We’ve all heard the expression: “I’m not trying to solve world hunger here; I’m just trying to …” Hunger. It’s an issue so pervasive and complex—widespread and close to home; ageless yet ever-changing— that it’s become the epitome of unsolvable problems in our everyday speech. Hunger can be as painfully obvious as famine in a third-world country, or as clandestine as the kids next door counting on the local school lunch program for their main source of nourishment. The numbers [...]

A Small Town Nonprofit Provides History to Millions At the height of the bicentennial commemoration of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, over 50,000 visitors a year were streaming through Washburn’s Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan. The Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan Foundation, which maintains both historic attractions, was enjoying enormous national, even international, media attention. Visitors were coming from all 50 states and as many foreign countries. Before the closing bicentennial events in 2006, the Foundation’s board [...]

If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world, right behind China and India. That’s a pretty big clue that social networks aren’t going away anytime soon. So, you probably understand by now how crucial it is for your nonprofit to build an e-community and establish a solid presence in the world of social media. Next step—you need to know the rules of engagement. It’s not enough to simply create a Facebook page, acquire some [...]

District 44 senator discusses public higher education in ND By Shannon Schweigert, Today’s Giving   What are the primary sources of revenue funding North Dakota’s University System (NDUS)? Tuition and state appropriations have and will continue to be the top sources of funding for higher education. One area that is often overlooked in the overall funding for higher education is the more than $200 million per year that comes to North Dakota in the form of research and grant funds. [...]

Associate degrees from technical, two-year and state colleges help fulfill region’s needs By Shannon Schweigert, Today’s Giving North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) president Dr. John Richman is leading a charge to help reverse decades of “incomplete” messages to North Dakota’s youth touting success as a destiny that requires them to “get off the farm, leave your hometown, get a four-year degree and move out of state.” Those long-held beliefs obscure the opportunities available through the quality, well-paying careers [...]

Editor’s Note: Each issue of Giving will include “Faces of Giving” to recognize and thank some of those across our region whose actions serve as both leadership and inspiration for thoughtful, meaningful contributions that improve the lives of others. Do you know of someone who fits the profile? If so, please send recommendations to faces@givingmag.com or mail to Faces of Giving, 1407 1st Ave North, Fargo, ND 58104. Dorothy and Howard Barlow and a dozen other members of Peace Lutheran [...]

by Lisa Jackson, Today’s Giving                                                                Everyday people do extraordinary things. It’s great to hear stories about an individual making the leap from simply writing a check (often because of a mailing or phone-a-thon) to participating in a way that takes significant investment but creates immense change. Traditionally, development directors from nonprofit organizations engage this transformation by instigating and facilitating the process. However, a new approach is “engaged,” philanthropy—a process whereby donors reach out to collaborate with organizations to make a [...]

Students Help Inspire Economic Development and Dreams through NDSU Project By Lisa Jackson, Today’s Giving “If you build it, they will come.”  The Enchanted Highway, Regent, North Dakota is also a story about a field of dreams. Big, metal, economic-development dreams. The first sculpture on Highway 5 began with sparks off steel, donated metal and over three dozen farmers. Gary Greff, who had never been an artist or a welder prior to 1989, created and built the first metal sculpture, [...]

By Roxane B. Salonen As he walks across the playground with one of his students, Kevin Anderson smiles at the chorus of young voices ahead. The student indicates he’d like to join the circle of playing children. Anderson obliges, pushing the child’s wheelchair forward. But it stops at a stretch of rocky ground and they’re forced to turn back. It’s a scene with which he’s all too familiar: getting close but not quite close enough. For 24 years, Kevin Anderson [...]