Editor’s Note: This book came to me from my work with International Partners in Mission as they are featured in Chapter 3 as “doing right.” But I must tell you, it is (I’m still not done) the toughest read I’ve had in a long time. The writing is good, McDonald’s an award winning newsman but what he makes me think about it very, very difficult. I’m a marketing guy, so I’ve long seen the need for all religions to reach out more effectively to their believers. But McDonald makes me wonder as he outlines just how extreme most religions have become in

Editor’s Note: The Rastafarian thing always threw me off (religion in which Hailee Salasee was considered the Almighty) but I’ve enjoyed a number of Marley’s pieces, particularly this and Redemption Song. The song also relates to our chicken finger concept, whose honor is carrying on the theme of “one love.” Finally, a dear friend who is struggling right now is a big Marley fan, and so I dedicate this song to him.

After forty years of work, I have developed one primary talent: Marketing.

Editor’s Note: Hope Gibbs does a nice job highlighting this, one of the first peer-to-peer philanthropy site. Donorschoose.org is a cool concept, nicely boot-strapped and then scaled.

Editor’s Note: This article’s surprise for me is that most of the world’s poorest people don’t live in the poorest countries. Does this mean sending aid to autocrats that never reaches their poor might be a bad idea? Right, I’m being sarcastic. I love this article from the Economist, provided by my son, Tim, that reminds us that helping countries reach stability and good governance is more important than simply writing a check.

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

Editor’s Note: Our foundation helped International Partners in Mission (IPM) create its “international immersion experience” program as a way to generate unrestricted revenue in order to sustain and expand its mission impact – a great example of a nonprofit being market-driven and “finding a need and filling it.” Our Managing Director, Bill Leamon, is taking a group of students from Notre Dame College to Nicaragua (the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere) with IPM next spring, and he recommended this book to me. I found the explanation of dependent economies (where most of the effort goes into goods for export rather than goods for local consumption) very enlightening, along with gaining a better understanding of how much our foreign policy towards Nicaragua (an American, William Walker, was even its President from 1856-57) has shaped the country’s governance, as well as contributed to its dismal impoverishment.

Editor’s Note: I never “got” the Grateful Dead as so many of my friends did. But since the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is opening a new exhibit to them this month, I’ll share my favorite of their many songs. Maybe it has more meaning but to me it’s just a light, good melody and harmony and fun lyrics.

The voice for creating better measurements continues to grow in the non-profit world. And that’s certainly a good thing. But my experience in business says much depends on what, and how much, you measure.

Editor’s Note: Our foundation only dreams of becoming as effective as Center for Community Self-Help, whose mission is “Creating and protecting ownership and economic opportunity for all.”