Archive for the ‘Showcase’ Category

NPC: Tell us a little bit about your organization, Girlstart. Why was it started?

Julie Shannan: Girlstart is a nonprofit organization created to empower girls to excel in math, science, and technology. Founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, Girlstart has quickly established itself as a best-case practices leader in empowering, educating, and motivating girls to enjoy and become more proficient in math, science and technology.


NPC: Who does it serve?

Julie Shannan: Girlstart serves 1st-12th grade girls and families


NPC: How long have you been in operation?

Julie Shannan: Since 1997


NPC: How many people did you serve your first year? And, this year?

Julie Shannan: Since our inception, we have served over 20,000 girls. We average about 1,200 girls per year (not counting families and professional development). Our first year we served 25 girls in our after school program.


NPC: What is your most difficult challenge as a nonprofit?

Julie Shannan: Fundraising


NPC: What was your most difficult challenge starting out?

Julie Shannan: Creating a brand that girls and families could recognize and trust. Something that appeals to girls and parents both!


NPC: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a nonprofit?

Julie Shannan: Look around and see if there is something out there already doing the service that you want to provide. If so, partner with them instead of compete with them. If not, make sure the community has the need for your services.


NPC: How can people get involved?

Julie Shannan: We are always looking for volunteers to help in the office behind the scenes, or at our family science extravaganzas leading a fun science booth, or assisting with our after school programs. We also have high school volunteers helping out during our summer camps.


NPC: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Julie Shannan: Girlstart is committed to changing the way girls perceive science, technology, engineering and math and we need everyone’s help making that happen! Everyone can encourage a girl in their life, let them know they are smart enough to excel in these subjects, and they can have a rewarding career doing something they love.


Julie Shannan is the Deputy Director of Girlstart. For more information about this organization, please visit the website at www.girlstart.org.

NPC: Tell us a little bit about your organization, CaringBridge. Why was it started?

Sona Mehring: CaringBridge is a charitable nonprofit organization providing free websites that connect family and friends to share information, love and support during a serious health event, care and recovery. Its mission is to bring together a global community of care, powered by the love of family and friends, in an easy, accessible and private way. CaringBridge saves time and energy by centralizing communication and easing the burden of updating everyone during a health event. Each CaringBridge website is unique – authors select their website design and add health updates and photos to share their story while visitors leave messages in the guestbook, creating a network of support for the patient.

CaringBridge was created when my close friend suffered a life-threatening pregnancy. To keep family and friends informed about the critical situation, I created a website. The site allowed family members to communicate information to a wide circle of people without disturbing the mother’s need for rest or placing additional demands on hospital staff.

NPC: Who does it serve?

Sona Mehring: CaringBridge is available for anyone facing a serious health event such as cancer, premature birth, accident/injury, surgery and heart attack. It helps patients who are isolated and caregivers who are faced with the time consuming burden of keeping family and friends updated.

NPC:  How long have you been in operation?

Sona Mehring: Since 1997

NPC: How many people did you serve your first year? And, this year?

Sona Mehring: In 1997 there were 50 personal websites. We now have more than 183,000 websites that connect nearly half a million people each day.

NPC: What is your most difficult challenge as a nonprofit?

Sona Mehring: To not chase every good idea and good intention.

NPC: What was your most difficult challenge starting out?

Sona Mehring: Start-up nonprofits have all the same challenges as any start-up.  Not enough time and not enough money.  It is the passion – which, I believe is seeded very deep for nonprofit causes/missions, that easily carries through the difficult challenges.

NPC: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a nonprofit?

Sona Mehring: Don’t go into it half-hearted.   You must love what you are doing and have belief in what you are doing.  People can see through someone who is not authentic – being authentic is vital for a nonprofit.

NPC: How can people get involved?

Sona Mehring: The most important thing people can do is recommend CaringBridge to someone in need. You can find information on our website on how to spread the word to a friend or your broader community – http://www.caringbridge.org/shareourservice.

