Giving Back

News and Views of Note: Week of May 28, 2007

Posted on by Lisa Kays

See below for a round-up of what was news this week in the world of philanthropy, social change and women and girls in the Washington metropolitan region and beyond:

The Women’s Foundation in the News!

On Sunday, May 27, 2007, Marjorie Sims, chief operating officer of The Women’s Foundation, and Telaekah Brooks, chair of the business management and public administration departments of Southeastern University, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation, joined Spectrum host Tom Grooms live in the studio at Smooth Jazz 105.9 FM to discuss workforce development opportunities for low-income women in our region, the power of women’s philanthropy and more!

On Philanthropy

The Washington Post reports this week that, "If It Feels Good to be Good, It Might Be Only Natural," citing scientific evidence that giving, morality, empathy, compassion and generosity may trigger the same "feel good" parts of the brain usually stimulated by food or sex.  The article explains, "Their 2006 finding that unselfishness can feel good lends scientific support to the admonitions of spiritual leaders such as Saint Francis of Assisi, who said, ‘For it is in giving that we receive.’…Altruism, the experiment suggested, was not a superior moral faculty that suppresses basic selfish urges but rather was basic to the brain, hard-wired and pleasurable."

Gift Hub this week asks about the implications of more and more wealth in our country being concentrated into the hands of fewer families and the implications of this on social change philanthropy in his post, "The New American Aristocracy and its #1 Fool."  Cubeta writes, "Unfortunately, though, America is more closely resembling an oligarchy in which ‘wealthy families throw their weight around through the funding of think tanks, lobbying, charitable donations, board seats, and business deals so that all of society is essentially rigged to their benefit,’ advocating more teaching and mentoring for the wealthy around social change issues.  In a similar vein, Mario Morino of Venture Philanthropy partners asks on Sharing Witness, "Should the People with the ‘Power and the Bucks’ Lead the Nonprofit Change?" and a conversation ensues between him and Paul Shoemaker of Social Venture Partners Seattle who wrote, "Calling on Funders to Lead Change." 

Give and Take this week also highlighted a Donor Power Blog post asserting that nonprofits should just be "Giving Up on Young Donors," saying, "Seriously, it’s time to give up on the under-30 group and move on!"  The post stirred up a good amount of dialogue on Give and Take…what are your thoughts on this? 

On Women and Social Change

AlterNet this week highlighted Ellen Bravo’s new book, Taking on the Big Boys: Why Feminism is Good for Families, Business and the Nation.  Emily Wilson writes that the book, which documents stories of ordinary women taking on activist roles in their communities, highlights that, "Many women aren’t accustomed to being listened to, especially by people in power. But Bravo shows that doesn’t have to be the case. She hopes her book will redefine people’s idea of what it means to be political, and let them know that ordinary women can effect change — because, when they do, everyone benefits."   

On Poverty

Recently, three members of Congress participated in a Congressional Food Stamp Challenge that has been documented on their blog, wherein they agreed to eat for one week on $21, the weekly food stamp allotment.  They have done this to raise awareness about a bill that would raise eligibility and funding for the Food Stamp Program.  Yesterday, George Jones, executive director of Washington, D.C.’s Bread for the City joined the challenge, documenting on a post on Sharing Witness how this issue impacts the clients Bread serves–and particularly single mothers–and the solutions they are advocating.  As a board member of Bread, The Women’s Foundation’s Program Officer Nisha Patel agreed to join the challenge starting next week, and will be joined by at least one other staff member, Sherell Fuller, who will be blogging about their experiences and reflections right here.  D.C. Hunger Solutions is spearheading the event locally–to learn more and to participate, visit their blog for the official rules and guildelines!

And that’s it for the news and views for this week…let us know your thoughts on these exciting topics, or drop us a line to share any news and views we may have missed!

Otherwise, have a great weekend!

This month, shop Skif, and give!

