Houston, we have...

A decision! Well, kind of.

If one were being logical, she would first decide whether she wants to go to grad school and then decide where to do it.

I'm not logical.

For a gazillion reasons, I decided to take B before A and make the place decision first - and despite the sub-zero frozen tundra-ness of it all, I'm staying put in Minneapolis. For at least two years. School or no school

I'm doing an official visit to the University of Minnesota School of Public Health next week, and I'm hoping that will clear some stuff up for me. But if it doesn't, hey, I've already knocked four schools out of the running and only have a yes-no question (Am I going to grad school in the fall or what?) left. I think I can handle it

I forgot how good it feels to make a decision, no matter what it is.

It's almost (alternative) spring break season

Yeah, yeah, we all want to squeeze into a teeny bikini (or Speedo?) in a few weeks here. Even me - I couldn't quite give up the spring-break part of college and thought to ease myself into the Real World, I'd jet off to Cozumel for a few days in March.

I plan to sit on the beach sipping something out of a coconut. Preferably with a little umbrella.

But I haven't always done that for spring break, and I'm glad.

"Alternative spring breaks" - meaning volunteering instead of lazing - are becoming more and more popular and are an awesome option for getting out of town for awhile and coming back feeling all warm and fuzzy (and not from drinking out of coconuts).

I spent my first spring break of college teaching English at an alternative education center in Brazil and a winter break teaching kids and adults in Thailand, and I didn't miss the Girls-Gone-Wild feel at all. I still came back with stories and sunburn, but I felt way more satisfied.

Thinking about taking a different type of vacation? Check out:

• Nonprofits that specialize in planning short-term volunteer projects all over the world. Prices vary, but you end up paying for your flight, accomodations and volunteer placement. Can get spendy, but I've had good experiences with i-to-i and Global Crossroad when I haven't had the time and ambition to work out all the details on my own. Search a bunch of opportunities at once at Volunteer Abroad.
• Your college's spring break programs. Most colleges arrange alternative spring break trips - mine did hurricane cleanup, working with youth, environment, etc. in the South. Also check out your chapter of Habitat for Humanity - they always have spring break builds in warm places and hold a fun Collegiate Challenge.
• Home, with a twist. Planning to head home and lounge in Dad's recliner for the week? Think about heading back to the fam's place but doing something else with your days. Create a DIY alternative spring break by contacting community organizations to see whether you can volunteer for a week. You might end up organizing donations or stuffing envelopes, but it's a great way to spend some time in the nonprofit world, make some connections and do something nice.

Wanna do it but don't have the cash? Check out this great hook-up from our friends at Experience: Submit a video diary from your alternative break trip, and you could win $500 to help you pay!

I'm still going to go sit on my butt in Cozumel. But I keep telling myself that because I am essentially a fulltime volunteer, this is my alternative spring break...right?

"I don't know, check Facebook"

I'm not even going to try to count the number of times I've uttered that phrase to a friend in a quest to find a long-lost email address, identify a forgotten birthday, make sure an ex is still single, the list goes on.

And I know you probably spend so much time reading It's All Good that you hardly have time for Facebook, but I bet you occasionally squeeze it in...

So I'm hoping you caught the Causes Giving Challenge - sponsored by our friends at Facebook and the Case Foundation - which gave some big bucks to nonprofits.

From Dec. 13 to Jan. 31, they gave a thousand bucks to the organization on Facebook that received the greatest number of donors each day. That revved up 2,5000 nonprofits big and small to collect 33,238 donations - and $628,072!

At the end of the challenge, the organization with the most donors over the course of the program - Love Without Boundaries - walked away with $50,000. Second and third places, getting $25,000 each, went to Students for a Free Tibet and Nourish International. And 10 more organizations each got $10,000. Not bad, huh?

To coincide with the Facebook challenge, the Case Foundation partnered with Parade magazine to hold America's Giving Challenge, which raised another $1.2 million.

