by Willy Franzen on November 7, 2009
Did you know that how wealthy your family is has a lot to do with which sports you play growing up? Sometimes it’s a demographic thing, but a lot of times it just has to do with whether or not your family can afford to pay for the equipment. Take hockey for example. There’s a ton of stuff you need, and it’s all expensive; whereas, basketball can be played with just a ball and a hoop in a park. There are no hard and fast rules about this, but it’s very clear that many kids don’t get the opportunity to try some sports because of the costs involved. Good Sports is a Boston based non-profit that “provides sports equipment to disadvantaged youth in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, and Chicago.” They may have pictures of Boston athletes plastered all over their website (yuck!), but they’re doing a really good thing.
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by Willy Franzen on November 1, 2009
I’m a nut about wildlife. I don’t watch Animal Planet all day or anything, but I get ridiculously excited when I see a new species in the wild. My hope is to one day run into a mountain lion in the wild, at least as long as I’m not being hunted. As fanatical as I am about wildlife, I bet I don’t even come close to the people at the Wildlife Conservation Society, a New York City based non-profit. They were founded in 1895 with a “clear mission to save wildlife and wild places across the globe.” Their first major success was aiding the recovery of American Bison, and now they’re working to “protect many of the world’s iconic creatures here and abroad, including gorillas in the Congo, tigers in India, polar bears in the Arctic, and ocean giants in our world’s amazing seascapes.” Beyond doing that, they also run 5 parks in New York City—the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo.
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science,
zoology
by Willy Franzen on October 31, 2009
Happy Halloween! Yesterday we took a look at Mars and talked about Halloween candy, but today we’re going to take a different tack. Since we’re told from an early age that candy will rot our teeth, I figure that Halloween is the perfect time to discuss a dental non-profit. It’s also appropriate because many people would consider the dentist to be way scarier than even the most deranged Halloween costume. After a little searching, I came across Children’s Dental Health Project. They’re a relatively small Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “advances policies that improve children’s access to oral health.” Now, this definitely does not mean that I think that anyone should give out toothbrushes for Halloween, but make sure you brush after eating all that candy.
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health care,
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Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on October 25, 2009
I love rivers (mostly because they’re where I usually go fly fishing). They’re the lifeblood of our society, and even though we’ve figured out ways to move water on our own, they’re still a huge part of our infrastructure. There’s no question as to why most major cities sit on the banks of a large river. The problem with that is that it means that many of our greatest rivers have been subjected to significant abuse. Dams, pollution, irrigation, and overconsumption have left many of our rivers in pretty sad states. American Rivers is a Washington, DC based non-profit that hopes to fix this. They describe themselves as “the leading conservation organization standing up for healthy rivers so communities can thrive.”
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by Willy Franzen on October 11, 2009
Some of the most fun that I had during college was playing in a charity dodgeball tournament. My team was doing really well until we ran into a team of future NHL players, pitchers from the baseball team, and some former softball players (they threw underhand, and they threw hard) in the semifinals. That match was pretty ugly, but even when you lose at dodgeball, you have fun. We’ve seen dodgeball gaining more and more popularity, and with that trend we’ve seen more and more non-profits using dodgeball to raise funds. Best Shot Foundation is a Washington, DC based non-profit that is doing just this. They’re an organization that is focused on bringing attention to the fact “that pneumonia kills more young children than any other disease,” and then doing something about it.
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by Willy Franzen on October 10, 2009
My parents are in town for the weekend, and I’ve been thinking of fun things to do with them around Chicago. One place that came to mind is Shedd Aquarium. I don’t think that we’ll end up getting a chance to make it there this weekend, but it was certainly a good thought. And once I thought about it, I realized that they’re probably hiring. Shedd Aquarium is much like other aquariums now, but it really stood out when it was opened in the 1930s. The aquarium was founded by John G. Shedd, retired president of Marshall Field & Company, and financed by him with $3 million in gifts. The goal was to bring Chicago up to par with other “cosmopolitan” cities that had aquariums, and by the end of the project Chicago’s aquarium “housed the greatest variety of sea life under one roof.” It also happened to be “the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater collection,” which meant that they had to ship millions of gallons of seawater from Florida on trains to provide a proper habitat for the sea life.
