April Fool's Day: Comic Relief for Nonprofits

Underpaid and overworked? Dealing with the Board member from hell? Can't face the thought of your upcoming fundraising event? Take a moment out of your day for some laughter with this year's nonprofit jokes:

   Izzy and Howard were brothers who had lived and worked in Brooklyn all their lives. Unfortunately, nothing good could be said about them - they ran a crooked business, they womanized, they didn't go to synagogue on Yom Kippur, they lied, and they cheated the poor. But they were also very very wealthy.
   When Izzy dies, Howard goes to Rabbi Bloom and said, "I will donate $100,000 to the synagogue if you will say at the funeral that my brother Izzy was a mensch (Yiddish for person of integrity and honor)."
   The Rabbi struggles long and hard with his conscience, spending a sleepless night thinking about what he'll say at the funeral.
   The morning comes.The Rabbi stands in front of the congregation and says, "This man was a complete scoundrel, a swindler, and a whoremonger. But, compared to his brother, he was a mensch."

   An Executive Director, a Development Director, and a Board Chair were adrift on a raft after their ship sank.
   The Board Chair looked at the Executive Director and said, "This is all your fault. You were steering the boat!"
   The Executive Director looked at the Development Director and said, "Oh no, it's all the Development Director's fault. You were in charge of the sails."
   The Development Director looked at the Board Chair and Executive Director and retorted, "It's both your faults."
   All three of them were devoured by sharks. It was the worst board/staff retreat ever and the organization never used that team building company again.

   A Development Director found a magic lamp, and rubbed it. Presto! A genie appeared and offered the Development Director one wish. Not wanting to be greedy, she said, "I wish for one million dollars to support my nonprofit organization."
   "Done," said the genie. "Come to your office tomorrow, and it will be there."
   The next day she arrived at the office, and when she opened the door, out fell three million binder clips.
   "What the hell?" she said to the genie. "I asked for one million dollars!"
   "Yes," said the genie, "but you didn't say it couldn't be in-kind…"

My father was a wonderful joke teller, so every time I tell or share a joke - including in this annual blog post - I feel I am honoring his memory. Here's one of his favorites: "Experience is when you make a mistake the second time, but you recognize it." As I have, I hope you'll pass these jokes forward to your staff, Board, colleagues, and friends.