Additional Questions…

Before this class began I had thought we were going to be focusing on tax forms and the logistics of starting and running a nonprofit.  Once the class began I realized that we were not going to be talking about those types of things at all, which I think has been a good thing.  Before this class the only interaction I have had with nonprofits had been through volunteering for them, but now I see the bigger picture.  I am more aware of the history of some of the nonprofits that we have talked about in class and think that those discussions have contributed to my new interest in donating more of my time to nonprofits.  Because the class turned out to be something I was not expecting, which I think goes for a lot of other people in class, I feel that I have learned so much more because I was not expecting to learn about it.  Even though we did not talk so much about tax forms and logistics, we did become familiar with resources that can help us do it ourselves.

Important…What I’ve Learned

Now that this semester and this class is coming to an end I think the most important thing that I have learned through this class has to be the scale of the nonprofit sector.  Before our discussions and research for blogs I was not aware of how prominent the nonprofit sector is, especially in our society.  I definitely think that without our nonprofit sector, we would have a lot of injustice and corruption in our society, I think it is the good people of these nonprofits that help keep our society just and functioning.  Our government and business sectors are apparently not capable of handling the obstacles and struggles of the population in this country, and it is because of the nonprofit sector that we are able to function and sustain.  I am grateful for the nonprofit sector and hope to get more involved in nonprofits as I get older and am more able to donate more of my money, and more importantly, my time.

The Cohen Report

It was pretty easy to find blogs dealing with the nonprofit sector and philanthropy.  I found ‘The Cohen Report,’ which is a web publication by The Nonprofit Quarterly.  It is pretty easy to navigate through, with category listings and dates on the right-hand side.  I am under the impression that all of the blogs are written by Rick Cohen, who is The Nonprofit Quarterly’s national correspondent.  Like any other blog, he writes about interesting and important topics and if you are inspired to, you can post a comment.  Check out Rick’s blog by going to

http://nonprofit.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=nonprofit&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nonprofitquarterly.org%2Fcohenreport%2F

Kenya and Serbia

The biggest similarity between these two country presentations was the fact that we had people in class that were from these countries.  I thought this gave us, and the other group, an advantage.  It allowed us to hear more about what is going on today that we would not have necessarily heard if they were not presenting on these topics.  Also, I think we got a more in depth history of these countries solely because the two individuals were so familiar with these places.  Another similarity between these two countries is the fact that they were both colonized. 

Today in Serbia the government feels that it does not need to cooperate with the civil society.  In Kenya, the majority of volunteers and funds come from individuals, so the government is not very involved there either.  I think this is the same in the U.S. too, simply because of the whole tax thing and the stipulations that come with being a 501 (c) organization.

Article: “Survey: Donors Plan To Give This Holiday Season”

I wanted to do something different so I decided to look at an article instead of commenting on someone else’s blog.  I found the NonProfit Times!  How cool, check it out!  An article I found within the compilation of articles was about donors this holiday season (again a reoccurring topic).  All in all, women plan to donate more than men, 54% to 48%.  This figure happens to correspond with the fact that women generally volunteer more often within the nonprofit sector.  A cool thing that I found was that people planned on donating online (maybe on Oxfam America Unwrapped, hint hint, look at my last EL blog posting).  Among those donating online, a large majority of them were of the ages of 18 to 34, maybe because a HUGE portion of us are already online anyways.  Surprisingly, “46% of the group who said their financial situation became substantially worse during the past 12 months still plan to donate online this holiday season.”  So according to this, despite the economic situation of the country, people still plan to donate this holiday season.  AWESOME!  I know we talked about the nonprofit sector struggling because of the economy, but this article gives hope.  The figures, I am assuming are only assumptions, but if people want to help, maybe if they cannot help by donating money, they can donate their time by volunteering instead.  Check out the article, the URL is below.  

http://www.nptimes.com/08Oct/news-081027-1.html

EL #8 – Oxfam America Unwrapped

The mention of the holiday season has shown up a lot in my blog postings, so I thought I would continue to follow that theme while including my organization, Oxfam America.  While writing my organization paper, I came across Oxfam America Unwrapped.  This group has an online “catalogue” that has a variety of “gifts” ranging from a school uniform to a goat.  A donor, or buyer, “purchases” a gift for the amount of money stated and the funds go to projects Oxfam is working on.  All of the ”gifts,” “symbolically represent our work.”  “The items selected represent project goals from grants disbursed by our seven offices around the world.”  So you are not really buying a school uniform or a goat, it is just a symbol.  The funds are allotted to projects and areas of the world that are most in need.  I thought this was a great way for Oxfam to raise awareness and funds in an interesting way. 

