One of the saddest things in the world is a good, never published novel.

Even sadder -- not writing the novel for fear of that sadness.

I'm not speaking from personal experience here.  Luckily.  Although someday, I may spend the time to write a novel, which may or may not sit in a drawer, or on my computer.

But this morning I was thinking about a friend who wrote a novel -- a good novel -- 15 years ago.  It still unpublished and almost certainly will never be published.

I don't know if you've noticed a new trend in birthdays, but this is the second similar e-mail I have received from a dear friend in the last month.

I pass it on to you because you might want to consider this yourself. And I'm giving you Shirley's e-mail address in case you want to participate in giving a gift of yourself to someone you don't know.

Read on, and I think you'll be impressed by the concept.

Hi everyone,

Some of you know me well - some hardly at all, but that doesn't matter!

A few weeks ago, my ten year old was lying in bed with me and Marcia and out of the blue, he said, “I’m grateful I have a wonderful life.”

I’m sure you can imagine the surprise and delight I felt hearing my child express such gratitude.  It made me think, “Hey we’re pretty decent parents after all.”  But seriously, this says a lot about Ian’s attitude.

Last week I went to a wonderful lecture by Michael Pollan, author of at least two New York Times number-one bestsellers: The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food.

If you haven't read his books, I urge you to do so.  They are extremely well-written and witty.  Most importantly, they are eye-opening.

“Tell me a story.”  “Read me a book.”  These are words that every parent has heard.  And a new British study shows us what we already know, and what we probably don’t do as often as we need to.

“Almost two-thirds of children want their parents to spend more time reading to them before bed, and most prefer Mom’s storytelling to Dad’s,” researchers said last week.

As someone who is interested in giving you probably have heard this quote below:

“If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way."
     - Buddha (563 BC - 483 BC)

I only heard this about a year after Azim and I wrote The Power of Giving. But it eloquently states that basic principle that the more you know about giving, the more you want to share.

America’s poor and lower-income earners give more on a percentage basis than those in higher-income groups. They tend to keep up their giving in tough economic times, according to McClatchy Newspapers.

This is a trend I've personally seen in the many non-profits my company works with. Higher dollar donors have cut back more than donors who give between $25 and $250. An obvious reason is that people who are poorer have not seen their investments decimated. And the psychological factors related to giving are affected by fear and loss.

Many of you are involved in charity work -- whether as a volunteer, donor, employee or fundraiser -- so I thought I'd share my most recent book with you.  The 11 Questions Every Donor Asks and the Answers All Donors Crave was published in 2008 by Emerson and Church. 

The 11 Questions addresses all the questions donors ask themselves before deciding whether to make a donation.  It includes lots of great, real-life stories from my friends and colleagues.

Here’s a powerful blog post from a friend of mine, and a reminder of why the work we do is so important.

Dear Friends,

I want to take this opportunity to share a bit about my journey with breast cancer and to let you know about my surgery this week.

We just heard this great news that is likely to benefit millions of people.  US President Barack Obama decided to include $70 million in funding for research on neglected tropical diseases in his global health budget.  Here's what Kari Stoever, Managing Director of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases had to say:

“We applaud the President’s decision to include funding for neglected tropical diseases in his Global Health Budget.  The return on investment for the American people will be enormous.