I find myself baffled by the nonprofit sector establishment’s occasional hostility to social enterprise. The way people sometimes talk, you’d think that someone out there is purporting that social enterprise will save the day, that it’s a fit for every single solitary organization, and that it’s just a cinch to do. I don’t know ANYONE [...]

Recently, I shared some ideas about generative listening based on my Art of Hosting training. Now, I’ll continue to explore the other side of the conversation: talking. The responsibility of a productive, constructive conversation falls not only with the listener, but also with the person speaking.  In the Art of Hosting workshop, the leaders presented this diagram: [...]

Full disclosure: I love going to events. Any kind of professional development, learning, or networking event will do. I just cannot get enough. At the end of last year, a fairly quiet time for us as some projects wound down before the holidays, I had the pleasure of attending several pretty stellar events: a Young Nonprofit [...]

After several months of just keepin’ on, we now have some breathing space again.  The blog is back.  Stay tuned for more posts about what we’ve been doing and thoughts we’ve been pondering. 

Please welcome Sarah Townsend Morris to the Impact Strategies Group team. In  her first post, she introduces herself to our clients and partners. I like to describe myself as relationship-focused. Learning about people and organizations fascinates me—what makes you tick, why do you do the work you do, what’s your end goal? Asking these types [...]

This past July, Impact Strategies Group was proud to sponsor the Twin Cities satellite conference to the second annual Global Diaspora Forum, hosted by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This year’s theme was “Moving Forward by Giving Back.” Learn more about the conference here. For some background, read the [...]

This past spring, I took part in “Philanthropy and Government Working Together: What Does it Take?”, a roundtable discussion hosted by the Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. The gathering was in advance of the Council on Foundations annual conference. Many who attended [...]

Nonprofit Finance Fund, which has been doing the country an incredible service by conducting rigorous research on the emerging Pay For Success (PFS) models in the United States, released its latest report yesterday. [If you're new to the social finance space, don't even try to read through this post without at least a little background. [...]

Imagine if great nonprofits received a huge influx of cash that could be used to build, among other things, a robust fundraising infrastructure. Or to invest in its leadership team. Did you just gasp? A complete 180 degree swing from what many grantmakers currently incorporate into their RFPs: “What our foundation does not fund:  a, [...]