A surprise party for Beth Kanter: Happy Birthday, Beth!

Beth Kanter is one of my mentors, someone I learn from on a daily basis. If you haven’t already discovered her tremendous contributions to the nonprofit technology and social media fields, make a note to bookmark her site. Spend a few hours diving into the volumes of material she’s generated, and you’ll begin to understand why many in the sector (including me) hold her in such high regard.

Today is Beth’s 53rd birthday. According to her blog, she’ll be celebrating by raising money for Cambodian children with social media, teaching a social media nonprofit strategy class, and eating chocolate.

She didn't know it until this morning, but she’ll also be spending a little time at an online birthday party whipped up by Stacey Monk and Amy Sample Ward. You’re invited, too! It includes this post and dozens more, all sharing ways that Beth has impacted the social sector and sharing her birthday wish to send 53 Cambodian children to school via donations to the Sharing Foundation.


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How has Beth impacted my work? In short, she raises my game.

By her example, in countless ways, she inspires my commitment to authentic walk-the-talk openness, inclusivity, critical thinking, and collaboration.

And she inspires me to have fun with it, which I often forget to do.

Margot Fonteyn wrote, “The most important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous.”

I think one of the reasons Beth has such a tremendous influence in this sector is because she gets that distinction, and by extension gives us all permission to take ourselves less seriously too.

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Walk around the room at Beth’s virtual birthday party, and listen to what others are saying about our guest of honor. More links coming through the day! And f you’d like to make a donation to the Sharing Foundation in honor of Beth’s birthday, follow this link – thank you!


“Beth is a terrific chronicler. She takes notes, constantly. She shares those notes in real time (or as near as she can). She’s always open to suggestions, feedback, and comments—and strategically uses those to help herself flesh out the notes as they develop into ideas and insights. When she comes up with a new thread, she finds ways of linking it to other ideas by including reference links to previous blog posts (including her own or by others) to keep track of how developments happened.” Amy Sample Ward

“She has made me feel in many moments like I knew what I was doing and, in even more important ones, like it was often okay not to know – but to do it anyway…. Most importantly, she’s been there. I’m not sure how – but when I’ve really needed advice or reassurance, she’s picked up the phone or responded to a late-night email, tweet or IM.” Stacey Monk

"Beth helps the little guys like me do big things." Mark aka @hardlynormal

"Of the many reasons why we’re big fans of Beth, she’s pioneering the concepts of web-based analytics for the non-profit / charity sector." Sean Power

"She has been a great teacher, friend and source of inspiration. I am grateful for each of our interactions, and often find myself contemplating her suggestions for a day or two afterwards.... She gives for the sake of doing the right thing, and accepts whatever comes back as gravy." Geoff Livingston

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Photo by ginnerobot