Social Citizens & Chatting It Up With Allison Fine

Next week, the Chronicle of Philanthropy will host an online discussion on Tuesday, May 27, at 12noon Eastern time with Allison Fine, an expert on how charities can more effectively engage members of the millennial generation. Allison is the author of a new report sponsored by the Case Foundation called Social Citizens. Check out the Social Citizens paper and blog. I read the entire paper in one sitting, and was amazed at how well it explored the power that young people have in the digital age.

I also had the opportunity to see Allison in person at the Georgia Nonprofit Summit earlier this month, and she really knows her stuff. This is a photo I took of her explaining how Gen Y are natural social citizens.

Quote of the Day

"Don't let anyone speak for you, and don't rely on others to fight for you."
- Michelle Obama

Meet Diana Church: Changing the Landscape for Young Nonprofit Professionals in Louisville

Out of the thousands of people milling around the Council on Foundations Philanthropy Summit last month, I ran into Diana Church, a Perspectives reader who works at the C. E. and S. Foundation in Louisville, Kentucky. Meeting Diana was so great because she is really just a burst of energy and has a clear commitment to helping her nonprofit peers in her area. That's an exclusive picture I snapped of her at the Summit with my handy-dandy digital camera that goes everywhere with me now :)

Diana shared with me the exciting work she's been doing with Alina Prusak over at the Center for Nonprofit Excellence. They're starting a new chapter of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network in Louisville, and attracted 200 young leaders to their first event! Their goal is to engage the young nonprofit professionals in their city as well as the entire nonprofit community with this new group. They don't have a website yet, but check out their Google group!

The great thing that Diana told me that exemplifies the non-hierarchal mindset of the next generation is that she and Alina did not make themselves the formal leaders of YNPN Louisville. Instead, they pushed power to their peers and did not take the titles of President and VP, but let others take up that leadership. I'm excited about what Diana and Alina will do to transform the landscape for nonprofit leaders in their community. And I hope we cross paths again!

Here's more information if you would like to start a YNPN chapter in YOUR city.

Quote of the Day

"Good things happen to those who hustle."
- Anais Nin

Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants

Welcome to this week's carnival! It's a day late, but still fabulously full of posts & ideas that answer the questions, "It would be easier to work in nonprofits if..."

Christine H Mallette: "It would be easier to work for nonprofits if we were fiscally sound and only needed to make decisions based on does it fit our mission." (Christine works at Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance in Oregon.)

Adam Pieniazek thinks it would be easier if we knew how: You Can Change the World, But Do You Know How to?

Amy Kincaid at Fundraising Breakthroughs says we need to realize that Everyone is a Fundraiser

Jeremy Gregg at the Raiser's Razor urges us to think about Green Giving

Chuck Bean at the Nonprofit Roundtable Blog thinks we need to stop using the word 'sector': Raising Our Image: Part 1 (Don’t Say “Sector”)

Alison Byrne Fields guest posting at PhilanTopic thinks nonprofits (especially foundations) need to use more social media: Foundations and Social Media

I think it would be easier if we engaged the next generation more effectively. What could happen if we hired more 35-year old CEOs!

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NAACP Names New 35-Year Old CEO

The NAACP may have made one of their best strategic moves in recent years by hiring someone under 40 to lead the still relevant, but ailing civil rights organization. Benjamin Todd Jealous was named President/CEO of the NAACP this week. He is only 35 years old, the youngest leader to ever take the reins of the organization in its 99 years in existence. His appointment is not without controversy, as the NAACP's 64-member board was apparently quite divided, but he made the cut. Benjamin was most recently President of the Rosenberg Foundation- a private foundation supporting advocacy efforts to make significant improvements in the lives of California's working families and immigrants. He also served as Director of US Human Rights Program at Amnesty International.

I'm actually pretty excited to see where Benjamin will take us! As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution proclaims, the "new, young NAACP chief may bridge generation gap." Indeed, Benjamin says he will use his youth to his advantage in leading the organization (my bold emphasis):

Jealous said he will make financial stability a priority for the organization and plans to use his personal relationships with top foundations around the country to build fund-raising. He said he will also focus on supporting the NAACP's nearly 2,000 local units across the country and on using technology more effectively to "pull people into this movement." He points to his youth as an asset in recruiting new members and said he thinks he can work to create consensus among the board's various factions.

Hey now, maybe it's time to renew your NAACP membership...

Quote of the Day

"I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning."
- J. B. Priestley