FROM THE FRONT LINES

I invite you to come to my office and sit in at my desk for a few hours. I promise you it would not be boring. If you are seeking a “thrill ride,” this is the place “to be.”

No, this is not the desk of an investment banker, Wall Street trader, or that of a bankruptcy attorney. The task I take on each and every day is to understand what is happening to America’s money and how to create a “win-win” approach for both donors and charitable causes.

I AM A FUNDRAISER…….often, I refer to myself as a Development Strategist, but really, what I do is raise money and lots of it…and lately it is a monumental task and not one I suggest for the faint of heart.

The need is urgent …there is little time to wait when families are living on the streets.

My projects vary from month to month; however, lately they are focused on two central issues: 1) national security; and 2) the well-being of homeless families. In Phoenix, Arizona that would equate to OVER 20,000 families, a night, living on the streets of just the City of Phoenix …this does not include outlining areas.

Recently, a school teacher friend remarked that several of her students have stopped coming to school. Efforts to reach the families have resulted in learning of disconnected home and/or cell phones, and in some cases, school teachers have gone out to the homes to find them abandoned.

It is horrific to imagine families living in cars or under bridges.

Certainly this cannot be happening in America, but it is.

The United States is a beacon of democracy where every child should have a safe place to sleep, a warm meal, and a place to learn where they can dream and work toward becoming doctors, scientists, lawyers, congressmen, presidents, and school teachers, bus drivers, home builders and soldiers.

I want to direct your attention to three organizations, all in Phoenix, that are working tirelessly to eradicate poverty, help homeless families, and school homeless children.

They are:

UMOM – United Methodist Outreach Ministries/New Day Centers
www.UMOM.org

Children’s First Academy
http://www.childrenfirstacademy.blogspot.com/

My Sister, My Friend
http://www.mysistermyfriendaz.org/home.html


These three organizations are making a difference in the lives of men, women and children by either providing food boxes, emergency housing, schooling homeless children. They are providing a “hands-up” to hundreds of individuals daily; however we need to help THOUSANDS.

Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to these nonprofit organizations.

The nonprofit professional journals have endless articles on how deep the current crisis is for the human service sector. Unfortunately, they do not address how to create a sustainable fundraising stream of revenue. Pundits, professionals are long on rhetoric and short on advice.

I think I know how to raise money at this time…or at least, I have an idea that is taking root which may change the way we look at fundrising.

And trust me; it is a departure from what I would have recommended six months ago.

From the front lines, I will continue to report to you on the change needed in nonprofit fundraising (and development) in order for our sector to survive.

Lisa E. Benson
President
Picasso Strategic Solutions, LLC