Letting it Go is easiest on Vacation (Neo Con edition).

Posted on March 12, 2015 by jeremymhatch

2015-03-09 14.16.14

My politics are fairly moderate, being an economic centrist and a social progressive. In 2008 I, like many of my fellow Hoosiers in Indiana, voted to reelect Mitch Daniels while also picking Obama, who became the first Democrat to win our state since Lyndon Johnson. Governor Daniels did a fair job and always struck me as a pro-business moderate, divorced from the bat shit wing of the GOP and the ongoing culture wars. I can live with that.

While I admit to being an occasional Republican voter (Indiana’s fine statesman Senator Richard Lugar also won my support), I am not a George W Bush guy. Those eight years were catastrophic for the United States and my own world-view was radicalized by the combined hubris of the Iraq folly (and $1trillion to date pumped into the desert sands while China has been eating our lunch) and the initial abandonment of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. These things cannot be forgiven and it will be a long time before I vote for a Republican Cat in a national election as a result.

So I am on an airplane recently to Panama for a conference and some Beach Holiday, and there, right across the aisle from me, is George Bush’s political genius Wonder Boy Karl Rove. The fellow who launched two smear campaign against Vietnam Vets (John McCain and John Kerry) and whose tactics were so delightfully aggressive that President Bush affectionately nicknamed him “Turd Blossom” during the 2000 election.

One can make a reasonable argument that Karl Rove is a genuine war criminal for his participation in the administration’s PR offensive pre Iraq. And he leveraged lots of folk’s religious belief against economic self interest. Not Cool.

So there he was. In Coach. On an airplane to Panama.

I fly often enough to get the most desirable seat in coach, in the 2nd row on the aisle. That is where middle class people of business sit. But anyone who used to ride Air Force One on a regular basis doesn’t belong there. He belongs in First Class. Or on a Charter. I like to think he was in Coach because it has gone south for him professionally. Hopefully that’s it.

And he sat there the whole time, listening to NEW Bob Dylan and looking over at my episodes of “Breaking Bad” with keen interest.

So what to do? Tell him, on behalf of civilization, to go fly a kite? Spill a drink of him? Refuse to sit there on moral grounds? Scowl in his direction?

In the end, nothing. Just let him go. My grandmother taught me that there is no excuse for a lack of courtesy. So I forgive you, Karl. I am not sorry you are riding Coach, and sincerely hope that whatever gig you have in Panama City is such a small check that they couldn’t be bothered to buy you a Business Class ticket. And that the check bounces. Goodbye and safe travels, Turd Blossom.

This episode reminded me of a list I used to keep in my mind, of people who’ve treated me badly professionally and otherwise, where I would eventually square accounts. It has been a small but select list over the years, and I meant it. Waiting for the Day.

But who needs it? Most of the folks on that list continue to be miserable human beings, cowards and cheats. They get to live with that all day long, their lies and double dealings unfolding forevermore, in Coach and in Life.

And I got to go to Panama.

Posted in Cultural Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life and Travels | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The time I paid $450 for this Frameable Certificate.

Posted on February 26, 2015 by jeremymhatch

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I am often asked by younger professionals about the Certified Fund Raising Professional designation, “Do you think it is worth it to get my CFRE?” they ask me.

“Only if your employer is paying for it.” Why?

For the initial certification the cost is $875 and increasing often. That’s $875 for a computer based exam, a complex and cumbersome online application, and a shiny certificate at the end.

Yes, if your Boss pays. Otherwise, No. It isn’t worth it. Get a mentor instead. Put that $875 into networking coffees and lunches. Buy a MAC. Go to grad school part time. Attend a really good conference, like AFP-IC.

No. Not with what most professionals are making these days. Not when ongoing education and training budgets are so miniscule in our non-profits.

Not when the certification is still a novelty, not widely recognized in our profession, nor valued, nor required as a professional standard (like a CPA, or pilot’s license). Less than 1% of professional fundraisers earn the credential despite 30+ years of existence. That’s statistically nothing. The market has spoken and the market is not demanding it.

