FLiP Follows: LinkEducation Episode 4 - The Launch

In February of 2007, FLiP launched an occasional reality series, “FLiP Follows.” We highlighted LinkEducation, a startup nonprofit, as they navigated their way through launching their website, getting their first donations, running their first event and building their advisory board. Now LinkEducation faces a new challenge: How to make their new site a success.

But first, here’s some background for those new to FLiP:

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3

LinkEducation, an educational services nonprofit, was founded by three Teach For America employees over a year ago. Though young the founders saw a real need in education, and developed an idea to fill that need. They noticed that New York City teachers and parents were often unaware of the many education programs available to their kids, and had no time or resources to search for these services. Meanwhile organizations that provided services to teachers and students had no reliable way to reach them. They wanted to create a website to connect these two halves by making it possible for parents and teachers to find education-related resources in their communities.

LinkEducation, after months of struggling with Advisory Boards and fundraising events, proudly launched their site on January 3rd. Through www.linkeducation.org, you can easily find quality and affordable education programs such as after school tutoring, homework help, and alternative schools simply by entering their zip code and key words. But what did it take to get to this point and how will they ensure that their efforts pay off? How did they make sure that they didn’t stumble into the many pitfalls of creating a successful site?

Building the website is really quite a ride. Here are some tips on what they learned along the way:

1) Know what you want

Worth a read

That the days of pen-and-paper philanthropy are on the wane isn’t news to you, savvy young FLiPs.  But to grasp the full impact of how social networking and the rise of digital-everything is impacting our work…it’s hard to keep up!  That’s why I love when topical, timely articles like this one from Contribute Magazine and reposted on MSNBC.com, come out and get me up to speed.  Plus, featured in this piece is FLiP favorite nonprofit PlayPumps International, and Changing Our World’s own tech guru Garth Moore.

Education, credentials, and philanthropy careers: By Richard Marker

A few weeks ago, a question I asked about getting an advanced degree to help your career in the world of philanthropy garnered 20+ comments, and generated parallel posts on a number of other sites. As a follow up, I asked a good friend of FLiP's, Richard Marker of Wise Philanthropy - www.wisephilanthropy.blogspot.com - to react to the question. He answered on his site in fine style, so I wanted to share his response here as well.

Will Schneider’s inquiry is a very helpful one.  Given where I sit (and have sat) I am asked that question all the time.  Based on at least five or more “careers” over a 40 year period, here are some thoughts – in bullet point form:

• Unless one is absolutely committed to a job where there are defined credentials (law, medicine, etc.), no graduate degree is worth anything unless you are interested in what the degree is in. Otherwise stated, any graduate degree can be equally useful in the general field of nonprofits, grantmaking and/or philanthropy IF you are passionate about the field you are studying and want to work in that area.  (A degree in international education would be of interest to some funders; a degree in environmental sciences would be of interest to others; a degree in urban studies to still others…)

• I had already been tenured and had a well established career as a college chaplain/faculty member when I decided to get a management degree.  By that time, I had been working for 13 years.  I ended up loving the management concepts and a year later changed career directions based on that management credential.  There is no doubt in my mind that I would have been absolutely bored if it had been mandatory that I obtain that management degree before I was interested and ready.

FLiP Meets: Young Founder Rusty Stahl - interview by Bodi Luse

A huge percentage of our readers dream of founding their own nonprofit one day. So, in the next few months we'll be posting occasional interviews with "young founders" so that our community can learn from their experience. If you are a young founder of a "socially good" organization, or know one, shoot me an e-mail - wschneider@changingourworld.com - to share your experiences with the FLiP world.

When we started FLiP, every person we spoke to - every single one - said to us, "You really should talk to Rusty Stahl". We set about getting to Rusty, founder of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (E-PIP), right away. His entrepreneurial spirit, his networking ability, and his commitment to the sector make him an invaluable resource to anyone looking to work in the world of grant-making. Right from those first few months Rusty has been a big FLiP supporter, so we thought it was only fitting to kick off this series with a short interview of Rusty.

Future Leaders in Philanthropy (FLiP): What’s your background?

Rusty Stahl (RS): I grew up in Philadelphia and went to college at George Washington in Washington, DC. After college I went right to Indiana University and got my MA in Philanthropic Studies from the Center on Philanthropy there.  I knew coming into my senior year that I wanted to know more about how nonprofits work so that I could find my place in them, and was looking for someplace that could teach me that in a practical and thoughtful way. I got into a one-year, non-degree fellowship at the Center on Philanthropy, which gave me enough credits that it was an easy decision to go on for my MA.

FLiP: How did you know so early that you wanted a career in nonprofits? In college, I don’t think that I knew what a nonprofit was.

