Tax For Arts

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Julia Cain

Just caught this Marketplace story on the way home today:

The Detroit Institute of Arts is joining a small group of museums experimenting with a new way to fundraise. They’ve asked local taxpayers to chip in. Voters in three Michigan counties passed a tax increase — known as a millage.

According to Annmarie Erickson, executive vice president and chief operating officer:

“A home that has a market value of about $150,000, those individuals will pay about $15 a year for this tax.” But that adds up quickly for the museum. She says the millage plan allows the Detroit Institute of Arts to take in $23 million a year for 10 years, and that money will be spent on the museum’s operating budget.

With the fundraising burdened eased, at least in part, the development staff could then focus on building an endowment to strengthen the 125-year-old museum for the future.

What do you think about supporting community nonprofits through community taxes? Would you vote for a similar millage in your city or county in order to support a local museum or theatre?

Infinite Objects

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Julia Cain

The writer of stories or of novels settles on men and imitates them; he exhausts the possibilities of his characters. The poet is alone with infinite objects in his own obscure sphere and does not know whether he should be indifferent or hopeful. Later that single face will multiply; those gestures will become approving or disapproving opinions. This happens at the publication of the first poems. As the poet has expected, the alarms now are sounded, for — and it must be said again — the birth of a poet is always a threat to the existing cultural order, because he attempts to break through the circle of literary castes to reach the center.

– Italian poet Salvatore Quasimodo, winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Literature, born today in 1901

Around Town: August 17-19

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Julia Cain

Planning your weekend? Consider a non-profit destination, such as …

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

A 12-week public art celebration offering free cultural events and promoting creative expression, Artland Temporium features exhibits, dance, concerts, poetry readings, and games and free to the public. Check out the full schedule for this weekend right here.

District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW)

The DCAC Gallery is open from 2:00 to 7:00 PM on Wednesday through Sunday; so you can check the final week of “Wallmountables.” Any artist can purchase up to four 2′ x 2′ spaces and work is accepted from a wide range of media.

Accokeek Foundation (3400 Bryan Point Rd, Accokeek, MD)

Join a kitchen table conversation and introduction to the epicurean delights of colonial Marylanders; explore “receipts” (recipes) and meal preparation on Saturday at noon. Learn more right here!

Potomac Conservancy (River Center at Lock 8, 7906 Riverside Drive, Cabin John, MD)

Extra busy Sunday with Potomac Conservancy! A Canal Stewards river cleanup begins at 10:00 AM, followed by a Tree ID Walk at noon (can you tell a sycamore from a maple tree?) and Wilderness 101 at 1:30 PM. More info right here.

From the Field: Bright Beginnings

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Marie LeBlanc

By Marie LeBlanc, Community Partnerships Coordinator
& Sherika Brooks, Executive Assistant

Yesterday, Sherika and I visited the facilities of Bright Beginnings, a long-time Catalogue nonprofit, for a tour and site visit. Bright Beginnings is a “nationally recognized developmental childcare center for homeless infants, toddlers, and preschoolers that prepares vulnerable children for kindergarten while also helping stabilize their families.” As much as we read about the services provided by nonprofits like Bright Beginnings, the impression made by experiencing their impact first-hand is exponentially greater.

After discussing the needs addressed and services provided by the organization, Director of Development and Communications Joan Woods took our small group on a tour through the campus. One of Bright Beginnings’ unique qualities is the way it reclaims the face of homelessness in the District. The children and families it serves experience homelessness — but after walking into one of their well-equipped classrooms and seeing a group of toddlers playing and laughing together, one would never guess it. Despite the smiles on their faces, children from families experiencing homelessness are much more likely to suffer from hunger, behavioral problems, depression, and other emotional problems than their peers. They also typically enter kindergarten at a lower ‘academic’ level than their classmates. Bright Beginnings works to provide an early intervention to these challenges and allow low-income children to begin school equipped with the same tools for success as other children.

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The Park Space

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Julia Cain

Today on Greater Greater Washington, Dan Reed (Just Up The Pike) asserts that “South Silver Spring needs better parks, not just more:”

Citing a lack of open space, some South Silver Spring residents oppose a planned condominium apartment building. But the problem isn’t that there aren’t enough parks, but that existing parks aren’t being used.

Reston-based Comstock Homes seeks to build a 7-story, 200-unit building with ground-floor shops on a 1-acre property at the corner of Newell Street and Eastern Avenue currently home to a self-storage facility. [While the recently-formed Park Now for South Silver Spring] wants Montgomery County to buy the $2.8 million property and turn it into a park.

