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.
How Can Nelson Mandela Help You Put Your Dreams into Action?
Today the world is celebrating Nelson Mandela Day, a day that brings people together to live the values of the late South African leader. He often used a quote attributed to author Joel Barker, and it’s one of my favorites: "Vision without action is merely...
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On Being a Social Entrepreneur: A Decade of Lessons Learned
Work anniversaries are special milestones – they are a time of celebration, gratitude and reflection. In February, I celebrated my 10th anniversary as Founder and CEO of Social Impact Architects. But more importantly, I celebrated a decade as a social entrepreneur. To...
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Social TrendSpotter’s Summer Superlatives 2019
Happy July 4th! It is the day we celebrate the birth of the United States as an independent nation. After years of frustration with the British government, the new Americans celebrated with fireworks, bonfires and even a mock funeral of King George III. Today, we come...
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What Did We Learn from the Giving USA Report?
Last week, Giving USA shared its long-awaited report, Giving USA 2019: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year of 2018. In this post, we not only share a synopsis of giving trends from the report, but as always, we provide actionable steps you can take to keep...
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What is Community and How Do We Measure It?
What makes a community a place where you want to live? What can a community do to promote growth – beyond investing in economic development? With all the areas to work on, what is most important? How do we measure progress?As we have recently noted, the role of...
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How Fatherhood Programs Are Helping the Next Generation
When I visited South Africa, Kruger National Park had an exploding elephant population. They had to move many of elephants to a nearby wildlife refuge, but they only had equipment to move the smaller ones – the females and the young. They couldn’t move the adult males...
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Is this the Era of the Mayor?
Lyndon B. Johnson was famous for saying “When the burdens of the presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be mayor.” With congressional approval ratings at an all-time low, more attention has been focused on cities...
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What is Social Intrapreneurship & How Will It Help Nonprofits and Social Entrepreneurs Create Positive Change?
While social entrepreneurship steals all the headlines, social intrapreneurship is a movement that is building momentum and for good reason. Today, we’re revisiting one of our most popular posts on the benefits of social intrapreneurship AND, in my personal...
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Need Census Data for Your Next Grant? Try the Opportunity Index
We have all been here: it is one week before the grant proposal deadline, and your team is scrambling to find or verify the latest statistics on the community you serve and how they compare to the statewide average and similar counties. We need to know household...
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