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The Greatness of America

The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.

- Alexis de Tocqueville, French statesman and writer, was born this day in 1805. De Tocqueville is best known for his book, Democracy in America, which examined the state of America society and the ‘ongoing democratic revolution’ the US. Many of de Tocqueville’s predictions turned out to be accurate, and his writings are still important works in sociology and political science.

Around Town: July 27-28

It’s been a hot few weeks here in the DC metro area and we’re hoping you are all staying cool and hydrated! With cooler temperatures ahead this weekend, check out what some great Catalogue nonprofits have to offer if you are looking to get out and about!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Invasive Plant Removal

Anacostia Watershed Society
The Anacostia Watershed Society is working in Pope Branch Park in Washington, DC to restore Pope Branch and the surrounding area. Please join us to remove invasive plant species that are threatening the native plants and animals of Pope Branch Park. We need your help! Contact Maddie at 301-699-6204 ext. 109 or mkoenig@anacostiaws.org to sign up!
When: Saturday, July 27, 2013 (09:00 AM – 12:00 NOON)
Where: Pope Branch Park, 3300 block of N St. SE, Washington, DC 20019
Fee? no
Volunteer Info: See above.
Contact: Madeline Koenig, (301) 699-6204 ext 109

Nash Run Trash Trap Cleanup

Anacostia Watershed Society
The Anacostia Watershed Society has been experimenting with a stationary device built to strain the trash from the flowing waters of Nash Run, located adjacent the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Northeast DC. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about the trash challenges of the Anacostia and what is being done to address it. We need your help to keep the trash trap clean and functioning well! Contact Maddie at 301-699-6204 ext. 109 or mkoenig@anacostiaws.org to sign up!
When: Saturday, July 27, 2013 (09:00 AM – 12:00 NOON)
Where: Intersection of Anacostia Ave. NE and Douglas Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20019
Fee? no
Volunteer Info: See above.
Contact: Madeline Koenig, (301) 699-6204 ext 109

David Stemper Memorial River Cleanup

Anacostia Watershed Society
Please join the Anacostia Watershed Society and the DC Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation for an annual cleanup of the Anacostia River at Bladensburg Waterfront Park. This cleanup will be held in memory of one of the Anacostia River’s biggest champions, Mr. David Stemper. For more information and to register, visit:
When: Saturday, July 27, 2013 (4:00 PM)
Where: Bladensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Rd., Bladensburg, Maryland 20710
Fee? no
Volunteer Info: trash and debris cleanup from the River
Contact: Maddie Koenig, (301) 699-6204 ext 109
For more information: click here

Choreographers Collaboration Project

Dance Place
Since 1999, Choreographers Collaboration Project has been a lab for choreographers to create dances through improvisation and shared critique. Their performances engage audiences of all ages and interests, with work based on a wide range of topics from science to public spaces and sculptures. Artist co-presentation.
When: Saturday, July 27, 2013 (8:00 PM)
Where: Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, Washington, DC 20017
Fee? yes $22 General Admission; $17 Members, Seniors, Teachers and Artists; $10 College Students; $8 Children (17 and under)
Contact: Carolyn Kamrath, (202) 269-1608
For more information: click here

 

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Choreographers Collaboration Project

Dance Place
Since 1999, Choreographers Collaboration Project has been a lab for choreographers to create dances through improvisation and shared critique. Their performances engage audiences of all ages and interests, with work based on a wide range of topics from science to public spaces and sculptures. Artist co-presentation.
When: Sunday, July 28, 2013 (7:00 PM)
Where: Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE, Washington, DC 20017
Fee? yes $22 General Admission; $17 Members, Seniors, Teachers and Artists; $10 College Students; $8 Children (17 and under)
Contact: Carolyn Kamrath, (202) 269-1608
For more information: click here

Online Giving Grows

by Jenn Hatch

If you’ve seen an increase in online contributions, you’re not alone: a new study from the Chronicle of Philanthropy found that online donations rose 14 percent from 2011 to 2012, far outpacing the 1.5 percent increase seen in off-line giving from individuals, corporations and foundations.

