By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors Partnership, collaboration and merger are terms often bandied around in the nonprofit world. And while the concept of collaboration isn’t new, it has become a hot topic as a way to reduce duplication, increase coordination and contribute to collective impact. According to a 2014 Bridgespan survey of nonprofits and […]
By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors The advice is often well-intentioned, and it’s something that hard-working, driven individuals may hear a lot: Stop and smell the roses, get away and clear your head, or take a sabbatical to rest and rejuvenate. When one person in a company takes a break, the work can still go […]
By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors For many people, experience is the best teacher. And while not all nonprofits have taken a pause, two local organizations have recently been through the rigorous process and can offer their perspectives. Kimberly Sterling, the former board president of the Martin Luther King Center, and Allison Luthe, the center’s […]
By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors When Forbes magazine published its list of 20 Best Cities For Young Professionals last month, Indianapolis was No. 10. But Jesamyn Sparks, Shae LeDune and Trevor Bruner would take the description one step further: Indy has a vibrant young professional network. And the three have had a hand in […]
By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors | A few eyebrows were raised 2½ years ago when United Way of Central Indiana named Andrew Cullen as its lobbyist. A few nonprofits questioned his appointment, primarily because they thought that nonprofits could not lobby. And while in fact, nonprofits are allowed to lobby, Cindy Booth of Child […]
By Jennifer Jones Austin, commentary, Times Union | Across the nation there is mounting concern about economic inequity. At the heart of the matter of the ever-increasing economic divide are stagnant wages, which have plagued millions of low- and middle-income Americans for decades. But here in New York state we have a real opportunity to […]
By Cynthia Remec, executive director and founder, BoardAssist Every day BoardAssist is approached by enthusiastic millennials who are eager to be agents of change on a nonprofit board. Unfortunately many of these terrific candidates are either too young to be considered for a full board seat by our clients, or unable to meet the financial […]
By CJ Orr, associate director, Orr Associates | Six years ago, the phrase “junior board” was understood by only a few. Now, I hear it all the time. I work at a nonprofit consulting firm, Orr Associates, Inc (OAI). OAI works exclusively with nonprofits to help them with their fundraising and development needs. Our nonprofit […]
By Anna Pikovsky Auerbach, Moonridge Group COO, Stanford Social Innovation Review | The millennial generation cares about the state of the world and wants to get involved—so why do so few boards have young members? A quick search of “millennials on nonprofit boards” yields more than 67,000 search results on Google. Most of the articles […]
By Lisa Rein, reporter, Washington Post Federal agencies must report their progress this week in complying with the Plain Writing Act, a new decree that government officials communicate more conversationally with the public. Speaking plainly, they ain’t there yet. Which leaves, in the eyes of some, a basic and critical flaw in how the country […]