The Social Sector often uses basic tools, like hammers and nails to change the world. Instead, we need power tools. 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 motivate and to take action so we can all ultimately 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.
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Can We Really Cut Child Poverty in Half?
I love moonshot goals – probably a carryover from my obsession with space exploration as a child. So, when President Biden first announced his goal to cut child poverty in half – I was all in and wanted to develop a community-based roadmap to make this happen in a...
Solving Social Issues in the Biden Era
Like many of you, after every presidential speech and opposition rebuttal, I am struck with two feelings: 1) inspiration for the power of prose in presenting new ideas and 2) bias toward action. I could not fall asleep last night with ideas and possibilities swirling...
How to Build an Inclusive Board
In 2020, every board we worked with was asking the same question – how do we as a board truly commit to racial equity and social justice? Last summer we wrote a post, “7 Actions Nonprofits Can Take to Be Anti-Racist Organizations” with some ideas that we have...
Top Tips for Mastering Nonprofit Logic Models
During COVID-19, everyone went into baking mode. Last year, it was all about banana bread. This year, for my family, it is about the best homemade ice cream for our upcoming Memorial Day Bash. We have a family recipe, but I wanted to kick it up a notch. I reimagined...
Death by Meeting? Tips to Energize Your Nonprofit Meetings
This time last year we all pivoted from in-person meetings to Zoom and Teams meetings to protect each other during the early days of the pandemic. Shortly after that, the Social Impact Architects' team wrote a blog on best practices for online meetings to help...
Is Your Nonprofit on Life Support? A Financial Check-up for the Social Sector
After our recent national survey and webinar, which we discussed in a recent post, I wanted to dig deeper into the financial results. First, the bad news from the survey – due to COVID-19, 17% of nonprofits reorganized, 13% reduced overhead and 10% postponed...
5 Tips to Hit a Social Business Pitch out of the Park
Spring always reminds me of one of my family’s favorite pastimes – baseball. When my nephew Alexander was first learning to play a few years ago, I got a chance to help him practice for a game. At practice, he was struggling with hitting the ball, and I finally...
What You Should Do Instead of Working on a New Nonprofit Strategic Plan This Year
Last Sunday, we sprung forward with Daylight Saving Time. It was a perfect analogy for how many of us are feeling – we have been in a holding pattern for the past year and we are ready to spring forward into 2021. Right now, the No. 1 question I have been hearing is:...
Top Nonprofit Marketing Mistakes That Cost Money
One of my favorite days of the year is Super Bowl Sunday – and this last one was no exception. The big game is not the only reason the day is interesting – the commercials are always a highlight. While our team is a fan of proactive corporate social responsibility...
