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In The News…

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This week’s news brief looks at a group of stories that hit the media this week about homelessness in the Greater Washington region. A special thanks to all Catalogue nonprofits that support those experiencing homelessness in the DC region, especially during the winter months.

Finding homes for the homeless in Fairfax County (Washington Post) “Although building the database is foremost about getting chronically homeless people into housing, the information also will help guide the county and nonprofit groups as they expand and improve their services, says Amanda Andere, the executive director of Facets. Part of the reason they must prioritize people is that the county lacks the resources to house everyone. The aim is to get at least 150 chronically homeless people into permanent housing within three years.”

D.C. Homeless Families Face Difficult Obstacles When Seeking Shelter (HuffPost: DC Impact) “The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, which provides legal representation for low- and no-income clients, compiled numerous complaints from clients and other relevant data to present major inefficiencies and inadequacies in the District’s current handling of homeless shelter accessibility. Focusing primarily on homeless families, the report identifies specific errors, including: altering the homeless of upcoming hypothermic conditions too late, failing to place qualifying families in shelters on nights where temperatures did not drop below freezing, wrongfully denying eligible families shelter placement and wrongfully threatening to expel families from shelters.”

D.C.’s main shelter crowded with large families (Washington Post) “A shortage of affordable housing for larger families with four or more children is a big factor behind crowded conditions at the District’s main family homeless shelter in Southeast Washington. The shelter has been filled to capacity this winter, with more than 900 people, including a record 600 children some nights. Rising poverty, unemployment and a lack of housing options among single parents who are heads of households are driving the city’s problem, experts say. The vast majority of parents living in D.C. General are single and female, according to the Department of Human Services.”

Guest Post: Seabury Resources for Aging

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Since 1924, Seabury Resources for Aging has provided personalized, affordable services and housing options to help older adults in the greater Washington, DC area live with independence and dignity. Offering 355 units of the most affordable senior housing around, Seabury is dedicated to low-income seniors and those in need of assisted living in Greater Washington. Its retirement community has served over 1,200 seniors in 35 years and offers volunteer opportunities, activities, meals and even a hair salon for residents.

The following post comes from Seabury’s blog — check it out and learn about a great way to give back to the community through in-kind giving. This post was written by Monise W. Quidley, CFRE, the Director of Development for Seabury Resources for Aging.

Got Gifts?

The other day I was cleaning out my closet and garage (one of those must-do New Year’s resolution things) and was pretty amazed at some of the things I found. There were the usual suspects, the things with stains and that were broken, things “toooooo” small, things outdated, and those other things I just didn’t like or want. But what was so surprising, in the middle of all of the mess, I was finding lots of loot that still had tags and/or were brand new in the box items. Once looked at and never used items in pristine condition.

I guess in my best “thank you for the gift”, “this is exactly what I wanted”, “oh how beautiful” spirit, I had planned to re-gift some of those items. Nice things, just not necessarily for me. While taking a break, and drinking some sweet iced tea, it dawned on me. I can put these new, in the box, never been used gifts to a good use. I would give them to my favorite charity.

Most nonprofits have a great need for such things to use with and for their clients and staff as well as creating a beautiful basket for their silent auction or banquet event. So I decided I would start with Seabury and donate some of my findings, perfumes, baskets, art work, purses, cutlery, vases, and jewelry to name a few to our upcoming Leadership in Aging Celebration on June 6th. Can’t wait to see how nice my items will look all dressed up and ready to be auctioned. This is a terrific way to help a charity and also get credit for an in-kind donation which is tax-deductible.

Maybe my New Year’s resolution will inspire you (and your family and friends) to consider donating some of your brand new and stuck in-the-back-of-the-closet items to your favorite charity. If you would like to help Seabury Resources for Aging, please send me an email (mquidley@seaburyresources.org) and I’ll make the most of your unwanted items by giving them new life and making someone else happy during the silent and live auctions at our reception. Remember, one man or woman’s trash is another man or woman’s treasure!

As mentioned in Seabury’s blog post, in kind donations can be used for Seabury’s Leadership in Aging Celebration on June 6th. The Seabury Leadership in Aging Celebration is Seabury’s signature event featuring the presentation of this year’s recipients of the Seabury Leadership in Aging Awards. The Awards are given to honor outstanding service to older adults in the greater Washington, DC area and nationally.

Previous honorees include Stuart Rosenthal, publisher and editor of The Beacon Newspapers, The Medical House Call Program at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; David N. Gamse, Executive Director, Jewish Council for the Aging; Steve Gurney, Founder and Publisher, Guide to Retirement Living SourceBook; Vera Waltman Mayer, Coordinator Emeritus of the DC Long Term Care Coalition; Dr. J.C. Hayward, Vice President for Media Outreach, WUSA9TV to name a few.

