*** UPDATE *** The one day fundraising event is over – thank you for participating! Once a year the state of Idaho hosts an event designed to raise awareness and money for nonprofits, and this year it is today – on Cinco de Mayo! This is a different kind of donation. They don’t ask for the moon. Instead, they concentrate on participation. The more donors – at whatever level – the better the organization does, plus the top performers get additional bonuses. The charity I am endorsing is the Wyakin Warrior Foundation. They enable wounded and injured veterans to achieve…

The photo is grainy, but the only important thing about it is that the Heavy Duty Aftermarket industry allowed us up on stage to talk about veterans. Most people probably don’t even know what that is. I certainly didn’t about three years ago. What it is, is a 70 billion (with a ‘b’) industry that supports heavy duty equipment like trucks, bulldozers and buses. They are the ones who keep the trucks on the road so that you can eat cereal in the morning. Without it, the transportation industry would wither and die. With it, the country prospers. They have…

An Op Ed in the paper today (“Veterans’ charities, other philanthropy must rise above current ills” by Brent Taylor) got me thinking, which I think was his intention. The bad press that a large nonprofit received in recent weeks has had a ripple effect throughout the nonprofit community, in much the same way as a Commanding Officer getting fired has an effect on the Navy’s image. It is similar to other scandals that have hit the front pages over the years. Related industries are inevitably drawn in by association. In the case of nonprofits, the ones who get hurt are…