New fundraising community under "construction"

Visit Peak Fundraising Leaders to see what the excitement is about.

Outstanding idea?! ... Let the donors select the research projects to fund

For the 30 years I've been in community benefit work, the conventional wisdom of non-profit voluntary health organizations (like American Heart Association, where I worked for 21 years, or March of Dimes, where I worked for 8 years, or American Cancer, or American Lung, or American fill-in-the-blank-with-a-disease-or-body-organ) was that one of the values that the organization adds is its expertise in selecting the most scientifically meritorious or promising research projects to fund.

As a consequence, these organizations have traditionally frowned on donors who wanted to restrict their gift to a specific scientist or institution, and certainly nixed the notion of letting the donor actually choose which project their money funded. The closest we could get was accepting very large (six or seven figure) gifts restricted to very broad research areas.

Plus, the financial accountants put down any effort to attract this kind of support. Their reasoning: the cost of tracking all of this and making sure a specific gift went to a selected project ... well, that outweighed any possible benefit.

So, even if you wanted to restrict your gift to the broad function of research (as opposed to education or community programs), you still had to give at a certain level ($1,000 or $5,000) to make it worth even bothering with from the charity's perspective.

But of course, that was before the technology-assisted online tools of today. Now, in the United Kingdom, a unique way to support cancer research has been launched. It allows the donors to:

• choose which area of their work they want to support


• choose the specific project that most interests them


• follow the developments of the work they've helped to fund

Projects that need funds are described with a blurb about the science behind it, where the work is happening, and a photo/bio of the investigator, together with a thermometer showing how much has already been raised, and how much more is needed.

True, the charity, Cancer Research UK, has already committed to supporting the projects they promote. In this sense, a donation is not really leading to a go/no go decision on whether the project will proceed.

But the donation is, strictly speaking, restricted. It won't go to any other purpose. And once a project reaches its target, the system automatically stops accepting donations for it, and adds new projects to the site for donors to choose from.

It's all currently in beta, but I think it's a fascinating trend, and I'll very much be looking forward to the results. I would predict increased donor satisfaction and retention for repeat gifts. Plus, there's big potential for donor involvement, with donors becoming fundraisers, spreading the word about a project that's piqued their personal interest, using the usual social media forums.

Donors can form Giving Groups to join together, forming a little community, as it were, of friends and family, with all their gifts going to the same project.

Like I said, tradition-bound health organizations have hated this concept in the past. They have long disliked accepting funds with strings attached, even for efforts that are directly aligned with their purpose and plans. I understand their preference for unrestricted funds that can be used for whatever the organization thinks it needs. But the mindset still flies in the face of developing a donor-centered philanthropic culture.

This whole notion is crowdsourcing at its best ... trusting the wisdom of the many over the elite, behind-closed-door decisionmaking of a few.

I hope it succeeds big time. It will go to prove a point of view I've been espousing for years: Restricted gifts are not a bad thing when they are restricted to something you've already decided you wanted to do anyway. To the extent that donors choose a specific project, such resources are "fungible," meaning the funds that were committed to this approved project can now be freed up for something else the organization wants to do.

It's a no-brainer, if you ask me ... and it will be interesting to see how quickly the "disease" organizations catch on here in the US.

Key attributes for charity success

On the heels of the recession, our sector is poised for changes. Some of it will be self-initiated and embraced; much will be imposed by realities of new times. Most probably these changes will be reluctantly accepted, if not outright resisted.

In light of shrinking budgets, how can community benefit organizations create difference-making initiatives without simply doling out more money? The answer is IDEAS. Increasingly, we need to look at changing existing practices, changing old habits, challenging persistent mindsets, and using existing budgets better. Continuously, we must ask ourselves: "how can we improve what we have without increasing the dollars we invest?"


The status quo is not sufficient (never was, of course, but it's especially inadequate now). In an ongoing way, we need to measure ourselves against a measuring stick of what success looks like. Well, what does success look like for non profits?
An interesting survey of people in the sector was just released by nfpSynergy, posing that question.

The chart at left shows that more than half of all respondents thought that quality of services, quality of leadership, and strengths of values and vision were important in creating a successful, high-impact charity.

Financial soundness, the ability to work in partnership and the capacity to innovate were also considered important to charity success, with each of these factors selected by more than one third of respondents.

