by Dawn Franks | Apr 12, 2017 | Dawn's Blogs, Donors, Family, Giving, Nonprofits
How “anonymous” is an anonymous gift? A good place to start is what it means to you. Is it not being noticed for specific actions or gifts you made? Is it being known by a few but not the many? Is it making a gift or doing something that is unremarkable or...
by Dawn Franks | Feb 7, 2017 | Dawn's Blogs, Donors, Family, Giving
Pockets carry what we care about, cash, change, credit cards, keys and cell phones. Pockets are hiding spots for nervous hands, little boy’s rocks and Littlest Pet Shop pets. As a child, my brother carried rocks in his pockets and my granddaughter today carries...
by Dawn Franks | Jan 24, 2017 | Dawn's Blogs, Donors, Family, Giving, Nonprofits
In the early eighties, as a very young nonprofit executive director, I experienced the impact of political change or rather the impact of the predictions of change. President Reagan was inaugurated in 1981. Tax reform winds were blowing strong. It took until 1986 for...
by Dawn Franks | Jan 10, 2017 | Dawn's Blogs, Donors, Family, Giving
I don’t remember this for a fact, but I have it on good authority from author Robert Fulghum that the first word I learned from the Dick and Jane books of my first class reading circle was LOOK. It’s a very simple four letter word but has layers of meaning. To look at...
by Dawn Franks | Dec 14, 2016 | Family, Giving, Millennials, Next Generation
A large wooden crate seemed to hold all the decorations needed for the Christmas tree trimming I remember from my childhood. My dad would produce the crate each year, and my mother would supervise the opening and unpacking. The box held all kinds of treasures –...
by Dawn Franks | Oct 3, 2016 | Family, Millennials, Next Generation, Wealth
Storytelling is a skill we learn very early in life. Before we can read and write; we make up stories. We entertain ourselves and others with our stories, and we fill in gaps for what we don’t know. As a child, I regularly used the three blocks from home to school to...
