May 20th, 2013
Outcomes for Social Enterprise: Manage What Matters
by Steven Wright

Maximize Impact

 

Markets : Physics :: Capitalism : Ideology

Markets have natural laws, like physics.  Capitalism is an ideology.  Ideologies can be changed.

All social enterprises want to know if they are producing positive social outcomes.  They closely monitor their financial performance to maintain sustainability and closely monitor their social performance to see if they are achieving the...

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May 17th, 2013
Highlights from the 2012 State of Nonprofit Data: An NTEN report prepared by Idealware
by Nonprofit Technology Network

In April 2012, NTEN with the research expertise of Idealware, conducted a survey of nonprofits about their relationships with data, and what we found was a large di...

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May 15th, 2013
Measurement Plus Management: Shifting the Nonprofit Performance Paradigm
by Robert M. Penna

Performance measurement is a term that seems to be on everyone’s lips these days. From the corporate world to government, from the manufacturing plant floor to the arts, it appears that there is scarcely an org...

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Jun 8th, 2012
“Storified” Data Collection: Making the Most of Your Results
by Sidney R. Hargro

All nonprofits have been affected by “the new normal,” a post-great-recession term used to depict record levels of increasing need with decreasing levels of public and other support.  Now more than ever, nonprofits are pressed to show the results of their work.  However, without random assignment, the greatest “...

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Jun 7th, 2012
askDeborah: Donor Database
by DEFinn
How can development professionals get up to speed about donor databases for small nonprofits?

Deborah Finn goes to colleague Marc Baizman for answers to this interesting question.

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May 31st, 2012
askDeborah: Virtual Volunteering
by DEFinn
What is virtual volunteering, and how can I tell if it is a good fit with our organization’s needs?

Deborah Finn goes to internationally-recognized trainer, researcher and consultant, Jayne Cravens for answers to this interesting question.

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May 2nd, 2012
Philanthropy's New Normal
by Bunkie Righter

Kony 2012 hits the airwaves, and millions are drawn to it. To do what, I wonder? Share it, talk about it, love it - or hate it, to be sure - but to change the situation? And what is it they would do? Is it clear? Is it right? Is Invisible Children the vehicle to do it? How do we know? I have been fascinated watching the saga, and keep wondering: what will be the outcome? And will it b...

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Apr 11th, 2012
A Brief Look in the Nonprofit Technology Rear-View Mirror
by Thomas H. Pollak

I started working in the nonprofit sector in the mid-1980s. The big innovation then was the spreadsheet. I was the first person to prepare our multimillion dollar annual budget with one. I helped other nonprofit organizations implement their first databases for managing their mailing lists. And many were just learning the joys of word processing!

I don't feel old, b...

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Apr 6th, 2012
Eight Principles of Social Media ROI
by Beth Kanter

I was honored to be a part the WomenWhoTech online summit.   I did a panel titled “Social Media ROI” with Lauren Vargas from Radian 6 and moderated by Roz Lemieux from Fission Strategy.   Here’s the description:

Do you know what kind of an impact social media is hav...

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Mar 28th, 2012
Microvolunteering and Crowd-Sourcing: Not-So-New Trends in Virtual Volunteering / Online Volunteering
by Jayne Cravens

Back in the 1990s, when the Virtual Volunteering Project was documenting best practices in involving and supporting volunteers via the Internet, one of the methods for involving online volunteers was creating what I called byte-sized volunteering assignments.

These are assignments that:
 

•...

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Mar 21st, 2012
The Case of the Missing (Project) Manager
by Marc Baizman

It was a dark and stormy night. My face was bathed in the blue glow from the laptop's screen.  I sat staring at an email. "We won't have anyone to take on the project manager role for the upcoming major technology project at our organization.  Do you think that could be a problem?"  

 

I sat back, cracked my knuckles, and began to craft a...

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