Robert Egger´s Piece of Mind

I love the road. It can be rough and it can be righteous, but either way, I love being out and about, particularly with people who roll around in it for a living, like I do.

First stop on this adventure, one of my favorite spots in the greater DC-NYC corridor—Newark, DE, and the Food Bank up there, run by my chum of chums, Pat Beebe.

From some of my writings and interviews, some might come to the conclusion that I’ve got a jones against food banks. Not at all….I just don’t dig old ideas if the times demand new takes. If your house is rockin, then I’m ready to roll with you…and Pat’s house is rockin. A lot of that has to do with her killer team, and Chef Noah, who runs the training program up there (with Chef Nick) play a huge roll in keeping the volume up at the kind of ear slitting levels that I prefer.

Case in point—the graduation of their 20th culinary arts class. There are few things in life more affirming than a graduation, and as you can read from this account in Delaware Online, this was a great gathering of family and friends. If you EVER get up to the First State, or if you want to learn about training from some powerful leaders in this field, then stop by and give Chefs Nick and Noah a shout out for me.

Then I got it on the good foot and made tracks for West Virginia, to speak at a staff development day for the Public Library Squad of Charleston.

Now…it might seem random, and some might assume, given how often I’m up in front of an audience that I’ll speak at the opening of a refrigerator just to hear the sound of my own voice…and they wouldn’t be half wrong…but in this case, I really wanted to be there.

I have ALWAYS dug libraries. Few countries have made public education or FREE access to information so handy. We should be really proud of our country for this part of our history. But…like food programs (who also have a history of giving things away for free), the times are changing for our bookish brothers and sisters.

Now, Public Libraries have to fight for funding. Voters often view them (as they do nonprofits) as part of the “extras” that, if the choice comes down to cops on the beat, they can do without. Libraries (and many nonprofits) are now doing “Return on Investment” formulas to prove their worth. They are tracking how many folks come their to access computers to look for work, gain new skills, or, in the case of that spunky school girl who sat next to the First Lady at President Obama’s first speech before the House, use them to write letters that say “we aren’t quitters!!” Neither are the librarians!!!

But they are up against it right now. West Virginia is one of only a handful of states that have yet to post a deficit (coal), so their library system isn’t as up against the wall of others, but the big questions about the future of libraries is just a relevant to them as it is anywhere else in America. Will the public fund them? Will they continue to come through their doors and the information age progresses? If they build a new one with countless cool bells and whistles—will they come? I URGE YOU to think about this. Be part of the discussion in your town.

When I started the Kitchen—I didn’t know how to start a nonprofit. I went to the library to learn how!!!! I owe them. So do you.

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I’m just back from a great (albeit short) speaking gig over in Birmingham, England, at Voice 09, a stellar event sponsored by the UK’s Social Enterprise Coalition.

This was my second speaking gig in the UK, the previous being at the first Social Enterprise World Forum, held last year in Edinburgh. And like that previous journey, I was once again blown away by what I learned. I was equally thrilled to be in the musical city of Birmingham, home of Sabbath, Judas Priest, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, UB40, Steel Pulse and Duran Duran (for those of you who, like me, are hungry like the wolf).

And I am hungry–for new ideas, bold thinking, real leadership and the fellowship of those who are trying to pull all three together.

I tell you….if I was younger, I would SO venture outside of the US right now, to see what’s going on in so many other countries, where people are not so limited in their thinking, or so incumbered by the traditions of charity. For so many others, outside of the US, experiments like social enterprise, micro-credit and nonprofit political engagement–well, it’s not academic, or “wouldn’t it be nice” stuff….for many it’s economic (or literal) life and death.

That’s why it so funny to read op-eds from some of the old guard in the US who are bucking at the notion of social enterprise (yes, they find it that threatening). They purposely try to make it out as boutique projects of starry eyed young dreamers. They suggest that the President is being “fooled” into thinking social enterprise can address big social issues. Like tired old generals asking for more money for just one more surge, they just can’t let go of their historic, but unproductive strategies. Well, the doorways that they are opening in the UK must be paid attention to.

For example–the government over there views the economic opportunity of social enterprise as so ripe with potential that they are investing heavily in its future, with the hope that it will produce upwards of 10% of their GNP in the next decade. THAT’S vision. In fact, the Mayor of Birmingham greeted the attendees with the pledge that his city would be the most progressive social enterprise city in the UK. When was the last time you heard of a US Mayor talk to nonprofit/NGO’s with that kind of enthusiasm and vigor?!?! You will.