For more information on volunteering or donating to nonprofits like Seabury that serve the elderly, check out Catalogue’s online catalogue here.

Growing Your Nonprofit Online

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Google seems to be on the front lines of everything these days. This week, Google hosted a forum on “Getting Your Business Online” in DC — one in a series of small business growth workshops hosted by Google across the country. While the Catalogue and its member nonprofits are not strictly “small businesses”, the growth of small nonprofits mirrors that of small for-profits in many ways. We all struggle with building an online presence and continually spreading the word about our services. (Google also offers special products and services to nonprofits, many at a discount – something worth looking into!)

Catalogue staff attended the workshop on February 12th, and took away some great tips for making the most of our online presence:

– A variety of tools are available online for monitoring who visits your website, where they come from, and which pages they visit most often. While ‘web analytics’ may sound like an intimidating term, tools like Google Analytics and Google Webmaster can break the stats down into digestible nuggets of information that any business owner or nonprofit ED can understand.

– Even if you don’t buy into the Google suite of tools, Google Alerts can help you keep tabs on your unearned online presence. You can create an Alert (for free) that will notify you any time your nonprofit or business name appears on the web — a great way to keep tabs on potential PR hits and misses.

– Google AdWords is one tool that offers special deals for nonprofits — check out Google Grants to apply for free advertising through Google AdWords. If you’re approved, you can create a Google AdWords campaign for free and promote your organization in the ads that pop up at the top of search pages.

Again, whether Google is your online guru of choice or not, staying in tune with the latest trends in online business/nonprofit growth and promotion can have huge benefits for your organization. For more information on resources from Google, as well as registration information for the upcoming GYBO session in Falls Church, VA, check out www.gybo.com/washington-dc/.

Catalogue Financial Workshops

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We are officially half way through the application window for the 2013 Catalogue for Philanthropy! Over the past few weeks, the Catalogue has partnered with the accounting firm (and Catalogue supporter) Raffa to offer financial workshops on the financial supplement part of our application. The workshops covered the details of the financial supplement and offered suggestions on how to best present financial information, especially for small nonprofits with unique financial pictures. Representatives from over 100 nonprofits attended the workshops, held on January 29th and February 6th, and took away helpful tips on issues ranging from reporting on in-kind donations and services, allocating costs between fundraising and programming, and correctly calculating administrative costs.

The Catalogue for Philanthropy’s review process differs from many other reviews through watchdog sites and others, in that we consider a nuanced view of each application, in both the programmatic and financial review. As Tom Raffa, CEO of Raffa and Catalogue Board Member, pointed out during the workshops, our review is meant to not only select “some of the best” small nonprofits in DC, but also help those still growing to become stronger and more sustainable through our feedback. We encourage all applicants to include additional information when appropriate to explain “red flags” — high ratios of G&A, fundraising, or salaries to total expenses, or a high percentage of revenue coming from government grants.

Even if you missed the workshop, the Catalogue’s APPLY website includes plenty of information about the financial (and narrative) application — and feel free to reach out to us (info@cfp-dc.org) with questions. Remember, applications are due on Monday, February 25th…and we can still use your help in spreading the word!

Equitable Development in the District

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by Marie LeBlanc, Community Partnerships Coordinator

This year, the print Catalogue for Philanthropy opened with an infographic, “Our Region, Our Impact”. The spread presented facts and figures on the levels of poverty and income distribution in the Greater Washington region, as well as the impact of Catalogue nonprofits and ways they serve under-served communities. As many readers are likely aware, income inequality on the Greater Washington region is one of the highest in the nation — the top 20% of earners bring in annual salaries of over $250,000 and the bottom 20% of earners, not even $10,000.

Within the District, gentrification has played a large role in not only increasing inequality, but the ways in which rich and poor interact and engage in geographic spaces. This week, the Nonprofit Quarterly highlighted the work of one DC nonprofit, ONE DC, in addressing gentrification (or displacement, as they refer to it) and promoting equitable development across the city:

Equitable development is defined as development activity with a triple bottom line, taking into account the interests of the business community and local developers, fairness in the treatment of employees, and sustainability in protecting and enhancing resources (human and others) in responding to an array of social and environmental needs. There are many communities throughout the U.S. experimenting with these principles, and one such project that offers a manifestation of this burgeoning “equitable development” movement is ONE DC (Organizing Neighborhood Equity DC) in Washington, D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood…

By engaging in what ONE DC refers to as “participatory democracy,” this membership-led organization is confronting several powerful private and public entities to protect residents’ interests. Its strategy, as stated on the organization’s web page, is one where “people within movements for social change, those directly affected by the issues, make the decisions related to the campaign or movement; minimize hierarchy within their organization to maximize shared power and equity of voice; and utilize direct action as an effective means to compel decision-makers to implement decisions made by the community.”

