Will Richardson has an excellent post, Don't, Don't, Don't vs. Do, Do, Do, in which he muses on "acceptable use" policies of social media in schools and how restrictive and anti-learning they can be. Having spent the past several months working with clients on integrating social media into their organizations, this post really resonated with me. I'm finding that while a few places embrace social media as an exciting opportunity,... Read more →

I have a confession to make. I can spend a lot of time in panic mode. In most cases I manage to downgrade my panic to more of a low-level anxiety, but whenever I embark on new projects or know that something major is on the line, panic can be a close companion of mine. My first inclination when I feel the panic rise is to stuff it back down,... Read more →

Why do you go to work in the morning? More importantly, what makes you WANT to go to work in the morning? Yes, it might be that pesky thing called a paycheck, but I'm guessing that those of us who bound out of bed, ready to hit the day, do so because we believe that the work we're doing has meaning, that we're contributing to something important. A lot of... Read more →

Good Monday morning from Philadelphia, where the sun is just starting to peek through the clouds and we're preparing for yet another muggy day. A few quick reads for you: Rosetta Thurman of Perspectives from the Pipeline is hosting this week's Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants. She's pulled together seven great posts on becoming a better leader, so wander on over and check them out. If you checked out the post... Read more →

Last week, Rosetta Thurman reported from the front-lines of nonprofit leadership about her experiences at Nonprofit 2020: Issues and Answers from the Next Generation, where much of the talk centered around how to transition leadership from the Baby Boomers to Gen X and the Millenials. You can also read more on the conference here from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. As a Gen X-er myself, I long ago gave up on... Read more →

Paul Potts is a cell phone salesman in the UK. He's completely unassuming--bad teeth, a little overweight, not much of a dresser. The last person you'd imagine taking the stage as a serious contestant on Britain's Got Talent, the UK version of American Idol. But beneath that quiet exterior is a most amazing voice. It literally gave me chills to listen to him. And it made me wonder how much... Read more →

Just back from a conference where I had an interesting exchange during a session I was conducting on providing services in a global economy. I was presenting to a state-wide group of government and nonprofit workers who help people access education and find jobs. We were discussing how business has changed the ways in which it operates and how these organizations could utilize some of the new principles for operating... Read more →

Once again, some things in my feedreader that I wanted to get to . . Facebook Awhile ago I wrote a post on using Facebook in nonprofits. I haven't had a lot of time to get back into it, but fortunately for you, Soha El-Borno at Wild Apricot has been hard at work. Her most recent contribution is on using the Causes widget to promote your nonprofit. Also check out... Read more →

Relationships between nonprofits and the public are based on trust. I'm not going to give your organization money if I don't trust you to use it well. I won't volunteer for your cause if I don't trust that you are working for it. Trust is an essential relationship ingredient and transparency--making your organizations visible to the public--is a critical component in developing trust. I was reminded of the importance of... Read more →

Today I was in a strategic planning meeting with a number of business people. At one point, we were discussing the changing nature of providing healthcare services to aging baby boomers. The VP of HR for one of the local healthcare organizations was explaining to us that they are moving to more of a concierge approach to meeting healthcare needs, with a focus on relationships and amenities, similar to what... Read more →