Lowest on the list:

• Modern IT strategy/attitude to digital media


• Strong commitment to diversity


• Internal communications


• Management of brand, image and reputation


• Campaigning and media/PR skills

The perceived importance of working in partnership increased from 30% in a similar 2007 survey to 40% in 2009. This finding may point to the increased difficulty of accessing funding when working independently, in light of the global recession.

Funds, funding, and fundraising really matter. While I suggested above that we need to figure out how to do more with what we've got, the fact remains that making ends meet is still a top challenge for nonprofits, especially those largely dependent on government funds. The sector badly needs and wants to grow other sources of income to make up for government shortfalls. Thus, charities' need for fundraising skill is increasing. More charities need to raise more of their funds themselves; if you can't afford to hire a development capacity, then existing staff need to become more highly skilled to adapt their fundraising to the new environment.

The online survey was conducted by nfpSynergy (a research consultancy dedicated to the nonprofit sector) in November/December 2009. Opportunity to participate was widely promoted, especially through Third Sector Magazine. There were 710 respondents.

National Volunteer Week is April 18 - 24

It's that time of year again! A time when nonprofit organizations across the nation will be celebrating the volunteers who help them be great. National Volunteer Week is a time to celebrate volunteers' accomplishments and honor their dedication to giving back.

Now would also be a great time to let the message of volunteerism spread by taking some time to get the people in your life involved. Whether you help them find a volunteer opportunity, or you invite them to join you, take a moment to help them connect with a cause that they're passionate about.

Facebook Beats Google as Most Popular Web Destination

Guess it had to happen, and it did, last week. Hitwise figures show Facebook's national domination as the most popular U.S. web destination. For the week ending March 13, Facebook grabbed 7.07 percent of all U.S. web traffic, barely beating Google's at 7.03 percent.

See the graph above; clearly Facebook has been steadily rising in traffic since last year. Traffic to Facebook increased 185 percent compared to the same week last year, whereas visits to Google increased only 9 percent.

Compared to the rise of social games on Facebook (like Farmville and Mafia Wars), there was little happening at Google to encourage traffic growth.

However, when measured by reach .... the percent of the U.S. population that visit ... Facebook still has a way to go. Comscore, another analytics firm, ranks Google as the top site by reach, with 81 percent of the U.S. population. According to Techcrunch, Facebook's reach ranking still has it behind Google (and Yahoo and Microsoft, for that matter) at 53 percent of the U.S. population.

Social Media Count: No Longer Possible to Ignore It

The rise of social media in the last few years has created exponential growth in web usage. Here's a "real time" app that shows just how dynamic and active the social side of the web is. It helps put the growth of social media in context:



Here are some of the key data points that the ‘Media Count’ is based on:

• 20 hours of video uploaded every minute onto YouTube (source YouTube blog Aug 09)
  Facebook 600k new members per day, and photos, videos per month, 700mill & 4 mill respectively (source Inside Facebook Feb 09)
• Twitter 18 million new users per year & 4 million tweets in April 2009 sent daily (source TechCrunch) ... now 50 million Tweets per day in February 2010 (source: eConsultancy)
• 900,000 blogs posts put up every day (source Technorati State of the Blogosphere 2008)
• YouTube daily, 1 Billion videos watched per day, $1mill bandwidth costs (source Comscore Jul 06; Dec 2009 SMH)
• Second Life 250,000 virtual goods made daily
• Text messages 1,250 per second (source Linden Lab release Sep 09)
• Money – $5.5 billion on virtual goods (casual & game worlds) even Facebooks gifts make $70 million annually (source Viximo Aug 09)
• Flickr has 73 million visitors a month who upload 700 million photos (source Yahoo Mar 09)
• Mobile social network subscribers – 92.5 million at the end of 2008, by end of 2013 rising to between 641.6-873.1 million or 132 million annually (source Informa PDF)
• SMS – Over 2.3 trillion messages will be sent across major markets worldwide in 2008 (source Everysingleoneofus sms statistics)

It's undeniable: social media are here to stay. Every non-profit, regardless of size, needs to think about their presence in this sphere.

The flash app above was designed by Gary Hayes; here's his Personalizemedia blog.

Great Planned Giving Story: Do you know who your donors are?

Grace Groner was exceptionally restrained with her money.

Her clothes came from rummage sales. She never owned a car. She lived in a one-bedroom house.

She was orphaned while quite young, and came of age during the Depression. Thus, her character was naturally frugal.

