Mother Teresa has been quoted as saying “Don’t wait for institutions, do it alone, person to person.” We often think we have to convince entire organizations or sectors to change their attitudes first, or wait until they do. Business, the govt. and charities have been doing the same things the same way for so long and are so self-centric they have trouble waking up to what the public is saying and wanting. But we see how the mindset of consumers is forcing business to adopt socially responsible attitudes. Charities may come around next and government will likely be the last to change.

 I’ve found in 15 years of researching civic and social entrepreneurs that the fastest change (and might I add that it’s a trend grossly unreported in the media) comes from one person stepping out and engaging others who want to get involved in a social issue. Most people have had enough resistence from nonprofit, govt. and corporate cultures that they get discouraged there. That doesn’t mean that one person inside an organization who has the right connections and influence and who “gets it” can’t help change the culture. But often times it’s just too much work or very slow. I’ve worked in all three sectors so I can appreciate the hurdles.

  When I did book research for The Power of One: The Unsung Everyday Heroes Rescuing America’s Cities, I found that the key ingredient in solving a given social problem was that one person, not aligned with any organization, and who had an idea, identified and networked on the outside with individuals who were part of existing organizations. Those “insiders” worked outside to help establish the new cause. When the new organization realized positive results and made an impact in the community, the old organizations got on board and contributed or changed their focus in some way. They were motivated to be part of “what’s working”. The civic/social entrepreneurs decided that the issues were too important to wait around for old groups to see the need. The lesson for me was that we as individuals, who see the need, must do our part first. It’s risky, however persistence towards a good cause will make change happen, then become popular, and finally engage others who have a fear of missing out.

Some days I just ask myself if I’ve time-warped to another dimension.

 Last year in April, the concept of the “paid” volunteer was given a huge booster-shot by the Congress.

 Even though, volunteerism as a percentage of the US population was at its peak this past year, we passed a federal law, the SERVE Act (in memory of Sen. Kennedy) expanding the not-so-effective AmeriCorps program, already a questionable one as to who it is that really benefits from it. That program will cost taxpayers $5.7 billion over the 2010-2014 period to pay everyday people to volunteer for various cherry picked federal programs. (Are these counted in the employment statistics?)

 I think we’ve reached a new low in this nation when we feel we have to change a word’s definition to fit one’s political agenda. “Paid Volunteer”. Isn’t this an oxymoron? If a program is worth doing, people will show up to help it grow. If Congress feels that it just has to spend more tax dollars, take a fraction of the money designated to pay the “volunteers” and divert it to advertising on Facebook for real volunteer - “volunteers”. Or better yet, use VolunteerMatch.com for free to advertise. Then, if paid volunteering wasn’t enough to show how desperate legislators can be to justify the expansion of a program, there is also a push to mandate young people to engage in paid volunteer service for the federal govt. to support various pet programs. So, where will bureaucracy end and to what ends will it go to fuel its addiction-to-expansion?

Butchering and manipulating the English language to diminish the value of real altruistic work that volunteers do goes against everything I was taught in grad school, as a youth, and as a researcher-writer of America’s most successful volunteers. Reinventing the definition to further a political agenda is really very sad. But we’re seeing it more and more. And mandating volunteering is even sadder especially when the first definition of “volunteer” (as it states in Webster’s) is “a person who chooses freely to do or offer to do something; even the forth specifically states that it’s “a person who chooses freely to enter into any transaction with no promise of compensation.”

 If the definition is ultimately changed to include paid and, eventually, mandatory volunteering, then haven’t we, in fact, negated the real meaning of the “volunteer”? I pray that if that happens that it doesn’t diminish the real altruistic work of those who have sacrificed personal lives, 401Ks, 6-figures incomes, and more to help those they don’t even know. But, alas, I’m skeptical that it won’t. And our “leaders” should know better. But, remember, being a legislator was once a volunteer position, too.

I think I’ve experienced the economy every which way that one individual can this year. Not only is the house we left up north three years ago still for sale, but its worth considerably less right now than we paid for it. My husband is the city manager in a Central Florida city that’s undergoing a shrinking revenue picture. And as if there weren’t enough challenges knocking, I’m in the process of selling a nonprofit concept, the NICENetwork, to donors who may be unwilling to risk dollars on a brand new idea. 

