Stressed about funding? Here’s a “Supportive Funder ASMR” video!

Posted on September 9, 2024September 9, 2024 by Vu

A while ago, I learned about ASMR, which stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. You can read about it in the link above, but basically it’s audio and videos designed to give you positive, tingly feelings. There are videos where people pretend to shampoo your hair; others where they’re eating various foods and you can hear the crunching sounds their mouths make. Very interesting stuff, look it up.

Anyway, we need more positive, tingly feelings. Nonprofit work can be so stressful, especially when it comes to funding and fundraising. Luckily, we have amazing program officers who are supportive and encouraging. However, not everyone is fortunate to have those program officers in their lives, or if they do, those funders aren’t always available. So I made an ASMR video featuring a supportive funder. Listen to it when you’re stressed out about funding. For best effect, listen to it on a loop while wearing head phones and eating some dark chocolate in a supply closet.

[Also, I’m new to embedding videos on this blog. Let me know if there are any glitches like you can access them on your phone or something] Continue reading

I’m back! Nonprofit OnlyFans, a book deal, and other news!

Posted on September 2, 2024September 2, 2024 by Vu

[Image description: A happy, adorable corgi dog, wedged in a tree trunk, looking down at the viewer. The tree has yellow leaves, suggesting Autumn. Image by huoadg5888 on Pixabay]

Hi everyone, I’m back from my break. I’ve missed you all, and I’ve missed ranting and shaking my fist about various things each week. Also, I need to get back to the grind, because my plan of starting a Nonprofit OnlyFans during the summer did not work out. Apparently, only three people wanted to pay $6 a month to hear me read grant award letters while dressed in button-down shirts from Ross Dress for Less: “‘Dear Unicycles for Tots, congratulations, the review panel has decided to provide your organization a three-year unrestricted grant of $50,000 per year. Thank you for your work.’ Mmm… yeah… unrestricted …oooh… multi-year…”

During the break, I had time to reflect, usually in my hammock while eating handfuls of Kirkland Signature semi-sweet chocolate chips, and I want to make some changes in my work and my personal life. Here are a few things that might affect this site:

7 New Rules of Workplace Professionalism: Post-Pandemic Edition

Posted on June 4, 2024 by Vu

[Image description: A cat, held by a human, facing an open laptop. Image by makieni777 on Pixabay]

Hi everyone, a couple of things before we get started: If you’re free on June 27^th at 10am Pacific Time, please join me and Common Future’s Co-CEO Jennifer Njuguna in a conversation where we discuss our sector’s propensity for fear and risk-aversion, especially in light the pushback against DEI, and what we need to do about it. It’s free, and auto-captions will be enabled. Register here.

Also, around the summer solstice, June 20^ththis year, is when folks in our sector host PEEP (Party to Enhance Equity in Philanthropy) events, where funders and nonprofit leaders can get together in casual, no-agenda settings just to chat and see one another as human beings. Let folks know in the comments if you’re planning to have one.

The past few years have been eventful, and by that, I mean brutal and horrifying. And I am surprised by how all of us continue to follow the same rules of professionalism we were used to following. A colleague, for example, wrote on LinkedIn about the importance of “writing handwritten thank-you notes after job interviews”!

Greek myths if they were set in the nonprofit sector, Part 3

Posted on March 25, 2024March 25, 2024 by Vu

[Image description: A statue of two figures, one holding a sword, the other holding a large round shield. It looks like it could be Athena holding the shield, guiding Perseus, who has the sword. Image by Couleur on Pixabay]

Hi everyone, before we get into today’s blog post, a couple of things. If you’re free this Thursday March 28^th at 11am Pacific Time, join me and Nonprofit VOTE for Rally the Sector: Nonprofits and Election 2024. We’ll be talking about nonprofits and the role we play in getting people to vote. It’ll be fun! Register here. It’s free, and automated captions will be available.

Also, please let me know that you got (or didn’t get) email notification of this blog post. It’s been weeks of tech issues, with no one getting notifications for two months, and I hope it’s finally resolved now.

This week, we have more Greek myths if they were set in nonprofit and philanthropy. Make sure to read Part 1 and Part 2.

What is a codpiece, and should everyone at your organization wear one?

Posted on February 19, 2024March 15, 2024 by Vu

[Image description: A painting of Henry VIII in an ornate outfit with long puffy sleeves, a dagger, and a prominent codpiece. Image by 12019 on Pixabay]

This week, we talk about fashion in nonprofit and philanthropy. As a sartorial icon and expert on style, I must say, we need to step up our game. That includes bringing back the codpiece, which has a fascinating history. Basically, according to several minutes of research, the codpiece was invented as a practical solution for preserving people’s modesty as well as to protect armored knights’ nether regions. It then became very fashionable, with Henry the VIII wearing these flamboyant accessories. For a while, you couldn’t step outside without seeing people wearing codpieces, including ones with intricate designs and possibly hidden compartments for keys and maybe a dram of arsenic.

After a while, like many fashion trends such as hoop skirts and giant wigs and bell bottoms, the wearing of codpieces was ridiculed, and the people wearing them were driven into the woods, where they lived a life of shame and contemplation for their horrendous fashion choices. And now, hundreds of years later, no one wears them except maybe at Renaissance fairs and possibly, I imagine, at gyms (I’ve never been to a gym, so I don’t know what people wear there).