Warren Buffett often says that when his company makes an investment decision, they never think about an exit strategy.  Same could be said about CharityFocus. :)  Like that energizer bunny, we just keep going and going.  And going.

Thought of the Week started back in 1997.  Pre-blogs, it used to be like my blog entry emailed to bunch of like-hearted friends.  Soon enough, CharityFocus seeds were being watered and I didn't have time to write, so I started cut-and-pasting inspiring excerpts from other authors.  People appreciated it, so I kept at it.  Then, one day, my Dad (also a subscriber) had this brilliant idea of reading this aloud before starting the circle of sharing on "Wednesdays".  It all stuck, and so without an exit strategy (or even a growth strategy, let alone a branding strategy :)), we kept offering it.

Week in and week out, subscribers got their "Meditation Reminders".  11 years later,  there are still some who believe that I do a compose-and-send each week. :)  Today, however, it reaches 54 thousand people acround the globe; several folks like Pavi and Viral vet the thoughts each week; Prasad often spends hours in contemplation before contributing one of his original photos; Liz and Jarrod create a professional audio recording each week!

Along the way, all this CF stuff kept happening -- kindness stories, videos, conversations with social artists, good news.  And quite naturally, last week, Thought of the Week got a major face-lift as it started including featured inspirations from various CharityFocus portals. 

Jon M. writes in this morning with a poignant note:

I am most moved and intrigued by what you folks are doing.  You seem to have found a wonderful format, and amazing quality, for communicating fundamental spiritual ideas that extend across all cultural borders.  Making the universal universal is no small achievement in our world!!

As one engaged in wondering how we can bring this kind of consciousness into public education, I read your posting in two levels: What they mean for me; and how might we create or adapt these for classroom use as relates to literature, character development, and so on.

As ever thanks for sprinkling cosmic blossoms on my desktop.

Onwards we keep marching!