Social Trendspotter Weekly Blog
Top Questions on Social Enterprise
I am thrilled to share to that I have been hired as consultant and facilitator for the 2023 Duke Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership Program. In this role, I will be leading Duke’s Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership for working professionals. I have taught...
Easy Steps to Change Management in Your Nonprofit
Summer is always filled with highly anticipated superhero movie releases, with towering men and women possessing superhuman capabilities to save the world. These superhero epics offer much in their approach that we as social sector warriors can leverage for our own...
The Power of Dreams: Tips for Increasing Nonprofit Employee Engagement
Tuesday the world celebrated Nelson Mandela Day, a day that brings people together to live the values of the late South African leader in honor of his birthday. He often used a quote attributed to author Joel Barker, and it’s one of my favorites: “Vision without...
Charitable Giving Trends from Giving USA 2023
Americans have always been known for their generosity. Just as in other difficult times, Americans stepped up giving during the pandemic. Now, upon reviewing the Giving USA 2023 report – the social sector’s annual report – we saw trends that, not unexpectedly, showed...
Hot Nonprofit Trends for Summer 2023
During summer, it feels like time stops for just a moment. The longer days, the warm breezes and sweet fragrances in the air allow time to slow down for reflection. You can sit by a beach or lake and just gaze into the water, being present and enjoying the ease of...
Back to the Future: The Social Sector in 2053
“Back to the Future” is coming to Broadway in New York this weekend. (My husband and I had a blast watching it in London last year.) With all the discussions about AI and Chat GPT, we thought we’d contemplate the future of the social sector along with some of the...
How Fatherhood Programs Are Helping the Next Generation
When I visited South Africa, Kruger National Park had an exploding elephant population. They had to move many of elephants to a nearby wildlife refuge, but they only had equipment to move the smaller ones – the females and the young. They couldn’t move the adult males...
Tips for Knocking Your Next Staff or Board Retreat Out of the Ballpark
Summer has officially started and with it comes vacations, cookouts and baseball games – and your nonprofit’s retreat. Retreats have become commonplace in the sector, but sometimes CEOs and board chairs find orchestrating a productive retreat for their organization...
Death by Meeting? Tips to Energize Your Next Nonprofit Meeting or Retreat
Dave Barry said it best: “If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings.’” Yet, meetings (and now virtual meetings and calls) remain an effective tool to...
What Nike Can Teach Us about Nonprofit Values, Change Management and Trends
Summer brings us blockbuster movies, and this summer is no different. I for one cannot wait. One recent movie that I really enjoyed was “Air,” which tells the story of the rise of Nike and how its basketball division landed Michael Jordan as its ambassador. (It’s now...