As an advocate for human service nonprofits across the country, I really can’t stay in my “pity party” very long, though. The impact of the economic downturn, the Madoff scheme, and a foundation environment making it tougher for nonprofits to compete has been a bit unsettling for the industry. That’s especially true when the people that these initiatives are serving are the ones most in need of our help in this economy. (Most agree that giving was down in 2009 across the board and that human service initiatives were hit the hardest.)

Presuming you may be sympathetic to this plight, how do “we” get the word out to the public on a topic that gets such little press? Philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, or the “invisible hand”, as some call it, needs a visiblity campaign. Most philanthropists, other than Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, shun the spotlight which keeps the topic low-key. While I may not agree on some issues with these two mega-donors, I’m glad they’re coming out and challenging others with big bucks to make a statement with their wealth. For the rest of us who are weathering this economy as best we can right now and wish we could give more, we can give needed visibility to causes by being the ones to pitch in as volunteers, share resources from our businesses, tell others, and support local groups with what remaining dollars we do have.  

This is a 2 minute quick overview of the NICENetwork. This is  our video for the Pepsi Refresh America Contest. We’ll announce when we’re approved for voting. Enjoy!

This past Saturday I had the privilege of working as a volunteer for LASER (Lake and Sumter Emergency Recovery) here in Eustis, FL. It was a moving experience to see so many people come out for 3 days and pack 200,000 meals to send on to Haiti within just days of the quake. The effort was soo fast and so well coordinated it required just a few staff members and volunteers organized on a food line in a parking lot. The man in this video and his wife, from the nearby town of Leesburgh, both lost several family members in Haiti. I can’t even imagine standing there and speaking after such a loss, but this man came to work and then took time to thank us. It left everyone feeling a direct connection to the loss and glad they came.

I encountered LASER and its founder Michael Tart only six weeks after Paul (the new city manager at the time) and I moved to Eustis in 2007. A tornado hit the town and devastated dozens of homes. Were it not for the rapid response of volunteers organized through this organization, the disaster victims would have been floundering for weeks. Instead, churches and other groups were organized for a major cleanup and home/yard repair that had most people relocated and treated within days. There were no deaths but a few families were displaced for months.

It’s amazing to live in a town that while deeply impacted by the recession that people were moved to come out and help others they don’t know and who live so far away. As I’ve always said, our communities aren’t dying, they’re thriving with evidence of hands-on democracy… the kind that doesn’t cost taxpayers anything and spotlights compassion. Now we just have to figure out how to teach Washington to replicate that.

In light of the Haiti earthquake, I wanted to revisit a podcast interview of CW Weaver … a man who’s walked away from seven car wrecks and now gives his wealth and time to the less fortunate. He went on several trips to help clean up in Biloxi after Katrina and is now giving a significant percentage of his income to help kids and launch an orphanage in Vietnam.

I met CW Weaver a few years ago at a business conference. He had an intriguing story about working in Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina. What came before that event was his personal story about surviving and walking away from 7 car accidents throughout the course of his life. If I had more time, I’d probably suggest helping him with a book.

One day, CW looked back on his life’s story, after writing it down, amazed at what he’d been through. He figured he must be here for a reason and began to look around  at what he could do to give back. CW is a wealthy man today thanks to his great attitude and sales skills. He’s donated a lot of his time and money to helping kids, disaster survivors and more. I’ve added the podcast interview of him that I did for VoiceAmerica back in 2007.

You can connect with CW on his website
www.MyGeneWize.com/CW, Linkedin and other social networking sites.

Podcast of Brian Tom, founder of Blind Start of America

Brian Tom bills himself as “America’s Visionary Speaker”. Nothing too unusual about a motivational speaker employing the work “visionary” except when he’s blind. I  can attest to the fact that Brian has that kind of vision and he’s motivated. He is perhaps one of the most  engaging people you’ll want to meet. His story would defy his attitude though. If you had the world at your feet, studying at UCLA at age 20 and then suddenly found out your sight was going due to glaucoma, how might you respond? How would anyone? How could life look fifteen or twenty years down the road? Brian’s looks good today thanks to his winning attitude.

This podcast is an interview I had with him last week and I’m happy to say that I’ll be working more with Brian and BlindStart in the future in conjunction with the NICENetwork. By the way, Brian is meeting with an official in Wash., D.C. this week to further his cause to help crack that 1% statistic of blind persons who own homes in America. Way to go Brian!  http://BlindStart.org.

Congratulations Reverend Herbert Lusk on 20 Years of “People for People” Success!

