Absence Excuse

Posted on June 21, 2012 by nicksava

A lot of our readers (all 8 of them) have been asking why there have been so few blog posts of late? To that I say, “Share my blog posts more, we’ll get more readers, I’ll get paid to blog, and you’ll see more posts!” Just kidding. Sort of. Anyways, while writing is  a volunteer labor of love, the real love of my life, my family, has been my top priority recently. In January, we welcomed my son Dominic into the world. He joins my 4-year old daughter Naomi in making me and my wife Stephanie the happiest and luckiest parents in the world, but also in wreaking havoc upon us! Therefore, the few free hours a week I used to have to write have been spent changing diapers, giving baths, teaching Dominic to shoot 3-pointers, and generally enjoying the mayhem that is the life of a young parent. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Regular blog updates will be back soon enough! In the meantime, check out my e-book!

 

The blessed life

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10 Reasons The Boston Marathon Rules

Posted on April 16, 2012 by nicksava

I spent today at the 116th  Boston Marathon, considered by many to be the most prestigious marathon of them all. I have observed many great things about the event, which is organized by the Boston Athletic Association. Here are 10:

10. Military personnel who run the entire 26.2 miles in full fatigues, boots, and backpacks. Makes me feel pretty good about the character of our fine military men and women.  Note: It was un-seasonably hot today, w/ temperatures reaching over 90 degrees. Not ideal marathon conditions. At all.

Don't mind knowin these guys have our backs

9. Patriots Day in Boston. Those outside New England have no idea what Patriots Day is. Well it’s where people from Massachusetts (you may refer to us as Mass-holes), celebrate being… well… Mass-holes. And it is great. Red Sox game in the a.m., holiday from work, and the Boston Marathon.

8. Runners who put their names on their shirts. So much fun to yell, “Go Susie”, to someone you’ve never met , and have Susie give a “thumbs up” in appreciation.

7. Runners thanking National Guard for their service. I was standing next to a volunteer National Guardsman in full fatigues. He, along with many of his peers, were serving as volunteer Course Marshalls. Countless marathon runners made sure to thank the service-people as they ran by. Cool to see.

6. Athletes with dis-ABILITIES! Sure there are elite athletes in wheelchairs. And they are awesome. However, there are also runners who are blind, runners in wheelchairs who are pushing off the ground with one leg, etc… So many inspiring moments.

5. John Hancock Sponsorship. The company has sponsored the race for over 20 years. Their brand has become synonomous with the event. Most importantly, they leverage their sponsorship for incredible philanthropic impact. Through providing official entries to upwards of 90 worthy organizationsthroughout New England, over $6 million is raised annually for positive social change. The added bonus of this is that the organizations spend very little to raise this much. (Full disclosure: The organization I work for, Special Olympics MA, benefits from John Hancock’s fantastic charity program)

4. The simple spirit of giving. I was giving away bottles of Gatorade, water, candy, sunscreen, etc… Nobody questioned me or was suspicious. People were just grateful. Police officers nearby were appreciative. These simple small acts of giving felt so refreshing. Let’s face it, when else could you just walk down the street and give away food and candy without being punched in the face or looked at like you are nuts?

3. The Economic Impact. The Boston Marathon is estimated to bring in $137.5 million for Greater Boston. No need to elaborate.

2. The Hoyts. Everything that is good about life, love, family, and athletics.

1. The Power of Sport. The Boston Marathon is simply an example of individuals pushing themselves to achieve achieve their goals and athletics collectively bringing people together for positive interaction and community building. Great stuff all around.

 

 

 

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Launching My e-Book, The Journey To Unity!!

Posted on February 18, 2012 by nicksava

Click here to download “The Journey to Unity”, by Nick Savarese

In the summer of 2010, Special Olympics athlete Matt Millett of South Grafton, Massachusetts had the opportunity of a life-time. Matt was one of 16 Special Olympics athletes from around the world selected to travel to South Africa and participate in the Special Olympics Unity Cup, presented by Coca Cola. The inaugural Unity Cup was an exhibition soccer match to promote unity and inclusion for people with disabilities, held in unison with the FIFA World Cup, the world’s most famous sporting event. Matt’s brother, John, and I were lucky enough to be able to tag along. It was quite an experience. This book is a collection of blog posts that I wrote chronicling the experience of Matt as well as examining the themes of unity, inclusion, and acceptance for people with intellectual disabilities through the power of sport.

