Archive June 2012

  • 7 Must-Haves for Nonprofits Planning to Scale
    Geri Stengel, Ventureneer
    Posted: June 25, 2012

    In a world where social needs are increasing and resources decreasing, it's critical to scale organizations that efficiently and effectively address social problems. For the last three years, the Social Impact Exchange has been convening leaders in the field to address this issue.

    "Scaling a nonprofit's programs without investing in its capacity is a recipe for failure," according to the report Scaling What Works: Implications for Philanthropists, Policymakers, and Nonprofit Leaders, by Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and the Bridgespan Group. This was the overarching theme of this year's conference. Seven different types of support were touched on at the conference.

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  • Why Don’t We Make a Scene? Together.
    Maureen O'Brien, The Philanthropic Initiative
    Posted: June 22, 2012

    We can do a lot alone, but we can do so much more together.  This is not a new concept by any means, yet there seemed to be a sense of urgency at the Social Impact Exchange Conference last week to move towards such collaborative efforts.  Why now? Well, I think there are a lot of reasons, but that’s not what I want to discuss.  I want to talk more about what “together” means.  

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  • Developing Talent to Scale Impact
    Emily Wexler, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
    Posted: June 20, 2012

    The 2012 Social Impact Exchange Conference and Symposium featured some inspiring conversations about talent and leadership development, and highlighted exciting new strategies that funders are undertaking to increase the impact of their grantees.

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  • Be Bold.
    Robin Willner, Growth Philanthropy Network
    Posted: June 20, 2012

    With the perspective of a couple of days to recover my energy and reflect on the Social Impact Exchange Conference 2012, there are a couple of powerful themes that resonated throughout the many provocative presentations and discussions.  My own unscientific note-taking and scan brings up variations on the words “collective” and “shared” as the conference mantras, instructive in a number of ways.

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  • The Nonprofit-Funder Marriage: A Committment to Scaling Impact Together
    Emily Wexler, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
    Posted: June 18, 2012

    “Scale”—it’s a buzzword that appears often in funder and nonprofit circles these days. Grantmakers and nonprofits both want to improve lives and create stronger communities, and the ability to scale impact is an important component of this goal. However, there has been little concrete knowledge sharing of the precise types of funder practices and partnerships that are actually effective for scaling the impact of high-performing nonprofits.

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