Title IX and Nondiscrimination

Vice President Biden today announced that the Administration has issued a 'Dear Colleague' letter that withdraws a 2005 interpretation of Title IX policy. Joining the vioce president for today's announcment were Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Senior White House Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls.

What is Title IX? It was enacted in 1972, mandating that any educational institution receiving federal funding for programs and activities cannot discriminate on the basis of sex.

In 2005 this policy included compliance standards that were criticized nationwide for being inadequate and inconsistent with Title IX's nondiscrimination goals. Today's announcement reverses this interpretation, and returns to a more thorough test for assessing compliance with Title IX.



-- Rocco Basile

Rocco Basile on Fund Raising and the Economy

At this year's Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) economists said that fund raisers should begin to prepare to take advantage of the economy's slow recovery. (Source: Economist Susan Raymond, Changing Our World).

As you know I enjoy researching and learning about different trends and ways that I can keep up with fund raising ideas for my charities like Children of the City.

They urged fund raisers to pay more attention to economic trends, including the high unemployment rate because the unemployment rate has a big influence on individual giving. The Department of Commerce doesn't anticipate the unemployment rate to drop to 5 to 6 percent, where it was in 2007, until the year 2013.

Also, America's recovery will depend on export products, forcing it to rely on the strength of foreign economies - so watch Europe.

In December 2009, 39 states were expecting new budget deficits in 2010 which is disasterous for philanthropic organizations that rely heavily on government support. The economists urged foundations to help educate local lawmakers about their roles.

However the good news is that overall, the nonprofit sector has huge opportunities including innovation towards strategies to diversify their revenue. Some ideas might include: marketing to female donors who are more financially conservative and philanthropic; exploring cause-related marketing; figuring out ways to take steps to access their situation and decide out how to overcome the psychological impact of the downturn on donors; then embrace change and plan to difersify revenue.

Other ways to do this include seeking funds from program-related investments, and social enterprises. Overall, the days are gone when nonprofit groups can rely on donations alone.

-- Rocco Basile

Has the Recession Harmed Philanthropies?

This was just released in March 2010 - A recent report on the 2010 State of the Nonprofit Sector said that 18 percent of the more than 1,300 nonprofit leaders surveyed expect their organizations to end 2010 in the black. In 2009, 35 percent of organizations ended the year with an operating surplus. But, 12 percent have no cash and 61 percent of those surveyed said they have less than three months of cash available. (Source: The Foundation Center.)

Basically this means is that the field of philanthropy will become more strategic as a result of the world’s economic crisis.

About 80 percent of these nonprofits expect to see an increase in demand for their services in 2010. On the other hand, only 49 percent expect to be able to fully meet that demand.

Many charity organizations are taking steps to maintain, and expand during these recessionary times. 52 percent stated they have collaborated with other organizations to provide programs; 43 percent have expanded their offerings; 18 percent have expanded the geographic area served by their programs. A big 60 percent said that they have become more involved with their board.

Overall, the impact of the economic situation on foundations is as follows:
1) There is a clear expectation among grant makers that the field of philanthropy will become more strategic as a result of having weathered the economic crisis. 2) The long-term impact of the crisis on their own foundations are forcing engaging in “more robust strategic planning,” “more focused use of the foundation’s capabilities,” and being “more focused and disciplined in executing our strategy.”

There have been declines in overall consumer demand and our country’s highest unemployment figures in a quarter century, so it is no surprise that the future outlook for the nonprofit community has been impacted by the recession.

One charity thatI work closely with and sit on their Board, is known as Children of the City in Sunset Park near Brooklyn, New York, however, is not suffering at all since the recession. It is growing.

-- Rocco Basile

Rocco Basile Reports: Mathew Encourages Talent

“My job is to encourage talent.”


As you know I report things happening at my charity Children of the City, as well as add information to my website on educational trends and such at www.roccobasile.net.

But here's a really inspiring story I wanted to share ... Mathew is a tutor in Children of the City’s Create Success After School Program in Sunset Park near Brooklyn, NY.