Posted on by Ricki Peltzman

When I first moved to Washington, I was invited by my friend, Dr. Johanna Mendelson-Forman, to The Women’s Foundation’s Annual Leadership Luncheon. 

I was SHOCKED and impressed to see 1,000 women in attendance.  I mean, it is Washington, and who stops working for lunch? 

Right then and there, I knew The Women’s Foundation was one of the best nonprofits in the city. 

And your efforts on behalf of women and children fit in perfectly with the values of Upstairs on 7th.

I was the founder of Dress for Success in Cleveland, Ohio. One day in February I received a check for $250 from a women’s boutique and called to see why, as February is a very weird time for a nonprofit to receive money. 

The owner told me that every month they do a "random act of kindness" for a nonprofit that benefits women and children. 

When I opened Upstairs on 7th, I wanted to do the same thing. 

If we can shop, we can give!

Especially with our skif sweaters this week!  Skif sweaters are all year round, come in lots of colors and styles, and are very well priced.  Everyone who has one, has another. 

They are that good.

Stop by this week to see the spring collection, which is available to purchase.  You can also see the styles for fall, which can be ordered.

A portion of the sales of this event goes to The Women’s Foundation, and I’ll also be inviting my very generous customers to give in addition.  We are going to collect for The Women’s Foundation through the month of May, so stop by and visit!

Upstairs on 7th
Skif Trunk Show To Benefit Washington Area Women’s Foundation

Reception Friday, May 11th 8-30-5
May 12-20th regular gallery hours

Servathon 2007: Planting more than grass seeds.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

I’ll admit, I had an unusual level of anxiety about participating in this year’s D.C. Cares Servathon. 

In fact, it wasn’t even remotely normal.

When I had gotten the invitation from WIN to join a group that would be cleaning up and painting one of the House of Ruth‘s Washington, D.C. women’s shelters, it had sounded like a good idea at the time.

And then I started thinking about skills.

And how few I had to offer.

I began having flashbacks to a work-camp trip I’d taken with a friend’s church when I was young, and how we’d gotten into trouble for not really helping do anything.

We’d had some difficulty making it clear, I guess, that it wasn’t that we didn’t want to do anything, but that largely, we had no idea how to do anything.

We’d wandered around lost, trying to make ourselves look busy, while not actually being sure what we could or could not touch, or should or should not do to avoid messing anything up or cutting off someone’s finger.

Sort of like what I do now, in the kitchen at other people’s dinner parties or when visiting my mom, before she finally hands me a spoon and says, "It’s okay dear, just stir. Or perhaps you’d like to go balance the checkbook?"

We all have our strengths and skills, and for me, painting and yard work are not generally among them.

Largely because I’ve never painted, or done much in a yard besides rake or pick up a hedgeapple or two.  Or be called out by my mother to admire her petunias, wherein I would say, "Cool.  What’s a petunia?" 

I imagined myself standing alone, sort of wandering around touching tools while everyone else worked and said, "See that girl?  She’s not doing anything."

But, astoundingly, I found that I was actually useful, and had a great time. 

Not only did I meet a lot of fun, new people, but I learned how to turn soil, plant grass seed, weed and lay out mulch (after, of course, finding out what mulch is),

Not to mention serving as a self-instated project director for the drawing and painting of the four-square court for the kids.

I do, after all, have a particular flair and passion for four-square, having served as one of the longest fifth-grade champions of the "sport" ever known to the history of my graduating elementary school class.

So, as our work dried, and we stood back to admire the new four-square and hop-scotch courts we’d painted, and the cleaned up green space and freshly laid grass seed that had been–just a few hours before–a muddled array of weeds, trash and cigarette butts, I couldn’t help but thinking that this had proven to be a most productive day.

Because not only were there kids watching from the deck, nearly coming out of their shoes hopping around in anticipation of playing on the courts once they dried, but I’d learned another powerful lesson about the power of giving together.

Because it means that you don’t have to know it all to give.

Just that you have to be open to having something to contribute. 

And that through the giving, what you just might get is an expanded sense of who you are, and what you have to give. 