NPC: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Sona Mehring: A CaringBridge website should be a part of every health journey. CaringBridge provides basic human needs of hope, healing and connection during a time when people most need it – during a health crisis.   We never want to hear “I wish I would have known about CaringBridge when….”  — Help us make sure that doesn’t happen by telling other’s about CaringBridge.org.

Sona Mehring is the Founder and Executive Director of CaringBridge. For more information, please visit the website at www.CaringBridge.org.

NPC: Tell us a little bit about your organization, Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Why was it started?

Liz and Jay Scott: Alex’s Lemonade Stand
Foundation began through our daughter Alexandra “Alex” Scott and her dream to help find a cure for all kids with cancer. Alex herself was diagnosed with a form of childhood cancer prior to her first birthday, and by the time she was four, had been battling the disease for more than half of her life. It was at that time, after receiving a treatment, that Alex voiced a simple wish – she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help doctors find a cure for all childhood cancers. Her very first lemonade stand would raise over $2,000, only strengthening Alex’s determination to make a difference. Over the course of the next four years, Alex would hold lemonade stands and events, and raise over $1 million for childhood cancer research. Though she would ultimately lose her life to the disease in 2004, the foundation has continued her legacy of hope. We now have thousands of volunteers across the country and around the world who hold lemonade stands, sending in the proceeds to Alex’s cause. Thus far, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has raised more than $30 million, funding over 125 projects, and truly making a difference for children and their families touched by the disease.

NPC: Who does it serve?

Liz and Jay Scott: Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation works to serve childhood cancer patients and their families, as well as everyone touched by childhood cancer, both directly and indirectly. The foundation funds research to find better treatments and cures for childhood cancer, utilizes funds to help families get to the treatments that they so desperately need, and works to become a resource to help everyone touched by childhood cancer to better understand the disease, it’s treatments, etc. 

 

NPC: How long have you been in operation?

Liz and Jay Scott: We are calling 2010 our 10^th anniversary year, as it marks 10 years since Alex held her very first front yard lemonade stand. However, the foundation itself didn’t officially come into existence until 2005.

 

NPC: How many people did you serve your first year? And, this year?

Liz and Jay Scott: The amount of people that we serve is hard to measure. We could measure it in the amount of grants we have given out, over 125; or the amount of lemonade stands that are held each year, thousands; or by the number of families we have been in touch with directly, hundreds. However, if we measure this by how many children are diagnosed with cancer every year, we would serve over 12,000 children in the United States alone each year. I like to think we are serving all the children and their families who have been touched by childhood cancer in their lifetimes, which would take us into the millions.

 

NPC: What is your most difficult challenge as a nonprofit?

Liz and Jay Scott: I think the most difficult challenge for our particular nonprofit is seeing children touched by childhood cancer go through treatments and sometimes lose their lives. However, this also only reminds us of why we are here – so that someday children will no longer have to face this life-threatening disease. The current survival rate children diagnosed with cancer is approximately 80%, but that is nowhere near good enough. We need to get the survival rate to 100%, so our brothers, sisters, daughters, and sons never have to face such a fate.

 

NPC: What was your most difficult challenge starting out?

Liz and Jay Scott: There are many challenges in getting any organization off the ground, and I think something that has continued to be a challenge is that the foundation is always going to be a work in progress. Our daughter Alex was determined to make a difference in the world of childhood cancer, and we were lucky enough to be able to continue that through the foundation  bearing her name. However, running the foundation and creating the right environment is something we are constantly working on. We are so honored to be here and to have experienced such immense success, and we know as time goes on, we will only grow to be stronger.

 

NPC: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a nonprofit?

Liz and Jay Scott: Have a plan, and surround yourself with people who are equally dedicated to your mission. We were fortunate to have gained many friends throughout Alex’s initial stands who were well-versed in the nonprofit world, so they helped us get off the ground initially. Some of these friends even became some of our very first official staff members!

 

NPC: How can people get involved?

