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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Why Corporate Social Responsibility Is Good for Business
In my Social Entrepreneurship class, I share with my students a continuum that places for-profit companies on the left and charitable organizations on the right. In recent years, for-profit companies and nonprofit companies have been moving toward the middle of the...
Is Your Nonprofit Ready for an Executive Transition? A Quick Guide for Nonprofit Succession Planning
In John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address, he said: “The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are...
Looking for the Perfect Match? 4 Nonprofit Interview Tips for Hiring the Right Employees
Happy Valentine’s Week! Since the nonprofit sector is in a hiring frenzy, we decided to share our hints on hiring employees, online dating-style. The best dating apps connect people looking for long-term relationships and match them based on compatibility. In making a...
Top Nonprofit Marketing Mistakes That Cost Money
One of my favorite days of the year is Super Bowl Sunday. The big game is not the only reason the day is interesting – the commercials are always a highlight. In my college courses, my students and I analyze Super Bowl commercials to find both good and bad examples of...
Why Failure Leads to Nonprofit Resilience and Success
With the Super Bowl right around the corner, one thing is certain: both teams will try hard, but one team will win and one team will lose. In fact, Tom Brady, who has been in more Super Bowls than any other player, won seven times but lost three times. Recently, he...
2023 Nonprofit Trends: Re-centering our Cultural Norms
Last year, we lost one of my leadership mentors – Frances Hesselbein, who is best known as the transformative leader of the Girls Scouts. This led her to be noticed by Peter Drucker, who named her “the best CEO in America” and later his successor. I interacted with...
Future-Proof Your Nonprofit Against a Recession
World leaders are gathering this week in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss world affairs. Prior to this meeting, the World Economic Forum published the Global Risks Report 2023, which discussed a new phrase to describe our current state: “polycrisis.” While the...
Has your Board “Quiet Quit”? How to Build a Successful Nonprofit Board in 2023
We love watching for new trends, and one of the most interesting ideas to come out of 2022 was the concept of “quiet quitting.” Popularized by TikTok, it started as a reference to employees who do the bare minimum in a job either for better work-life balance and/or...
Top 10 Moonshot Goals for the Social Sector
As a futurist for the social sector, I am often asked about what to expect in the future. While there are many things I don’t know, there are some that I do. For example, I know the social sector has risen to the challenge and opportunity of the post-COVID world and...
