Sponsor me in Hazon’s fundraising bike ride by contributing to a great cause.

Hazon is creating a new dialogue about food sustainability and is creating awareness about where our food comes from, and creating and supporting farming and cooperative food initiatives to connect people with local farmers.

As you may know, I have supported this cause for several years. I am on the Steering Committee for the second year, I started Team Brooklyn, and have donated much time and money to Hazon’s cause of creating a more sustainable world. This year, I have personally matched $1,861 in donations.

Please support me in my goal of raising $10,000 to support Hazon’s important work by making a donation.

Find out more and make your donation here.

Sponsor Me!

Help me reach my goal of raising $10,000. Please sponsor me on Hazon’s marvelous 4-day event, 2-day Ride that takes place over the Labor Day weekend.  You will be supporting a great cause, and getting a tax deduction.

Find out more and make your donation here.

If you prefer, you can write a check made out to Hazon, and mail it to my office at:

Howard Adam Levy
Red Rooster Group
36 East 23rd Street, Suite 301
New York, NY 10010
212-673-9353
howard@redroostergroup.com

Join Me!

And of course, if you would like to join me on the ride (or as crew), that would be fantastic too. The free training rides held on Sundays during the riding season are open to all cyclists.

Learn more about the ride.

Check out the free training rides.

Thanks to my supporters over the past 3 years

• Ed Abel – 08, 09
• David Alpert – 08
• Marissa Anteby – 07, 08, 09
• Natalia Arango – 08, 09
• Greg Barber – 07, 08
• David Behrman – 07
• Itzhak Beery – 08
• Brian Benito – 07
• Andrew Bloch – 08, 09
• Amy Bodnick, 360 Coaching for Kids – 09
• Martin Breslin – 07, 08, 09
• Rebecca Brian – 07, 08
• Ellen Bunin – 08
• Christopher Burke – 08
• Peter Chislett – 07
• Michael Connelley – 07
• Elizabeth Costas – 08
• Richard Dale, Sigma – 09
• Steve Damiano – 09
• Courtney Darling – 07, 09
• Michael Davidson, Board Coach – 07, 08, 09
• Jacques Doueck, Doueck Dental – 08
• Robert Eatroff, Sun Mergers & Acquisitions – 08
• Jenny Eisenberg – 09
• Linda Eber – 07, 08
• Lisa Fawcett – 07, 08
• Beth Forman – 07, 08
• Vicky Foulke – 07
• Jason Gardner – 07, 08
• Gila Gevirtz – 07
• Howard Glassroth – 07
• Robert Goldstein – 08
• Eric Graig – 08
• Becky Gray – 08
• Sue Caruso Green, Resource Development Network – 07
• Lorri Greif, Breakthrough Philanthropy – 09
• Lynn Greenberg – 08
• Carrie Hamilton, Kismet – 08
• Ed Hamway – 08
• Amanda Hirsch – 08
• Tomoki Ito – 07
• Lisa Itzkowitz, JCC of Mid Westchester – 07
• Les Judd – 09
• Deborah Kane – 07
• Jezra Kaye, Communicate with Power and Ease – 08
• Dan Kestin – 09
• Sharon Kleinberg, Symmetry – 07, 08, 09
• Staci Kochmann, Nancy Koltes at Home – 08
• Marcia Kublanow – 08
• Susan Leicher, Thompson & Columbus, Inc. – 09
• Peter Levinson, LevinsonBlock LLC – 08
• Marc Levitt, MSLK – 08
• Allan Levy – 07, 09
• Elliot Levy – 07, 08, 09
• Ike Levy – 08
• Jon Levy – 07, 08
• Linda & Buddy Levy – 08
• Rachel Levy – 07
• Roy Levy – 08
• Francine Lynch – 08
• Cathline Marshall – 08, 09
• Jessica Marshall, Temple Beth Or – 08
• Jeffrey Marston, Resource Centers for Management – 09
• Jill Mendelson – 07, 08, 09
• Abraham Marcus – 09
• Cathline Marshall – 08, 09
• Jeffrey Marston, Resource Centers for Management – 09
• Greg Miller – 07, 08
• Jennifer Mokos – 07, 08
• Patrick Moroney – 07, 08
• E.B.Moss – 08, 09
• Jacqueline Ottman – 07
• Laurence Pagnoni, LAPA – 08
• Mistina, Picciano, Market It Write – 08
• Julia Reich – 07, 08, 09
• Michael Ribicic – 07
• Deborah Riegel, My Jewish Coach.com – 08
• Linda Rodriguez – 08, 09
• Nicole Rose, ODM, Inc. – 08
• David Rosenfeld – 08, 09
• Andrew Sedlock – 07, 08, 09
• Alan Siege – 09
• Cathy Sharp – 09
• Jeffrey Shearman – 07, 08, 09
• Sofia Shemtob – 07, 08, 09
• Steve Shinder – 07
• Alan Siege – 09
• Cynthia Spence – 08, 09
• James Spisak – 07, 08
• Geri Stengel – 07, 08
• Elliot Joel Stern – 08
• Lisa Syron – 07, 08, 09
• Judith Weinstock – 08
• Janice Won – 08
• Linda Wintner – 09
• Greg Zuniss – 07

