The ThinkTank Florida Nonprofit Month: Supporting Young Entrepreneurs!

In honor of The ThinkTank’s Florida Nonprofit Month, we’d like to highlight a very special nonprofit organization, NFTE (Network For Teaching Entrepreneurs). NFTE provides a highly experiential and academic program that inspires young people from low-income communities to plan for successful futures by pursuing educational opportunities and starting their own businesses.

Support young entrepreneurs from South Florida!

NFTE is hosting The Elevator Pitch Challenge 2010, and is giving 25 business-savvy teenagers a chance to pitch their business plans, and the winner will receive start-up capital to carry out their idea or to advance their business education.

The nominees have each created a 30-second elevator pitch video for their business idea, and NFTE needs your help to choose the best one! All of these students' business plans represent the best of the best from across the country, selected by local and regional panels to make it to the national finals. Take a moment to watch the videos and vote for your favorite - http://www.elevatorpitch2010.com/florida.

Online voting runs until October 3rd and the winner will be announced on October 5th at the OppenheimerFunds / NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge event in New York City.

So take a moment and support the young entrepreneurs from your region!

Watch the videos and vote today!
http://www.elevatorpitch2010.com/florida

The Pepsi Refresh Project: Successful For The Greater Good

By Katie Norwood

A recent article from Ad Age chronicles the evolution of the Pepsi Refresh Project, which has been so successful in the United States and Canada that Pepsi has expanded it into Europe, Latin America and Asia. Since the project’s unveiling, Pepsi has become a proverbial multi-million dollar fairy godmother by granting money to consumer-submitted causes that range from supporting energy efficiency to battling childhood obesity.

Beyond the project’s positive contributions to the greater good, the campaign is also a strategic move for Pepsi in terms of branding and marketing. The campaign has helped to brand Pepsi as a forward thinking, philanthropic company that is genuinely concerned about social issues. Pepsi has been very successful in establishing the campaign’s visibility and consumer participation due to the campaign’s extensive use of social media, including an official Facebook fan page, custom Facebook application, Twitter page and blog. Corporate social responsibility is necessary and expected of corporate giants today, and all of Pepsi’s major competitors also have philanthropic initiatives, but the question is – could you name a single one of those initiatives?

The tremendous success of the Pepsi Refresh Project is a testament to the unlimited opportunity and potential growth that social media can offer nonprofit organizations. The pairing of social media with nonprofit organizations is a match made in heaven; after all, at its core social media is about establishing personal connections – and reaching out to others is small, but significant, step toward making the world a better place.

Are you a nonprofit executive, board member, volunteer or employee? Is your organization using social media? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the Pepsi Refresh Project!

Nonprofits Use Mobile Donations

By Katie Norwood

Nonprofits Continue To Ramp Up Mobile Efforts For Charities And Mobile Donations” – MobileMarketingWatch.com

In the ten days after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti, people around the world rallied to provide aid in the form of food, clothing and monetary donations.
During that time, in the U.S. mobile “text-to-donate” campaigns raised $30 million, accounting for 14% of the total amount donated by Americans, a study found. A new article by Justin Montgomery of MobileMarketingWatch.com follows nonprofits’ continued use of mobile donation campaigns.

The benefit of using mobile marketing for fundraising is two-fold; nonprofits receive monetary donations while also collecting user data that can be used for future mobile outreach. As Montgomery points out, if recent reports are any indication, it seems the “trend” of nonprofit – mobile partnering is here to stay.

Read the full article here.

Are you a nonprofit executive, board member volunteer or employee? Does your organization use mobile donations, or has it considered doing so?

We would love to hear your thoughts and views on this topic.

The Nonprofit Paradox: From the Stanford Social Innovation Review

By Vanessa Horwell

In a brilliant article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review, nonprofit consultant and writer David La Piana examines what he calls “The Nonprofit Paradox,” a process whereby nonprofits tend to recreate within their own organizational cultures the problems they are trying to solve in society.