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by Willy Franzen on October 3, 2009
Often people don’t realize what services are available to them. I see this all the time with college students and Career Services offices—the students complain about a lack of help even though they’ve never stepped foot in the office. Another example is students who are having trouble paying for college yet have never applied for the thousands of dollars of scholarships that are available to them. This same thing happens all the time in the world of government programs—people endure hardship because they don’t know that there are programs intended just for them. We often hear that there’s a need for more programs to help the poor, yet programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit are significantly underutilized. Ladder Up is a Chicago based non-profit organization that has “returned $183 million to 100,000 hardworking families” by providing “free, real world financial solutions that maximize earnings and savings.” Whether it’s helping their clients claim a tax credit that they didn’t know about or walking a future college student through the financial aid process, Ladder Up helps people make the most of what’s available to them.
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Illinois,
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by Willy Franzen on September 27, 2009
Libraries used to be their own little kingdoms of knowledge. If you needed to research something, you’d go to the library and hope that they had what you were looking for. If they didn’t, you were out of luck. The Internet has changed everything. Now we live in a world where our libraries are interconnected and information resources can be shared instantly between institutions. And even there is a resource that can’t be shared electronically, you can track it down instantly. A big reason that this is possible is Dublin, OH based Online Computer Library Center. They started in 1967 as “a regional computer system for 54 Ohio colleges;” however, they have since grown to serving “more than 71,000 libraries of all types in the U.S. and 112 countries and territories around the world.” They’re better known as the OCLC, and they’ve very much an Information Technology focused non-profit.
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by Willy Franzen on September 26, 2009
I’ve heard a lot of people complain about the plight of “Generation Y” and the bad rap that “we” get, but I think most of it is bunk. Complaining isn’t going to get “us” anywhere. Working hard and taking action will. There’s one exception though, and that’s with the political process where complaining is the preferred way of taking action. Right now we live in an era where older people have mortgaged our country’s future for their own benefit. Yes, they have literally amassed huge amounts of debt to pay for all of things that they want. We live in a Democracy, and there are more of them than us, so they get what they want. And when the bill arrives, they’ll have left the table—to put it nicely. This is a real generational issue, unlike the generational issues that “Gen-Y experts” are constantly talking about. Young People First is a Washington, DC based non-profit startup that is attacking this issue with fervor. They’re sick of “how much lip service was being paid to young voters, yet how little real inclusion in the political process they were offered,” and so am I. Young People First doesn’t have any jobs posted right now (they do have internships), but I’m so impressed with their ideas that I hope some of you smart readers will find a way to work with them anyway.
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by Willy Franzen on September 20, 2009
When it comes down to it, most of the problems in our world have some sort of economic root. Unfortunately, people rarely see economics as the solution. One non-profit organization that is an exception is Washington, DC based Green America (formerly Co-op America). Their “mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.” I like their approach. They’re not trying to force their ideals on people by regulation or intellectual intimidation. Instead, they’re working towards a building a powerful new economy that not only holds to their ideals, but also works efficiently. They may still be imposing their ideas, but they’re doing it purely with economic power.
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by Willy Franzen on September 19, 2009
I love our oceans—everything about them. I love swimming in them, eating the food that they provide, fishing in them, watching sunsets over them, and all of the other wonderful things that they offer. However, our oceans are both blessed and cursed by the same thing—they seem infinite. That’s what makes them so great, but it’s also what has led us to abusing them nearly to the point of no return. A little pollution will disappear in the vastness of an ocean. Overfishing doesn’t matter because there are always more fish. Scraping up the bottom isn’t a big deal because we can’t see the bottom. I wish that oceans were that resilient, but they’re not. Oceana is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they were in our grandparents’ youth.” They recognize the value of their oceans, and they’re doing something to protect them.