Why is this? The blame it seems to me is squarely with the CFRE organization itself. If there is a more irrelevant non-profit membership group in the United States I would like to see it. I’ve been a paid up CFRE for ten years and I get a monthly email from them, and it is an absolute CLUNKER. A hodge podge and uncurated list of links to accumulated articles and non-profit debris from other sources. Tell me that I am wrong:

http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/cfre/cfre021915.php

Is there value in this cruddy communication for mid-level and senior fundraisers? There is very little.

Does the CFRE organization offer meaningful opportunities for professional growth, advancement, networking, awesomeness to members? They do not, not that I have seen.

As a consultant, there is some professional value to me in the certification and so I am in the small minority who pays good money every three years. And so I paid my $450 out of my own pocket because I have a vague believe that the designation makes me more marketable as a consultant, as an outside expert and counsel. And mostly I would hate to be called out it by someone as a liar or a fraud if I kept using the designation.

So I spend the cash. But I bet most don’t bother recertifying. They either let it lapse and keep using the letters on their business cards or simply let go of the whole thing because it so irrelevant to a busy professional life, and an expensive hassle.

And here is the kicker…

One of the knocks again the Millennial generation is that they all want a trophy. I don’t think this is true. It is Generation X types like myself who still groove on certificates, checked boxes, credentials and shiny stickers. We are the Gold Star generation, believing in systems, processes, and professional achievement.

The professionals coming up alongside of us don’t. They don’t care about your expensive, increasingly irrelevant, time-consuming certification program. They aren’t going to show up and take your little test, with questions about “best practices” whose central tenants are still based on old timey thinking from the 1960s: “The Vice President is the only one who can go solicit the other Vice President,” “Never solicit a gift in a restaurant,” and other such gems from the Old Testament of fundraising.

So this is a challenge, CFRE International. Become relevant to this generation (and all of us in fundraising). Become an active leader in the issues facing our profession. Matter. Engage.

It is a Millennial World. And they don’t care. Change or Fold it up, CFRE.

Jeremy M, Hatch, CFRE.

Certified 2005. Recertified 2008, 2011, 2015.

Posted in Fundraising, Leadership | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Practical Dating and Tax Advice for the Young Fellows.

Posted on February 9, 2015 by jeremymhatch

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Despite my best intentions, thoughtful consideration, emotional IQ, and diverse network I am a lousy matchmaker. The few times I’ve introduced people have generally led to a, “What were you thinking, setting me up with someone who hasn’t been to graduate school and lacks a goatee?”

I know more women than men, have more women friends than Bros. There is no real reason for this beyond working primarily in the female-dominated non-profit and arts world. Well, there probably is a reason for it. Women tend to be more loyal, interesting in conversation, smell better, and so on.

Having many women friends means I inevitably get asked to set up my Sisters with all my presumed Bros. But it is short list of eligible bachelors in my world. Most of the cats I know are married, in long-term relationships or are a Hot Mess of emotional unavailability or career disaster. If you are reading this, Bro, I don’t mean you.

So I have little to offer except perspective to my Single Amigos. So I will offer that.

As an Urban Dweller and Student of the Human Condition, I watch the groups of young people in our pubs, restaurants and gathering places, dresses to impressed and looking for love, fun, and inspiration. And so it will ever be.

Can I tell you a secret about men? Approaching a woman that you don’t know in public takes extraordinary mental resolve and a certain sort of courage. The Average Joe simply cannot do it, roll up to a stranger in a pack with her home girls, with a clever opening and an offer to converse. The prospect of public rejection is much, much too terrifying.

Is it an attractive feature, this rare confidence? Of course it is. Confidence is endlessly attractive to all of us, and especially, I think, to Women-kind.

So it isn’t easy to talk up attractive stranger, and those who can do it are too often a certain sort of Lothario, practiced seducers (often) and not at all the sort of Fellow you want to spend time getting to know. Guys who learn to do it often learn nothing else.

So stop it. Stop hanging out in bars listening to Players spit their Game.

What to do instead?

Instead, young people of America, I invite you to get involved with a non-profit. Serve on a committee, volunteer at an event, join a board of directors.  That’s where the best of you will meet each other, in service of a greater good. Handsome and confident strangers are great, dressed in their striped shirts and smelling of clove cigarettes but even better is the earnest fellow in work clothes and leather gloves, up early on a Saturday morning to clean the river or plant trees.