You’ll read about dinner with the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, and NBA legend Dikembe Mutumbo. You’ll hear about NBA and NFL discussions with Special Olympics athletes from four different continents.  Anecdotes of the “vuvuzela” will be shared. Also, you’ll hear about “bomb sweeps”, excessive ice cream eating, airplane arguments, and much more. The story culminates with a display of athleticism by a Special Olympics athlete comparable to Michael Jordan elevating from the foul line to dunk a basketball.

If you enjoy the story, please share with your friends and share your thoughts here on the blog, via email at nick@theinspiredsport.com, on Nick’s twitter page, or on our facebook page.

Click here to download “The Journey to Unity”, by Nick Savarese

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Penn State Trustees: How Not to Communicate

Posted on January 20, 2012 by nicksava

Some members of the Penn State Board of Trustees decided to speak to the New York Times recently, as they had “grown weary of hearing criticism” of their handling of the Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal, and wanted to tell their side of the story. The article is a case study in dysfunctional organizational leadership. The board members argue that Penn State University President Graham Spanier failed in informing the board of the serious nature of the allegations that were brought forth from a Grand Jury investigation into Sandusky’s actions as well as the culpability of the University in Sandusky’s actions.

Penn State Board and Administration really wrote the book on Bad Leadership, not Ms. Kellerman

There are many items of interest in the story, far too many to cover here, so I suggest you read it. However, the following fact in the article jumped off the screen at me:

“Steve Garban, the board’s chairman, admitted to not reading the grand jury’s charges until late Sunday night, more than 24 hours after it went public.”

Wait… What? The grand jury report details in vomit-inducing detail former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky’s hideous acts of child rape, and implicates many high ranking Penn State officials as having intimate knowledge of these acts, some of which took place in Penn State facilities, for over ten years. I personally remember the report going public on a Saturday morning. I was at my daughter’s swim lessons, casually checking my twitter feed on my phone, and saw tweets from some journalists as well as individuals I follow, with comments like, “this is the worst thing I’ve read in my 30 years covering sports”. I made a mental note to read the report when I went home, and at around noon on Saturday, I got home and read the report.

How does the President of the Board of Trustees of the University not read that thing until over 24 hours after I, and millions of other people, read it!? This document literally led to the greatest scandal in college sports history! Nobody thought to give this dude a call and let him know he should probably read it?! Safe bet this guy doesn’t have a twitter account? I understand that it was the week-end and all, but short of being in a cave meditating in the Himilayas, there’s really no excuse for not hearing about or understanding the importance of the public release of this document. Hell, even if he was in a cave, he would have been “one-with-the-universe” and intuitively known to check his phone! This speaks to the overall lack-of-oversight and ownership provided by the Penn State Board of Trustees (and frankly many other nonprofit boards share similar problems). Board members are not paid but they have to take an active role in organizational oversight, less they want grand juries droppin bombs on their peaceful week-ends.

 

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Winning The Customer or Winning The Donor: Same Thing

Posted on January 16, 2012 by nicksava

Sadly, I’m pretty sure I only read one darn book in 2011. I’m not proud of this fact but at least the book was a good one! In Winning The Customer, by Lou Imbriano, the author draws on his experience as Chief Marketing Officer for the New England Patriots and CEO of TrinityOne to instruct readers how to “turn customers into fans” by being relationship-driven, as opposed to transactional. While the book is intended for people in sales and the business of sports, there are many themes that are applicable in the nonprofit fundraising world as well. Here are a few:

1. Know your customers/donors personally: Imbriano talks about the need to keep a detailed database of all interactions with and information about a customer. The information in this database becomes the necessary backbone to create personal relationships that draw the customer closer to your organization and ultimately lead to more revenue. This goes beyond remembering a prospects birthday (though that is important as well). It means knowing what food your prospect likes to eat so you can make suggestions when you are dining with her. Know their career achievements so you can praise them for what they’ve done. This all leads to trust with the prospect, and people want to do business with/donate to people and organizations they trust.

2. Create Memorable Experiences for your prospects:Whether a grand gesture (The New England Patriots were able to bring their prospects onto the field just before game-time to see the players run out of the tunnel in front of thousands of screaming fans), or old-fashioned hustle and effort (a waiter once ran down the street to pick up some wasabi sauce in the middle of the author’s meal), your organization needs to provide a memory for the prospect that she’ll never forget. At Special Olympics, where I work, we have our donors and prospects put gold, silver, and bronze medals on victorious athletes after their competitions. We often hear back how enjoyable these experiences are. Whatever your organization does, find opportunities that are unique and show that you have put some thought and effort into. Also, as suggested in the book, follow up this experience with some sort of keepsake reminding the prospect of their great time with your organization.