She had very fond memories of her college days. So she set up a small scholarship program for her alma mater, Lake Forest College. She told them she planned to contribute more upon her death. But no one guessed it would be such a huge gift from one living so modestly.

When she passed away in January, at the age of 100, her attorney informed the college president what that gift added up to. Groner's estate was worth $7 million.

Here's the college president's reaction:



I'm glad that the college was stewarding her lifetime gifts; clearly, they knew her and had the opportunity to thank her while she was alive. I can just imagine that Grace derived some pleasure out of knowing the secret surprise that they'd receive upon her death.

She worked as a secretary for Abbott Laboratories for 43 years. In 1935, she bought 3 shares of Abbott stock for $180. Those three shares are the asset that blossomed into $7 million.

The millions should generate more than $300,000 a year for the college. The money will help dozens of Lake Forest students pursue internships and study-abroad programs that they may not have had the chance to take advantage without Groner’s hefty donation.

Aside from the $7 million donation, she also left her small house to the college, which will house scholarship winners who benefitted from her donation.

But this story is one to add to the host of others told through the years: you never know which of your donors has the capacity to make a transformative gift to your institution. That's why it's incredibly important to be nice to ALL of your donors. Thanking the "little old lady" who sends in $5 twice a year is just as important as fussing over the six- and seven-figure donors. Fundraising basics 101, I know, but one of those fundamentals that is all-too-easily forgotten. Stories like this one provide a reminder.

A generous spirit; a life well-lived. Thank you, Grace Groner.

JK Rowling commencement speech at Harvard: The fringe benefits of failure

JK Rowling, of course, authored the bestselling Harry Potter fantasy. Her creation -- a spellbinding, seven-installment series -- brought her from rags to riches.



At her Harvard University commencement speech, JK Rowling offers some powerful, heartening advice to dreamers and overachievers, including one hard-won lesson that she deems "worth more than any qualification I ever earned."

Her heart-felt comments encourage us to reach out to help our friends, our community, our government, and our world. Enjoy.

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

\

Partnership for 21st Century Skills: Teaching 21st Century Learners

It's 2010

The first year of the second decade of the "new" millenium.

Greetings of the Season

Oh No! Facebook fan page rating plummets to One Star! (But number of fans more than doubles!)

Early in November, while on Facebook, I noticed that my Peak Performance Philanthropy fan page had attained a 5-star rating and a very high post quality score.

I proposed an experiment and promised to report back. The results are in.

The 5-stars rating has dropped to a measly 1-star. Why? Lack of interaction on the part of the fans. I guess the subsequent posts haven't been very engaging. Thus, the rolling 7-day average caused four of the stars to disappear.

What apparently created the "high post quality" score was a flurry of interactions in response to postings on Sesame Street and the election results in Maine. Over several days, there was an abundance of comments, likes, and wall postings. Together, they drove the quality score up to 112. Today, it's zero! On the chart at left, you can see several days' worth of interactions that elevated the post quality score ... preceded and followed by a flat-line. Not that I take this personally, but would it hurt you to click on like? Or jot a comment? Or even scrawl something on the wall?

What's really revealing is how few people need to do something to move the score. Less than eight people total "interacted" over a three day period to create the sky-high 112 quality score. Imagine if LOTS of people "interacted"?

Some of you did what I asked, and invited some of your friends to join the fan page. You can see the spike in total fan count that occurred just after the November 5 posting (in the red oval). That growth curve has continued at a slightly accelerated rate, so that, as of today, there are 64 fans of the page ... more than double what there were just 25 days ago!

So, not only was there an immediate bump in fan count ... but the "natural" growth was steeper after the experiment than before, perhaps attributable to the viral nature of social media. (Also, the fans are now from all over the world, including Canada, New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. Before the experiment, you were all from the United States. Now, we have a multi-national audience!)

At this rate, there will be 100 fans by New Year's Day!

What's also interesting is to compare the makeup of the fan base, before the experiment (top chart as of 11/4) and after (bottom chart as of today). Or maybe it's not all that interesting, because the percentages didn't change all that much. Still slightly more male (53%) than female (45%).

Age-wise: not a striking change here either, but there's been a swing toward older fans.

Age 25-44:
Before, was 52%, now only 41%.

Age 45+:
Before, was 44%; now 56%.

So, what does this all mean? Beats me. What do you think?