We first came across this nonprofit paradox phenomenon when working with an organization whose mission was to bring classical music to the masses. Only its board and management were so focused on promoting its executive director rather than its mission, that the nonprofit struggled deeply in defining its purpose, and messaging. Infighting and poor management plagued the nonprofit, making it very difficult for us (and other outside consultants) to make any impact or implement positive change. It was definitely a learning curve and eye-opener for us.

La Piana argues that the nonprofit paradox is so common that when he doesn’t find it, he is surprised. And because he knows of no research on this dynamic, he can only hypothesize where it comes from and suggest ways that nonprofits can deal with their own paradoxes

You can read the full article at Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Are you a nonprofit executive, board member volunteer or employee? Does your organization suffer from the nonprofit paradox?

We would love to hear your thoughts and views on this little talked about but very important topic.

Using "Nothing" to Raise Awareness and Help the Hungry

By Katie Norwood

Feeding The Hungry With Nothing - From MediaPost.com
Is it possible to make something from nothing? The Rhode Island Community Food Bank sure thinks so. The food bank debuted an innovative and ingenious advertising campaign to raise money for the hungry and to raise awareness of the problem of hunger.

As Amy Corr of MediaPost.com reports, the campaign features cans of “Nothing” which have been sold in area stores such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Whole Foods. The empty cans cost $2.99—of which $2.79 goes directly to benefit the food bank—and were designed with a slot for money to encourage people to collect donations for the food bank.

The concept is clever, original, and most importantly effective—the food bank has received a huge response so far, and it aims to raise $300,000 by the end of the year.

Are you a nonprofit executive, board member, volunteer or employee? What do you think about the “Nothing” campaign? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Read more about the campaign here.

Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the Nonprofit Sector: From PhilanTopic.com

Monday, August 10, 2010
By Katie Norwood

Nonprofit organizations often face a challenge when it comes to recruiting employees from ethnically or racially diverse backgrounds. A new article from PhilanTopic’s Regina Mahone asks, why? And more specifically, what can we do to fix the problem?

As Mahone notes, part of the issue may be where the jobs are being posted. A study done by the Bernard Hodes Group, which found that racially diverse people and white people approach the job hunt in different ways, and look for jobs in different places. But what other what are other factors make it difficult for nonprofits to recruit, hire, and retain people from diverse backgrounds? CommonGood Careers hopes to find answers with a new “Diversity and Inclusiveness” survey, the results of which will be released this fall.

Encouraging racial diversity in the nonprofit sector cannot be done overnight; however, with new information, nonprofits organizations have the resources to begin to overcome this challenge.

Are you a nonprofit executive, board member volunteer or employee? Does your organization suffer from a lack of diversity? What actions do you think nonprofits can take to attract people from diverse backgrounds in the employee recruitment process?

We would love to hear your thoughts and views on this topic.

Read the full article on PhilanTopic here.

5 Arguments on Why Mobile is Indispensable to Marketing Plans

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

By Vanessa Horwell

As the readers of this column will certainly agree, mobile marketing is no fad.

Rather, I believe that mobile marketing will – and must – become a central part of every successful marketing and visibility strategy, and I think it is well on its way to becoming just that.

However, the integration of mobile marketing into existing marketing strategies on a large scale will not happen spontaneously.
Instead, it will come about through a concerted effort to educate companies and other organizations about the benefits and unique qualities of mobile outreach.

This is not to say that the mobile marketing industry will somehow foist preferred tactics on unsuspecting businesses. The integration of mobile marketing will occur – and is occurring – naturally, organically.

Teach reach

Enterprises across the nation and the world are already realizing the tremendous reach and penetrating power of leveraging the mobile device for marketing purposes, and they are coming to this realization by discerning the trends and facts on the ground.

Hundreds of millions of Americans – nearly 90 percent of the country – use their mobile devices every day, and a solid majority of them express a desire to receive marketing messages of some sort through their mobile.
Redemption rates for mobile initiatives dwarf those of traditional marketing programs. Indeed, the cost per impression of a mobile campaign is often far lower than that of a mainstream media advertising campaign.

But you know this already.

