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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Turn Donors into Fans with Best Practices for Donor Acknowledgments
As we approach Thanksgiving, nonprofits all over globe are preparing for another season – the giving season. Marked by Giving Tuesday, holidays and the end of the tax year, it is statistically the busiest season for giving. Some fun facts: 31% of annual giving occurs...
Market Research Tools for Nonprofits: How to Channel Your Inner Oprah
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...
Free (or Almost Free) Stuff for Nonprofits
Halloween was once tied to farming, marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. As we look toward the end of the year, we wanted to update our “Free Stuff for Nonprofits” list to help you finish last-minute projects. Not surprisingly, because...
Lean Startup for Nonprofits
I was struck, but not surprised, when I heard the authors of Moneyball for Government note, “Less than $1 out of every $100 spent by government is backed by even the most basic evidence that the money is being spent wisely.” This reminds me of a quote often attributed...
Nonprofit Coopetition: Combining Cooperation and Collaboration to Build A Better World
I was thrilled to speak last week about Nonprofit Megatrends at a conference in one of my favorite cities – Cincinnati. Every social sector conference this fall features trends on collective impact, collaboration and system building. These concepts signify an...
How the Ice Bucket Challenge Still Teaches Us About Nonprofit Fundraising, Marketing and Storytelling
If you were anywhere near a screen eight years ago, odds are good that you witnessed the Ice Bucket Challenge. In my feed, I saw everyone from my then-8-year-old nephew, Dylan, to my city councilmember and Bill Gates participate. This viral phenomenon during the...
How to Create a Nonprofit Advisory Council and Why
I love fall – with it comes so many possibilities. It reminds me of one of my favorite fall quotes by French author Albert Camus: “Autumn is the second spring when every leaf is a flower.” It professes a love for the season of fall but also a season of life where...
Inspiring an Impact Mindset in the Social Sector
More and more, research indicates that one of the keys to success is mindset – the frame of mind through which we perceive, interpret and organize our complex world. In fact, science is showing – through studies with athletes, medical patients and students taking...