Claudia Thorne on what giving has to do with me.

Posted on by Claudia

Yesterday, I attended a most inspiring workshop, Philanthropy 101, conducted by Siobhán O’Riordan, Director of Communications and Philanthropic Programs, at The Women’s Foundation. 

Siobhan is off the hook in getting to the heart of philanthropy…the transformational process occurring from the inside out as a result of giving.  While the initial motivation for giving is social responsibility and awareness of or identification with a societal challenge, there is another process unfolding in giving:  the miracle of transformation taking place in the heart and mind of the giver who is living authentically from their personal value system—what really matters to them.

Siobhan engaged us in a process and a discussion on how philanthropy links the giver and receiver so that both parties are simultaneously givers and receivers.  This is “the new wave of giving” evident in the magic of The Women’s Foundation that is empowering women to give generously. 

As I give, I surprisingly continue to receive so much on so many levels, and I am very grateful for this. I see the wisdom in the saying, “One cannot receive with a closed fist.”

We also talked about our own giving traditions across diverse race, cultural, and economic groups.  Not surprisingly, everyone in the room came from traditions of giving, including tithing, social activism, community self-help, random acts of kindness, as well as giving to philanthropic organizations.

I encourage you to participate in Siobhan’s brown bag conversations with other philanthropists over the next several months.

Like me, you just may learn something more about you!!!

Claudia Thorne is a member of The Women’s Foundation’s African American Women’s Giving Circle.  Her thoughts on philanthropy and participation in this giving circle were recently published in a Washington Post op-ed.

Tough choices with Prof. Siobhan at Philanthropy 101

Posted on by Lisa Kays

As a self-professed excellent student (I had my first Franklin Planner at 17 and used to like nothing better than getting a new Trapper Keeper ready for a new school year), I expected Philanthropy 101 to be a cakewalk.

I mean, isn’t that what 101 means?

Clearly, Professor Siobhan never got the memo, because she put us through the ringer (in a good way, of course, seeing as how she is my boss) today at the first of a series of philanthropic education workshops The Women’s Foundation is hosting for current donors. 

I knew this wasn’t going to be underwater basket weaving when the good professor handed us a worksheet with a ton of values words–from acceptance to peace to democracy to dignity to justice to opportunity to access (and that’s just the beginning)–and asked us to narrow the list down to our top three.

Three? 

Then, just when we thought we’d had enough, she did the same with a list of issues a mile long, including women’s rights, literacy, drug and alcohol abuse, environmental preservation, domestic violence, international development and employment training (Oh, and I’m not even covering a fourth of it.). 

Only this time she asked us to narrow it down to one.

One.

It was madness, I say.  Pure madness. 

But educational madness, I must admit. 

Philanthropy, she explained (as she has before), is as much about learning to say no as it is about finally getting to say yes.  (The technical term for which, Prof. S explained is, "the good part.")

(And yes, you will be quizzed on this later.)

While at times tricky, the discussion overall was a thought-provoking, welcome introduction to thinking about philanthropy from an individual perspective and how to begin thinking about how to link your individual giving strategy (whether you’re the $10 or $10K donor) with your values and a personal mission statement (argh, homework).

It was also an intro–because there were 11 of us, with very diverse values, issues and interests–to the difficulty, and reward, of moving from individual philanthropy to the power of giving together and the real challenges, benefits and transformation that can occur from doing so.

When people begin to really examine their giving, Professor Siobhan explained, they realize it isn’t all that simple or easy.  That giving thoughtfully is work.

As the discussion moved into sharing of our own individual backgrounds and experience with giving and philanthropy, I couldn’t help but realize that my first real introduction to being in a position of Big Giving was as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa.

Where even though I earned less than $200 a month, lived in a simple cement structure with no electricity or running water and cruised around town on a bicycle, I was comparably rich beyond measure.

