Archive for July, 2010

Albany Dysfunction: Is Change Possible?

Philanthropy New York recently held a members briefing (sponsored by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The New York Community Trust, and The Clark Foundation) focusing on the current climate in the New York State legislature, how it affects the work of the nonprofit sector, and how funders and advocates can work together to produce change in Albany. We are pleased to have one of the program’s presenters, Dick Dadey, Executive Director of the Citizens Union of the City of New York, provide us with a recap.

Citizens Union Foundation participated in a thought-provoking session on July 20th at Philanthropy New York in which the impact of New York State government’s dysfunction on the nonprofit community was discussed. The conversation established the connection between the need for systemic reform and the desire of nonprofits to see their issues addressed more openly and the funding for the services they provide decided more impartially. The back-and-forth between the panel and the attendees opened the door for foundations to understand why change in Albany is not only needed but also possible, so that the nonprofits they fund can work more effectively and efficiently.
Continue reading…

Don’t Forget the Small Guys

By Miguel Bonilla
Director of Strengthening New York City Nonprofits
United Way of New York City

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how much nonprofits touch people’s lives.

Reflecting on the ways my life has been touched by nonprofits, I realize I would be very different without them. I remember getting bags of canned food and warm jackets at our church from kids not much older than myself; I remember making smores during a Boy Scout camping trip; and I remember making pens filled with shredded money to learn about entrepreneurship from Junior Achievement. In college, I was active in Amnesty International and eventually earned a graduate scholarship through the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship.

Each one of these organizations provided me with life-changing opportunities that might not have been available to the son of poor farm-raised immigrants from Puerto Rico and Mexico. Each organization was also a big risk for someone to start and to support financially.
Continue reading…

Finding the Right Balance: Thoughts on Advocacy and Direct Service Funding from Ashley Blanchard

On June 10th, Philanthropy New York held a panel discussion to help funders consider how to strike their own balance between direct services and advocacy in a way that best matches their goals and achieves the greatest impact. We are pleased to have the session’s moderator, Ashley Blanchard, Senior Consultant at TCC Group, share her thoughts with Smart Assets.

As a strategic consultant to foundations, I work with clients to help them clarify what they want to achieve, and how they plan to achieve it. Among the strategies we typically discuss are advocacy and direct services. To some clients, the idea of advocacy is unappealing—it connotes protests and raises IRS concerns. For others, direct services seem too “simple,” merely plugging a hole when the core of the social problem remains unchanged. All too often, these strategies are seen to represent opposing values: you either fundamentally believe in advocacy or direct services, but certainly not both.
Continue reading…

What BP Won’t Be Paying For—and How You Can Help

Penny Fujiko Willgerodt

By Penny Fujiko Willgerodt
Executive Director, Prospect Hill Foundation

(This post originally appeared in OnEarth Magazine on June 11, 2010 and is reprinted with permission.)

We at the Gulf Coast Fund have noticed people asking why they should support nonprofit organizations responding to the BP oil drilling disaster when, as they say, “Isn’t BP supposed to be paying for this mess?”

Yes. BP should and will pay. There is no way of knowing when and how. (Exxon-Valdez is a case in point. Exxon/Mobil has still paid only a fraction of what they had promised.)

But one thing we do know is that what BP will eventually pay will in no way address the full costs of this disaster.
Continue reading…


About Our Blog

This is a forum for Philanthropy New York members to discuss issues affecting our sector and the practice of philanthropy.

Subscribe To Our Blog

Share This

Bookmark and Share

Categories

 

July 2010
M T W T F S S
« Jun   Aug »
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.