Creating more strategic, financially savvy, and confident nonprofit leaders and organizations.
Continuing the various discussions about the beginning signs and formations of a social capital market, I’d like to add PRIs (Program Related Investments) to the conversation. In all of the concern about decreasing philanthropic giving because of the economy there has been little talk about these financial vehicles as a real opportunity for foundations, and […]
One of the most exciting things happening in recent years is a “convergence” of the three sectors: government, business and nonprofit. Some private businesses now include a social mission in their business model (a solar energy company); nonprofits are using business models to create sustainable organizations; the federal government is thinking about an office of […]
The United Way Capital Area recently asked to interview me about social innovation for their blog. It was a lot of fun, and they asked great questions. You can check out the interview here. Or read the text of it below. Q: Your bio says you’ve been in the social sector for over 13 years. […]
As I described in previous posts here, here and here, one of the ways in which the nonprofit sector is broken is that it is undercapitalized. It is not able to generate an adequate amount of capital in order to scale and solve the problems it seeks to address. This undercapitalization comes not from a […]
By Nell Edgington Leave a Comment
I just spent the morning attending the Austin Community Foundation-sponsored gathering of philanthropists and executive directors from the Central Texas region, “21st Century Philanthropy in Central Texas.” It was an overview of the trends in philanthropy and demographics facing our region. There were various speakers and panelists including philanthropists, corporate and nonprofit leaders, health care […]
What does the historic election of Barack Obama yesterday mean for the social sector? It may be too early to tell, but we can get a sense from his policy platforms and interviews. Both McCain and Obama spoke about social entrepreneurship during the campaign and supported new ideas like a social innovation fund and national […]
It’s a topic that’s on every nonprofit Executive Director, board, and staff member’s mind these days. How can we possibly raise money when the economy is in such turmoil? Well, there are ways. Here are 10 to get you started: Harness Your Board. Your board of directors ideally is a group of people who are […]
I attended the Greenlights for Nonprofit Success Town Hall Meeting today about the economic downturn and what it means for Austin’s nonprofit community. It was very interesting. Economist John Hockenyos gave a great overview of where we are currently with the financial markets and what the implications for the nonprofit sector are. Basically, he said […]
By Nell Edgington Leave a Comment
A topic on many nonprofit Executive Director’s minds these days is how to find more money. With foundation and individual donors poised to decrease their giving, governments strapped for cash, and corporate earnings, and thus their philanthropic giving programs, falling, it is difficult to figure out how to make fundraising programs already in place continue […]
By Nell Edgington Leave a Comment
My last few posts have focused on the downturn in the economy and how it already is, or soon might, affect the social sector. It seems to be a topic on everyone’s mind. I wrote an article that was just published today in Texas Nonprofits online magazine, entitled, “Social Innovation Provides Hope in the Uncertainty,” […]
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