The role we must play as marketers and mobile industry professionals is that of educators for the rest of the business community that has not yet fully embraced mobile marketing, or that portion which subscribes to the notion that mobile is somehow just a flash in the pan.

It is our job, in other words, to convince organizations that sitting on the sidelines of mobile is not an option, and that doing so carries an opportunity cost too high to sustain.

More constructively, it is also our job to continue touting the best practice and most effective strategies to get the most out of mobile communications.
Since standing on the street corner wearing a sandwich board is out, this proselytizing starts at the level of existing and potential clients.
In that vein, here are five effective arguments to present to clients on why mobile marketing ought to be an indispensible aspect of their marketing plans.

It is where your customers are

As I mentioned, mobile phone saturation is nearly complete in the developed world, and the use of mobile devices is on the rise just about everywhere.

This makes the mobile landscape the place of residence for most – not many, most – of the world’s consumers. Engaging in a mobile strategy opens up this vast market to any business that wants to participate in it.

By nature, it is targeted, relevant and actionable

Much as email and Internet marketing redefined direct marketing, the mobile space is further expanding businesses ability to engage customers in ways that they find appropriate and attractive.

Importantly, the mobile medium reaches purchase-ready consumers directly at the point of sale.

When we said this in the past, it used to mean that customers could have a marketing message on their device when they physically approached a retail outlet.

Now, with the maturity of mobile commerce and the flourishing of the mobile Internet, it means that customers can conduct the entire transaction cycle on their mobile device, from marketing to purchasing to consumption.

It is cost-effective

Mobile marketing features some of the lowest cost per touch and cost per impression of any marketing medium.

Without naming names, one retailer executed a mobile campaign with triple-digit ROI for less than 2 cents per impression.

Marketers that provide tactics with these kinds of returns for clients are also reaping financial rewards.

Agency holding company giant WPP, which owns JWT, Ogilvy and Y&R, posted 2 percent revenue gains in one of the softest marketing spend environments in years arguably on the strength of its mobile marketing performance.

It is brand-friendly

Since mobile marketing is still relatively new in the eyes of most consumers, it transmits a sense of innovation and forward-thinking for the brand that uses it.

Combine that with the ability of mobile marketing messages to be well-branded – a goal for every mobile marketing initiative – along with the high levels of brand interaction associated with mobile applications, and mobile marketing becomes a panacea for companies trying to define or strengthen their brand.

It is versatile

Speaking of applications, it is easy to forget that these ingenious, useful and ubiquitous marketing tools are barely four years old.

The Apple App Store, which has almost 250,000 applications for the iPhone and iPad, was not even open for business until 2008, a good year after the first iPhone was introduced.

Now, applications are the darlings of the marketing and advertising world, and an indispensible aspect of the smartphone experience.

This demonstrates that marketing opportunities on the mobile medium grow and change almost daily, and mobile continues to provide new and better ways to get a message out.

It is, in other words, one of the most versatile marketing mediums currently available.

MOBILE MARKETING IS not the next big thing, waiting for the next next big thing to come along and unseat it. It is the big thing, the game-changer.

In technological terms, mobile is the next evolution in communications, one that is redefining how, where and why people connect with one another.

It stands to reason, then, that it should have a similar effect on marketing and advertising.

Trends everywhere are pointing to this evolution, and businesses are on the path to widespread adoption. There will never be a year of mobile, or even a half-decade of mobile.

Mobile marketing will be a consistent reality for all businesses, everywhere. So it is time to let them know.

Vanessa Horwell is Chief Visibility Officer at ThinkInk. She works with companies in the U.S., UK and Europe to improve their visibility through strategic public relations and new media channels. Reach her at vanessa@thinkinkpr.com.

The PR Industry: An Economic Bellwether?

By Vanessa Horwell

Happy days are here again. Or are they?

On June 29, WPP, the global behemoth marketing and communications firm reported a significant uptick in earnings and growth. WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell reported that “in the first quarter, branding and identity, healthcare and specialist communications (including direct, digital and interactive) continues to show relatively stronger growth at over 2.0%, followed by consumer insight at slightly over 2.0% and public relations and public affairs at 2.0%.” Congrats, WPP — that is great news for stakeholders, but what about the rest of the agency world?

