RACE, POWER & POLITICS is the only book about ACORN ever written by authentic ACORN insiders-National Board Members. It is a must read for all concerned citizens, journalists and advocates, whether Tea Party, conservatives, civil libertarians or fairminded liberals; anyone interested in-and not afraid of learning the unvarnished truth about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. RACE, POWER & POLITICS is a cautionary tale of corruption and deceit within ACORN. Learn the unsettling truth from true believers who refused to be brainwashed by the "Jones Town" cult-like association or drink the Rathke family "Kool-Aid" and who challenged the entire ACORN establishment, including Wade Rathke a "Jim Jones" like figure, Senator Barack Obama an ACORN man seeking the White House and a Democrat controlled Congress; all while fighting management corruption within ACORN before its inevitable collapse. RACE, POWER & POLITICS is an inspirational journey and a cautionary tale for all non-profits, community organizations and public charities dedicated to supporting human rights and social justice. This powerful first person narrative gives an insiders perspective on ACORN, its senior management and exposes their corrupt practices. A compelling story about the courageous true believers who once loved ACORN and its mission to empower the underserved and marginalized members of American society, but soon discovered the unsettling truth about fraud and deceit within ACORN, and how they battled against insurmountable odds to reform the once venerable association.

Why are some international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) more politically salient than others, and why are some NGOs better able to influence the norms of human rights? Internal Affairs shows how the organizational structures of human rights NGOs and their campaigns determine their influence on policy. Drawing on data from seven major international organizations the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Medecins sans Frontieres, Oxfam International, Anti-Slavery International, and the International League of Human Rights Wendy H. Wong demonstrates that NGOs that choose to centralize agenda-setting and decentralize the implementation of that agenda are more successful in gaining traction in international politics.

Challenging the conventional wisdom that the most successful NGOs are those that find the "right" cause or have the most resources, Wong shows that how NGOs make and implement decisions is critical to their effectiveness in influencing international norms about human rights. Building on the insights of network theory and organizational sociology, Wong traces how power works within NGOs and affects their external authority. The internal coherence of an organization, as reflected in its public statements and actions, goes a long way to assure its influence over the often tumultuous elements of the international human rights landscape. "

The role of Western NGOs in the transition of postcommunist nations to democracy has been well documented. In this study, Paulina Pospieszna follows a different trajectory, examining the role of a former aid recipient (Poland), newly democratic itself, and its efforts to aid democratic transitions in the neighboring states of Belarus and Ukraine.
Belarus is widely regarded as the most authoritarian state in the region, while Ukraine is witnessing a slow, if often troubled, democratic consolidation. Each state presents a different set of challenges to outside agencies. As Pospieszna shows, Poland is uniquely positioned to offer effective counsel on the transition to democracy. With similarities of language and culture, and a shared history, combined with strong civic activism and success within the European Union, Poland's regional policies have successfully combined its need for security and a motivation to spread democracy as primary concerns. Pospieszna details the founding, internal workings, goals, and methods of Poland's aid programs. She then compares the relative degrees of success of each in Belarus and Ukraine and documents the work yet to be done.
As her theoretical basis, Pospieszna analyzes current thinking on the methods and effectiveness of NGOs in transitions to democracy, particularly U.S.- and European-led aid efforts. She then views the applicability of these methods to the case of Poland and its aid recipients. Overwhelmingly, Pospieszna finds the greatest success in developmental programs targeting civil society--workers, intellectuals, teachers, students, and other NGO actors.
Through extensive interviews with government administrators and NGO workers in Poland and the United States, coupled with archival research, Pospieszna assembles an original perspective on the mitigation of the 'postcommunist divide'. Her work will serve as a model for students and scholars of states in transition, and it provides an overview of both successful and unsuccessful strategies employed by NGOs in democracy assistance.

Amy Eisenstein guides you, in only five hours a week, to safely and surely meet the challenges of getting your organization ready for major gift fundraising, all the way up to that all-important ask--and beyond.

If you've been in fundraising for any length of time, you've no doubt heard of the "90/10 Rule." In its simplest terms, it means that 90 percent of the funding comes from 10 percent of our donors. Yet far too often, the majority of our time is spent focused on low-yield fundraising activities, such as events. Amy argues that the key to successful long-term, sustainable fundraising lies in dramatically increasing your fundraising income from individual donors. And savvy fundraisers will do well to heed her advice.

