http://christinesculati.com/blog Ideas, tools, and stories for positive social change and environmental stewardship. Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:29:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It’s human nature to be adverse to risk-taking. But like successful business people, many social entrepreneurs believe you have to be willing to take risks to achieve progress. A widely read example of risk and reward in philanthropy is the story of Greg Mortenson and his painstaking journey to build schools ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/risk-and-reward-in-philanthropy/ The Stanford Center for Social Innovation recently released a podcast of a talk by San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom titled Gavin Newsom: Say what you think, then take action. To an audience at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Newsom talks about leadership and risk-taking, qualities he has been ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/gavin-newsom-on-social-innovation/ Now in its eighth year of publication, Berkeley-based Bay Nature magazine recently announced the launch of a new content-rich Web site (baynature.org). While many nonprofits have good stories to tell, Bay Nature now has over 700. The concept of Bay Nature magazine began as a conversation in 1997 between publisher David ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/bay-nature-launches-new-web-site/ "Exercise is key to health, and studies have shown that people are much more likely to exercise if parks and opportunities for recreation are nearby," writes the Trust for Public Land (TPL) in their latest issue of Land & People. For TPL and many other community-focused organizations, the interconnected issues ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/getting-outside/ The San Francisco Bay Area environmental movement was born before the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. This KQED special tells the story of the history and people who saved the Bay from disaster beginning in the 1960s until today. Other stories and resources: KQED Earth Day Radio Special: The History ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/san-francisco-bay-area-2008-earth-day-roundup/ A recent "Meet the Grantmakers" panel at the Foundation Center in San Francisco brought together Jacob Harold of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Anne Valley of The James Irvine Foundation, and Linda Wood of The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund to focus on the theme of "organizational ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/what-does-an-effective-nonprofit-look-like/ I just received the March/April 2008 issue of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal, which is dedicated to the topic of fundraising databases. This is a particularly good topic for small community-based nonprofits because databases are more commonly used by organizations with larger budgets and staff capacity. Some nonprofits resist databases because ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/tools-for-nonprofit-efficiency-and-impact/ With the New Year, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area has officially launched a competition to save endangered species living in urban island habitats of San Francisco, the Peninsula, and Marin. The year-long event, called the "2008 GGNRA Endangered Species Big Year," hopes to spur the awareness and actions needed ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/2008-is-the-big-year-for-ggnras-imperiled-wildlife-and-plants/ Releasing Common Murres near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. (Photo: IBRRC) Most of the wildlife victims of the deadly November 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill on San Francisco Bay have been waterbirds, but the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory also found two oiled red-tailed hawks. WildCare in San Rafael took in the ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/wildcare-to-release-red-tailed-hawks-rehabilitated-from-oil-spill-at-noon-on-december-12/ In recent months, nonprofit presses in Berkeley have released new books that highlight diverse Bay Area neighborhoods and unexpected ways communities come together. In September, Heyday Books, publishers of books about California history, arts, and culture, released "Under the Dragon - California's New Culture." The book is also the subject of ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/new-bay-area-books-about-community-culture-and-social-change/ In October, the New York Times published an op-ed article called "The Green-Collar Solution" by journalist Thomas L. Friedman. The piece is about Van Jones' crusade to bring economic opportunities to disadvantaged communities through job training in emerging and expanding environmental businesses. Jones, a social justice leader in the ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/green-for-all/ Since 1956 the Foundation Center has connected nonprofits to free philanthropic resources. For years I have been attending their events in San Francisco including "Meet the Grantmakers" panels and special events with topics from "Fundraising for Small and All-Volunteer Organizations" to "Trends in Bay Area Bank Philanthropy." In recent months, the ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/the-foundation-center-launches-many-free-online-resources-for-nonprofits/ Mr. Hirad Dinavari, a reference librarian for the Afghan, Central Asian and Iranian collections at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. will be traveling to California between September 24 and 29 to meet with Afghan and Iranian Diaspora communities in the South Bay area of San Francisco and Los ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/library-of-congress-to-begin-archiving-productions-of-afghan-diaspora-communities/ The June 2007 issue of Smithsonian magazine features an article by Tony Perrottet called "Jewel of the Tetons," which describes the secretive mission of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to purchase private properties at the base of the Tetons with the intent of donating the land to the government for permanent ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/a-legacy-of-land-stewardship-and-conservation-by-american-philanthropic-families/ Recently, KQED in San Francisco aired a show on Bay Area science cafe's as a part of the Quest series. The June 26 show featured Ask a Scientist events in San Francisco, hosted by Juliana Gallin. In places like San Francisco's Axis Cafe, each month a local scientist speaks on ... http://christinesculati.com/blog/kqed-show-on-bay-area-science-cafes/