Roughly six months ago, as the new decade broke, agencies started the year in a cautiously optimistic mindset. And they had reason to; the recession was over (almost), consumers were shaking out the cobwebs from their wallets, the White House promised to put some sort of chokehold on Wall Street, and firms were hiring again. We saw green shoots.

Today, however, that somewhat rosy picture has failed to materialize for a lot of the PR industry and its clients. It was like a mirage in the Gobi Desert. An illusion.

As PR agencies find themselves at the crossroads of sticking to old-school tactics versus the social-media-as-an-everything Goliath, reinventing their model — and really, trying to stay relevant to their clients, another major hurdle is facing them — companies say can no longer afford PR. Seriously.

Last year, as agencies battened down the hatches and prepared for the worst by shrinking fees (and costs), many assumed that when business improved, clients would go back to full billings and bigger retainers. In other words, a return to the glory days …

Those, too, have failed to materialize for many of the smaller and mid-sized agencies I’ve spoken with during the past week. In fact, the exact opposite seems to be happening. Their clients have been slashing, or worse, eliminating PR budgets much more aggressively than, say, at the end of 2008 and throughout 2009. To me, this seems so at odds with the general thinking that the worst has already happened (at least in the U.S.) and that as the economy improves, so will our businesses.

So perhaps business hasn’t really improved. And if that is the case, my question is this: If marketing and PR agencies have never been regarded as a litmus test for economic stability, should they start to be now?

What I have found — and this has been echoed by the dozen or so agency owners I have spoken with recently — is that for the companies trying to shore up their balance sheets and rebuild cash flow, PR is a totally expendable expense, not a business development tool, and an indicator of a still weak economic climate.

PR Agencies Are to Blame

This perception, of course, is a tragedy — and worse, of our own doing (hello, PR agencies, I am talking to you). Any service that we provide to a client must deliver value and result, regardless of the cost. And the result that companies are looking for is increasingly boiling down to one thing — a tangible return. This is how WPP’s Sorrell describes it:

“You do not retain valued clients by trying to retain them; you retain them by doing outstanding work. You do not make more money by trying to make more money; you make more money by doing outstanding work. You do not win creative awards by trying to win creative awards; you win them by doing outstanding work.”

I could not agree more. For PR agencies, generic talk about “creating awareness, brand-building and engagement is not enough. If we — and I am talking to PR practitioners here — don’t listen to the marketplace and adapt our actions to its needs, the slippery slope that many agencies already find themselves on is going to get a whole lot scarier.

Please don’t misunderstand the tone of this column. I am not a pessimist. I am, however, a realist, and the reality for PR agencies today is this: change or die.

It is as simple as that.

We need to make ourselves truly indispensable to our clients. We need to de-commoditize our offering. We need to understand what businesses need, not what PR can do. And we need to go above and beyond to deliver every single time. There is no room left for the status quo any more.

Are you an agency owner or do you work at a PR agency? I would love to hear your view about the current agency environment and “client climate.” Have you seen an increase in billings and revenues like WPP? Have you been asked to work on very small retainers, or has your agency done away with retainer billing altogether? And finally, do you see the current climate improving for your agency or getting worse? What will your agency be doing differently to stay in business?

Celebrating Barbara Zohlman Day, Every Day

Last week saw the start of a new era for the South Florida youth prevention organization, DFYIT.

After 10 years at the helm of DFYIT as Executive Director, Barbara Zohlman retired and the organization welcomed new exec. director Micah Robbins. Welcome Micah!

Barbara's mark on the organization and legacy within South Florida can be seen in the current generation of responsible young adults that are part of the DFYIT program -- more than 10,000 of them -- who have committed to live a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.

In fact, more than 200,000 youth, their peers, family and local communities have been positively impacted by the many programs implemented by Barbara and DFYIT within the region's schools since the organization's inception in 1993.

