CNE Blog

What We’re Reading

Principle 30: Sometimes the Juice Ain’t Worth the Squeeze

Let’s face it, we can’t underestimate the importance of donors and donations to nonprofit organizations. Donor support breathes life into our ability to do what we do: successfully execute our…

What We’re Reading

Lessons Learned as Board Chair 

When I took over as board chair for BoardSource back in 2016, I was honored but also nervous about the responsibility. Now that I’m done with my term, I wish I could go back…

What We’re Reading

Self-Coaching Strategies for Nonprofit Leaders

There is nothing like understanding that your decisions and actions will be consequential to reinforce learning. Therefore, learning on the job, with a lot of feedback and reflection, can be a very rich source…

Tell Us How We Can Support You

Like you, we see the good we do through our daily interactions with the people and organizations we serve. We also ask participants in trainings and those of you who engage CNE for consulting to provide feedback on your experience. This is…

Mother Knows Best

What We’re Reading

501c4 Nonprofits’ Image Problem is a Problem For All of Us

In recent months, a narrative has taken hold that is compounding a reputational problem for an entire class of nonprofits—and it is threatening to rob advocates of one…

What We’re Reading

General Operating Support: The Effective Thing to do; The Respectful Thing to Do

General operating support can provide nonprofit organizations with the flexibility to plan, innovate, and pivot in their work. So, why don’t more foundations provide general operating…

What We’re Reading

Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health Awareness Month! A time of reflection and overwhelming urge to make a change because maybe we have been there before or know someone who has. And for those of us who…

What We’re Reading

Two Stories About Motivating People

Today I offer you two stories. Very different and both true. They have something in common. The first one is the story of a simple thing I did to motivate my board. You can…

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Funders Can Bolster Democracy by Supporting Census Tech 

Local governments and philanthropy are missing out on one of the biggest opportunities to positively affect the census: supporting the application of modern technology to increase the chances of a more…

Announcements

BOARD ACADEMY CELEBRATES 10 YEARS

What We’re Reading

Mission Haiku: The Poetry of Mission Statements 

The mission statement is a cornerstone of both external communications and internal vision, and deserves your attention whether you are a grassroots startup or a generations-old foundation.

What We’re Reading

Philanthropic Defenders Weigh in on the Notre Dame Debate

The immediate overwhelming outpouring of donor generosity, nearing $1 billion in just a day, in response to scenes of Paris’s iconic Notre Dame cathedral in flames has been greeted with…

What We’re Reading

How to Prevent Donor Fatigue in a Small Nonprofit 

Donor fatigue is real and it’s hurting lots of small nonprofits that are over-asking their donors without balancing those asks with enough feel-good interactions.

What We’re Reading

Bolder Goals, Bigger Breakthroughs

Authors [in philanthropic sectors} are calling for folks working on the frontlines of social change to rethink their approaches and set their sights higher to achieve more meaningful outcomes. We could not agree more.

Announcements

Last week a staffer from one of our member organizations was in our Resource Center using the Foundation Center. He saw a couple of us at the…

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What We’re Reading

Questions I Wish I’d Asked

Seven questions to ask yourself and your organization about grants and fundraising

What We’re Reading

Five Elements for Success in Capacity Building

“Nonprofits have diverse needs when it comes to capacity building, and there can be as many approaches to building capacity as there are foundations supporting it.”