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by Willy Franzen on September 13, 2009
Be sure to check out our new contest, Maghound Your Way to a New Job. We’re giving away two one-year subscriptions to an awesome new magazine subscription service that can help you find a job.
Although most people would probably think you were nuts if you told them that you live your life according to research studies, it’s not that far off from what most of us actually do do. We are constantly bombarded with nuggets of information that tell us what’s good for us and what’s bad for us. It’s hard for us not to take to heart these simplified conclusions from actual scientific research. Some of the most publicized research occurs in the areas surrounding child rearing. Child Trends is a non-profit, non-partisan “research center that studies children at all stages of development.” They’re based in Washington, DC and they’re constantly focused on using science to improve the way children are raised. They’ve been around since 1979, so I wouldn’t be surprise if some of their research actually affected the way in which you were raised.
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child development,
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by Willy Franzen on September 5, 2009
Whether you’re trying to land a job, start a business, get in shape, figure out your personal finances, or get a date, there’s one piece of advice that I’ve found to be the most appropriate. It’s really simple and a little disappointing, but it just works. Do something! Get off your butt and take action. It will get you 80% of the way to accomplishing your goal. I’m not the only one who thinks this. Do Something, a New York City based non-profit, has adopted this two word phrase as their name. They’re focused on encouraging teenagers to take positive ideas and turn them into action. Instead of focusing on a specific cause, Do Something is all about getting teens to do something about the issues that matter to them—whatever they may be.
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by Willy Franzen on August 22, 2009
Have you ever realized that you were being marketed to? I don’t mean watching tv and seeing an ad that makes you want to buy something. I mean getting a creepy feeling like somebody is watching you, but instead they’re getting inside your head to sell you on something. The beauty of marketing is that you usually don’t realize it’s happening, but when you do, it’s scary. You wouldn’t normally associate this kind of thing with a non-profit, but when I came across The Harmony Institute, I was both intrigued and freaked out. They’re a New York City based organization that uses “cutting-edge scientific research with film, television and new media experiences to help [their] clients deliver narratives that modify behavior and influence change.” Is it just me, or does that sound a little weird?
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by Willy Franzen on August 16, 2009
It’s hard to believe that squash, a sport that plenty of people haven’t even heard of, has so many non-profit organizations surrounding it. We’ve already featured New York’s StreetSquash and San Diego’s Surf City Squash, both members of the National Urban Squash and Education Association (NUSEA), and today we’re going to take a look at another member of the association, Boston’s SquashBusters. They are very similar to the other organizations that I’ve just mentioned in that they combine “squash with intensive academic tutoring, community service, and one-to-one mentoring to help student-athletes strive towards excellence in their lives.” SquashBusters works with about 100 ethnically diverse Boston public school youth and uses an apparently awesome facility on Northeastern University’s campus.
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by Willy Franzen on August 9, 2009
For nearly as long as humans have been around, we’ve been building shelters—places to sleep, eat, work, and play. And nearly as long as we’ve been building shelters, we’ve been doing it artistically. Function is still our primary goal—it’s the reason that we build things, but it’s amazing how development, architecture, construction and engineering, interior design, landscape architecture, and urban planning come together as an essential part of human culture. The National Building Museum in Washington, DC was started to “advance the quality of the built environment by educating the public about its impact on people’s lives.” Yes, it’s a museum filled with artifacts and objects related to the history of buildings, but it’s more than that. It’s really about “fostering lively discussion about a wide range of topics.”
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by Willy Franzen on August 1, 2009
Three months ago when I featured the American Lung Association’s Jobs, I mentioned a good friend who is battling lung cancer. From what I’ve heard, he continues to be doing well and fighting for his life. Unfortunately, I recently learned that my grandmother is also facing a battle with lung cancer despite the fact that she stopped smoking before I was born. It’s obviously very upsetting for my family, and we’re going to do our best to get her through this. I don’t usually like getting too personal with these posts, but there’s no better way for me to introduce the American Legacy Foundation. They are a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit.” I’ve seen what tobacco can do to people, and it absolutely amazes me that anyone chooses to smoke these days, but many do. It may be their right to do what they want with their bodies but I’m glad that the American Legacy Foundation is working hard to push them towards a smarter, healthier decision.
