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Happy Wednesday, fellow nonprofiteers!
Thank you for your patience last week as I took a brief hiatus to focus on helping my clients be What's Good in our local community. I'm glad to be back! Lots of great nonprofit news has happened in my absence, and I'm excited to share it with you today. Don't forget to send your organization's celebrations my way so I can shout you out in a future edition of the newsletter. Grab your coffee or tea, take a break, and let's celebrate What's Good in the world this week!
| | Does your nonprofit organization have something to celebrate (a successful event or campaign, a milestone or award, a new program launch, a wonderful mission moment, etc.)? Send it to wednesday@bewhatsgood.com! | | |
ESRREC is participating in the annual Clear the Shelters event during the month of August. They have been participating for several years and it is always their biggest month for adoptions. They have reduced their fees by $25 as long as the adoption process begins or ends in August. They will hold an adoption meet & greet with foster bunnies every Saturday at different locations:
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Saturday Aug 2 Rock Hall, MD
Saturday Aug 9 Rock Hall, MD
(Pirates Weekend https://www.rockhallpirates.com/)
Saturday Aug 16 Middletown, DE PetSmart
Saturday Aug 23 Easton, MD PetSmart
Saturday Aug 30 Rock Hall, MD
The Rock Hall location is their outreach building in Rock Hall Village, Unit 111.
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Talbot Interfaith Shelter was the beneficiary of a wonderful event hosted by Dover Street Market on July 20th called Brunch and Couture.
| | The event featured light fare, a mimosa bar, a permanent jewelry kiosk, and a fabulous fashion show featuring stunning looks from local boutique M Randall. Altogether, the event raised more then $1,500 in support of the shelter's mission. I happened to be present at this event, and it was absolutely lovely. TIS' Executive Director got up and spoke about their program, and had an opportunity to have meaningful conversations with everyone in attendance. It was a great friendraiser as well as a fundraiser! | | |
The Avalon Foundation just wrapped up Plein Air Easton 2025 - the nation's largest and most prestigious juried plein air painting competition -and it was a huge success! The passion of the artists, coupled with the enthusiasm of collectors and record-breaking crowds, fueled the momentum for this landmark year. They are thrilled to share that this year’s art sales exceeded the event's previous record by more than $100,000!
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More than just art sales, Plein Air Easton continues to make a significant economic impact on Talbot County, MD, drawing thousands of visitors and generating meaningful revenue for local businesses during this 10-day festival.
In addition, the local community showed incredibly strong support by volunteering, housing artists, attending the kick-off party, becoming Friends of Plein Air Easton, having artists paint their property, or simply stopping in to view the exhibits. Congratulations to the Avalon Foundation and all of the incredible artists on the great success of this event! If you'd like to be part of the action, stay tuned for Plein Air Easton 2026, which will take place July 10-19, 2026!
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Positive Strides had a successful completion of their Time to Ride after school program for at risk students! Time to Ride offers a hybrid program involving classroom learning and horse back riding. The curriculum used is aligned with the MD State Department of Education, and is facilitated by a retired educator. The riding portion is facilitated by Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship certified therapeutic riding instructor.
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They learned about horse health and how it is similar to their health, horse care and behavior and how a horse responds to fear the same as humans - fight, flight or freeze. The class work complemented the riding work each day. The program was entirely funded by the Mid Shore Community Foundation.
The final day involved the riders showcasing their riding while parents, staff and loved ones were invited to the farm. Each rider showed great progress in the short period, and they all were able to independently ride their horse during the final celebration as their families and loved ones cheered them from the sidelines. What a phenomenal program!
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Talbot County Free Library
Talbot County Free Library has had a lot of great happenings over the past couple of weeks. The Friends of the Library recently hosted their very successful Summer Book Sale this past weekend at the Easton branch! They want to pass on their appreciation to everyone who came out and made the sale a success, and to those who donated materials.
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They also recently hosted the incredibly popular "Reptile Wonders" program at the Easton Branch as part of Summer Reading. The program was met with great enthusiasm, with kids and adults alike flocking to the Easton branch to see, learn about, and touch exotic reptiles from across the world.
