News

Fundraising executive heads MEDA engagement staff

David Warren has been appointed the new chief MEDA engagement offi cer (CMEO), overseeing the departments responsible for engaging supporters, securing private fi nancial contributions, managing the organization’s brand, and expanding awareness of MEDA.

“He brings a wealth of experience in fundraising, branding and marketing that will serve us well as we face the challenges of rapid growth in the coming years,” says MEDA president Allan Sauder.

Warren succeeds Sid Burkey, who will rejoin MEDA’s board of directors to complete the term he interrupted to become the fi rst CMEO two

David Warren

years ago.

Warren has a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s in clinical psychology. A certifi ed fundraising executive with 15 years’ experience in

Why are the poor more generous than the rich?

Those who study philanthropy are often puzzled by who gives the most — percentage-wise — to charity in America.

The people who can least afford to give are the ones who donate proportionally more of their income, writes Ken Stern in The Atlantic (“Why the Rich Don’t Give to Charity”). “In 2011, the wealthiest Americans — those with earnings in the top 20 percent — contributed on average 1.3 percent of their income to charity. By comparison, Americans at the base of the income pyramid — those in the bottom 20 percent — donated 3.2 percent of their income.”

Adding to the confusion: most lower-income givers, unlike middle-class and wealthy donors, can’t get a charitable tax break because they don’t itemize deductions on their income-tax returns.

Research suggests that “exposure to need drives generous behavior,” concludes Stern. Those who themselves struggle to meet daily basic needs are more likely to have empathy for others in the same boat. Conversely, affl uent people who surround themselves with other wealthy folk may be less likely to empathize. “It seems that insulation from people in need may dampen the charitable impulse,” according to Stern.

Such insulation can be offset by exposure to poignant messages about need. In one sample, when wealthy people were exposed to a sympathyeliciting video on child poverty, their sense of compassion rose to become almost identical to those who were poorer. ◆ fundraising and management, he most recently was VP of core markets and philanthropic planning at Everence Financial Advisors, where he was responsible for 110 fi nancial planners, banking staff and other support staff across the U.S. Warren has also been an adjunct faculty member (teaching psychology and marketing) at Messiah College, Grantham, Pa.

He is president of the Susquehanna Valley Planned Giving Council and serves on the boards of the Central PA Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Philhaven Behavioral Health, and Grantham Brethren in Christ Church.

“I look forward to creating more awareness for MEDA and to encouraging a new generation of supporters to join us in this important work,” says Warren, who will be based in MEDA’s Lancaster, Pa., offi ce.◆

Survey shows preference for gradual retirement

A Canadian survey shows three-quarters of workers plan to transition into retirement over time, rather than stopping work suddenly.

This is particularly true for people aged 18 to 39 (76 percent) and 40 to 64 (66 percent), while more than one-half of those aged 65 and up said they planned to retire gradually.

“The traditional notion of retirement — of packing up your offi ce at the end of your last day and completely changing your life — is ending,” says an offi cial with Desjardins Insurance, which commissioned the survey. “Smart organizations will support this change in their workplaces to help address the huge pressures that will be created as Baby Boomers make this shift.”

Facilitating gradual retirement will benefi t both companies and employees, the offi cial says.

“Supporting the most experienced, knowledgeable staff to remain in the workforce in a transitional way allows employers to take advantage of their strengths, while they mentor younger workers who bring new skills and energy. Demographic patterns will soon create a critical shortage of experienced workers that transitional retirement can help address.”

The survey found that fi nancial standing wasn’t a big factor in wanting to retire gradually. Even those with excellent, very good or good fi nancial security were as likely to prefer this method as those whose fi nancial security is fair or poor. (Canadian HR Reporter)

Feds honor Ohio firm for huge export surge

Venture Products, Inc., a leading U.S. producer of compact tractors, has won the President’s “E” Award for Exports, the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for expanding U.S. exports.

The award was presented in Washington in late May to Venture president Dallas Steiner (also a member of the MEDA board of directors).

Venture Products, located in Orrville, Ohio, manufactures Ventrac compact tractors and equipment for slope mowing, golf courses, municipalities, and landscape and snow contractors.

Over the past three years the company’s export sales have grown 80 percent, which has allowed it to double its work force and build a new manufac-

Award recipient Dallas Steiner with a compact tractor produced by his company, Venture Products, Inc.

turing facility in Orrville.

“Exporting has enabled us to diversify our revenue streams and weather changes in the marketplace,” says Steiner, whose products go to more than 20 countries such as Sweden, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

In presenting the award to Steiner, U.S. Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank said U.S. exports hit an all-time record of $2.2 trillion in 2012, and supported nearly 10 million American jobs.

Businesses like Venture Products, she said, were “strengthening the economies of local communities, creating jobs, and contributing to the worldwide demand for ‘Made in the USA’ goods and services.”◆

Goshen team wins entrepreneur awards

When a group of Goshen College business students got together to put their education into practice to help others, they had no idea of the recognition and awards that would quickly follow.

A group of eight students formed a team through the international non-profit organization Enactus. Enactus brings students together with academic and business leaders who are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need.

The organization works with student teams to create projects fitting these criteria. Goshen College competitors worked with Meals on Wheels Goshen, a program of the non-profit organization The Window. They performed a variety of tasks focused on what would benefit the program most in the future. These included teaching accounting basics, establishing requirements for meal delivery, organizing boxes of files, creating marketing materials and helping find grant opportunities.

Student participants gather at regional, national and international competitions to present their cases. In April, in their first regional competition held in Chicago, the Goshen team won “Co-Champions” in their league. It was also awarded a “Rookie of the Year” award and a $1,000 prize, allowing them to move on to the national competition in Kansas City, where they again won “Rookie of the Year” in a competition against 150 other collegiate teams.

Team members included senior accounting major Corine Alvarez (Goshen, Ind.), sophomore business major Marcos Castillo (Nappanee, Ind.), junior accounting major Derek Johnson (Prineville, Ore.), senior business major Danielle Klotz (Goshen), sophomore business major Jenna Ramseyer (Wooster, Ohio), junior accounting major Chelsea Schmucker (Wauseon, Ohio), sophomore business major Jordan Weaver (Lanark, Ill.) and senior business major Jan Zawadzki (Berlin, Germany).

“Student teams range widely in number of student members and in budget, but all teams have the same goals — to help others help themselves,” said Alvarez. “At the competitions, each team has about 15 minutes to present their projects from the year to a panel of executives and managers at various sponsoring companies.”

The suggestion to begin an Enactus team this year at Goshen came from Carlos Gutierrez, assistant professor of business, who himself had participated on such a team in college.

Michelle Horning, professor of accounting, who traveled to the competition with this year’s Enactus team, said goals for next year’s team include increasing participation and adding students from majors outside the business department, and creating an advisory council of local business leaders to provide support for the team. — Lexi Kantz, Goshen News Service