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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How Nonprofits Are Leading Efforts to Lift Women Out of Poverty
Every March, we celebrate Women’s History Month and the amazing women who have shaped America – Sally Ride, the first female in space; Rosa Parks, whose courage ignited the civil rights movement; and countless “hidden figures” who have cracked the glass ceiling. But,...
Beyond the Buzz: A Q&A on How Nonprofits Can Best Leverage AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for over a decade, but in 2024 it had its breakthrough moment, with discussions about its impact touching every industry, including the nonprofit sector. I first learned about AI at DevLearn in 2019, which inspired our 2020...
Is This the Era of Local Government?
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 public trust in Washington at an all-time low, local leaders in cities, counties, and school districts...
How Much of a Difference Are We Making? Using Social Return on Investment in Your Nonprofit’s Storytelling
In 2020, The New York Times published a great article, “Social Programs Can Sometimes Turn a Profit for Taxpayers,” bringing Social Return on Investment (SROI) and cost-benefit analyses into the mainstream. In it, Seema Jayachandran, an economics professor at...
Top Sources of Board-CEO Conflict and How to Resolve Them
Remember playing tug-of-war back in school? While its origin is uncertain, it has been around since the 8th century BC as a game of strength and teamwork. The concept is simple, but the strategy behind it is complex – it requires more than just power. True success...
Navigating Uncertainty: How Nonprofits Can Thrive Amid Government Shifts
Change is all around us. With each new administration (federal, state and local), there is a risk that priorities will shift. Technological advances, such as AI, are reshaping industries and changing the way we live our lives. Inflation continues to strain the...
Creating Win-Wins with Nonprofit Feasibility Assessments
Growing up, my mother introduced me to the music of Kenny Rogers. My sister and I loved twirling around our house, singing his songs at the top of our lungs. My favorite was “The Gambler” and its famous lyrics: “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘emKnow when to fold...
2025 Nonprofit Trends: Uniting Generations in the Workplace
One of my favorite events of 2024 was the total solar eclipse in April. While it was an astronomical marvel, it was also a great social experiment. For a brief five minutes, North Americans of all ages stopped what they were doing to gaze at the sky in collective awe....
Martin Luther King Jr. and the Power of Social Movements
Each year when we observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we are reminded of the importance of social movements to our country’s evolution. Movements were believed to have started in the late 1800s around workers’ rights, eventually leading to the labor movement in the...