But how can you get started? With Amy at the helm, guiding you in developing your organization's major gifts program, you'll find it's absolutely doable. Amy doesn't pull any punches. She makes it clear, if you're going to succeed in major gifts, that everyone will need to be on board and that effective and consistent fundraising training is a must. It's a commitment. Throughout the book, she explains key fundraising concepts, the difference between major gifts and capital campaigns, how to determine exactly what constitutes a major gift for your organization, the importance of gift acceptance policies, job responsibilities for your major gift team, the role of online fundraising in major gifts fundraising, the role of direct mail, maintaining your database, and more.

In short, she cuts to the chase to show you that major gift fundraising is something that, yes, you can do. It just takes focus and Amy's know-how, marvelously outlined within these pages.

Part One-- You Can Raise Major Gifts in Only Five Hours per Week

Chapter One: The Secret to Successful Fundraising: Creating a Culture of Philanthropy and Professionalism at Your Organization

Chapter Two: Creating Your Strategy

Chapter Three: The Secret Weapon of Major Gifts: Engaging Your Board

Chapter Four: Creating an Army of Advocates and the Role of Social Media

Chapter Five: What Does Bulk Mail Have to Do with Major Gifts?

Part Two-- Are You Ready to Ask for a Major Gift? Preparing to Ask

Chapter Six: Who Will You Ask for Major Gifts?

Chapter Seven: Researching Your Prospects: The Fine Line between Professional and Creepy

Chapter Eight: The Art and Science of Getting a Meeting: How to Meet With People You Know--and with People You Don't

Chapter Nine: How to Build Deeper Relationships with Major Gift Prospects

Part Three-- The Moment of Truth: Asking and Beyond

Chapter Ten: Get Ready to Ask

Chapter Eleven: The Moment of Truth (Time to Ask)

Chapter Twelve: More Than Simply Thank You

Part Four-- Taking Your Organization to the Next Level

Chapter Thirteen: Considering a Capital Campaign?

Chapter Fourteen: Can a Small Shop Really Do Planned Giving?

Chapter Fifteen: Moving on Up: Taking Your Organization to the Next Level

This volume presents cutting-edge, theoretically ambitious studies in political sociology by first-rate European scholars that deal with some of the major challenges European societies and politics are facing. These have to do with globalisation and complex Europeanisation, which have contributed to restructuring the European nation-state and redefining political power. Accounting for these transformations requires revisiting traditional objects of political science such as state sovereignty, civil society and citizenship. While doing this, the studies of this volume join sophisticated empirical analyses with methodological and conceptual innovations such as field theory, multiple correspondence analysis and the study of space sets. Combining qualitative and quantitative research techniques and macro- and micro-levels, they have in common a contextual analysis of politics through scrutiny of configurations of groups, representations and perceptions in an increasingly transnational space. A transnational perspective that seeks to avoid methodological nationalism is present in all the studies of this volume. Endorsement "Social science considerations of Europe and European integration have been colonised by 'new institutionalisms, ' whether the rational choice version that mimics economics or the alternative 'historical' variety, both rooted in Anglophone debates. Political sociology has been relatively absent, alas, partly because sociology has been fragmented by national concerns and multiple social problem orientations. A Political Sociology of Transnational Europe is a splendid launching pad for the intellectual game change that is needed. The book brings together an all-star international cast of political sociologists who present refreshing and different approaches that elucidate much about today's unprecedented crisis conditions in Europe. In practically every essay we learn that the world of politics is much more than national institutions and that analysing it demands much more than national state-centered theories and methods can give us." George Ross, ad personam Jean Monnet Chair at the Universite de Montreal, Morris Hillquit Professor emeritus at Brandeis University, and, Faculty associate of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University"

Based on extensive research and years of professional practice, this title examines the issues and challenges of existing practices for fundraising by NGOs in the developing world and the pitfalls involved in towing the traditional model without taking into cognizance the changing trends in NGO funding.

Through the efforts of increasingly media-aware NGOs, people in the west are bombarded with images of poverty and inequality in the developing world. Representations of Poverty is the first comprehensive study of the communications and imagery used by international NGOs to represent the developing world. In this meticulously researched and original book, Nandita Dogra examines the full cycle of representation - integrating analyses of the public messages of international development NGOs in the UK with the views of their staff and audiences. Exploring the Europeanised discourses inherent in appeals to this notion of a 'common humanity', she argues for a greater acknowledgment of NGOs as significant mediating institutions which can expand understandings of global inequalities and their historical causation. The book is a timely addition to the growing fields of development and media studies and will be a key resource for academics, policymakers and practitioners alike who have an interest in global poverty, aid, NGOs, and the politics of representation.