And so this message is really for the Bros of America. The women you want to meet are already there volunteering. They are active in the community, engaged in causes they care about, spending their evenings and weekends making their cities beautiful and the kids smart. This is exactly who you want to be getting to know. And what’s even better is you won’t have the competition of the Players in Striped Shirts. Plus your efforts will be tax deductible. For example, you should be able to deduct the mileage to and fro the event, unlike driving to the club for 80s Foam Night.

So my friends, Volunteer your time – at the theatre, for the kids, during the Festival, weekly at the Soup Kitchen, handing out water at the 5k run. It is where you will find one another, in service to your community and with an eye to eventual tax deductibility with your romantic partner.

Go and Volunteer. Serve Mankind. Get some Fresh Air. Meet Someone of Quality.

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Shut the Front Door: Profanity, Teamwork and Accomplishment

Posted on January 22, 2015 by jeremymhatch

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I grew up with Marines and then Stagehands. No way around it. I learned to curse as a youngster from the best.

In Okinawa our lives centered around military culture. I saw the film “Top Gun” at the height of the cold war with a bunch of young Marines, and they cursed and cheered with vigor for the entire show. They were young fellows, away from home, watching a movie about blowing up Russians with their pals. So of course they let the F bombs fly, regardless of kids around.

My Mother is one of the great cursers I’ve ever known. You Modern Girls, in our enlightened era of gender equality, enjoy the profanity with the best of them. All the foulest conversations I’ve overheard have been between women when no fellows are around, shockingly so. Men don’t tell each other stories like that. But my Mom was a feminist trailblazer, cursing with poetic brevity to express disappointment and emphasis, mostly at us children. To my knowledge my Father has never cursed. I’ve never heard him do so in my 40 years.

In the Boy Scouts adult leaders would curse at or with us with absolute disregard for propriety, out in the Woods. There was an understanding that a world existed for Men to be Men together. Many an elegantly turn of phrase was acquired from grizzly old Scoutmasters deep in the woods, my favorite to this day being, “Let’s stop playing Grab Ass over there!” as a general admonishment against any sort of horseplay or fighting. This amuses me endlessly.

No one swears like a Stagehand. There is a backstage shortcut of spare language to move things along efficiently and quietly, but there is always time to insert profanity for inflection, emphasis, and to express disappointment with this or that outcome or a shortcoming of management. No one, save for the Irish, can curse like my IATSE brothers and sisters.

When I entered post grad school Office Life, it took some time to adjust to cube life, including the foreign notion of staying until 5pm for no discernable reason. Stagehands work until exactly that point when that day’s tasks are done and then get the hell out of there for home or the sailboat, something our office culture could benefit from greatly. More is rarely better, particularly time spent at one’s desk on a summer’s day on a Friday.

I also had to learn to watch my mouth when I entered the office, with my prior working life filled with casual profanity as a part of most every conversation. It was shocking to me to see colleagues talk to each other without it.

In the best and most high functioning teams I know profanity is an occasional part of communication and reflects trust, ability, and mutual fondness. The best time to curse at something is when it goes wrong, to get it out of your system and to acknowledge temporary setback. I tend to let go of disappointment quickly. The Colts let me down every year and I’ve got it down to a 15-minute pout before looking forward to next season.

High functioning groups work hard, play hard, and let fly profanity from time to time in the making of jokes and keeping things light and on even keel. I’ve yet to see any meaningful and difficult tasks accomplished without the occasional profane outburst. It is a part of the creative process, the outlet for setback, the glue of American conversation in our secular age.

Interestingly, there are some groups that use prayer instead of profanity, and that can be just as good as long as everyone is on board. Show me a group that prays together in earnest and I am betting they get the job done. Are they are fun at the bar? Debatable.

Curse in the workplace? I try not to most of the time. I never curse at people in anger, particularly subordinates. I rarely raise my voice. People who know me understand that when I am angry I get very quiet. There is almost nothing I find more objectionable than witnessing people curse out customer support folks, waitresses, or direct reports. That sort of power imbalance means they cannot talk back. Don’t be an ass.

