Collecting Memories Rather Than Stuff

If you wander around on the web long enough you might stumble on several blogs or websites of people that have, with great exuberance, declared that they plan on selling everything they own and travel the world!

Some of these people are single, some are married with kids. Regardless they all feel the need to leave what appears to be a normal life with family, friends and having a steady job to seek something different. Few appear to be able to define exactly what they are looking for by doing all this.

However, the best answer so far is that people want to collect memories versus stuff. Likewise people want to break out of the cookie cutter mold of normal life because for them it is just too boring and they feel as if they are missing something or are somehow trapped.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with traveling and yes some people have made a career out of doing this, it begs the question, is there no place like home? Simply put if you’re not happy now, you take yourself with you wherever you go, so changing physical locations might not be the real answer. How many happy nomads do you really know?

Experiences versus Stuff In the United States we have created a billion dollar industry by way of self storage units where we store our stuff that we no longer can fit at our residence but are too attached to throw away. Yet, we all gasp when we watch the T.V. show “Hoarders” and shake our heads and ask each other: How can people live like this? While at the same time fail to see all the mess we have created around ourselves in our own lives.

I totally understand the need to disconnect from gathering more stuff. However, it is harder for me to connect with the need to travel the world. I guess the United States is just not big enough and it does not sound as exciting to say you are going to travel all over the United States. So, I guess people want the whole enchilada by exclaiming that they want to see the world and experience different cultures.

However, I can tell you a little secret, there are plenty of different cultures right here in the U.S. that would take years to discover, but that is another story! If we can for a moment let’s look at the reality of this “want” that people are expressing and understand this is a “want” not a “need!”

First and foremost I’m not saying this is a bad idea nor am I making a judgment call on the people who are doing this. I just simply want to focus on the reality of the situation.

Most folks doing this don’t have the passive income to sustain themselves long term. I’m guessing reality must hit hard and fast living on the cheap even if you are totally used to living on the cheap! Living from motel to motel or hostel to hostel can be interesting but there is a reason no one really lives there!

How many times have you heard the phrase: It's not the destination, but the journey that is important! Unfortunately there are no perfect places on earth, because someone every where you are going is always thinking there is somewhere better than where they are right now.

Our reality has been photo shopped to make us think what we have, where we are and how we live is substandard. In reality, we are the richest and most free people the world has ever known yet we are too self absorbed to see this. We don’t know how to wake up and smell the coffee because we are too busy looking for the things we don’t have to recognize the things we actually do possess.

Friends if you want to travel the world and see reality for what it really is, first look in the mirror. When you can be totally happy with what you see in your reflection then you might find you no longer have to pack.

My Cats Are On Prozac!

I’m not sure what this exactly says about my parenting skills or if this is a reflection of my wife and myself or just society in general. I am thinking we have lost our minds or maybe our cats did a long time ago.

Our three cats were all rescued from the local animal shelter. The mother cat is Snickers, and her two kittens are Midnight and Smokey. All the cats are older now and have been inside cats but are allowed to visit a screened porch and watch the birds and squirrels eat from a nearby bird feeder. Every morning they rise and demand to be fed promptly and are offered an extra “treat” pill pocket that contains their daily dose which is a 10mg Prozac tablet that is cut into quarters. They each receive one quarter that takes the edge off their day so that are less aggressive and less neurotic licking and biting.

When the vet wrote the prescription we filled it at the local Walgreens and my wife signed them up for their Prescription Savings Club which cost us twenty dollars. I wish I was joking when I say this but it is the absolute truth! Using the card the prescription is $12 versus over $50!

I am beside myself knowing that while I love our cats and they are part of our family it has come to this and somehow this is all part of normal everyday life as we know it.

Any moment I am waiting to hear the music and be told that I have entered the twilight zone. Normal for some reason does not feel normal anymore!

~Manipulation~

The average person is clueless to how rigged the system is and how it operates. We are all told that investing in the stock market is the best way to grow earnings and help save for your future. We are lead to believe that government officials are working hard to solve the problems. Really?

How can anyone feel comfortable investing when it appears that the real truth is hidden. The game now revolves around who can build the faster gadget to manipulate the outcomes the most not what is a good investment. Catching The "Silver Crusher" Algorithm In The Act http://www.zerohedge.com/news/catching-silver-crusher-algorithm-act This is not the free market system, this is a sham to benefit the few. This has the potential to wipe out the average investor with a few keystrokes and a shrug of the shoulders.

You can forget the government regulators stepping in to solve the problem because they are so deep into it themselves they can't stop it. For more proof do your own research online and type in the words "Plunge Protection Team" and see what you find. Sure some think this team is just monitoring the market and I'm sure sure they are. It is just like the government is monitoring GM or monitoring all the student loans or most of the home mortgages. Right, nothing to see, move along!

