EduCan

News and Information Related to Technology and Educational Nonprofit Organizations

[aledunha3-blog]

Why NGOs in Pakistan are at the brink of extinction

The default perception among government functionaries is that NGOs are some ‘non-combatant foreign enemies’

Ali Dunham Week 13 Group B - Posted 11/16/18

This article made me think back to Salamon’s types of interactions between NGO’s and government. Particularly, the relationship of NGOs and the Pakistani government sounds very similar to Salamon’s explanation of the interactions between a government that is highly controlling of all aspects of a society, even how NGOs and other nonprofits operate. It sounds as though the government is trying to de-legitimize the sector in their country.  However, it does also sound like there are some organizations that really do need to be regulated and have even committed crimes, much like some of the organizations discussed in the ‘After Democracy’ video from class. And while this article is an opinion piece, I do think it gives a good real-life example of how relations between organizations and government (depending on the type of government) can be strained and very difficult to manage. In this instance, it seems to be threatening the sector as a whole in the country. 

After reading the article, I did wish that more information was provided on the work that the organization does in Pakistan. The article does mention at the end that the person works for Punjab Lok Sujag, which is a nonprofit organization focused on research, advocacy, and protecting and sharing the Punjabi language in Pakistan. I did try to research any other information on the organization, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find much else about them online.

What do you think of the described interactions between the two sectors in Pakistan?  Does this personal account make you think of any other types of interactions between NGOs and government? Have you ever had an experience where the government has made things difficult for your organization (or an organization you know of) to complete a goal or task, or simply operate?

[tayreneclark-blog]

Volunteers get creative for school arts

The Escondido Alliance for Arts Education is among the volunteer or nonprofit programs that are supplementing arts education in public schoo

When looking at articles this week I kept thinking about the volunteer motivations gone over in class. In my opinion, this article is a great example of altruistically motivated volunteers. None of the volunteers have been required to help or personally gain something from doing so. They have simply seen a need and are working to fill it.

With schools going through budget cuts many art programs have been lost. That has lead to many young children missing out on that piece of their early education. The volunteers mentioned in this article have decided to step up and help provide art programs to those children. This in turn has helped advocate for the reintroduction of art programs in the schools.

[aledunha3-blog]

Group B Responses  10/29/18  I really enjoyed reading this article; like you mentioned, I think it’s great to see a group of volunteers who are truly passionate about a certain cause and are donating their time because they want to. It is really upsetting to see a lot of school districts cutting their art programs, but it’s really exciting to also see a nonprofit dedicated to providing that to students. I volunteered with an art group back in college to that provided art classes to children and adults with disabilities, and not only were the attendees excited for class each week, but the volunteers really looked forward to it as well. Although it varies a bit from what the California Alliance for Arts Education is trying to accomplish in this article, I think art education is so beneficial to not only students, but adults as well. It really can provide something meaningful to those who are involved. 

[mega-thatgirldeed-blog]

Group A

10/25/18

I can honestly say I hadn’t given much thought to virtual volunteering prior to the past weeks readings. I was curious to know, who that actually wants to make a difference seeks this out. After reading the Huffington Post article, I can see trying this out for myself. The reason being is certainly not too altruistic but the idea of using skills that I might not be using in a current functional area or under a specific job role, it’s intriguing. The ability to help grade papers for a teacher in Maine is not only kinda cool but not anything I would actually look for locally. My mindset personally wants to do active volunteering locally but would be accepting of less engaging group work if it were across state lines. I also like the concept of online or home school high school students meeting their required volunteer service hours online.

[aledunha3-blog]

Group B Response 10/29/18 

I also have never tried virtual volunteering, but I do agree that after reading this article I would be willing to also do some research and find a way I could potentially help. I think the concept of virtual volunteering is a very interesting one. It seems as though new ideas involving different aspects of nonprofit sector are always emerging with the help of the internet. Just a few days ago, I decided to donate to a few animal shelters here in Indianapolis because they have posted on social media that they were needing some assistance with some of their shelter needs. I think it would be really interesting to research virtual volunteering and also find out the different ways that nonprofit organizations are utilizing that type of volunteering since it is most likely very skills-based like the article mentions. This type of volunteering could be used to assist nonprofit organizations with so many different ways; from their daily operations or to further their online presence.

[aledunha3-blog]

Analysis | California Gov. Brown signs bill banning for-profit charter schools. But will it really do that?

Not so much.

I think this article touches on multiple topics we discussed in class this past week; especially nonprofit advocacy. The bill was written by a former principal from New York who has won multiple awards, including New York State High School principal of the year. She is also part of a nonprofit advocacy group, the Network for Public Education. The law states to ban all for-profit charter schools in the state of the California. While this article is about a month old, this bill at first glance appears to be pretty legendary.