3. Look for affinity in a prospect, in addition to wealth: Imbriano discusses how the Patriots realized their best prospects to purchase premium-seating season tickets were not necessarily high-society-types, but rather, they were Patriots-jersey-wearing small business owners. Basically, the guy wearing a Tom Brady jersey may be a better prospect than the guy in the $3,000 suit. Same deal in philanthropy. Too often nonprofits get caught up in looking at who were the big spenders at the latest gala in their city or who is a VP or CEO at “Company X”. In reality, organizations can look at their current donor or volunteer list and see who has demonstrated commitment over time. Do some research on the people who already really care about your mission and you will find that some of these folks also have disposable income to invest in your organization.

 

Are these guys your next big donors? Maybe not, but they do have affinity!

There were many more “cross-industry” nuggets to learn from this book, but one final over-arching theme I will leave you with is this: It is about the prospect, not about you. In “Winning The Customer”, sponsorship is discussed as a way to help the sponsor build business. Same in nonprofits. Your organization may have a great mission, but there are many other great missions out there. You need to get to know your prospect and show how involvement in your organization will helpe her achieve her personal goals.

To order a copy of “Winning The Customer” or learn more, check out http://winningthecustomer.com/ or follow Lou Imbriano on twitter

 

 

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NFL Playoff teams as Presidential Candidates

Posted on January 5, 2012 by nicksava

The recent Iowa Republican Caucus kicked off Presidential Election Season. The NFL Playoffs will kick off on Saturday. When watching the historically close Caucus victory by Republican favorite Mitt Romney overt upstart candidate Rick Santorum, I thought about how President Obama must love sitting back watching all of these candidates politically pound each other, knowing that he’ll only have to face one battered and bruised candidate by the time the General Election rolls around. In that sense, he is like the New England Patriots or the Green Bay Packers. While both of these teams have flaws, like Obama, they still have an easier path to the Super Bowl, by virtue of a bye this week where they get to watch their future opponents pound each other into submission for 60 minutes, and then home field advantage until the Super Bowl. So, without further ado, what Presidential candidates do the rest of the NFL playoff teams most resemble?

As GOP Candidates duke it out, Obama's preparing diligently

Rick Santorum = Denver Broncos: Early in the campaign season, Rick Santorum did not stand a chance. Then he fired up the Evangelical GOP base in Iowa, and suddenly he is in the thick of the action, but he’s not going to win. The Broncos started the season slowly, then the Tim Tebow phenomenon happened and the Broncos are in the playoffs. Both Tebow and Santorum are outspoken about their religious beliefs. They are also both very outspoken Pro-Lifers. Let’s just hope that Tebow doesn’t come out and compare homosexuality to child molestation, incest, and beastiality, like Santorum did.

John Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty = NY Giants and Atlanta Falcons: Pawlenty and Huntsman both seem to be reasonable moderate candidates with strong credentials. Solid across the board. Both the Giants and the Falcons have solid coaching, good quarterbacks, good running games, and decent defenses. Yet chances are they’ll come up short. Just like neither Pawlenty, who dropped out of the race long ago, or Huntsman have a shot at the GOP nomination.

Ron Paul = Detroit Lions: Sometimes Ron Paul makes a whole lot of sense, like when talking foreign policy for example. Other times, you think, “I better stock up on canned goods and weapons because if this guy ran the country, he would dissolve all government and we’d live in complete anarchy.” The Lions have that quality as a team as well, led by their defensive star Ndamukong Suh. Suh is either being the most philanthropic athlete in all of pro sports, or he’s cheaply stomping the hell out of your quarterback on his way to being the dirtiest player in the league.

Rick Perry = New York Jets:Wait, the Jets aren’t in the playoffs?! Exactly. Just like Perry isn’t in the race. Despite winning the media hype battles early in their respective seasons, both Perry and the Jets proved to be nothing more than that… hype.

