Social Trendspotter Weekly Blog
How Nonprofits Can Sharpen Their Focus on Mental Health
Like many of you, I was stunned when Prince Harry opened up in his new docuseries, “The Me You Can’t See,” co-created and produced with none other than Oprah herself. He speaks passionately and with authority about his own trauma and the treatments that have made a...
3 Steps to Make Evaluation Plans Easy
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...
(Almost) Free Wi-Fi for Nonprofit Clients
In our January call-to-action to the president and his team, we called out technology as one of the key areas to tackle post-pandemic to rebuild the economy. Today, access to technology stands in the way of achieving the American dream. And, equity must be consciously...
Can We Really Cut Child Poverty in Half?
I love moonshot goals – probably a carryover from my obsession with space exploration as a child. So, when President Biden first announced his goal to cut child poverty in half – I was all in and wanted to develop a community-based roadmap to make this happen in a...
Solving Social Issues in the Biden Era
Like many of you, after every presidential speech and opposition rebuttal, I am struck with two feelings: 1) inspiration for the power of prose in presenting new ideas and 2) bias toward action. I could not fall asleep last night with ideas and possibilities swirling...
How to Build an Inclusive Board
In 2020, every board we worked with was asking the same question – how do we as a board truly commit to racial equity and social justice? Last summer we wrote a post, “7 Actions Nonprofits Can Take to Be Anti-Racist Organizations” with some ideas that we have...
Top Tips for Mastering Nonprofit Logic Models
During COVID-19, everyone went into baking mode. Last year, it was all about banana bread. This year, for my family, it is about the best homemade ice cream for our upcoming Memorial Day Bash. We have a family recipe, but I wanted to kick it up a notch. I reimagined...
5 Tips to Hit a Social Business Pitch out of the Park
Spring always reminds me of one of my family’s favorite pastimes – baseball. When my nephew Alexander was first learning to play a few years ago, I got a chance to help him practice for a game. At practice, he was struggling with hitting the ball, and I finally...
What You Should Do Instead of Working on a New Nonprofit Strategic Plan This Year
Last Sunday, we sprung forward with Daylight Saving Time. It was a perfect analogy for how many of us are feeling – we have been in a holding pattern for the past year and we are ready to spring forward into 2021. Right now, the No. 1 question I have been hearing is:...
Is Your Nonprofit Sustainable and What Does Nonprofit Sustainability Really Mean?
“Sustainability” has been a buzzword in the social sector for the past few years, but what does it really mean? Everyone agrees that sustainability is an important factor to evaluate the resiliency of social sector organizations, but few have agreed on a simple path...
