Fairmount InSights

By Reginald Hall | January 17, 2014

What LinkedIn’s New Volunteer Marketplace Means For You

You may not be aware yet, but earlier this week LinkedIn opened its Volunteer Marketplace – designed specifically for nonprofits looking for skilled volunteers.

For instance you might serve on a small, relatively unknown nonprofit with aspirations to expand your visibility. Using Volunteer Marketplace, you can post an opening for a Volunteer Director of Marketing, along with a description of the skills and experiences you seek. Chicago Family Directions, a nonprofit who provides long-term literacy tutoring to Chicago Public School K-12 students did just that using the marketplace and had 12 applicants one day after posting its position. MORE

By Don Kligerman | January 10, 2014

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

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. MORE

By Reginald Hall | January 3, 2014

When all else fails, look for the facts

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. MORE

By Don Kligerman |

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? MORE

By Don Kligerman | November 7, 2013

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. MORE

By Eugene Vaynberg | August 6, 2013

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. MORE

By Katie Simon | July 26, 2013

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(image) -making nature and invest in these [costly] charitable engagements? Is it really giving back? Does this mean they might actually be…altruistic?  MORE

By Katie Simon | July 9, 2013

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. MORE