Remembering Memorial Day
Remember the Fallen
First and foremost, let us take a moment to remember those who have served in the country’s armed services. Whatever your politics, whatever your position on US foreign policy, whatever your position on the contentious issues of Afghanistan and Iraq, surely you will agree that our service men and women sacrifice a lot – if not their lives – so that most of us can kick back, have a day off, and openly complain about or praise our politics, foreign policy, and interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
As for the day itself: The first Memorial Day was on May 30th, 1868, though it was called “Decoration Day.” The holiday was declared by Civil War General John Logan. General Logan wanted the day to help mend the relationship between the North and the South after the Civil War. He stated that he chose May 30th for two reasons: First, it was a day that no Civil-War battles took place. Second, he was confident that flowers would be in bloom all over the United States by the end of May.
Have a happy and safe Memorial Day.
Popularity: 1% | Category Communications, Community, News and Current Affairs, Opinion, Tweets | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#Interview: Linda Cronin-Gross, President of LCG Communications, Blogger, PR Pro
Linda Cronin-Gross, President of LCG Communications
We have been reaching out to some of the influential people in the nonprofit/mission-based/greening/housing (etc.!) communities to hear about the work their organizations are involved with and how these individuals got involved in that work. Their insights and experiences can inspire us all as we continue our work in our chosen areas.
The series of interviews continues with Linda Cronin-Gross, founder and president of LCG Communications (Brooklyn, NY). She has been in the worlds of politics and public relations since the late 1970s, and she founded LCG Communications ten years ago in an effort to educate nonprofits on the benefits of strategic communications for progressive, issues-driven organizations and campaigns as well as for small businesses. She is a member of the National Writers Union as well. Linda Gross’s success has not been linear or without challenges (like walking a straight line through the lobby of the Rockefeller Center with a teary-eyed political candidate). Yet her perseverance and good humor have been critical to the success she and her firm have enjoyed over the last decade. So how did she grow from music teacher to adviser and communications specialist to greening groups and progressive organizations throughout New York?
Popularity: 4% | Category Community, Greening, Interview, Nonprofit, Politics | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
Neighborworks America Starts Summer Holidays With Educating Struggling Homeowners
Who doesn't need the cash nowadays?
We have all seen them. Many of the advertisements are made in Microsoft word, printed on a $99 color printer, and tacked onto telephone poles throughout struggling neighborhoods. Many of us know them as the scams – at least ‘too-good-to-be-true’ – deals that they are. But our confidence is likely bolstered by our relatively stable economic status. But for tens of thousands of Americans whose economic status has been undermined by corporate malfeasance and the bailouts requested by many of those same corporations, the temptation might be too great if it means cash to pay a medical bill that had been covered by the work-place insurance lost with the job a few months back. And even if the victim is savvy enough to steer clear of papers stapled to poles, home-loan and buy-for-cash scammers have tapped into a myriad of legitimate media to cull for the desperate.
In their ongoing effort to educate homeowners, “NeighborWorks America” (the umbrella organization of Neighborworks offices in all fifty states) is focusing on this particular black market, and we want to help spread the word.
Popularity: 1% | Category Community | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner
Kicking A (Housing) Market While It’s Down
We are not a glum group at MKCREATIVE by any means. We just believe ‘forewarned is forearmed.’ Yesterday we discussed the local (read: Baltimore-Washington region) housing market, which did not enjoy a notable bubble and (thus?) has not suffered a violent bust. Nevertheless, the region is seeing a striking deflation in home values as foreclosures bite into more and more families. Anecdotal and personal evidence has seen not a few houses go from lived-in to empty to for sale in a few months, victims of foreclosure. In this region’s case, the problems stem not so much from over leveraged home loans made to people told/believing the market would never again shrink but from the fact that the Recession and unemployment (or worse, the terrible and larger problem of underemployment) continue to erode people’s savings and thus their abilities to keep up with their mortgages. Two years into The Great Recession has left many at the end of their abilities to pay, so their homes join the growing list of foreclosures (as reported yesterday, 35% of the homes for sale through April are foreclosed, compared to 22% from last year in Baltimore alone). A short-sold home gives no relief to the home owner from creditors, of course, as creditors get to buy back the house on the cheap and hold it until the market improves so they can sell it again.
Ah, but when will that happen?
Popularity: 1% | Category Affordable Housing, Community, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Opinion, Politics, Sustainability | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner
‘Resilient Baltimore’ Probably Needs Resilient Housing Market
Up in Baltimore City from 22% to 35%
Economists, reporters, politicians, and bloggers have all proclaimed and/or wondered if The Great Recession is over. Our blog has followed some of these statistics and claims at the national level, but today we want to look specifically at the situation in Baltimore and its housing market.
Many (weak) signs suggest bottoms have been found in a number of markets, and perhaps its human nature for us to seek out and accept the good news. As we have previously reported, the mid-Atlantic did not enjoy a stunning housing bubble, and thus did not endure a painful popping of that bubble. According to CNN Money, “In the Maryland and Virginia suburbs around Washington, the restrictions on building are among the most onerous in the entire nation. As a result, only a trickle of new housing is coming on the market, despite the good economy and strong job growth in the Washington area.” So-far-so-good…
Popularity: 1% | Category Affordable Housing, Community, Local/Maryland, Politics, Sustainability | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner
Panera Restaurants Want to Give Back; Follows The Music Industry (But Where?)