Liz and Jay Scott: There are so many different ways that people can get involved with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. Of course the original idea was to hold a lemonade stand, and nearly half of the foundation’s funds still originate from stands. Many kids host stands, but so do people of all ages – stands have been held in office buildings, banks, grocery stores, retirement homes and more. In addition to stands, there are various other events that can be held throughout the year, and of course raising awareness for the foundation and childhood cancer are equally important. We have
recently been utilizing social media to spread the message, so become a fan of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation on facebook, or follow us on twitter for more ways to get involved!

 

NPC: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Liz and Jay Scott: Only that childhood cancer remains the number one disease killer of children under the age of 15 in the United States. This fact is shocking and largely unknown. Children and their families touched by the disease need our help to fund research leading to better treatments and ultimately cures. So until the day when those cures become a reality, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation will be working on behalf of these children and their families.

*Liz and Jay Scott are Alex's Parents, Vice President of Outreach and  Communications and Executive Director. For more information and to make a donation to Alex's Lemonade Stand, please visit the website at www.alexslemonade.org.

NPC: Tell us a little bit about your organization, ChildFund International. Why was it started?

Virginia Sowers: ChildFund International (formerly Christian Children’s Fund) has been inspired and driven by the potential that is inherent in all children; the potential not only to survive but also to thrive, to become leaders who bring positive change for those around them.

Our distinctive approach focuses on working with children throughout their journey from birth to young adulthood, as well as with families, local organizations and communities globally to create environments children need to thrive.

 

NPC: Who does it serve?

Virginia Sowers: We help deprived, excluded and vulnerable children around the world and in the United States to build their capacity to improve their lives and have the opportunity to become young adults, parents and leaders who bring lasting and positive change to their communities.

 

NPC: How long have you been in operation?

Virginia Sowers: Founded in 1938 in Richmond, Va., as China’s Children Fund, ChildFund has evolved from a focus on orphans and orphanages to an international child development organization.

China’s Children Fund became Christian Children’s Fund in 1951.

On July 1, 2009, the organization changed its name to ChildFund International to reflect the true breadth and international scope of the organization’s work and to recognize its affiliation with the ChildFund Alliance.

ChildFund International is a founding member of ChildFund Alliance whose members partner to improve the lives of children and family members in 55 countries.

NPC:  How many people did you serve your first year? And, this year?

Virginia Sowers: In 1939, the board of China Children’s Fund sent its first donation of $2,000 “to the authorities of China” for the benefit of war orphans.

Today, ChildFund International assists approximately 15.2 million children and family members in 31 countries worldwide.

This includes more than 500,000 sponsored children who are supported through monthly contributions.

 

NPC: What is your most difficult challenge as a nonprofit?

Virginia Sowers: Meeting the tremendous needs of children living without basic life necessities, and getting to the roots of poverty.

 

NPC: What was your most difficult challenge starting out?

Virginia Sowers: Our organizational history reveals that our founder J. Calvitt Clarke was a veteran promoter of relief for peoples displaced by the ravages of WWI, and a gifted publicist and fundraiser. He had traveled quite a bit abroad and had witnessed the suffering of war and famine victims. What affected him most was the suffering of children, and he was able to effectively share his concerns with others and launch a nationwide appeal for funds on behalf of Chinese children orphaned by the second Sino-Japanese War.

NPC:  What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a nonprofit?

Virginia Sowers: Identify an unmet need and work steadfastly toward your goal. Others will be inspired by passion, action and accountability.

NPC: How can people get involved?

Virginia Sowers: ChildFund International invites others to learn more about our organization via our web site and blog and to engage with
us in conversation via our social media networks. A great way to become involved is to sponsor a child or to contribute to our Fund-a-Project program, which allows individuals to collectively accomplish a goal such as funding playgrounds for children in Afghanistan or donating supplies for a community garden in the U.S.

 

http://www.childfund.org

www.mychildfund.org/fundaproject

 http://www.childfund.org/make-a-donation.aspx

http://www.facebook.com/ChildFundinternational

http://www.childfundinternational.wordpress.com

http://www.twitter.com/childfund

http://www.youtube.com/childfundtube

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2331305&trk=anet_ug_hm

 

NPC: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Virginia Sowers: Our work would not be possible without the
generosity of our child sponsors and donors, and we are most grateful for their support. We invite others who are passionate about children to join us.