While some teams are beating each other up, Brady lurks, on his scooter

Herman Cain = Pittsburgh Steelers: There are a lot of similarities between Herman Cain and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.  Actually there aren’t. Only one similarity I can think of. Allegations of sexual harassment and/or assault.  Cain, like the Steelers, was a front-runner a few months back, but both have been derailed, Cain by his infidelity and the Steelers by injury.

Mitt Romney = Baltimore Ravens: Every Presidential election year, Mitt Romney is a candidate. But he never wins, and nobody really even wants to see him play. The Ravens are always in the mix, but they never quite have what it takes. More so than the team, Romney resembles Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. Who is he? What does he stand for? Can he really lead the team/nation to the promised land? Why is he so boring to watch?

Newt Gingrich = San Fransisco 49ers: It’s 1994 right? The 49ers are winning Super Bowls and Newt Gingrich is the most powerful man in all Republican Politics. Oh wait, it’s actually 2012. Neither stand a chance, though they have both made somewhat improbable runs this season to get where they are.

Michelle Bachmann = Cincinnatti Bengals and Houston Texans: These teams are irrelevant. So is Bachmann.

That leaves us with the New Orleans Saints. They don’t really fit with any particular candidate, as they actually have a chance to win it all, and therefore are only comparable to Romney and Obama. But unlike Obama they don’t have a bye, and unlike Romney, they have a personality and are fun to watch. Plus, after the last Republican President hung the city of New Orleans out to dry (or rather drown) after Hurricane Katrina, I can’t in good faith compare the Saints to any republicans.

What do you all think?

 

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49ers: Pay for Your Own Stadium

Posted on December 20, 2011 by nicksava

Monday Night Football is one of the crowning spectacles of the weekly NFL schedule. A time when all sports-fans’ eyes are focused exclusively on two teams and the city in which the game is being played. The recent game featuring the San Fransisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers was no exception, as both teams are legitimate Super Bowl contenders jockeying for prime playoff positioning. So when the lights went out twice at Candlestick
Park, San Fransisco’s legendary, albeit somewhat dilapidated, stadium, delaying
the game multiple times, it reflected poorly on the 49ers franchise, the NFL,
and according to San Fransisco Mayor Ed Lee, it was a “national embarrassment”.

The lights went out during Monday Night Football! Quick, put tax-payers on the hook for $850 Million!Photo from sports.yahoo.com

Immediately upon the lights going out, announcers, pundits, and fans using social media all started chiming in about the need for a new stadium. Which is all well and good. The question however, is how to pay for the new stadium? Turns out the 49ers are already planning to move into a new stadium in nearby Santa Clara, as the city has secured $850 million in bank loans, with the assumption that the NFL will come up with the remaining $150 million to build the near-$1 billion facility.  So basically Santa Clara residents will be
asked to foot 85% of a $1 billion bill, plus interest, while the world’s most lucrative and successful professional sports league and one of its signature teams (the 49ers), are putting up 15% of the funds. Pretty sweet racket they got going there huh? Now, the league and the team promise to pay back the loan through stadium naming rights and other revenues, but ulimately the financial risk and debt are being taken on by the people of Santa Clara.

Stimulative government spending is often necessary when it is spent on things like schools, roads, bridges, police officers, and other projects that the private sector has no incentive to get involved in. While there is no denying some of the positive economic and psychological impact a successful sports team and new facility can have on a community, if the San Fransisco 49ers and the NFL want a new football stadium, then they should secure private funding. Simple as that. If teams, sponsors, and the league are going to profit from the stadium, which they surely will, then these same companies should take on the risk. Robert Kraft and the New England Patriots did it for their stadium, and they’re doing aiiight. With the NFL recently signing a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement as well as inking television deals netting the league from $1.9 billion to $3.1 annually between 2013 and 2022, the health (i.e. “wealth”) of the league has never been stronger. No need to have regular everyday tax-paying citizens foot the bill for a stadium that’s profits will be actualized by interest-collecting banks and other lucractive companies. If the 49ers and the NFL can’t find investors, then they should just buy some new lights at Candlestick Park and call it a day.

Editor’s note: Props to Dave Zirin of “Edge of Sports” for cluing me into this professional stadium racket.

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Syracuse and Penn State Scandals: What Would Buddha Do?

