Social Trendspotter Weekly Blog
The Social Sector’s F-Word – Failure
We were saddened by the loss of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – both sides of the aisle admired her work ethic, perseverance and resilience. As we examine what made her unique, one theme rings true – she never let a setback deter her from her path. As Joe...
Stand Out From the Crowd: Develop a Unique Value Proposition
With Giving Days happening all over the country this month, you may be asking yourself – how do some nonprofits make it seem so easy to raise money? They have one marketing trick in common – they use a unique value proposition, tailored to their donors. A unique value...
Combating Leadership Fatigue in the Social Sector
I think I speak for all of us when I say that this year has presented some unexpected challenges. As the dedicated social sector leaders we are, we keep facing those challenges head-on, but some of us are beginning to experience something deeper than exhaustion.I come...
After COVID-19: Top 10 Aspirational Goals for Daring Greatly in the Social Sector
As a futurist for the social sector, I get asked a lot about what to expect from a post-COVID-19 world. While there are many things I don’t know, there are some that I do. For example, I know the social sector has risen to the challenge and opportunity of 2020 and...
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...
Minding the Gap with Dashboards
We love sharing good deeds like a great one we saw from July 2019 when good Samaritans came to the aid of a little boy in Australia who fell in the gap when boarding a train. The boy ultimately was fine thanks to the dozen or so commuters on the platform rushing to...
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...
