Supporting Denver’s Workforce
Article by Mel Ulle Right now, the minimum wage in Colorado is $12.32 per hour. Meanwhile, the average rent for an apartment in Denver is a cool $1,748 for a one-bedroom unit. With a monthly income of $1,971 a full-time minimum wage worker is left with $223 a month to cover utilities, food, transportation, medical expenses and the errant beer [...]
Pepper’s Senior Dog Sanctuary
Article by Mel Ulle Everyone has that “one” dog in their lives. You know the dog. The one who knows the whole story? The one who saw you through some break-ups, some unemployment, some bad falls. If you’re a dog-owner, you totally get it. My “one” dog was Ella-Bobella, Pretty Princess, Piece of Pie. Don’t judge me. I didn’t see [...]
Training Not Shaming
Article by Mel Ulle After 20+ years as a professional fundraiser I can say with confidence that our industry should win a prize for having the highest expectations and the lowest level of investment in our employees. The prize could be called, "Worst in Show" and it would feature a promo video of a barking gaggle of well-intended nonprofit leaders [...]
Capacity-Building Grants. Please, Please, Please Give Them.
Article by Mel Ulle Our clients tend to be organizations that can afford to hire outside consultants. They typically have budgets that range from $3M/year to $10M/ year. We have a few that are much bigger and a few that are much, much smaller. And then there are all the groups with whom we really want to work, but can't [...]
Thank you SBA
Article by Mel Ulle I wrote a couple months ago about the heartbreak, and then rage I felt when my company didn't receive the PPP funding to support our employees. Later, we did receive that funding. Not only that, we also received an EIDL loan for our business. The PPP saved jobs, and it kept food on tables, rent and [...]
Working From Home FOREVER
Article by Mel Ulle Dearest Team and Clients: Behold an announcement from Philanthropy Expert! It will not be a surprise to most of you but let's make it official. We're working from home until the end of time. Until dinosaurs re-inhabit the planet. Until pigs fly. Okay, we may have a little cute space again in the future, but no [...]
We Needed It. We Didn’t Get It. I’m Pissed.
Article by Mel Ulle Last week, I was notified by my bank that the Payroll Protection Program, (PPP), had run out of funding and that we would not receive the dollars we had requested. Money that we legitimately needed. At the same time, I was hearing about friends and colleagues who HAD received dollars. One received around $1 million, and [...]
What Comes Next: We Get Better
Article by Mel Ulle When the need for something becomes imperative, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it. Hence the saying: 'necessity is the mother of invention.' I am so impressed with private industry's responsiveness to this pandemic crisis with quick innovations and pivots. Distilleries making hand sanitizing spray, fashion houses making face masks, a hotel becoming [...]
Nonprofits- Stay in the Game.
Article by Mel Ulle As a consultant to nonprofits, foundations, initiatives and philanthropic agencies, I often find myself playing the role of motivational speaker. I can get so preachy that I even kind of inspire myself. But sometimes... I find myself in serious need of inspiration. I, like so many others, have spent the last 8 days pretty much shell-shocked. [...]