I remember the day it occurred to me–after months of fielding requests to build a well, send this or that child to school, help this mother feed her family, pay for new desks at the high school (where kids were crammed four to a bench) and so on and so forth (seriously, on and on and on), combined with months of being the single most recognizable, sought after person in town–that I was as close to celebrity as I would ever be.

I get it, I thought.  I get why movie stars and the extremely wealthy just want to run and hide much of the time.  Why some with wealth would prefer to give anonymously, or quietly, at the very least.

Because no matter how much wealth you have, you cannot say yes all the time.  And when you say no, often it’s never really understood why.

People in my village never really understood that I didn’t pay for desks because I was choosing to pay school fees for specific girls so they could stay in school, or that I was deliberately funding the education of girls over boys for a reason. 

As much as I explained, no one ever really understood why I couldn’t do it all. 

I had so much, after all.  And it wasn’t like there weren’t poor, poor young men also deserving of an education.

But I had to make choices.

Maybe then, that was my Philanthropy 101.  And today was a refresher. 

But an important one, because as we discussed, every life stage and change can alter your giving priorities, issues and interests.

A re-introduction is never a bad idea, to make sure that your giving is on track with who you are–emotionally and intellectually.

"Because," said the Prof, "When the head and the heart come together to find their cause, their organization, their area of giving…that’s where the magic happens."

Indeed.

So, thanks Siobhan for the very cool workshop and discussion today.  I’m sure I’ll be writing more about it as I continue to think through what we discussed and shared, and I hope the rest of you that attended will join the conversation as well as share your thoughts and impressions. 

And for the rest of you, I hope you’ll join us for the next session, Research 101, on April 19 at 12, where Siobhan will lead us through the key steps in researching and finding those organizations that are the best match for your giving values and issues. 

All current donors are welcome and are urged to R.S.V.P. to Tiffany Lightfoot (202-347-7737).  (And if you’re not a current donor now, why not become one and see what the power of giving together is all about?)   

Piola restaurant scores "sweet" victory for The Women's Foundation!

Posted on by Lisa Kays

When Jihane Achi from Piola restaurant in Arlington got in touch with us about hosting an International Women’s Day fundraiser on our behalf, explaining that she and her husband (who owns the restaurant) wanted to contribute 50 percent of the proceeds of all dessert sales on International Women’s Day (and the week leading up to it) to The Women’s Foundation as a means of giving back to the community, I knew that this could mean only one thing.

Field trip. 

Quality control is, after all, of the essence at The Women’s Foundation, and we do what we have to do.  No sacrifice is too great, no sugar rush too small. 

We made our trip after work on International Women’s Day itself and were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves greeted by servers who presented us each with a flower, and then proudly showed us the banner that publicized the fundraiser.  As we were served our complimentary mimosas to honor the day (after arms were twisted all around, of course), we all felt that Piola was not only making a generous contribution to the women of the Washington area, but also truly taking on the spirit of International Women’s Day by honoring every woman who walked through the door and making it a true celebration.

Who needs a parade when you’ve got this, I thought.  

The tone of the evening rang true with what Jihane had told me about the restaurant’s perspective on marketing and community.  "We could spend a lot of money on advertising," she said.  "But instead we’d rather take that money and expand our business by truly connecting with and supporting organizations doing good work in our community."   

A few days later, Jihane contacted us to share the good news that the fundraiser had raised nearly $600 for The Women’s Foundation, and had led to an increase in their total dessert sales of about 30 percent–a generous demonstration of their investment in the women of the Washington area, and their own business.

Staff were elated with the success of the fundraiser, and touched by the generosity and warm feel of the restaurant. 

They were not, however, surprised by the link between the fundraiser’s success and, well, the desserts. 

As Opa said afterwards, "Dessert was definitely my favorite part of the evening.  Profiteroles.  I couldn’t finish it, but it was delicious."

In sum, we’d like to extend our sincere thanks to Jihane and Nabil for their generosity, and for their investment in the women of the Washington metropolitan area and their community.  We’re proud to have the support of a young business venture led by two people who instinctively get the fact that investing in women is investing in communities, and that philanthropy can often be good business.

