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May I please have 14 minutes of your time? I promise to say something inspirational and relevant. Will you grant me that privilege?

On the other hand, assume I am the President of the United States. Assume that I want to motivate America’s children to work harder. To take personal responsibility for their education. To find their unique talent. To overcome obstacles. To persevere, not only for their own good but for the good of the country.

Now would you grant me that same privilege?

Local, state and the national government pour billions and billions of dollars into education. Parents save for years to pay for their children’s education. Philanthropists give more to support private and public education than for any other charitable purpose.

Yet, ultimately it is the children who have to make education work. Without their motivation, all of these dollars spent, all of the volunteer time parents and others invest are for naught.

On Tuesday, the first day of the new school year for many, President Obama delivered a teachable moment. Many children who heard him were inspired. I listened to his address online, and I was inspired.

How much money do we spend every year to inspire our children? How many motivational speakers do we pay for? How many assembly sessions bring athletes and luminaries to encourage children to aspire and achieve? How many multiples of 14 minutes do we allow for these activities? And isn’t every one of those minutes worth it if it motivates a child?

Tuesday’s motivational speech was free. It came from the President of the United States. It came as students begin a new year and have the opportunity to create success where there may once have been failure. The speech could have been shown to every student in this country, in just 14 minutes. And, it could have leveraged the immense investment of our educators, volunteers, donors and parents in this generation of children.

There was another teachable moment on Tuesday. Some parents fussed about wasting 14 minutes of their children’s precious time on the first day of school. Some teachers complained that a 14-minute address from the President was not relevant to the Standards of Learning. Some school leaders caved into this pressure and either refused to show the President’s speech or taped it and made it available in the library. These people taught children something as well.

The objectors didn’t want their children to hear these words:

“But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. “

Or these words:

“Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.”

Or these words:

“We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.”

Has life in this country become so politicized that we can’t rally around the President when he wants to do his part to help inspire the next generation of Americans? Have we lost our sense of patriotism and our respect for the Office of the President?

For those of us in philanthropy who work so hard to facilitate education – through tax dollars, through contributions and through volunteer time – the President’s leadership was welcome. It was important. It should be repeated by this President and by future Presidents of any political party.

Education is the single most important key to the future of our children and the future of this country. We need leadership at every level to do our best. Leadership begins at the top.

Tuesday was a teachable moment, indeed. Some children heard the President’s inspiring message. Other children heard a different message, which I very much regret.

When I first learned how to drive, my older brother, Billy, told me to look out for the other guy. “If you get killed in an accident, it won’t matter who was at fault.”

In recent years I have repeated this advice in a different context – finance – telling my children to invest cautiously. “During your life you will go through about a dozen recessions. Some will be particularly severe, and it is no consolation to blame bad luck for your demise. It is not acceptable to fail any of them.”

The “no fault” principle applies to caring for our older family members, as well. In cases where we are their caretakers, they will pay the price if we don’t pay attention.

Older people are often suckers for direct mail appeals from inefficient, ineffective nonprofits with a slick marketing pitch. They see the cute photos of Native American children who need help, for instance, and they stroke a check. Then, the charity starts mailing them frequently, and Mom/Dad/Grandma/Grandpa keeps sending another check, forgetting when they last did it and paying no attention to the basic question of whether the unscrupulous charity is actually helping these children. All the while, his or her assets are being siphoned away.

I chose the Native American example for a reason. An elderly donor of The Community Foundation some years ago passed away and left us with a charitable fund. In addition to an allocation to meet general community needs, there was a list of specific charities to support annually. One of those charities was a Native American youth service organization in the Western United States.

So, we checked them out. The photos on their website were breathtaking, but a look at their books portrayed a pure sham. Virtually all their annual budget went to fundraising. They were paying enormous salaries to staff and large stipends to former employees. Very little cash went to help children in need.

What a shame…and a sham! We put a stop to it by using The Community Foundation’s variance power, and we shifted the annual support to a reputable Virginia-based nonprofit, which aids Native American children. Unfortunately, there are many stories like this one.

For how many years had this donor been taken? How much money was siphoned away to a poorly performing nonprofit? How many times is this story being repeated?

