It’s Friday, January 27th. The last Friday of January 2017! Time is moving quickly, and national events continue to churn in rather…dramatic…fashion. In times like these, it’s good to have consistency. Like the Friday Five.
Here are five items of interest from the nonprofit world this week:
1) NONPROFITS & THE WOMEN’S MARCH
This past Saturday, an estimated 2.5 million Americans marched in Washington D.C., L.A., New York, Seattle, Denver, and in cities across the nation (Los Angeles is estimated to have the largest number of marchers, with a whopping 750,000). Planned Parenthood, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and the NAACP, among other nonprofits, were closely involved in the planning phases of the march. What’s next for the organizations and marchers?
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2017/01/23/whither-resistance-worldwide-womens-march/
2) STUDENT DEBT: THE NEXT BIG CHALLENGE
Over 180,000 nonprofit employees in California carry some form of student debt, and the debt burden may be stopping many valuable potential employees from applying for nonprofit jobs (traditionally lower-paying) in the first place. There are some solutions, writes the Stanford Social Innovation Review, but many nonprofits aren’t even aware of them. In fact, the US Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is exclusively available to those who work in the nonprofit sector. Find out how to make your nonprofit a more appealing employer for those with student loan debt:
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/student_debt_an_opportunity_and_a_challenge_for_the_nonprofit_workforce
3) WHO LET THE DOGS OUT (TO SURF)?
Surf Dog Ricochet is the only service dog on the planet who provides adaptive therapy to the disabled and PTSD sufferers while surfing. She also recently broke the $500,000 milestone this past New Year’s Eve when her organization raised $7,000 for groups that help the disabled, special need children, animals with special needs, and veterans. Find out the four strategies your organization can learn from Ricochet’s success:
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2017/01/06/fundraising-strategies-surfing-dog-raises-half-million-charitable-funds/
4) GREAT IDEAS IN ART & PHILANTHROPY
Henry Bloch, one of the co-founders of H&R Bloch, was happy to donate 29 rare paintings to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. He didn’t expect to get full-sized digital replicas of every painting back from the Museum, and he was so delighted with their craftsmanship that he hung them on his walls. Bloch’s happy. The museum’s happy. Everyone in this news story is happy:
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2017/01/26/gifts-museum-donors-strange-effective/
5) BRIGHT SPOTS: ITALIAN NONPROFIT, AMERICAN ARTISTAmerican Artist Mark Bradford has plans—big ones. Bradford is teaming up with Rio Tera Dei Pensieri, a nonprofit based in Venice, Italy, to reintegrate former prisoners back into society by providing them with job opportunities. And he’s going to spend six years doing it. Rio Tera Dei Pernsieri and Bradford are calling the initiative “Process Collettivo.” Find out the specifics here:
https://www.artforum.com/news/id=66184
That’s it for the Friday Five. We’re off to find some consistency in an increasingly unsettled world. We hope you can find some, too!
In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and send your questions about the nonprofit world to info@b-alaw.com. We’ll be back next week!