Listen to my interview of Herb in the podcast, below this post.

People for People of Philadelphia

In 1989, Herbert Lusk was fresh out of the Philadelphia seminary environment. The All American “praying” running back had stepped aside from the NFL after only three years with the Eagles. Herb felt a unique call… and he possessed a strong vision to help people that went beyond the wow of the crowd.

In 1989, North Central Philadelphia, one of America’s most distressed urban neighborhoods, was plagued by a vicious cycle of poverty. Over half the residents from the entirely African-American community were single parents living in rental housing. Low job skills and education levels, welfare dependency, drugs, crime, and gangs were commonplace. Without drastic measures, the future would be bleak for those born in a place they couldn’t escape.

While not his first choice for a mission field, Herb was asked to fill in on Sunday at a once thriving, but dying church. The Greater Exodus Baptist Church had a eighteen attendees, a leaky roof, and a big mortgage. Herb could see the need was great. He jumped into the project to develop a neighborhood mission in the midst of hopelessness. He found a way to spur economic development. He negotiated with UPS and other corporations to provide jobs in North Central Philly. He bridged the educational divide with a charter school. And, his nonprofit attached to the mission, People for People, began to offer computer courses to help those on welfare so they could be competitive in the workplace.

Today, PFP does all that and more. It provides a welcoming place for parents and children healthy for spiritual, mental, and physical growth. Herb launched it entirely from scratch. With nothing but business cards in hand from his NFL days. A promise of loyal support from his former coach, Andy Reid, Herb was off and running. Today, Herb has scored many personal touchdowns by turning thousands of lives around. The Eagles and coach Dick Vermeil continue to proudly support the staff and Herb’s big vision for PFP.

I interviewed Herb in 2007 on my former radio show with VoiceAmerica. I decided not to let a good interview lie around in the digital archives. You’ll be impressed by his humble demeanor. Herb is forever inspiring others and has added to his list a campaign for Africa. Thanks Herb for your unselfish love for others.

You can also read more of Herb’s amazing story in my book, The Power of One: The Unsung Everyday Heroes Rescuing America’s Cities, Trafford Press.

In Honor of the 20th Anniversary of People for People and founder, CEO - Reverend Herbert Lusk

Interview (by me) of Rev. Lusk, former NFL running back for the Philadelphia Eagles, now the CEO of People for People and senior pastor of the Greater Exodus Baptist Church, Philadelphia PA. Repodcast, in part, from the VoiceAmerica.com - “The Power of One: What’s Your Mission?” radio show (2007) - approx. 15 minutes.

Every nonprofit ought to be a part of this program. YouTube has added ‘invisible annotation” just for nonprofits for any videos they create (as long as they join the program). Clickable links for donating to external URLs within the video is a first! The Case Foundation’s “Gear Up for Giving” video tells all about it. So cool!

I keep running into this phrase … and I have to admit I see lots of nonprofits who are slow to develop a comfort zone with social media. When I was doing research for The Power of One I was amazed, though, at how many already had their .org site up and running in the mid-nineties. So why is it that they’re not grabbing for free exposure on SM? I’m really curious about this … here are my first thoughts why they might be but maybe I’m way off. Tell me I’m wrong or give me your honest input … PLEAZ!

• Feel you have no time to invest in learning about it
• Can’t afford the right smart phone
• Intimidated by the jargon of Twitter.
• Not sure what to Tweet or share on Facebook
• No one to delegate the SM task to
• Not sure how to use video or other technology
• SM choices overload
• Think you need a high-end coach to tell you how to use it

How can you raise $200,000 for your cause with social media? Is your cause a “late adopter” of social media? Beth Kanter admits it’s a bit of trial and error to build support and warns causes new to SM not to go big right away.  But if you’re passionate enough about what you’re doing, you’ll find a way to make SM work for you. This is a 38-minute video interspersed with Beth’s experience winning a $50,000 prize for building the largest donor base on top of all the regular donors she attracted for Cambodia children. But throughout she offers terrific snipits of ideas, web sites, things any cause can do. She says she stays energized knowing she’s sent several kids to college who would otherwise be selling vegetables on the street corner.

A word of caution, Beth gets a bit “expletive deleted” in a few of her comments. She also reminds that most nonprofits are not this up to speed. However the video was created in late 2008 so I know more of you are taking on social media in everyday life. If not, there’s no better time to take those baby steps. Who knows where they might lead?