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Back and forth to NYC

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Back and forth to NYC

t has been a whirlwind few weeks of travel for this Numad, back and forth and back and forth and back and forth on Amtrak between Boston (home) and New York City (work). In fact, I know the travel is more than usual when the conductors and food service attendant recognize me... and a couple have even come to know me by name.

I do love a train, zooming down the coastline of New England, the vast waterways and wooded areas giving way to the skyscrapers of New York and Boston.

There have been a number of really exciting things happening in the city as of late. At the beginning of the month, we got to team up with Blue Flame Events and Arc3Design on the production of MCC Theater's annual gala, Miscast, which once again raised more than $1 million for their youth company and education programs.

Meet our Morning Fill Up: The bushCON Edition guest

Meet our Morning Fill Up: The bushCON Edition guest

When we dreamed up Morning Fill Up a few years ago, we didn't realize how many wonderful people would be willing to say "yes" to an invitation to spend 24 hours immersing themselves in conversations with people from across our Black Hills region. We have been humbled by their presence, and have learned from their wisdom.

Our second guest ever--back in December 2014--was Jen Ford Reedy, president of The Bush Foundation, an organization that has been an important champion of this conversation series from the very beginning. Today, we are excited to announce that we'll be sitting down with Jen again when we take Morning Fill Up on the road this May for bushCON.

Meet our 2016 bushCON cohort

Meet our 2016 bushCON cohort

All of us at The Numad Group are pretty excited for bushCON this May (public registration begins April 5 at 10am central and will sell out within hours, if not the first hour they are on-sale).

Created by The Bush Foundation alongside partners from around the 3-state Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota region, bushCON is a leadership networking event that builds stronger and more meaningful connections among leaders in the region.

This year, we are honored to be a recruitment and programming partner (we're bringing Morning Fill Up to bushCON), and today, are truly thrilled to announce the 12 members of our Numad cohort--all from the new East of 5th District in Rapid City--who will be traveling to Minneapolis to take part in the event. Meet them below in these short bios they've created.

What would you ask Brent Phillips at Morning Fill Up?

What would you ask Brent Phillips at Morning Fill Up?

Morning Fill Up is this Tuesday, March 29 at 7am, featuring special guest Brent Phillips, president and CEO of Regional Health. We've got a bunch of questions for him, but we want to know what you want to talk about. So, please take a moment now to submit your questions for Tuesday's Morning Fill Up below. We'll do our best to integrate your questions into the conversation.

Click below to fill out the form and submit your questions.

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Wall smashing for MCC

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Wall smashing for MCC

More than eight years ago now, I graduated from graduate school at the University of Florida armed with a master of fine arts degree. I sold my belongings and moved with two boxes and the clothes I could fit in a suitcase to New York City... a place I always wanted to live. A dream come true for me.

Two days later, I was stepping foot into the administrative offices of MCC Theater for the first time, ready to begin an unpaid internship. I knew not a soul there, the exception being the kind woman named Isabel Sinistore who had hired me after a phone interview. To this day, I am so grateful that she said "yes" to me.

In the four months of my internship, I learned so much, from her, from her colleague Ian Allen, and from the incredible team at MCC--namely Blake West, Bernie Telsey, Will Cantler and Bob LuPone. Sure, I learned about the inner-workings of a major nonprofit Off-Broadway theater... what it takes to put on a show, to start youth companies and educational programs, and to raise funds to support their important work.

Resources for ethical practices in fundraising

Resources for ethical practices in fundraising

Matt and I are really pleased to be joining our colleagues at the monthly programming session of the Association of Fundraising Professionals – South Dakota Chapter in Rapid City today. We will be making a brief presentation on the importance of ethical practices in fundraising and maintaining the public trust. It should be a great discussion! 

In the business of our day-to-day work, we may not always take time to reflect on the ethical standards that are necessary for the health of our sector and the protection of donors. As fundraising professionals, I think we need to take time to think carefully and critically about ethical issues proactively so we’re more prepared to make decisions when ethical dilemmas inevitably arise.

It's been nuts. Nuts, I say!

Holy moly.

It has been nearly one month since I've taken a few moments to breathe, and login to our blog and write. I've missed it. But things have been a bit nuts lately.

Nuts I say!

Good... but nuts. Our partners and clients and friends are all doing some really wonderful things these days, which means we've been hitting the ground running with them as they work to meet their missions in fresh, meaningful ways. So let's catch up on some highlights over the past four weeks that I have neglected to share.

What would you ask Dr. Robert Grant at Morning Fill Up?

Dr. Robert "Bud" Grant is an environmentalist, author, professor and Catholic priest. He's traveled the world. He's been face to face with people like St. Mother Theresa and St. John Paul II.

He's even been kissed by Maria von Trapp (no, not Julie Andrew... the actual Maria von Trapp).