However, as the article also comments, it may not necessarily have that big an effect. There appears to be somewhat of a loophole in the organizational structure or operation of these type of charter schools because most are actually owned by for-profit companies and/or organizations that actually receive public funding.

As the article states, “Only 34 of California’s approximately 1,200 charter schools are owned or managed by for-profit companies”, and this bill appears to be targeting one for-profit company in particular, K12 Inc. I think this article is a great example of an educational nonprofit advocacy group being involved in state policy. And while the bill could be argued as not having that large of an impact, I think it’s still bringing change to California education for students in a positive way.  

[daniellewsmith7-blog]

A nonprofit in Maryland has added several new board members including a farmer. This was encouraging to see as I feel like I tend to focus on and notice the boards that are NOT representative of the people that they serve. In this case, they are adequately representing the population by having one of the farmers affected by the ecology and agriculture serve on the board.

I would love to see and hear more about local stories like this. To hear about the places around our city and state that are doing this, especially in organizations that are serving the disadvantaged. Unfortunately, these boards, as we mentioned are usually comprised of the high class, wealthy, educated who are trying to implement change the best way they see fit, which may not be having representation.

[aledunha3-blog]

This article reminded me of our discussion last class regarding ‘what makes a community’ and also the TED talk that we watched. Like you mentioned, it is great to see an example of a nonprofit board that does have actual members of its community being represented. In my opinion, I think all nonprofit organizations should have members of their community or those that they serve on their board of directors in order to better understand their needs and point of view. Without having that perspective, organizations are most likely more inclined to experience mission drift Those that do have some viewpoint from their community will hopefully fulfill their mission more successfully and may do so even more strategically as well.

[cjkester11-blog]

If Democracy is Failing, Are Nonprofits Stepping Up to the Plate?

Local action is the remedy for the plutocratic sickness that many see as having weakened the American body politic.

Berger and Neuhaus proposed to us the idea in our readings this past week that mediating structures, and in this case nonprofit organizations are one of the key elements to having a vibrant democracy. This article from Nonprofit Quarterly opens by reminding us of the value that have an involved civil sector can contribute to this vibrancy. I agree that our current democracy seems to more and more be driven by those that are wealthy and partisanship has cast large divides into our social fabric. What I find particularly hopeful from the article and the associated articles referenced within is that this shift in the culture of our democracy has enabled nonprofit organizations to step in and aid in bridging the divide. It references several organizations that are working to help create more informed citizens. These organizations help to create an entry point for people to become involved.

The article also mentions at its end the idea that local journalism can help to raise back up the quality of democratic practice. I’m reminded of our reading from Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone: Thinking About Social Change in America as well as the TED talk from class and how the power of more well-connected local communities has the power to reconnect us and in the argument of this article, to revive the vitality of our democracy. Increasing our social capital not only has benefits for our organizations but by becoming more connected we are able to understand, listen, and learn from one other and become better citizens.

[aledunha3-blog]

I thought this was a great article, and I also agree with its sentiments; our current democracy and those are meant to represent our communities, our values, and have our best interests in mind seem to be more influenced by financial gains and those that are wealthy. 

However, even if this is the case for most of our representatives in government at the moment, I do also agree with you and the article that communities can rise up and do have the strength to improve our democratic processes. There are so many examples of current communities or movements, as well as nonprofit organizations that are growing their communities to influence the change they want to see. Planned Parenthood in recent years is an example of a nonprofit organization that has gained somewhat of a movement or a community behind it in order to influence policy both nationally and locally in different regions of the country.

[aledunha3-blog]

Tech Impact, Idealware Set Merger Plan - The NonProfit Times

Two providers of nonprofit technology education and training will become one in a merger announced today that will become effective Oct. 1. Tech Impact and…

This article from The NonProfit Times discusses two nonprofit organizations, Tech Impact and Idealware, that are large providers of nonprofit technology, are planning to merge their organizations in the next year. These two nonprofits provide resources like webinars, training videos, and technology support to other organizations in the sector. And while both have been organizations for over a decade, they both have recently experienced large declines in their revenues over the past few years.

This made me think of both our discussions in class this past week and our readings regarding failure theories. In the article, even the executive of Idealware said that she knew their company would need to partner with another organization in order to provide a greater impact. Does this mean that both these companies have experienced voluntary failure? Or is this just an example of high competition in this area of the sector? In my opinion, technology and nonprofit support have been an ever-growing area of the nonprofit sector with comparable companies like Blackbaud, who even has a location here in Indianapolis. However, there are also a large variety of for-profit companies that provide support to nonprofits as well.