Who in their right mind thinks the dollar is strong? Compared to all the world’s currencies we might be the tallest midget in the room but we are still a midget! Stop gulping the kool-aid!

According to a recent Gallup poll 41% of Americans think the economy is getting better. Another way of saying this is 59% of Americans realize the truth. Things are not getting better, but worse!

The government is trying hard to get the media to spin the numbers they make up in desperation to boost confidence. Yet, when you pull up at the gas pump all that evaporates. It is like sitting at the dinner table with your grandmother passing gas and acting like it was the cat's fault. Granted, some people are slow to understand and others are just plain stupid which obviously can't be fixed. But ugly is still ugly!

So, what will be the solution? As sad as this is going to sound, it will have to get much worse before things can get better.

Someone will have to "take the can" away that has been constantly kicked down the road. When this happens "ugly" will have a whole new meaning. Until then, we will have to put up with the puffs of smoke and illusions telling us how good things are becoming.

The next time you are in an airplane, remove the bag in the seat back pocket, place a stamp on it and mail it to your Congressman to let him or her know how you feel. At a 12% approval rating they need to feel all the love they can.

If you ever wonder what your congressman is doing after they get elected here is one interview that you need to see that finally tells the truth: Bill Moyers Interview with Fritz Hollings - Telling the Truth About What Our Representatives Spend All Their Time Doing': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJv9t80pufc

So now you know a little piece of the truth of why things are so screwed up. Ugly is just that, ugly and looking the other way won’t change things one bit.

I'd like to think that knowledge is power, but even now I'm not sure that is true anymore!

~ A Career Change ~

On a recent vacation with a friend I stopped by a food court for some take out Chinese food and found myself eagerly cracking open a fortune cookie. The fortune read: You will be successful in your career! I had to chuckle and smile while saying to myself... Now I just have to find a career!

For the last fourteen years I have spent helping people and nonprofit organizations free via my website. After much soul searching I knew it was time to sell the site to a buyer who was interested in preserving the last fourteen years of my work but also saw the value in what it represented. Fortunately this has occurred and soon the keys to the site will be turned over to the new owners.

With that closure brings a new beginning. Yet it is undeniable that part of my DNA will forever be focused on helping people in some way shape or form. Why this is so important and part of my make up is a hard question to honestly dissect. However, I do try consciously to act not just from my heart but from my head as well. It is so easy to fall into a pattern of being drawn into emotional appeals. However, in the world of giving one size does not fit all.

All individuals have varied experiences we bring to the table and life lessons we were taught as a child. Some of these have stuck with us today and many more have drifted into oblivion. So, is there truly a natural instinct to help? Studies on compassion and benevolence suggest so saying this is part of the evolution of human nature in seeking the greater good.

Yet one has to ponder if this is truly part of the human experience why have things gone so awry?

I for one believe that giving is mostly a learned experience. Sure your parents can try to express the goodness of why you should give but when it comes down to it, it is an individual decision and a choice one makes.

In the current environment we live in today there is ample opportunity to give and help others. Yet, there are equally as many different obstacles and excuses we purposely place in out path to push aside that part of our humanity to reach out and help another.

In my opinion the number one killer of the natural act of giving is economic uncertainty closely followed by crime and violence.

Simply put, if you don't feel safe and secure yourself you are less likely to help someone else. On television I keep seeing the statistic that 48% of Americans believe that the United States is on the verge of a major economic collapse! That in and of itself is a big deal. The media for the past three or four years has tried its best to convince people that economic recovery is occurring now. Oh Really?

The sad part of all this is that "credibility" appears to be at an all time low. Who can you trust? Ten years ago people would have looked at you sideways if you said: Trust but verify!

My mind can't help but drift back into time hearing the famous Kojack saying: "Who loves ya, baby?" Who indeed!

“Being Prepared”

I have literally written down my thoughts and then clicked and not saved it several times now on the subject of “Being Prepared” and the reasons why this is so important.

I’m honestly not sure why I have chosen in the past not to save what I wrote. It is not because I did not think it was well written or that enough thought had not gone into what I was trying to say.

No, the reason was I felt uncomfortable because the subject itself for me seems stress filled and full of hypothetical situations where if you are honest with yourself they are no perfect answers.

Being prepared itself is not the problem but trying to determine what you are preparing for and to what extent is a critical issue!

If you spend anytime at all on the internet and go the route of looking on various survival sites you quickly can become overwhelmed by the degree of doom and gloom that is presented. Let’s see, some of the topics are: total economic collapse, no food, no water and protecting yourself from the ever present band of lawless thugs rioting and looting every house on your street. Oh, yea and solar flares, and I guess it is worth mentioning the 2012 end of the world according to the Mayan Calendar.

