Farewell Post June 3, 2010

So this is technically my last blog post for PPPM 280 and I am left wondering where this term went. Walking through rain on the way to class in the beginning of June is aiding my disbelief that summer is just around the corner. I don’t care if were in Oregon; it’s June. So hopefully with my last post of the term I can finalize my thoughts on the nonprofit sector and the class as whole.

First though I want to talk about the last topic of the term, foundations. I really wasn’t sure what a foundation did or even was until we had out guest speaker who has worked for the Oregon Foundation and others. I was unaware that foundations did so many various things from managing funds to providing scholarships. Even if the scholarships are for deer hunters I think that it is really amazing to have an organization help guide people who want to help others and their causes. Another cool thing that foundations do is providing grants to nonprofit organizations. I think it’s important to note that there are two main types of foundations: public and private, although both are considered nonprofits.  The difference can be seen in the regulations, funding and missions.

I definitely got a different view of foundations from our guest speaker and can see the impact that foundations can make. As I said in my first post I am concentrating in nonprofit management and am now kind of interested in the field of foundations. Being able to provide people the means to live out their dreams is pretty rewarding. I am not sure where I will be in five years (not in Oregon that’s for sure) but I hope I’ll be at a nonprofit somewhere. This class has opened my eyes to all the organizations out there that are nonprofits like private schools, hospitals and others that I had no idea were classified as nonprofits. PPPM 280 has help reassure me that this is the field that I want to be a part of.

As far as PPPM 280 goes, I’m not going to lie I was not excited about this whole blog posting thing when I read about in the syllabus. I still feel like i’m learning how to use WordPress and make adjustments. Overall, I think the blog has been a great alternative to endless paper assignments and has also created more of a community within our class. Most classes this size you may have a few people you know but with the blog I feel like we are all connected. Anyone of us can choose to read a random peers blog and learn a little about that person and their opinions. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think more classes should be encouraged to blog instead of turn in paper assignments.

I am so excited to take PPPM 480 Nonprofit Management where the class designs their own nonprofit from what I understand. I have so many amazing ideas for my dream nonprofit but they will have to wait until spring term 2011! The way I feel about nonprofits, community service, this course, and my future is summed up in this quote by Margaret Mead,

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Thanks for reading my blog this past term! ~Emma

Enviornmental Nonprofits and Salaries May 25, 2010

This post is about environmental nonprofits, a topic that O’Neill failed to include a chapter on in his book. Our professor provided us with several reading from other sources such as The Story of Stuff and Forcing the Spring to aide in our understanding. I’m glad we are looking into this type of nonprofits because environmentalism is such a hot topic right now especially in Eugene. For our second lecture on this topic we are having a guest speaker from Cascadia Wildlands, a local nonprofit. The speaker is Kate Ritley, the executive director and main fundraiser for the organization. I actually heard Kate speak last term at an event on large donor fundraising put on by the Association for Fundraising Professionals. (I think Sarah is a part of this group because she was at the event as well) Anyway I really enjoyed Kate’s presentation on fundraising because she spoke very honestly about being the sole fundraiser for her nonprofit. It was interesting to hear her perspective on fundraising compared to the other speaker who had a large staff for his University of Oregon fundraising. I’m interested for next week when Kate will come to 280 because I’ll get to hear more about what her organization actually does and its impacts. I looked at the website a bit and I think they have a really good cause. I thought it was really cool that they offer hikes to increase awareness of the areas they fight to protect and also volunteer opportunities for those who can’t commit financially. I could tell from her talk last term that Kate is really passionate about her job and believes in the mission of her nonprofit, which is really beneficial for the organization.

The article, A Good Cause Gone Bad, caught my interest because it brings about the issues of nonprofits that aren’t necessarily doing their best for their mission. The focus was on environmental nonprofits such as Conservation International that act more like corporations than organizations with a cause.  As someone who plans on working in the nonprofit sector I realize that it is not the most lucrative career path. I was very surprised and saddened to find that some of the environmental organizations have CEO’s with salaries in the top 1% of taxpayers in the US. Shouldn’t the people in top positions fighting for environmental rights be more interested in funding their cause than their salary? It did however remind me of a scandal a few months ago with the Boys and Girls Club CEO who was receiving a million dollar salary. The organization was questioned because it does get a lot of federal money and is currently suffering from the economy but can somehow afford to give their CEO a seven-figure salary. If you are working for a nonprofit, you should just accept that it’s going to have less than stellar pay and you should want that bad pay. If you have a high pay you are taking that million dollars away from programs, children, and environmental causes. I would feel horrible if my organization was closing locations and not offering valuable programs to underprivileged children but as CEO I was getting such a huge salary.  There needs to be more regulation on the salaries for nonprofit employees, especially the large national organizations, perhaps a cap on the amount of federal funds that can be distributed to salaries.