The Cause

Hazon is the largest Jewish environmental organization in North America and has sparked a movement within the Jewish community to promote environmentalism. It addresses sustainable food production through a Jewish lens and has energized the discussion on the very nature of religions’ role in saving the environment. Since 2000, Hazon participants in their NY and DC Bike Rides have raised over $1.5 million for this cause.

Hazon changes the world by raising environmental awareness and creating concrete opportunities to make our lives and our communities more sustainable.

For example, Hazon started the first Jewish Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project in North America, in which individuals purchase an entire season of produce from an organic family farm. This supports local farming and gives people access to fresh, organic food from a farmer they know. This supports the local economy, creates markets for organic produce and reduces harmful emissions from long-distance transportation of food. Since 2004, Hazon has launched 19 CSAs across the country. As a result of your donations from the NY and DC Rides, Hazon will launch 13 new Tuv Ha’Aretz sites in 2009 to help transform how this country grows its food.

The money raised from this Ride will also be used to educate people about sustainable farming and food production, and teach children about caring for the environment – connecting a new generation to the earth. Hazon also supports the unique Aravah Institute in Israel, where Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians study the ultimate cross-border issue: environmental science. Unsurprisingly, conflict resolution is an integral part of this work.

Hazon changes lives by encouraging people to start cycling. As you may know, two years ago Hazon got me on my bike for the first time since childhood. Through their training rides, I got in shape and rode my first Century ride (100 miles in a day). Along the way, I’ve met a fantastic community of warm, committed, wonderful people who enhance my life to no end… and has turned me into an advocate for cycling and transportation alternatives. And I am not alone. Hazon has been turning hundreds of people into cyclists since their first ride in 2001.

I invite you to find out more by contacting me or visiting Hazon’s website at www.hazon.org.

Support Hazon by sponsoring me on the Bike Ride.

My Role

This year, I am back on the Executive Committee, serving as Design Director for the ride, as well as starting Team Brooklyn to galvanize eco-conscious riders in the borough. In addition, I produced a 28-page Ride Guide that explains Hazon and the ride to participants and contains a fundraising guide and training tips. I will also be producing a Fundraising Clinic to help other riders learn how to raise more money. I’m doing my part. Won’t you support me in my fundraising goal? Thanks.

I’ve been very active in Hazon:

• Cyclist Participant, 2007, 2008, 2009 Rides
• Executive Committee, 2008 and 2009 Rides
• Design Director, 2009 Ride
• Founder and Captain, Team Brooklyn, 2009
• Grant Allocations Committee, 2008
• Top Ten Fundraiser, 2008, 2009

I find this quite disturbing for a number of reasons.

First, given the monumental financial malfeasance wrought by the financial sector, the palty sums were elevated to front page status bring a negative light to a sector that comprises 10% of the GDP. This coverage failed to provide any context for the amounts and thus conveys a negative impression of the entire nonprofit community.

Secondly, as admitted in the story, most contributions were in the form of tickets to events, not directly to campaigns, with no pro quid pro expected. These types of donations were not given with malicious intent. While explicitly stating this, the tone of the article harms the reputation of hard-working organizations doing the public good.

If we were to look at this issue clearly, we would see that is unfair to restrict nonprofits’ ability to contribute because of their nonprofit status while businesses that receive tax breaks and other preferential treatment from government have no such restrictions.