The ThinkTank salutes Barbara for her dedication, passion and vision of nurturing generations of drug free youth in our town.

Disclosure: I have been involved with promoting DFYIT since 2005, and The ThinkTank works on various projects, pro-bono and otherwise, to help support DFYIT's mission of encouraging youth to live healthy and productive lives by being drug and alcohol free. It is a mission and cause we strongly believe in!

To find out more about how you can become involved, please visit http://www.dfyit.org/.

And as our final tribute, here is a copy of the press release we issued to commemorate Barbara's service to Miami Dade county and its citizens.

Miami-Dade County Honors DFYIT Executive Director for 45 Years of Service to Youth
June 17th named “Barbara Zohlman Day” in Recognition of Contributions to Local Community

MIAMI, FL – June 29, 2010 – At its annual board meeting last week, local youth drug prevention program DFYIT (Drug Free Youth in Town) celebrated its leadership as it welcomed two distinguished community members to its Board of Directors for the 2010-2011 school year and recognized the lifelong achievements of its outgoing Executive Director, Barbara Zohlman.

In honor of her contributions to youth in Miami-Dade County and with her retirement drawing near, representatives from the office of Mayor Carlos Alvarez presented Ms. Zohlman with a proclamation from the County, declaring June 17th “Barbara Zohlman Day.” The honor commemorates 45 years of service to the children of Dade County; Ms. Zohlman was the founder, Executive Director and creative visionary of the Miami Children’s Museum; served as Executive Director of DFYIT for the past 10 years; and worked for twelve years as a Miami-Dade County teacher, where she taught art to children with learning disabilities.

Along with recognizing Ms. Zohlman’s lifelong contributions to the youth of Miami-Dade County, the board meeting was also an opportunity to welcome new board members Mayor Scott J. Brook and DFYIT alumnus Jasmine Jas. Sworn in by the Honorable Steven Liefman, the new board members were chosen for their unwavering commitment to serving the South Florida community and their dedication to keeping South Florida’s youth drug and alcohol free. Their advocacy efforts on behalf of the organization will play a vital role in the advance of DFYIT’s mission.

To date, DFYIT has more than 70 clubs in Miami-Dade and Broward County public schools, where it teaches youth about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and encourages pro-social involvement in their peer groups and within the greater community. Part of DFYIT’s success and expansion can be attributed to the development of community activities that can provide leadership skills to participating children and teens - an enterprise that seems well reflected in the accomplishments of Mayor Brook and Ms. Jas.

“Through her dedication and vision, Ms. Zohlman has built a strong foundation upon which to grow this important organization. We’re very excited about DFYIT’s new direction and the talents that these new board members will bring to realizing our goal of making South Florida youth drug- and alcohol-free,” said Micah Robbins, the new incoming Executive Director of DFYIT.

DFYIT’s 2010/2011 board instillation includes:

Leslie Share – President
Ralph Gazitua- Past President
Bruce Hayden -Vice President
Sarah Fernandez-Vice President
William Roppolo- Vice President
Perry Thompson - Vice President
Elizabeth Marquardt- Treasurer
Miriam Soto- Secretary
DFYIT Founder - Marlene Josefsberg
Gerald Greenberg
Jill Shockett
Felipe Blanco
Edson Briggs
Anthony Morin
Evan Goldman
Ramon Rasco
Dr. Larry Feldman
Scott Mallet
Mayor Scott Brook
Jasmine Jas

For more information about DFYIT, please visit http://www.dfyit.org/ and www.sobesober.org, or contact Vanessa Horwell at 305.749.5342 x 232 or vanessa@thinktankpr.org.

# # #
About DFYIT
DFYIT (Drug Free Youth In Town) is a nationally recognized, community-based substance abuse prevention organization that focuses on and gives recognition to students who choose to live a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. With more than 70 DFYIT clubs in Miami-Dade County middle and senior high schools, DFYIT provides adolescents with social competency training, drug awareness counseling, conflict resolution skills, positive adult relationships, and pro-social involvement in their school and community. For more information on DFYIT, please visit their website at http://www.dfyit.org/.