They also have a new Minster for the Third Sector…which is an idea I hope to have considered here in the states, although I was really taken with the fellow who challenged the group to realize how lame it is to be considered “third anything”!!! Language does matter. In fact, a few suggested that while they dug having a full time Minister dedicated to developing the broader nonprofit sector, they worried that they were still viewed as “lesser thans” in an economic environment in which they are providing not just profit, but profit plus. Watch that change.

If you are interested in learing more, then join a growing army of bold doers at the April gathering of the US version, the Social Enterprise Alliance, which will convene the annual meeting of US based social entrepreneurs down in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Internationally, more and more doers from all points north, south, east and west are pulling together funds to make it to Melbourne, and the next gathering of the World Forum. If you are serious–so are they. Really—this is the spot to be!!!

And if you want to learn more about what’s going on in the UK, then sign up for Livewire, a daily e-newsletter from the truly fine folks at Social Enterprise Magazine.

But hear me, please–Social E is not THE answer. The old wags are 1/2 right. It’s NOT about taking the models to scale (although that’s cool). It’s not about having a new federal office in DC (although that would be cooler still). Social E does one thing important—it opens the door to a bold new strategy. It points to the advent of the consumer driven economy, and the demise of the consumption driven version that is tanking all around us. It’s about making your philanthropy the way you spend your money everyday. It’s about incentivizing corporate behaviors, so that we don’t have to legislate wage or social responsibility. It’s about the “buycott.” It’s Capitalism 2.0

It’s the future.

Stay tuned for more.

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There’s a wild domino thing going on in America…

First, we watched folks in DC get all puffed up about Wall Street bonuses. “They just don’t get it” was the lament lobbed by every politician in town, each playing the populist card for the folks back home. CNN’s Campbell Brown (who I think is crazy cool) was also ramping it up, sounding more and more like a Fox News anchor with each passing day. First it was lavish retreats, then new jets, then super bowl parties…by mid-January, folks all over America were ready to storm the corporate castle and tar and feather any fat cat they could find.

They are right, of course—the folks on Wall Street were all but rubbing our nose in their excess.

But then the Daschle thing exploded. The funny thing…the folks here in DC didn’t get it either.

Like Wall Street exec’s, they just went about business as they know it. A member of their club got pinched, but hey….no worries, we’ll all gather around, profess our respect and admiration for all he’s done, and the folks back home will fall in line.

They didn’t. They shouldn’t. And with any luck, they never will again.

But hey…this is fodder for any blog around….you don’t need me to add fuel to that fire.

My point—we, America’s nonprofits, could be next.

I’ve been involved in a slew of debates about nonprofit compensation. A few weeks back, over at Tactical Philanthropy, I got into it over the idea that “we” merit the same pay as “them”. My points then and my points now are the same—the folks who buy the goods from businesses, vote in elections and donate to us are royally, massively, totally, pissed off.

Look, most Americans will never, EVER, see 100K, let alone 250K or higher. They are just not interested in subsidizing any salary at that level, unless you can totally prove you are curing cancer or something of a similar caliber.

It’s not that I don’t think that nonprofit pro’s should be adequately compensated. We should

It’s not that I don’t believe that our contributions are just as important as any business leaders. They are.

It’s just that the party is over.

Regular folks have been getting hosed down like cows in the paddock and they are righteously yanked.

Be warned—this is not the time for nonprofits to be advocating for anything more than a real voice in the political process, solid media attention to our role, new metrics to measure our impact and for money to flow back to our cities and states that gets folks working again and out of our soup kitchen lines. Oh, and one other thing–the same level of transparency for government and business that we have to adhere to–level the field!!!

Anyway–keep reading.

I was just talking with a colleague who was suggesting that we should pony up to the federal trough for funds linked to the bailout. I suggested that our work rocks and that a bunch of new Campus Kitchens could be realistically portrayed as economic stimulators, as they recycle, train, do social enterprise, etc, etc..

Anyway…during this back and forth, I said that even though I was proud of our product, I was uncomfortable asking for any dough right now. She said the opposite—she was going to grab for whatever she could get.

Folks—this kind of thing, which is the DC game in spades, will KILL US. All over this town, nonprofits are lining up, trying to bum rush the White House or the Hill to get their cause, committee or chair to the front of the line. More are working to get their bucket under the spigot.

I warn you all—the public trust in nonprofits is already at an all time low. Pundits know that the public is primed to hate on somebody, and they’ve got a financial stake in finding the next greedy bastard to hoist on their own petard (look it up). Similarly, ever pol in this city is now on double secret alert. They’ll want to prove that they “get it” to the folks back home. The next idiot who steps in it will be fried–fast and furious–and the way some nonprofits in this city are behaving right now is (inadvertantly) setting the stage for us to be the next

We cannot fall into this trap. 

Step back now. Let the President do his thing. Be smart. One bad egg will hurt us ALL.

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