Tag Archive for 'Diaper Bank'

“Community Organizer” Defined

Published
by
Hildy
on September 6, 2008
in Changing the World, Diaper Bank, My Inspiration and Words Matter
. 3 Comments

To the millions of people who work and volunteer in the Community Benefit Sector, who have felt your life’s work disparaged as you watch the political news these past few days, I offer the following definition of “Community Organizing.”

Community Organizing is work done to fix the messes made by those who run our nation’s businesses and governments.

Community Organizing is done by both secular and faith-based groups - places filled with people of wisdom and compassion, who put the needs of others ahead of their own need for material wealth. It is the most noble work anyone can choose to do.

This is the work that makes Dimitri and me proud, every day, that we have dedicated our lives to helping such “community organizers” as homeless shelters, environmental protection groups, youth programs. It makes us proud every day for having founded the first Diaper Bank in the nation, and then founded a second one because the need was so great.

And it makes us realize that if there were ever a time to stop calling the work we do “Nonprofit” and start calling ourselves “Community Benefit Organizations,” that time is now.

Nonprofit Sustainability

Published
by
Hildy
on July 2, 2008
in Capacity Building, Community Engagement, Diaper Bank, Fundraising and Tools to Use Now
. 4 Comments

Have you ever wondered what it takes to sustain an organization’s efforts?* Is it just money? Or is it something more fundamental?

I’m thinking about this because we spent time at the Diaper Bank last week - our “grandchild.” There is such an extraordinary energy surrounding the work they are doing, and that feels so good to see. Is that from some super fundraising effort? No - it is because they are engaging folks in what the Diaper Bank is at its core, and that is building all sorts of momentum. That engagement is sustaining them in every way imaginable!

Perhaps I’m also thinking about “sustainability” because my birthday is rolling around again later this summer. And that brings up all the images of last year’s birthday, when my friends swept through my house and did all the fix-up work I had neither time nor inclination to do.

It felt amazing - WAY more amazing than if I had found the time and dollars to pay professionals to just do the work.

And I’m realizing that when we were talking with the Diaper Bank’s ED and board, it was clear that was what THEY were feeling. They were so obviously energized, excited, joyful.

So what does it really take to sustain an organization’s efforts? And how can that work be energizing and joyful?

When I teach sustainability in workshops, I always ask the group, “What is Sustainability?” Here’s what they tell me, every time:

  • Ongoing cash flow
  • Not being dependent upon grants or any other single source of funds
  • An endowment
  • A large pool of donors
  • Diverse funding sources
  • etc.

Then I ask what makes us sustainable in our real lives. And suddenly the room comes alive.

  • Health
  • Family
  • Love
  • Faith
  • Beauty
  • Fun
  • Food
  • Friends
  • Chocolate

People are smiling, joking.

Now imagine those same feelings of energy and joy when you talk about sustainability. Is that how it feels in your board meetings, in your fund development meetings? If not, is that perhaps due to the reactions we feel when we look at the two lists above? While one of those lists makes us smile, the other brings up thoughts of ‘just more work to do.’

For me, then, the frustrating part about the standard approaches to sustainability is this: Not only are those standard approaches not joyful - they also have not worked.

How can I say they have not worked? Well, how many organizations do you know that are truly financially stable? With all the books and workshops out there on building sustainability, wouldn’t you suppose there would be a LOT more sustainable organizations by now?

Looking at the Diaper Bank, though, and the extent to which their work is so deeply engaged in the community - well it reminds me of why my friend Dan Duncan from Tucson’s United Way told me years ago, “You couldn’t kill the Diaper Bank now if you wanted to. The community wouldn’t let you.” **

And so this week, it is exciting to see that even as we founders are now almost 3 years retired from running our “baby,” that the Diaper Bank’s approach is still about Community Engagement. They have seen firsthand that when we engage the world in the mission - at whatever level the world wants to engage - the money (and everything else) just takes care of itself.

I am always proud to crow about our “grandchildren” - both the Tucson and Phoenix Diaper Banks. But in this particular case, in these tough economic times when everyone is worried about money, it was especially heartening last week to spend time with them, to see that their main desire is to just engage the community in everything they are doing.