It’s important that this type of organization exists, because nonprofits do need to be mindful and aware of technological advances in today’s society, but nonprofits will more often have difficulties with spending the amount of money needed to hire a for-profit company to provide these kinds of services.

What do you think – is the technology/nonprofit support organization structure not built to be a nonprofit organization itself? Are there not enough nonprofit organizations utilizing these types of organizations and/or technology in general? Do you think there may be obstacles to nonprofit organizations using these types of services? Or do you think nonprofits are using for-profit companies for these services?  

[toostudentsthings]

How Companies, Governments, and Nonprofits Can Create Social Change Together

A framework for collaborating more effectively.

Nonprofit exit because the government failed to satisfy some of the public needs. In other words, nonprofits are filling the gap that government couldn’t fill. This article by Buffett and Eimicke is a very trendy topic lately talking about effective ways to collaborate with cross-sectors to make a social change. Collaboration happens when two or more institution comes together to try and solve a problem that they cannot solve by themselves because they do not have enough sources to do so.

Now is cross-sector collaboration the answer to market failure? When I usually think of collaboration in the nonprofit sector, I always think of nonprofit organization collaborating with another nonprofit organization who may have a similar vision but they have different resources or services. To an extent, cross-sector collaboration makes sense to me because of the services and sources that both sectors can provide. However, how would the public feel about the cross-sector collaboration? Would people give less or lose its trust because the nonprofit has collaborated with a government or a business?

[aledunha3-blog]

The first thing I loved about this article was literally the second sentence – that 80% of millennial's believe making positive changes in the world are more important than professional recognition! As a millennial myself that feels like our generation is constantly scrutinized for being lazy or spoiled, I appreciated seeing a positive statistic for once. I also agree with the other information that the article discusses about how millennial's want their products to have social value or support a social cause. For me personally, I like to know where the products I purchase come from, how they’re made, and what the companies I support believe in themselves. It’s also one of the reasons that I decided to become vegan in my mid-20’s. Once I learned about the meat and dairy industry, I realized I didn’t want to support it anymore.

I think that cross-sector collaboration can work for all those involved; For example, one industry that ties itself to social causes and uses cross-sector collaboration frequently is the beauty industry; I only purchase makeup or beauty products that are cruelty-free and do not use animal testing on their products. Now that companies know this is a reason why people support some makeup products/brands over others, a lot of companies have made the change to be cruelty-free. Companies at times partner with nonprofit organizations focused on animal welfare, animal sanctuaries or rescues to promote products and then donate a percentage of their proceeds. For example, Kat Von D’s makeup brand last year created a special lipstick color that donated a percentage of each lipstick purchased to Project Chimps, which is a nonprofit animal sanctuary in Georgia.

[atypicalgradstudent-blog]

How Values-Based Leadership Transforms Organizational Cultures

Navigating organizational change requires a different kind of leadership. Values-based leadership is a core fundamental aspect for communicating a powerful change vision and engaging the team in the entire effort.

Being a value-based leader means allowing your mission and values to drive you intention with your employees, yourself, your business, and your day-to-day operations. This article was posted on Forbes website and was targeted to for-profit businesses. I think it is interesting that this value-based leadership is similar to the type of leadership style you would find in a non-profit organization. 

Value-based leadership uses the organization’s mission and values guide their management and even recruiting. Non-profits are mission-driven to their core (well, hopefully). 

For-profits are getting the point, finally. That the bottom-line isn’t always the bottom line. “ Many organizations will charge ahead for years with relative success while not having ever truly defined - and written down - their mission, vision, values and purpose for existence. “ Woah.

[aledunha3-blog]

I really enjoyed reading this article. It reminded me a lot of some of the topics in two other courses in SPEA that I’ve taken; 525 on Nonprofit Management and 522 on Human Resource Management. Those who manage not only nonprofits but also businesses, need to be mindful of change and be prepared for it. I have worked at my current nonprofit for four and a half years and have seen it go through a large variety of changes. We doubled the number of full-time employees in two years, have moved offices three times, and have adopted new values for the organization. Just last week at one of our all-employee meetings, our CEO discussed how as an organization we are always changing, and that although it can be difficult, we should face change with an open mind. He also said that if we aren’t changing, we aren’t learning anything, which I think is important as well. 

Like the article discusses, my organization also streamlined our organizational values just within the last two years. Previously, we had a system that quite frankly didn’t make sense to employees since no one really understood how what we were being evaluated on connected with our organizational mission. So, we adopted new organizational values that each employee could relate to and also relate to our overall mission. 

I also agree with Gleeson on how so many things within your organization/business can be affected by your values; the people you hire and/or the people you potentially attract as employees, how your employees feel about your company, how they feel about achieving their personal or departmental goals, and also how your company evolves can be affected by what your organization believes and values.