I say the F word really more than I should. It is how they raised me. But so do all of us making it happen in the 21st Century.

It is how we get Shit done.

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10 shalls to Putting the Fun in Fundraising.

Posted on January 8, 2015 by jeremymhatch

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Fundraisers are an overly serious and no fun bunch, too often. An absence of humor is sadly lacking in our non-profit endeavors, and scarce of late in our civic life. Last year was almost entirely humorless, overly full of moral outrage and generally sourfaced. Let’s close the door on it.

Want to see some uptight goings on in the non-profit sector? Drop in on a university central development office any given Tuesday and tell me I am wrong. Black suits and No-Fun-Having-Cause-Related-Marketing-God-Sent-Us-Here.

So, to start, let’s all lighten up a bit in 2015. Pull a prank on a colleague this week. Tell an amusing story about a donor. When I was a wee lad at the Zoo someone would call me every April 1 and ask for Mr. Lion. Hilarious.

So Chill out. That will be a good start to making this an impactful 2015. What else shall we do? How about this list as a start…

10 shalls to Putting the Fun back in Fundraising in 2015.

  1. We shall Display a Sense of Humor. See Above. I was CDO at a performing arts center and our great rivalry was the Symphony downtown. I would run into their CDO from time to time at a local lunch place where Fundraisers met with Old Ladies to win their support. He would scowl at me lunching up his major donor. I would wink. He would double scowl. Guess which one of us still works in the arts?
  2. We shall Show Pride in our Work. Non-profit professionals are some of the most bad ass people I know. Be proud of what you do. When asked, say, “Yes. I am in fact a Professional Bad Ass.”
  3. We shall Develop a Plan and Stick to that Plan. We are halfway through the fiscal year. How is your plan coming along? A wiser man than me said, “A bad plan is better than no plan” and that’s the truth. Fundraising is surrounded by Clever Ideas from Dummies who Know Very Little. You know who they are. The best teams I know filter out the Noise and circle round each other, focusing on daily, weekly, monthly accomplishment.
  4. We shall Encourage our Volunteers and Praise their Efforts. No one has that perfect board of well dressed, compassionate, responsive, well connected volunteers. It does not exist. But you do have some key people who will support your efforts. Focus on them and reinforce their accomplishments. Good things will follow.
  5. We shall Pick up the Telephone. Every. Single. Day. Don’t make me come to your office to explain this.
  6. We shall be Bold in our Asking. The economy is getting back to 90s Crushing. If you are too young to remember, well, awesome for you and pull up your pants, shave that beard, and teach me about Instagram. But there is tremendous capacity in the philanthropic market right now. It won’t last forever. What’s the Big Idea in your organization? If not now, when?
  7. We shall Fill our Calendar with Lunch Dates. Everyone must eat lunch. Please, please, don’t eat lunch at your desk. I will come down there.
  8. We shall be Creative with our Sponsorship Proposals. No, I am not interested in your $7,500 Associate Guest Soprano Sponsorship. Imagine you are competing against the best and brightest ideas and people for marketing investment. Quit imagining. You are competing against the best and brightest for marketing investment.
  9. We shall be patient and understanding of our Marketing Colleagues. Even when they have it coming. Even when they are deliberately provocative. Even when it would be fun to thump on them. We are Development. We are better than this. Well, if it is super fun, go ahead. Just this once.
  10. We shall not Micro-manage. Except where we need to micro-manage. Obviously, some people cannot be trusted to stuff envelopes and must be taught the correct method. For free I will come and show you how to stuff envelopes. Seriously.
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Ireland to Memphis to Argentina: Postcards from the 117 flights of 2014.

Posted on December 15, 2014 by jeremymhatch

This gallery contains 11 photos.

117 Plane Rides, a new personal best. Or worst? Squashed into the window by a 350 lb Jabba with BO, hassled, sneezed upon, stranded more than once. But it was Beautiful, this year in the Sky. When people ask me … Continue reading →

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Should Fundraisers be Board Members?

Posted on December 3, 2014 by jeremymhatch

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This is for my Fellow Fundraisers.

Nobody in the Verse frets over Board Members and their frailties like the Fundraisers I know. No one.

