March Meeting Announcements

Gayle Roberts lead a great discussion about fund raising that explored our relationship to money and how to connect to donors through their passions. Big thanks to Gayle, Kim Connector who hosted the meeting in her home and served some very tasty roasted potatoes, and to all who participated.
A few ideas from the discussion stood out:

• That fund raising is a great opportunity for transformation for the fund raiser and those who want to realize their dreams by supporting a cause
• When you truly connect to a donor through their passions and how you canhelp them make a dream come true, there's no need to be shy about asking for money or other help
• That giving is good for your health, and that you enlarge your soul and better connect to others by increasing your generosity
• That giving and getting are connected, that you make room for receiving when you give
• The learning how to give and receive are equally important to creating a culture of generosity. Reward those that give by accepting their gift fully
• That to be an effective fund raiser, all the rules that apply to building personal relationships apply to donor relations
  

We were also happy to see a great turn out of nonprofit folks from the below organizations, which I encourage you to check out and get involved in, especially if they're aligned with your passions:

• Hyphen Magazine
• Independent Arts & Media
• Forest Ethics
• 924 Gilman
• SF Women's Film Festival (4/9 to 4/13)
• Network of Bay Area Worker's Cooperatives
• Groundspark
  

NEXT MEETING
Our next meeting is Thursday April 17th. Seth Lepore, a voice teacher, will facilitate a discussion about how to increase the quality of connection to yourself and others through voice and may lead some voice exercises too. Learn more about Seth here.

We hope to see you then to continue our experiment in creating a social life that manifests fun, meaningful work, intellectual stimulation, health, and happiness. The social world is ours to create. This is not only an opportunity for fun, but a power we're given we can exercise daily.

Please see the member announcements below, and feel free to reach out to get or give help. There are lots of wonderful needs and gifts listed. Helping others is like eating organic food - it's good for you.

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Name:Jeremy Strickland
Passion:Healing Arts
Needs:Connecting w/ people looking for "bodywork" / healing arts.
Gifts:human touch

Name:kim connector
Passion:people, art, music, fashion, parties
Needs:connect with new people
Gifts:social "skilz", fashion consulting, social networking, great listener

Name:Jesse Townley
Passion: Music, egalitarianism, Art, Sustainability of Art/Creative efforts
Needs: sustaining alternative/underground art/music/culture
Gifts:music, organization, budgets, work flows, political action/networking (esp. Berkeley)

Name:Scarlett Shepard
Passion:SF Women's Film Festival (April 9-13), human rights, music, creative arts/film, youth service projects, creative consultant, cheerleader
Needs:Need help with grantwriting to help generate more money for professional development for underserved women filmmakers
Gifts:To get people to realize their full potential in the arts, if you ever need help with getting a film or creative project off the ground, you have an idea and need to know what to do next.

Name: Kasper Koczab
Passion: working towards creating local economies that don't neccessairly depend on cash. Worker coops and farming are also two things I get a bit happy about.
Needs: A free or very cheap office space for the Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives staff person.
Gifts: Great at strategizing around PR and events for progressive grass-roots organizations and other cool projects.

Name: Hung Chang
Passion: music and arts
Needs: fundraising and sponsorship strategy
Gifts: legal

Name: Melissa Yang
Passion: community building
Needs: fundraising and sponsorship strategy
Gifts: strategic planning / data analysis

Name: Mary Fuller
Passion: art, music, gardening, bikes, sustainable urban planning, working with awesome people. And food.
Needs: A job at the intersection of my passion and gifts
Gifts: Fundraising, communications, strategic planning, 50-50 right-brain/left-brain split particularly good for working in small organizations.

Name:Maritza Schafer
Passion: Changing western culture
Needs: Someone knowledgeable about webite content management systems
Gifts: Communications and marketing, especially for nonprofits. Reiki Sessions

Name: JoAnn Saccato
Passion:Creating a food co-op that brings the producers and consumers together in Lake County to help create sustainable living patterns and foster a sense of community. Completing my Masters program for the project.
Needs:Funding and guidance for co-op and funding for Masters
Gifts: communication, community organizing, public speaking, vipassana meditation

Name: Dennis "Dmenace" Gallegos
Passion:People! Meaning I really enjoy connecting with people. Understanding that everyone wants the same thing. To be loved and appreciated. I specialize in helping people who are challenged with disabilities, mental and physical.
Needs: Help changing the way I look at money. Not being afraid of it. Learning to be smart about it. Someone to help me step off the cliff to fullfill my goals.
Gifts: Able to inspire and motivate people. Ability to understand why people are the way they are and accept that. Public speaking and a vast knowledge of the health care systems in the United States.

Name: Ray Tobey
Passion: Changing our expectations and model of leadership from Machiavelli to Gandhi and Martin Luther King
Needs: PHP expertise
Gifts: C++, html & technology knowledge, and if you'd like to serve in a local elected office, I can arrange that!

Name: Neal Gorenflo
Passion: bringing people together
Needs: any ideas about improving communications skills
Gifts: car pooling to and from abundance league