Grab the Key to Your Destination . . . Home

Thanks to the wonderful team at The Pursuant Group for putting together another powerful email campaign for Central Dallas Ministries!

Here is the Web version of the campaign (please click below):

In honor of Independence Day...

Urban Connection - Austin

Happy Fourth of July! In honor of this glorious day in the history of our nation, I redesigned the Web site for CDM's satellite organization in the capital of Texas:

Urban Connection - Austin
http://www.UrbanConnectionAustin.org/

If you're in Austin, I encourage you to contact my friend Dean. He's a great guy, and he'd probably be willing to meet you at BookPeople (and any excuse for you to go there would be a good one).

[where: 78758]

Job Opening at CDM: Major Gifts Officer

The hiring and management of this position will be handled by the Pursuant Group.

Central Dallas Ministries (CDM) is one of the largest, most effective faith-based organizations in North Texas and is celebrating its 20th year of service to the community. CDM operates a network of hunger relief, healthcare, housing, legal service, employment training and educational programs serving more than 30,000 unduplicated people throughout the Greater Dallas area.

The Major Gifts Officer will manage relationships and fundraising efforts with the almost 200 major donors and prospects in North Texas. Responsibilities will also include the identification, evaluation, cultivation, solicitation and management of individuals capable of contributing major gifts of at least $5k annually, with a focus on individuals capable of gifts of $25k and over. The individual will also be responsible for developing various church partnerships toward this end.

Ideal candidates will have:

• Strong initiative and self-motivation
  
• Three to five years demonstrated successful experience and effectiveness in major gifts fundraising with a focus on prospect identification, relationship building, and solicitation
  
• Experience in solicitation of large gifts
  
• Outstanding interpersonal skills; excellent research skills; superior written and oral communication skills; and relevant computer skills
  
• Ability to work both entrepreneurially and collaboratively, and to function both as a leader and a partner within a team framework
  
• Bachelor's degree
  
• Interest in and working knowledge of community development, faith-based initiatives, and social service highly desirable.

This position will split time working from home and out of our development agency’s office in Plano, Texas.

Interested candidates should submit a current resume and cover letter to kelly@pursuantgroup.com. Please include "Development Officer, Major Gifts" in the subject line. No phone calls, please.

[where: 75246]

Tickets now on sale for Sept. 29 show with Clint Black!

Central Dallas Ministries has just released tickets for our upcoming benefit concert, A Night to Remember 2008 with Clint Black.

Click here for more information and to reserve your seats for what will certainly be another sold-out show!

Event Details
Monday, September 29, 2008
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Show begins at 8:00 p.m.

The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

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Tomorrow: Book Club on Jonathan Kozol's 'Letters to a Young Teacher'

Thanks to the RELIGION Blog | The Dallas Morning News for writing about tomorrow's Urban Engagement Book Club on Jonathan Kozol's 'Letters to a Young Teacher.'

For more info about this free event, visit:
www.UrbanEngagment.org

The book club is an important outreach effort of Central Dallas Ministries. Held on the first Thursday of every month, the event gathers over 100 people from all walks of life: CDM donors, staff, clients and friends... hope to see you there!

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United Way gives $46M to N. Texas nonprofits

The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Business Journal both released stories on the big news of May for nearly 100 of the largest and most effective non-profits in Dallas:

United Way gives more than $46 million to 93 area charities

I am proud to say that Central Dallas Ministries received the largest increase of any of the 93 agencies, increasing its allocation to over $800,000 this year.



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Urban Village Newsletter

Central Dallas Ministries' May 2008 Urban Village Newsletter

Central Dallas Ministries just posted an online copy of its May 2008 Urban VIllage Newsletter. You can download a copy here:
http://www.centraldallasministries.org/uv/

I would welcome your comments, advice and critiques!

Grant Central Station for North Texas

Thanks to Murray L. Covens, Principle, and Sherri Barrett, Associate, at Dallas Nonprofit Resources for joining the development team at Central Dallas Ministries. I look forward to working with you over the coming months!

Looking to hire a contract grantwriting team? Check out Dallas Nonprofit Resources:
http://www.dallasnonprofitresources.org/aboutusservices.html

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DoGooderTV is about to get... gooder

I received this announcement from DoGooderTV:

DoGooderTV is excited to announce that we're switching to a new web video provider beginning June 1st... This new and improved platform increases our ability to provide metrics and better services to everyone who is registered with DGTV.

It's been a long time since I posted CDM's videos, but the process was fairly easy from what I recall (no more difficult than doing so through YouTube).

See CDM's DoGooderTV page here:
http://www.dogooder.tv/Orgs/cdm/default.aspx

See CDM's YouTube page here:
http://www.youtube.com/cendalmin

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The Opening of "the Bridge"

Congratulations to the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance for today's wonderful announcement: the grand opening of The Bridge, Dallas' homeless assistance center. The event drew hundreds of neighbors together to celebrate this wonderful step forward.