RS: My exposure to nonprofits started early – my high school was a public school that was co-sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. Then sophomore year in college I did the Americorp program part-time through George Washington’s Office of Community Service and was exposed to lots of social service nonprofits in DC. That same year, a big conference on service learning came to campus and so I was exposed to many nonprofits from across the country by working on and attending that.

Also in college, I interned at a public relations/strategic communications firm that only worked with labor unions and progressive nonprofits, so I got to see them in action through a communications lens.

After college, I applied and was chosen as a program associate at the Ford Foundation. The program associate program at that time was structured as a two-year apprenticeship program. I worked on Peace and Social Justice, in the Governance and Civil Society Unit.

FLiP: How did EPIP get started?

2 days left for FREE GMAT Prep

Following the hugely popular post below, I am more convinced than ever that the one thing our community seems to have united interest in is education in philanthropy.

With that in mind, I wanted to remind those of you in New York that there are only two days left to apply to the Manhattan GMAT social venture scholar program. For people in the "social sector" who are considering getting their MBA, please read on.

Here's the deal: If you are accepted into this class, you are given free admission (a $1440 value) into a special 9-session GMAT Prep class, beginning at the end of this month. Of course, FLiP has nothing to do with this program, we just think it's worth talking about.

The simple application is due on January 17, 2008. Check out this website for details: http://www.manhattangmat.com/svs.cfm

Thanks everyone, good luck!

To Grad School or Not to Grad School?

A FLiP reader just emailed me a question… one I get all the time… but I don’t have the answer. So, FLiP community, I need your help. If you have an opinion - and I know you do - please leave a comment at the bottom of this post (on the flip site: http://flip.onphilanthropy.com).

Here’s the situation: A 23-year old fundraiser has been working at a nonprofit for a year and a half, and is thinking about what his next step should be. Of course, one of the things this FLiP is thinking about is grad school, but he doesn’t know if there is any real benefit. Do nonprofits care about that degree? Is it more worthwhile to spend the money and time to get an MBA? Should he save his money and just focus on getting the right jobs?

So, FLiP community, here is the crux of the question: How important is grad school in the philanthropic sector?

What are you planning on doing? What did you do? And what would you do differently?

Taking an informal survey it seems like *a lot* of people would like to know the consensus of this community. Let’s get to work!

Meet-A-FLiP: Craig Teal

Craig Teal, fresh from college, landed a job as a Development Administrative Assistant at one of my favorite foundations. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History - yes, I'm a dork, I like American History Foundations. A lot of Gilder Lehrman's work is done via the internet, and as such I think their online giving program has more potential than almost any comparable organization. Craig's got a big job ahead of him, I'm sure FLiP will check in again soon.

Future Leaders in Philanthropy (FLiP): Tell us a little about your background. Where did you go to school, what did you major in, and how did you come to be involved in philanthropy?

Craig Teal (CT): This past spring, I graduated from Fordham University with a double major in History and International Political Economy. College was an enormous period of growth, exposing me to a lot of circumstances and opportunities that I became intimately involved with. Two programs in particular I invested my time with: an after-school/Saturday program for local school children and an international service program where I traveled to the Navajo Nation in Utah and to the country of Romania. With each program we had to raise funds in order to participate and I had the responsibility to achieve our goals financially. There is no doubt, one must be intimately connected with one’s fundraising aspirations for success.

During college I interned at two nonprofit organizations that got me interested in the field and provided me with some great experience. For over a year I worked at Kids In Distressed Situations, Inc., truly an amazing organization that because its small staff afforded me with some great hands-on experience. My second internship was in the development office at the EastWest Institute. It is here that I was introduced to fundraising software and the world of grantmaking.

FLiP: What is your job like? What are the day-to-day responsibilities?

CT: As Development Administrative Assistant for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York City, I am surrounded by some very experienced people thus making everyday a tremendous opportunity to learn. Most of my time is spent between the computer screen and the file cabinet. Not only maintaining electronic and hard-copy files and tracking donors, I also research prospective donors and am beginning to work on grant proposals. Soon I will be compiling reports for our present donors charting our progress.

FLiP: What is one of the best aspects of working at The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History?

CT: I know that you are going to think this is a lie, but my boss. She probably would not even want me to call her that, but she has an amazing wealth of knowledge. She calls herself a seasoned worker. Moreover, she maintains a high work ethic that, although it is hard to keep up with, is rewarding over time. But I cannot just tell you one. The organization itself, The Gilder Lehrman Institute, is my main interest in this job. We aid schools, teachers and students nationally, improving the educational access that they receive while promoting a love of American History. Also the founders of the Institute inspire me as they care so much for students and teachers.