Big bird to the rescue?

Check out this story in today's Washington Post about a nonprofit bringing much-needed fun to kids with military parents who have been deployed:

Having given generations of shy kids someone to identify with (think Snuffleupagus) and cranky kids a way to laugh at themselves (Oscar the Grouch), Sesame Workshop is now tackling a new challenge: helping children of military families adjust to having a parent deployed at war. Read more of Sesame Street and the home front...

How to get attention (no, not that kind)

I know I have a bit of a communications bias because of my background. And job. And love of chatting. But marketing sneaks its way into everything, I promise.

So, behold...

GETTING ATTENTION! (An awesome blog with super-doable nonprofit marketing tips that I've been meaning to mention for awhile...sorry! And happy weekend reading.)

Cover letters from...H-E-double-hockey-sticks

...or does that only make sense because I grew up in a hockey town?

Anyway, these Cover Letters from H*ll will brighten your Hump Day. And hey, you might even learn something about what to do/not to do as you're a cover-letter-writing machine in the next few months.

Good luck!

Big day

Yep, it's Earth Day. I could rant about the state of our environment and what we're not doing to fix it or try to get you to spend the day picking trash out of ditches. Hey, if you're so inclined, great -- but I think it's more realistic to challenge you to make one tiny change today. Make a Target run for some squiggly lightbulbs. Reuse your plastic fork. Find a place to dump your old electronics. Me? I'm bringing the 22490528049 plastic grocery bags under my sink to the big recycling bin at the store.

What's your plan?

Also, the Pennsylvania primary is today, and things in the Democratic race could get interesting. Get out of the politics groove the last few weeks? This will explain what the heck is happening in PA today.

Happy planet and politics day!

Decision! Really this time...

I know, I know, you don't believe me after my half-a**** decision a couple months ago -- but I really decided this time!

I'll spare you from the details of my decision-making process (trust me, it's messy), but I enrolled in the master of public health program at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health for fall '08.

An interesting twist: I also decided to apply for the M.A. program in health journalism, which is being totally revamped for this year and looks fantastic. If I get in (crossing fingers!), I'll do a joint MPH/MA degree and knock out two master's degrees by age 25. Not bad, huh?

The Real World -- YEEHAW!

Starting to get a little freaked out about The Future? You're not alone, and I can prove it.

More and more, people are blogging about their job hunt, job decision and real job stuff -- and of course it's much more interesting when they're cramming all of their belongings into their car the day after college graduation and moving to somewhere they've never even visited. For the blogger, it's a great way to sorta keep in touch with people you know you're not going to call every day, and for readers, it can totally be helpful to people about to enter the whole process.

Check out Alyssa's new blog, Jersey Girl in Texas (you see where this is going...), for an example!

Youth for a Change -- highlights!

Highlights of the National Service-Learning Conference: Youth for a Change:

• Desmond Tutu -- Didn't say anything massively groundbreaking, but just being in a room with such a person was an honor. And really, the guy is hilarious (totally wasn't expecting Mary/Jesus knock-knock jokes). My favorite was his adorable opening making-fun-of-his-age story: A school in the Netherlands named itself after Tutu, and he attended their 400-year anniversary celebration. A little girl came up to him and asked, "Were you here when the school started?" (They have since renamed the school, haha.)



• Urban educator and NYU professor Pedro Noguera -- I read a lot of his stuff in an education class in college, but I think he easily won over even those who weren't already fans. Very much a proponent of an "it's not problem kids, it's problem schools" idea, he had some fantastic stories and passionate solutions.
  


• Hanging out with the directors of the Peace Corps, Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps lives there) and USA Freedom Corps -- With all due respect, they didn't say a whole lot of anything with substance. But it was still cool to sit 10 feet away from them in a small session and chat. Brought up some interesting ideas to me about national service and how it should be used.



• Change the World. It just takes cents. and other youth projects -- Probably the most inspiring part of the conference was seeing all the elementary-, middle- and high-school students doing awesome service-learning projects, such as the one above. Made me feel proud, hopeful and incredibly lazy, and it was great.
  


• Spoken word artist Julia Sewell whose performance opened and closed with the infamous Nelson Mandela genius that, I think, echoed the tone of the whole conference:
  
  

  Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure...We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

Tidbits

I wanted to be cool and do the blogging-from-a-relevant-conference thing, but boo for no free wireless. Yesterday and today, I was at the National Service-Learning Conference (and, because it's the Longest Conference Ever, I'll be there Friday and Saturday, too), an enormous event that brings together students of all ages, professionals from all fields and the fattest conference program I have ever seen. I'll recap when it's over and I'm semi-rested.

Here's some totally unrelated stuff to keep you busy while I'm wandering between workshops with my snazzy conference lanyard and tote bag (you all know the look)...

I lied! There is in fact an undergrad nonprofit management program, and of course it's right under my nose at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. [Thanks for the tip, Reb!] It's a BSB (bachelor of science in business) degree that focuses on public and nonprofit sectors. And the story of the program's development is awesome -- it was created by students who saw a need and went for it. (Also check out this course at the U of Wisconsin - River Falls.)