But let us remember: this is a mighty step forward, but we have not reached the end of our journey to end chronic homelessness. The road ahead is long, and we must walk it hand-in-hand with our neighbors... those who are homeless and otherwise.

I was greatly encouraged by the editors of The Dallas Morning News, who made a similar statement in their editorial this morning: Editorial: A step toward ending homelessness.

Ending homelessness in Dallas is a marathon event, not a 100-yard dash. Today's opening of The Bridge homeless center in downtown marks an innovative change in the way this city confronts the homeless problem. But it's important to remember that this is still just an initial step in a long and arduous slog.

Thanks also to one of The Dallas Morning News' finest reporters, Kim Horner, for prefacing the event with this piece: $21 million downtown Dallas facility will focus on chronically homeless

The Associated Press also covered it here: New homeless center opens in Dallas

It was also good to see Our Girl Friday, Catherine Cuellar, at the event for Pegasus News, which covered the event here: The Bridge, Dallas' new homeless assistance shelter, opens Tuesday. PegNews is a gracious host of Larry James' Urban Daily. In fact, one of his recent blogs that they cross-posted was "The Business Case for Ending Homelessness".

Again, congratulations to the MDHA for this momentous event.

And congratulations to Judy Noble, wife of my dear friend and college mentor Peter Noble, for launching the MDHA's new Web site:

http://www.MDHADallas.org/

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Green Giving

At Central Dallas Ministries, we just launched a "Green Giving Program" to promote Monthly Bank Drafts as a way to:

1. Save our donors' time;
   
2. Save us money;
   
3. Save the environment.

We launched this program after determining that monthly bank drafts were the most efficient method for donors to support us. Not only do donors switch bank accounts less often than credit cards (making it less likely for them not to fulfill their pledge), but this program also requires less overhead since our monthly credit card program includes processing charges.

In fact, the monthly bank draft program is even more cost-effective than donating by check, since that requires significantly more staff time.

Beyond that, we've also portrayed this program as an environmentally conscious effort to reduce waste: it does not require envelopes, stamps or paper (hence the "green" part of the name).

Compare the following:

One-time Check Donation by mail	One-time Credit Donation by mail	Monthly Credit Program	Monthly Bank Draft Program
Donor must fill out check every time they want to give Donor must use an envelope and stamp Receptionist has to open the envelope Accountant has to manually process check Development Officer has to manually process thank you letter Organization must pay to print and mail the receipt for each gift Executive Assistant has to drive to the bank to deposit the check	Donor must fill donation form every time they want to give Donor must use an envelope and stamp Receptionist has to open the envelope Accountant has to manually process credit charge Organization loses at least 3-5% of donation through processing charges Development Officer has to manually process thank you letter Organization must pay to print and mail the receipt for each gift	Donor only fills out donation form once No envelope or stamp necessary No staff involvement other than Development Officer processing all monthly cards in a single batch (i.e. one click) and exporting data for accounting software Organization loses at least 3-5% of donation through processing charges Only one thank you letter at the end of the year	Donor only fills out donation form once No envelope or stamp necessary No staff involvement other than Development Officer processing all monthly cards in a single batch (i.e. one click) and exporting data for accounting software No loss of funds to processing Only one thank you letter at the end of the year

Monthly donation programs -- whether through credit card or bank drafts -- are significantly more cost-effective than donating by check or by a single credit transaction. The monthly programs use significantly less paper, stamps, staff time and even fuel (i.e. driving to the bank).

Best of all, this form of "green giving" helps our organization to plan better by providing us with a more clear outline of projected revenues than a system based on praying that envelopes arrive with love offerings.

More about this program here:
http://www.centraldallasministries.org/green/index.htm

I would love to get your feedback, or to hear about how your organization is using recurring giving in its overall program.
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The Wages of Vice and Virtue

If the wages of vice is death, then the wages of virtue -- in the form of community service -- is apparently a better life. A new study finds the following:

Alumni of AmeriCorps are more civically engaged, more likely to pursue public service careers in government and the nonprofit sector, and more likely to be happy and satisfied with their lives than those who do not serve in AmeriCorps, a new report from the Corporation for National and Community Service finds.

The full article is here.

FYI, Central Dallas Ministries runs its own AmeriCorps program (the largest in Dallas). More info on that here:
http://www.CDMAmeriCorps.org/

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Now THAT'S the way you (BLOG!)

Charles Kisers shakes what his mama gave him over at Justice and the Mission of God « Dallas 2008.

Says Will Ferrell, "that's the way you BLOG!"

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Save the Date... A Night to Remember 2008 with Clint Black

Guess what I'll be doing on September 29, 2008?

A Night to Remember 2008 with Clint Black


Monday, September 29, 2008
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Show begins at 8:00 p.m.

The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

More info here:
http://www.centraldallasministries.org/ANTR


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The tyranny of volunteers...