In a world where we can reload a parking meter or pay for a cup of coffee from our phones, what can nonprofits do to capitalize on this online-giving trend? In short, make it simple, efficient and mobile-friendly. Here are some highlights from the study:

Go Mobile

The American Lung Association, which gets 29.6% of its donations online, saw a spike in online giving after revamping their website and email appeals to display well on mobile devices. In addition, other groups like Young Life added quick-response (QR) codes to their printed promotional materials to accommodate potential donors on the spot.

Offering mobile giving options has an added benefit: the Environmental Defense Fund found that first-time donors who gave online made a contribution nearly double that of donors who gave their first gift after a direct mail appeal ($40-$50 online vs. $20-$25 direct mail).

Go Monthly

As monthly givers are often the most reliable donors, many nonprofits have re-designed their online giving pages to promote monthly, quarterly or even semi-annual gifts. Giving members the option to renew their support online with a monthly gift is another way to increase overall contributions.

Be Social

Many groups use Facebook, Twitter and other social-networking sites to share their impact stories, but several nonprofits have taken these to the next level by having supporters reach out online to their friends and family. For example, the Seattle Children’s Hospital Foundation paired updates about hospital news, new medical techniques and success stories with end-of-year fundraising appeals to raise over $8,000 from a network of 60,000 Facebook fans.

Online fundraising offers donors a simple, efficient, timely and “green” way to support causes they are passionate about. And as this trend continues, its more than likely that the next generation of donors will make online giving the norm. So check out our past tips on “Growing Your Nonprofit Online” and stay tuned for more trends in the Millennial generation this fall.

7 Questions with Bernie Prince, Founder of FRESHFARM Markets

Today, we welcome Bernadine Prince to 7 Questions! Bernadine (Bernie) Prince is co-founder and Co-Executive Director of FRESHFARM Markets, a featured Catalogue charity for 2013-2014. FRESHFARM operates 10 producer-only farmers markets in the mid-Atlantic region. Bernie started FRESHFARM’s Food Stamp/Matching Dollars program and oversees FoodPrints, the local foods school program which includes a Food Lab, a fully-functional teaching kitchen that complements the organic edible garden and curriculum instruction. For the past seven years, Prince has also worked in Australia and New Zealand, where she helped set the standards for those countries’ farmers markets.

 

1. What motivated you to begin this organization ? What need does it fulfill and how is your organization working towards meeting this need?

Ann Yonkers and I met in 1996 and started FRESHFARM Markets by opening the first producer-only farmers market in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC in 1997. We both saw a need to showcase the bounty of local food grown in our Chesapeake Bay region by ensuring that farmers sold this fresh, healthy food in a well-managed farmers market. We also saw a need to educate the public about local food and farming issues and do that every market day, now with our network of 10 producer-only farmers markets in DC, MD, and VA.

2.What was your most interesting recent development, update, project, event, or partnership?

FRESHFARM Markets is currently undertaking a strategic planning process that is evaluating new opportunities for direct marketing of local food and also looking at strengthening our FRESHFARM Markets identity and brand. We have added talented new board members who are enthusiastic about this process which will help set the course for the organization over the next three to five years. Although this sounds like a very nerdy type of project, it is actually very interesting to look back at our markets and programs, partnerships, successes, and failures to evaluate them and try to look into the future for FRESHFARM Markets.

3. What other projects are you up to?

We are working to bring a new FRESHFARM Market to Union Market in Washington, DC, complete with the diversity of local food products that we have at all of our producer-only farmers markets and offering SNAP (Food Stamp) redemption with a Matching Dollars program. We have applied to USDA to accept SNAP (Food Stamps) at our Ballston, Va FRESHFARM Market, making this the first Virginia market to accept SNAP.

For our local foods, FoodPrints program, we expanded the program this year to include all the grades (first through fifth) at Watkins Elementary School so we are reaching 540 children with growing and harvesting food in our organic garden and learning about healthy foods and nutrition. We added Peabody School (pre-K and K) and SWS (first and third grades) to the program. And, thanks to funding from DCPS, we are offering a monthly Family Night where parents and students cook in our FoodLab kitchen at Watkins learning about healthy eating and cooking fresh, seasonal foods together. FoodPrints has become the most popular enrichment program in these schools.

