Our weekly blog, Social TrendSpotter provides you with the latest trends and ideas within the social sector. It merges current thinking with the edge of innovation to inspire, to encourage, to educate and – ultimately – to create a better sector. Social TrendSpotter includes original analysis, but also highlights the latest sector-wide thinking into a user-friendly resource where social sector professionals and students alike can draw inspiration, share ideas and develop new thinking on best practices.
Is Your Nonprofit on Life Support? A Financial Check-up for the Social Sector
The Nonprofit Finance Fund recently launched the annual results of their State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey. First, the bad news – 86% of nonprofits see demand rising, yet 57% are worried they cannot meet it. Many of the nonprofits (62%) say their top challenge is...
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Won’t You Be My Neighbor? How Shared Services Can Maximize Your Nonprofit’s Impact
Today’s headlines could make even the most optimistic person – like me – a little weary. But, my optimism was restored recently when I was invited to a screening of the new documentary about the 50-year anniversary of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" called “Won't You Be...
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Helping First-Generation College Students Reach for the Stars
Graduation season is upon us. This weekend I will be celebrating with my nephew Gabe, who is graduating from high school and heading to Fordham University this fall (#proudauntmoment). We love graduations – from the symbolism of closing one chapter to...
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Who is Your Greatest Competition? How Your Family Tree Can Help You Uncover (Sometimes Surprising) Answers
It’s been 10 years since I graduated from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, but it seems just like yesterday. And, I still remember the day I learned one of the most important lessons about competition from an unlikely source – Dave Thomas, the founder of...
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How the Yanny vs. Laurel Debate Can Help Us Practice Conflict Resolution Skills in the Social Sector
The media was abuzz last week with the Yanny vs. Laurel debate. It nearly broke the Internet with 22 million views in two days. Whether you hear Yanny or Laurel, it is a great reminder of how humans innately process the same information differently....
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Keep Calm and Plan On! Scenario Planning Lessons from the British Royal Wedding
On Saturday, we will witness the master planning involved in the royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Weddings are major events, but a royal wedding amplifies typical wedding pageantry a thousand times over. Every detail is carefully planned, and...
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Top Questions on Strategic Planning
With summer almost upon us, we are getting lots of calls on strategic planning. We often say that the point of a strategic plan isn’t to create a piece of paper; it is about creating momentum for your organization. So, we believe this increase in interest is very much...
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Channel Your Inner Oprah to Discover the Most Effective Market Research Tools
Like many of you, I grew up watching Oprah – both the "Oprah Winfrey Show" and now "Super Soul Sundays." Oprah just has a way of connecting with both her guests and her audience to find out the “truth” behind any topic. While the job of a talk show host may seem far...
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Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Risk Management in the Social Sector
"When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." - John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy’s quote about crisis representing danger as well as opportunity is absolutely true. The headlines...
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