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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The Perfect Recipe for a Social Business Model
With the economic and global shifts resulting from COVID-19, everyone has had to pivot their business models. Restaurants are delivering meals rather than opening up their doors. Retailers are making it easier for clients to purchase online and pick up curbside, while...
Tricks of the Trade for Social Sector Job Seekers
In addition to being the time of year when the leaves start to turn and pumpkin spice is back in season, fall is also known as prime job-seeking time. And, with new COVID protocols, you really have to think about your strategy before you start searching to...
The Color of Money
You know a good thing when you see it. When I read the article, “The Color of Money,” in the latest issue of Advancing Philanthropy, the magazine published by AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals), I knew within the first two paragraphs that it was worth...
Creating Win-Wins with Nonprofit Feasibility Assessments
When I was 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 the lyrics, “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em / Know when to...
6 Virtual Fundraising Event Tips to Combat “Zoom Fatigue”
I am a huge fan of Gretchen Rubin and her work on The Happiness Project. While not an expert in happiness herself, she has studied the research, implemented it with friends and family, and summarized her findings in a number of bestselling books. She takes happiness...
The Roller Coaster Ride of Nonprofit Governance in 2020
2020 has been a roller coaster ride for all of us. As nonprofit board members, we know that it has also put nonprofit governance to the test. At Social Impact Architects, when we brief boards on strategic planning, we put governance and culture in the middle of...
How Much of a Difference Are We Making? Using SROI as a Tool
Last month, The New York Times published a great article – Social Programs Can Sometimes Turn a Profit for Taxpayers – that put SROI (social return on investment) and cost-benefit analyses into the mainstream. In it, Seema Jayachandran, an economics...
Are Nonprofit Business Plans Dead?
“Evolve or die” – this saying is even more true today than when I started Social Impact Architects. Just 10 years ago, I learned about social business plans in business school, but today traditional business plans are being replaced by a more efficient tool – the...
System Change: Do We Fix the System or Change it Altogether?
In the nonprofit community, we often talk about our clients “falling through the cracks.” As a result, we spend a lot of time conducting case management sessions to help each and every client navigate “the system.” But, these are often only temporary fixes...