To me, the numbers make my eyes turn to dollar signs so fast I don't even get to the end of the figures, but compared to other types of giving, electronic donations don't raise that much money - only between 1 and 5 percent of most organizations' total contributions. But it's moving up: In 2006, online giving to large nonprofits increased by 36 percent.

I'm guessing that number will keep climbing, and climbing fast. With more young people engaged in important issues - and sucked into Facebook-esque websites - the internet-giving trend is only going to grow.

(And, good news! Now you have an excuse for all of the Facebook time.)

Take that, MacBook Air

Most of you have probably seen these little green buggers in the news, and you probably know that they're cheap laptops attempting to blanket the developing world.

Sounds cool, but the more you learn, the cooler they get.

Founded by MIT techie superstar Nicholas Negroponte, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program is considered just as much an educational experiment as a technological one. The goal is for the rugged, low-cost computers to be used in settings all over the world where children otherwise wouldn't have access to such technology -- and, in turn, to the world.

Though not nearly as feature-loaded as the computer the average child in the U.S. may be used to, the machine, called the XO has some magic of its own. It not only has wireless Internet, it's actually its own wireless router. And it can also run off of human power in the form of a crank, pedal or pull-cord and is incredibly energy efficient.

The price might be the best part. Each computer currently costs $187 to make and will reach OLPC's original $100 target in 2009. The tiny price tag in 2011? Just 50 bucks.

OLPC has already covered most of the globe and shows no signs of stopping.

Check out some of the behind-the-scenes story here:



And, if you're ever stumped on a gift for a nerdy, worldly and/or compassionate friend or family member, think about donating a laptop to a child on their behalf. A computer and delivery is $200, but you can make a donation of any size (a student-bank-account-budget might at least pay for the keyboard?).

Too bad the Give 1 Get 1 campaign -- for $399, you donate one computer and get one for yourself -- is over. Now that I've been looking at the little guys for so long, I'm starting to want one!

To go or not to go?

Graduate program in question: Master of Public Health

Schools in question:

• University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Health Behavior & Health Education)
• Emory University (Global Health)
• University of Minnesota (Community Health Education)
• Boston University (Social & Behavioral Science)
• George Washington University (Health Promotion)
  
  Current leaders: Minnesota (because I'm here), North Carolina ('cause it's warm). And, of course, because they're both phenomenal schools/programs.

Semester in question: Fall 2008

It's a tough decision anyway (think $$$, falling asleep in piles of books, 8am biostats labs, somewhat solidifying a life direction - eek!), and to make matters worse, I'm an awful decision-maker. We're talking baaad. As in it's sometimes so hard for me to decide what/where to eat that I'll sit there hungry.

SOMEBODY HELP ME!!! Is anyone else our there trying to make a grad-school or life-direction question who could offer some advice? Or pity? Or I-can't-help-you-but-I-feel-your-pain?

Shift of the future

People all over the nonprofit sector -- and beyond -- have been freaking out lately about the impending doom of a "leadership crisis," that is, the fact that about three-quarters of nonprofit executive directors/CEOs plan to peace out within five years.

Is the freak-out warranted? It depends on how you look at it. The Building Movement Project released an interesting (and short, and fun to read, I promise) report called Next Shift: Beyond the Nonprofit Leadership Crisis that looks at the issue and what we're going to do about it.

The old turning-lemons-into-lemonade trick seems to prevail here: Though the report considers the leadership crisis a problem, it looks at the deeper issues in the sector and how they -- with the help of rising leaders -- present opportunities for considerable change. Their three biggies:

1) Organizational structures. To be blunt, younger nonprofit professionals think many organizations are stuck in their ways -- ways that aren't necessarily the most effective for this generation.

2) Executive roles. Exectutive director and CEO positions don't appeal to young professionals because of how they fit (and don't fit) into organizations and the rest of their lives.

3) R-E-S-P-E-C-T. The Young want to be heard by The Old(er). They think there is a lot to learn from the Baby Boomer generation that's most often at the helm of organizations, but they feel as if they're not heard and respected enough to work together for change.

