Creating more strategic, financially savvy, and confident nonprofit leaders and organizations.
In a previous article on About.com, I discussed the idea of capacity capital, an incredibly exciting new funding vehicle for nonprofit organizations. Capacity capital is the money that nonprofits so desperately need to build strong, effective, sustainable organizations that can create more social change. It is a one-time investment of money to add new technology, […]
One of the things I love about summer – aside from the obvious loves like swimming, family trips and watermelon – is that the slower pace allows time to take a step back and find a better way forward. For nonprofit leaders, summer is a great time to take a hard look at how you bring money […]
I get a similar question a lot, “We really want to move our nonprofit out of startup mode but don’t know what the right first steps are.” Although the definition of a “startup” is an organization that has been around for only a few years, there are many nonprofits that are still in startup mode […]
Can we talk about crazy for a minute? I’ve recently witnessed some behavior from nonprofit leaders that made my jaw drop: A board chairman convinced the rest of his board to turn away a donor who wanted to give the nonprofit a significant amount of money to fund organizational capacity (strategic planning, coaching, fundraising training) […]
It becomes increasingly obvious to me that the nonprofit sector suffers from a lack of confidence. Centuries of being sidelined as “charities” while the real work of the world (business) took center stage has made the nonprofit sector continually apologize for the work they do and how they do it. Nowhere is this more true […]
I am delighted to announce today’s release of the newest volume in the Financing Not Fundraising e-book series, Financing Not Fundraising, vol. 3. The idea behind Financing Not Fundraising is that the traditional way nonprofit leaders, boards and donors have approached funding the work of nonprofits doesn’t work anymore. Traditional nonprofit fundraising forces nonprofits to […]
Yep, it’s true, the nonprofit sector doesn’t have enough money. There are lots of reasons for that, but part of it stems from the taboos the nonprofit sector (and the staffs, boards and donors within it) perpetuates. But perhaps if we lay them bare, we can start to break free from them, which is the […]
There are some exciting things happening at Social Velocity. I have spent the last several months revising and expanding the e-books, webinars, and step-by-step guides I offer nonprofit leaders in the Tools store of the website. These Tools help nonprofit leaders, board members and donors understand the trends facing the nonprofit sector and how to […]
Note: I’m out of the office this week, so here is a blog post from the Social Velocity archives. This post originally appeared on the blog in April 2012. One of the biggest challenges the nonprofit sector faces is the sometimes dysfunctional relationship between nonprofits and their funders. I’ve talked before about how nonprofits should […]
Note: I was asked by Markets for Good to write a post as part of their ongoing online conversation about improving how money flows to social change. Markets for Good is an effort by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the financial firm Liquidnet to improve the system […]
It is the ultimate question isn’t it? But often one that a nonprofit leader can’t answer on her own. I see it all the time. A nonprofit leader wants to expand services to meet growing demand, or she is frustrated with a stalled fundraising effort, or concerned that a key revenue source is drying up, […]
