Collective Impact Insights

If your team is struggling with silence in meetings, guarded language, or chronic exhaustion, you are dealing with the biological baseline of trauma. Trauma, whether individual, collective, or historical, reconfigures how people perceive themselves and the world. In the intimate and private realms, from the family home to the prison cell, trauma dictates a person’s ability to feel safe in a room with others.

To become a savvy steward, you must move beyond these three expressions of ‘power over’ and begin cultivating ‘power with’ – the shared strength that emerges when power is distributed rather than hoarded.

A critical tension is shaking nonprofit journalism: the pursuit of community-centered reporting clashes with the 'power over' dynamics of institutional donors. A recent Prism report reveals how coverage of Palestine has become a high-stakes litmus test for newsrooms — one that threatens both their financial stability and their editorial integrity. In this ecosystem, we see all three types of power at work through administrative control, deciding which truths are allowed to re

In the social impact sector, change-makers often focus on 'clarity' as a single metric for success. We chase clear spreadsheets, clear KPIs, and clear organizational charts (top-down management). We must move past the lens of clarity and activate the essential frequency of resonance (bottom-up amplification).

Nonprofit collaborations are a powerful way to amplify impact, share resources, and create meaningful change. However, they can also be incredibly challenging. While the goal of working together for a common good is inspiring, many partnerships fall short of their potential or fail entirely. Why? It often comes down to leadership, power dynamics, and a lack of clear communication.

It's a perplexing question that often plagues observers of institutions, big or small: Why do some organizations seem to languish in incompetence rather than embracing necessary change? Why do they cling so fiercely to outdated models, even when it's clear these no longer serve their purpose or the very people they claim to protect? This isn't just about inefficiency; it's about a profound resistance to evolution, often with real consequences for those who depend on these o

Who are the power players in your community? Are they charismatic, creative leaders who get things done for the community? Is it sustainable, shared power that brings people together or is it authoritarian power sustained through coercion and fear?

Interested in learning more about FEMA's FY2024 Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP)? Watch the 30-minute webinar to learn more and decide if this grant opportunity is a benefit to your organization.

The systems we operate within are of our society's own design. The architects of these systems designed them in a way that is beneficial to themselves and people like them. As we move toward building new systems that are mindful and inclusive of the unlimited types of diversity that exist in the human experience we must: -Reflect on our role in perpetuating old systems -Define our new role in rebuilding these systems -Leverage data to create tools that hold institutions acco

Systemic gender bias and sexism are pervasive in the nonprofit sector. It is a myth that the “do-gooder” nature of nonprofits means an organization is more self-aware or better equipped to challenge power imbalances that exist in society. The racial, gender, and class power structures we see in the wider world are common in the nonprofit world.

he Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade threatens the lives of everyone who can become pregnant, removes personal autonomy over the bodies of people with uteruses, and forces pregnancies onto people who do not want to be pregnant.

Maximize the blessings of Ramadan by preparing and organizing your fundraising campaign for your organization, in advance.

Mega giving is a consistent and continuing American giving tradition, ultimately making mega-foundations more powerful now than they were 100 years ago, due to their greater number and the societal context in which they operate. The public is more reliant on the nonprofit sector to meet critical needs as government budgets continue to whittle away at social service programs over the past several decades.

It's exhausting to always swim upstream, codeswitch, and uphold "respectability politics" to be accepted and succeed in White dominant workplace culture. As part of Talem's ongoing effort to uplift the leadership and voices of women of color leaders in the nonprofit community, we are building a space where BIPOC women (including non-binary and gender non-conforming women) in nonprofit leadership roles are able to have honest and authentic conversations.

For new grant seekers, grant writing can seem daunting. Where do you start? Allow your organizational strategy to dictate the grants strategy. Grants should fulfill the priorities that have been decided on by staff and the board. Don’t dilute programs or add new programs simply to maximize the chance of receiving funding.

Over the last few weeks there has been consternation from White, male fundraisers [specifically, Tom Ahern ] about the Community Centric Fundraising movement, implying that those who support CCF’s methods are “wanna-be fundraisers” or “novices.” This year marks my *cough* 20th year in the nonprofit field, and I have spent almost as long within the fundraising field. The early aughts were when the donor-centered mindset hit its stride and authors churned out books about how to

Understanding that equity is impossible until we address structural/systemic and institutional racism entrenched in our nation's history and culture is not the most exciting way to spend your free time. You are deliberately making yourself so uncomfortable it feels like you are dying. But we can't wait until people feel comfortable talking about racism to acknowledge the harm that is occurring every day across America.

Our country is in the midst of a democratic crisis. It is the responsibility of White folks to clean up this mess and dismantle our country's white supremacist infrastructures. What does that mean for nonprofits?

We are in the midst of a lifelong fight - one that must upend current nonprofit beliefs and practices by resetting the power dynamic. That means rethinking philanthropy, advancing structural change in organizations, and creating accountability frameworks for foundations and endowments - in particular, those who earned their money on the backs of underpaid, undervalued, and unprotected laborers.

This post was originally shared on June 14, 2020 by Jeff Olivet at jo consulting's blog. Jeff has worked in homelessness, behavioral health, and public health for more than 25 years. As a speaker, writer, and policy leader, he has shaped new directions for organizations across the United States and internationally. In addition to his work with jo consulting, Jeff is a Founding Partner at Racial Equity Partners.