Creating more strategic, financially savvy, and confident nonprofit leaders and organizations.
These are crazy times. I can’t remember another time in my life where there was such a palpable sense of fear and uncertainty. The rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus has everyone around the world understandably anxious. The fear may be particularly tough in the nonprofit sector, a sector whose omnipresent scarcity mindset makes any […]
Last week I was talking to a nonprofit leader who was completely overwhelmed. She was exhausted, worn down, and full of self doubt. And it wasn’t the garden-variety overwhelm that comes from the normal nonprofit lack of resources. This was a deep and troubling hopelessness about the very burden she as a social change leader […]
You know the Nonprofit Savior Complex, I know you do. It’s when a nonprofit leader begins to believe that she (and only she) cares enough, knows enough, or is enough to fix the massive problem she cares so deeply about. The positive side to the Savior Complex is it compels people who see an injustice […]
As a nonprofit leader, you are likely suffering under the delusion that you have little power. For far too long, nonprofit leaders have been operating from the (incorrect) belief that they are largely powerless to impact much beyond their own boardroom (and sometimes not even there). I talked about the philanthropic side of this feeling […]
One of the things I’ve been working on lately in my coaching practice with nonprofit leaders is finding the balance between truth and hope. This is because I think it’s much easier to create momentum for change if truth is laced with hope. And also because I believe we need a lot more of both […]
In consulting with a nonprofit my role is to guide the organization to the next level. Perhaps they want to dramatically grow their impact or influence, or they want to develop a truly sustainable financial model, or they want to become a national player. Whatever their aim, my role is to help them figure out […]
Happy New Year, Social Velocity readers! The beginning of a new year is usually, for me at least, a time of mixed emotions. I’m excited about the new experiences that wait around the corner, but fearful of the unknown that also lurks there. A new year by definition brings change, and that can be exciting, […]
Over the past few weeks I’ve found myself worn down by the state of our country. The divisiveness, the anger, the coming apart instead of coming together is increasingly hard to take. And I know many of you feel the same. It seems that as time marches on we increasingly find ourselves battling the differences […]
One of the many books I read on my social media hiatus last Fall, was Tara Mohr’s Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create and Lead. Her argument is that there are countless women out there who could be contributing so much more to society but are holding themselves back […]
Note: The second guest blogger in this week’s Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) conference blog series is Sean Thomas-Breitfeld, Co-Director of Building Movement Project. His post is below. And don’t forget to follow the conference via #2018GEO. Nikole’s 2016 article about choosing a school for her daughter in New York City’s segregated school district highlighted the systemic […]
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 […]