And, if you're so inclined, I also invite you to visit the Peak Performance Philanthropy fan page (click here). Click on Suggest to Friends, carefully select some friends who might be interested in how people experience the joy of giving to their favorite causes (plus a smattering of other stuff with dubious relevance). In other words, invite some of your friends to become fans of this page.

My take-aways:

• I need to post more frequently.
• The posts need to be more relevant to your interests.

Let's see where this takes us.

Celebrate the National Day of Listening on November 27, 2009

On Friday (that is, the day after Thanksgiving), each of us is encouraged to spend an hour recording interviews with loved ones, and preserve them for generations to come.

It's called the National Day of Listening -- friends and family are likely to be together and able to spend an hour honoring one another by listening. What a great idea to take time to tell people that their lives matter and that they won’t ever be forgotten. Interview a loved one or a community member whom you would like to honor—your grandfather, your aunt, a neighbor, a mentor, a veteran, or an old friend.

What a great gift to the future -- passing on a loved one's story to those who are too young (or not yet born!) to ask for themselves.

There's a complete do-it-yourself guide that details how to choose who to interview, prepare for the interview by creating a list of questions, and then record and save the interview. Here are just a few examples of questions:

• What was the happiest moment of your life?


• What are you most proud of?


• What are the most important lessons you've learned in life?


• What is your earliest memory?


• How would you like to be remembered?

There are dozens of great questions like these on the site. Some are especially designed by relationship (grandparents, parents, spouse/partner, siblings, friends, older community members); others cover various life stages and personal topics (growing up, working, religion, love and relationships, school, marriage, raising children, serious illness, family heritage, war).

Here's a video that describes the process:



The National Day of Listening is a project of StoryCorps and its partners: NPR, the American Library Association, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Corporation for National and Community Service/Americorps.

Great Stewardship from DonorsChoose

I just got an "impact report" today from a school teacher in Oakland.

Back in April, I went to DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Here's how it works:

1. Public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests. The requests range from pencils for a poetry writing unit, to violins for a school recital, to microscope slides for a biology class.

2. You go to their site and browse project requests. The project is described by the teacher, but also shows detailed cost breakdown of exactly how the money will be spent. (I chose to help a reading intervention teacher in Oakland, California, who wanted to help fourth and fifth grade students get up to grade level at their Title I school. By reading parts of the books aloud, she found, the students are eager to actually read the books for themselves. Her students needed eight books in U.S. history content:

• Longest Journey: The Story of the Donner Party
• Cowboy Marc
• Gold Fever!: Tales from the California Gold Rush
• The Dirty Thirties
• From Slave to Cowboy: The Nat Love Story
• Birmingham 1963
• Cherokee Rose: The Trail of Tears
• The Story of Jamestown

The cost of this proposal was $161, which included a very reasonable fulfillment fee to DonorsChoose.)

3. Find the project that makes your eye twinkle and evokes a good feeling in your heart; give any amount. You can browse and search by city/state, grade level, subject area, teacher type, cost and/or by keyword. You can screen for projects that are close to their goal, located in an economically challenged area, have matching gift offers and by resource type such as books vs. technology vs. supplies vs. field trips or guest speakers.

(I gave an very modest sum, as I was out of work at the time. Within a day, I received a personalized thank you email from the teacher -- not an auto-generated thank you but one that referenced the remarks that accompanied my gift. Impressive!)

4. Once a project reaches its funding goal, DonorsChoose orders and delivers the materials to the school. (In my case, the teacher posted the project on February 28. It took seven donors, acting together, to reach the goal within a few weeks.)

5. Then, you get photos of your project taking place, a thank-you letter from the teacher, and a cost report showing how each dollar was spent.

If you give over $100, you'll also receive hand-written thank-you letters from the students -- a nice touch, for sure. But what's even better from my point of view is that you can give as little as $1 and get the same level of choice, transparency, and feedback that is traditionally reserved for someone who gives far more. They call it citizen philanthropy.

(Quite frankly, I'd forgotten that I'd even made that small gift back in April. But today, when I received the progress report, I was re-engaged all over again. I read the post-project thank you from the teacher. I saw the pictures of fourth and fifth grade kids reading the books I helped to buy. I reviewed the Live Update sequential stream of interactions, including notes from other donors sharing why they chose this project, with the teacher's personal thank you sent to each person contemporaneously. I felt a little sense of community around these like-minded people, strangers to each other who chipped in to make a little difference.)

