with the proceeds? Keep the cryptocurrency as a speculative asset or immediate transfer it to cash?
These are all important issue that fundraisers and non-profit leaders need to think about when the flashy world of non-fungible transfer and cryptocurrencies start taking over our conversations.
The World’s View of American Philanthropy
This week I was drawn to this recent article in the on the UK Time News website. Noticeably, the article is fairly glum as it reports how there are some metrics that is showing that Americans are falling more and more into less than desirable behaviors. For example, such activities as driving under the influence, not wearing a seatbelt and speeding are all having negative impacts on society. And yes, even I’ll admit that during the early days of the pandemic, having fairly open roads led to myself getting a bit more of a lead-foot.
Most troubling in the article was this paragraph:
As Americans’ hostility towards each other seems to increase, their attention to each other seems to decrease. A study from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University found that the share of Americans giving to charity is steadily declining. In 2000, 66.2 percent of households donated to charity. But in 2018, only 49.6% did so. The share given to religious causes has decreased, as has attendance at worship service. But the share of households who gave to secular causes also hit a new low, 42%, in 2018.
It’s sad to see that fewer and fewer people are giving to charitable causes. My educated guess is that these causes never stopped serving the people that need help. Also I don’t believe that these causes no longer need assistance; every nonprofit needs champions in their community that will advocate and give for the good that they are doing. And notice, these numbers came about BEFORE the pandemic. The trends before Covid-19 were not hopeful.
Maybe what we need aren’t so much champions for our own individual causes, but we need champions for philanthropy in general. It’s unfortunate that too many times, we equate philanthropy as the exclusive domain of the ultra-wealthy, when in reality, anyone can exercise philanthropy. Anyone can cheerfully give to those causes that hold meaning for themselves and their neighbors.
At it’s root, philanthropy is an exercise in responsibility. Through giving to those groups that help others, we are taking care of our families, our neighbors and our communities. We are doing something more than simply looking out for our own best interest and we are putting the interests of others first, which has always been a bedrock value of our communities (and I dare say, our country) though it has rarely been articulated.
I know as a fundraiser, my challenge isn’t always to get someone to give to my cause, my challenge is to get someone to give to any cause. If I can create a non-donor into a donor for my organization, that’s great; but when I can create a non-donor into a donor for any organization, that’s good. And it’s the good work I am interested in doing.
The Feminine Power of Philanthropy
This was a fascinating article that was recently posted on the South China Morning Post website. The piece has focused on the fact that as the number of high-wealth women have increased (the number of women billionaires have grown by 36% of the last year), how women are interacting with philanthropy is also changing.
While the piece didn’t cite any empirical data, the author stated that women are using a more empathetic approach to philanthropy, are seeing new gaps in service provision and are creating new non-profits to help marginalized populations.
All of which are facts that I don’t doubt to be true.
But, one of the most interesting aspects of the nonprofit and philanthropic world is that it is one of the most gender-diverse lines of work that I have worked in. Previously, I worked in local government, and while there were some women in department head level positions, it was still standard-brand acceptance to see women in more of the administrative roles, while men were largely in positions that called the shots. Even the governing boards of these local governments, were largely dominated by male voices.
But the non-profit and philanthropic world is a little different. In the circles I run in now, most non-profits are run by women and many of the fundraisers I know are women as well.
We are pretty lucky that we do work in a pretty diverse industry (I will be first to admit racial diversity does need some serious attention!) and I’ll be the first to admit, working in an industry with women has made me work on my own personal skills of empathy and patience. It’s not a stretch to say that this industry has made me a better person.
Now Hiring!
Our good friends at the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University are hiring for three positions. You can learn more at this website posting here! I bring this up, because I have seen the value first hand of the Lilly School as a student in their professional development programs and have gotten to know many of the instructors, professors and staff members. They are a high quality group.
Also, the Northern Illinois Food Bank is looking for an Innovation Manager. Take a look at the position description here!
Is your New Year Resolution to Learn Something New?
If your New Year Resolution was to sharpen your skills and meet new professionals in the field, I would encourage you to look at some of the offerings of The Fund Raising School at the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University’s campus in Indianapolis. The professional development school has great programming both on-line and in-person both in Indianapolis and at other sites across the country. Take a look at their course offerings here!
An Excerpt from the “Tools, Tips and Tricks” Newsletter
The Pinnacle Solutions, “Tips, Tools and Tricks” newsletter comes out every Tuesday and is available for a paid subscription for as little as $7/month. Here is an excerpt from our last version: Don’t forget, those that sign up for a paid subscription will receive a free gift that you will enjoy!
This week our paid newsletter continued to dive into the topic of what are the different voices we need to have around the table when we are looking at our programs and missions and whether we can determine whether or not our work and our teams are operating at a good clip.
One of the best tools to get input is to use surveys. SurveyMonkey, is a basic online tool that can not allow you to create online surveys, but the program can also be used as a solid repository for any written/hard copy surveys that you use.
With survey development, it’s important to remember a couple of things. Surveys definitely need to be created to not only meet the needs of the one asking the questions, but it needs to be crafted where individuals will actually answer the questions. Asking a few good questions and in an easy to use format will yield more and better responses.
A Quick Note of Thanks!
Thank you readers! I am not sure how it happened, but ever since the first of the year, this newsletter has taken off, subscriber growth has more than doubled this past month! And many of you have reached out to me and it’s amazing to see that this newsletter has readers in Canada, Italy, Kenya and all over the United States. To say that we have an international newsletter, is not an exaggeration!
I know many of you have shared this with your friends and colleagues and I am very grateful. Thank you!
Other Ways to Connect
Our coaching practice has openings starting here in 2022. If you are interested in working with me to get your nonprofit organization on a track to achieve the big missions you have for your organization, please reach out to me at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.
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