Business Planning, Business Planning, Collaborate, Feasibility Studies, Grow, Growth/Scaling Plans, Organizational Assessments, Program Development, Social Enterprise, Social Impact Architects, Strategic Planning
January brings a rush of ideas. New goals. New energy. New possibilities. However, “new” can be a double-edged sword. Some ideas are genuine breakthroughs. Some are distractions dressed up as innovation. And some quietly derail even the strongest organizations. The...
Grow, Growth/Scaling Plans, Impact, Impact Measurement, Logic Model Development, Organizational Assessments, Program Development
When I started at Phoenix House, a nonprofit focused on substance abuse and prevention, right out of college, I was an idealist. I pursued any program and every grant that would help our clients. I believed success was a numbers game — the more grant proposals...
Client Flow/Design Thinking, Evaluation Planning, Impact, Impact Measurement, Lean Start-Up, Logic Model Development, Program Development, Theory of Change
At a recent forum, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria was asked the ONE thing that children need to learn. His answer? Intellectual discipline. He defined it as the ability to wade through noise, discern the facts, analyze findings and form a point of view. We echo this sentiment...
Evaluation Planning, Impact, Impact Measurement, Logic Model Development, Program Development
During COVID-19, everyone turned into bakers and cooks. For my family, it was perfecting homemade ice cream for our annual Memorial Day Bash. We had a family recipe — but I wanted to kick it up a notch. I reimagined the model of what I thought ice cream should be and...
Communicate, Evaluation Planning, Impact, Impact Measurement, Program Development, Social Impact Architects, 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...
Business Planning, Feasibility Studies, Grow, Growth/Scaling Plans, Organizational Assessments, Program Development, Social Impact Architects
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...
