What We’re Reading
Our Challenge: How are You Strengthening the Social Economy?
The social economy is the space in which we produce and consume social good. Social good can be created by individual change-markers, by non-profits, by for-profit corporations and every organizational…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
Turbulence Ahead: 10 Questions for Nonprofit Boards to Urgently Ask and Answer
Good governance and effective, efficient management are never more important than when facing a sudden or impending period of instability. As we head into a transition of…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
Your Ladder of Engagement is Holding You Back
The “Ladder of Engagement” has become a common part of the digital organizer’s vernacular. However, as the Ladder of Engagement has proliferated, the design of the different steps on the advancement…
Read MoreOur United States: A Letter from our Executive Director
Dear friends,
We’ve got a lot of work to do. Here’s the good news: we in the nonprofit sector have hard work in our bones and, as we emerge from this fraught election season, we have real clarity about the…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
How to Access the Tremendous Potential of Millennial Giving
Whether we want it or not, change always reaches us. It’s an imperative that’s just as applicable to our individual lives as it is for the nonprofit sector. Regardless, nonprofits…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
How to Fix a Retirement Plan at a School or Nonprofit
If you work for a school or nonprofit of any sort, there is a decent chance that your workplace retirement savings plan is not as good as it…
Read MoreWhat 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…
Read MoreSocial Entrepreneurship & Community Partners
Brand authenticity. Consumers want it. They ask tough questions of businesses. How are employees treated? Where do they source their products? How do they give back to community? Companies engaged in social good gain good marks. Increasingly, entrepreneurs…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
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…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
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…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
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…
Read MoreThe Countdown Begins: New Federal Overtime Regulations
Somehow it’s November. Which means raking leaves, pulling out warm jackets, big pots of soup, turning back the clock, and your 1-month countdown to the new federal overtime rules which go into effect December 1st.
If you’ve…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
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,…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
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…
Read MoreGrow Connections Through Good Stories
I remember sneaking out of the house when I was a kid to hide under the orange tree in the backyard and read a book. Fiction always. Often mysteries, with a notebook on hand to track the clues. From…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
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 MoreApply Now for Board Academy 2017
You are a skilled professional who strives to be a better leader in your community. You are serious about giving back. Even at the end of a busy day, you…
Research 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,…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
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…
Read MoreCreating Brand Champions
Recently I went to a workshop CNE organized with our strategic partner, the PATH Resource Center, in Warrenton, VA. The trainer, Liz Johnson, of Mountain View Marketing, covered a lot of ground around branding,…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
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.
Read MoreGet Ready to Step Into the Spotlight!
Organizations that are on the front lines of environmental and social issues find themselves managing crises and advocating for others who are not handed the mic. When the reporter comes to call, you want to
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
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…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading
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…
Read MoreEmbrace Ambiguity and Be More Adaptable
We can learn a lot about ambiguity from Keith Richards, who once said, “I look for ambiguity when I’m writing because life is ambiguous.”
Since the Industrial Revolution we in the western world have been led to…
Read More