March « 2010 « Slope Resources

On February 24th, I was among the guests discussing the issue of nonprofit organizational sustainability on the blog talk radio show All Nonprofits Considered.

I joined the show’s host, Rosetta Thurman, along with my fellow guests Nelson Layag, Projects Director, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and Patrick Sallee, Development Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City, for a rich conversation about what nonprofit organizations are doing and can do in the current economic climate. Each of us, having different roles in the nonprofit sector, brought a unique perspective to the conversation. Among the points I emphasized:

Look forward as an organization
Focus externally — on mission — not on mere survival
Collaboration can exist at many levels
Continue to focus on and make investments in the organization’s people

You can listen to the entire discussion or download it as a podcast using the player above or here.

I grew up in a family of football fans. As I understand it, somewhere around the age of two, they sat me down in front of a televised professional football game and told me “you’re going to watch this, and you’re going to like it”. Fortunately for me, I did like it, and I still do. Somewhere along the line I became a New York Jets fan, but I’m hardly rabid in that regard. I’m much more interested in watching a competitive game between two skilled teams. I consider myself a student of the game, having picked up a fair bit of knowledge about its history, rules, strategies, and culture.

One phrase I’ve heard countless times over the years from football announcers on television and radio is “getting off the schneid”. As long as I can remember, I’ve known what was meant by this phrase. It refers to a team scoring its first points in a game, or winning its first game in a season, usually after being stuck at zero points or wins for an extended period of time. I don’t think I’ve ever uttered the phrase aloud, in part because I had absolutely no idea of its origins or connotations beyond the realm of football announcers. Just recently, I decided to look it up. I was surprised to learn that the phrase comes from the card game gin rummy (I’ve never been much of a card player), but was satisfied to have learned something new and to know that, should the situation arise, I’d feel confident using it in conversation.

That brings me, finally, to the point of this post. With regard to blogging, it is long past time that I get off the schneid.
Continue reading ‘Getting Off the Schneid’