He basically teaches kids the skills they need to come up with a strategy for learning. And he believes that creativity is the key. Matt inspires confidence and boosts his students' self esteem.

He mixes it up with drama, games, and group presentations like last semester's reading of Shakespeare’s “A Mid Summer Night’s Dream.” This helps promote public speaking, listening skills and comprehension.

A communications major, Matt grew up in Sunset Park. He was making a documentary in El Salvador when he realized he wanted to teach, so he moved back to his old neighborhood and rearranged his work schedule to free up his afternoons to help teach the kids at Children of the City.

-- Rocco Basile

Rocco Basile Report: Trends in Education for 2010

Technology is truely evolving at the speed of light, so here is a list of trends that will influence education in the new year:

Check out eBooks -- the latest in reading, eBooks will proliferate, although they will not replace traditional textbooks anytime real soon. But the consulting firm - Frost & Sullivan in Atlanta - say the devices will gain traction in the K-12 arena in the year 2010

Netbooks and their functionality will grow in 2010 -- These are expected to become even more popular sd they become affordable, with prices of $200 - $300. Small, computers like this are helping bridge the technology between schools where students don't have access to computers.

Interactive Whiteboards -- These are large display systems allowing teachers and students to work together and they are gaining ground in the K-12 schools. The tools have been around for a quite some time, but the educational arena wasn't ready to use them ten years ago. Now they are.

-- Rocco Basile

David Tyree Spends Afternoon with Children of the City

As you know, I serve on the Board of a Brooklyn-based charity, Children of the City and often write about this charity, education and our youth in my website, www.roccobasile.net, and this blog. The New York Giants' football star David Tyree is also on the Board, and he recently visited the kids during one of the Create Success program classes, which is an after school and/or summer program for kids. It's the only multi-service educational program of its kind and is fast becoming a model sought after by other agencies for their own after school program sites.

The program places priority on each student’s academic success with intense tutoring and help with their homework, which ends up being a connection with the student allows us the open door to provide them with other services such as counseling, or advocacy within the social systems like court. Some of the skills that the program achieves include:
Our goals are:

- Closing the academic skills gap;

- Displacing the poverty mentality;

- Providing the support and resources needed to help each child and youth complete their education so they can enter the workforce;

- Addressing social issues that discourage a child from focusing on their education.

The Create Success program also evaluates student performance using NYC Department of Education assessment tools which sowed that over the past three years 95 percent of the students tested improved several DRA levels; 20 percent increased an entire grade level; and all of the students expressed they felt more comfortable reading, more confident in their math skills.

In general this program helped the Children of the City kids develop positive outlooks for the success of their education and lives.

-- Rocco Basile







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Children of the City's Mission

The mission for Sunset Park-based Children of the City, located in Brooklyn New York has remained the same since 1981. They try to reach at-risk inner-city youth and their families. Children of the City's goal is to connect families to resources to address their current crises in an effort to change the culture of poverty.

One of their programs, Strong Minds and Strong Homes, is a volunteer-based outreach effort that meets children and families where they live. Strong Minds - Strong Homes (SMASH) is a volunteer-based effort that meets children and families in Sunset Park and connects them with services they might not otherwise seek out on their own.

The goals of this program include:

1) Building a healthy community - by increasing connections between community members and service providers.
2) Empowering parents to meet basic physical needs of their children - by connecting them to food pantries, employment services, clothing providers, and other social service groups.
3) Equipping parents to raise healthy children - by helping to train and support them to use healthy developmental strategies to raise their children. This helps reduce neglect and child abuse.
4) Increasing educational opportunities for children - by advocating at local schools and connecting them with supplemental academic programs.

I also have other information about this and other programs that Children of the City sponsors on my educational website www.roccobasile.net.

Children of the City also believes in the importance of mobilizing its community members to work together for the good of everyone in the neighborhood. Each year the organization trains 50 volunteers from the Sunset Park community. Each person commits to giving 10 hours every month conducting outreach for children and families, over 12 consecutive months.

I do it and it is the best feeling in the world to give back to a community.

-- Rocco Basile