Delighted to finally be able to share the news that I have secured a London-based agent at the esteemed Rogers, Coleridge & White Agency to sell The Young Widow’s Book of Home Improvement in the UK and beyond. All of this is totally in the realm of miracles but you never know what might happen.

About to be logged off from Leichhardt Council library computer – will be online in my own home next week.

Wearing my grant-seeker’s cap, I am researching potential funders for a large-scale nonprofit initiative on behalf of a client. During my efforts today I was struck by how many well-intentioned grant-makers offer vague descriptions of the sorts of organisations and causes they support:

“The relief of poverty,” said one. “The advancement of education,” said another. My favourite, however, said simply: “For general charitable purposes.”

I don’t mean to be critical of people whose hearts are in the right place, but these directions are entirely unhelpful. They waste the grant-seeker’s time, and almost guarantee an application to fail due to the sheer number of applications that will undoubtedly be the result of such generalisations. I believe that charitable vehicles should be as clear in their mission as the nonprofit organisations they aim to assist. It would be one practical way we could start to more effectively address the bigger question of supply and demand. 

Next week in Sydney I’m presenting to two member groups of Australia’s peak body of grantmakers, Philanthropy Australia. On Monday I’m talking with representatives from corporate foundations, while on Tuesday I will be meeting a group of private philanthropists.

In both cases I have been asked to share my recent observations of New York philanthropic culture, applying a local filter to my lens to focus on what cultural factors are relevant for Australian grantmakers. It’s gratifying to know that there are plenty of grantmakers here eager to learn of current trends and best practice. It’s also my privilege to understand that not everything that grantmakers and fundraisers do in the US is necessarily appropriate or useful in an Australian context.

My my, how the dinner table has turned: last Friday I was taken out to lunch by my publisher, to celebrate the fact that UQP has bought my book and will publish it next year. It was such a relief to feel an instant rapport with the people who have the power to help or hinder my book’s progress into the world; so many times this relationship is forced and strictly business-like.

Apologies, generally, for the lack of posts – this will be rectified in the next couple of weeks.

A small miracle has just occurred in the form of a two day per week job consulting to the Sax Institute, an impressive non-profit organisation working between policy-makers and researchers in the area of public health. My focus will be business development/communications and fundraising strategy and research. I’m looking forward to utilising some of that hard-won knowledge gained at New York University’s Centre for Philanthropy and Fundraising in July in the sweltering height (depth) of summer in the city. All being well I will begin in the next week or so.

Today I’m finally moving back under my own roof after two weeks of limbo induced by having to concentrate on finishing the book. My parents, as ever, have been not only very hospitable, but also helpful in assisting with the heavier items and unpacking all those wine glasses. I didn’t remember that I had so many … anyway, I am looking forward to establishing an internet connection, testing a few dusty bottles to see what’s aged well, having friends around to visit, and generally trying to reconnect. I have to admit to feeling quite disconnected at the moment, but there are so many good reasons for that to be the case that I’m not panicking. Yet.