Social Endowments

You have to feel for the CEOs of small non-profits, always worrying about payroll, how they’re going to make the next utility payment, or how they’re going to keep the Board happy with steady growth and positive change on empty pockets and slack operational income.

CEOs of small non-profits and their poor finance directors come in every day dreading the checks they have to write and the priorities decisions they have to juggle. Income is never enough, so grants and fundraising are critical but so many grants won’t pay for operational expenses. Grantors seem to prefer to fund projects with short-term outcomes. After all, they have Boards of their own to keep happy.

One of the CEOs we work with recently expressed an interesting thought. He wished out loud that more grantors would set aside their egos and provide long-term socially responsible endowments. Specifically, he wished someone would underwrite putting solar panels on his roof. With net metering, he reasoned he could reduce his utility costs by half. It seems the electricity check each month was his thorn in the side and something as simple as solar would be the equivalent of a perpetual endowment. AND help the environment at the same time.

A strategically thinking grantor could double down on their “do-gooding” by adopting this approach. For example, payroll is perhaps the #1 expense for any small non-profit so they write grant requests that help pay for staff. Imagine the long-term community dialogue and future donor potential from grants that endow a rotating Chair of local scientists, historians, or educators. For some museums, securing a loan is their thorn, especially if their #1 asset may be the collections they can’t ethically leverage as collateral or an old building that a bank doesn’t want to inherit. A grantor who will lend their clout to guarantee a low-interest loan would be golden to a small non-profit. Other social endowments might include perpetual accounts to augment other operational costs, whether for (locally-grown) groceries for the cafeteria, guaranteed admission tickets for underserved families, or to augment employee incentives with a wellness program.

Read More >>

The Meatball Story

Without argument, THE strongest brand in the U.S. Government is NASA and its logo, affectionately called the “meatball”, have become synonymous with all things space, space exploration, and in general, darings-do.

The main elements in the insignia come from the NASA seal: the circle represents the planets; the stars represents space; the red wing represents NASA’s aeronautics roots and an orbiting spacecraft. It became known as the meatball in 1975. The insignia was used for 16 years, to be replaced in 1975 by a design funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and produced under the Federal Graphics Improvement Program. It was the head of NASA’s technical publications who first nicknamed the “old” design the “meatball” and the new, more modern and sleek one, the “worm.” In 1992, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin declared the worm dead, and what was old became new again.

Today, the NASA meatball insignia remains as one of the strongest and most recognizable logos ever created. Some of it has to do with the fact that it’s (I think) the only logo currently on the moon but it’s become synonymous with NASA’s brand elements of risk taking, success, scientific advancement, and exploration.

If you ever had doubts about the importance of brand, NASA and its “meatball” are worth remembering.

Read More >>

Obituary

(reposted from July 1, 2013)

It’s not often you get to write your own obituary but here I am faced with saying goodbye as I transition into working retirement. I won’t actually be gone: just working to advance NASA’s mission another way. And if I’m lucky, I may be able to get an LLC launched so we can help others wade through its bureaucracy.

Starting in June 2013, I will have the privilege of serving as the museum director of the Infinity Science Center in Bay St. Louis, MS, which also serves as Stennis’ official visitor center. It’s an incredible opportunity and about the only one that would lure me away from civil service. I could go on about all the wonderful opportunities given me over the past 20+ years, or how much I’ve learned from all the incredible people I’ve worked with but I’ll leave that for another time. Blogs are supposed to be brief.

In the past year or two, it’s become obvious inside and outside of Marshall that its exhibits function is a mature, thriving, productive organism that has definitely come into its own. It’s world class. Who would’a thunk we’d ever have a team of skilled “veterans?” All in one place at the same time!

Someone asked me last week which projects have been my most memorable and why. Just for the record, they would have to be:

  •  “Space Science; Space Exploration,” where I learned tough lessons about targeting audiences
  • “Building a Better World,” where we first learned about handicap accessibility
  • “New Questions,” and the Curiosity rover models, which unshackled us a bit from literal presentation
  • The Freedom and ISS tandem trailers, where we honed our Community Impact Program (CIP) strategy and tactics
  • “Conquering LEO,” which leveraged artifacts to deliver messages
  • “Exploring the Backyard,” although just a concept, it has great potential to inspire on a large scale
  • And of course, “Great Nations Dare,” a life lesson in stubborn, relentless determination.

The way the contractor team has responded to their new contract; the expansion of ex-Exhibits Team members into responsible communications positions elsewhere in OSAC and around Marshall; the way the center is leading a combined SLS/Orion/ESD strategy; and the incredible depth and maturity of the team’s exhibit production and operations skill mix are all signs that the function will continue to be a relevant, needed part of NASA’s communications strategy.

S’long but not goodbye. As I mentioned in a note earlier to the Exhibits Team, it has been an honor to work for you.

Read More >>