Category: nonprofit

design, innovation, nonprofit, philanthropy, technology

My Year of Hopefulness – Social Designer

Christa Avampato

“I feel illiterate,” my friend, Brian, said to me on Saturday night as we talked about how the age of design has emerged in a big way. Instead of studying business, we should have become designers. There are all kinds of amazing ways that design is changing our human experience for the better, and a lot of new ways that we can take part. One of my favorites is an organization called Social Designer.

With a tag line of “Goods for the Greater Good”, Social Designer sponsors design contests and then runs a e-store with the winning designs that supports a variety of nonprofit organizations. “Buy stuff, design stuff, vote on stuff and be an agent of change.” There are ways for all of us to take part in supporting Social Designer: create designs and enter them in the contests, vote on the submitted designs, purchase the finished goods with the winning designs, and tell other people about these efforts.

My favorite things about Social Designer is that it opens up the possibility of developing design to everyone. It’s not some torturous Request for Proposal process. You don’t need to send in your resume or portfolio. And you don’t need to be famous or have an agent. You just need to submit a good design that supports a good cause. It’s such a logical and simple process that I have to wonder why it took so long for it to be created – a sure sign that Social Designer is really onto something.
New York City, nonprofit, philanthropy, volunteer

My Year of Hopefulness – NYC Service

Christa Avampato

“Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.” ~George Eliot

Today Mayor Bloomberg launched a new initiative in New York City to make it easier and more efficient for New Yorkers to volunteer in our city. There are a number of services out there like Volunteermatch.com that are similar in mission though I find this new site, NYC Service, incredibly easy to use and its layout helps site visitors to sift volunteer interests more efficiently.

Don’t find an opportunity that’s quite right for you? No problem – you can create your own. Additionally, you can download a preparedness tool kit and a tool kit to help you reduce your carbon footprint. You can also get more information about NYC Civic Corps, similar to AmeriCorps specifically focused on NYC. Nonprofit can post a volunteer opportunity and businesses can sign up as partners of the effort.

And here’s my favorite part: the BLANK effort. Fill in the BLANK. Everyone has something to give. Time. Effort. Funds. Passion. Interests. Energy. These are incredible resources. And they exist everywhere, within all of us. We all have something to give. Regardless of circumstances, financial ability, skills sets, race, gender, religion, culture. We can all give, and our city will be better for our volunteerism. People move mountains, and we are surrounded by mountains. Lend a hand. Visit NYC Service today.

business, career, corporation, nonprofit, philanthropy

My Year of Hopefulness – Lend a Hand with What You’ve Got

Christa Avampato

Corporate America is an unpleasant place to be lately. People are scared. They don’t trust anyone. They’re worried about their futures. And it’s understandable.

Today, I began a group pro-bono project for a nonprofit that my company supports on a very large scale through our philanthropy department. I am thrilled that I can combine my business skills and my experience in nonprofit for this project. And I can meet some new people from my company from completely different business units.

What’s most interesting is that the pro-bono project is about helping the national headquarters of the nonprofit more effectively communicate and develop marketing plans with the regional offices. It’s the same issue that every large company struggles with – how do you break through the silos? How do you share best practices? How do you effectively collaborate, learn, and share across geographies and cultures?

While this nonprofit is thrilled to have us work on this project, my co-workers are all grateful for the opportunity to take what we learn on this project and apply it to our own company. Our company needs to up the morale of the staff and provide networking opportunities; the nonprofit needs assistance that they can’t afford to pay consultants for. We’re all lending what we’ve got to help one another. It’s a win all the way around. Can you imagine how many more of these amazing opportunities are out there, just waiting to be discovered, to creatively collaborate in ways that make a difference in the world?

business, nonprofit, travel, vacation, volunteer

My Year of Hopefulness – Cross-Cultural Solutions Part 2

Christa Avampato

Tonight I went to an information session for Cross-Cultural Solutions, an organization that organizes volunteer vacations abroad in 12 countries. In 2005, I spent a month in France and volunteered for an organization that rebuilt ancient architecture to help stimulate tourism in small town in Provence. I loved it and have been wanting to go on another volunteer vacation ever since.

While I enjoyed my experience in France, I was disappointed that the organization did not maintain any contact with me after I returned. I have no idea how the work continued after I left and I’ve lost touch with every person I met while I was there. I tend to thrive in situations with a high amount of ambiguity though I do remember feeling disturbed that there was virtually no preparation given to me before I flew to France. I hoped I’d find someone at the airport when I landed, though had no idea what or who to look for. I wasn’t sure how my days would be structured. I essentially went on blind-faith.