On the Efficacy of Advocacy

The John Hopkins Listening Post Project recently issued a report on how organizations can increase the efficacy of their advocacy efforts in a time- and money-challenged era.

The full report can be found here, but here are some of the big takeaways:

• Understand your limitations. The report found that although nonprofits do engage in efforts to influence public policy, their impact tends to be diminished by lack of resources (no surprise there). Budget constraints, limited staff time to devote to the cause, and lack of expertise are the most common concerns.

• Tell your story. Nonprofits should be directly involved in advocacy efforts by leveraging real-world stories and experiences in the lobbying process.

• Reach out. Intermediary organizations should be utilized to engage members in mission-based advocacy and secure long-term funding streams.

• Educate, educate, educate. Foundations and their boards need to understand how advocacy can help achieve the organization’s mission; policy communities need to be educated about the impact of existing lobbying laws on nonprofit advocacy.

Have a question about your organization’s advocacy efforts? Leave us a comment – we’ll be happy to help.

Can entrepreneurship be taught?

Can entrepreneurship be taught?

That’s the question posed in a recent You’re the Boss blog entry from the New York Times. The blog post mentions one organization in particular, Bizdom U, which operates on the mantra that not only can entrepreneurship be taught; it should be taught. And not just within the walls of the university – but in our public school systems and in our communities, so that we can nurture and mentor the next generation of innovators.

NFTE (The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) is a similar organization dedicated to providing entrepreneurship education and opportunities to our nation’s youth. Founded on the belief that entrepreneurship education can transform lives, NFTE focuses specifically on bringing its programming to students from low-income communities.

The proof is in the pudding – on average, NFTE youth score higher on math and reading comprehension tests, are more engaged in their schools and communities, and are more likely to pursue higher education.

Youth entrepreneurship education programs like Bizdom U and NFTE are proving that entrepreneurship education can indeed be taught – and that the benefits to the individual and to society are well worth the investment.

Interested in learning more about the programs mentioned above? Want to get your business or organization involved? Leave us a message!

What is Social Entrepreneurship, Anyway?

Wikipedia defines a social entrepreneur as someone who “recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change.”

The PBS New Heroes series, which highlights the stories of twelve social entrepreneurs from various parts of the globe, also makes an important distinction regarding social entrepreneurship: unlike traditional business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs “primarily seek to generate ‘social value’ rather than profits.” And, unlike many non-profit organizations, their work is targeted “not only towards immediate, small-scale effects, but sweeping, long-term change.”

A recent article from the ever-pioneering Stanford Social Innovation Review also offers an interesting introduction to social entrepreneurship. Along with highlighting real world examples of ‘social businesses,’ the article also offers up substantive food for thought regarding the role business ought to play in addressing societal issues and the distinction between social entrepreneurship, nonprofit management, and philanthropy.

Innovating for the Common Good

Some examples of social entrepreneurship ventures include:

• KickStart International – Revitalizes impoverished communities by promoting sustainable economic growth and employment creation.

• Barefoot College - Provides basic services and solutions to problems in rural communities, in the areas of solar energy, water, education, health care, rural handicrafts, people’s action, communication, women’s empowerment and wasteland development.

• Grameen Foundation - Uses microfinance and innovative technology to fight global poverty and bring opportunities to the world's poorest people.

Interested in learning more about social entrepreneurship, or perhaps starting up your own social venture? Here are a few resources to get you started:

• Ashoka.org – A global organization that identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs, engages communities of entrepreneur and creates the infrastructure needed to develop social partnerships with lasting social and financial value.

• Social Edge - A program of the Skoll Foundation, this global online community helps social entrepreneurs connect to network, learn, inspire, and share resources.

• Social Venture Network – Ideas, resources, conferences and events geared toward nurturing social entrepreneurship around the world.
  

And please feel free to contact us at The ThinkTank if you have any social entrepreneurship ideas or challenges you would like to discuss.

Accountability and Impact: How Does Your Nonprofit Measure Up?

