For years, I used the story of babies floating in a river to describe the difference between social change organizations and more traditional charities. In case you’re not familiar with it, it goes like this: a passerby saw a baby floating down the river, jumped in and saved him. Day after day, more babies showed up in the river. The community organized, set up teams to watch for and save the babies floating down the river. Eventually, someone asked why the babies were showing up in the...

This kid slays me. She’s five years old and she’s my great-niece.

When Maddie was born she was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. We were afraid but her mom (my niece) and her dad were matter-of-fact: they weren’t going to let CF interfere with their daughter having an amazing life. Evening inhalers, medication and frequent hospital visits were the new normal. The other stuff didn’t change: rambunctious playing with all three kids, and family trips and picnics and hikes...

I love writing direct mail letters.

I love hearing people’s stories and why they’re passionate about the causes they support. And I’m curious about people, so writing direct mail letters gives me an opportunity to meet interesting people doing cool things.

If you know me, you may know that, given the opportunity, I can talk the ear off an elephant. But when I’m interviewing people for direct mail letters, I work really hard at listening. And when the stars are aligned,...