Luckily, I had a great experience in France, though it could just have easily been a disaster. Truly, I was just lucky. What I found most impressive about Cross-Cultural Solutions is their sense of organization, friendly demeanor, and care and concern for volunteers. I sent an email through the website several months ago expressing interest and within 48 hours received a comprehensive email and a phone call. The service was top-notch. The friendliness and enthusiasm by the staff and alumni (yes, they have an alumni network!) for the volunteers, the experience, and the people in-country who benefit from the program.

So what could be improved by Cross-Cultural Solutions? A big lesson for all of us: strike while the iron is hot. I was ready to fork over my credit card number after their incredible presentation and there wasn’t a way for me to do that. I went to one of the team members at the end of the presentation and asked if I could sign up right there. I knew the date I wanted to go and the program I wanted. There wasn’t a way for me to put down my deposit. I needed to go home and sign up on-line or call them tomorrow at the office.

They put forward all of this effort to promote themselves and then didn’t close the deal with a willing consumer. Chances are that someone who is so excited about the program at the presentation will take the time to sign-up once they’re home. However, why not have the option to sign people up on the spot? It would be a win for me and for the organization – and isn’t that what Cross-Cultural Solutions is all about?

business, nonprofit, philanthropy, social change, social entrepreneurship

My Year of Hopefulness – Acumen Fund, Social Media, and Recruiting

Christa Avampato

Acumen Fund is looking for a Business Development Manager. Rather than go the usual route of getting the word out about this position, the took an interesting approach both in the advertisement of the position and in the application. Sasha Dichter, the Director of Business Development at Acumen Fund, used his blog, Squidoo, and Seth Godin’s blog to advertise the position. 13,000 viewed the post on his blog alone. In addition to the usual resume and cover letter request, Sasha also requested that applicants create a Squidoo Len (webpage) and answer a series of questions in ~250 words each to get at the heart of what the applicants believe and how they express themselves.

There are so many business applications to this recruitment and application method, and I will discuss those in my Examiner.com column. For the purposes of this post, I wanted to explain why the incredible response to Sasha’s post gives me great hope for our future. Acumen Fund is dedicated to investing in projects that focus on providing critical services in the developing world. It’s a very intriguing hybrid model of nonprofit and venture capital. The position requires people who can put on a nonprofit and for-profit thinking cap; someone who can think both analytically and conceptually, and express themselves in engaging prose.

Not only is this degree of interest in a position at Acumen Fund a win for those who believe they can do well by doing good, it is also a great victory for storytellers and the skill of writing in general. Many people in the world of business think in bullet points on Powerpoint slides. They have forgotten how to create meaningful, compelling prose. The many people who applied for the Acumen Fund show that expressive writing is not dead at all — it is still alive and well, and garnering great interest among business people.

For people like me who are interested in having one foot in the for-profit and nonprofit world, who wants to analyze numbers and then build out the narrative that those numbers create, it is so exciting to know that there are many others out there with this same interest. My sincere thanks to Seth Godin and Acumen Fund for providing this example and instilling us all with hope!

The photo above can be found at http://blog.acumenfund.org/author/ddoshi/

charity, nonprofit, philanthropy, volunteer

My Year of Hopefulness – Live United

Christa Avampato

Today I completed the Linkages Program, a training and placement program for future board of directors hosted by the United Way of New York. I’ve worked in the nonprofit sector off and on in my career, and I’ve been a volunteer at a variety of nonprofits my whole life. I went to the training thinking I knew everything there was to know about how nonprofits operate. I was wrong – from the moment I cracked open my training manual, I discovered that I had a lot to learn when it comes to nonprofit boards.

It’s a testament to the United Way, and to my employer who paid for my attendance in the training program, that they recognize that most people, no matter how deeply involved they are in nonprofit work, don’t really understand the ins and out of board operations. A weak board makes for a weak organization, and the United Way has stepped in to change that. In 2004, they conducted a study and of the surveyed Executive Directors: 45% planned to retire within 5 years, 57% had no professional development program within their organizations, and 68% ran organizations with no succession plans. New York City’s nonprofits, and all of the vital services they provide to so many in this city, were in trouble.

In just 5 short years, the United Way is turning the tide. I was thoroughly impressed with the incredibly high caliber of the people in my class. Passionate, concerned, committed. We are willing to put our resources of time and money on the line to improve New York’s nonprofits and the United Way is helping us succeed. We are ready, willing, and able to stand up and be counted.