Did the feedback make me feel good? Yes. Did the thank you reinforce that I'd made a good decision in making the gift? Absolutely. Was I prompted to go looking for another project to support? Of course I did.

The DonorsChoose business model is an exceptionally well-designed example of how technology can be used by a charity to actually personalize the giving process. I gave a modest gift. But I know more about the recipient, have had more interaction with her, and received a report to reinforce my choice ... far higher quality and quantity interaction than I've gotten from faceless organizations to whom I've made far larger gifts without so much as a thank you. Kudos to them.

By the way, if you're a teacher who has a project that needs to be funded, you can go here.

When you are laid off or involuntarily separated

One year ago today, I took the shuttle from a White Plains, NY hotel to the headquarters office of the health charity where I worked -- day one of a four-day road trip, away from my Emeryville, California office. I walked into my boss' office at 8:30 a.m. to discuss an upcoming planning retreat.

By 8:45 a.m., I was no longer employed. I was unceremoniously escorted to my remote office. I turned over the laptop, cellphone, keys, credit card, and ID badge. I was closely watched as I packed a few personal possessions in a box. My briefcase was searched. And then I was escorted out of the building, returned to the hotel to checkout and pick up my luggage, and then was driven to the airport and put on a plane back home.

In retrospect, I could have (should have) seen it coming. But it came as a complete and utter shock. One moment, employed. The next, unemployed. I had been continuously employed for 28 years. And in the blink of an eye, I had no idea how I would earn a livelihood. Worse, I was totally unprepared for a transition.

Here's some advice to everyone who is employed about how to be prepared for the (unlikely?) event of an involuntary separation. Think of it like an earthquake preparedness kit ... you hope you never need to use it, but it gives you peace of mind when you've done these things:

• Keep your resume updated. (I hadn't touched mine since 2001, and it wasn't easy to reconstruct, especially since I could no longer refer to source documents.)


• Keep copies (safely, at home) of the following:

1. Your job description


2. Your performance evaluations (These usually contain valuable, high-level data about what you did. And, if you work for a firm that refuses to give references aside from confirming employment dates, these might be the only evidence you can show to someone that you were well thought of at the company before you were cut loose.)


3. A printed directory of your Outlook contacts. (How will you be able to reach out to your network of family, friends, professional and social connections if your only copy of their names, addresses, emails, and phone numbers are snatched from you moments after being told you no longer work there? Better yet, occassionally export your address book and import it elsewhere (a gmail or ymail account maintained solely for "just in case). And don't think that a service like LinkedIn serves this purpose. It doesn't. Without my Outlook and cellphone, I couldn't contact my housekeeper, my best friend from high school, the gardener, or even my mother-in-law!


4. At least a few work samples


5. Summary reports containing dashboard-level key metrics


6. User names and passwords for online accounts, plus URL's for blogs and online newsletters you subscribe to.

• I'm not saying you should stash away sensitive or confidential materials that rightfully belong to the company you might leave one day. For example, in the context of a charity, I'm not suggesting you keep detailed donor or accounting records. But when the day comes that you are escorted out involuntarily, you won't be given any opportunity to take anything with you. I'd been there for seven years. Suddenly, I couldn't produce a shred of documentation showing what I'd done. How much money was I responsible for raising? What results did I produce? Were 2007 results an improvement over 2006? And was 2008 better than 2007? Can I demonstrate my ability to create products (training outlines, example handouts) or establish business processes (software documentation, manuals, or standard procedures)? Can I prove to someone that I possess writing skills (a brochure, a grant proposal, a fund-raising letter)?


• Finally, set some money aside for living expenses. Otherwise, you risk tumultuous consequences (perhaps selling your home, dramatically cutting back on lifestyle, raiding funds intended for retirement). Yeah. I know -- you're not really going to do that.

That's my advice to be prepared. It's what I suggest you do while you still have a job. It's practical.

None of this takes into account the emotional aftermath of being let go ... the anger, the dread, the tears, the blame and self-blame, the shaken confidence, the fear. I have no real advice on how to deal with that, other than to say, give yourself exactly one day to lay in bed with the covers pulled over your head. Feel as sorry for yourself as you want for 24 hours. Then, get up, dust yourself off, realize that the past is past - you used to work there, now you don't. Time now to look forward and move on. Start reaching out. Start working your network. Start looking for the next-right-thing.

