I’m sharing this fascinating piece in The Atlantic that looks at an organization called Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) that leverages social impact bonds and a partnership with New York State to reduce recidivism. I found this piece interesting because CEO’s “Pay … Continue reading
In his piece in The Evaulation Exchange, John Healy makes a point that I think gets right to the heart of how non-profit evaluation should work. He argues that non-profits should “create space and structure for learning.” It’s a simple … Continue reading
The role of the mission is to provide strategic guidance for future decision makers. In the case of Kiva, this guidance is fairly flexible and open ended. The verb/action in their mission statement (“to connect people through lending to alleviate … Continue reading
This week, I came across an interesting website called Communication Matters. The website – a collaboration between The Communications Network and Brotherton Strategies – distills the results of a year-long strategic communications research project into a “model for effective communication.” … Continue reading
Broadly, the role of a non-profit board is to set the framework within which the organization operates. This includes determining and ensuring adherence to the mission, making sure the organization has the resources it needs to carry out its mission, … Continue reading
This recent NY Times piece takes a look at the Ford Foundation’s recent decision to put a portion of its $12 billion endowment toward “mission-related investments” or MRIs. I’m sharing this article because it provides a good example of a complimentary … Continue reading
A key feature of having so many forces shaping the non-profit sector is that non-profits face expectations and accountability from many different directions. These expectations have both positive and negative impacts on non-profits at the micro and macro levels. At … Continue reading
This ProPublica piece takes an investigative look at Gail McGovern’s tenure as President and CEO of the American Red Cross. I’m sharing it because it is a fascinating case study in stakeholder management. McGovern spent her career in the private … Continue reading
One of the many roles that the non-profit sector plays in our society is to replace or supplement governmental functions. The organization I currently work for, the Grand Central Partnership, is a good example of an organization that plays this type of … Continue reading
I’d like to share Dan Pallotta’s TED Talk from 2013 in which he argues that non-profit rules and norms that limit compensation and the amount non-profits can spend on marketing and advertising hold the sector back from achieving a scale at which … Continue reading