Sept 25, 2002

The rest of his brief talk followed this outline:

• Because the work nonprofits do is important, it is important to do it well.  Accountability helps NPOs stay on track.
• And there are a few people who try to exploit nonprofit status for personal gain or other unsavory reasons.  Accountability helps to limit the damage they can do.
• Nonprofit accountability is difficult because of the great variety that exists among the large number of nonprofits.
• It is also difficult because of the central role gifts play in the success of nonprofits.  Because making a real gift means that the donor loses control of what happens, holding recipients to account is complicated.
• And there are still - even after 200 years of successful development of NPOs in the US - deep disagreements about what the goals of accountability should be.
• Nonprofits can help advance accountability by being fully accountable themselves - practicing openness and completeness in communications.
• They can also support organizations that work to improve accountability systems.
• And they can participate actively in discussion of how to make needed improvements.
• Expect more use of the Internet to make information about nonprofits more widely available.  Both information NPOs post themselves and observations by others.
• Expect more stringent and carefully specified accounting rules and disclosure requirements.
• Expect as well that the power of government agencies and watchdog organizations to punish misdeeds by nonprofits will become stronger.

He also circulated pictures taken during his trip to Beijing in September 2002.

The Nonprofit Schmoozefest is
Seattle's Nonprofit Networking Event
4th Wednesdays at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford

Sept 17, 2002

For Lester Salamon (see America's Nonprofit Sector: A Primer -- click on this link to order from Amazon.Com), the functions of the nonprofit sector are:

• Service provision
• Values guardian
• Advocacy and problem identification
• Community Building

In Partners, Not Rivals: Privatization and the Public Good (click on this link to order), Martha Minow sees nonprofits as:

• Vitalizing Civil Society
• A counterpoise against excessive public- or private-sector power
• A vehicle to build skills of self-government
• And inculcate habits of tolerance and civility
• A source of goods that the public and private sectors cannot or will not provide
• And of knowledge and cultural activities that private markets cannot sustain
• A resource to forge social bonds and defend liberties through service, advocacy and civic association
• And mattering because they achieve
• social provision of needed services
• freedom
• pluralism
• democracy
• division of labor
• accountability

Jan Van Til, in Growing Civil Society: From Nonprofit Sector to Third Space (this link goes to Amazon.Com to order the book), proposes that there are four (not three) sectors, giving attention to family and individual activities as well as organizations.  For him, the key role of nonprofits is to serve as an intermediary, bridging and linking across the boundaries between the sectors.

Robert Putnam's widely quoted observations appear in Making Democracy Work (this link will order) and Bowling Alone (this link will order).  In the former, he traces the strength of democratic institutions in some parts of Italy to the long tradition of civic association in those communities (which his research showed was lacking in other parts of the country where democratic practices were hard to establish and sustain).  In the later book, he assembles statistics suggesting a troubling decline in civic engagement in the US and ends by citing some limited evidence that "bonds of trust and generalized reciprocity" may be emerging from new forms of association in our society.

"Civil Society in Everyday Life" is
the topic of discussion at free monthly morning meetings
Plan to attend next time: 3rd Tuesdays in the Student Center at Seattle U

Aug 28, 2002

The positive things about networking, though, Cowan pointed out, include the opportunity to help many people connect with the people and opportunities they are looking for, the chance to meet and talk with a wide variety of people, and a comfortable way to develop your own career and interests.

Keys to successful networking include:

• Have business cards.  Even if you're looking for work.  Don't scribble on the backs of envelopes.
• Make a point of introducing yourself to the "big guys" in the room: elected officials, senior company officials, journalists and others.  Don't expect to talk for long, just make a positive contact with them.
• Touch base with your peers and people you already know, but don't talk only to them; introduce your acquaintances to each other when they haven't met
• Make sure to thank the staff and organizers.
• If you follow up with someone, make sure you do it in a way that will make it easy for them to welcome your next call as well.

The Nonprofit Schmoozefest is
Seattle's Nonprofit Networking Event
4th Wednesdays at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford

Aug. 13, 2002

1. Narrow and articulate your passion to focus your energies and others' advice.
2. Identify transferrable skills on a clear concise resume.
3. Acquire experience, knowledge and affiliations that can help you.

For resources on looking for a nonprofit job in the Seattle area,
see http://www.tess.org/pages/support2.html#jobs.

BrownBag Seminars
help people widen their horizons and learn about how nonprofits work.
Offered in cooperation with Antioch University Seattle at 2326 Sixth Avenue

July 29, 2002

July 26, 2002

July 24, 2002

July 16, 2002

June 18, 2002