What We’re Reading
11 Ways to Spice Up Your Annual Turkey Trot
It’s never too early and rarely too late to think up a fun way to jazz up your annual turkey trot. Whether you’re looking to differentiate your race from previous…
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How to Make Better Decisions with Less Data
People often waste valuable time and resources to collecting enormous amounts of data but often struggle to convert it into effective solutions to problems. Managers and their teams should think more…
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If Poverty Crosses Party Lines, Why Can’t We Solve It?
The truism that “all politics is local” looks quite different when it comes to poverty. According to a recent report complied by the Brookings Institution, a significant portion of…
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Make Sure Your Employees Have Enough Interesting Work to Do
When productivity starts to slide, it’s not always easy to pinpoint the cause. This article argues that if your organization is suffering from productivity issues, you should start by…
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An emerging approach to social change may be able to help nonprofits work together to create something far greater than the sum of their parts. This approach is called, “catalytic collaboration.” This article describes how path-breaking organizations,…
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5 Marketing Lessons Every Nonprofit Should Learn from Election Videos
Election videos get political candidates either voted into office or kicked to the curb. In the same vein, a video for your nonprofit’s mission influences the public to vote…
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10 Keys to Success for Nonprofit Mergers
A new study found that staff and board retention, management succession, and branding of a new organization are among the most critical issues in any nonprofit merger. This article examines the study’s…
Read MoreResearch and Evaluation in the Nonprofit Sector: Implications for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Research and Evaluation in the Nonprofit Sector: Implications for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Research, evaluation and data regularly inform philanthropic and policy decisions, and vice versa. This article examines how creating and using databases that measure every contact, activity,…
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The Ecosystem of Good: How We’ll Revolutionize Philanthropy
Connecting with others in the social good community can drive new solutions and catalytic impact. This article discusses the ecosystem of good—people, organizations and communities coming together in a collaborative system…
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7 Step Policy Guide for Nonprofit Operating Reserves
Operating reserves provide stability and promote strategic decision making for nonprofit organizations. This article walks through seven steps to developing a policy to manage the use and replenishment of reserve funds.
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Leaders Who Get Change Right Know How to Listen
Organizational change comes at a cost. It requires people to sacrifice something they value, whether it’s time, money, responsibilities, control, status, comfort, or relationships. The more your change effort disrupts…
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Clinton and Trump: A Tale of Two Foundations
The 2016 presidential race has focused unprecedented attention on the charity and philanthropy of the candidates. Unfortunately for the nonprofit sector and those who advocate for its beneficiaries, most of the…
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Benchmarking Individual Donors
Data on retention is critical to understanding an organization’s fundraising program. When leaders know how many of their donors renew their giving each year and how many drop off, they can more reliably forecast income, measure…
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Mapping an Engagement Strategy for Successful Year-End Appeals
This is the best time of year to map out your engagement strategy and thank your donors. This article explains how to develop a thoughtful approach to help your messaging stand…
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An Ode to the Underappreciated Spreadsheet
It’s easy to fall into the trap of seeing spreadsheets only as applications for managing money, or at the very least, for working with numbers. But the structure and features of spreadsheets make…
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Designing for Good #5: The Best of End-of-Year Email Campaigns
With the season of giving almost upon us, it’s important to start planning your end-of-year email campaigns. This article highlights some of the best of last December’s appeals and…
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“Brain drain” is a term commonly used to describe this movement of highly skilled individuals from poor countries to rich countries. “Reverse bran drain” involves the movement of educated, skilled migrants back to their homelands…
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Networking with People You Can’t Meet in Person
In order to develop solid professional relationships with contacts outside your immediate geographic area, it’s increasingly essential to master the nuances of virtual networking. This article provides three ways to connect…
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Updating the Nonprofit Work Ethic
Being a nonprofit professional should not translate to being a martyr; we should not view dysfunctional work habits or work conditions as necessary burdens of the nonprofit world. This article shows how nonprofit leaders…
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No company or organization operates in isolation. This article describes the movement known as collective impact which has facilitated collaborations between the private and the social sector, and how it can guide efforts to…
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17 Goals in 14 Years – This is Impact 2030. Let’s Build a Better World.
This week is the first anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals – a universal call to action to solve our world’s problems on a…
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You May Hate Planning, But You Should Do It Anyway
Many people struggle to find the motivation to practice effective time management and project planning but a life without planning or routines can make you tired at best, and…
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4 Essential Components of Effective Feedback
Consistent, detailed feedback gives us the perspective and insights from others that allow us to fix errors, grow, and improve. This article describes the four key principles to giving and receiving feedback effectively.
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Taking Advocacy Campaigns Off Auto-Pilot
A lack of creativity in campaign tech can stifle social change. This article explains how advocacy organizations can take more chances with technology and think beyond existing tools to achieve greater impact.
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Pep Talk for Your 2016 Year-End Campaign Strategy
The last few months of the year are vital to any fundraising campaign strategy. Year-end giving impacts the possibilities for future mission-fulfilling activities and fundraising programs. This article replaces common fundraising misconceptions…
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