I have a friend who told me he read book reviews instead of books because it was more important to know about a new book than to have read it.  He called it “fake smart”.  It’s a good phrase.  I do the same.  I don’t want to be caught not having at least some knowledge about the latest book so I snack on the reviews and unfortunately ” lose my appetite for reading. I was at a conference a couple of years ago and realized we were doing the same thing with speakers.  We were “speed dating” with content.  We were curious about what they had to say but…

  David Brooks is so right about so many things – and his opinion piece last week on the "wonderful young people who are doing good" (Link) is on the mark as well.  His conclusion that their idealism is ultimately not enough because it does not address the harsh realities of politics systems corruption and the extent of "disorder" in those very places they are working is accurate.  Their ambivalence about the place of rough political process and their preference for cleaner and more virtuous nonprofit solutions will at some point bump up against the evils of the world.  The complexities ” trade-offs and deals that are inevitable will rear up…

  I love Jackson Browne's music ” and yet there are times when I don't want to hear one more song about how hard life on the road is for rock stars.  Yes” it's lonely. And yes it's a grind. And yes home is so much better. But really ” how bad can it be?  Rock stars enjoy a great lifestyle with loads of recognition and adoration – and not a bad annual income. Believe it or not”  it's sometimes the same with people in our business.  We could probably write some hits about the stress of reading grants the isolation you feel and the constant pressure to make grants that…

  If you work with foundations you have no doubt received calls or notes  from people asking if you know  foundations that support particular causes. Because of my role with The Gathering I get my share. Typically I try to explain having a list of foundations to contact isn't all that helpful. For one the descriptions of what they fund are often not current or not accurate and second ” so many decisions are made based on  relationships and many other intangibles. (If you have a foundation you should go online to the Foundation Center  (www.foundationcenter.org )  and see how your interests are described). Some time ago” I received a note…

  I've been re-reading a couple of books (Generations: The History of America’s Future for one)  by William Strauss and Neil Howe as a result of seeing several posts on Facebook about the uneasy relationship between Millennials religion and politics. This book was published in 1991 and because I was born in 1946 I especially like the sections on the relationship between Boomers and Millennials.   The description of Boomers as they age is not flattering.  The authors see us as tending toward people who will  “grow increasingly pompous intolerant uncompromising snoopy and exacting of others.”  Not only that but we will likely be “an ascetic elder glowering down from Sinai looking…

  I have been given the gift of giving.  It’s not something to brag about or take pride in.  It’s not like I worked to get it or ever really paid much attention to it. Ever since I was a kid I have loved seeing what money can do – especially when it fits neatly into an opportunity.  Not when I was young  but when I was in my 50’s I became so interested in how to use it that I had a friend do an analysis of what it is about giving that makes me enjoy it.  I was curious about those things that gave me a special satisfaction.  In…

  Several years ago our local Chamber of Commerce brought in a renowned demographer to talk with a large group of business and civic leaders about the future impact of immigration (legal and illegal) on our community of 100 000 people.  “Your community will soon experience the full force of a tsunami of brown young unemployed fertile sometimes violent non-English speaking immigrants from the South. It is going to affect every institution and as it has everywhere else the economic resources of your city and region.”  I raised my hand and asked him if he thought there were any opportunities or should we all move to Switzerland and wait it…