In fact, is the nonprofit sector that is effectively doing the government’s job of providing essential social services and a safety net, largely on private funds. If anything, nonprofits should have more of a say in how the government operates, specifically, on budget issues in which it ends up bearing the brunt of the burden as social services are slashed. Instead, businesses are allowed to lobby to receive tax breaks and other incentives while flouting financial, health, environmental and worker safety laws. Clearly, a double standard is in place.

WAKE UP CALL: It is time for fair coverage and representation of the nonprofit sector in the media and halls of government. Nonprofits, now is the time to speak up!

Four Important Lessons Learned
The combination of the severe recession, coupled with the Bernard Madoff debacle, has made headlines and brought fear and deep anxiety throughout the nonprofit sector. There are a number of critical lessons that should guide us all going forward:

1. Few individuals or organizations are immune from current difficulties. Reflect compassion and a commitment to move ahead strategically to maintain your place and position in the community.

2. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. While this may be interpreted as an effort in stating the obvious, avarice often impacts negatively on financial decisions. Through time, people have repeatedly been hurt responding quickly to unrealistic promises proffered by those with dishonest and greedy intentions. Organizations and individuals who followed a man portraying himself as a “pied piper” knowing how to beat the markets truly paid a hefty price! And the entire story has yet to be told.

3. There are no shortcuts. Proper financial oversight is an important element of a strong nonprofit. While donors drive and propel campaigns, nonprofit organizations should commit to investment strategies that reflect thoughtful and conservative institutional management. Too many stories coming out of the Madoff mess relate caution being “thrown to the wind” in pursuit of a fleeting promise of an inflated return.

4. Keep your case for giving simple, relevant and impactful. Organizations that frame and present a compelling case for giving are in a far stronger position to continue receiving financial support from existing and new (or lapsed) donors. Those nonprofits that feel guilty, hold back or hesitate to promote their “selling propositions” in terms of how they impact on the lives of people will face reductions in support that will take years to recoup.

WAKE-UP CALL

1. Review and update Gift Acceptance Policies and Investment Policies for your endowments as well as for pension dollars, making certain that your organization has a balanced portfolio and effective and empowered internal “checks and balances.”

2. Tighten your organization’s budget and consider how you can fashion a 10% cutback in expenses that are not critical to the running of the organization. Share your belt-tightening measures openly with stakeholders for all to understand.

3. Update and contemporize your organization’s Mission Statement and Case for Giving to communicate compassion and responsibility. Make certain that your programs and services are seen as critical and necessary to the lives of people and communities and eliminate any perception that your mission or programs might be seen as, luxuries or extravagant. This applies to capital campaigns as well as on-going efforts for operational support.

4. Update and formalize your Donor Recognition program, reflecting that you are not taking your donors for granted. Understand that many donors may wish to be understated or anonymous right now so as to appear appropriate and to not open them up as targets for other causes.

5. Make fuller use of technology by promoting giving on line and introducing social networking as a method to keep your constituents and friends connected. This will enable you to cut costs without compromising a necessary commitment to excellence.

RESOURCE: www.EHLconsulting.com

This entry is in response to an op ed piece by Nicholas D. Kristof in the New York Times on December 24, 2008: The Sin in Doing Good Deeds.

Easing our insistence on low overhead ratios for charities, will help them to co-opt the profit motive. One reason that nonprofits are not as effective with their own in fundraising is not specifically the profit motive, but the fact that the public insists on nonprofits maintaining low overhead ratios (such as 85%). On the face of it, it makes sense that donors don’t want to see their money spent on administration or fundraising costs – they want it to go directly into programs.

However, this is not sustainable for the nonprofits. Charities, like businesses, need money to run their operations – to pay competitive salaries to attract good talent, to train their staff, invest in technology, and create effective marketing and fundraising programs. In industry jargon, this is called capacity building.

Insisting on low overhead ratios through charity rating sites (and nonprofits are caught up in this as well, citing their low administrative costs in their fundraising appeals) effectively limits nonprofits’ abilities to be successful over the long-term. Putting most of their contribution into programs leaves little to invest in generating the fundraising returns that they need today, or investing in the strategies that will make a difference for their operations tomorrow.

WAKE UP CALL: We need to get past short-term thinking and allow nonprofits more latitude with their spending. This will help to co-opt the profit motive. For example, if charities were allowed to spend 30% ratio on fundraising, they would not need to rely on people like Dan Pollata to deliver such huge returns.