The Nonprofit Schmoozefest is
Seattle's Nonprofit Networking Event
At the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. Plan to attend next time

"We welcome people of all races and backgrounds to our programs;" she continued, "we want to bring the artistry and intellectualism of African-Americans to audiences citywide."

For a schedule of upcoming offerings, visit the Forum's website at http://www.cdforum.org/ .

"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
 

December 10, 2002

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

November 20, 2002

Frank Chopp represents the 43rd Legislative District in the House of Representatives and is Speaker of the House.  He is also the president of the Fremont Public Association.  He spent his time at the Schmoozefest recounting success stories of good work he has seen nonprofit do and answering questions about every sort of issue from the lively group of nonprofit people who attended that evening.

The Nonprofit Schmoozefest is
Seattle's Nonprofit Networking Event
At the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. Plan to attend next time
 

November 19, 2002

When you look more closely, though, the kinds of organizations that are called NPOs have only a limited amount of overlap with the "nonprofit sector" in the United States. It has been possible to created such organizations for less than 15 years, and the full body of necessary regulations and laws has not yet been published.  Many social service organizations have chosen to register as small businesses rather than try to work through the problems connected with recognition as nonprofits.  Because small businesses generally have not had to pay taxes, and are relatively easy to form, this approach works well for community activists.  But it creates challenges for people, like Put Barber's hosts the China NPO Network, who are working to develop a strong and effective nonprofit sector to serve the communities of China.

Put Barber's  trip to Beijing was part of a campaign the China NPO Network has undertaken to create an accountability system for Chinese nonprofits.  The leaders of the network fear that the nonprofit form will be exploited by people with shabby motives and want to put in place ways for donors, community members and the government to identify with confidence organizations that are committed to helping communities. The two days of talks in September brought together leaders of significant NPOs, academic researchers who have been studying the emergence of a nonprofit sector in China, and representatives from the key government agencies.

"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
 

November 12, 2002

Bill Grace, founder and Executive Director of the Center for Ethical Leadership, responded to the attendees' preference with a few words about morality and ethics. He then turned to how they're reflected in our lives, especially recently, and the gap.

If morality is a territory, an island seen only in many subtle grays, ethics are the tools we use to navigate and explore that island. Ethics are all about behavior. That's why he suggested that a look at his calendar and checkbook would be a good way for someone to check his ethics.

"Human" is from the same root as "humility," Bill Grace said, and he spoke with humility about the gap between who he intends to be and who he ends up being, usually by noon everyday. He also spoke with conviction about how naming that gap is an act of leadership, and, in a civic sense, an act of patriotism.

Intent on modeling moral courage, he gently alerted attendees that he was going "out on a limb" several times. When will America ever have the courage to turn 9/11 into a window on the world's pain, a world in which three-fifths of the world goes to bed hungry ever night? How much security can we expect in a world that is so grossly unjust?

Believing there's a universal morality, Bill Grace encourages others to see the moral territory he sees. There's a 75% probability that a black man with a learning disability will be incarcerated, he said, and that's a moral problem. National security and easy access to goods seem to be this country's foreign policy values. What if they were human rights, democracy and environmental stewardship?

Bill Grace believes in creating environments where we can feel safer, environments that help us to be morally courageous. That, too, was modeled at the end of the luncheon when participants partnered to discuss two questions: What is a gap that really exists in your institution, and if you were to challenge your institution about that gap, how could you point toward hope?

Dr. Bill Grace is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Ethical Leadership and recipient of a 1998 Evergreen Award for outstanding contributions to Washington State.

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

October 24, 2002

Schmoozefest. "When good people get together, good things happen" was the explanation Dan Kessler of Idealist.org gsve for his enthusiasm for the Nonprofit Schmoozefest.  Dan was the coordinator of the project for a while, before his job with Idealist took him to Philadelphia.

He was in Seattle again as part of the team pulling together an Idealist Career Fair at Seattle Central Community College on October 25.  (Idealist organizes Career Fairs throughout the year in many communities; for more information, visit the Idealist website).

He and his colleagues had some advice for job seekers with an interest in careers in public service:

• If you have other sorts of experience (especially in business), don't expect to be able to translate it into nonprofit-related job skills instantly; show the people who might hire you how you have been studying to adapt the high points of your resume to the nonprofit world.
• The job market for nonprofit careers is very fluid.  Be sure to ask potential employers about future openings and don't hesitate to contact an organization where you think you have a good fit every few months, just to see if something new has come up.

Brenna Langabeer a student at the Evans School of Public Affairs of the University of Washington made an appeal for the grant fund her "Teaching Philanthropy" class is creating to support organizations that serve immigrant and refuge populations.

Carol Walter, the Director of the Schmoozefest, presented its founder, Drew Tulchin, with "every schmoozer's essential accessory" (a business card case) as a farewell gift.  Drew is leaving Seattle to follow his work with Latin American microcredit organizations to Boston.

The Nonprofit Schmoozefest is
Seattle's Nonprofit Networking Event
At the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. Plan to attend next time
 

October 15, 2002

The book is available through its publisher's website: http://www.civitaspress.com/.

"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
 

October 8, 2002

• Sign up for good email (or fax) legislative alerts on the subject you care about.  Organizations active in the field can tell you how to do this; they often provide legislative alerts of their own.
• Learn how to use the telephone -- especially Washington's Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000.  At that number, trained operators will take your message for your representatives in the Legislature or for the Governor
• Offer other people ways to get involved themselves that are easy, that just "take five" minutes but can have a real impact.  Don't just say "Please do something."  Offer envelopes with stamps on them, the addresses of the key legislators or other officials, clear information about the bill numbers or other ways to identify the issue, and a direct statement (maybe based on an action alert) of what you want your new allies to ask for
• At every public forum or other setting where it might have an impact, wear a conspicuous button or badge that identifies you with a clear position on the issue (not your name, or the name of some organization, but a statement about what you want done)

"Advocacy," she began by saying, "just means speaking up.  We in America prize our freedom of speech, and we have a long tradition of vigorous political activity.  In spite of those deep values, though, there are many people who think that, for some reason, nonprofit organizations can't be advocates, can't speak up for the causes they work on and care about, can't lobby. It's just not true."

"There are some limitations in the tax code that limit how much lobbying nonprofits can do.  And getting involved in an election is simply prohibited.  But the real point of the limits in the tax code is to make it perfectly clear that any lobbying activities that are within those limits are completely ok Plus, once you look at the regulations, you'll see that "lobbying" is a special form of speaking up, one that is very narrowly defined.  It would be hard for most organizations to do enough lobbying to bump up against the limits in any but the most unusual circumstances."

She suggested Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest as a good website with lots of information for nonprofit boards and staff about the subject.  See http://www.clpi.org.  She also mentioned the Alliance for Justice (http://www.afj.org) as the source of many helpful publications for organizations that want to be sure they understand and follow the rules completely.

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