4.Who inspires you? Do you have a hero?

We have two heroes here at FRESHFARM. Nora Pouillon (chef/owner, Restaurant Nora, first certified organic restaurant in the US) who was the inspiration for creating a producer-only farmers market in the District of Columbia. Also, Jean Wallace Douglas, who supported our work through the Wallace Genetic Foundation from the very beginning, encouraged us in every way we could to help small, family farmers. We have named our farmer scholarship fund in memory of Jean Wallace Douglas.

5.What is the single greatest challenge that your organization faces, and how are you working towards combating this issue?

Running farmers markets is a lot of work and we are always looking for energetic and talented staff to help with our work. We have recently created more full-time positions with employee benefits to attract staff who can grow with the organization.

6. What advice do you have for other people in your position? What’s your biggest take-away lesson you have gleaned from your experiences?

If you work in a nonprofit organization like FRESHFARM Markets, you love the work you do and know that you are making a difference every single day. So, remember to celebrate your successes and thank those who have been part of the process.

7.What’s next for your organization, both in the short term and long term?

We will have our annual Farmland Feast on Monday, November 11th and already have our Feast volunteers and staff busy on the planning for this spectacular local food event that has been called “a delectable philanthropic success” and the “locavore party of the year!” Longer term, I would like to see the FoodPrints program expand to more elementary schools in the DC metro area. We would also like to see the local foodshed in the DC metro area become even stronger with more restaurants and institutions buying and serving local food and more young people becoming the next generation of farmers in our region.

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor

“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

- Emma Lazarus, author of “The New Colossus”, was born today in 1849. Lazarus, a Jewish American poet from New York City, wrote the sonnet for an auction that raised funds to build the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. Her words were ultimately chosen for inscription on a bronze plaque at the base of the statue and forever represent the ideal of the “American dream” for those coming to the United States for the first time.

7 Questions: Dr. Rachel Mazyck, President of Collegiate Directions, Inc.

Today, we’re happy to share 7 Questions answered by Dr. Rachel Mazyck, President of Collegiate Directions, Inc. Before joining CDI, Rachel spent two years as an assistant to the Chief Academic Officer in the Baltimore City Public Schools. Among other duties, she oversaw strategic planning, managed the budget, and coordinated the work of the academic departments. Rachel graduated with Highest Distinction and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After spending two years with Teach For America as a 4th grade teacher in Indianola, Mississippi, she earned a Master’s in Education Policy from Harvard. She then attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a D.Phil. in Education for her research on the factors influencing African Caribbean families’ secondary school choices. Continue reading

Practice What You Know

Try to put well in practice what you already know, and in so doing, you will in good time, discover the hidden things which you now inquire about. Practice what you know, and it will help to make clear what you do not know.

- Rembrandt van Rijn, the Dutch painter, was born today in 1606.?Rembrandt is considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European and Dutch art history. Rembrandt’s most famous paintings include self-portraits, portraits of his peers, and Biblical scenes. Because of his empathy for the human condition, he has been called “one of the great prophets of civilization.”

7 Questions with Lissette Bishins, Executive Director of Carpenter's Shelter

A warm welcome to Lissette Bishins, Executive Director of Carpenter’s Shelter, who will be answering 7 Questions today! Bishins is the immediate past Executive Director of the Alexandria Chapter of the American Red Cross of the National Capital Area. Previously, she was the Deputy Executive Director of the YWCA of Greater Miami and Dade County and the Regional Director of the YWCAs of the Southeast Region. Bishins is currently the Vice Chair of the Partnership to Prevent and End Homelessness in the City of Alexandria. She holds a B.S. in Mass Communications from Emerson College. Bishins was recently recognized by the for her exceptional nonprofit leadership. Continue reading

The Dignity of Labor

I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

- John D. Rockefeller, American capitalist and founder of Standard Oil, was born today in 1839. In addition to his aggressive business pursuits in the oil industry, Rockefeller chartered the course of modern philanthropy through his targeted and systematic approach to giving. The John D. Rockefeller Foundation, founded in 1913, is still one of the most influential foundations in the world and gives away over $130 million annually.