Who is at fault if our parents or grandparents fritter away their money?

I love Monument Avenue, but I hate driving to the corner of Thompson and Monument. With a passion! I will do anything not to stop at the light. I will cruise at 5 mph, frustrating cars behind me. Why? Because it is painful to sit and wait for the light to change with this “homeless” person standing next to me holding a sign and begging for money.

My friend Alice Tousignant of Virginia Supportive Housing is an expert on homelessness and on helping the homeless move to transitional housing. Alice is new to the blogosphere, and I am pleased to share her recent posting about her own experience with panhandlers.

How should I react at the corner of Thompson and Monument? Read on, and if you like what Alice has to say you can find more of her observations at http://www.virginiasupportivehousing.org/blog/.

Feeling guilty…don’t
June 24th, 2009

“You did what?” I remember my husband asking me incredulously when I told him I had given $20 to a woman asking for money outside the grocery store. “But, she really seemed genuine. I mean it was a very believable story,” I retorted defensively, all the while secretly kicking myself for being a sucker and realizing I had just been taken.

I have always considered myself a level-headed person with common sense and not a bleeding heart. So his reaction deeply bothered me. Why had I given the woman $20? Like thousands of other good-hearted Americans would — I believed her story, felt sorry for her and wanted to help.

I no longer give money to people who ask me on the street; and I don’t feel bad about it. Whether it’s triggered by substance abuse, mental illness, con artistry or honest misfortune, panhandling is not a healthy lifestyle. It doesn’t help the panhandler, sympathetic citizen or community. There also can be serious and deadly consequences of panhandling. A few years ago, one of the residents of the supportive housing apartments we operate was killed while panhandling. A motorist struck him on the median of a busy street. His needless, wasteful death could have been avoided.

So, why are people in our community still panhandling? The answer is not simple. Over the last fifteen years, our public income safety net for low-income single adults has been eroded. Many panhandlers have disabilities that prevent them from working, but they also have trouble navigating the bureaucratic maze to secure disability benefits. Others have multiple barriers to employment (limited education, lack of transportation) and have difficulty securing jobs that continue to migrate into the counties. Some have active and untreated problems with addiction. Lastly, the presence of con artists who see an easy mark in the sympathetic public cannot be discounted.

What can be done about it? Many communities have passed ordinances banning panhandlers, resulting in some arrests and upsetting civil libertarians. (Isn’t it our right as Americans to stand on a corner asking for a handout?) But that hasn’t stopped the problem.

Homeward, our regional coordinating body, whose mission is to reduce homelessness by initiating creative solutions and coordinating regional resources and services, recently got a grant for a marketing campaign to try and stop panhandling. They have launched a multi-level media campaign, trying to get citizens to stop giving to panhandlers and to invest in local non-profits like VSH who are providing solutions for people with very low incomes.

For panhandlers who are homeless, some community resources exist. Richmond has 1,000 shelter and transitional housing beds for those who are homeless; we serve meals daily; and we have a program for people with substance abuse problems, The Healing Place, that is peer driven and takes into account the fact that people relapse numerous times before they become serious about recovering. VSH also has an array of permanent supportive housing programs for individuals who’ve experienced homelessness.

Panhandling actually undermines the work that we do. So, if you do feel the need to help panhandlers, tell them where they can eat or sleep for free, get them to one of the many non-profit agencies that exist to help folks like them, or donate to a non-profit to invest in providing real solutions to these difficult community problems. We are here, not to enable people, but to empower them.

Join me for a mid-year review of The Community Foundation’s 2009 Safety Net Fund – a look back, a peek ahead and a few July 4th thoughts about what it means to have guts.

Think back to last November. The stock market was plunging. Nobody knew where the bottom was or if there was a bottom. TCF’s assets were dropping with the market, although not as severely thanks to our investment partnership with the University of Richmond. Outgoing grants were running high, and incoming gifts were scant. A less courageous board would have circled the wagons.

