amazing Video!!!
Check out TED.com for more.
Are the Young Less Empathetic?
As discussed in articles in the Boston Globe and the Nonprofit Quarterly, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research found that college students today are 40 percent less empathetic than they were in 1979, with the steepest decline coming in the last 10 years. According to the findings, today’s students are generally less likely to describe themselves as “soft-hearted” or to have “tender, concerned feelings” for others. They are more likely, meanwhile, to admit that “other people’s misfortunes” usually don’t disturb them.
But what is empathy? According to dictionary.com, empathy is the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another. So, basically, it’s identifying the emotions of the people with which we interact and communicate. However, psychologists studying empathy still disagree on some basic questions about how it should be defined: Is it feeling for others? Feeling as others feel? Understanding how others feel? Or some combination of the above?
If we follow my simplified version of the definition, then shouldn’t the oh-so-well connected generation be more empathetic? It is constantly under discussion that the youth of today, and even the older generations, are becoming more and more connected to one another through the web and in person.
Nationalservice.gov has a white paper on the trends in volunteering since 1974. The report found that the number of people volunteering has risen 32% over the last 16 years and that older teenagers (age 16-19) have more than doubled their time spent volunteering since 1989.
So if youth are serving more and connecting to each other more, how can they say they are less empathetic?
This is where you, the reader, come in. This study had a fairly small sample – just 72 studies over three decades. But even some skeptics agree that it’s disturbing to consider the trend laid out in the new research and then play out the string. So what do you think? Let’s have a discussion here in the comments on whether there is observational evidence to support this study on Lindenwood’s Campus.
Homecoming – What does it take to be King?
Lindenwood’s 2010 Homecoming and Reunion is swiftly coming to campus. It officially goes down October 15 and 16th, but the week of festivities has already started for the students. Their parents and the alumni will be joining them on Friday for a weekend chock full of activities.
But what does this have to do with the nonprofit focus of this blog?
I am the Graduate Assistant in the Department of Alumni Relations at the University. It is one of the main offices that facilitates this illustrious weekend. We, in fact, plan, execute and clean up a full half of it – the REUNION half – and help plan, execute and clean up the rest. This is also one of the departments where the nonprofit side of higher education is always evident and present.
Homecoming is one of those events that Universities across the country hold every year to celebrate the return of their students. It’s been a tradition since the mid-19th century. It’s a recognition event. Nonprofits regularly depend upon large events, such as these, to raise money and awareness. A “Hey, look at us.” Or a “Remember the good times?” type of event. It’s meant to build ties to the University with the current students and parents and to re-engage the past students, to keep them coming back and giving money to support their ol’ Alma Mater.
At an event like this, the majority of people focus on how wonderful the parade is, cheering on the home team, and reconnecting with former classmates and professors. And that is the goal. We don’t want you to see what’s happening behind the curtain. Even though what is happening behind the curtain is what organizes the making of the floats for the parade, rallies the fans behind the team at the pep rally, and makes sure there is a place to have all those reunions.
It takes the time, effort and coordination of many people to make such a large-scale project go off without a hitch. This year’s committee was comprised of staff from Student Development and Activities to Admissions and Athletics to Security and Grounds, and of course, Alumni Relations. We have spent nearly a year to make this one weekend happen.
So as you eat your free BBQ on Saturday afternoon and gear up to cheer our Lions to another victory, this time over Culver-Stockton, remember all the little men scurrying behind the curtain making this possible for you. Remember our new standard – You’re LU for Life!
What Do You Do With a BA in Nonprofit Administration?
As an undergrad, I studied English and I always got the question, ” what are you gonna do with a BA in English?” And now that I’m getting my Masters in Nonprofit Administration, well, the question hasn’t changed all that much.
According to the literature of Lindenwood’s Nonprofit Administration program, the degree “…can lead to a meaningful career of helping others by leading and serving others. Students are educated to be nonprofit leaders and managers through service learning—learning by doing. Students are actively involved in nonprofit agencies, gaining understanding of the nonprofit world through a hands-on approach.”