In addition to purchasing the items and giving your funds to the organization, a card is sent to a person of your choice.  Basically, you have the opportunity to buy an item and donate your money in their name.  I think this could be a cool way to “give” gifts at Christmas time.  Think about it, you could “buy” children’s toys or water jugs, well theoretically, and help Oxfam aid people around the world this holiday season, AND you can give that gift in honor of a person close to you.  It is a win-win idea for gift giving this season.  Think about it and visit their website.

oxfamamericaunwrapped.com

EL #7 – Emmaus Ministries

Considering it is the holiday season and we have been discussing nonprofits for the last three months I wanted to get involved in something that would allow me to give back to my community.  I have been thinking about volunteering at one of the local soup kitchens in my hometown area and had remembered my experience helping at one in the past.  While in high school we were required to complete about twenty-five service hours each year.  One year I asked a teacher, who happened to be a Benedictine Sister, if she had any suggestions as to where I could volunteer, she suggested that I volunteer with a fellow classmate at the Emmaus Soup Kitchen in Erie, PA.  The Emmaus Soup Kitchen is a part of the Emmaus Ministries which happens to be operated by the Benedictine Sisters of Erie.  Emmaus Ministries has been operating for over thirty years and the soup kitchen “serves 1,000 hot meals each week and its food pantry distributes 30,000 food bags per year.” 

I remember the couple of times that I helped at the soup kitchen.  A friend and I went to the dining hall a while after school let out and started getting the dinner ready.  We got ready and people started coming in the doors.  A lot of emotions ran over me, I was happy and sad all in one.  Happy because I was helping and I felt good about myself, and sad because I felt like I should do more to help.  One person I will ALWAYS remember was this little old lady, she spoke broken English but you could understand her through her eyes.  She would always call my friend and me “princesses” because we were helping her by giving her food.  She would also call the sisters “queens” because they helped too.  The few nights I was there she came and sat in the same chair and always left with a smile on her face. 

I will be contacting my old teacher and hope that there will be a spot for me to help at the dining hall over the Thanksgiving break.  I hope all of you are inspired to do something this holiday season to give back too.  Some things you all could do or look into in this area -

volunteerfairfax.org

nvfs.org (this is Northern Virginia Family Service and they have toy and food drives from November to December)

Free Pick; Comment on Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer

Wow, I guess not being told what to write about has left me blank about what to post.  I have decided to look through other people’s blogs and just comment on something I found interesting.  I looked and found that Vera Bradley has a foundation set up geared towards breast cancer.  On Ditto624′s blog, it goes on to say that 10% of the net proceeds from the sale of products in the ‘Pinwheel Pink’ fabric pattern are donated to the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that Vera Bradley is involved in this effort, I’m sure my mom will be happy too (she loves Vera Bradley stuff).  Ditto624 also says that Ralph Lauren also does something like this with the sale of shirts.  I haven’t seen any of these shirts, but will be looking for them this holiday season.  I wonder what other products are out there that I haven’t discovered, I’m sure I’ll find more while shopping for Christmas presents.  You should all keep an eye out too!

Something Interesting (Amy)

I was very intrigued by Amy’s discussion of NDI and her job role.  She seems like a very motivated person to have done all the things she has.  I think that NDI’s work is very important and wish that more people were aware of it and the things they do; I wasn’t aware until she came in to speak.  The images we saw during her time in class and the things she talked about were so awful.  I was aware of the unrest in Africa, but it doesn’t hit you until you actually see the outcome of the violence and hear of first-hand accounts of the abuses.  I hope that NDI and other organizations will be able to help the people of Africa to obtain safety soon.  No one should have to live in that kind of fear.

Comment on “EL week 2 (blog #1) CoffeeKids.org for education and healthcare

I wanted to comment on this blog post because as of the last couple of months I have been drinking about 3 cups of coffee religiously every day.  I never really was a huge coffee drinker but as of late I feel like if I don’t have coffee in the morning I’m missing something throughout the day.  On their website it says, in large letters, “Coffee farmers earn as little as 4 cents a pound for the coffee they pick by hand.”  I am also starting to take an interest in where my foods are coming from and when I came across this blog post I looked at Coffee Kids’ website, I registered for their monthly e-news letter and hope to learn more over the next few months.

I read a little more and learned that 125 million people around the world depend solely on the money they make from coffee harvests.  It is depressing how people all over the world suffer in poverty because of the decisions people in other countries make.  I think it’s great and gives me hope that people are taking the initiative to help those who are in need of it.