What ensued was a stirring display of guts during a crisis on all sides. TCF’s Board displayed guts when it approved the expenditure of $1 million in reserves to help local nonprofits meet burgeoning human needs in our community and to survive their own budgetary stress. Donors had the guts to match this leadership commitment with over $800,000 of their own in response to an email, which has to match the most cost efficient community fund raiser in history. And, local nonprofits have since shown guts in meeting huge demand with scarce dollars to back them up.

At mid-year, we find ourselves over halfway through spending these $1.8 million in emergency funds. A special distribution committee, consisting of board members and community volunteers, is tasked with the decision making. It has met monthly, and it has built an impressive track record of responsiveness to community need.

Not every grant has gone to human service organizations, but the largest ones predictably have. FeedMore (formerly Central Virginia Food Bank and Meals on Wheels) will receive $150,000 in August, when its food needs are the greatest. Other large grants have gone to Goodwill, IVNA, Commonwealth Catholic Charities, Crossover Ministry, Jewish Family Services, The Healing Place, The Salvation Army, Virginia Supportive Housing and William Byrd Community House.

Smaller grants have met niche needs in a wider array of service areas. J. Sargeant Reynolds received funds for its Middle College, which is inundated with demand to help disadvantaged youth earn a degree. GRASP received a grant to help students obtain scholarship money. A grant to the Arts Council recognizes the needs of small arts organizations as donors have shifted their support to basic human needs. Our affiliates in Mathews, Gloucester and River Counties have leveraged 1:2 matching grants with local support and bonus grants from private foundations that serve these regions.

Two of the more creative grants have gone to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and Virginia Hunters Who Care. The former is cultivating vacant land to grow crops for FeedMore, and the latter needed funds to process venison during the extended hunting season. Both are playing an important role in providing food for the poor.

For a full review of the 2009 Safety Net Fund’s purpose, funding and grants, please visit The Community Foundation’s website at http://www.tcfrichmond.org, and click on the third article, “Helping Nonprofits through the Economic Crisis.”

Making it through a crisis takes guts on all sides. Threats to survival challenge our spirit and provide an opportunity to shine. In closing, let us spend today thanking the men and women who serve and who have served America in the military. Were it not for their efforts – their guts – we would not have this opportunity to meet the needs of our citizens.

Philanthropy implies being strategic about one’s giving. But, some of the greatest gifts are less well planned.

I first learned about random acts of kindness when driving from Maryland to Virginia on Route 301 some years ago. I arrived at the toll booth, and the toll collector told me that the car in front of me had paid $3 for me. I couldn’t believe it. It took me a moment to understand that I had been the beneficiary of a random act of kindness.

Since that time, I have become more aware and appreciative of acts of kindness, such as unexpected notes or emails of appreciation. My wife, Lisa, is undergoing treatments for breast cancer. It is amazing the number of people who have breast cancer and have called her with encouragement – people we barely knew. These new-found friends brought gifts and kept Lisa’s company during chemo treatments, along with neighbors and friends. Already, Lisa has started paying this kindness forward to others who are just getting started in the process.

We often can’t adequately repay people who have been kind to us, so we pay it forward to others. I often meet with people who are in transition and are thinking of moving to the nonprofit sector, or with college graduates seeking the right career for their talents and interests. Friends, mentors and relative strangers were kind to me in these circumstances years ago. Frequently we see individuals contribute to or establish scholarship programs because they attended school on scholarship and had a successful career.

While my observation of an increased level of kindness is certainly subjective, I think the recession has increased people’s awareness of the need to be helpful, and it may be part of a larger trend toward group involvement and civic engagement. Hands On Greater Richmond has seen a flood of volunteers looking to become involved, in some cases because they are unemployed and have spare time. Giving Circles are gaining in popularity. Several women recently inquired about starting a giving circle for women. They started a group on Facebook and quickly drew 100 members.

Community events such as the International Folk Festival, First Fridays and concerts at venues like Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden attract huge crowds. The Richmond Times-Dispatch Public Forum fills the room. The weekend before last, over 1,000 volunteers worked together to clean up 70 miles of the James River.

“Green shoots” has become a popular expression for signs of economic recovery. The real green shoots, however, as we work through this whopper of a recession may be more about rediscovering the joy of being kind to one another, enjoying activities together and becoming more civically engaged – things that cost little and return much.