Read this: What Makes People Give? in the New York Times Magazine -- pretty interesting.

Do this: If you're looking for a job or suspect you will be anytime relatively soon, join LinkedIn. If you're like me, you've heard about it and haven't done it. Well, I caved and I'm glad I did -- it's just like grown-up Facebook.

Crap, I overslept for nonprofit class!

There's a class for just about everything else -- why not nonprofit stuff? Sure, lots of standard courses are somewhat relevant, but why claw your way through corporate case studies when you know you're headed down a different path?

I know there are some master's-level programs out there (i.e. nonprofit administration), but I haven't heard of a bachelor's program in nonprofit anything. And my college certainly didn't have nonprofit-focused courses.

Did you take a nonprofit course in college? Were they offered? What -- of the courses you did take (and didn't sleep through) -- is most relevant to the nonprofit sector and what you want to do there?

Another fork stuck in the road

[Photo by booleansplit]


I'm so sick of the fork-in-the-road metaphor I could puke -- and I'm sure a lot of you soon-to-be-grads are in the same boat.

Of course it's annoying because it's perfect. And because sometimes it feels as if no matter what move you make, it'll put you back at square one.

I can sit and stare at my fork for approximately five more days. Then I have to send a little card back to my grad school of choice and seal my fate: heading back to the books and PowerPoints and all-nighters, or back to the oh-so-fun job hunt I just did a year ago. Neither sound particularly appealing, yet they both do at the same time.

Anyone else out there lost in Lollipop Woods? If you have any words of wisdom, need to vent, have created the mother of all pro-con charts or would like to flip a coin for me, please comment.

I'll be sitting, staring at my fork, waiting, for as long as possible. (Which can't be very long.)

Job search pet peeves

I HATE when organizations/companies have jobs posted on their website that DISAPPEAR IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOU SEND THEM YOUR APPLICATION.

I'm sorry, but I suggest that if you are not organized enough to take positions off of your website right when the are filled (or when you know you won't be considering any more applicants), at least admit to the applicant who now feels like crap, "We're very sorry, but this position has already been filled and was not removed from our website. Thank you for your application; we will keep your information on file...blah, blah, blah..."

Don't just skulk off, take the posting down and never respond to me. Writing cover letters sucks. Please don't waste my time if your job opening no longer exists.

Right?

Have you developed any pet peeves in the job search process?

Intern, schmintern

So, you're back from spring break. You might still have some remnants of a tan. But if you're anything like I was a year ago right now, you're also starting to really spaz about the home-stretch-of-college thing and, of course, the omg-I'm-about-to-enter-the-Real-World thing.

Now to Monica Lewinsky (yes, that's Monica Lewinsky). Clearly related, right? OK, OK, not at all. But the intern part is.

When I was approaching college graduation, I wanted a job. Like, a real job. I already had five internships on my resume, and I didn't want the awful i-word behind my name ever again. Nevertheless, I threw some internships into the post-grad-possibilities mix, applied, and was offered a couple.

But I was stubborn. I held out for the real jobs. I was sick of moving every few months and sick of leaving places when I just started getting into my groove. So even though I had some pretty sweet internship offers, I said no way. (I did end up meeting myself in the middle and went with a yearlong AmeriCorps VISTA position.)

Now I wish I hadn't dismissed them so quickly. I'm still not sure what I'm doing with my life, and nearly nine months into my job, I'm antsy for that fast-changing college thing. Internships are a way to explore, get a bunch of different experiences and keep yourself on your toes. And, I think, soften that sharp transition from college life to the working world.

OK, coming down from the soapbox now. Just promise me you won't say no to the intern thing right off the bat. I should totally get paid for the number of times I mention them, but the folks at Idealist know how to do this stuff -- check out their internship and volunteer opportunities.

And places, especially nonprofits, LOVE interns, so even if your dream org doesn't have intern positions listed, contact them and pitch yourself. They might not be able to say no.

The occasional downer

Sorry, gotta do it every so often. We all know the nonprofit field isn't a bunch of roses anyway. Unfortunately.

When we think of bad guys embezzling loads of $$$, we think Enron-esque companies, right? But it's a problem in nonprofits, too -- fraud in the "good-guy" sector amounts to $40 billion a year. That's 13 percent of philanthropic giving! (No, unfortunately I'm not April fooling you.)

This certainly can't inspire a ton of confidence in donors, when many are already skeptical of the ways nonprofits spend their money.

They probably won't admit to any shady business here, but one step toward giving with confidence is free services that evaluate nonprofits on a whole bunch of criteria, including the efficiency of which they use their donations (i.e. how much goes to programming vs. buying pens for the office).

Check out Charity Navigator, the biggie, or look for similar services in your state -- here in Minnesota, we have the Charities Review Council. It's not perfect, but it's a start!