Finally, they are preparing to launch ticket sales for their upcoming September 22 event, An Evening with Elin Hilderbrand. This fundraising event promises to be an enchanting evening celebrating literacy and a love of reading, featuring an exclusive talk and book signing with international bestselling author, Elin Hilderbrand. The proceeds from ticket sales will go towards funding the programs and resources we offer the Talbot County community. Tickets go on sale July 31 and can be purchased at tcfl.org.
Congratulations to TCFL on their successful programs! I wish them the best of luck with their awesome Elin Hildebrand fundraiser... Hopefully they will share the results with us so we can shout them from the rooftops in a future newsletter.
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On December 31, 2025, Executive Director Isabel Hardesty will bid a bittersweet farewell to ShoreRivers which, along with its predecessor organizations, she has served faithfully for 14 years.
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Following the merger of local Riverkeeper organizations into ShoreRivers in 2018, Isabel served as the Deputy Director, then as the very effective Executive Director of ShoreRivers since 2021. Keep an eye out at shorerivers.org/jobs for an upcoming job announcement.
In 2018 ShoreRivers had 21 employees and operated with a $3.5 million budget. Under Hardesty’s leadership, ShoreRivers has grown to 33 employees, six paid interns, and a $7.5 million budget, reflecting the growth of the range and scope of its programs and impact on the Eastern Shore. She has fostered an organizational culture of respect, transparency, collaboration, optimism, and hard work among the staff, helping ShoreRivers gain region-wide recognition as a responsible and impactful advocate for our rivers and become a trusted voice in Annapolis.
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Responsible Fathers Initiative
RFI just completed its 4th season participating in Washington College's Youth Summer Enrichment camp, held at Washington College in Chestertown, MD. This youth summer enrichment camp is sponsored by a very generous grant from the Teagle Foundation. Area high school students who are part of RFI's PRIDE youth groups as well as the Big Dream Academy in Cambridge are engaged by academics and school admissions and financial aid personnel to get them inspired and prepared for secondary education.
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Students stay on campus for two evenings and receive a stipend for their participation in the camp. They had the opportunity to visit the Banneker Douglass Museum in Annapolis as well as the US Capitol in Washington DC, where they met with Representative Andy Harris. The YMCA of Kent County also opened their doors to the students for recreation time and instructional fitness classes.
This is such a wonderful way to introduce students to the possibilities available to them and get them excited about their futures. Congrats to RFI's PRIDE students!
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Channel Marker is participating in the Self-Care Expo on September 13th at the Talbot County Community Center from 8-12 pm. The event is presented by the Eastern Shore Talk Podcast, and focuses on promoting self-care and wellness practices within the Eastern Shore community. Mark your calendars!
| | What's Good at What's Good, LLC! | | Thank you to everyone who attended my recent Bonterra webinar, Get Your Board On Board With Fundraising. It was really fun, and I have been so grateful to hear all the positive feedback. If you missed it, check out the recording below. | | |
This week's topic is somewhat of an addendum to my Bonterra webinar on Board Fundraising and also goes along with what I have been talking about regarding strategic planning. It's great to get your board's fundraising commitments for the year, but what's your plan? How are you going to steward them to make sure they actually fulfill those commitments?
Watch The Topic Of The Week Below:
| | Click the button below to access more informative content! | | What's Good Wednesday On WCEI! | | |
We also had a hiatus from our What's Good Wednesday radio segment last week. I spoke with Matt live on air this morning, so stay tuned for that recording in our next newsletter!
If you are a Mid-Shore nonprofit with something to celebrate, please share it at wednesday@bewhatsgood.com and you could be featured on an upcoming radio segment and newsletter!
| | The Itty Bitty Book Of Nonprofit Fundraising! | | |
You know I can't let a week go by without encouraging you to check out my "Itty Bitty Book of Nonprofit Fundraising." This book is short, sweet, and to the point, explaining the basics of the Board's duty to participate in fundraising. It also contains pages of actionable ideas that will help your Board Members personalize their development commitments to your organization.
Many nonprofits have found that the "Itty Bitty Book" helps simplify a previously challenging discussion with Board Members. Check it out today and take the first step towards creating a culture of fundraising!
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