The Chronicle of Philanthropy has posted this story:

The Democratic National Committee is including a provision in the party’s official platform that calls for the creation of a federal fund to support charities that have devised successful ways to meet social needs.

“Social entrepreneurs and leading nonprofit organizations are assisting schools, lifting families out of poverty, filling health-care gaps, and inspiring others to lead change in their own communities,” the party says in its platform. “To support these results-oriented innovators, we will create a Social Investment Fund Network that invests in ideas that work, tests their impact, and expands the most successful programs.

The party also calls for the creation of a federal office that coordinates the efforts of government and nonprofit groups.

What do you think about a federal office that coordinates government and nonprofits? Should either party include nonprofits in their party platform?

News from Trish Crist at Hands On Nashville on a great, and FREE opportunity:

Great news for social networkers, business networkers, and Nashville-community-lovers!

To meet the need of those in the volunteer community who felt unable to attend Do Good Well programming due to cost, Hands On Nashville is delighted to announce that there is now no cost whatsoever to attend our new monthly educational/networking programs featuring a different nonprofit organization each month.

September – Second Harvest Food Bank

October – CommunityNashville

November – Alive Hospice

December – The Climate Project (Al Gore’s worldwide foundation built around his Nobel-Prize-winning film An Inconvenient Truth)

January – Oasis Center

February – The Nashville Zoo

March – Cheekwood

April – Adventure Science

These orgs’ messages are just too good for people to miss! Take this opportunity to meet cool people, explore our city’s often groundbreaking nonprofit community, and learn about volunteer opportunities in our city.

Please help spread the word and tell folks about this important change to FREE! Seating is limited and registration at www.hon.org is highly recommended.

I am a little behind on this one, but I just got a copy of the August issue of “Her Nashville”. The issue, entitled “Hearts in Hand: The Do-Good Issue,” features Nashville women that are making a difference in their community. Here are the nonprofit folks that are featured; click on the links to view the full articles:

Trish Crist, Hands On Nashville

Shelia Bates, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Ellen Lehman, The Community Foundation

Becca Stevens, Magdalene House

Kristen Keely-Dinger, Baptist Healing Trust

How lucky is Nashville to have such fantastic women working in the community?! So glad to see their efforts highlighted.

An announcement from TFLI:

In an effort to provide much needed foreign language classes to employees of other not-for-profit agencies in the Nashville area, TFLI is offering CNM members 20% off the regular price of $350 per term. CNM members pay only $280 for 10 week (20 hour) group classes!

The Fall 2008 term starts Monday, September 15th and runs through the week of November 17th.
Along with our most popular classes of Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese, we are offering Modern Standard Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, German, Portuguese and Russian again this fall. Also note that there are more daytime classes at TFLI and our location in Green Hills as well as accelerated Spanish classes at both locations! Check the schedule for more details about these options.

Complete Schedule Available Now at www.tfli.org Registration deadline is Friday, August 29th.

To receive your discount please:

*Call 741.7579 and mention your CNM membership or follow the offline registration procedures below:

• Search the online catalog for the class you wish to take and note the “class code”/language/time/day/place of the class you wish to take.

• Enter that information and your personal contact details (a correct email address is needed for follow up correspondence about your class)on a registration form (downloadable from our website: http://ssreg.com/tfli/) adding a note that you are a CNM member.

• Then, email, fax, OR mail it to us. We will contact you regarding the status of your registration and the class you selected.

Note: Please register early to get the class of your choice.

Here is the story from today’s Tennessean:

Eight regional United Way organizations got together for a kickoff event for their 2008 fundraising campaign at LP Field on Tuesday, announcing a collective goal of $26.4 million.

The invitation-only event, which drew more than 400 guests, featured a performance by Nashville songwriters Mark Alan Springer, AJ Masters and Brittany Quaranto.

Ellen Leifeld, the Metro Nashville United Way campaign chairwoman, said the event marked the first time all eight organizations had held a joint event in 10 years. “The theme for this year is Live United, and living united means having no boundaries,” said Leifeld, publisher of The Tennessean.

“All of these organizations have the same vision, serve the same needs and I think it’s important that we make a statement.” The current economic climate makes United Way’s mission more relevant than ever, Leifeld said.

“Right now the economy is strained, families are hurting and organizations are all stressed,” she said. “Since more people need help, together we all need to step up.”

Rutherford and Cannon County campaign Chairman Brian Hercules said his organization had set its 2008 fundraising goal at $3 million, its “most aggressive” to date.

“We can take care of our own and we’re optimistic,” Hercules said.

“We’re stepping up to the plate.”

United Way serves 5,800 low-income seniors in Middle Tennessee, as well as needy children through Read to Succeed and other early education programs. Funds raised by the organization also provide HIV prevention education, medical case management services and tax return assistance.

St. Luke’s Community House Blog points out a story posted on a community Web site in Delaware about a local shoe seller that found out about Soles4Souls, a Nashville based nonprofit, and began a shoe collection at her store. It reminds us all of the power of the Internet:

In a world where Imedla Marcos owned more than 1,200 pairs and designer Manolo Blahnik is peddling $14,000 alligator-skin boots, many consider shoes the crown of high fashion. But 300 million children around the world don’t even own a pair of sneakers to protect their feet from broken glass or keep their toes warm on an icy, winter evening.

Sissy Harris, owner of Peter Kate Shoes in Greenville, (Delaware) is doing her best to change that by collecting new and gently used shoes for Soles 4 Souls, a nonprofit group that donates shoes to people around the world.

Harris read about the charity online and decided to set up a collection box inside her store, offering customers a 15 percent discount if they bring shoes to donate.

“There are shoes out there, sitting in the backs of our closets, that someone would treasure,” she said.

The Nashville Post reported the story on Friday:

The EAR Foundation has merged with the League for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, after both nonprofits were left headless when their chief administrators retired in quick succession.
Early this year, the EAR Foundation lost its executive director, Suzanne Wyatt, to Premier Micronutrient Corp., where she now heads the hearing health division. Les Hutchison, president and CEO of the League, retired in December.

Administrators at both companies say a merger was the next logical step.

“We’re in a similar area, and we both noticed we were both beginning a search for a new excutive director,” said Steve Masie, chairman of the Ear Foundation.

The merger was finalized on Wednesday, about six months after talks started. New League President Sallie Hussey was appointed in June as talks concluded.

“We are very similar organizations with similar programs,” said Hussey. She described the merger as “a way to provide better and more efficient programs.”

Reuters reports that John McCain and Barack Obama have agreed to speak at the “ServiceNation Summit” in New York City on September 11th. Organized by the group MyGoodDeed, the event is designed to help make September 11 a national day of public service. Both presidential candidates have been asked to suspend all campaign activity for that day. You can submit questions to the presidential candidates on charitable service by clicking here.

The Tennessean profiles the committed volunteers of Miriam’s Promise:

The produce they’ve grown has been sold at Hermitage United Methodist Church, with proceeds going to Miriam’s Promise, a faith-based organization that helps women and children, England said.

“We started this thing not having a clue about gardening but as an exercise in giving,” Pridemore said.

“It’s easy to throw money at things, but it’s different to spend time and energy and to give from your heart.”

Nashville City Paper has a story today on Banker Jennie Renwick’s move into the nonprofit sector:

Saint Thomas Health Services has named Jennie Renwick senior development officer and major gifts director for the Saint Thomas Health Services Fund. She takes on the position after serving as a vice president at First Tennessee Bank in Nashville since 1999.