As Reed points out, newer apartment complexes and buildings are required to have “Public Use Space” (usually in the form of an outdoor park) and the area surrounding the intersection in questions already has five such spaces and the small Acorn Park; but that said, “many of the neighborhood’s pocket parks are poorly designed and seldom used.”

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After the Olympics

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Julia Cain

“I always loved running … it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.”
– Jesse Owens, four-time Olympic gold medalist, 1936

Time and time again, the sprints and endurance tests of the 2012 London Olympics reminded us of the power and excitement inherent in such a wide variety of sports. (Just check out these racing moments on Runner’s World for some fun examples.) But as numerous athletes mentioned in their post-race interviews, success often begins with one great coach or class or neighborhood game. So today, we’ve highlighted a few Catalogue nonprofits who are working (and running) to ensure that local kids have the chance to jump into sports and stay active:

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New Territory

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Julia Cain

[...] I believe that we have been doing this not primarily to achieve riches or even honour, but rather because we were interested in the work, enjoyed doing it and felt very strongly that it was worthwhile.

Scientific research is one of the most exciting and rewarding of occupations. It is like a voyage of discovery into unknown lands, seeking not for new territory but for new knowledge. It should appeal to those with a good sense of adventure.

– Nobel Banquet speech, December 10, 1980, of two-time Prize-winner biochemist Frederick Sanger (born today in 1918)

Around Town: August 10-12

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Julia Cain

A few great nonprofit destinations for your weekend …

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

HomeAid Northern Virginia (at Pfitzner Stadium, 7 County Complex Court Woodbridge, VA)

Help HomeAid send 200 kids and parents to watch the Potomac Nationals vs. the Winston-Salem Dash on Friday at 7:00 PM; for many of these children, this is the first baseball game that they’ll attend. Learn more right here.

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Measuring Economic Achievement

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Marie LeBlanc

By Marie LeBlanc, Community Partnerships Coordinator

Within the nonprofit community, there’s a movement towards data-driven, quantitative measurement and analysis of impact. These conversations lead to the bigger question of how “impact” and nonprofit “success” are measured, particularly for those providing services that might not lend themselves to a numerical calculation. This week, that conversation reached a broader level, in terms of the way that we measure our economic success on a national scale. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke remarked that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — a fairly straight-forward measure of income and expenses — might not be the best and only way to measure economic well-being, suggesting that there are “better and more direct measures” to gauge how economic policies impact individuals.

Several alternative measures to GDP-based economic analysis have been offered in the past, such as the Genuine Progress Indicator, and more recently, the OECD and the Gross National Happiness index, pioneered by Bhutan. As Nonprofit Quarterly mentions, “the suggestion that there might be a better way to measure a nation’s wellbeing is nothing new to many in the nonprofit sector whose work and worth is often not measured in dollars and cents.”

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In The News …

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Julia Cain

DC police measure up-and-coming neighborhoods (Washington Post): “As residential and retail development pushes more people and businesses into new areas, economic development data can be as important in shaping police staffing decisions as armed-robbery statistics. Discussing “up and coming” hubs, such as the Waterfront and H Street NE, Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier says that “my primary goal, as these areas roll out, is that not only are they safe, but that they feel safe.” As neighborhoods change, “there is also friction between law enforcement and community leaders who say police are not moving quickly enough or deploying officers smartly enough in some areas.” What is your experience?

Poverty and Schools: Finally, Some Lights Go On (Huffington Post): Peter Meyer of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute discusses the “seemingly interminable battle between those who believe that you have to cure the poor before you can educate them and those who believe that educating the poor will help cure poverty.” His opinion? “The pendulum might be swinging, ever-so-slightly, toward the believers (in school).” He cites several projects that he hopes “will motivate more school leaders to believe that they can and must face poverty squarely, in the classroom.” Do you agree with the findings, and are they replicable?

Language instruction for immigrants in the DC region (WMAU: Community Minute): Profiled at the beginning of this month, Catalogue nonprofit “Language ETC (LETC) offers English and literacy training to low-income adult immigrants in the greater Washington area using volunteer teachers and tutors [and] educates more immigrants annually than any other non-governmental organization in the area — and no willing student is turned away.” Most recently listed in the 2009/2010 Catalogue, LETC also provides a Multimedia Language Lab, conversation classes, book clubs, and individual job counseling to Washington area students.