Good morning, folks. Here comes Wednesday’s bundle of news items …
Finalists for the Washington Post Award for Excellence in Non-profit Management – Many congratulations to Horton’s Kids, Prince George’s Child Resource Center, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, all of whom were announced as finalists by the Center for Non-Profit Advancement this past Monday. According to their press release, “The Award Selection Committee judges applicant organizations in the areas of fiscal management, information and communication, organizational development, people development, planning, resource development, risk management, and use of technology.” The winning non-profit will “receive a $10,000 grant and a scholarship for one person to attend the Georgetown University Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership?s Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program.”
Many Low-Wage Jobs Seen as Failing to Meet Basic Needs — As the New York Times pointed out earlier this month: “hard as it can be to land a job these days, getting one may not be nearly enough for basic economic security.” The article then reported on Catalogue non-profit Wider Opportunities for Women‘s Basic Economic Security Tables (BEST) Initiative report, which was released the same day as the Labor Department’s April jobs report, and which “tries to go beyond traditional measurements like the poverty line and minimum wage to show what people need to earn to achieve a basic standard of living … to set thresholds for economic stability rather than mere survival.” Just for a sample: “a single worker needs an income of $30,012 a year … to cover basic expenses and save for retirement and emergencies. That is close to three times the 2010 national poverty level.”
Celebrating The Little Guy in Philanthropy — In April 2008, Oprah awarded Stephen Paletta a check for $1,000,000 as the winner of Oprah’s Big Give reality show. Recalling the moment (three years later) on the Huffington Post, Paletta wrote: “Suddenly, I had more money to give away than I ever imagined. I was a philanthropist! … But was I really? Was it only money that made me a philanthropist?” Curious, he began to investigate the size of individual giving in the country and discovered that “$25, $50 and $100 checks made up the majority of giving,” around 75% — resolving that a philanthropist is “the everyday man or woman who makes an effort to make a difference.” So what is your definition? Do you agree with his?