Blog
As a mother and a human being, the Parkland, Florida school shooting on Wednesday cut me to the core. As I know it did so many of you. And as someone who spends my time writing about and advising social change efforts, I am also curious about how growing momentum to create change to the […]
It’s fairly common knowledge that in the nonprofit sector the relationship between funders and nonprofit leaders is often fraught. A power imbalance between those with the purse strings and those without can sometimes lead to poor decisions about a nonprofit’s future direction. The other day I was advising a nonprofit leader — let’s call him […]
Let’s be honest, nonprofit leaders tend to be a pretty reactive bunch. Instead of creating or controlling a situation, they tend to simply react to it. And it makes sense. A foundation suddenly changes their funding strategy, and a nonprofit leader must scramble to find a new revenue source. A shift in how or where […]
Happy New Year, dear Social Velocity readers! After taking almost 4 months away from the blog (and largely away from social media in general), today I’m jumping back in. I certainly haven’t figured it all out, but I feel I’ve given myself enough space to climb back into the fray. But before I do, I […]
You may have noticed that I haven’t been posting to the blog as often lately. There is a good reason for this, and I want to share it with you, since you all have been such wonderfully loyal and engaged readers. I launched the Social Velocity blog in September of 2008, nine years ago this […]
In today’s Social Velocity blog interview, I’m talking with Eric Weinheimer, President and CEO of Forefront, the only regional association that represents grantmakers, nonprofits, advisors, and social entrepreneurs. With 1,100 members in Illinois, Forefront provides education, advocacy, and research, and mobilizes its members around issues that are important to the nonprofit sector. Prior to his current […]
Recently, fundraising maven Kay Sprinkel Grace wrote a post on the GuideStar blog outlining four questions to ask prospective board members when interviewing them for board positions. While I heartily agree with her that nonprofit leaders should institute and follow a rigorous due diligence process in recruiting new board members (rather than just shoving anyone […]
It has been a really difficult couple of weeks. And I think for those of us in the social change sector — the sector that works for equity, justice, compassion, inclusion, civility — these days have been particularly challenging. The events in Charlottesville have made obvious that there is so much work to do, and […]
Since I was on vacation (and off social media) for a chunk of June, I decided to combine the June and July 10 Great Reads lists into one. But that proved to be a tricky feat, since there was no shortage of activity in the world of social change during those two months. From the […]
Beyond the mistakes nonprofit leaders often make in staffing their fundraising function, the relationship itself between a nonprofit executive director and the development director (or whatever you call the staff person in charge of bringing money in the door) can often be fraught. In an ideal world, the executive director and development director have a symbiotic […]
Consulting Services
If you want to grow your nonprofit's reach, become more financially sustainable, or achieve more results, Social Velocity can help you get there. Here's how:
Financial Model Assessment
Strategic Planning
Leadership Coaching
Get Email Updates
Stay up to date on the nonprofit and philanthropic world.
Recent Tweets
Thanks for including me! "50 Nonprofit Blogs You Need to Follow Right Now": https://t.co/IIpeeXBdCw
How asking about your sleep, smoking or yoga habits can help pollsters verify their findings: https://t.co/oKYe8jFmla from @pewresearch
Museums Under Fire: Decolonization Protests Heat Up https://t.co/lwD9CBeGT8