Pay What You Can, In Some Places
Bruce Horovitz of USA Today Newspaper has reported on the conversion of a Panera/St. Louis Bread Company Café (the original name of the store that became the Panera franchise) to a pay-what-you-can enterprise:
A sign at the entrance says: “Take what you need, leave your fair share.” Customers who can’t pay are asked to donate their time. The cafe opened Sunday and will operate seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
While the store does have cashiers, they don’t collect money. They simply hand each customer a receipt that says what their food would cost at a conventional Panera. The receipt directs customers with cash to donation boxes (there are five in the store). Cashiers do accept credit cards.
The founder of the Panera chain, Ron Shaich (who just stepped down as the company’s CEO) hopes to create a non-profit ‘Panera Foundation’ with such cafés in each of its markets across the country. From Mr. Horovitz’s interview: “It’s a fascinating psychological question,” says Shaich, who says he’s dreamed of doing something like this for years. “There’s no pressure on anyone to leave anything. But if no one left anything, we wouldn’t be open long.” So Shaich is trying his hometown first, then taking what he learns throughout the franchise. Though some are betting against the plan.
Popularity: 2% | Category Community, Marketing, News and Current Affairs, Sustainability | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner
You Tube Is Five Years Old And Reaching To Nonprofits
Numerous media outlets, including the subject of this posting, celebrated the Fifth Birthday of the YouTube website. The first 17-second video shot by Yakov Lapitsky at the San Diego Zoo has become an on-line phenomenon again. In the online world, though, history repeats itself first as miracle, then as retro-quaint. YouTube’s meteoric rise has been challenged by such subgenre sites as Vimeo and Hulu, but that rise continues: YouTube boasts some 2 billion separate views per day. Nowadays, the site hosts everything from snippets of movies and concert videos (excerpts that often circulate in-and-out of view, and in-and-out of the grew legal status of online copyright infringement), to corporate commercials, to the repository of news and commentary disputing those commercials.
The Last Shall Be First
YouTube, now owned by Google, might be one of the more perfect repositories of anarchic democracy on the web. So where is the video site hoping to go over the next five years? In a twist of irony, the leadership at YouTube/Google would like to expand the lengths of its offerings, allowing more serious and extended presentations.
Popularity: 1% | Category Marketing, Nonprofit, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner
Roundup Of And Registration For Upcoming East-Coast Nonprofit Workshops
For today’s posting, we wanted to inform our readers about a few workshops, seminars, and opportunities that are coming up over the next few weeks in New York and Washington DC. As our regular readers know, we occasionally pool some of the registration information, links, and tweets for such events both to help spread the word and to encourage our constituents to participate.
The first two are in NYC and are being sponsored by the Foundation Center, from whose materials the MKCREATIVE blog has often culled. A Proposal Writing Seminar will be held there on Wednesday 2 June from 8:30am. Topics include:
• Cover letter, executive summary; your message to the grantmaker
• Statement of need; choosing data to support your case
• Comprehensive project descriptions; your proof of project planning
• Organizational overview, conclusion, appendices
• Researching the funder to position your proposal
• The grantmaker’s proposal review process
Information and registration can be done online here.
Popularity: 1% | Category Community, Conference/Congress, Grants and Funding, Sustainability | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner
NeighborWorks Video Outlines
Home-Inspection Process
The housing market continues to prove to be a tough bubble to burst, though the Recession is technically over. Nevertheless, many are stepping into the housing market and the good folks at NeighborWorks have posted the video you see above on their blog and at YouTube. Home inspection is not necessarily a make-or-break moment in the decision process. One might freely choose to purchase a house with a notably low rating, for example. But the point of inspection is to help ensure all parties are aware of hidden – and not-so-hidden – damage or obsolescence in a house. The video shows you some of the concerns a professional home inspector will be looking for when she or his is brought to the property.
The inspectors within the video stress the need for a systematic look from the outside in and from the basement to attic. Some of the stuff is obvious (damaged concrete steps? torn siding? moldy baseboards in bathroom? …), but the tougher question might be the timing of what is found. For example, is the damaged stucco on the back porch from thirty years of family life or from a series of repairs that suggest an untreated deeper problem?
Another point that requires due diligence is the utility infrastructure of the house. Our computers and coffee machines and space heaters have changed faster than the utility boxes in our homes. When reviewing a house for purchase, be sure its fuse box, heating and air-conditioning units, water heater, etc., are new enough to handle the expected work load. If they are within a reasonable time frame, can the owner (or, nowadays, the bank’s realtor) provide maintenance histories? Be sure you are keeping one as well!
Purchasing a home is fraught with familial and budgetary stresses, but the rewards can be great. Inspections are meant to mitigate stress and to flush out unforeseen costs or hazards. If you are in the market, watch the video, bookmark the Neighborworks website, and arm yourself with as much information as you can.
Popularity: 1% | Category Affordable Housing, Nonprofit | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#Tech: iPad Indeed Inspires Nonprofit Community
Just before Apple‘s iPad first launched in early April, the MKCREATIVE blog presented a two-part discussion of how the device specifically and the advent of a truly functioning tablet market/community generally should be taken seriously by the nonprofit community. The iPad’s convenience as a communications tool, we argued, meant that nonprofits and mission-based companies could, and should, take steps to ramp up their social-media presence in an effort to reach out to early adapters. And the simplicity and robustness of Apple design (both hardware and software), we believed, guaranteed that early adapters would be able to convince even those not quite sure they were ready to make the jump to a touch-screen/in-the-purse-or-bookbag experience. Well, just 28 days and, oh, one million iPads later, folks across the aforementioned community are making use of the opportunities the technology presents.
Popularity: 4% | Category Apple, iDevice, Nonprofit, Software Review | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner
RSS
Newsletter
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
YouTube
Vimeo