So we’re learning to serve others? Well, yes and no. Nonprofit Administration is eerily similar to Business Administration. You take classes like Management, Finance, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, and Human Resources. It encompasses learning how to properly run an organization and manage the people and resources needed to operate that organization successfully.
But if it is so similar to Business Administration, why is it a completely separate program in a wholly different school at the University? That can be answered simply by looking at the difference in the goals of a nonprofit versus the goals of a for profit company. The goal of a for profit company is to find a product or service from which you can generate revenue repeatedly overtime and to MAKE A PROFIT from the sale of that service or product. The goal of a nonprofit is to MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the world.
As Dr. Gerald Blasi, the chair of the Nonprofit Administration Program at LU, describes the difference in Management class, “Nonprofits fill the gap between what the government provides and what the for profit sector can sell.” Because of this difference and the way nonprofits have to function to fill that gap, we future managers must have some specialized skills. So we in addition to classes in all the previously mentioned “business” areas, we also explore fundraising, volunteer management, grant writing, and campaigns.
With these specialized skill areas, what you can do with a BA or MA in Nonprofit Administration is just about anything for a nonprofit – which could be as small as America Scores or as big as the United Way. Just check out the kinds of jobs available to you, in the St. Louis area, as a graduate of this type of program.
What will I do with my MA in Nonprofit Administration? I guess I’ll find out when I graduate!
Social Entrepreneurship
A buzz word of the year is Social Entrepreneur. But what exactly is a social entrepreneur?
According to Wikipedia, a social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. The article continues to make a point that it usually happens in the nonprofit or “voluntary” sector.
Ashoka, a social entrepreneurial networking site, define social entrepreneurs as individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. Each social entrepreneur presents ideas that are user-friendly, understandable, ethical, and engage widespread support in order to maximize the number of local people that will stand up, seize their idea, and implement with it.
According to the above definitions, social entrepreneur is just a new term for nonprofits, but is it really?
Not according to the new PBS show The New Heroes, which profiles 14 social entrepreneurs from across the globe. They define social entrepreneurs as someone who identifies and solves social problems on a large scale. In addition, they also say what they are not. Unlike traditional business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs primarily seek to generate “social value” rather than profits. But unlike the majority of non-profit organizations, their work is targeted not only towards immediate, small-scale effects, but sweeping, long-term change.
From all this categorizing, social entrepreneurship sounds like nonprofit change on a world scale. And that’s the difference. The United States is the main place in the world with a “nonprofit” sector. Most other countries operate non-governmental organizations (NGOs). They are like nonprofits, but generally run on mostly government funds with little to no government interference. The majority of NPOs and NGOs are at a grassroots level, where social entrepreneurs operate on a much large scale. They are the big dreamers and innovators.
Compensation Still Unequal and Getting Worse
GuideStar USA, Inc. released its 10th annual GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report, the only large-scale analysis of its kind that relies exclusively on data reported to the IRS. The 2010 GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report is an extensive review of key employee compensation practices across the entire GuideStar database of digitized IRS Form 990 information of approximately 100,000 charitable nonprofit organizations for fiscal year 2008.
The report showed that the gender gap, which in previous years had narrowed, actually increased in fiscal year 2008. Overall, women held 48 percent of the positions reported upon (an increase of 1 percentage point over 2007) but received only 29 percent of the total compensation, down from 35 percent in 2007.
Newsworthy Donations
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, announced last week that he was donating $100 Million to the Newark, New Jersey School system.
Philanthropy.com reported on September 23, that he was going to announce the donation on Oprah and the New York Times goes into more details of what the Newark system will do the funds and who will be managing them.
I’ve heard commentary that Zuckerberg is making this donation now to take the spotlight away from the “The Social Network”, the movie about him and the creation of Facebook, which shows him in a negative light. Whatever his motivation, it is a large amount of money helping a troubled school district. I just hope they use it wisely!
