The Realist Idealist

I’ve been busy.
(even as I write it, I wonder why it’s necessary to put it out there… we are strange creatures to need to say such things for validation! ;-))
Since my last post here on July 28, I’ve changed jobs, moved my house, traveled extensively (including 9 days in Denver for a Democratic National Convention [...]

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One of the things that I used to say to college student leaders during trainings for Break Away was the number one rule of anything you do - be it schedule volunteer work, manage a meeting, or fund raise - is “follow up.” The second rule: “follow up.”
When it comes to making good things [...]

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I first heard Van Jones speak in 2005 in Berkeley. I still get chills recalling his call for a “new politics” a “new religion” and truly a new way of operating in society.
I’ve followed Van since then through his work with the Ella Baker Center and just saw him here today at the 2008 [...]

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I recall very well in college how a relatively small (though seemingly ubiquitous) cohort of do-gooders on campus made a lot of the best things happen. At least things that I thought were “best.” Organizations like Alternative Spring Break, Habitat for Humanity, Manna Project and others that were making incredible things happen, were all [...]

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My friend Asheen - who I’ve never met in person, but whom I respect greatly through a list-serve on which we both engage - sent this photo out today. His title: “An alternate universe.”

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My $600 Bush-proffered economic stimulus hit my bank account a couple weeks ago and ever since I’ve been trying to figure out how to spend it.  Actually, “give” it, is probably a better way to think about it.
A quick run through of my living room will reveal a glaring emptiness (actually there are two large [...]

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Making good things (actually) happen is hard.
On any large scale, trying to make the world a bit better place is messy and complicated and almost always full of the same back-room shenanigans chronicled throughout the political, business, and tech sectors, but with one not-so-small difference: everyone involved acts like it’s not, and almost no one [...]

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…with me.

It does feel a little weird to post something from elsewhere that is essentially about yourself, but that said, I think the work that PIR/.ORG is doing to promote do-gooders on the web is great.  Put simply, I’m thankful to be a small part of it, and raise a bit of awareness of them [...]

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I’ve heard a lot of talk around the nonprofit sector in the last 6-9 months about “blogger strategy” and “leveraging the blogosphere.” That is to say, a lot of people are talking about how to get bloggers to write (positively) about them and/or their organizations.
The same has been true at my own organization as I’ve [...]

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No matter how much I try not to have the conversations about online fundraising - mostly because others who know much more about it than I should be having them - I sure do end up talking about it an awful lot.
Along those lines one of my colleagues at Idealist just sent me a link [...]

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