*Virginia Sowers is the Community Manager for ChildFund International. For more information, please visit the website at http://www.childfund.org.

NPC: Tell us a little bit about your organization, Wishing Star.
Why was it started?

Sarah Carpenter: Wishing Star began in 1983 by a woman named Karen
Kurowski. She was a school teacher in the CDA area. She had a student who had
cancer, but the child passed away before she was able to do something special
for her.  She resolved to found a wish granting organization so that she
could serve these children and their families. The first wish was for an 18
year old boy with cancer. She pulled the community together and they were able
to send him to a Raider’s football game and he got to meet some players. The
wish childpassed away two weeks later. Twenty six years later Wishing Star has
granted over 1,130 wishes, serves children all over the region and continues to
serve each and every one of these families long after wishes are granted.
 

NPC: Who does it
serve?

Sarah Carpenter: Wishing
Star serves children ages 3-21, living in Eastern or Central Washington or Idaho and suffers from a
life-threatening illness.

NPC: How long have you been in operation?

Sarah Carpenter: 26
years, since 1983

NPC:  How many people did you serve your first year? And, this
year?

Sarah Carpenter: In
Wishing Star’s first year, three wishes were granted. Last year, 36 wishes were
granted.

NPC: What is your
most difficult challenge as a nonprofit?

Sarah Carpenter: Helping
others understand and walk the very long journeys of families caring for
children with life-threatening illnesses. We set ourselves apart from
other wish granting organizations as we serve families long after wishes are
granted.  
 

NPC: What was
your most difficult challenge starting out?

Sarah Carpenter: Learning
abundance based fundraising.  I was forced into the fundraising world
after years of creating good programs and doing good referral work. I struggled
in the fundraising sphere until I came across Lynn Twist’s abundance model and
the Benevon, mission focused approach to raising friends and funds.

NPC: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a
nonprofit?

Sarah Carpenter: Stay focused on your mission. Live your
mission. 
 

NPC: How can
people get involved?

Sarah Carpenter:
There are many
ways to become involved with Wishing Star. Every volunteer is different and
participates in a different way.

Time: Help serve the mission by giving your
time. Become a wish conductor.  Joining a chapter is a great way to become
involved in wish granting, special events and more.C

Support/Talent: Wishing Star grants a
wide range of wishes for children. We often rely on the community for help to
make connections to grant a wish.

Donations: Support Wishing Star through donations,
sponsoring a wish or event, Christmas Giving Program, and participating in
fundraisers. Donations can be in the form of money or in kind gifts.

Make a Referral: Anyone can refer a
child suffering from a life threatening illness.  

NPC: Is there
anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Sarah Carpenter: All families face remarkable challenges and are
at-risk in today’s rapidly changing world.  Families with life-threatened
children are incredibly fragile and vulnerable. Siblings need support as they
are often caregivers. By pair caring volunteers to these families we provide an
added layer of support. Healthy and helpful relationships are important to all
families and especially to our wish families.  The amazing fact is that
our volunteers often report how much improved their own lives are as a result
of being given the gift of helping wish families.  

*Sarah Carpenter is the Program Director of Wishing Star Foundation. For more information, please visit the website at www.wishingstar.org.

Because the holidays are just around the corner, we thought we'd throw in a great entertaining book as the resource of the week.

Easy Entertaining for Beginners, by Patricia Mendez

You don't have to be professional chef or nervous wreck to host great
casual at-home entertaining. You will have all of your questions
answered, from what to serve to what to do. Even if you have never
entertained in your life, you can have a terrific time putting together
a superb celebration. Included are 13 delicious complete menus with
easy-to-follow recipes, full color photographs, ideas for music,
activities and drinks. Checklists ease readers step-by-step through
every phase of planning, preparation, and presentation. You will gain
confidence and have a terrific time putting together successful
celebrations. Occasions include: My First Cocktail Party, Family
Fiesta, Dinner with Close Friends, Guys Night Out, My First
Thanksgiving and more!

