Of the billions of dollars that are placed in the retirement accounts of federal employees and in social security, the government should commit 50% TO EDUCATIONAL LOANS.

There should be no financial institution or college involved in the selection of the loan.  Payments should be issued to qualified schools directly.

The IRS collects taxes; the Social Security Administration issues retirement checks; the INS processes passport and citizen requests; and Federal Stafford loans help pay for college.  These are all examples of large volume transactions exceeding hundreds of thousands of dollars.  This provides the proof of the capacity of the federal government to run a student loan system.  There will be no enticements to use any particular service, no revenue sharing, and everyone qualifies who is an US citizen. The mission should be to have the best rates for students in need of loans for education.  The US government could provide a loan forgiveness incentive for students to go into needy fields of study and/or to serve in geographic locations where there are shortages of credentialed people.  The US government can add a loan forgiveness program as well as blend in the other training programs already supported by the government.  One government agency to be the center of supporting higher education for all individuals who seek to learn and improve the likelihood of advancements in quality of life and economic impact.

Rates should be tied to the treasury bonds as fixed in order to have similar expectation of return.  These education loans will then create a return for social security and the retirement funds not dependent fully on future taxes or revenues.  If the success of the program provides adequate return it may be possible to increase the amount made for loans to more than 50%.  However, the federal budget has to stop using the social security money for other purposes.  The money will only run out because it is not getting a return, it is being used for the current base federal budget.

Let’s get serious about higher education and invest in our future.

If you are killed by the failure of a government project, you’re worth millions.  If you are killed by the failure of government policies, you’re worth nothing.

The policies set and the dollars spent by government, and the responsibility that is assigned to government failure, seem to be more dependent upon whether a group votes.    Historically minorities and poor do not vote heavily and therefore are marginalized.

Low income people and minorities seem to get the blunt of bad government policies.  Examples include the locating of polluting industries, high incidence of lead paint, distribution of firearms, lack of access to health care and the lack of resources. 

There are a number of nonprofit institutes whom have provided studies noting the problem.  However, I have rarely observed the same organizations providing direction to public policy makers of specific solutions.

Just because government has failed policies does not mean nonprofits should just blame the government.  Talk is cheap.  Creating partnerships to address unmet need takes effort and giving up some control.  So I challenge each organization that has a compliant about government policies to come up with a blueprint as part of their strategic plan on how they would resolve the issue. 

“Behavior is important for the reason that you may introduce yourself to someone you don’t know. You might be mean, but they might be tougher. It is important because you may destroy the world but if we don’t want the earth to destroy it’s self we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness. Talking first is better than fighting with fists. We should be more like Dr. Martin Luther King.”

He also wrote “What is a Best friend?”

I asked him why he was thinking about this. He was watching the news with me and said that it sounded like people were just being mean. Why do people not talk?

I raise this as an important aspect of human interaction since people always think the worse of someone base on assumptions. Therefore, organizations need to always be prepared to clearly respond to any misrepresentation of their brand, mission or services.

With the credit markets tight and the variable rates jumping from 3 percent to 11 percent, nonprofits are in a financial squeeze.  The credit market is not acting rationally and has frozen just about every sector in some way.  An approach proposed was to allow a nonprofit to bid on its own bonds.  This effectively allows for manipulation by the seller of the bonds and the recent financial market problems should have taught all of us that there should not be more possible ways for manipulation allowed, regardless of the type of organization.  If a nonprofit has sufficient monies to bid on its own bonds then why create more debt.  Since most of the bonds are related to hospitals and schools the reason for the bonds is to pass on the debt to the consumer even if they raised the money already.    The cost is passed on to individuals in the form of higher medical costs and tuitions.

Heating Oil is up 42% and rising.
1.    Have an energy audit performed, invest in the recommendations and get the rebates.
2.    Apply to foundations and donors to utilize solar and other one time environmental changes to decrease costs, take control your heating costs and reinvest into your programs.

Gasoline is up 28% and rising.
1.    Implement telecommuting and teleconferencing for staff
2.    Evaluate vehicle use for efficiency and effectiveness
3.    Convert to hybrid vehicles, change usage, change vehicle types
4.    Apply for one time grants or donors to purchase fuel efficient vehicles

Medical is up 6%-35% depending on your size and rising.
1.    Switch plans
2.    Change to deductible plans and set up Health Services Accounts for employees
3.    Provide a level of Self Insurance
4.    Employee Health Initiatives

Food is up 4% and rising
1.    Buy from Food Cooperatives
2.    Buy in bulk from Warehouse vendors
3.    Buy in bulk with other nonprofits
4.    Create your own foodstuffs thorough preserving
5.    Open your own grocery

Harvard University Faculty are using the Internet to publicly release their articles.  The power of exposure to the masses will increase circulation of their articles.  The articles will be available for free.

