MCLEAN, Va., April 14, 2009 — USA TODAY, the nation's top-selling newspaper, will publish an eight-page special bonus section focused on philanthropy on Tuesday, April 14. The section focuses on a new and growing civic generation and how the current economy is affecting service organizations. An essay by First Lady Michelle Obama highlights the need for more youthful volunteerism than ever.
What day is it? In the span of only a few weeks, I received four wall calendars, a personalized pocket planner, a checkbook-sized calendar and a wallet-sized booklet calendar. Not unusual at first glance. But that’s just the beginning! Two of the wall calendars also had back-end premium offers; the pocket planner came with a funky flat pen; and the checkbook-sized calendar came with lots of seriously glitzy stickers and other fun goodies.
Here’s a puzzle: What two things require two keys to unleash all the energy you could ever imagine? The answer? A nuclear weapon and your nonprofit career. OK, I really don’t know whether it just takes two keys to unleash a nuclear weapon. I dearly pray that however many keys it takes, we lose most of them. But I know that if you want to unleash all the energy potential in a nonprofit career, you need to have two key things nailed down pretty well. Key No. 1: What are my skills? Giving yourself an honest answer to that question is the most important career move of your
Wow! Who ever thought the Gold Awards could be so exciting? The sun was setting on judgement day, and we had a tie for Package of the Year. A first! So, I polled our four judges — Steve Froehlich, director of development analytics at the ASPCA; Tim O’Leary, vice president of McPherson Associates; Paul Bobnak, director of North American Publishing Co.’s Who’s Mailing What! Archive; and FS Senior Editor Abny Santicola. After some soul searching and spirited debate, they weighed in: two for one package and the other two for the other package.
On Day 60 I started to wonder if thank-you note etiquette had gone the way of eight-track cartridges, Astro Pops and leg warmers.
But the Emily Post Institute assures that, to the contrary, thank-you notes still are de rigueur. The only exception is when the gift is opened in the presence of the gift giver — otherwise, it is incumbent upon the recipient to send a thank-you note. And for the older generation in particular, a thank-you note not only is expected but also received as a gesture of respect and consideration.