Those, folks, are the Cliff's Notes. But notice I haven't given you any solutions. GO READ THE REPORT! I'm sure you'll have a few minutes to kill at some point in your day.

And, fine. For those of you who just won't do it, I'll leave you with this chunk:

Younger leaders may appear to look and act differently from older
leaders,but all of our conversations and research have found that
nonprofitleaders—young and old—share a similar level of commitment. We are all
dedicatedto creating a more just and equitable society. As the leadership of
nonprofitorganizations changes during the next decade, we believe there will be
atremendous opportunity to stop and think about what this sector should look
likein the future.

Google it

It didn't take long for google to be the verb of the minute, but I'm going to propose we take the definition past, v. to search for something -- anything -- on the Internet.

Google deserves it, considering they've expanded their .com to our favorite around It's All Good, the .org.

Google.org is pretty sweet. (Thanks for the tip, Andrea!) They take what they're good at -- info and tech -- and use it to tackle some of the world's major problems: climate change, poverty and emerging diseases. It's not an entirely non-profit process. They invest in some for-profit ventures, working to develop renewable energy, alternate fuel sources, etc. And of course, they do some straight up grant-giving to their partners, too.

The Google Foundation is a separate, tax-exempt branch of Google.org, but it furthers the same goals and missions. Some Google smarty-pants took 10 percent of the 3 million shares of stock Google first offered to the public for the Foundation -- and I'm going to take a wild guess that they're doing OK. And will be for a very long time.

Monkey business

When I was little, I desperately wanted a pet monkey. I got over it, but this awesome video brought me right back.

(Video: Helper monkeys not fooling around)



I dare you to tell me you don't want to raise one.

Caucus? What's a caucus?

*Told ya I'd get off-topic. But when we're talking important stuff like participating in your government process, democracy, etc., I think I get a pass.*


My boyfriend is a bit of a nerd (a very endearing one, of course, but still a nerd). This morning, he couldn't sleep.

"I'm too excited -- it's Super Tuesday!" he said. "It's, like, Christmas morning to me!"

I rolled my eyes.

But it is exciting, especially if you take the time to figure out what in the world is going on with all of these caucuses and primaries and delegates and stuff and get involved. The best explanation I've seen so far (complete with pictures -- totally helps) is from the New York Times Election Guide and divides the day's festivities into the democratic and republican contests.

Check it out, and GET out tonight to your caucus or primary! The good ol' can't-b*tch-if-you-don't-vote thing is still a classic.

'A' is for Action

Hello! And welcome back to school, work, (or if you're like me and fought unsuccessfully with a cold all weekend) the land of the living and, of course, to It's All Good!

If you're new here -- of if you had a particularly rough ringing-in of '08 and forgot what we're all about -- It's All Good is a place to talk nonprofit stuff, real-world life stuff and, I admit it, some other not-quite-so-related stuff.

You might be thinking, Who is this Kate character? Is she even qualified to write about all this? The simple answer is...NO! Not at all. I by no means have it all figured out. But I do have one qualification that I believe to be pretty darn important: I'm in it right now.

I graduated in May 2007 with a bachelor's degree in journalism that I will likely never use, at least not in that form. After the ever-miserable job search, here I am in Minneapolis, serving a year term in AmeriCorps VISTA at a nonprofit community health organization that works with refugees and immigrants in Minnesota and with communities in East Africa. My brain and I are battling out the what-to-do-next-year thing, but going to grad school for a master's in public health is up there in the running (more about this in future posts, I'm sure).

Have I convinced you yet? That I'm qualified to do this? Yeah, didn't think so. But, hey, if nothing else, live vicariously through me: Let me make the mistakes so you can learn from them -- and avoid making them yourself. Not a bad deal, huh?

Oh, and in an attempt to further prove my wisdom and worth, I promise to get some good stuff up here on It's All Good. The True Test. Please, let me know what you think about it, and what else you think we should be talking about. I love comments, so leave 'em like crazy!