Call it the Obama effect. Call it people wanting to find fulfillment in a time when so many feel down-trodden by the state of the economy. Call it the responsibility that comes with being extremely fortunate in a time when so many others face misfortune. I call it hope.

charity, Examiner, gaming, health, healthcare, nonprofit, philanthropy, technology, video games

Hopelab on Examiner.com

Christa Avampato

I just kicked off my week-long series on Examiner.com of the use of video games in non-traditional gaming markets. First up: Hopelab, a nonprofit that uses video games to help young help fight chronic illnesses and live healthier lives. Check it out at: http://www.examiner.com/x-2901-NY-Business-Strategies-Examiner~y2009m2d1-Hopelab-video-game-takes-on-cancer

charity, education, Junior Achievement, nonprofit, philanthropy

My Year of Hopefulness – More Teaching with Junior Achievement

Christa Avampato

There are few days that I felt as nervous as I did teaching my Junior Achievement class in the South Bronx. It was the first Friday of December 2008 and I received the day off from work to teach Economics to 7th graders at Middle School (MS) 223. This school is just down the street from St. Anne’s, the church featured in Jonathan Kozol’s books describing the Mott Haven neighborhood. Mott Haven is one of the most violent, drug addicted areas of this country. It is ground zero for the war on poverty. 


In MS 223, I felt like I was making a difference to kids who needed role models but what struck me so suddenly was that those kids and teachers had a tremendous impact on me. 20 minutes away by subway from my safe, beautiful Upper West Side neighborhood I found a completely different New York. Many of the students I met that day have never been outside of their own neighborhood. They know that there is something more to the world than the South Bronx but they don’t know if they’ll ever get to see it save for watching it on TV. That one cold day in December changed the way that I looked at this city, and it changed the way I saw my life playing out. 

I was thrilled to get an email at work today from Junior Achievement about an opportunity to teach Corporate Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility at the High School of Economics and Finance. While not in the South Bronx, it’s a subject matter that is very dear to me because of my link to the nonprofit world. It’s steps away from my office building and for an hour a week for seven weeks this Spring, I will get to teach high school students about a subject that I am passionate about. It’s opportunities like this that really make a difference – as much to my life as to the lives of the children I’m teaching. It’s this sharing of knowledge, and the recognition in someone else’s eyes that something you just said clicked for them, that makes our days worthwhile.     
charity, nonprofit, philanthropy

My Year of Hopefulness – United Way Linkages Program

Christa Avampato

I have had the great fortune to move easily back and forth between the nonprofit and private sectors. I started out in nonprofit just after I finished undergrad, then went to the private sector for a few years, back to nonprofit, then to business school, and back to the private sector. This movement between the two sectors has been a great source of strength for me. Firsthand, I have been able to see how the two inform one another, and I learned that while many people draw a hard line between nonprofit and the private sector, it’s unnecessary. The skills, competencies, and structures are so similar it is sometimes tough to tell one from another. 


This ability to draw the connection between the two was the strength I pointed to in my United Way Linkages application. The United Way Linkages Program trains prospective nonprofit board members and then serves as a matchmaker between members of the program and nonprofit board of United Way charities. I was thrilled to learn today that I was accepted into the program and begin my training at the end of February. 

This is one more stop on the train that is leading me to start my own business based in the nonprofit world as part of the growing number of entrepreneurs who are looking toward social entrepreneurship. This is the last piece I need to close the loop – I have worked at nonprofits, large corporations, and small companies, though don’t have any board experience. This training will help me to begin to fill that gap. Another bonus is that it will be a good networking opportunity for me and I will meet other, like-minded business people with this same interest of serving on a nonprofit board. 

In a week when Wall Street and Main Street announced thousands of layoffs, plunging earnings, and more doom to come, this news today about the Linkages Program helped me lift up my eyes and see what’s out beyond the horizon. It helped me to look my future right in the eye and smile. 
blogging, charity, Ning, nonprofit, philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, social network

Just Begin

Christa Avampato

I marvel at how much time it takes people (and I am as guilty of this as anyone) to get going on a new idea. Have we done enough research? Have we thought through every possible scenario? Do we have enough money? What if it doesn’t work out? These are only a handful of questions we might ask ourselves as we consider a new venture, relationship, job, or even a hobby. How do I even know where to start? As Mary Poppins said, “Start at the very beginning.”

To this end, I have two things I’d really like to accomplish in my career this year: I’d like to become more familiar with the social entrepreneurship field and I’d like to get my writing out to a wider audience. Today, my first blog post on a site other than this blog is being published. I joined the blogging team at the Literacy ‘n’ Poverty Project, an organization that promotes literacy and adult education as tools to fight poverty and promote social change. I’ll be publishing on their site twice per month and my writing will focus on social change and poverty alleviation efforts.

To get involved, visit the site at http://www.literacyandpovertyproject.com/. The organization also has a group on the Ning social network that you can join: http://literacyandpovertyproject.ning.com.