It was found that the circulation of their articles in expensive scholarly journals was limiting their exposure to a small group of people and not providing sufficient access and  exposure of their works.

Distribution of their research  as widely as possible will likely create more collaborations and opportunities.

The same is true in the sharing of successful programs and their outcomes.  The use of the Internet  is a great tool for promoting an organizations brand and successes.

Where is the leadership? How many have to die? Thousands of youth killed by youth. Youth have been speaking out and seeking relief but find adults not willing to listen and support them. WHO MUST BE SACRIFICED IN DEATH TO MAKE THE ISSUE IMPORTANT?
How many Virginia Tech’s, Northern Illinois and Columbine’ killings have to happen before you pay attention to the crisis? Did the government forget to tell us that there was another battle going on here in this country?

What donor will make an impact? What organizations will make an impact? What will Obama, Clinton, or McCain do about this War in the USA? Which Candidate has the ability to reach this generation and have the biggest impact? What will you do?

Serious issues and Generation O wants to be heard. EMO speaks out through his weekly cartoon: http://mynonprofitwebsite.com/blog/category/emo-cartoon/

In 2004 in the USA:
Total Homicide deaths 16,611
Total Suicide deaths 31,647
Total Injuries due to Firearm deaths 29,036

Ages 1-4 Homicide is 4th likely means of death (354) 2.2 per 100,000 (car accidents is first)
Ages 5-14 Homicide is 4th likely means of death (318) .8 per 100,000 (car accidents is first)
Ages 5-14 Suicide is 5th likely means of death (292) .7 per 100,000 (car accidents is first)
Ages 15-24 Homicide is 2nd likely means of death (4,877) 11.7 per 100,000 (car accidents is first)
Ages 15-24 Suicide is 3rd likely means of death (4,214) 10.1 per 100,000 (car accidents is first)
Ages 25-44 Homicide is 5th likely means of death (4,877) 8.5 per 100,000 (car accidents is first)
Ages 25-44 Suicide is 4th likely means of death (11,403) 13.6 per 100,000 (car accidents is first)

With the billions being spent overseas to keep other countries safer for their citizens, many individuals are at risk here. Should there be a stronger policy on domestic violence? How many people must die before we each make it a priority. I ask, is it time to declare War against the youth dying in our own streets each day?

Protect our Children: Create the support to stop the thousands killed each year by those who kill. Teach our youth and citizens that killing others does not solve the problem or that killing of one self does not solve the problem.

My son and I had a great discussion today about best friends and its meaning not being the same among people. So I ask you to think what is a best friend?

A best friend is not just one person. It is a community of friends who represent your friendships that will be there at various times in your life or the life of the organization. Your best friend is an emotional tie that in one’s mind. It is a moving assignment ultimately assigned to the support that comes from the person you least expect when you need it the most. Your true friends are those that are there when things get tough. However, do not let friends pressure you to make choices that cause trouble for you or your organization. There are those who will call themselves your friend to get you or your organization to do what they want.

CEO’s, CFO’s and COO’s as leaders consider what is best for their organization and its members, its community and its friends. Their leadership style provides for dealing with the various levels of friendship that the organization has with individuals.

How does your organization balance these friendships?

I recently came across thesimpledollar.com. A web site dedicated to making your money saving simple. The sight was set up by Trent Hamm,  who in April 2006 went through a complete financial meltdown.  You can read more about him at (read my “financial biography” here). He addresses your every day concern of throwing yourself head first into trying to figure out every nuance of fixing your financial situation. He uses himself as an example of what he did to get the picture and within eight months had paid off all of his credit card debt, his vehicle, and also established an emergency fund. He says,

“What is The Simple Dollar? http://www.thesimpledollar.com.
The Simple Dollar is an exploration of personal finance from the perspective of a late-twentysomething who just realized that he needs to get a grip on his money. ”

His list of 100 great ways to save money can be found by clicking on this link.

The degree to which the USA is dependent upon outside financial support, the more likely that its independence is influenced by other countries. Two of the largest influences come from China imports and the purchase of foreign oil. The USA has the ability today to change its dependence upon oil and China imports.

Similarly, organizations depend upon outside financial support for their organizations. Due to the fact that the federal or state government may place restrictions or requirements on an organization receiving its funding, some choose not to accept government funding. However, unless self-supporting, the more that an organization is dependent on annual fund raising, the more the influence on what it does by outside influences.

Strategic Planning is a key component to utilize in implementing your annual giving campaign for your organization’s mission. Your brand and message should be evaluated annually and adapted to reach the organization, its supporters and the community it serves.