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Posts Tagged ‘Nonprofit Organizations’

Using iTunes to Replace Some Would-Be Book Purchases

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Yesterday, I summed up my entry by saying that I could kick start my personal de-cluttering process with an early spring cleaning. Somewhere in my entry I also commented that one of the best ways to de-clutter your life is to not buy new things that you will not use in the first place! This brings me to a topic that I’ve wanted to cover on this blog for the last two weeks – the unbelievable reach of iTunes.

Hang in there, I can actually draw a correlation here and make this make sense!

Over the last few weeks I’ve been dabbling in this iTunes U and some of the more educational-focused podcasts offered on iTunes. By using some of the features on iTunes and more specifically iTunes U, I’ve been able to get the mental stimulation that I would normally reserve for reading books. Seriously! I downloaded a bunch of podcasts from a doctor who interviews other doctors at the University of Michigan and asks them about health questions that pertain to their fields of study. These people are experts in the topic and they give away free information about the disease or condition for free. How great is that?!

And with iTunes U I’ve been able to turn some of my daily commutes into mentally stimulating experiences as I listen to professors for Yale and Harvard Universities talk about topics that I’m interested in (business management, nonprofits, leadership, American Colonial History, writing, personal finance, etc). It’s absolutely wonderful if you’re an information junkie like I am!

With this comes the integration of other services into iTunes like Audible. I’ve downloaded a few audiobooks from a family account and I plan on listening to some of them in the next few weeks during my trips to and from work. Hey, we all know that I absolutely hate my commute so if I can turn it into something more than just mindless driving to and from Trenton, then I’d be happy to do so!

But to keep with the theme of the last few days – by utilizing electronic media more often I’ll be able to cut back on the amount of books that I buy. Now, I’d never give up books altogether because I’m one of these readers who thinks that there is something that you lose when you don’t have the actual book in your hand and the words in front of your face. However, if I can purchase a few less books each year by listening to a few audiobooks instead, then that only helps to reduce the overall amount of clutter in my home – and that’s not a bad thing at all.

Posted in Random Entries | No Comments »

Young Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations

Friday, February 13th, 2009

While reading the latest Nonprofit Quarterly, I came across Paul Schmitz’s piece entitled, “Obama Campaign Provides Lessons for Nonprofits.” If you read this blog, you know that I’m not the biggest fan of the seeming ascension of all things Obama since his election, however I did find this article interesting in that it laid out the five best practices embodied by the Obama campaign. Specifically, I found the fifth best practice to be the most interesting. The fifth best practice was entitled, “Youth leadership.”

In particular, Schmitz says the following:

By virtue of their low pay, long hours, and high-intensity nature, campaigns are always filled with young people. But the Obama campaign recognized and empowered young leadership…The campaign’s all-hands-on-deck approach meant that the top fundraisers and policy advisors – whether they were Goldman Sachs partners, Hollywood stars, or law professors – were expected to canvass door to door and be managed by 22-year-olds. They did so, reporting for duty enthusiastically and building respectful and supportive relationships with these young field organizers rather than questioning them or taking over.

Ah! Talk about music to the young, nonprofit professional’s ears! The biggest problem that I’ve found so far in New Jersey’s nonprofit sector is the entrenchment – for better or for worse – of aging leaders. I cannot stress enough the phrase “for better or for worse” in this statement, though. There are people like Msgr. William Linder in Newark who should be involved in community development at all costs and at all times! This man is a saint for the work that he’s done to bring much needed services to the underserved communities of Newark. The same is true of so many dedicated, older professionals in the state’s nonprofit sector.

However, in my work I find many organizations that have a tremendous glut of young talent who are suppressed under an old style of management. What’s more concerning is that in New Jersey you rarely find high-level executive positions in the nonprofit field being filled by the under 35-year-old crowd. And that’s a shame because it pushes talented folks out of the nonprofit arena and into the private sector. You do see younger folks being named Executive Vice Presidents and Directors of this or that program, but that’s generally in young organizations with less than five employees and they are usually organizations that aren’t too substantial.

What I’ve seen in my own experiences are the elevation of inept individuals with little-to-no leadership skills. Actually – let’s just say that there are NO leadership skills! Anyway, reading Schmitz’s article was nice because it reminded me of how things are supposed to be.

Posted in Money, Jobs, & Finances | 1 Comment »

Hope For My Student Loan Debt…Maybe

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

Yesterday, I found out that the rules and regulations for the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA) were finalized. These regulations included something called the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. In short, this program allows those working for nonprofit organizations to have the balance of their federal student loans forgiven after ten years of payments (with the clocking beginning in October 2007). The payments do not need to be consecutive, they just need to be comprised of 120 monthly payments (paying twice in one month does not count as two payments). I had to find out more about this program, so I contacted the program administrator in Washington, DC to get the facts. Here is our conversation starting with my e-mail to the program administrator:

My name is Joe and I am contacting you about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. I have been working, full-time, for nonprofit organizations since May 2005. I have approximately $56,000 in federal student loans (a Direct Loans consolidation loan) and $48,000 in private student loans.

I understand that the private student loans do not qualify for the new provisions, however, I want to confirm that my Direct Loans consolidation loan does qualify. Also, I’ve read that the new regulations apply to payments made from October 2007 forward. Since I make my payments each month, does this mean that I can count my last 14 payments towards the 120 required for the balance of the loan to be forgiven? Is there anyway to count the previous monthly payments that I’ve made since I began repayment in July 2006?

Please let me know if you need any additional information. This is exciting news!

And here is the response from the program administrator in Washington, DC.

Good Morning Joe,

Your Direct loan consolidation loan will qualify for the forgiveness, and will count payments beginning on October 2007 forward. So, all payments made from the Oct. date on will count towards the 120 payments. Sorry, none of the payments made before that date can or will count towards the 120 payments. I’m glad that the public service forgiveness program will be a great benefit for you. If there is anything else I can do to help, please let me know.

A very friendly response from the feds – I like it! I thought that I should return the favor with a comment or two of my own and another question or so.

Thank you so much for the information! A final question or two.

First, do the 120 payments need to correspond to 120 months? Or if I make two payments in one month does that count as 2 payments towards the 120?

And finally, is there anything that I need to sign up for in order to be a part of this program? Or do I just track the payments on my own and when I hit 120 payments I contact Direct Loans?

And, within a matter of minutes, the program administrator replied as such…

One payment per month is what counts towards the 120 payments and direct loans will track the payments for you, we are also in the process of developing a form to have your employer sign as a public service position to tie the job with the payments.

This was perhaps the most pleasant experience that I’ve ever had dealing with my student loans. The representative, Ms. Nikki Harris, was professional and courteous and showed the utmost in professionalism in her prompt responses to my questions. And on top of that, I might be looking at getting some of my student loans forgiven after another 106 payments!

I have to figure out what I’d like to do with this, actually. I’ve been making excess payments on both my private NJHESAA loan and my Direct Loans consolidation loan. However, since I am being charged more on my NJHESAA loan and there is a possibility to have the Direct Loan forgiven at some point, it might make sense to begin adding more to my monthly payments to NJHESAA and then see where I’m at in a few years with the Direct Loans. The problem that I have with NJHESAA, though, is that you can’t make online payments – it’s so archaic.

Anyway, I take this information about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program as a good sign. This is a good way to begin the new year!

Posted in Money, Jobs, & Finances, Student Loans | 5 Comments »