This volume explores how Mennonite Central Committee has served as a key vehicle for inter-Mennonite collaboration from 1920 until the present. Over twenty scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds examine different ways in which MCC has contributed to expanding networks of Mennonite identity. "Much like the complex and dynamic 90-year-old MCC organization itself, this volume brings together a remarkably rich collection of ideas and perspectives. A Table of Sharing inspires reflection and appreciation for the organization that has meant so much to so many." --Karen Klassen Harder, Professor of Business and Economics, Bluffton University. "Editor Alain Epp Weaver . . . has assembled a score of gifted scholars to contribute insightful and thoughtful essays on the story and program of an institution grappling with some of the most critical issues of the twenty-first century." --Robert S. Kreider, President Emeritus, Bluffton University and Bethel College, in the Foreword "This story of MCC is a story of the church in action." --Danisa Ndlovu, President, Mennonite World Conference. "This book offers fascinating glimpses into the controversies surrounding the creation of MCC, and how and why this religious NGO pursues its mission around the world of peacebuilding, disaster relief, economic development. Individuals interested in the intricacies of inter-Mennonite relations, history, and cultures in North America will find the book especially revealing." --Dean E. Peachey, Vice Principal, The University of Winnipeg Global College

Involving civil society - in particular affected stakeholders - is often seen as a solution to democratic deficits. High expectations ride on the promise of participation in new modes of governance at the EU, such as the Open Method of Coordination (OMC). But its results have been modest, and it is unclear who should participate where, and how. Corinna Wolff offers a consistent framework to assess participation from the perspective of democratic legitimacy, conceptualising it as functional representation. She reviews recent theories of representation, develops them into a tool to deal with complex governance settings, then applies this framework to functional representation at the European Commission in EU social policy. The results indicate that far from being a panacea, functional representation raises fundamental questions about the possibilities for democratic European governance.

Perhaps, never before in the history of humankind has there been a period of such expansive, social, cultural and institutional change on a global scale as there is today. In this book, the author provides a detailed view on how non-governmental organizations can use information technology, online collaboration, and a plethora of web-based services and tools to attain their goals more effectively. The book combines practical advice with background information about strategic challenges which NGOs face in pursuance of their mission. It introduces to digital cultures and technologies and describes how these can help to demonstrate accountability and transparency. The author's experience from development projects in many countries makes this book valuable for readers from both the global south and the global north.

Peacebuilding is an interactive process that involves collaboration between peacebuilders and the victorious elites of a postwar society. While one of the most prominent assumptions of the peacebuilding literature asserts that the interests of domestic elites and peacebuilders coincide, "Costly Democracy" contends that they rarely align.
It reveals that, while domestic elites in postwar societies may desire the resources that peacebuilders can bring, they are often less eager to adopt democracy, believing that democratic reforms may endanger their substantive interests. The book offers comparative analyses of recent cases of peacebuilding to deepen understanding of postwar democratization and better explain why peacebuilding missions often bring peace--but seldom democracy--to war-torn countries.

Your Mark On The World combines inspiring stories of ordinary people doing remarkable things to make the world a better place with practical advice to empower anyone to give more to a cause (charity, non-profit or social venture) without giving up a career or family. The inspiring stories include: Botevy's life and death struggle through Pol Pot's killing fields that led her ultimately to create an orphanage in Phnom Penh. Rick's personal crusade to cure cystic fibrosis to ensure that his two afflicted grandchildren will attend his funeral and not the other way around. The eight-member Smith family's world service tour. David's decision to walk away from a successful career as an international executive to volunteer to care for victims of leprosy in rural India. These stories are combined with practical financial advice to empower you to give more to a cause without giving up your family or your career. The book answers your questions: How do I get out of debt and stay out of debt? Which charity or cause do I choose to make my donation? How do I decide where to volunteer? How can our family plan a volunteer vacation? How can I save money for retirement? How much should I contribute to my 401k? Can I use Mint to manage my budget? How to retire early enough to devote healthy years to volunteering? This must-read book provides an overview of philanthropy in America and around the world, providing you with a clear picture of charity and its fruits.