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by Willy Franzen on July 26, 2009
I doubt many of you would disagree with the assertion that the “mainstream media” has some major issues that need to be worked out. Take the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death. Yes, he was a great entertainer. Yes, the way that he lived his life was totally perplexing. Yes, people are fascinated by him. But did we really need all that coverage? It’s just one example of how our media is failing us, but I’m sure that Free Press would be willing to give you many more examples. They are a non-profit, “national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media through education, organizing and advocacy.” Free Press advocates “independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications,” and they do this through a number of campaigns: Save the Internet, Stop Big Media, No Fake News, Local Radio Now, Stamp Out Postal Rate Hikes, Save Our Spectrum, Community Internet, Public Broadcasting, Pentagon Propaganda, White Spaces, and Rate the Debates. They’re based in both Washington, DC and Florence, MA, and they’ve been working since 2002 to fix what they call a failing media system.
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by Willy Franzen on July 25, 2009
I know that most of us were taught in school that slavery ended nearly 150 years ago, but, unfortunately, that’s not really true. Slavery and human trafficking continue to plague our world, even though most of us aren’t really aware of it. Polaris Project is a non-profit organization is not only bringing awareness to the issues surrounding human trafficking and modern-day slavery, but also combatting them. They do this by “conducting direct outreach and victim identification, providing social services and transitional housing to victims, operating the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) serving as the central national hotline on human trafficking, advocating for stronger state and Federal anti-trafficking legislation, and engaging community members in local and national grassroots efforts.” They’ve been at it since 2002 with offices in Washington, DC; Newark, NJ; Denver, CO; and Tokyo, Japan.
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Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on July 19, 2009
As I tell you every weekend, the non-profit world can never get enough top notch talent. Part of the reason is that the careers aren’t nearly as lucrative as private sector careers, but another part of it is that there are a seemingly unlimited number of non-profit organizations out there. Taproot Foundation solves this problem in an interesting way. They act as a project management consulting service while linking top notch business professionals up with non-profit organizations in a volunteer capacity. They typically work with organizations in the areas of Arts, Education, Social Services, Environment, and Health on engagements in the areas of marketing, HR, IT, and strategy management. I’m always impressed by non-profit consulting services, and this appears to be a pretty cool twist on that model.
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project management,
Washington DC
by Willy Franzen on July 18, 2009
I never thought that I’d hear the words “city” and “harvest” used together as often as I do these days, but now it seems that every city has a farmers market, urban vegetable gardens, and restaurants with hyper-local cuisine. Oddly enough, City Harvest means something slightly different when they talk about harvesting food. They are “a non-profit organization founded in 1982″ and “the world’s first and New York City’s only food rescue program.” What does that mean? It means that this year they will “collect 26 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms.” They’re harvesting anything and everything that they can (as long as it’s up to their food safety standards) to feed New York City’s hungry. It’s a brilliant idea, and the organizations longevity proves that it’s working.
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by Willy Franzen on July 12, 2009
Last night I enjoyed one of my favorite Summer treats—a Dairy Queen Blizzard. Now, this wasn’t just any Blizzard. This was a Tagalong Blizzard. If you’re not familiar with Tagalongs, then you’re missing out. They are my favorite Girl Scout cookie. And that brings me to the Girl Scouts of the USA, which is a New York City non-profit organization that you probably know best for pushing cookies. Obviously, the cookies have little to do with what the Girl Scouts of the USA are all about, but the funds raised from selling the cookies enable the organization to continue to pursue its mission of being “the world’s preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls—all girls—where, in an accepting and nurturing environment, girls build character and skills for success in the real world.”
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