Now, one year later, I recognize that leaving that job was a very good thing for me. I had to confront the realities of the compromises I'd been making, settling for a different set of circumstances than I'd bargained for. Believing it was better to persevere rather than give up, I probably stayed in the position too long. When I touch base with "the survivors," I realize (recall?) that it is not a happy place to work. The separation forced me to think through what I really aspired to, and how the rest of my career would go. I've created a new practice under the brand Peak Performance Philanthropy, and provide coaching, consultation and training to organizations, helping them to understand how to help people experience the joy of giving to their cause. Life is good. But the transition would have been ever-so-much easier if I'd known then what I know now. Keep a back-up of important high-level stuff -- just to be on the safe side.

5 Star rating of Post Quality on Facebook ... Cool!

I've got the greatest fans on Facebook! Checked in today to the Peak Performance Philanthropy fan page and saw this 5 Star rating of my post quality.

When one's fans choose to interact with posted material by commenting, liking, or writing on your Wall, it has the effect of spreading the content virally throughout Facebook (because their comments, likes, and wall scrawls show up in their News Feed that their friends see).

Apparently, "Post Quality" is determined by the percentage of fans that engage when content is posted to a fan page. It is calculated on a rolling seven-day basis.

The number of stars depends on how your Post Quality compares to similar Pages (that is, Pages that have a similar number of fans). I don't know how many stars one can get, but five seems like a great number, and I'm thrilled with that. And I'm not sure what 112 points means, but I know a lot of people with IQs that are lower, so I'm not complaining about that either.

On the scarier side, there's the question of how much Facebook knows about you. Yeah, the era of privacy is probably long gone. But here's just a snippet of the info Facebook can feed back to me about my fans. In the aggregate, I guess it's harmless enough. But, of course, Facebook has the actual details.

So, I love you men (56%) and women (44%); youngish (24% 18-34 years) and less-youngish (44% 45+) ... fans all!

Let's play a game. Invite some of your friends to join the page to see how the numbers shift. Just click on Suggest to Friends in the upper left corner of the fanpage. Will my Star rating plummet or soar? Will I attract more men or women? Will the age makeup skew; if so, which way? I'll report back in about a week's time.

Playing with social media to see how it works is fun. (Also a sign that I don't have enough to do!)

Click here to go to my fanpage and suggest to your friends that they join. Thanks!

Sad day for marriage equality. But now I'm moving on to the next skirmish.

So the people of Maine have voted. And 53% get to take away the civil liberties of a minority.

Deja vu, all over again. In October 2008, my husband and I got married. We had made huge (for us) contributions to the No on 8 campaign. I worked my heart out as a volunteer on that one -- can't even guess how many phone calls I made. Then, it was just a year ago today that we went to the polls in California. Election day was spent staffing a "get-out-the-vote" hub. Woke up the next morning to find that Prop 8 passed, also with a slim majority.

I remember the hurt. I remember the tears. I remember the anger.

And today, I feel it all over again.

Last year, the election results awakened me, motivated me to become much more involved in my community at an unprecedented level. The results from Maine simply reinvigorate that commitment.

I still do not understand how equality can be put to a popular vote. The majority MUST not define the rights of a minority. That's the real outrage. Time after time, my rights and full equality under the law are being put to a popular vote.

Now the fault-finding and finger-pointing will begin. Sure, I'm filled with anger at the National Organization for Marriage and the Catholic church. And at a President who could have said something and didn't. But hold on a minute.

Based on the numbers, voters at the polls in Maine voted against their gay family and friends. How? Why? Is it really possible that all of those people voted to strip rights away from LGBT friends? Could they really have voted against people they love? I can't believe that.

I believe that, when people know us, it's far more difficult to vote against us. Which is why my own community -- despite the temptation of blaming others -- really needs to examine itself. Harvey Milk told us years ago: "Come out, come out, wherever you are." We’re a community; we need to act more like a community. Until we really start caring about what happens to each and every one of us, nothing will change for any of us.

We need to continue to reach out so that real people get to know the real us. Now is not the time to fight hate with hate. Hearts and minds are changed through honest, heartfelt discussion. I believe this. I must believe this.

It's time to reveal ourselves as the love-filled people we are. Let them know us. One-by-one. Face-to-face.

Yes, hurt, tearful, and angered. And the fight will go on.

Sesame Street 40th Anniversary!

