A few years ago, I realized that my husband and I had everything we actually needed. So when the holidays came around, it was exhausting trying to think of things to buy that the other already didn’t have. Quite frankly, it seemed that we were buying for the sake of buying and really not epitomizing…
I often tell people that I have the best job in the world. In short, I get hired by companies to give away their money to charities (the next best job would be to be Oprah!). But in the world of Strategic Philanthropy I have to show companies, especially those here in south Florida, the…
My clients in south Florida always ask why they should care about employee volunteer programs or engage their workforce in their philanthropic efforts. The answer is simple. It will save your company millions of dollars. Seriously. A few months back, I watched a presentation by Bea Boccalandro, president of Vera Works, who shed light that…
Finding Mr. or Mrs. “Right” can be tough. So is finding the right company that wants a long-term relationship with your nonprofit. Similar to dating, there are a lot of “fish” out there and the nonprofit world is no different. There are 1.5 million nonprofits in the United States vying for the same grants, funds…
I’m always surprised with how people and businesses define philanthropy. With all the good that philanthropy does, it sometimes get a bad rap. During my seven years in the nonprofit world, I saw how it often times got associated with only big dollar contributions, the wealthy, political campaigns, fortune 500 companies and so on. But…
I was recently asked to speak at a young professionals’ group and give insight about serving on nonprofit boards. While we hope that everyone who gets involved with a charity has some type of personal passion in the cause, there is also nothing wrong with using the opportunity to get business from it. Let me…
So often I sit in meetings and listen to how companies did not have a good experience when they sponsored a charity event and then on the flip side, hear how nonprofits say that they wish the company had maximized their sponsorship opportunity more. To put it simply, companies are from Mars and nonprofits are…
Ah, the complex Millennial. The overly tolerate 20-35 year old, tech-savvy, pop culture obsessed generation. They play by different rules and often times, want to create their own. To many they are frustrating, especially in the work force, but they are an untapped market with big potential. More specifically, they are extremely socially conscious and…
I recently read an article in Fast Company titled “Meet The League Of Extraordinary Women: 60 Influencers Who Are Changing The World. These women are major players in the political, business, media, fashion and nonprofit world who are at the front lines pushing for companies to support women’s issues around the world. These sheros…
There has been a lot of buzz over the 2011 Giving USA Report and most of it has been good. We saw in increase in charitable giving by households, foundations and estates. While we’re still not where we were in 2007, an increase is an increase and we’ll take it at this stage in the…