Bricks and Mortar
A Clearinghouse on Faith, Development and NonprofitsSpecial Report – International education – M.B.A.’s Guide to Socially Concerned Entrepreneurs – NYTimes.com
November 2, 2009 at 7:04 pm · Filed under Community Economic Development, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Crisis, Globalization, Higher education, Jobs, Microfinance, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofits, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Justice
Here is an interesting article for future MBAs who are looking to use their business skills for the greater good. It comes to us from The New York Times:
PND – RFPs Echoing Green Opens Application Period for Social Entrepreneur Fellowships
November 2, 2009 at 1:29 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Social Impact Exchange
October 30, 2009 at 7:11 am · Filed under Community Economic Development, International Development, Microfinance, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofits, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Justice, Social Work
Just came across this new resource: Social Impact Exchange. A resource to enable professionals to scale up cross-sector partnerships and innovation. Here is their purpose:
he Social Impact Exchange’s purpose is to:
- Share and develop knowledge that leads to successful execution of local, national and international scaling efforts
- Facilitate increased financing of scaling initiatives through collaborative funding opportunities and venues
- Develop infrastructure that helps build the field of scaling social impact
Part of the intent of the Social Impact Exchange is to establish a learning community of knowledgeable expansion funders, advisors, intermediaries, practitioners and other social sector leaders.
You can find out more at their website here.
2010 Community Reinvestment Awards
October 29, 2009 at 7:00 pm · Filed under Affordable Housing, Community Development, Community Economic Development, Community Organizing, Disaster Relief, Economic Crisis, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofits, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Justice
The 2010 Community Reinvestment Awards
Improving Access to Financial Services and Education: Building a Foundation for Inclusive Economic Recovery
The organizing committee of the 2010 National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference invites nominations for the 2010 Community Reinvestment Awards. The Community Reinvestment Awards recognize and honor the work of financial institutions that are advancing innovative solutions to the challenges facing lower-income communities.
The year’s awards will focus on innovations in financial products and financial education. The recent subprime crisis, as well as the continued proliferation of alternative financial products such as check cashing and payday lending, suggests that more needs to be done to expand access to responsible financial products and effective financial education. Ensuring that people are equipped with the skills, knowledge and appropriate products to make informed decisions that contribute to their financial well-being is a key component of an inclusive economic recovery.
Financial institutions are invited to submit nominations that detail their innovation—be it a product, financial education program, or a service—for the award. Nonprofits, community development finance institutions, local government agencies and community development corporations may also submit entries for nomination on behalf of their partnering financial insitution(s) or collaborative.A panel of nine judges will evaluate and vote on the submissions. Three awards will be given: 1) Innovation in Financial Education Delivery, 2) Collaborative Approaches to Expanding Access to Financial Services, 3) Product Innovation.
Nominations will be judged on three criteria:
- Innovation: How is the initiative new or different? How does it meet the needs of lower-income and underserved consumers?
- Effective use of partnerships: How does the initiative collaborate across a group of stakeholders?
- Impact: What has been the impact of this initiative on lower-income families and/or communities?
To submit a nomination, please send an email with a description of the project (750 words or less) answering the questions above to cra.awards@sf.frb.org by January 11, 2010. Please also provide your detailed contact information on the submission.
Recipients of the award will be recognized at a special awards luncheon at the 2010 National Community Reinvestment Conference, to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 14-17, 2010. Winning financial institutions will receive three (3) free conference registrations which they can use for their staff or to sponsor representatives from partnering nonprofits.
For questions about the awards or the nomination process, please email cra.awards@sf.frb.org.
For more information about the conference, visit http://www.frbsf.org/community/conference2010.html.
Becoming a Federal Grant reviewer
October 29, 2009 at 12:29 pm · Filed under Affordable Housing, Community Development, Community Economic Development, Community Organizing, Economic Crisis, Favorite Blogs, Higher education, Holistic Missions, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofits, Social Justice, Social Work
There are opportunities for qualified experts to become federal grants – they even come with a small stipend. I learned about this possibility from a nonprofit blogger, named Don Griesmann. Check out information about this process from his blog here.
Council on Foundations E-Journal: Thoughts Actions and Ideas
October 29, 2009 at 12:18 pm · Filed under Community Development, Community Economic Development, Community Organizing, Disaster Relief, Economic Crisis, Favorite Personal Links, Fundraising, Higher education, Holistic Missions, International Development, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Justice
One of the blogs I read recently discussed an article concerning board diversity in a Council on Foundations e-journal. The e-journal titled Thoughts, Actions and Ideas possesses a variety of expert opinions and analysis about philanthropic ideas and perspectives. Check it out here.
IDS page on Netvibes
October 20, 2009 at 11:16 am · Filed under Community Development, Community Economic Development, Disaster Relief, Economic Crisis, Favorite Personal Links, Globalization, Holistic Missions, International Development, Microfinance, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofits, PhD, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Justice, Social Work
A quick post – The Institute of Development Studies has a new Netvibes page on a variety of development news, feeds and blogs – you can find it here.
Big Questions for Development
October 8, 2009 at 7:17 pm · Filed under Community Development, Community Economic Development, Disaster Relief, Favorite Podcasts, Globalization, Holistic Missions, International Development, Microfinance, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofits, PhD, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Justice, Social Work
I’m a huge fan of the work done by the Institute for Development Studies in the UK. The service, research and leadership they give to the development community is well known. IDS has a new podcast (since July) in which they converse with a leader in the development community. While the podcast is not produced on a weekly basis, I would suggest adding it to your RSS aggregator or IPod.
You can find the podcast here: http://www.ids.ac.uk/go/bigquestion
Top schools for Urban planning students
September 29, 2009 at 8:08 pm · Filed under Affordable Housing, Community Development, Community Economic Development, Higher education, Nonprofits
If you are thinking about getting your masters’ degree in planning, I recently came across this website that might help you in your search for a quality program. Remember – a school’s ranking is just but one indicator…
UK report on charitable giving in 2008-9
September 24, 2009 at 2:01 pm · Filed under Economic Crisis, Fundraising, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofits, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Justice
UK Giving 2009: an overview of charitable giving in the UK, 2008/09 launches 23rd September. It is the latest report in the UK Giving series produced jointly by CAF and NCVO.
This annual publication provides an overview of the latest estimates and trends in individual charitable giving in the UK:
- 54% of adults donate in an average month, down from 56% in 2007/08
- the median monthly donation is £10 per month, down from £11 in 2007/08
- cash is still the most popular method for giving
- individuals donated £9.9 billion to charity, down 11% from 2007/08
To download the report for free or to find out more visit www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/research/giving or www.cafonline.org/ukgiving.


