I actually enjoy reading the solicitation letters that flood in from nonprofits in December. The reads are often good, sometimes dreadful. Very occasionally, they are just plain awesome. One solicitation really stood out this year. The mailing came from City Blossoms, a small nonprofit in DC that focuses on growing community gardens to build strong neighborhoods. […]
First sentence: Best of 2014
February 12, 2015 by
I’m a word person, but even I stand daunted by the floods and floods of text surround the asking for contributions. The emails and letters never…stop…coming. In many of the asks, the development department kicks off their letter by carefully re-stating the obvious of who you’re supporting — “Thank you for your past support of Punktinet School,” or […]
Dinner with Alice
January 31, 2012 by
I had dinner with Alice Waters last Sunday night. When I first went to Alice’s restaurant Chez Panisse back in the late 1980s, the local-food “movement” was anything but. If as a restaurateur you had good sources nearby — for produce, for seafood, for meat — you kept it pretty quiet. There was often not […]