A blue star for each family member serving in America's military... a gold star if that life was lost in defense of the nation's freedom.

IN WORLD WAR I, the American tradition of the service flag began. Families displayed a simple fabric banner with a blue star for each family member serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. If a family member died in the nation's service, a gold star covered that individual's blue star on the family service flag. Not a symbol of mourning, the gold star represented the family's pride and the honor and glory accorded to that individual for making the supreme sacrifice in defense of the America's freedom. Soon, the term "gold star mother" came to be used to identify and honor women who had lost a son or daughter in wartime military service.

Following the war, as the nation focused its attention on those veterans who had returned whole in mind and body, gold star mothers served as a constant reminder of the true cost of war. In 1928, a group of these women formed American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., an organization created to honor those who had died by being of service to veterans and their families in need, supporting gold star families, and caring for veterans who had returned with physical, emotional and psychological wounds. From that humble beginning, American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. has become an icon of national service, opening its membership time and again to gold star mothers of later wars and conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Their amazing legacy of service is an important yet largely unknown chapter in American history.

This book presents the story of gold star mothers in America and the first comprehensive history of American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., drawn from nearly a century of archival materials. The fascinating story of the strong women who honored their fallen sons and daughters by dedicating themselves to the service of veterans and peace is both compelling and inspiring.

The 2011 Arab Spring protests seemed to mark a turning point in Middle East politics, away from authoritarianism and toward democracy. Within a few years, however, most observers saw the protests as a failure given the outbreak of civil wars and re-emergence of authoritarian strongmen in countries like Egypt. But in Delta Democracy, Catherine E. Herrold argues that we should not overlook the ongoing mobilization taking place in grassroots civil society. Drawing upon ethnographic research on Egypt's nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the wake of the uprisings, Herrold uncovers the strategies that local NGOs used to build a more democratic and just society. Departing from US-based democracy advocates' attempts to reform national political institutions, local Egyptian organizations worked with communities to build a culture of democracy through public discussion, debate, and collective action. At present, these forms of participatory democracy are more attainable than establishing fair elections or parliaments, and they are helping Egyptians regain a sense of freedom that they have been denied as the long-time subjects of a dictator. Delta Democracy advances our understanding of how civil society organizations maneuver under state repression in order to combat authoritarianism. It also offers a concrete set of recommendations on how US policymakers can restructure foreign aid to better help local community organizations fighting to expand democracy.

Freedom of association is not a matter of good will or special concession from any government; it is a duty. Freedom of association is a fundamental human right embodied in labor movements, freedom of expression, democracy, and among other international instruments ratified by the States. Countries in Latin America have been limiting this fundamental right. This comparative study review the limits to Freedom of Association in "Alba" countries with a comparative view with the rest of the region.

1978: In Rhodesia, the Internal Settlement led to the creation of a coalition government. Smith had, however, neither capitulated nor abandoned his belief in white superiority, and thousands of people fled across the country's borders. In England, a group of missionaries, supported by the Catholic Institute for International Relations, formed a steering group that was to become the Zimbabwe Project. Originally an educational fund to support exiled young Zimbabweans, it shifted focus toward humanitarian assistance to refugees in the region. 1981: The Zimbabwe Project Trust, a child of the war, came home, and its director, Judith Todd, started mapping the route that it would follow for the next thirty years. ZimPro - as it came to be known - began its work with ex-combatants, assisting with their education, skills training and co-operative development, and producing a news bulletin. In terms of funding, courage, and creative programming, it became a giant in the country's development landscape, but it has had to negotiate many political, financial and philosophical minefields on the way. Against The Odds offers a rare insight into workings of an NGO on the frontline. With a cast of larger-than-life characters, it also offers a drama of Zimbabwe's first thirty years and provides insights and lessons which will benefit everyone concerned with development, and provide historians with another important lens through which to view the past.

Development agencies are recognizing the importance of anthropology in the critical evaluation of grass roots NGOs and development practice in general. Here, anthropology, development, and religion are uniquely combined in a manner that has practical significance for how NGOs carry out their work. Tamsin Bradley examines the interfaces between religion, gender, anthropology, and social development and focuses on the operation of grassroots Non-Governmental Organizations. She argues that these agencies need to adopt a new methodology if they are to increase efficiency. This is made clear in a series of ethnographic case studies documenting the experiences of three Rajasthani village women. This book constructs a new approach to development practice, incorporating ethnographic techniques that are designed to encourage development workers to listen to the needs of those they seek to help.