Perhaps the most interesting and innovative aspect to ONE DC’s work is that “the overarching goal is not simply reform but institutional change and social transformation.” Unlike other direct service organizations that provide a much needed, but often one-off service to clients trapped in systems of poverty, ONE DC attempts to achieve specific objectives (“human rights to affordable housing, living wage jobs, and equitable development”) by empowering affected communities with voice in the process and stake in the (equitable) development of their communities.

Learn more about and support Catalogue nonprofits also working in community and economic development online here.

Homeless in Fairfax County

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By Marie LeBlanc, Community Partnerships Coordinator

In Fairfax County, the very rich and the very poor live side by side. The Washington Post recently reported that the homeless student population in Fairfax County is on the verge of breaking 2,500 students — a record for the county, which is by some measures the second most affluent county in the US. Since 2005, the number of homeless students in Fairfax County has been on the rise — growing by 58% from 2005 to 2011. This trend echoes the observations made recently in Venture Philanthropy Partners’ Capital Kids report, which offers comprehensive data on the state of children and youth in the greater Washington area. (Read our review on the report here.)

Capital Kids focuses on “the poverty factor” as one of the four main issues involving children and youth in the National Capital Region: “The negative social, academic and health outcomes for children raised in poverty have been well documented. They include a greater incidence of chronic health conditions (such as asthma); mental disorders, including depression; and risky behaviors such as smoking, drugs, alcohol and early sexual activity. Childhood poverty is also associated with poor school attendance and decreased academic achievement, as well as behavioral problems such as delinquency.”

According to the Post, the recession and its after-effects have caused this explosion of homeless youth and students. Right now, more than 1 million students are experiencing homelessness across the country. Judith Dittman, executive director of Catalogue nonprofit Alternative House, was quoted in the Post, expressing her concern about this situation in Northern Virginia: “Nobody wants to see these kids sleeping on the street. No matter how bad the economy is, we don’t want to see 17-year-olds sleeping in the doorways at libraries.”

Working specifically with runaway, abused, and homeless youth, Alterative House “offers safe and accessible places where teens can get help” and has served thousands of youth over the past 40 years. Alternative House is one of many Catalogue nonprofits that serve the homeless population in Fairfax County. Here’s a brief look at several others, and you can find a complete list of nonprofits serving Fairfax County here.

= Doorways for Women and Families has worked for 30 years to break the intergenerational cycles of homelessness and domestic violence, providing a variety of support services to families who are working to move out of homelessness.

– For over three decades, Shelter House has provided a structured and supportive environment for homeless families in Fairfax County, through transitional housing programs, emergency shelters, and case management for newly-housed families.

– Main Street Child Development Center is one of the few nonprofit childcare centers in the area, ensuring that children from low-income households have the same educational start as their higher income peers.

– FACETS provides emergency services and supportive programs to prevent homelessness and assist those who are already homeless, working to ensure that every Fairfax family has a place to call home.

Fearless Changemakers Surround Us

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By Michael Smith, Senior Vice President — Social Innovation, The Case Foundation

Earlier this year, we at the Case Foundation declared our intention to Be Fearless in all that we do. As we reflected on the 15 years since Jean and Steve Case created the Foundation, we realized that we — and our partners — were best when we were willing to dream big, experiment with new approaches, and admit our failures so that we could learn from them. We were best when we were fearless.

In a time when social challenges seem to be getting bigger and more complex, those of us charged with finding and funding solutions cannot be satisfied with the status quo. In a world where athletes, entrepreneurs, and explorers are all supposed to be fearless, for some reason many leaders responsible for lifting up communities and changing the world for the better have often become safe, incremental, measured, and sometimes slow to act. It’s time to change the game. That’s why not only have we declared our intention to Be Fearless, but we are committed to inviting others to help us define a fearless approach to social change, to spread the concept far and wide, to learn and experiment together, and to uncover the fearless changemakers and change movements already happening in communities in the US and around the world.

Continue reading →

In The News …

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Good morning, Washington! Let’s see what’s in the non-profit news this week …

Stewards of the Earth: One Planet, Many Faiths — This past Sunday, CBS News aired a “religion special that examines the ways members of faith communities are caring for the environment.” Featured first on the program were Lisa and Chris Bright, founders of Catalogue non-profit Earth Sangha and practicing Buddhists, “living their dharma (or life’s path) repairing the earth.” You can watch the full video right here.

High school gets teen off the street and into college — Just weeks after their selection for the 2011/2012 Catalogue, Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School celebrated its first graduation … and was featured on CNN. The piece centers on newly-graduated Derontae Mason, who went from homeless to college-bound; Mason is part of the school’s “first graduating class of 70 students, all of whom have already been accepted to various colleges and universities.” Continue reading →