NPC:  Tell us a little bit
about your organization, THANKSGIVING FOR ALL. Why was it started?  

ORRIN: On our website is a detailed
description on HOW IT ALL BEGAN.

NPC:  Who does it serve?

ORRIN: THANKSGIVING FOR ALL is organized specifically to raise funds and find
product sources to provide turkeys and other food stuffs to small community
food pantries, homeless shelters, and other charitable organizations so that
all the less fortunate people can enjoy traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  

NPC:  How long have you been in operation?

ORRIN: Since 2000

NPC:  How many people did you serve your first year?
And, this year?

ORRIN: In November 2000, I used money I raised overnight
from friends and members of my church to buy 50 turkeys, celery, onion, apples,
and potatoes that were donated. With the help of many great supporters, we have
donated 160,000 servings of turkey since November 2000. 

This year I am still
working on raising money to buy turkeys. I try to buy as many as I can each
year with the money I earn between November 1st and about the 15th when I have
to order my turkeys.  Sometimes I can buy more turkeys at the last minute
or like my turkey miracle of 2007 and 2008. At the last minute just before
Thanksgiving I was given turkeys, I did not have to buy them. The story can be
found here.

NPC:  What is your most difficult challenge as a nonprofit?

ORRIN: Getting people to donate in time to put my order in.  People don't
want to talk about Thanksgiving until after Halloween, so it is tricky each
year.  

 

NPC:  What was your most difficult challenge starting out?

ORRIN: Getting adults to realize my dream and help me out. 

NPC:  What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a nonprofit?

ORRIN: Keep going
it gets better the longer you are at it.

 

NPC:  How can people get involved? 

ORRIN: They can donate!  See my website www.thanksgivingforall.org
 

 

NPC:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers? 

ORRIN: Even a young kid with a dream can make a difference.  Now that I
have done this for ten years and am 21 people really want to help more.

*Orrin David Herterich is the Executive Director of THANKSGIVING FOR ALL.

Organizing Plain & Simple: A Ready Reference Guide with Hundreds of Solutions to You Everyday Clutter Challenges by Donna Smallin

Desk drowning in papers? No room for the car in the garage? Santa
still sitting on the roof in May? A less-is-more philosophy is great,
but we all still have way too much stuff. The home office swallows up
whole rooms, as does the family computer station. Then there's the home
gym, the TV room, and the playroom, not to mention our collections -
books, CDs, toys. Time management experts agree that when the minor
things that take up space in the mind are eliminated, there is room to
think about the big things. The same goes for the home. The visual
clarity that comes from de-cluttering rooms, finances, and time
promotes mental clarity, peacefulness, and contemplation. When
everything is organized, it is easier to enjoy the meaningful things in
life.

Organizing Plain & Simple is like a course from
an expert teacher, grounded in the fundamentals and enriched with
philosophy, tips, anecdotes, illustrations – everything necessary to
make home and life run more smoothly.

 

Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits: Real-World Strategies That Work by Ilona Bray

Getting tax-exempt status for your nonprofit organization is just the
first step — whether its mission will succeed depends entirely on your
ability to raise money. Fortunately, Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits will show you how.

Featuring
advice and stories from over 40 experienced fundraisers, foundation
staffers, journalists and more, Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits
explains how to:

NPC: 
Tell us a little bit about your organization. Why was it started?

 

Kevin Lindamood:  Health Care
for the Homeless of Maryland provides health-related services, education, and
advocacy to reduce the incidence and burdens of homelessness.  We began in
1985 as part of a national demonstration program sponsored by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trust, and the US Conference of Mayors
in response to the modern emergence of homelessness, of a magnitude unseen
since the Great Depression.  Our goal was to identify the unmet health
needs of people experiencing homelessness.    

 

NPC:  Who does it serve?

Kevin Lindamood:  Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) provides
comprehensive pediatric, adult, and geriatric medical care, mental health
services, social work and case management, addiction treatment, dental
services, outreach, prison reentry services, supportive housing, and access to
education and employment for men, women, and children experiencing
homelessness.  We use the Department of Health and Human Services
interpretation of the federal definition of homelessness – “one who lacks a
regular, fixed nighttime residence.”  This includes people living in
emergency and transitional shelter, in abandoned buildings, on the streets, or
“doubled up” with friends, neighbors, or relatives.