Posted on December 2, 2011 by nicksava

Over the last month we’ve seen two hideous child sexual abuse scandals within the athletic departments of Penn State Univeristy and Syracuse University. We’ve written extensively about the Penn State scandal. The Syracuse scandal is quite different, and at this point in the investigation the University does not appear to be liable or as morally culpable as Penn State was. However, there is controversy about the reporting of the Syracuse scandal, specifically around how ESPN broke the news. In a nutshell, ESPN knew about the allegations in 2003, as former Syracuse ball-boy Bobby Davis told a reporter that he had been molested for years by Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine. ESPN did not report the story in 2003 because they allegedly did not have a second person to corroborate the story. A second person finally came out a few weeks back, so ESPN reported it. Then about a week later ESPN released an audio tape of Fine’s wife (which ESPN also had since 2003) admitting that she had allegedly known about Fine’s molestations (Oh and for good measure she also admitted to sleeping with this ball-boy. Nice huh?).

What if JoePa spent some time under the Bodhi Tree?

Anyways, there has been lots of criticism of ESPN as well as excellent reporting on both the Penn State and Syracuse scandals, all by journalists and bloggers far more intelligent and knowledgeable than me. So instead of pretending to be a well-informed journalist, I will pretend to be a “knower” of spiritual matters, and explore how a key Buddhist principle, “non-attachment” may have helped in these situations. So, if you are a Buddhist or expert on eastern spiritual philosophies, feel free to stop reading, because I am probably mis-interpreting your beliefs.

One main tenant of Buddhism is the notion that “attachment” brings suffering. Freedom is obtained when attachments cease. Basically, one has all he needs within his own self, his own soul, and does not need any outside material item or identity to achieve peace, success, or enlightenment. What if the folks wrapped up in this scandal practiced non-attachment? Let’s take a look…

Penn State: At least four, and possibly more, key members of the Penn State athletic hierarchy knew about their colleague Jerry Sandusky’s penchant for raping young boys. By not reporting him to police, they allowed him to continue to commit heinous crimes. It appears as if everyone involved far too “attached” to the thriving, revenue-generating, supposed moral high ground that was the Penn State football program. Nobody wanted to rock the boat. Joe Paterno, the legendary head coach, was perhaps too attached to his own identity and feared what these allegations, if brought to light, would do to the program he helped build. Instead of allowing the truth to set them free, all of these folks chose instead to hold on to a material identity that instead caused extraordinary suffering. Attachment bringing suffering.

Syracuse/ESPN: Unlike Penn State, there is not enough evidence yet to really speculate here one way or another on Bernie Fine’s guilt, or whether the University deserves to share in the blame. That said, it appears as if ESPN may have erred in not initially reporting the story in 2003, and then again in reporting only part of the story a few weeks back and then waiting a week to release the tape. When not reporting the story in 2003, were they too attached to the revenue generated from broadcasting Syracuse basketball (Syracuse had recently won a NCAA Basketball championship)? Also, in releasing the story in two parts over the last few weeks, were they attempting to take advantage of multiple news cycles, again attaching themselves to material bottom-line interests rather than yearning for journalistic truth. We may never know, but as Buddha said and journalists everywhere should heed, “three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”

 

 

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The Penn State Scandal Part 3: Nonprofit Crisis Communications

Posted on November 11, 2011 by nicksava

In Part 1, we looked at this scandal through the lens of Penn State and the football program.  Please check it out if you haven’t yet.  Part 2 looks at this scandal through The Second Mile, the charity at the center of the scandal: Part 2 can be viewed here.

In the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal, Penn State has been criticized for many things. One of which was that it appeared to take them a few days too many to react to the situation from a crisis management/public relations perspective. The hideous grand jury testimony broke on Saturday, then for 3-4 days the University stammered through scheduled and cancelled press conferences, and it took until at least Monday for them to address the issue on their website, with a statement on their athletics home page.

The other organization wrapped up in this scandal, The Second Mile, the charity founded by Sandusky to help at-risk youth, has flown under the radar for many reasons. However one would imagine as more details emerge, the media spotlight is going to be thrust heavily on the organization, as Sandusky allegedly used this organization to find the young boys he would end up raping.

A quick glance at The Second Mile website shows they may not be quite ready. When going to www.thesecondmile.org, the visitor is first directed to a blue “splash page” that rotates words and phrases such as, “Ongoing Commitment”, “Responsibility”, “Character”, and… wait for it… “Positive Contact”. Don’t believe me? Check out the screenshot here:

 

The visitor has an option click through to the main home page or wait approximately 23 seconds before being automatically directed there. On the homepage, is a brief welcoming message that describes the organization in a few sentences, and then below that is a statement from the organization on the Sandusky situation, dated 11/6/11.