Now, he's joining us in Rapid City for our February Morning Fill Up to talkabout redistributive suffering to heal the planet and responses to environmental crises, among other things.

Writing that provokes conversations (and a welcome to our newest client)

When I was a graduate student at the University of Florida, one of my favorite things to do was read a new script by a new playwright. The opportunity to dig into their words, their ideas, their desire to shed light on particular societal issues was always exciting to me.

I feel grateful that we get to do that yet today at Numad, where we have an opportunity to partner with Off-Broadway and regional theaters across the country to support their mission to bring new works to the stage, and offer a platform for artists to have a voice that provokes conversations and questions.

Right now, we are neck-deep in a number of productions and new works, including Noah Haidle's Smokefall, Dan O'Brien's The Body of an American, and soon, a series of three new plays at Local Theater Company in Boulder, Colorado, our newest client we are so excited to be working alongside.

Radical cooperation

Radical cooperation

This morning, as I feast on Ben and Jerry's Cheesecake Brownie ice cream for Sunday Brunch (caused by my fixation on Sunday morning political shows about the Iowa Caucus tomorrow), about 1,500 miles away in Rapid City, South Dakota, a group of colleagues and friends are getting together to continue to explore ways they can transform a section of Downtown Rapid City through the newly-formed East of 5th District. 

It brings to mind a Politico article we passed around at The Numad Group this week about how America's dullest city got cool... by radical cooperation.

What would you ask Sr. Lorane Coffin at Morning Fill Up?

What would you ask Sr. Lorane Coffin at Morning Fill Up?

We are grateful that Sr. Lorane Coffin of the St. Martin Monastery in Rapid City is joining us for Morning Fill Up this Wednesday, January 27 at 7am at The Garage (402 St. Joseph Street in Rapid City).

There are some people you meet and think, "Wow, she is something special." And Sr. Lorane most certainly is. Of all the stories we are lucky enough to hear each week, this is one untold Rapid City story that has really touched all of us at The Numad Group.

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Your grandmother may be joining Facebook soon

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I’m not a Facebook-er. Or a Twitter-er.

In fact, this is my second blog post ever.

But at The Numad Group, we’re having a wonderful time partnering with TeachSD, a project of South Dakota State University (SDSU) Extension, to evaluate a pilot program they just got off the ground in seven communities across the state to help adults gain valuable technology skills.

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Love for the levee in the Quad Cities

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Love for the levee in the Quad Cities

Barbara Melbourne at the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend recently worked with Fran Riley of KWQC-TV, the NBC news affiliate in the Quad Cities (where I grew up), on this fantastic feature that speaks to the essence of philanthropy, and the impact endowments can have to transform a region.

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One of my favorite things about the New Year...

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One of my favorite things about the New Year...

One of my favorite things about the New Year--and the first full week back from the holidays--is to hear about how those end of year appeals went... to dissect what worked, and consider what could be improved. We know that matching gifts and language that focuses on the donor are important. But some of the nonprofit partners we work alongside moved beyond that, and employed some neat things to move the dial on their end of year gifts.

Here's a few things that we think worked, and are ideas you might consider as you look at your annual fund programs in 2016

Forward

Forward

As we look to the New Year, each of us at The Numad Group have taken a moment to reflect on all that we are grateful for.

We have learned from you.

Grown with you.

Been changed because of you.

And are inspired by you. 

This year, much was different, and yet, much remained the same—namely, the passion you bring to your missions that make us want to be better, and do more. To us, that is what being a Numad is: the pursuit of a greater good. 

Have you hugged a monster today?

Have you hugged a monster today?

I still remember the moment vividly.

Around this time last year, I was walking home from a Primary Stages opening night after party for their production of Billy Porter's While I Yet Live..., and I turned the corner on 41st Street to walk toward my Priceline-deal hotel in Midtown. There, in bright lights, was the marquee on the Nederlander Theater (home to the original Broadway production of Rent) for Honeymoon In Vegas, the new Broadway musical starring Tony Danza. 

But I didn't care about Tony Danza.

Most visited blog posts of 2015

I've been using up my 10 free The New York Times articles on nytimes.com this week on all of the top 10 this and top 10 that lists that they've been posting (most of them have to do with the top places to visit and most read articles). 

In the spirit of that, this morning I decided to dive into our Google Analytics to check-in with what has been most read by you on our new blog that we started back in August. Take a look at the most popular posts of 2015.

Good work happening all around us

Good work happening all around us

My partner and I have set out on an end of year trip to relax and reflect after a year that had me traveling all around the country to partner alongside nonprofits--and the people who fuel them.

We've had an opportunity to participate in some exciting things. Often times, for me, that translates into telling stories about people who transform communities, or people who are able to move forward in their life thanks, in part, to the generosity of another.  

Because true, innovative partnerships know no bounds.