Giving and Holiday Shopping

It's that time of year, so how can I not publish a list of ways to integrate causes into your holiday shopping. 

KIVA gift cards which can be printed in under 5 mins have been my go to gift this past year.  I also have ordered from the 12 Small Things website.  I'm always happy to hear of anything I missed or sites you particularly like.

This page is available any time of year on my blog under the "Giving for Gifts" tab at the top.

Happy Shopping!

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Gift Cards for Charity 
from Washington Post
I like the idea of a charitable gift card because the recipient gets to shop for where the donation actually goes.  The article mentions two good sites that they feel offer well vetted options:

Global Giving
Tis Best


Nicholas Kristoff's Suggestions 
from New York Times
Any suggestions from this well known international aid journalist are bound to be worthy


Causecast
This site tells you what you can get for what dollar amount.  For instance, $14.00 buys you school supplies for a former child slave in Ghana or $25.00 for immunizations for a child in Haiti.  Also, includes lots of options in the U.S.


Change.org
I like how this charity gift giving guide is organized by the recipient's area of interest.



KIVA
I have wanted to give a microloan as a gift for years and have yet to do it.  This is the year!  I like this gift for two reasons.  One, the recipient gets to shop for the loan they want to give.  Secondly, when the loan is paid back, your recipient gets to loan the money again, and again.

Note:  In another post on this blog there are several negative articles regarding microfinancing, but I am standing behind it's value when done ethically and with integrity.


 12 Small Things
To purchase physical gifts from fair trade/socially responsible vendors check out this site.  It was suggested by a friend of mine who is hired by foreign governments to increase the business of fair trade items to benefit their local communities. 

Global Goods Partner 

My friend, mentioned above, was also hired by this company to do trainings with women in some of the countries this site supports.

Trade As One
I liked this site because it gives you background on the communities benefiting from your purchase. It not only has a selection of nice gifts, but also alternatives to items you buy for yourself probably not fair trade, like soccer balls.

Nest 

A beautiful site and is a nonprofit organization that empowers female artists and artisans around the world. Using a unique combination of interest-free microfinance loans, mentoring from established designers, as well as a market in which to sell their crafts, Nest helps its loan recipients create successful small businesses.

Global Exchange Fair Trade
You can google "fair trade gifts" and get numerous suggested.  This was one that looked particular good.

Should Philanthropies Operate Like Businesses?

On Monday the Wall Street Journal published a special section on Philanthropy.  The cover story was Should Philanthropies Operate Like Businesses?  One article argued "yes" while the other argued "no."  Both articles left me dissatisfied. 

Bronfman and Solomon, authors of "The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets a Business Plan," argue that, like business investors, donors should expect specific goals and measurable outcomes from the non-profits they support.  I completely agree this is smart business, but they fail to comment on many other critical aspects of what is smart business leaving the reader to think that having a plan, collecting data, measuring results, and striving to improve is all it takes to be a well run business.

Edwards, author of "Small Change: Why Business Won't Save the World," argues "social change is.. messy, unpredictable, politicized and subject to conflicts of interest and interpretation."  Business oriented philanthropy threatens "the capacity to do whatever it takes to reach your goal and the freedom to use it creatively."  In business terms, he is saying non-profits need to be able to innovate.  He is actually supporting what is also smart business.

The real hero of the section is an interview with Tierney, author of "The Donor Guarantee Trap," who discusses the importance of overhead for non-profits.  "Without the necessary investments in overhead, without a doubt the organization underperforms."  Investing in the sustainability of the people and organization administrating programs is also smart business.  We know VC firms will patiently delay the short term ability for a start up to be profitable in order to invest more in infrastructure resulting in greater gains later.


TAKEAWAY:

Non-profits should operate more like businesses and I like donors wanting clear goals and measurable outcomes, but if we want long term gains, we cannot just fund program after program.  We must also embrace other smart business practices like investing in innovation and infrastructure.


For another look at the need to invest in the sustainability of the people running our vital community programs, please see my earlier post on Courage to Lead

Just Don't Get Paralyzed

If I take a break from reading about social issues, it's overwhelming trying to get started again.   So many issues, so many causes.  It's paralyzingly.   But, sometimes the distance away gives me perspective.  I noticed something interesting once I get started again. 

Articles about issues alone make me feel hopeless and weigh me down with despair. 

Articles about solutions that solve root problems give me hope and energizes me to do more.


This is why I love the New York Times online article FIXES.  Fixes explores creative initiatives to solve major social problems.

The most recent article is on impact sourcing.  The idea is to make it attractive for companies to outsource business processes to people in the developing world who come from impoverished or remote communities.  Outsourcing is a $100 billion dollar industry, but costs have risen and companies are looking for less expensive alternatives.

"There is no shortage of work to be done. The world runs on data and each day it needs to be updated. Shopping companies need to revise business locations; voice transcriptions need to be corrected; videos need to be captioned; photos need to be tagged; government archives need to be entered into databases; receipts and mortgage applications need to be scanned and verified."