As donor dollars become more competitive and funding opportunities fewer and farther between, nonprofit organizations face increased pressure to demonstrate accountability and impact to their shareholders.

But how should an organization go about demonstrating accountability? And how do you measure impact when your modus operandus involves a more complex theory of change?

In a recent article from the Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge series, Dr. Alnoor Ebrahim discusses the two conversations that every nonprofit organization should be aware of when mapping out strategies for demonstrating success.

In the end, argues Ebrahim, what matters most is developing a set of metrics that reflect and support your mission, goals and objectives, rather than trying to conform to some universal, one-size-fits-all-NPOs standard for measuring social impact.

So, how does your organization measure up?

Hands on Miami Volunteer Open House

Here at The ThinkTank, there's a special place in our hearts for Hands on Miami.

The only organization of its kind in Miami, Hands on Miami recruits and organizes volunteers and matches them with important projects that provide companionship to the elderly, build low-income housing, restore the natural environment, tutor at-risk children, read to children in shelters, and even care for homeless pets.

If you live in Miami and are looking for ways to give back to the community, this organization is a great place to start. Just in time for summer, Hands on Miami is holding a Volunteer Appreciation/Open House Event on Saturday, June 12 at their brand-spankin' new office in the Wynwood Design District.

If you're interested in attending, you can find out more by clicking here.

Raising Funds, Raising the Bar

One of the perks of being a Leadership Miami alumna is that I get to stay connected with some incredibly inspirational folks here in Miami-Dade county-– people who have devoted their entire lives to enriching their communities.

Sandy Moise certainly fits that bill, with an exhaustive record of service within the Miami-Dade public school system and numerous organizations serving Miami-Dade’s women, children and families.

So of course I was not surprised in the least when I discovered, to my delight, that Sandy had decided to run for Miami-Dade County School Board (D-2). Whether it’s leading a classroom, engaging a group of community volunteers, or spearheading efforts to address the many challenges facing our resource-starved school system, I feel a great surge of hope knowing that someone with such compassion, wisdom, and experience is up for the challenge.

With all the recent tumult the Miami-Dade school system has weathered – budget cuts, sweeping layoffs, punitive senate bills out of Tallahassee that shirk systematic reform– it’s vital that we use our power of the vote (and, yes, our power of the purse) to put people in office who know the issues and are committed to seeing real reform through.

For those of you who live in Miami, there will be a fundraising event for Sandy this Thursday, June 10 from 6-8pm at the law offices of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton. And, if you cannot make the reception and you would like to support Sandy in any fashion, you can always visit her web site at www.sandymoise.com.

Stories from the Third Sector

Stanford Social Innovation Review's newest blog, Third Sector Grit, highlights the important but largely untold stories of nonprofit workers. As TSG blogger John Brothers explains,

Third Sector Grit is most times not the stories of the sector’s executive leaders; more often it refers to those community champions in each nonprofit who do not have the larger titles but who are individuals that the organization could not move forward without. I would venture to say that the definition of Third Sector Grit are the individuals and stories in each nonprofit that showcase its most valuable asset, the ‘firmness of spirit and unyielding courage in the face of the hardship’ toward fulfilling its mission.

From working closely with nonprofits for the better part of the past decade, we at The ThinkTank know how vital these "on-the-ground" staffers are to the organizations and the communities they serve. That's why we think this new blog series is so special.

Have a Story to Tell?
If you work in the nonprofit sphere, chances are you know of someone whose story deserves to be told. Brothers invites story suggestions and nominations on his blog site.

To read the first profile in the series or contact Brothers with a story suggestion, please click here.

NFTE South Florida Invites You to the 2010 Regional Youth Business Plan Competition

The New York Times' Thomas Friedman is talking about it. The Huffington Post is talking about it. Millions of students across the country are experiencing it.

What is it? The transformational power of entrepreneurship education. If you live in the Miami area, you can witness it for yourself tomorrow evening at the 2010 Regional Youth Business Plan Competition at Miami-Dade College.

This is an event you don't want to miss. Click here to learn more.

