FLiP Speed Networking: Wrap

A few months ago, the Senior FLiPs and I invited 10 readers to the Changing Our World headquarters in New York for a brief focus group. The biggest lesson we learned from the group was that people like the ideas behind FLiP, but want a better chance to network. Our giant happy hour events allow them to meet a few people... but in a room of 150 professional contacts, most people were lucky to leave with 5 business cards.

So, we responded. Last night we ran our first ever FLiP Speed Networking event! It was the first time FLiP ever charged for anything (tickets were $20/each). We were pretty nervous, wondering if people really would be into it. From my perspective, it went perfectly! Everyone met *at least* 13 new professional contacts, and I hope to hear about many lunch/coffee follow ups that come out of the event.

Most importantly, when asked "would  you attend another speed networking event?", nearly every single person said yes.

Thanks to everyone who attended. To those who couldn't make it or would like to see what it's about, we will definitely do this again soon. If you want to find out when and where, keep your eyes on this site, or shoot me an email: wschneider@changingourworld.com. 

Investing in Emerging Leaders

Leadership is the hot topic of the moment in our sector; you’ve seen plenty about it right here, in fact.  Your FLiP editors participated in a roundtable discussion about it.  Our friend Elizabeth Miller wrote about it.  And now I’m going to brief you on a neat event on the subject, held Monday at TheTimesCenter here in New York.  Co-sponsored by NYRAG, The New York Times, and the Support Center for Nonprofit Management, and sponsored by American Express, the two “Investing in Emerging Leaders” panels brought together a true cross-section of thinkers in this area.

The list of speakers will get the point across: Rich Berlin, Executive Director, Harlem RBI; David Birdsell, Dean of School of Public Affairs, Baruch College; Patrick Corvington, Senior Associate, Annie E. Casey Foundation; Cheryl Dorsey, President, Echoing Green; and Timothy McClimon, President, American Express Foundation.

Imagine a direct service nonprofit ED, an academic, a private foundation researcher, a social entrepreneurship guru, and a corporate foundation head all trying to wrap their heads around this big topic, together.  It made for fascinating conversation.  Some highlights:

• Said Patrick Corvington, the Annie E. Casey researcher: the Foundation’s recent “Ready to Lead” report, based on interviews with 6,000 emerging leaders, shows they are a diverse lot – differing in how they come in to the sector, the lifestyles they want, what will keep them in the sector, and what the barriers are.  75% of them love their work in the sector, and are willing to sacrifice something in compensation and lifestyle – but not everything.  “We don’t talk enough about how we treat talent in the sector,” he explained.  That “combination of finance and treatment can be fatal.”

• A challenge his team identified is that a lot of young people are trained as specialists – in marketing, development, programs, etc. – and are thus not given the opportunity to generalize.

• Cheryl Dorsey of Echoing Green, whose organization funds 30 social entrepreneurs each year (she received 1,500 applications from 83 countries last year!) notes that emerging leaders show a tremendous sense of agency – they want to solve problems, not ameliorate them; they maintain truly global perspectives; and they hold very few orthodoxies.    

So how do we get these emerging leaders to stay and become emerged leaders?  Speakers agreed on a few ideas:

• Put more resources toward this area.
• Invest in staff training, professional development, networking, and mentoring.
• Take the issue more seriously.
• Engage in university-based solutions.
• Do more to include corporate leaders.
• Get young people on boards.
• Create organizational cultures where young people don’t feel powerless to or guilty about asking for professional development.
• Teach young people that the answer is not necessarily to leave and start your own organization; there are 1.4 million nonprofits in the US, making many wrought with inefficiencies.  Explained Dorsey, “you can be an intrapreneur instead of an entrepreneur.”

Scattered, messy, challenging…it was everything a preliminary, high-level conversation about an enormous subject should be.  Turning talk into actions?  That’s largely up to you, FLiPs!  What’s your idea to close the leadership gap?  Tell us, and maybe we’ll publish it here!

FLiP partners with the University of Michigan

I feel like lately I’ve been doing nothing but announcing new partnerships. Well, I can’t really help it if everyone loves us. I can apologize, but I wouldn’t mean it. We’re awesome.