In Borders among Activists, Sarah S. Stroup challenges the notion that political activism has gone beyond borders and created a global or transnational civil society. Instead, at the most globally active, purportedly cosmopolitan groups in the world international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) organizational practices are deeply tied to national environments, creating great diversity in the way these groups organize themselves, engage in advocacy, and deliver services.

Stroup offers detailed profiles of these "varieties of activism" in the United States, Britain, and France. These three countries are the most popular bases for INGOs, but each provides a very different environment for charitable organizations due to differences in legal regulations, political opportunities, resources, and patterns of social networks. Stroup's comparisons of leading American, British, and French INGOs Care, Oxfam, Medecins sans Frontieres, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and FIDH reveal strong national patterns in INGO practices, including advocacy, fund-raising, and professionalization. These differences are quite pronounced among INGOs in the humanitarian relief sector, and are observable, though less marked, among human rights INGOs.

Stroup finds that national origin helps account for variation in the "transnational advocacy networks" that have received so much attention in international relations. For practitioners, national origin offers an alternative explanation for the frequently lamented failures of INGOs in the field: INGOs are not inherently dysfunctional, but instead remain disconnected because of their strong roots in very different national environments."

Jude L. Fernando explores the paradoxical relationship between NGOs and capitalism, showing that supposedly progressive organizations often promote essentially the same policies and ideas as existing governments. The book examines how a diverse group of NGOs have shaped state formation in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It argues that, rather than influencing state formation for the better, NGOs have been integrated into the capitalist system and their language adopted to give traditional exploitative social relations a transformative appearance. This enlightening study will give pause to those who see NGOs as drivers of true social change and will encourage students of development studies to make a deeper analysis of state formation.

The African Union (AU) has committed to a vision of Africa that is 'integrated, prosperous and peaceful - driven by its own citizens, a dynamic force in the global arena' (Vision and Mission of the African Union, May 2004). This guide is an effort to take up the challenge of achieving this vision. It is a tool to assist activists to engage with AU policies and programmes. It describes the AU decision-making process and outlines the roles and responsibilities of the AU institutions. It also contains a sampling of the experiences of those non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have interacted with the AU.

How could a human rights organization survive in a repressive regime? This book investigates the emergence and survival of a human rights organization in the repressive Suharto regime in Indonesia. Based on extensive fieldwork soon after the fall of Suharto, this book documents the rise of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), and its subsequent internal disputes, and its role in the emerging civil society in Indonesia. This book also proposes a new approach to understanding civil society by examining the interaction between the state and society, and how social actors in their relationship to the state find ways not only to survive in an authoritarian regime but also to actively influence the state.

Community Based Organizations are self-help movements/associations.These organisations play important roles in the development of the rural areas in Nigeria.Such organisations as the Mwaghavul Development Association have come to harness communal efforts for development especially where government efforts directed to projects such education, commerce and agriculture have fialed to address local needs. Mwaghavul Development Association embarks on such projects of mutual benefits in addition to being a social network for communal living and political mobilization.The study assesses the strength of this organisation in the provision of infrastructures like roads, school, hospitals, banks etc, aimed at developing the local community. The recommendations reached as a result of the findings is that the organization have done quite well in providing education.The organisation should priorities by embarking on revenue yielding activities. The findings are relevant in explaining the need for the utilisation of self-help development spirits more vigorously.This work is important for students interested in Nigeria community development and Local Government.

Tanzania remains one of the world's poorest countries, with a per capita GNI of US$400 and one third of the population (over 12 million people) living below the poverty line. Lack of access to health and education services, lack of agricultural inputs, lack of opportunities to diversify in to non-farm activities, dependency and powerlessness are the defining characteristics of the poor. In this thesis, I argue that the Tanzanian government and the donors share responsibility for the failure of past policies to set in motion an initiative of pro-poor growth and poverty reduction, particularly in the rural economy. I review some of the constraints on growth and poverty reduction under the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction (Mkukuta), including the major role of foreign aid from especially the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. I argue that the programme of the World Bank should be reconsidered, as support is not focused on pro- poor growth. Corruption issues, rising inequality between the elite and the poor and the lack of pro-poor growth are identified as main constraint on poverty reduction in Tanzania.