Cascadia Wildlands Website: http://www.cascwild.org/index.html

BGC Article: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/boys-girls-club-ceo-roxanne-spilletts-1m-salary/story?id=10086264

Paper Topic-Take One May 22, 2010

So I am super interested in the nonprofit sector and wasn’t really sure where I wanted to concentrate my research. Sarah helped me verbalize what I wanted to look at. I am going to focus on programs for children that have educational/developmental purposes that are not in school. The Boys and Girls Club always advertises their success stories by using famous alums of their programs like Denzel Washington and Martin Sheen as poster boys. I want to see if these programs really have significant impact on the children that use them and genuinely give them an advantage or if they are just a less expensive daycare. Sarah gave me the link to the Wallace Foundation website that has a lot of reports and articles on this topic. http://www.wallacefoundation.org/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/CurrentAreasofFocus/Out-Of-SchoolLearning/Pages/default.aspx

Building Community through Art May 11, 2010

The assigned readings in O’Neill were on Arts and Advocacy. Personally I am more interested in the arts and cultural nonprofits than advocacy so I am going to focus on the arts. I believe that the arts and culture can provided a lot of outlets and opportunities for many people from all different backgrounds.

Museums are a large portion of arts nonprofits, which makes sense but I didn’t really consider museums as parts of the nonprofit sector. Certainly some museums are free to the public and funded through private donations. I have been to some very well funded museums such as the Lourve and the Smithsonian but had the opportunity to experience a less funded museum. Over the weekend, my Event Management course required me to go to the Maude Kerns Art Gallery near campus. I had never been here and was not really sure what to expect. The interior building is rundown and not very well used for its purpose. It was very cluttered with junk and it took away from the exhibits. They do not require an entrance fee but have a suggested donation of three dollars. I think this gallery has a lot of potential. I did a little research on their website and found out that they offer classes which I think is amazing. It offers the community a chance to come closer together through art.

I believe that arts and culture can help create a sense of community that has been forgotten in our current world of technology and individualism. This problem mostly lies within the US. We can see the value that we as Americans put into arts when those are the first programs to get cut from education programs. Some would argue that music classes could be more important and influential to students than geometry; or the fact that arts and culture nonprofits are such a small portion of the nonprofit sector. These nonprofits can help create relationships and traditions that build community.

Education Envy April 26, 2010

For the past week I have been surrounded by the nonprofit sector and not just because of PPPM 280. On Tuesday my sorority volunteered at FOOD for Lane County and then on Saturday I got the opportunity to organize a National Day of Service with several local Brownie and Girl Scout troops from Springfield where my sisters and I got to hang out with the girls, do crafts and play games. I have also been filling out numerous applications for internships and volunteer opportunities with nonprofits back in California for the summer.  This course has definitely increased my knowledge of all areas of nonprofits and it helps with my career goals in this field.

During the last post we talked about religion and nonprofits and this week our reading was about education. So for me the experience of education has been religiously affiliated for more than half my life. I never before had realized that my private Catholic school was considered a nonprofit and tax exempt. It also surprised me that 84% of private education institutions are religiously affiliated.

Now onto the issue of a religiously affiliated nonprofit providing education with a price tag. I find it very interesting that while many nonprofit organizations have separated from their religious affiliations that the majority of private nonprofit educational institutions are religiously affiliated. I suppose that it makes sense because you have to pay to use private religious schools and that is the choice of the person benefiting but in the case of a nonprofit that offers free services like Big Brothers Big Sisters some people may not want to have the religious influence. I am biased in a way because I did attend Catholic school for nine years but I will say that I know I got a better education than my peers at public school.

I chose to go to a public high school instead of Catholic high school and I regret that decision. Although I grew up in an area with some of the best public schools in California, the lack of funding to public schools affects the quality of education the students receive. Personally, I found the difference very noticeable during my transition to public school. At my private school I had my own personal laptop provided by the school and when I got to high school I had to sign up for times in a computer lab full of ancient relics that resembled computers.

I did a little research online and found some interesting articles with statistics on public v. private educations.

-Students who attend private school through 8^th grade are twice as likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree than their public school peers

-Private school students score significantly higher on standardized tests

-Conservative Christian (not Catholic) schools scored lower than Catholic, Lutheran, private and public school peers

Religious teaching also did not affect my knowledge. Many critics assume that religion is shoved down the throats of students in every class. I’m sorry to inform the disbelievers but my basic education like math and English were in no way influenced by Catholicism. I also want to note that not everyone who attended my Catholic school was Catholic. Many people make the assumption that if you attend a religiously affiliated school that you must be of that faith, which is far from the truth. In my opinion, the children who attend private schools do so because their parents want them to have a better education and more opportunities. In my school, we had religion class twice a week and parents were allowed to opt their children out of this class. Those students would instead have extra homework time, art class or physical education depending on the day.

Although I enjoyed my private school education, I think that it important to have variety in education. At my public high school there were two alternative high schools located on the same campus for students with different learning styles or interests. After the reading I have different understanding of charter schools. I can sort of relate the choice of high school education to choosing a college. By offering alternative education styles it allows all students to prosper. To sum it all up I think that everyone should have a choice in their schooling and parents should provide their children with the best option for their child. If parents CHOOSE to have religion incorporated into their child’s PRIVATE school education, why do others care so much? Are they just jealous their parents didn’t send them to a school with snazzy plaid uniforms and polos? 

