Business Planning, Business Planning, Grow, Growth/Scaling Plans, Organizational Assessments, Social Enterprise, Social Impact Architects
One of my favorite cartoons is from Tom Fishburne’s “Brand Camp.” It does a great job of illustrating the inner monologue we all have when considering a new venture. I often tell my students that successful entrepreneurship is half about skill (what you know and do)...
Business Planning, Collaborate, Grow, Growth/Scaling Plans, Organizational Assessments, Social Impact Architects
Should nonprofits act more like businesses? To be sure, nonprofits can learn a great deal from business. Like any business today, we need to use data, invest in talent, understand the full cost of our work to build strong, sustainable organizations. A compelling...
Business Planning, Grow, Social Enterprise, Social Impact Architects, System Change
I still remember the day I learned one of the most important lessons about competition from an unlikely source: Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s. One of my professors at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business told our class the legendary story. During a campus...
Board Development, Business Planning, Grow, Growth/Scaling Plans, Guest Blogs, Lead, Organizational Assessments, Social Impact Architects
One of the greatest joys of my work is traveling across the country to speak at conferences and to learn alongside nonprofit leaders tackling some of our sector’s biggest challenges. I always come home with new ideas worth exploring. One topic that recently...
Business Planning, Business Planning, Grow, Organizational Assessments, Social Impact Architects, Strategic Planning
This spring, we celebrated NASA’s Artemis II mission, and the return of humans traveling around the moon. Watching the capsule land safely down back on Earth reminded of something important: NASA did not reach this point through vision alone. The mission succeeded...
Business Planning, Communicate, Fundraising, Grow, Growth/Scaling Plans, Impact, Impact Measurement, Lead, Marketing & Communication, Organizational Assessments, Organizational Culture, Social Impact Architects, Storytelling
One of the hardest parts of nonprofit leadership is making decisions without having all the information. Should we hire now or wait? Should we launch the new program or build reserves? Should we invest in technology or hold onto cash? Leaders rarely get certainty...