Those Things They promised to do, Refused To Do, said They Would Do and Forgot About. It is the nature of things in our non-profits. Fundraisers have demanding jobs, and are unfairly reliant on others to be successful (bosses, board members, volunteers) without being able to actively supervise or expect accountability.

All Carrot, no Stick.

Should you, my friend in Fundraising, cross over to the other side and serve as board member for a non-profit in your community?

Yes you should. You absolutely should. The rewards are too great, the experience too important for you personally and professionally. So Yes, but only if:

You are truly committed to the particular organization. Never join a board to pad your resume or to position yourself for your next job. You know who does that? Those jerky board members who don’t do what they say they will. Pick something that is meaningful to you, worthy of your time and hard work. I don’t want to hear about enhancing your portfolio. That’s crap. You are better than that. Do it because you mean it, because you want to see amazing things happen in your community. It is okay to say No to Board Service. Most people should.

You PROMISE to help fundraise in some meaningful way. I see this all of the time. “Sure, I will be on your Board but I can’t help with sponsorship because I am a grant writer and there is a conflict of interest but I will help pick the tablecloths for the gala.” Don’t be this gal. EVERYONE has a role to play in fundraising. So you can’t ask your organization’s donors for money on behalf of another organization. Great. But you can place thank you calls, make introductions, follow up on corporate sponsorship, participate in telethon nights. You can do all of these things. Show your other board members the Way.

You embody best practices of a board member. Participate actively. Pay your Annual Fund Gift early, without prompting. Show up whenever you can. Go to the special event on a Friday night even after you had a 60 hour work week at the day job. Invite your other board members to join you. Invite your Friends to get involved. Do the stuff you say that you will do. Be at the Saturday morning retreat despite the football game you would rather watch.

You won’t throw your weight around. We’ve all see it, that board member who leans in to you as a staffer for special access, an extra ticket, an unreasonable favor. Don’t be that Guy either. Support the CEO and show others how the CEO should be supported. Help her manage other board members. Be a Leader.

You are a Humble Servant. The job of the Board member, in the end, is to graciously serve an organization devoted to the Greater Good to the best of one’s Abilities. That’s all. Be patient, giving and kind as a board member. No one likes the Smarty who knows Everything about non-profit governance. Be the Good Board Member.

I recently competed a 6-year term on a board of directors, most of the time as a positive force to an organization in midst of tremendous growth. It was much fun and I learned a lot, especially about the nature of volunteerism and how challenging it can be to serve on a board of directors.

However important the organization is, for a volunteer it is going to be at best a third or forth priority after family, work, friends, maybe church. AT BEST. So no matter how urgently the CEO or Development Director needs an introduction to the hospital marketing VP, or how badly Opening Night needs extra volunteers, it just isn’t going to matter as much as work, family, and other commitments.

You only get to experience that reality by seeing the world from a different perspective. So give it a shot if you haven’t been on a board in awhile. And pick some other sort of organization than you are involved with in your day job. It will open your eyes, expand your network, and offer opportunities you couldn’t have expected.

And if you are Single, you are likely to meet someone great. Had enough of the bar scene? Volunteer – that’s where the interesting guys and gals hang out.

This is the Bounty of the Volunteer.

Posted in Board Development, Fundraising, Leadership | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Foolproof, Infallible, Magic Bullet of Fundraising for 2015 (Part I).

Posted on November 19, 2014 by jeremymhatch

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Pick Up The Phone.

There. Now you know. The Grand Secret to Fundraising success. Four words. Go and thrive my friends.

But many of you won’t do it.

I make a good living working with non-profits of all sizes and this is a consistent truth all over the United States. Fundraisers have a general aversion to speaking on the telephone, and it is getting worse as email, texting, and social media dominate our discourse.

As an exercise I reviewed my personal philanthropy over the last two years and find that I have supported 20 or so organizations, at various levels but generally in the $100 range but a few higher up including a $5,000 pledge to an organization where I’ve been a board member.

$100 isn’t game changing but it is a solid gift, particularly for community focused arts organizations and non-profits. And yet in that time I have only been called once as a thank you, just this week in fact, from a terrific gift officer at my alma mater Indiana University.