Resources:

National Assessment of Educational Progress High School Transcript Study of 1998

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/studies/2006461.pdf

Religions and Nonprofits Collide April 12, 2010

Well last week I wrote about how surprised I was to find that America has the most developed nonprofits in the world and now this week I was again surprised to find that America is the most developed religiously as well. When I think about the topic of religion and nonprofits in the United States it does begin to make more sense. I personally have been around a lot of nonprofits that were affiliated with various religions from church thrift shops to soup kitchens. It seems that part of being a good person, religiously speaking, has a lot to do with giving back and helping others who are less fortunate than you might be. After a little web searching, I found that while Goodwill Industries, a very large and well known nonprofit, does not currently have a religious affiliation but was founded in the Methodist Church. Big Brothers Big Sisters also has no religious affiliation but before Big Brothers merged with Big Sisters in the late 1970’s, it was known as Catholic Big Sisters. I found it very interesting that while the book states that a majority of Americans believe in some form of God that large nonprofits would try to disaffiliate from their respective religions. It may be because many people who are one religion don’t want to associate with another religions organization but I would think that as long as the organization had a foundation in some religion it wouldn’t matter.

My background with religion is pretty typical for the area in which I grew up. I went to Catholic school for nine years, while there I began taking my first steps into the world of nonprofits and community service. This weeks reading made me wonder about my foundations in service and if I hadn’t gone to Catholic school whether or not I would have been so involved in volunteering. My foundation from Catholic school and religiously affiliated service projects has really lead to the current lifestyle and career goals I have for myself.

Going to school in Eugene has been a very different experience for me as far as religions go. I feel like the majority of Eugene have these large liberal ways of thinking and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that but I don’t see how people can hate on things they aren’t a part of. I can understand not believing in God or some greater being but sometimes saying that I am Catholic labels as me as some religious freak (which I’m not). It saddens me that large nonprofits have to disaffiliate from their religions simply because people prefer it that way. I don’t see anything wrong with being a Catholic and volunteering to help with a Lutheran Church’s Easter egg hunt for children (like I did on Easter) but I suppose people could see it as crossing borders or something. People are so pessimistic sometimes and it really brings about nothing good living that way. I think the whole purpose of nonprofits, religiously affiliated or not, is to help out others so as long as I am giving back to someone why should it matter what I believe in or what they believe in?

Welcome to my blog! April 7, 2010

Welcome to my blog! I started this nonprofit blog for my Planning, Public Policy and Management class 280: The Nonprofit Sector at the University of Oregon. The purpose of this blog is to allow both my peers and other around the world to read about my perspective on the assisgments in this course about nonprofits and of course, to save some trees as this is Eugene. So it’s probably important for you to know a little bit more about myself. I am a Junior PPPM major concentrating in nonprofits so this course is really all about what I want to do with my life. I hope to use the knowledge I gain in this class and my other major classes to have a successful career in event planning and fundraising for nonprofit organizations across the country.

My background in the field of nonprofits is very diverse but my favorite organizations to work with are youth programs. I have been a youth mentor for both Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Boys and Girls Club. I really enjoyed both of these organizations and would love to work with them more. In high school, I was the President of the Interact Club (a high school Rotary program) which was my first leadership position working with nonprofits. As President I planned many service projects with the local Rotary Club including a trip to Mexico to help renovate an orphanage. Currently I am the Community Service Chair for my sorority so I get to work closely with local nonprofits to plan volunteer opportunities for more than 100 members of my chapter. Recently we have worked with nonprofits such as FOOD for Lane and Girl Scouts of America. I am very passionate about my work with community service and nonprofits.

In lecture this week one of the most interesting topics that I was unaware of was how much more developed nonprofit organizations are in the United States compared to the rest of the world. I didn’t realize that the US played such a strong role in the creation of nonprofits and fundraising for the whole world. I knew that many of the nonprofits in the US were very old like Big Brothers Big Sisters but that they were at the forefront of the beginning of national nonprofits is pretty impressive.

I was also very surprised to see the statistics on the number of people who are involved with nonprofits nationally. Personally I believed to feel that in the US people aren’t as generous with their time based on my experiences. Whenever I have been involved of the planning of events for nonprofits such as Bowling for Kids Sake with Big Brothers Big Sisters we always have had to have brainstorming sessions for how to get the public engaged and involved. Some of the ways that tend to work are providing material objects like t-shirts or prizes for volunteers. When I volunteer to work with a nonprofit I really don’t feel the desire to get something for my work so it’s hard for me to see it from that perspective. The statistics that the Professor showed in class were definitely very unexpected but in a good way because they showed that there are a lot people who want to help vast types of nonprofits that benefit so many different things.

Hello world! March 31, 2010

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