Two social enterprise companies providing impact sourcing, Digital Divided Data and Samasource are successfully employing workers in "microwork," with just a computer and internet connection, across Haiti, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Uganda and South Africa ― some of them living in refugee camps .  Their clients include Facebook, Google and LinkedIn.

Work is at the core of human dignity.  These two companies have found a creative solution for providing an on-ramp to the global economic superhighway for the world's most impoverished, restoring dignity and hope.  Personally, these two companies fire me up and inspire me to believe the solutions are out there.



TAKEWAY #1:

Know which social issues articles motivate you and which don't.  Read the ones that inspire you and don't feel badly about the rest.

For me, articles about inventive programs that create a market based solution get me inspired.  You might find a different type of article inspires you.  Just don't get paralyzed.

THRIVE - Cradle to Career Initiative's New Executive Director

Inspired by Geoffrey Canada's "Whatever it Takes" approach which led to the nationally recognized Harlem Children's Zone, a few key foundation and community leaders in town quietly came together to begin making major investments in finding out what would it take to successfully implement a cradle to career strategy in Santa Barbara County.

With the help of Lois Mitchell, Orfalea Foundations President, I did an earlier post discussing what is Cradle to Career.  In this post I mentioned that existing efforts underway weave school districts, non-profit agencies, service providers, government, business, families, higher ed, and other public-private partners into a supportive safety net focused on strengthening families, neighborhoods and students ability to succeed.

The efforts of the initial foundations and community leader's aren't so quiet anymore.  In fact, the initiative continues to grow, has a new name called THRIVE, and a new impressive Executive Director, Anita Perez Ferguson who you can read about in Noozhawk.

The other week, I was part of an education event which brought together the boards from Storyteller, THRIVE, CALM, and First 5 to talk about collaboration.  Anita introduced herself and the keynote speaker.  What really blew me away about this event, wasn't actually the very noteworthy keynote speaker, but the clear resolve among these agencies to successful collaborate for the betterment of our community.

It was clear that Anita Perez Ferguson will be a key driver of this success and continues to make me proud to live in a community that very possibly is within striking distance of “making sure that all the kids in (Santa Barbara County) are going to be able to achieve academically and compete economically.”

Nobel Peace Prize Award to Two Liberain Women

 

 The New York Times reported that the Noble Peace Prize was award to three women last week, two of whom are Liberian.  The first is current President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (pictured left) who is Africa's first and only female head of state and is up for re-election this very week.

The second is Leymah Gbowee (pictured right), who spoke just last week at UCSB.  President Sirleaf's efforts these last six years to rebuild a country that destroyed every part of its infrastructure during 20 years of civil war is impressive.  However, it is Leymah's story  of courage that really inspires me.  

Leymah was a victim of the war and trapped in an abusive marriage as a young mother.  Rather than suffer helplessly, she helped to mobilized the Liberation Mass Action for Peace which grew to include hundreds of Muslim and Christian women who peacefully protested the constant state of civil war.

After months of unsuccessful peace talks between the various violent warlords, this group is credited with ending the war by literally blocking the doors of the peace talks so no one or nothing could get in or out until a settlement was reached.  The support of this group is also credited with Sirleaf's subsequent election.

TAKEAWAY#1:

It is Leymah's story that inspires hope in me that progress can be made and that we are not on what often seems like a never ending journey for peace in far off lands that we mostly just read about and don't know how to support.  Maybe our belief in people like Leymah will travel the universe and somehow find it's way to another courageous sole.

In fact, PBS is broadcasting a special on Women, War and Peace featuring Leymah and other courageous women.  The series starts tonight and broadcasts Tuesday nights until November 8th. 

TAKEAWAY #2:

Maybe Leymah's story will inspire us to take action closer to home for something we beleive in, big or small, that until now we felt was a loosing battle.


You can see the story of the Liberation Mass Action for Peace in the documentary "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" and you can read Leymah's story in her book, "Mighty Be Our Powers."

The Absolute Easiest Way to Support Your Public Library

I am a huge fan of the public library.  I firmly believe that access to knowledge is central to a free and civil society and deeply value the role libraries play in disseminating this knowledge. You can support them with two mouse clicks.

The Santa Barbara Public Library is a finalist in Verizon’s Check Into Literacy Program—a grant that will give up to $25,000 to support adult literacy services.

They need your vote (and the vote of all YOUR friends) to get the grant! Vote now by clicking on the link below, scrolling to the bottom of page and choosing “Friends of the Santa Barbara Public Library” in the blue box to the right.

Here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/VerizonFiOS?sk=app_217164111631555

(voting is on Facebook, but you don't need a Facebook account to vote)

Great Speakers Coming to Town this Sunday

This is a great opportunity to hear from two dynamic women.  Jennah Scott, Liberian Philanthropist Secretariat, organized the events for my Liberia trip last year. Leymah Gbowee, Liberian Human Rights Activist will be speaking at UCSB's Art's and Lectures after the smaller panel discussion.  Hope to see you there.