Can it be forty years!? Google says the day is today (Wednesday, November 4). I thought it was later. Either way, it's been forty years since its premiere broadcast, and Sesame Street will kick-off its landmark 40th season on PBS next Tuesday, November 10.

How great is that? I remember when it came on the air. I was a high school senior, and already interested in radio and TV as a career. I already loved Jim Henson's Muppets from previous incarnations. He was my hero. (I was into puppetry as a child -- another story for another time.)

And then came Big Bird, Oscar, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Bert and Ernie, and all the rest. And Kermit! (How did I forget Kermit?) Each day was a whole new set of adventures, fast-paced animation, lessons, catchy songs, games and sketches.

Even though I was decidedly not part of the target audience, I was enamored. I knew that this was quality. This was meaningful. This was going to make an impact.

And it did, in so many ways. It affected the way we think about education, childhood development and cultural diversity, to name a few.

Back in the day, kids were glued to the sets, hypnotised by test patterns! Bozo the Clown and Romper Room kept us pretty mindlessly entertained in the fifties and sixties. The idea that toddlers could learn was, well, new and untested. TV largely ignored preschool children's intellect, probably reflecting the larger society which pretty much did the same.

During that first season, they tried to show that kids could count to ten. Seems incredibly simplistic now. Soon, it was clear that two and three year olds could learn to count to twenty. (Nowadays, the counting goes all the way to 100!)

When those preschoolers started showing up in Kindergarten already knowing their letters and numbers, their teachers had to change. Much of the reform we've seen in education can (arguably) be traced back in part to Sesame Street's impact. As one of the most researched shows on television, studies on Sesame Street have shown its positive effects on reading and achievement last through high school.

But the bigger impact was made through its quiet activism. It always targeted urban, lower-socio-economic kids. From the beginning, it showed kids of different races living together. And the African American kids were shown as equals to the white kids. This didn't go over real well in some parts of the South, but it also challenged the "norm" throughout America.

It's shocking that Nielsen tells us that Sesame Street ranks only 15th among the top children's shows on the air. Today's tots are more likely to recognize Dora or SpongeBob than Big Bird or Cookie Monster. They used to create 130 new episodes a year; now, only 26 each season. This is the most important children's TV program ever (with apologies to Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers). It would be truly sad if it fell off of the cultural landscape.

Just as a tip-of-the-hat to Sesame Street, I invite you to watch a video of "outtakes" where comedian Ricky Gervais interviews Muppet Elmo. Not quite appropriate for pre-schoolers, but good fun anyway.



This posting has been brought to you by the letter P and the number 5 and number 9.

Brand name power: Motorized DWI chair for sale on eBay (but it's not a La-Z-Boy!)

OK, now, this is just plain weird.

A Minnesota man pleaded guilty for driving while intoxicated in a recliner.

The man who built the machine, Dennis Anderson, 61, was driving it from one bar to another in late August in Proctor, MN. He hit a parked car while in the chair, and he then tested .29% on a breath alcohol test. He was arrested for DWI and sentenced to 180 days in jail when he pleaded guilty.

The jail time was stayed providing for a 2 year probationary period, but Anderson forfeited his chair and forked over $2,000 to the state in fines.

The chair is a traditional recliner, but it includes a converted gas-powered lawnmower engine. The engine is connected to a steering wheel, and the chair is also outfitted with headlights, roll bars, a stereo and cup holders. The chair is reported to run about 20 miles per hour at full throttle. But, to fully disclose its condition, I must share that the seat cushion is missing.

Apparently having no internal use for the vehicle, the Proctor police department put the chair/vehicle on eBay for auction, calling the item the DWI La-Z-Boy. The closing bid on Friday was $37,300. Sadly for the police, the La-Z-Boy people invoked their VERO (VErified Rights of Ownership) with eBay, which pulled the item for inappropriately using the La-Z-Boy name.

Exhibiting remarkable perseverance, the Proctor police have re-posted the recliner without the La-Z-Boy name. As of the date/time this posting was made, 45 bids had been placed with just 2 days and 4 hours left to bid. At the moment, the current bid is only $5,800, which just goes to show the power of a good brand name!

If you want to place a bid, go here.

Now, don't you think you've squandered about as much time as you can afford on this? No??

Well, then, waste just a bit more by watching the video below.



Did I mention that the chair's builder/former owner is now selling autographer photos of him sitting in the chair on eBay? Is this the greatest country in the world, or what?!