My latest love... KIPP: TRUTH Academy

No better way to start the day than meeting the students of KIPP : TRUTH Academy

Thank you to Jim Chambers and Lesa Engelthaler of TNS Partners for the introduction to the amazing staff and dynamic students of the KIPP : TRUTH Academy this morning.

Rarely have I been as impressed with the power of a youth development program as I was this morning. Beyond the facts and figures (i.e. doubling math scores within three years and having 100% acceptance to elite high schools), the KIPPsters themselves were some of the most articulate, passionate young people that I've met in a long time.

The most impressive part of the morning was the way that the staff turned our group of 20+ visitors over to the youth themselves to lead us on a tour of the facility.

What a novel concept: entrust your donors to your clients, and let them show themselves off rather than have you talk about them!

This single move was perhaps the most indicative moment of the morning about the impact of the KIPP : TRUTH Academy on the kids. Their fantastic principal and highly capable development officer knew that their "product" could speak for itself.

I am fully confident that these young men and women are well on their way to a bright and bold future. All I asked of them was this:

"When you end up running the world, can I work for you?"

Seriously impressive young leaders.

Our community is fortunate to have KIPP : TRUTH Academy call Dallas its home.

Learn more here:
http://kipptruth.org/

[where: 75216]

VIDEO: The Next Obama???

A week ago I posted about an amazing young man from the Dallas Independent School District who delivered the keynote address at the District's Back-to-School Kickoff event. At the time, the video was not available on YouTube.

Now, thanks to CDM's Director of Education Janet Morrison, it is. Check it out here:

What can fundraisers do to address systemic poverty?

SingleStop USA was called "The Best Poverty-Fighting Bet" by Slate Magazine, which also said that they hosted "the Google IPO event of the nonprofit world" here.

Today, my CEO's blog -- Larry James' Urban Daily -- addresses an amazing fact that is rarely discussed in our community:

Over 90% of the children in the Dallas ISD live at or below poverty.

Reread that.

There are 160,000 public school students in Dallas. Fewer than 16,000 are not living in poverty.

What can we, as fundraisers, do to address this? By arguing for more funding for our little organization? By shunning collaboration in favor of competitive grant-seeking?

Or should we start to realize that our jobs should not exist?

Should we start to think globally about the fact that we are here to meet needs, but most of us just raise funds to feed those needs rather than kill them forever?

Here is a question for the day:

How much better would your clients be if you could almost guarantee the majority of them an additional $5,000 in income per year?

Think I am dreaming? Perhaps. But take a look at this organization, SingleStop USA:

The Google IPO event of the nonprofit world. - Slate Magazine

SingleStop developed a quick one-stop shop at 59 sites across New York. In 15 minutes, the organization's software tools calculate a family's eligibility for a host of benefits—public assistance ... SingleStop counselors then provide families with tailored legal and financial advice...

The average family in a SingleStop program recouped $1,800 in tax credits and $5,000 in benefits that they weren't previously receiving

For every $1 invested, the program gives clients $3 in benefits, $4 to $13 in legal counseling, $2 in financial counseling, and $11 in tax credits.

This looks like an amazing organization. My hope is that they begin thinking collaboratively about how to work with the rest of us to roll out their product across the country.

Until then, remember that we are NOT marketers: we are not in the business of selling people things. We are in the business of securing and effectively deploying resources to address the root causes of the most intractable problems facing our society.

We are here to close gaps in the system.

We cannot do this by begging for dollars.

We can only do this by fighting for change.