Don't volunteer. Donate. We need your money a lot more than your time.

Preach on, Colonel James:
http://larryjamesurbandaily.blogspot.com/2008/05/people-always-ask.html

TRAC at the Track: Sunburn Grand Prix

Congrats to Maury Meekins, Evy Kay Ritzen and the whole team at TRAC for pulling off another successful event: The Sunburn Grand Prix, presented by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and benefiting Central Dallas Ministries' Transition Resource Action Center (TRAC) program.

Pictures from the event are available here:
http://trac.shutterfly.com/action/



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Gift Hub: Food Bank Visits Up

Phil Cubeta' recently blogged an article from Larry James on Gift Hub: Food Bank Visits Up. Here's a complementary piece on Red Orbit:

Food Charities Show Increase for Demand

It's going to take more than charity to end hunger.


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Job Opening to work with Foster Care youth

Central Dallas Ministries has an immediate opening for the Site Coordinator for TRAC, the regional transition center for teens aging out of foster care. The successful candidate will supervise case management services, program implementation & reporting, and will coordinate the continuum of TRAC services that move former foster youth to independent living. TRAC uses a comprehensive case planning approach, maintaining a high degree of external contact with community resources. Qualified candidates will have at least 3 years experience in or in close collaboration with CPS, other child-placing agency and/or juvenile services; at least 5 years of exemplary organizational management experience; broad knowledge of mental/behavioral health, educational, and clinical theory. MSW preferred; entrepreneurial and creative energy required. Please send inquiries and a list of professional references to smccomb@centraldallasministries.org

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How to Give a Damn

My CEO was asked to give a presentation entitled, "10 Things you can do to seek justice and do compassion." He solicited input from a few of us on staff at CDM.

Here's what I sent, while thinking of St. Francis of Assisi's words "Preach the Gospel at all times; only use words when necessary."

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There is great value in learning how to live your life by pretending to be someone else for a day. Here are some "guises" that, if worn for 24 hours, could change all of our lives.

1. Jesus the Mute. Try to preach the Gospel at all times while being unable to use words. Literally, do not say a word all day, but imagine that it is your day of trial and God has asked you to share His word through your actions. What would you do?
2. Our homeless neighbor. Dress down and spend a day -- and, if you can, a night -- walking the streets of your community as a homeless person. See what it is like to try to access the resources that you need without money. Go to the library, the local soup kitchen, the shelters, and other resources and see what it feels like to be the "unseen seen."
3. Our imprisoned neighbor. It is likely impossible to convince a jail to let you stay there for a day without locking you up for doing something, but go and visit a prison just to see what it's like. Don't go to "minister" or to evangelize. Just go to get to know people.
4. Our hungry neighbor. Go all day without eating, but not while avoiding those who eat. Sit with your family at breakfast and don't eat. Sit in the lunchroom while your coworkers eat. Go through the mall's food court during dinner time and just observe people eating. This is hunger.
5. Our blind neighbor. Try to spend a day in your home while wearing a blindfold. Imagine if that were your everyday… and if you did not know where you were as well as you know your home.
6. Our deaf neighbor. This is hard to do, and usually requires some expensive hardware… but try to find a way to block noise from getting to your ears for a day. Imagine if music died for you. Imagine if you could only see the mouth moving the words "I love you," but not hear it.
7. Our disabled neighbor. Spend a day in a wheelchair -- a MANUAL wheelchair. Go to the mall. Go through an outdoor shopping center. Go to the library. Experience life with limited mobility.
8. Our uninsured neighbor. Go to your county hospital's emergency room and report that you have a toothache but no insurance or ability to pay. See how long it takes to see a doctor.
9. Our defenseless neighbor. Go to the county courts and observe the trials. If possible, try to get into a family court case. Imagine what it would be like to be the battered woman who cannot afford an attorney.
10. Our poor neighbor. Imagine that you make minimum wage. Create your family budget based on this. How quickly do you run out of money? How much do you need to earn per hour just to have the bare minimum that you expect out of life? How much do you need to earn for your current life? Call apartments and ask about rent -- how much would you need to make to afford them? Would you consider living in one of the places that you could afford if you were making minimum wage?

On this last note, you should visit Poverty Tour USA from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development:

http://www.nccbuscc.org/cchd/povertyusa/tour2.htm

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Help me Wiki!

I am looking for a few good Wikipedians! It just came to our attention that Central Dallas Ministries has joined the world of Wikipedia. Check us out at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Dallas_Ministries

If you know how to edit Wikipedia, could you help us by:

• Putting a link to our CEO's blog, www.UrbanDaily.org on that site?
  
• Figuring out how to put something on the link with our CEO's name, "Larry James," on it? (the link is currently broken… maybe it should point to http://www.centraldallasministries.org/cdm/management.htm)
  
• Educating us on how we can use this resource to promote our mission?

Thanks for your time!

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