So with all this said it is no wonder why the vast majority of people have the tendency to throw their hands in the air and shrug their shoulders and give up before even starting.

Do I worry about not having power or water or sewer services? No I do not. Any disruption in services typically happens after a natural disaster and is short lived in nature. When this happens can you be uncomfortable, but it is not unbearable. Obviously the longer the duration the more frustrating it becomes but again it is not something that causes the fabric of society to come apart at the seams! I realize some may point to what happened in New Orleans and beg to differ with me. To that I would say that I agree; chaos can occur anywhere and anytime but after the dust settles society as a whole finds what is normal fairly quickly.

In the US we have had economic disasters with the stock market crashing and people losing lots of their wealth. People, however, did not go out and try to overthrow the government and somehow the population survived to the next generation and the next.

Are the threats we face real today? You beat yah! Will we likely see a huge amount of change within the next few years? We always have because that is the natural progression of things. Change is constant.

The most important part of all this hearing a line from Rudyard Kipling which reminded us: “Keep your head when all about you are losing theirs.”

Take heart in knowing that change is inevitable. Also note that how you react to change is entirely within your control!

A Typical Day ~ Nonprofitexpert.com

As a consultant for nonprofits that works via the web, most of my day is spent taking care of the website as well as answering the dozen or so questions that filter in from around the world….

A lot needs to be done when you have created a monster!

The site: www.nonprofitexpert.com has grown to over 770 pages. Within the site itself there are an amazing 85,000 plus links all pointing inward and there are another 28,000 external hyperlinks pointing to other sites, and of those over 17,500 are unique meaning not repeated. It is rather mind boggling when you think about this but everything has to be checked constantly to make sure all the links work and function. Beyond this additional content has to be continually developed and added to keep things fresh! This is why it takes ten hours daily Monday through Sunday and this has been done now going on thirteen years!

Monthly the site continues to receive 60,000 plus unique visitors with over 100,000 page views.

This morning’s emails:

A photographer in South Africa wants to connect with foundations to help tell their story.

Answer: A list of 121 foundations that have as a field of interest South Africa.

A medical student in residency in Washington state that has as a quarterly project to create an “imaginary project” to serve the indigent with questions of how and where to get funding and any another helpful information on the subject.

Answer: A link to the Washington State 2007 Charity Care Hospital’s report as well as a link to another report provided by the Washington State Hospital Association, and a suggestion to visit the CFO of the hospital where he is serving as a resident to ask for a dashboard overview of the current funding streams the hospital receives and pay close attention to the number of days in cash they have on hand for ongoing expenses as well as get a better understanding of the current bond rating which effects the hospital’s ability to raise capital and grow the services they provide.

A nonprofit in North Carolina that wants to know the possible pit falls for accepting a donation of property.

Answer: Without knowing what the property was used for in the past as well as how old the building might be and how long it sat empty, it would be hard to tell you all the risk.

I’ll try to help by listing a few: lead paint, asbestos tiles or other asbestos insulation around older boilers or heating units, you may also have underground storage tanks for either heating oil or older gas tanks depending on the facility.

Accepting a facility should require a title search as well as at the very least in my opinion what is called a phase one environmental assessment study which is not cheap.

Also, any building that sits empty even for short periods of time tend to fall in disrepair fast. Check the roof for leaks and visit the building during a downpour with heavy rains. The heating and air condition system can cost thousands of dollars to replace. A building inspector from the city or county might be a good friend to have when looking at a property.

Whew… all this before my first 9:00 a.m. and my second Diet Pepsi. I reserve Diet Mt. Dew for the afternoons depending on volume.

So now you know!

Creating A Donor For Life and Beyond!

One hard and fast truth when it comes to fundraising is that you can't fake sincerity. Oh, don't get me wrong there are lots of professional fundraisers out there who have developed a good poker face. But the truth of the matter is people want to be treated like people not like a cash register. Cha Ching!

Some people honestly think if they could just figure out which buttons to push the drawer will pop out and all they have to do is reach their hand in and get the cash they need. Rest assured those same people would skip getting the loose change but only think about the bills.

If you really want to understand the people you are trying to convince to give to your cause then you need to step back and ask yourself, what are you as a fundraiser and nonprofit offering the donor?

Creating a donor for life and beyond is possible, but you must first get the thought out of your head that you will achieve instant success. Realize like most worthy endeavors this is a long gradual process. Again, donors are not scratch and win tickets!