Mock DUI Gives Students a Sobering Wake-Up Call

Prom night, graduation parties, drinking and driving. The combination is a lethal one. So deadly, in fact, that more than 700 young adults die each prom season from alcohol-related injuries.

Fortunately, one South Florida youth organization called DFYIT (Drug Free Youth in Town) is on a mission to change that.

On April 29th, 2010, DFYIT joined forces with the City of Miami Fire and Police Departments and 50 student actors and volunteers to recreate a scene of blood, booze and body bags at Miami Beach Senior High School.

The group used ambulances, fire trucks, and motor vehicles supplied by the City of Miami Beach to produce a frighteningly realistic simulation called “Cheat the Reaper; Live to See Your Future,” which plays out the deadly scenario resulting from a teen’s careless and tragic decision to get behind the wheel after drinking during the prom.


THE SCENE
Two students argue over who will drive home from the prom, as the male student is already intoxicated. Although the female is sober, her boyfriend refuses to let her drive the car. A horrible crash ensues. As bodies lie scattered and still, the boyfriend quickly realizes that his girlfriend his dead. Fire rescue arrives and begins to cut through the roof of one of the cars, removing the injured victims. The victims are rushed to ambulances and the young woman’s body is covered in a white cloth. Police arrive on the scene to take the young man away in handcuffs.

SHOCK FACTOR
For the students of Miami Beach Senior High, the final scene of this reenactment may have been the most hard-hitting. A hearse and coffin were displayed in an emotional funeral scene, where fellow students gave a eulogy in honor of their deceased friend.

The dramatic event represents a joint effort among the city, school and community organizations to communicate the extreme dangers of drinking and driving to South Florida’s students.

DFYIT and local authorities hope the event will instill greater awareness and encourage students and young adults not to drink and drive during prom night, graduation celebrations, or any other time of year.

Since DFYIT’s inception at Miami Beach Senior High in 1998, there have been zero instances of DUI-related car crashes or arrests among the students from the school during prom weekend, proving that educating students about the dangers and consequences of drinking and driving does, in fact, save lives.

Youth Business Plan Competition Breeds Bright Ideas and Innovators

As far South Florida’s next generation of go-getters are concerned, the era of the Innovation Nation is upon us – and it started right here at home.

Yesterday, young entrepreneurs from 21 area schools put their clever business ideas on display at the NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) South Florida Youth Business Plan Competition semi-finals.

Armed with creative ideas and the business skills they’ve learned through the NFTE curriculum taught at their schools, these ambitious students are ushering in a new period of economic growth and innovative thinking throughout South Florida and the nation.

The NFTE South Florida Business Plan Competition semi-finals featured a batch of fresh and diverse business ideas that range from niche photography services to delectable frozen treats.

Move over, Silicon Valley!
Some of the students have even gone so far as to invent their own products. One tech-savvy Broward teen has invented a retractable headphone cord designed specifically for iPhone and iPad users. Not only does the product remove the hassle of tangled, messy cords; it also comes with a handy belt clip for Apple users on the go.

Other students combined their passion for their favorite hobby with the business savvy they learned through their NFTE entrepreneurship class at school. One student’s idea, a photo graphy business for luxury cars, has already generated a steady flow of business from eBay sellers looking to put their vehicle’s best face forward in online auctions.

The consumer’s sweet spot was also a target at this year’s competition: a student from Miami Central High School concocted a delicious idea for a frozen yogurt business specializing in a line of tropical flavors.

The top six business plans from the semi-finals will be on display at the NFTE South Florida Regional Business Plan Competition on May 12, an annual event that gives young entrepreneurs from low-income communities the opportunity to perfect and pitch a business plan and receive valuable feedback from top business leaders.

The stakes and the excitement are high – join students from Broward and Miami-Dade schools as they rise to the challenge of presenting complex business concepts and demonstrate that they have the gumption –and the goods – to take control of their destinies and embark on their own unique pathways to entrepreneurial success. To learn more about the NFTE South Florida Regional Business Plan Competition on May 12th, 2010, please contact Erin Schmidt at eschmidt@thinkinkpr.com.