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.

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).

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 Why do they cling so fiercely to outdated models, even when it's clear these no longer serve their purpose or the very people they claim to protect?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?

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.

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.

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.

If you are a reimbursing employer you must pay 100% of unemployment costs before you are eligible for 50% forgiveness.

My own faith has informed my nonprofit work where I have built communication strategies for communities of color and diverse faiths

We are sharing a snapshot of what we have heard from organizations about their needs during COVID-19.

It's difficult to predict how grassroots nonprofit organizations will be affected by COVID-19 as an event of this nature hasn't been measured during our lifetimes. We invite you to participate in a survey that will help us compile data about the short and mid-term impact of what organizations are facing.