I am going to say something controversial. Theater is boring. My dad describes opera in a way that I think embodies my feeling about theater: it’s a really expensive and uncomfortable nap. I don’t even want to be awake past 8:30 pm, which makes most productions of basically anything on a stage feel like a major imposition. I don’t like things standing between me and the Land of Sleepy-Sleepy. [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
There is a place where middle school girls can run, scream, dance and crab-walk through the hallways between classes. A place where math is taught in action with things like the “fraction dance” and where girls are encouraged to be bold, honest and authentic. It’s kind of the opposite of the middle school experience that most people endured and barely survived. [...]
Talk to any nonprofit leader and they will tell you: burnout in the nonprofit sector is going to be one of the biggest and most tragic outcomes of the pandemic. After over 20 years working in this industry, I have never seen this level of staff turnover. [...]
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 pointing to a spreadsheet and demanding answers. [...]
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. [...]
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. [...]
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. [...]
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. [...]
We promise to jump into the trenches with you, own your goals with you, commit to your success and laugh and cry with you because this work is hard.
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