So perhaps that should be this week’s assignment.
Look at your to-do list today, choose one item, and for that item, ask, “How could engaging the community in this item make the results more effective?”

I can’t wait to hear what you come up with!

* I have written pretty extensively about Sustainability at our website, including “Sustaining Your Mission for the Long Haul” and “Asset-Based Resource Development: How to Build and Sustain Strong, Resilient Programs.” Let me know what you think!

** Dan’s quote is from FriendRaising - you can read the whole Introduction to that book here.

And one last thing. While the title of this post is “Nonprofit Sustainability,” we cannot sustain our efforts if we continue to consider ourselves “nonprofits.” Sustaining “Community Benefit Organizations” just makes more sense, doesn’t it?

Diaper Banks Rock!

Published
by
Hildy
on May 21, 2008
in Changing the World, Community Engagement, Diaper Bank, Fundraising and My Inspiration
. 4 Comments

Having founded and retired from the world’s first two Diaper Banks, it is rare for us to have 3 wonderful Diaper Bank things happen, all in one weekend. But being “proud parents,” I must share!

First, Friday night, our first-born - the Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona - held its annual fundraiser. And while I still insist that the opportunity cost of fundraising events is rarely worth it, this one landed in their laps. A family friend of Executive Director Kirsten Grabo is an award-winning coach of competitive ballroom dancers. And he approached Kirsten about doing a Dancing with the Stars event…

So we spent Friday evening with 300 people, watching great dancing, and seeing old friends who care so much about the issues at the core of the Diaper Bank’s being. Kirsten infused those issues into as much of the evening as possible, which made these 2 founders very proud.

Then Saturday morning, we headed up to Phoenix, where our 2nd-born - the Valley of the Sun Community Diaper Bank - held a Diaper Dump! Yes, they filled a dump truck with over 20,000 diapers! It’s been a while since we unloaded a truck-load of diapers into a warehouse, and it felt GREAT!

All weekend, we got to talk with folks in both locations about the issues of poverty and crisis.

About the fact that a mom who cannot afford disposable diapers to leave at daycare cannot leave her child and hence cannot work.

About the fact that incontinence is a leading cause of elder abuse.

And about all the other facts that surround the simple commodity of a diaper.

And we got to talk with the leaders of both organizations about what’s next:
How do we define our “community?”
How do we turn “media attention” into “engagement” into “action”?
How do we move beyond diapers, and begin creating an equitable and compassionate place to live?
How do we talk about poverty without having people turn off?
How can we provide tools for other communities to learn from, to build their own diaper banks?

A weekend filled with such questions is a great weekend in our book!

Which leads to our 3rd wonderful Diaper experience this weekend. First, a story.

Years ago, at Tucson’s Diaper Extravaganza, a woman approached Bobby Rich, the radio DJ who has committed his soul to this effort from the beginning. Handing Bobby several packages of diapers, Barb shared her story.

Single mom. Son born so premature he had to be resuscitated. Mom quits her job to care for him. Relies on assistance programs for support.

Doing community work, sometimes we all get jaded to these stories. Except in this case, Barb asked where the diapers were coming from. And she showed up, years later, to give them back.

“You saved my son,” she told us. “Now I want to help you.”

Since that time, Barb speaks at events, hauls diapers, and has her now teenaged children volunteer.

But this past Friday night, Barb had a different announcement for the crowd at Dancing with Our Stars:

I recently moved to Flagstaff. And I am now working with the Food Bank there to build a Diaper Bank in Flagstaff.

Dimitri and I are always excited to hear about the birth of another Diaper Bank. And we are even more excited when those Diaper Banks use the collaborative, engaged model we used to build both Diaper Banks here in Arizona.

But to know that this Diaper Bank will be started by someone who received diapers herself - and that that is why she is doing this - well, it makes the two of us happier than anything we could hear.

So that’s our story. It was a GREAT weekend, and a great example of what is possible.

If you are considering starting a Diaper Bank, there is a web of mentors to help you, as the network of diaper banks around the country keeps growing. The Tucson Diaper Bank’s website has initial how-to information, as well as a list of Diaper Banks we know of around the country.

Photo credit: Dimitri
(Baby artwork drawn in chalk in parking lot at the Diaper Dump!)