At SMARTSTART we’ve implemented philanthropy programs for donating services, support, and access to career and business success mentoring programs to new grads, new immigrants and entrepreneurs in the developing countries of the world.

Now I’d like to explore how we might expand further by doing something for the entrepreneurs who so generously support our work here at SMARTSTART|Giving.

What would be most meaningful for you?

Please send me your comments suggesting what would make the greatest difference to you if it could be made available. Is there a specific course you wish you could take, business or personal support you need, a service that would help or something else you need that we might consider? What are your greatest challenges? Inquiring minds want to know. We look forward to receiving your feedback!

On our June fundraising call I was excited to report that, thanks to the generosity of our SMARTSTART|Giving followers, we have funded the hopes and dreams of 135 entrepreneurs with 32 micro-loans through Kiva.org. That’s more than 10x the number of loans made by the typical Kiva donor who, on average, makes 2.9 loans. And we’ve only needed 3 calls to do it!

What a show of faith. Thank you for making it all possible.

It started me thinking about what I could possibly give back to express my appreciation. Realizing many of you are pursuing your own entrepreneurial dreams while still working hard at a day job, I decided to offer Read the rest of this entry »

Jim White

Listen to the Replay… Please Give Now »

This month we’re featuring Debi Silber, the Mojo Coach, in our SMARTSTART|Giving 60-Second Spotlight. We are impressed with Debi’s commitment to helping moms regain a strong sense of self when life knocks them down. She provides free personal training and nutrition coaching to give them a fighting chance at restoring a positive outlook.

Debi sees the gift of “health and wellness” as a way she can contribute by giving back. Have a listen, get inspired and visit her web site at www.LifestyleFitnessInc.com.

Read an interesting piece by Bob Ostertag in The Huffington Post recently. He was commenting on how the Obama campaign had harnessed the power of the internet to provide a vehicle for accepting campaign donations requested in the $25-$50 range. (Not unlike the small requests we ask of our SMARTSTART|Giving supporters.)

Seems things are going so well, sources from Obama’s campaign think he could bring in $100M in June alone! This gives me hope Alex and I are really onto something!

To put this power of the internet into perspective, Read the rest of this entry »

Ever been caught with too much month at the end of your money? Chances are you’re much richer than you think. And I bet you have no idea where you stand in terms of your place on the global rich list.

Don’t put yourself down because you haven’t made that first million yet. Instead, high tail it over to http://www.globalrichlist.com/index.php and enter the amount of money you make each year and the currency. Then press <Enter> to find out Read the rest of this entry »

David Ellis

Listen to the Replay… Please Give Now »

Jeff Herring, also known as The Internet Article Guy, is our featured guest for May’s SMARTSTART|Giving 60-Second Spotlight. We are grateful to Jeff for creatively using his 50th birthday to raise money for SMARTSTART to donate to Kiva.org. What a way to celebrate! Have a listen as Jeff explains what he did and why and you’ll see what we mean.

Thanks Jeff! (Visit Jeff’s web site at www.JeffHerring.com )

John L. Herman Jr. considers himself a failure expert — that is, not someone who fails at business, but someone who understands why a business fails. He consolidated the lessons learned in Hermanisms: Axioms for Business & Life.

Herman is a really interesting guy. He completed a business degree at Towson University, graduate work at Johns Hopkins University, and a stint in the US Air Force before taking on the corporate world.

His many years of experience (which exceed mine but not by much include working with a thousand companies that were losing money.

When you have Read the rest of this entry »

My niece has just returned to Uganda for a second season of working with a team of young people on local community projects. In her first report from the front lines she filled us in on what’s been done since she got there.

In Jinja they helped build a pig house as one of the income generation projects for a woman with AIDS. They also repaired the roof, fixed the door and patched up the mud hut for a woman named Ruth who is very ill.

So ill, last Friday night she planned to commit suicide but Read the rest of this entry »