And to our readers out there, if you haven’t yet visited Piola (at 1550 Wilson Blvd, just off the Rosslyn Metro stop), take it from us, you should. 

Between the pizza and the profiteroles, it’s a sweet deal all around!     

NOTE: Piola is an Italian based pizzeria-restaurant chain with locations in six countries: Italy, USA (New York, Miami Beach, Washington D.C. and Hallandale Beach), Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico.  Each restaurant promotes International Women’s Day in its own way.  In New York, Piola also hosts a fundraiser for the local women’s foundation, the New York Women’s Foundation. 

Info and impact: the inextricable link.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

As I put together this month’s e-newsletter, I couldn’t help but notice that engaged philanthropy seemed to be the theme that carried the day (er, month)…from the Leadership Awards to the recent Washington 100 visit to CASA de Maryland to the upcoming Philanthropy 101 sessions, to the book list we generated around informed giving to Siobhán’s reflections on the real work, research and tough calls behind effective giving, it seems that February has been all about giving with a capitol G. 

And by that, I mean Giving that approaches the task from the head, as much as from the heart.  I sometimes think of it in terms of "philanthropic street cred."  Like seasoned reporters who know better than to follow just the flash of a celebrity-led press conference or humanitarian workers that go beyond the “hot” crisis of the day, philanthropists can also benefit from street cred—the experience of knowing the terrain, the people, the issues, the impact and the pitfalls.

I can think of a number of instances where information has contributed to my effectiveness as a philanthropist or as a professional making grantmaking decisions. 

One particular example that comes to mind was related to my work on a girls’ scholarship program in Africa, and particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  We naturally assumed as we read proposals that the best–the best shoes, bags and books–to complement girls’ scholarships and our mentoring program was the most appropriate way to raise the girls’ self-esteem, encourage their academic success and, overall, keep them in school. 

Until we learned that in the DRC, the girls had actually been chased, taunted and occasionally had rocks thrown at them in fits of jealousy by other students who had nothing like the brand new, shiny supplies the scholarship girls received.   

While we, of course, continued to provide books and supplies to the girls in our programs, we became much more careful about ensuring that the girls wouldn’t stand out quite so much (We didn’t put a fancy American logo on their backpacks, for example), partnering with other organizations that would work in the same schools to provide comparable supplies to other students and encouraging more public awareness and education around the purpose and need for the scholarships for community members.

This experience reminded me, yet again, that giving–even with the best of intentions–must always be informed to achieve the desired outcome (and avoid undesired ones).

So, with Philanthropy 101 about to launch and an exciting site visit behind us, I’d like to ask about instances or situations where you’ve found that being an informed, educated philanthropist has truly made a difference in how you give, or in how the organizations you contribute to make decisions and, ultimately, impact their communities. 

For you, is there an inextricable link between information and impact? 

The CASA visit: We should be so proud!

Posted on by Cathy Isaacson

As a proud member of The Women’s Foundation’s board, I wanted to tell those of you who couldn’t make it last week to the site visit to CASA of Maryland what an inspirational morning it was.

Marjorie moderated a panel of Gustavo Torres, CASA’s dynamic Executive Director; Christy Swanson, CASA’s Director of Services; Herminia Servat, CASA Board Member and Iris Murillo, CASA volunteer and local business owner.

CASA sits in the middle of the most diverse, low-income immigrant community in the metro area.  Within a mile of its offices is the largest day labor site (a huge parking lot where recent immigrants stand, sometimes all day, waiting for work).

CASA serves tens of thousands of commmunity members each year focusing on job training and placement, fair treatment of both documented and undocumented workers, English programs, computer training and financial literacy programs. It also lobbies state, county and D.C. governments for legislation that will help the community it serves.

This is a growing, deeply effective organization, benefiting many women who arrive in this country without language, job or financial survival skills.  We had a wonderful discussion with questions and answers, a tour of the community and a completely delicious lunch catered by one of the women CASA has served.

