Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

David Grant, President and CEO

It was very gratifying to get three such thoughtful responses to my Part 1 entry posted two weeks ago. All three respondents wanted to use James O’Toole’s formulation of “The Executive’s Compass” (below) as a springboard into other ways to consider the questions of what The Good Society is, and what Philanthropy’s role in it is.

I think they are right, and we should eventually move beyond the “Compass.” In future entries, I want to find and post the graphic Christopher Nye describes, and I want to explore the resonance between his suggestions for what philanthrophy should be doing and the idea of philanthropy having to place itself on a “constrained/unconstrained” axis of the matrix Sean Stannard-Stockton suggests.

Before we do that, though, I want to linger over the idea of “balance” that O’Toole’s “Compass” has inspired in all of us. (more…)

Laura Aden Packer, Program Director, Arts

In Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king who was punished for eternity: condemned to roll an enormous boulder uphill, only to watch it roll back down again.

This story has been played out here in New Jersey over the last 20 years by the nonprofit arts industry as it has been condemned, year after year, to fight an uphill battle for restoration and/or growth of public funding. As a founding board member of ArtPride/NJ, the arts advocacy organization started back in 1987, I have borne witness year after year to this never-ending struggle, and I find myself constantly wondering what else can be done to ensure that the incalculable value of cultural programming is fully understood.

There was some hope a few years back. In 2003, in the face of the possibility of complete elimination of public funding for the arts, the New Jersey Legislature wisely created a dedicated and recurring source of funding for arts, history and tourism from a new hotel/motel occupancy fee. A minimum of $16 million was guaranteed for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts from that fee, which last year generated over $80 million – most of which goes to the state’s general coffers and municipalities. (more…)

Martin Farawell, Program Director, Poetry

LUCILLE CLIFTON has said, “I don’t write to be admired. I write to be understood.” Yet, when we hear her read “When” and “Sorrows,” it is impossible not to admire her. Take a moment to listen.

Clifton might have said, “I write to understand.” These poems do not begin in received wisdom, or offer easily palatable resolutions. That final word, “then,” in “What Haunts Him” forces us right back into the center of the poem: How can the three soldiers sit in silence, even for an instant, in the face of such a hateful act? Especially when it is committed against a man they were willing to die beside? How can they endure such an act in the very country their fellow soldier, and all three of them, were willing to die to defend?

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Wendy Liscow, Program Officer

We spend a great deal of time at Dodge thinking about ways, beyond sending a grant check, to build the administrative and board capacity of our grantees. When a large number of our grantees are struggling with a particular issue, we try to bring in some experts to provide some answers.

This past year we hosted an extended series of workshops to help our grantees strengthen their board governance. It has been an exhilarating ride, and we plan to use the Dodge Blog as a way to share some of the insights of our terrific workshop leaders as well as to share support materials we have gathered along the way. We kick off our conversation with a salute to today’s looming tax filing deadline!

If you have dreaded filling out the Form 990 for the IRS in the past, you might find yourself wanting to run for the hills when you learn what is required in the new and improved 990. The IRS is now asking a host of questions about your nonprofit board and governance practices.

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Ross Danis, Program Director, Education

If there is a silver thread in this dark economic cloud, it is the potential to raise the number and the quality of teachers working in high need disciplines such as math and science, in high need districts such as Newark and Camden.

One has to imagine that there are some of the “downsized” engineers and scientists who worked in New Jersey’s high tech businesses who would make fine teachers if properly trained and mentored. One can also imagine a new group of young people currently seriously considering teaching as opposed to, let’s say, banking, as a career choice. In both scenarios, I think motives are relevant, and that in addition to shifting economic realities, I sense a shift in values. A life defined by service, contribution, and meaning, as well as having a career that is relatively secure, makes teaching very attractive.

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