Following a long and difficult discussion, we are excited to announce the winning recipient of Fairmount4Free’s inaugural pro bono consulting services. This year, we will be working with PhilaSoup, an organization that hosts a monthly micro-grant dinner that brings together innovative and dynamic Philadelphia-area educators, highlights the great work they are doing and funds exciting projects for implementation in the classroom. Continue reading
InSights
Make New Friends
In a few weeks, kids will head back to school for a new year – different teachers, interesting classes, and hopefully some new friends. Making friends for an organization isn’t all that different from making friends with another kid on the playground. Continue reading
Data as an Art Form
Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Or as engineer Clarence Johnson stated, perhaps more memorably, “Keep it simple, stupid!” As the philanthropic community places more and more weight on data and evaluation in determining where to direct support, many nonprofits are looking for new ways to present complex evidence in a straightforward and succinct manner to catch and keep the attention of potential funders. While traditional charts and graphs may suffice, some have discovered a method of demonstrating their results that is both simple and visually appealing: infographics. Continue reading
Proactive Organizational Evolution
Evolution has exponential qualities—one single cell is father and mother to millions of species alive today. If simple cells (prokaryotes) had not through the wondrous and inexplicable force of change over time evolved into complex cells (eukaryotes), which in due time morphed into simple animals laying the foundation for more complex animals, [fast forward a few mega-annums] we, Homo sapiens, may not exist today. The organisms that survived to participate in the next evolutionary leap were the ones that were adaptive. Continue reading
Does the American Dream Come True?
The Pew Charitable Trusts recently released Pursuing the American Dream: Economic Mobility Across Generations, a publication of their Economic Mobility Project. A key finding: we may be making more money than our parents did, but we aren’t necessarily ascending the economic ladder. Continue reading
The Story of a Squirrel Adoption: Engaging Your Audience in Creative Ways
Last week, a friend sent me a link to an image that was popular on one of my favorite social media sites. It was a picture of a sign on the side of a bus stop. The sign depicted a cute, slightly dopey-looking squirrel and read: “Get adopted by a squirrel. And feel content in knowing that your new parents are somewhere in a tree, watching you.” Continue reading
Absolutely Free Consulting Services
There are only two weeks remaining (!) to submit Letters of Intent for Fairmount4Free, our newest initiative to support small, innovative nonprofits. Continue reading
Something Simple You Can Do…Today
Picture a postcard that’s a treasured memento to you. Maybe it’s from your grandmother, who sent it from Cape May the summer she celebrated her 70th birthday. Its corners have curled into two separate, tightly wound pieces, the bright beach scene that once splashed across its front is now a faded pastel palette, and the card’s creases are so numerous and deep that you can’t read your grandmother’s words anymore. But, still, they stick with you because her message meant something. Continue reading
Hey, What’s the Big Idea?
As some of you may know, the Fairmount family has grown in recent months with the addition of our new strategic partners and officemates, Sage Communications Partners and Mialstones Consulting. Beyond the perks of finally having a couch and flatscreen TV in the office, we’re energized by their fresh thinking that’s already producing new ideas, resources and opportunities for our clients.
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Looking Forward
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