One thank you call in two years and 20 organizations in the mix. Guess who has my loyalty now?

Is it easy to pick up the telephone and call friends and strangers and ask for money? No it is not. Whenever I hire an entry level fundraiser anyone with telefund or cold call sales experience on the resume jumps to the top of the stack. Why? Talking on the phone is a skill that many of us have yet to master.

So Friends, let us practice over the coming year. Join the philanthropic phone revolution by:

  1. Calling EVERY donor to say Thank You. Set aside a couple of hours each Friday for this purpose. You will be amazed and what you learn and the major gift potential uncovered by the simple thank you call. Your donors will remember, and when you call next year to talk about a renewal, they will listen to you. Make this one commitment to your fundraising program and I promise results. I PROMISE. Do this one thing and you will raise more money in 2015.
  1. Call EXISTING DONORS when it is time to renew, at every level. This is easier than you think – let’s assume you have a snappy direct mail piece going out to encourage year end renewals. How about a phone night (or three) to all the potential donors to follow up on the written solicitation? Want to see your acquisitions and credit card gifts skyrocket? Use some 20th century technology. Mullet guy knows this. Why don’t you?
  1. Call BOARD MEMBERS and FUNDRAISING VOLUNTEERS to follow up on next steps on assigned prospects. You have sent two emails already and they have ignored you because they haven’t taken action. Call them to follow up. Patient persistence pays off in the end.
  1. Call your MAJOR DONORS and wish them Happy Holidays, or New Year, or for their Birthday. Call them. We are in the relationship business. Relationships don’t advance by email.
  1. Call Colleagues, Vendors and Consultants. You spend too much time writing emails. A quick Call practices your skills and can save time and the misunderstandings of back and forth emails.

How well does phone solicitation work? Well, large non-profits pay telemarketing firms to call total strangers and solicit gifts on their behalf all the time. And you know what? It works. Brilliantly.

It is perhaps counterintuitive but as Americans are now able to remove themselves from phone solicitation, the ones who don’t mind will gladly accept the call. Imagine how much better the result if you as a committed fundraiser made the call instead?

I challenge my Friends and Colleagues to devote themselves to One Hour Daily in 2015 to being on the phone. Let’s do this America.

Pick up the Phone. Today.

Posted in Annual Fund, Fundraising | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Philanthopy, Stinky Cheese, and You: Keeping it Local.

Posted on November 3, 2014 by jeremymhatch

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A tornado passes over the house, sending a 60 foot maple tree into the sunroom and leaving an unrecognizable scene. I am not there when it happens but arrive several hours after, in the dark, to a numbing sight. A truck pulls up and a fellow shines a flashlight into our Darkness. He gives us a tarp to cover the roof, asks if we have a place to spend the night, promises us it will look better in the morning, hugs the girl who is crying. The next day we marshal a small army of friends, neighbors, contractors, and passerby in a huge clean-up, and the Red Cross stops by again several times with coffee, sandwiches, and encouragement.

This was twelve years ago but I recall the events with perfect clarity.

Words cannot describe the appreciation I’ve felt to the Red Cross from that day. They are my Go To Charity in response to national and world calamity in recent years. Tsunami in the Pacific? $25 to the Red Cross. Hurricane in New Orleans? $25 to the Red Cross. I believe in the Red Cross. I believe in the work they do.

Until, of course, this week’s news:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/redcross/the-red-cross-secret-disaster.html

It is a scathing report, potentially fatal to an organization that has enjoyed a pristine reputation for efficient service delivery for decades now. Certainly in my case they came through, providing immediate care and comfort to the small disaster of a neighborhood flattened by a twister. That the Red Cross wasn’t quite ready for the complexity and scope of Sandy is something I can accept. The allegations of PR strategy driving decision making and the hubris of claiming victory, waste and fraud are unforgivable.

I am so very disappointed. For Shame.

Where does that leave you and me, who simply wants to invest a bit in non-profits to make the world a better place?

I cannot speak to Disasters. Perhaps this a reminder of what we should already know, that Government is the best and most capable Responder to great Crisis and that we shouldn’t expect even large non-profits to have the capacity to act in place of a robust State response to a massive event. Even Chris Christie took President Obama’s hand in friendship following Sandy. Only the Government can do certain things.

