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Can't We All Just Get Along?
By:
Norman B. Gildin
We live
in polarizing times when one group is pitted against another. Turn
on the news and we see Republican vs. Democrat, liberal vs.
conservative, ethnic, religious and racial divides and the list
goes on. Unfortunately, it all begins on a much smaller scale. So,
I pose the...
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Are You a Venus Flytrap or a Horse?
It is said that
some fundraising professionals in the nonprofit world – and even
some in profit-making industries (e.g., investments) and
even those that gravitate to political spheres -- share
characteristics that resemble qualities we find in both the animal
and plant kingdoms. It is unlikely...
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Different Times, Different Ideas
This essay deals with two ideas that have gained new prominence
during this unprecedented era in fundraising. Nonprofit leaders
have been putting on their inventor’s hats and cavorting with novel
concepts to maintain their edge in the pursuit of scarce
funds.
Virtual Race Platform
In 2020,...
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When It's Time to Throw in the Towel
I always wondered where the expression “it’s time to throw in the
towel” came from. You may recognize it as an old boxing term.
When defeat is inevitable, the fighter or his manager throws his
towel into the ring signifying that the fight is over. The
boxer has exhausted all...
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Major Gifts: Is Patience a Virtue?
(Bonus rewrite of Chapter 27 in "Learn From My
Experiences")
I have always been fond of the saying “Patience
is not simply the ability to wait, it’s how
we
behave while we’re waiting.” Oh, so true! It is often an accurate
truism among nonprofits that unrealistically feel that...
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What Up with Cryptocurrency: Fad or Trend?
If you haven’t noticed, the crypto universe has been creeping up
slowly and is starting to engage us in ways that heretofore were
unknown to many of us. Suddenly, crypto seems to be everywhere.
Haven’t you noticed?
What grabbed my attention recently was a front-page headline on...
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Are You a Social Worker or a Fundraiser?
My wife, Barbara, was a very talented party planner when we lived
in New Jersey. She coordinated many weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, and
even corporate events. Now she has become a gifted artist and
interior home designer, skills lain dormant during our tenure up
north. But I learned a very...
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“Have You Talked to a Billionaire Lately?”
Forbes magazine
keeps track of billionaires – here and around the world. This is
one of the purposes of the periodical - to follow the triumphs and
travails of the ultra-wealthy. Fact: the April 5, 2022,
issue found 2,668 billionaires around the world on the 2022
Billionaires list,...
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“Golf, Anyone? – A Nonprofit Primer”
It
is believed that golf was invented in the 15th century as a
game played on the eastern coast of Scotland. This is in an area
close to the royal capital of Edinburgh. In those days, players
would attempt to hit a pebble over dunes and around tracks using a
bent stick or club. We have come a...
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“The Pareto Principle During a Recession”
Who was
Vilfredo Pareto? Like Quasimodo might say, the name rings a bell. A
fundraiser should know who he was!
Pareto
was the Italian economist who, in 1895, conceived the idea that 80
percent of the wealth and property in Italy was owned by 20 percent
of the inhabitants. Theorizing that it may...
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“Guard Thy Tongue or Beware the EEOC”
There is a story
that I've told no one. Until now. It’s a life lesson that all
supervisors should heed.
This
saga stretches back decades. Yet the memory of the incident remains
as vivid as if it had occurred yesterday. Despite its age, it
stands relevant. I felt a lot of anguish then, but it...
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"The Holocaust Survivors"
A sad reality is that Holocaust Survivors are rapidly disappearing
from the United States. Reports vary as to the exact number of
Shoah Survivors. The Jerusalem Post, however,
reported on January 27, 2018, that 100,000 Holocaust Survivors were
living in the United States. On March 8, 2022, the...
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“Is Antisemitism Good for Business?”
“Is
Antisemitism Good for Business?”
By Norman B. Gildin
This essay poses the question, “Is
Antisemitism Good for Business?” It is at minimum a provocative and
cynical insinuation, and at best, a distasteful intimation. Of
course, Antisemitism is pure evil. But we know all too well...
