R U RELEVANT?

Last week I had the pleasure of being the guest of the Chairman of the NAACP at its 100th Anniversary Convention in NYC. Focusing on the serious challenges of underrepresented people in America while in a wonderful city like New York is hard. We were feted at MOMA, Metropolitan Museum, Gracie Mansion and the Governor’s house. We were welcomed by Pelosi, Schumer, Rangel and Bloomberg. We were thanked by the 44th President of the United States.

Julian Bond, known as the “dean of civil rights,” is the big thinker in the civil rights movement today. He reminded us that the NAACP was founded by a multi-racial, multi-faith group of concerned citizens in 1909. “At the NAACP, we know colored people come in all colors.”

When asked about the relevance of the NAACP in a “post racial” Obama era, Julian responded, “We’re not the National Association for the Advancement of One Black Person, we’re for all…. While we have a brother who can walk in the front door of Air Force One, his daughters can’t swim in a pool in Philadelphia.” He pointed out that after we won World War II we didn’t dismantle the military; we didn’t eliminate the National Organization for Women because we have a woman as Speaker of the House. For the full presentation, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxtwZ-ofACo

At a time of dwindling financial resources, some nonprofit organizations may go out of existence. The NAACP is doing the right things to run in the black*. Hopefully there won't be a need for an NAACP 100 years from now. If you would like to know more of what they are doing correctly, call me.

* Pun intended.

SUPREME BOARD MEMBER

Yesterday, in response to a question from Senator Lindsey Graham about her role on the Board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor smiled as she said, “The main job of a Board member is to fundraise.” YES!

MUTUAL APPRECIATION HOLDER

Eric Holder came for lunch Monday … to the NAACP’s Clarence Mitchell Memorial Luncheon. To understand what Eric Holder means to this organization, one has to realize that many people crowding around the luncheon tables desegregated lunch counters. Here was the first African American U. S. Attorney General as keynote speaker, the man who may do the most to eliminate sentencing disparities and close the school-to-prison pipeline. Holder took this opportunity to remind his audience that while the Reconstruction Amendments made equality a fact, equality is not self-enforcing. We must all be part of building a more equitable system of justice. (What a difference to hear a Justice Department official talk about the importance of integrating former offenders back into communities!)

Personal responsibility was his guiding refrain. “Laws can guarantee access to education, but they cannot guarantee a child will pick up a book. That is the responsibility of their parent,” Holder said. To achieve full equality “all of us must take responsibility for ourselves, our choices and our futures….The next Century will be less about changing our laws and more about changing ourselves.”

Monday’s luncheon was a heartwarming display of the intersection between an organization and its supporters: The organization was proud to host Eric Holder and Eric Holder, who stands on the shoulders of those who literally slaved to make his rise to the highest legal office in America possible, was pleased to bring his young son to the NAACP. They were making a memory together. Perhaps one day we will live in peace and harmony and equality and there won’t be a need for a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NAACP

This year marks the 100^th anniversary of our nation’s oldest, largest and most widely recognized civil rights organization. The NAACP was welcomed to NYC and congratulated by Mayor Bloomberg, who described his father’s support of the NAACP back in 1950, and by Sen. Chuck Schumer, Cong. Charles Rangel and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The NAACP has much to be proud of – particularly the election of our first black president. Tonight Chairman Julian Bond reminded us that only one generation (his father’s) stands between Julian Bond and bondage. The recent incident of racial discrimination at the Valley Swim Club in Philadelphia, in which a group of black day-camp children were told to leave a pool because they “changed the complexion and atmosphere” of the facility shows their work is far from done.

Eugene Duffy and his Special Contributions Committee pledge to raise more money from more people than ever before because they know, as Clarence Darrow said, “You can protect your liberties in this world only by protecting the other man’s freedom. You can be free only if I am free."

MICROVOLUNTEERISM

I should have gotten my mother an iPhone for her birthday. A reader reminded me about The Extraordinaires (.org), a social media website that sends micro volunteer opportunities to mobile phones. This is an easy way to slip good works into busy peoples’ free time. For example, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia seeks volunteers to tag photos from their exhibitions so thousands of images can be available for public search.

The opportunities here are limitless. Can we harness micro tasks for the overscheduled to be a real benefit, e.g. proofreading, graphic design, asking that alerts be passed on from friend to friend for lobbying, in-person events or volunteer activities? Will we keep up with data capture to bring casual iPhone encounters into our cultivation sphere? Who will be the in-house Snopes equivalent to fact check donated services of lawyers, accountants, art identifiers and the rest of us with walking around sense?

We’ll keep an eye on it! Mark your calendars for Using Social Media/ePhilanthropy, Sept. 11, Chicago.

THE BLUE GARGOYLE

A Sword of Damocles is hanging over a lot of nonprofit organizations. Many were without adequate financial reserves before the recession hit. Now nearly one in six nonprofits that filed tax returns in 2000 seem to have gone out of business or fallen below the IRS reporting threshold ($25,000 in revenue). The Blue Gargoyle is among those without a pulse.

The Blue Gargoyle was an after school tutoring program closely tied to its University of Chicago volunteers in Hyde Park, Pres. Obama’s Chicago neighborhood. Many years ago, when my consulting partner and I were called in by a Blue Gargoyle Board member to help them out - fundraising was being done on an "as needed" basis. Our first task was to analyze their development program to involve Board members in a more meaningful way in leadership of the organization. Then we attacked the annual appeal and outlined a calendar of activities.

Since then, Blue Gargoyle’s mission broadened into adult literacy and they grew their program. However, our national economic crisis drew far more clients than this already financially challenged service organization could handle. On April 8th, Blue Gargoyle shut its doors.

America needs to concentrate on improving education, including those who want a second chance. This is a loss far beyond the South Side of Chicago. Don’t become a casualty. If you want to discuss your organization’s needs, call me for a free, confidential consultation.