"How many times have You heard someone say If I had his money I could do things my way" – Johnny Cash, "A Satisfied Mind" (Written by Jack Rhodes, Red Hayes) Though I lack hooves, I have a burr under my saddle. In years of working with nonprofits, I have long since lost count of the number of times I’ve heard colleagues whose work and opinions I think highly of refer to our under-resourced sector. In conference panels and on blogs, in keynotes and cocktail conversations, we are witness to (and to be fair, participate in) references to … [Read more...]
Guthrie Theater’s debt to women and diversity
Do nonprofit cultural organizations have a particular responsibility to reach into and represent all parts of the community? Does the benefit of nonprofit status require us to take more risks than commercial theatre? A recent article explores the Minneapolis community’s reaction to the lack of diversity in a local theatre’s upcoming season. While this piece focuses on the choices of one artistic director, other leaders in the field have also argued that not all organizations should feel obligated to be diverse. On the other hand, leadership … [Read more...]
Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science
His model predicted, in different fields of medical research, rates of wrongness roughly corresponding to the observed rates at which findings were later convincingly refuted: 80 percent of non-randomized studies (by far the most common type) turn out to be wrong, as do 25 percent of supposedly gold-standard randomized trials, and as much as 10 percent of the platinum-standard large randomized trials. These were challenging facts for me, as a deep believer in science and rigorous research. It's worth considering the meaning of these findings … [Read more...]
Faith, hope and charities: the public trusts charities more than any other type of organisation. But measuring do-gooding risks shattering some illusions
A brief but interesting read on the sometimes delicate foundation of assumptions shared by nonprofits and those who support them. Economist.com. … [Read more...]
A Social Competitiveness Index | Tactical Philanthropy
A global discussion to define and track the things that make a society capable of social innovation. Read A Social Competitiveness Index | Tactical Philanthropy. … [Read more...]
Social Outcomes: Lifting Sights, Changing Norms
The air is filled with conversation about measurement and metrics and proof for nonprofit activities and investments. Mario Morino points out the heavy emphasis on long-term scientific study in these discussions, and argues for the importance of an integrated, day-to-day performance management approach. His thoughts are in line with the approach we teach in "Building Evaluation Capacity." A note from other writing by Venture Philanthropy Partners: they believe a proper performance management system can take three years to develop and … [Read more...]
The Cost of Information Sharing in Philanthropy | Tactical Philanthropy
The argument here is that there isn't -- and shouldn't be -- any conflict in the not-for-profit sector between the social benefit and the personal gain from information and intellectual property. Why? Because the not-for-profit professional's goal *is* social benefit, and therefore the professional wants to and must give away all information so society can do the most with it. Those who do otherwise are engaging in "a form of corruption," as stated in one of the comments. I think the argument made in this piece is incomplete (email me if … [Read more...]