Author: Don Kligerman

The Proof is in the Planting

By Don Kligerman |
PHS show

PHS celebrates Holland at the 2017 Flower Show. (Photo courtesy of PHS)

This week, an estimated 255,000 attendees will explore the 10 acres of exhibition space at the 2017 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show.

The oldest and most renowned horticultural event in the United States, landscape and floral designers from around the globe create brilliant displays to the delight of Flower Show guests. The proceeds from the annual convention go directly to support additional PHS programming and other initiatives. And while the Philadelphia Flower Show is undeniably the most visible demonstration of the society’s work and impact, there is more to PHS (Pennsylvania Horticultural Society) than just sensational spring flora.

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If all the world is a stage, what is the play?

By Don Kligerman |

Twenty five years ago this month–Groundhog Day to be exact–we launched Fairmount Ventures. Our goal was to play a role in advancing a vision of society in which community and connection are valued, where everyone has equal access to the resources and support needed to live healthy, joyful, resilient lives. The founding idea was to assemble a multi-disciplinary, diverse team capable of providing unparalleled insights and access to funding to nonprofit and public-sector organizations in order to strengthen and accelerate their transformational impact on communities. Continue reading →

Abe Lincoln on the Apollo 13

By Don Kligerman |

As we consider what the next four years have in store for nonprofits, we imagine Abe Lincoln strapped into the Apollo 13 spacecraft hurtling toward disaster and repeating his famous saying, “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” Continue reading →

Quick: I’m Double Parked, Want to Collaborate?

By Don Kligerman |

We were delighted by the recent splash heard on local and national news this week. President Obama announced that West Philadelphia is one of just five communities nationwide selected to be a “Promise Zone.” This is a new federal initiative to target resources to areas with significant poverty in order to transform the lives of area residents without displacing them. Continue reading →

The power of the ordinary

By Don Kligerman |

What is the meaning of a Marathon? 30,000 people of all ages, sizes, colors, and shapes standing on the Parkway in the near dark on an early Sunday, November morning. Total strangers in common bond as far as the eye can see. So what? Continue reading →

Papa don’t preach

By Don Kligerman |

I heard Toni Morrison speak at last night’s opening of the First Person Arts Festival. She compared the relationship between a novel’s character and the reader to the call and response in an African-American church. It’s a conversation. Continue reading →

Lessons from Punk Rock

By Don Kligerman |

Punk rocker Amanda Palmer makes the point that by asking her audience for their support she creates an exchange that builds community and gives her listeners the opportunity to participate in something of meaning to them. Compare this to selling a product, a purely financial exchange. Her music is  free to anyone to download, while she asks her fans to pay what they want. The result is far more money than she would have raised through sales and a stronger connection and sense of trust between her and her audience. She also makes the point how vulnerable it feels to ask, but how gratifying it is to both parties to establish the resulting relationship.

Lessons learned for nonprofit fundraising?

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Looking Forward

By Don Kligerman |

In February, Fairmount Ventures quietly celebrated a milestone: we turned 20 years old. In sentimental moments when no one else was around we’ve had occasion to cast our minds back to what things were like for nonprofits in the ‘90s, who our clients were, our old addresses on Walnut and Chestnut Streets, and the fact that we had one email address and a staff person who had to read, print and distribute each message to its intended recipient.  Tiny phones that fit in your pocket? Really? Continue reading →