At a time when we are making difficult choices about what to fund in society and particularly in schools, it may be time to consider some research-based facts. Recent research published in the journals Education Next and Educational Researcher reveals that students participating in art education demonstrate higher levels of critical thinking skills, social tolerance and historical empathy when compared to students without contact to the arts. Continue reading
InSights
Fairmount4Free Recipient Announcement
We are pleased to announce that Healthy NewsWorks has been chosen as the recipient of our second Fairmount4Free pro bono initiative. Continue reading
The power of the ordinary
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
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
Your Mission
Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway once penned a 6-word short story and judged it to be his best work. Although this post in the Stanford Social Innovation Review isn’t actually channeling the literary giant and Nobel Prize winner, they share a similar spirit of brevity and clarity. Continue reading
Charitable (and Profitable) Giving
Corporations are giving back at an all-time high. Last year’s cash and in-kind donations topped $18 billion (says the Giving USA Annual Report that tracks charitable giving). That’s up 10% from 2010, compared to the slower 2% increase you see from individuals.
Why do corporations go against their inherent money
-making nature and invest in these [costly] charitable engagements? Is it really giving back? Does this mean they might actually be…altruistic? Continue reading
Brand New Branding News
Have you heard the news? The old handicapped sign is getting a new look in New York City. Continue reading
Fairmount4Free Launches Round 2!
After our exciting engagement with last year’s selected organizations, PhilaSoup and African Family Health Organization (AFAHO), Fairmount is thrilled to announce the second round of its Fairmount4Free (F4F) initiative. Once again we’re seeking to support a small, innovative nonprofit organization (budget less than $250,000) that benefits the Greater Philadelphia region, by providing strategic consulting services in the areas of: strategic alignment, programmatic assessment, or resource development on a pro bono basis. Fairmount4Free offers an opportunity for our own junior Associates to hone their skills, and for Fairmount as a whole to give back to our community. Continue reading
You don’t have to be Veronica Mars…
…to launch a successful crowdsourcing campaign. Continue reading
Two Steps Past Comfortable
As we gear up for a second round of our Fairmount4Free pro bono initiative – stay tuned for an announcement this summer! – it’s important to look back on what we accomplished the first time around. For those not in the know, we launched Fairmount4Free as our very first pro bono initiative last summer, which offers $10,000 of free consulting services to smaller nonprofits in the area doing exciting work. The response was amazing (and even inspired us to expand pro bono support to the many new nonprofit leaders in our city through the PHL NExT initiative). After much deliberation we selected PhilaSoup, an education-focused microgrant dinner that awards funding to exciting classroom projects, as one of our inaugural awardees. Continue reading