We should be so proud for supporting this wonderful organization!

CASA visit: Philanthropy and the power of untapped potential.

Posted on by Sherell

In order to weave philanthropy into the lives of women and girls in our region, and help low-income women gain financial and economic security, we use and encourage advocacy, leadership, collaboration, and, of course, hope.

At my second site visit, I got the privilege of seeing how one of our Grantee Partners, CASA de Maryland, also uses those same methods as a means to their ends.

CASA’s mission is to meet the special needs of the Central American population.

One of the board members reflected on how she left everything in her homeland: friends, family, everything she knew, in the hopes of a better life in America. She read about CASA in a newspaper, and eventually became involved. With CASA’s help, she became computer literate, developed public speaking skills, and established a second home away from home.  Her short story left me, and probably everyone else in the sun-filled room, feeling those same feelings you get when you hear someone talk about their struggles and eventual success.

After her, a community volunteer on the panel told her story of coming to America. Traveling from Latin America to Colorado, she landed a dry-wall job. Even though she didn’t speak English, she used her faith to keep going, and as time went by, with CASA’s help she established her own dry-wall business! She revealed the awesome news that she has a staff of 20 people, eight of which females, in a traditionally male occupation. I was glad to hear this: breaking stereotypes and raising incomes simultaneously.

CASA helped expose all the untapped potential that lied in these women.

CASA felt privileged just by our presence, and the feeling was mutual. For me, gathering under one roof and sharing stories like that reaffirms the importance of philanthropy. Despite how different we seem, coming from all these different walks of life and cultures, when we share our stories, we find out that many of us have the same hopes, dreams, fears, etc.

We want the best for our children, we want to be financially stable, we want to be able to communicate clearly with our peers.

CASA thanked us from “the bottom of their hearts,” but we thank them too, for their stories, their courage, and their audacity to hope. (I know, at the risk of sounding unoriginal and cliché, it’s the name of Barack Obama’s book, but it’s fitting here, so I’m going to use it).

While women have many successes to celebrate, there are many gaps and challenges to tackle. Just think about how many strong women are out there, dedicated to balancing out the hourglass, working to change the “tale of two cities” with philanthropic efforts.

I hear stories like CASA’s all the time, as many of us do, but each time it does something different for me. Somehow I’m never desensitized to it, each time I learn and feel something new.

Breaking bread and the feel of home with CASA de Maryland

Posted on by nisha

Today I had the privilege of participating in a site visit with The Women’s Foundation’s Grantee Partner, CASA de Maryland.

As a program officer, site visits are something I do quite a bit, and they’re one of the parts of my job I love the most.  What was unique about today’s visit was that, in addition to staff, we had with us a diverse group of donors and Board members from The Women’s Foundation. From CASA’s end, an equally diverse group of staff, Board members, volunteers, and women served by their programs were in attendance.

Seeing women and men from all walks of life in the same room breaking bread together was a great example of something at which I think The Women’s Foundation excels: We bring together people who, at first blush, may seem to be unlikely allies with little in common–who it turns out are truly like-minded in their vision for social change.

Diversity was definitely a theme of the day.

Our donors and Board members had the opportunity to see evidence of the social change work that CASA is doing in the Langley Park community in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties–where citizens of the world from over 120 countries, speaking even more languages–are represented.  With support from The Women’s Foundation, CASA is helping place immigrant women on pathways to better economic opportunity.

For example, just in the last few months, CASA has assisted over 60 women in getting hired for nontraditional jobs in leaf collection—moving from $12-an-hour to $18-an-hour jobs that can help sustain their families.

But jobs are just one component of the wide range of services CASA provides—from English classes to leadership training to advocacy and organizing.  I have the sense that for so many people in our community who hail from so many different parts of the world, CASA is just what the meaning of the word is in Spanish: home—the one place where you always feel welcome.

Perhaps it is my own immigrant roots, but that is definitely the feeling I have every time I visit CASA.