Life on the Third Plateau

Rule #1 of sticky ideas: they should be simple but profound. I've always thought that's the beauty of the One Percent Foundation idea:

Everyone who can afford to should give at least one percent of their income to charitable causes each year.

Charting Impact is a collaborative effort of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, GuideStar USA, and Independent Sector, designed to make it easier for nonprofits to consistently communicate their stories and impact, and for donors to compare and contrast different groups. 

Every nonprofit should fill out a Charting Impact report. It's a clarifying process for your organization, and it is a useful way to communicate your impact to your donors. Plus, according to the Charting Impact website, as of today only 70 organizations are participating, so you can have a leg up by being an early adopter!

The five Charting Impact questions that every nonprofit should answer:

1. What is your organization aiming to accomplish?

2. What are your strategies for making this happen?

3. What are your organization's capabilities for doing this?

4. How will your organization know if you are making progress?

Third Plateau is a bluff overlooking the Santa Cruz mountains on the grounds of Camp Swig, where many of my closest friends grew up going to camp. Each summer, counselors would take campers on an early-morning hike to Third Plateau to watch the sunrise. The anticipation was always extraordinary: getting up and leaving the cabin before dawn, hiking for what seemed to be forever, and finally arriving at this place of awe and beauty to watch the sun come up over the mountains.