RALEIGH – I don’t do it as often as I used to – so when I do, I feel a bit of discomfort.
I could be talking about dancing. As some readers know, I used to be a song-and-dance performer in my youth, in productions and traveling shows throughout North Carolina and beyond, and spent a number of years teaching tap and ballroom to students in the Charlotte area. (As I have recently discovered, two of the cotillion students I likely worked with during my tenure at the Grose School of Dance grew up to be Rep. Grier Martin of Wake County and David Mills, head of the Common Sense Foundation. Obviously, unlike these two prominent citizens, I never grew up.)
Now, though I remain involved in musical theater in other capacities, I dust off my tap shoes only about once a year, for a Christmas Show in Raleigh. You might want to go ahead and put this year’s date, December 12, on your calendars (for the purposes of enjoying the real talent, by the way, not to catch my comic relief). Leading up to the show, I typically spend several weeks working out in a studio or at home, and at least as much time lying on the bed afterwards massaging my overtaxed muscles.
Yes, in my view, everything’s overtaxed.
But in describing the discomfort of doing occasionally what I used to do routinely, I don’t have to be waxing terpsichorial. Another apt example would be asking North Carolinians to support the work of the John Locke Foundation through their voluntary contributions. Since the addition of a JLF vice president for development a couple of years ago – a post now occupied by Chad Adams – I have not had to do the fundraising “ask” as much as before.
[Note to Self: get ready, you lazy bum, here goes.]
JLF began life in February 1990 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank devoted to studying state and local policy issues in North Carolina. Within months, we added two other functions to our research effort: communications, delivered initially through a monthly newsletter and a series of newspaper columns; and outreach, delivered initially through a serious of monthly luncheons in Raleigh. Over the years, as JLF’s annual budget grew past the $500,000 mark, then the $1 million mark, then beyond, these three thrusts – research, communications, and outreach – became JLF divisions with their own managers and a spectrum of programs and services.
The Research Division is headed by Roy Cordato, an economist and former university professor. Its team of staff and adjunct policy analysts include talented scholars with graduate degrees in fields ranging from political science and economics to law, education, finance, and engineering. These analysts issue reports and studies on major issues facing North Carolina, and talk about their findings in testimony, public events, and media appearances.
The Communications Division is headed by Jon Ham, a 30-year veteran of newsrooms and formerly the managing editor of the Durham Herald-Sun. Its team of reporters, editors, and media professionals produce Carolina Journal in print, broadcast, and online formats, reaching hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians directly each month. We also supply news tips, analysis, and opinion columns to the state’s daily and community newspapers, help with the production of radio and television shows about state government, and host a suite of web sites based around our major program areas and key regions of North Carolina.
The Events & Outreach Division is essentially supervised by Executive Vice President Kory Swanson, a lawyer by training who previously served as an administrator at a campus-based research institute in Ohio. It hosts a public event somewhere in North Carolina at least once a week. The division’s other outreach projects include smaller events, specialized publications, and training programs aimed at education reformers, city and county officials, students of North Carolina history, university faculty, and emerging state leaders.
None of these programs and services could be delivered to the citizens of North Carolina without the financial assistance of our donors and sponsors. Because it can be hard to describe what a “think tank” is in a brief discussion or fundraising letter, most think tanks fund their operations by soliciting relatively large grants from charitable foundations, corporations, and civic-minded individuals. JLF is no different in that regard. While the bulk of our annual budget comes from about a dozen large donors – including philanthropies such as the E.A. Morris Charitable Foundation and the John William Pope Foundation and corporations such as BB&T and Captive-Aire – we also raise hundreds of thousands of dollars a year through personal, mail, and online appeals to North Carolinians giving amounts averaging less than $100 a year. Indeed, JLF had about 1,700 donors last year, spread across the state from the mountains to the coast.
If you appreciate the daily mix of news, analysis, links, and commentary you receive here at Carolina Journal Online, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution here. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated.
[See, Self, it wasn’t that hard!]
Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation.