My Nonprofit Reviews

As a member of the Fistula Foundation board of directors, I visited hospitals and health centers in Kenya recently along with my wife and other members of the board. I was hugely impressed with the dedication and skill demonstrated by the surgeons and other health professionals supported by the foundation -- and deeply moved by the stories of the women we met both before and after surgery to repair their wounds. The foundation's work in Kenya is part of an ambitious but feasible effort to eradicate obstetric fistula in one country. And a second countrywide program is already underway in Zambia. There will be more. I have worked with hundreds of charities in my 40 years of professional involvement in the nonprofit sector. But I have never seen a more effective organization.

I've been involved with the Fistula Foundation for nearly a decade, including service on the board for the past two years, but I've never been prouder than I am now. This past week, our Executive Director, Kate Grant, had a phone meeting with the Islamic Development Bank. As Kate just reported to our board, the bank has "a new president and are planning a significant program to combat fistula in five countries (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Gambia and Sierra Leone), three of which we work in. They have followed our work and are very interested in our Kenya and Zambia country-wide models. We will likely work closely with them to provide ‘open source’ access to our plan, lessons learned and results, to help enable them to succeed where they are working, and to dovetail their work with ours in countries where we have partners." The Fistula Foundation will receive no funding from the bank. Our collaboration with them is strictly in support of our mission to eradicate obstetric fistula. Anyone who closely follows the nonprofit sector will be aware how rare it is for one organization simply to help another working in the same field.

Some years ago I worked as a consultant to the Fistula Foundation, helping Kate Grant increase the effectiveness of the organization's fundraising activities. Afterwards, I continued to advise Kate from time to time on fundraising and governance. Recently I agreed to join the board of directors -- because I am so very impressed with the effectiveness and the efficiency of the organization's operations. I've worked with hundreds of nonprofits over the years. The Fistula Foundation is one of the most impressive organizations I've ever come across.

I've been involved in the David Brower Center from the time when it was merely an idea in the minds of some of David Brower's closest friends and colleagues. I learned about it at David's memorial service and helped in the early stages of organizing and fundraising to lay the groundwork for the Center. Since then, I have continued to support the Center as a donor -- and I have participated in a great many events held there. The David Brower Center has become a cultural centerpiece for Berkeley and a magnet for environmental activism for California and the West. It's a brilliant testament to the continuing impact of David Brower's legacy.

The Center for Investigative Reporting, now located in Emeryville, has brilliantly served not just the Bay Area but the nation with its award-winning journalism. What I find most outstanding about CIR's work is its use of all available channels to disseminate the results of its investigations -- not just print, radio, TV, the web, and social media, but such others means as poetry and drama. The Center's leadership -- executive chairman Phil Bronstein and executive director Robert Rosenthal -- are an extraordinary team, and they've recruited an impressive staff of journalistic stars.

I've known Dr. Davida Coady, the founder and director of Options, for 30 years. She is one of my heroes. Though a physician who could earn a comfortable living from medicine, she has devoted her life for all that time to improving the lives of others through her selfless dedication to philanthropic efforts. Options is the latest expression of her commitment. I have supported the organization as a donor for many years, not just because of Dr. Coady, but because I have witnessed the breakthroughs made by so many of its substance-abuse clients. Options' success rate is enviable.

I've followed La Pena for more than 30 years, going back to the time when I worked in an office across the street from that striking mural emblazoned across its front. More recently, I've become a donor. The organization is in the midst of a major rejuvenation campaign designed to maintain its invaluable role as a center for politics and the arts for another four decades. I'm proud to be supporting the effort.

I've served on the board of this remarkable organization almost since its inception. Founder Perla Ni is an inspiration, and the organization's mission is close to my heart: offering a viable alternative to the financially-based evaluations of nonprofit effectiveness from the self-appointed watchdog organizations.

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My fundraising agency has served the Global Fund for Women for at least a decade, and I was personally involved in the work during the first several years. For an organization of such modest size, the Fund's reach is truly global. As the website says, "Since 1987 we have awarded over $71 million to 3,800 women's organizations in 167 countries." That's an astonishing record, and I've learned about a number of the group's well-chosen projects through contacts I've made in developing countries during extensive travels around the world for most of the past decade.

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My fundraising agency has served the Union of Concerned Scientists since 1999, and I was personally engaged in the work for the first five years. I have rarely seen a better-managed or more focused nonprofit organization. As a result, I have become an annual donor, and I intend to continue supporting the organization because I'm convinced that it delivers the best return on a charitable investment in the environmental field.

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Ashoka is unquestionably one of the most important organizations in the world to have started in the last half-century. As a prime engine of social innovation, Ashoka has made its mark in dozens of countries. Its 3000 Fellows, primarily in developing countries, form a network of changemakers that is collectively one of the chief sources of new energy in the global movement to build civil society.

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I've been a member of SVN since 1990. I've attended most of the group's twice-annual conferences since then and participated especially actively during the past decade, serving on the board for six years, four of them as chair. This has given me a unique perspective on the value of the organization, from the outside and the inside both. I'd sum up that value by noting that virtually every social and environmental innovation I've introduced into my consulting company came about as a result of my membership in SVN. The experience has been equally valuable for me personally. I've formed many close friendships with other people in the network who share my commitment to the Triple Bottom Line.

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