    
NPC:   How long have you
been in operation?

Kevin Lindamood:  HCH has been in
continuous operation since 1985.  We were incorporated as a nonprofit
501c3 organization in 1987.  

NPC:  How many people did you serve your first year? And, this year?

Kevin Lindamood:  In 1985, an HCH staff of four (two nurse
practitioners and two support staff) served 734 different people during 1,791
patient visits in Baltimore
City.  In 2008, an
HCH staff of 125 (representing a full array of health professionals) provided
comprehensive services to more than 6,500 different individuals during nearly
55,000 patient visits.  Statewide (including contractual relationships
with other organizations in Baltimore, Frederick,
and in Montgomery, Harford, and Baltimore Counties), HCH served nearly 12,000
individuals during more than 74,000 patient visits. 
    

 

NPC:  What is your
most difficult challenge as a nonprofit?

Kevin Lindamood:  The most difficult challenge for Health Care
for the Homeless was planning, funding, constructing, and mobilizing political
support for a new comprehensive clinic and headquarters building at 421
Fallsway in downtown Baltimore. 
In 2004, we realized we had outgrown our 20,000 square foot clinic and were
turning people away simply because we lacked the space in which to serve
them.  More troublingly, lack of space caused us to turn away resources
from individuals and foundations who wanted us to provide additional
services.  We feared we simply didn’t have the donor base necessary to
raise $15,500,000 to fund a building large enough to provide the range of
services necessary to end the homelessness of our clients.  We’re very
proud to report that our Capital Campaign has generated more than $16,000,000
(toward a $17,500,000 goal) and that our new building will open in January
2010.  The 60,000 square foot facility will allow for the expansion of
current services and will incorporate an onsite pharmacy, a pediatric clinic, Maryland’s first dental
clinic for homeless children and adults, and the expansion of our innovative
and effective “Housing First” program.    

 

NPC:  What was your most difficult challenge starting out?

Kevin Lindamood:  Very early in our organizational development,
Health Care for the Homeless had a year-long conversation about what kind of
organization we were – were we a direct service organization or an advocacy
organization?  People had very strong feelings on either side of this
question.  Ultimately, we concluded that we were and had to be both. 
We had to provide the comprehensive services that individuals needed now
while also working to change the public policies that created and recreated
homelessness faster than we could possibly stop it.  The integration of
direct services and advocacy became and remains a guiding philosophical
principle of the organization.  We can end homelessness by providing our
clients access to health care, housing, and a modest income while also working
on the level of public policy to provide the availability of these same resources
– comprehensive health care, affordable housing, and livable incomes – for
all.     

NPC:  What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a
nonprofit?

Kevin Lindamood:  Work to put
yourself out of business.  Provide comprehensive services to improve the
lives of your clients – but also work at the same time to educate the public,
engage lawmakers, and change the public policies that create the need for your
services in the first place.  Unfortunately, the homeless service field
has become an institution over the past three decades.  We believe in a
society that provides sufficient resources for all its residents so that
individuals and families aren’t living in shelters or on the streets – and
we’re working actively toward a future without homelessness. 
      

 

NPC:  How can people get involved?

Kevin Lindamood:  Find out more about homelessness and health.
 Talk to your elected representatives about affordable housing,
comprehensive health care, livable wages, and other policies necessary to
reduce poverty and end homelessness.  Learn more about effective models
like “Housing First,” through which HCH is helping our most vulnerable
neighbors remain in permanent housing and off the streets.  Support the
work of organizations like Health Care for the Homeless.  For more
information on HCH and our signature fundraising event The Chocolate Affair,
visit www.hchmd.org, contact us at info@hchmd.org, or call 410-837-5533. 
  

 

 

*Kevin Lindamood is the Vice President of External Affairs for Health Care for the Homeless of Maryland.