So where, then, should we invest our Philanthropy, the small sums we spend in pursuit of a more perfect world?

I grow less judgmental as I get older. Do your thing, gently, and All the Best.  But I will say this: I won’t eat at Applebee’s. I don’t shop at Wal-Mart. And I keep my philanthropy Local.

My Friends, keep All of it Local. Your coffee shops, the tasty brews, hot yoga studios, and artisan stinky cheese. The best stuff is the local stuff.

So also then with your philanthropic investments. Ignore the ASPCA mailer with the droopy kittens and invest in the local shelter, with your dollars and as a volunteer.

Say No to the National or International environmental Cause and give to the Local River Association, and your time as well. Few things are as satisfying as cleaning up a stretch of waterway.

Pick a few Causes you care about, become a volunteer and advocate, and focus your personal philanthropy and $100 gifts locally. Your dollars invested in this way not only go farther and have community impact, but also pay the salaries of your non-profit friends and colleagues, who can enjoy the local Cheddar with you and who make your City and mine a more vibrant and cheerful place to live, love and work.

I hope the Red Cross recovers. They won’t see a dime out of me for the foreseeable future.

 

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Bearded Boys in Strappy Tops: (Loving) a Millennial World.

Posted on October 21, 2014 by jeremymhatch

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In my City the last few years have been magical – our once static downtown genuinely hopping and the neighborhoods all over the city becoming vibrant, bike friendly, alive. This transformation has picked momentum as the town fills with young adults, those plucky Millennials with their good cheer and androgynous fashion.

A few years back a cadre of us Gen X young professionals were the Cool Kids. In 2008, if I was Out and About, at a pub, gallery opening, or roller derby match, there would be My People, the same 100 of us who would come out to play at these things. Roll up and say, “Where’s Linda, or Jen, or Travis?” and there they would be, taking in the fun of a city we invested in, choosing to stay and make great. And it was.

Fast forward a few years of living, opening a concert hall, getting out on the road, settling in, and another look around for my Friends. Everywhere we go now, many new faces. Lots of them. Friendly, bearded, and oddly dressed.

If there is one thing verifiably true about the Millennials it is that there are a Whole Bunch of them. I tend not to believe what I read or hear until I see it firsthand, and this demographic explosion is no joke. The kids are here, there are lots of them, and they are wicked smart.

I am grateful they have joined us. And so I made a list. Seven Reasons I Love the Millennials…

  1. They’ve seen Some Things. The three worst things that have happened during my life are all recent events: 9/11, the economic collapse of 2008, and Sandy Hook. Imagine your formative years during this upheaval. Nothing compares. Adversity early makes for stronger adults better capable of modern life.
  2. Millennials never take your parking spot. They are usually on a bike or rollerblades. Also, they don’t care about cars, near and dear to my own junker driving heart.
  3. They are Put Together. I dislike sloppy attire and attitudes, particularly in the workplace. I may not understand sleeveless striped shirts on the weekends but most of those dudes can look sharp in the office.
  4. Millennials take Coaching and Direction. As a boss and consultant I’ve always worked well with young professionals. They’ve been coached and encouraged their whole lives and appreciate positive feedback and reinforcement. Yell at them and expect good outcomes? No. If you manage this way, shame on you.
  5. They are Smart. Give me someone smart, with a solid work ethics, and I can train them up on tactics and know how. Smart first.
  6. Millennials are Sunny in nature and outlook. This is a surprise given what the world has shown them but young professionals are not cynical by nature. They want to have an impact.
  7. They are Ambitious. Listen, every generation is accused of laziness and lacking the proper work ethic to advance. When I was 25 I thought I deserved a corner office. So, probably, did you.

This being said, I wish the youngsters had a better appreciation for history, even recent events. I was chatting football with some fellows, and related Jeff Saturday’s pivotal goal line block against the Patriots in the AFC Championship in 2007. And they looked at me blankly. 2007?

Millennials take all sort of grief for being lazy, uninspired, lacking ambition, work ethic and stamina. I call Nonsense on all of this. I dig the Millennials. You should as well.

But about those Beards, Lads.

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