So, while the statement was apparently written and posted just one day after the story broke (even before Penn State posted a statement), the organization has failed in making that statement front-and-center. I imagine that “hits” to their website have increased enormously over the past week, yet in the wake of this heinous rape scandal, someone can visit the site and see the phrase “Positive Contact” flash across the screen before getting to a page with an official statement. Fail.

Of course nobody expects anything different from the nonprofit industry. Therefore, it is up to those of us who are nonprofit professionals (or communications/public relations pros in any industry) to learn from this and step up our games. This scandal is one extreme situation, and most relatively healthy organizations will never have to experience anything like this. However if any crisis of any magnitude occurs, we must make sure we quickly address the issue, take appropriate organizational action, and make a statement available prominently on the organizational website.

 

 

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Penn State Rape Scandal: Part 2

Posted on November 11, 2011 by nicksava

In Part 1, we looked at this scandal through the lens of Penn State and the football program.  Please check it out if you haven’t yet.  Part 2 looks at this scandal through The Second Mile, the charity at the center of the scandal:

Alleged rapist and disgraced former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky founded The Second Mile, a charity to support at-risk children in State College, PA, in 1977. Using Sandusky’s considerable influence as a beloved figure in the community and presumably building some effective programs for young people, The Second Mile has grown to serve 100,000 children annually from all counties in Pennsylvania. Per the grand jury indictment that was released this week, Sandusky used this charity to select young boys, shower them with attention and gifts, and eventually rape them. Nice huh? Let’s get this out of the way real quick before moving on to what nonprofits, donors and community members can learn from this situation… That Sandusky would use his charity as a “farm system” to cultivate future child rape victims is the most reprehensible and amoral act I have ever heard of in my decade studying the philanthropic sector. If I were told the world was going to end tomorrow but I could save 99.99999% of the world’s population, he would be among the 00.00001% that I would leave behind.

Ok sorry one more “Eff you Sandusky” paragraph: I founded a charity in Boulder, Colorado, Sky’z The Limit, about 8 or 9 years ago. We provided recreational opportunities for young people with and without disabilities. We were real grass-roots. Basically I would send an email to parents saying, “We’re meeting at the bus stop on Rt. 36 at 5:00, going into Denver, grabbing dinner, going to the Nuggets game, and we’ll be back at 11:33.” Then about 20 kids and a few of my buddies would show up and off we went for a fun night out on the town. The parents trusted me, like many parents trusted Sandusky, with the welfare of their children. If I were doing that today, maybe only 18 kids would have shown up, or less, as a few parents may be freaked out by that freaking animal Sandusky, and thus, kids who were already isolated would be missing out even more on opportunities to grow. So, eff you Sandusky, you god-damn animal.

That felt ok. Thanks for indulging me. Anyways, what can the philanthropic sector learn from all this?

1. Nonprofit boards have to step up their game. If you are a member of an organization’s Board of Directors, you are legally and morally responsible for the oversight of the organization. I know you are a volunteer, and you have a full-time job and a family, and you may think that the Executive Director/Founder is an expert who needs no guidance, but you have a responsibility. You are the Executive Director’s boss. You cannot afford to be deferential or passive. You need to learn about the organization and be active in management of it, or you need not be on the board. If you are on the board strictly to have something good on your resume or to gain favor in the business or political community, you need to check yourself. An organization is only as strong as its board. Clearly, at The Second Mile, Sandusky did not have a strong board to manage him.

2. Donors: please be smart. We live in such a celebrity-driven culture that organizations with celebrity involvement get much more attention, and may appear to be doing better work than they really are. Jerry Sandusky’s status within the supposed-morality-mecca of Penn State allowed him to host desirable events, golf tournaments with sports stars, etc., but he was also using his status to bring boys to college and pro football games, shower them with gifts, and rape them. Take the time to study an organization and look past the glitzy aspects of fundraising and program initiatives. Look for substance, results, efficiency, and quality Board/Executive Leadership. Also, remember, you can find an organization’s financial records, charity rating, and other effective (though very un-glitzy) organizational measurements on-line (Try Guidestar and Charity Navigator).

That said, keep the faith people. Don’t let the Sandusky scandal sour it for the millions of people and organizations doing great work. Just do your due diligence and research before you invest your time, energy, or money into an organization. We’ll all be better off for it.

 

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