Here’s the latest: The University of Michigan! Michigan has developed an innovative program to expose undergraduates to the profession of fundraising, and the impact of philanthropy. I love the concept behind this program, and I’m sure the model will be exported to and implemented at other major universities soon. The Development Office and the University have united to provide a group of students with a substantive summer internship, and educational courses. This program also hopes to create a culture of philanthropy on campus.

Dubbed D-SIP (Development Summer Internship Program), the Development Office has opened 21 slots for interns this summer, the largest this program has ever been. The interns will participate in an orientation, complete a significant project for the development office, and take 3 credits of course work through the School of Education.

This program, which is donor supported, is broad enough to provide skills that translate to most nonprofits, but it is designed to focus specifically on building a talent pool for higher ed development. There will be much more about D-SIP in the coming months, but if you have any questions about the program, contact Kat Walsh at katwalsh@umich.edu.

So what role will FLiP play? Well, we’re kicking the whole thing off. This May Anastasia Hagan and I will leave New York City and head to Ann Arbor (Go Blue!) to throw a party for the entering interns. Anastasia and I will talk about what being “a future leader in philanthropy” is all about, and answer some questions about our jobs and career paths.

Then, at some point soon, Michigan will come to New York! Stay tuned for many more details about an event in New York City co-sponsored by FLiP and Michigan.

What else can you expect from this partnership? Frequent posts! Michigan will be providing posts from their development staff, from interns, and from executives. Are you excited? Can I get a Go BLUE?

A FLiP First: Speed-Networking – Wednesday, April 23rd at Black Sheep

One of the hallmarks of FLiP events is great networking. I love seeing the future leaders of the philanthropic sector having animated conversations, exchanging business cards, and setting up lunch meetings. A few months ago, we were hanging out in the FLiP board room when the question came up: How can we make our events even better networking opportunities?

We took some time, got feedback from the FLiP community, and we decided to try something new:  Speed-Networking! Ever been speed-dating? Same concept, except replace the awkward first-date moment with a fantastic networking opportunity!

Join us on Wednesday, April 23rd, as FLiP experiments with Speed-Networking at Black Sheep (583 Third Avenue – at 38th Street) from 6-8PM.  We’re keeping this pilot event pretty small, so buy your ticket now! Your $20 ticket covers the cost to participate as well as a variety of appetizers.
 

On the second floor of Black Sheep, 32 FLiPs will have 16 mini-meetings, plus some general mingling time.

Are you a rising leader in the philanthropic sector?  If so, buy your ticket today – space is limited!

If you have any questions or have any other event ideas – let me know.  We look forward to seeing you there!

The Lost Interns of Bear Stearns by Will Schneider

The Bear Stearns/JP Morgan Chase debacle might be devastating for the economy, bad for business, and major trouble for thousands of shareholders, but it looks like the whole situation may offer a tiny morsel of good news for a few New York City nonprofits.

The Harvard Crimson (and the lesser known daily The New York Times) report that due to JP Morgan Chase’s impending merger with Bear Stearns, “dozens” of job and internship offers that Bear Stearns had promised college and MBA students have been withdrawn.

I don’t mean to gloss over that part – it’s an awful situation for the students... but is there a bright spot? The interns whose offers have evaporated are still eligible to receive their full 10 weeks of pay. All they have to do is spend the summer working at one of a select list of nonprofits.

I can't find a story that indicates which nonprofits are on this list, but if anyone knows how to be considered - please share because I imagine a few readers would love to sign up. 10 weeks of free MBA work would sound good to any charity I know of.

Most importantly, will any of these interns end up with a career in the non-profit world? Will someone one day say, “I owe my successful and rewarding career to Bear Stearns making terrible investment decisions.”?

If you know (or are) a former Bear Stearns intern who is taking this option, please let us know! Sounds like our next Meet-a-FLiP!

Thanks to Harvard Business School student (and FLiP co-founder) Jessica Stannard-Friel for the heads up on this story.

Summit Video

As promised, but a little late, a video of Susan Raymond's rousing speech at the Summit onPhilanthropy V has been posted on one of our sister blogs, Media onPhilanthropy. You can check it out (and share it with your friends) here: http://flip.onphilanthropy.com/video/2008/04/dr-susan-raymon.html.