Nonprofit finance, accounting, and tax news. Other tidbits of interest to the charity community.
SpaceX will launch it’s first space shot on a resupply flight to the space station in late November. NASA gave technical approval to the launch.
Why is this discussion in a blog about nonprofit issues? Three reasons.
First, is a superb illustration of stretching our brains. In the nonprofit sector we need to be intentionally thinking about the future. See my discussions here, here, here, here, here, and here. Just the idea of private space flights will stretch our brain.
That is the title of a post by Seth Godin.
Here is his comment, which I quote in full:
Is there a simpler way to improve quality and responsiveness?
If you can’t sign it, don’t ship it.
How to combine the idea of opportunity cost, cul-de-sac, and government overruns in one post?
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal editorial (behind paywall) says:
When it was first conceived, the shuttle was supposed to be a kind of space truck, going into orbit 50 to 75 times a year and carrying large payloads at a cost of $54 million a launch in 2011 dollars. It didn’t work out that way. The shuttle went aloft an average of five times a year. The cost-per-launch averaged some $1.5 billion. Its heaviest payloads barely exceeded what an unmanned Delta IV rocket can carry.
Let’s do some math, shall we?
What if a replicator, like you see in the sci-fi movies, was a reality?
People who have developed the technology call it 3-D printing.
Seth Godin asks which of the following four things are getting in your way:
You don’t know what to do
You don’t know how to do it
You don’t have the authority or the resources to do it
You’re afraid
Figure out what is blocking you. Everyone of those things is a very serious obstacle. Name it. Figure out how to go around, under, or over to get past. Find a battering ram if you have to.
I had hit a block on my cartoons. Reading the above post helped me identified the block. Unfortunately, it took me a week or two to remove the obstacle but I did. I’m moving forward again.
Figure out what is in the way of you getting done what you really want to do and just blast it to smithereens.
Two weeks ago I attended an old west re-enactment in a city near my home. Between skits, one of the re-enactors noticed I was wearing a hat that said “USS Midway,” which is a carrier that was in service from the end of WWII to 1991. It is now a museum in San Diego.
He asked if I was a veteran. Didn’t understand his interruption at first. As I asked him to repeat himself, I remembered the hat I was wearing.
“Are you a veteran?”
No Two Alike
Why do they sing choruses/hymns? What’s wrong with hymns/choruses?
Why do they build cathedrals/shacks? What’s wrong with simplicity/honor?
Why do they stand/sit during worship? What’s wrong with sitting/standing?
Why do they ignore/demand time? What’s wrong with punctuality/relationship?
I have not followed the turmoil surrounding Greg Mortenson and his book, Three Cups of Tea. I have no idea whether the information in the report by 60 Minutes is correct or perhaps even understated. Perhaps, just maybe, they left out so much of the other side of the story that there really is not any story. I do not know.
However, there is a lesson to be learned for all of us, regardless of whether story has substance or the reports are totally hollow:
Guard the reputation of your ministry.
Paul Nelson is a member of the World Vision board of directors. He has an article up on the issue that reminds all of us in the non-profit world to be attentive to the integrity and reputation of our ministries. I commend the article to you: Lessons from “Three Cups of Tea” controversy.
Outcome measures are being forced on ministries. Does this organization actually create change in the area of their cause? Ultimately, answering that question will be a good thing, even though it is very hard.
How about asking the same questions of humanitarian aid? Does the help provided actually make the lives of struggling people better? How do we know?
Measuring How and Why Aid Works – or Doesn’t, written by William Easterly in the Wall Street Journal, discusses two books that help us ask questions. The same concepts apply to aid as to domestic non-profits. Are they making any difference?
Mr. Easterly focuses in on the core issues when he says:
Previous posts here, here, and here have discussed a report from La Piana Consulting called Convergence- How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector.
One personal observation. (more…)
Previous post mentioned the first two emerging trends identified by La Piana Consulting in their report called Convergence- How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector. Will discuss two more trends in this post.
As mentioned before, I will be quoting from their report. Notice lots of quotation marks.
“Networks enable work to be organized in new ways” – (more…)
Previous post introduced an article by La Piana Consulting, which discusses their report called Convergence- How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector.
In their report, La Piana identifies five emerging trends. I will mention the five with a brief comment or two on each. As I mentioned earlier, I will clearly identify the direct quotes from their article.
“Demographic shifts redefine participation ” – (more…)
I previously discussed an article by La Piana Consulting here and here and now would like to discuss their report Convergence – How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector.
One of their key concepts is convergence. That is the title of their report, so I guess it would make sense that is the overriding issue. Their point is that not only are there some very major trends that are going to have a dramatic impact on the nonprofit community, but these trends will interact with each other to reinforce and compound change.
Seth Godin talks about Accepting False Limits:
I will never be able to dunk a basketball.
This is beyond discussion.
Imagine, though, a co-worker who says, “I’ll never be able to use a knife and fork. No, I have to use my hands.”
Or a colleague who says, “I can’t possibly learn Chinese. I’m not smart enough.”
In his post Who will say go?, Seth Godin describes three different kinds of people:
Here’s a little-spoken truth learned via crowdsourcing:
Most people don’t believe they are capable of initiative.