So how does one begin? First as an organization you need to realize your appeal is limited and it impossible to be universally liked. Also, you'll be expected to compete with many other distractions that are constantly changing in the life of your donor. While you might not personally care about this that does not negate the truth of the matter.

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." John Donne - Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1623), XVII

We as individuals would like to think we can operate in our own little bubble and not have to worry about what goes on around us. However, no matter how wealthy a person might be we are all affected by the ills of society. In general we have concerns and sometimes fears. This reality can often be the bridge to nonprofits that are trying to address such needs. In some ways donors are the light switch that you find is either turned on, sending the much needed electricity through your nonprofit, or they are turned off and disengaged all together.

In order to determine the flow of electricity nonprofits need to be mindful of the meter. It is amazing now many staff members of nonprofits and boards of directors find themselves in a blame game. How often have you heard the phrases often said in a panic: Donor's aren't responding to our requests! I know the economy is bad so that must be why donations are down.

While I asked this question earlier I would like to again call your focus and attention to the question below. Read slowly and let it sink in this time: As a fundraiser and nonprofit what are offering to the donor?

Are you offering a chance of a lifetime, to change the life of an individual? Or instead, are you asking for mere operational money?

While nonprofits might be good at helping people they are often poor students of understanding basic human nature!

The best sales and marketing staffs in the world understand the human nature and intuitive relationship they must offer their customer i.e. in your case the donor.

Many folks have heard the old sales axiom: You are selling the sizzle not the steak! While any food will do to stop hunger, why do you choose a specific restaurant? All cars can provide you the basic transportation to get you from point A to B but why are you so focused on getting an SUV? It's time to buy light bulbs, but are you really buying the GE light bulbs or do you really only care about knowing that when you again turn on the switch the light pops on!

There are people who have made a profession to be "food artist" or "hand models." This is all done for one purpose and that is to create a perceived relationship between a product or service to a potential buyer.

So, Mr. or Mrs. Nonprofit I would like to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Donor. Let me tell you a few things you need to know about these important people. Unlike in the for profit arena, donors typically are not buying products or services from nonprofits, yet there is expectation that goes far beyond just a simple acknowledgement. They want to know that whatever dollars they choose to give you will be treated with honor and respect and used wisely.

The time after a donation is the most critical moment for any nonprofit. The donor has made the first step in starting a relationship with a prospective nonprofit.

Most nonprofits unfortunately fail to understand that when a donor makes a contribution they are not just giving dollars but are in fact transferring a level of trust to the recipient. This concept of trust is quite interesting and universal. At the core of this transfer is a strongly held belief by the donor that something worthy will come about because they chose to respond to either a call for action from the nonprofit or were self motivated to give to respond to a need that was perceived.

While donors might initially be attracted to the nonprofit by a passionate appeal, this connection will fade fast unless there is a plan of action to follow up and let the donor know the difference their contribution made.

This "action plan" is not one letter, one phone call, one face to face contact. If you want to build a lasting relationship you have to be willing to spend time to get to know your donor first as a person and individual.

Oftentimes nonprofits categorize donors as if they were grades of beef. Their reasoning tends to revolve around a logical mind set believing that it is more profitable and their best use of time to spend more time with donors of means than with donors who could not afford to give as much. Most nonprofits, therefore, are found roaming the countryside on a constant preverbal "buffalo hunt" with every other nonprofit going after that same big buffalo. Yet, I have never come across any community that is overrun with large population of donor buffalos.

Instead I can't help but realize that we are ignoring a truth that has been given to us in the Christian story of the Widow's Mite. If you are not familiar with the story let me share it with you:

Mark 12:41-44 41 "And he sat down over against the treasury, and beheld how the multitude cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they that are casting into the treasury: 44 for they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

So do you really want a donor for life? What types of individuals are you seeking to find and why?

If your focus is only on the money but not the donor commitment then you have lost a great deal of perspective in your process of fundraising. In order to find someone willing to make a life long commitment, however, nonprofits need to also have the realization that this type of relationship is in fact a two way street.

If honestly graded the vast majority of nonprofits would not be given a passing grade on their ability to not just find donors but to retain them.

Everyone wants a generous donor, well guess what, donors want a generous nonprofit too!

Providing feedback and information to all donors is critical if a nonprofit expects to receive future gifts. Likewise it is also important that staff members share their time and personal commitment story to the donor about their enthusiasm.

We all know staff members are paid to do their job and there is nothing wrong with this. However, donors have little respect for individuals when they think the people running the organization don't honestly care about the cause they are pushing.

Creating a donor for life and beyond by way of a planned gift is more than one person's job, but that of the entire paid staff and volunteer board. Meeting this challenge head on quickly separates nonprofits that just strive to be good to those that aspire to be great!