Words matter. They contain nuances, shades of meaning, and implications. Far more importantly, however, they often bespeak a mindset, a perspective, and even a course of action. It is for this reason that I repeatedly urge client organizations in the nonprofit space to change some very basic terms they use –especially in this era where [...]
On December 12th I will be presenting at the inaugural session of the Nonprofit Texas Leadership Institutes in Austin, sponsored by the Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations and the Center for Community-based and Nonprofit Organizations of Austin Community College. Preparatory to that event, Barry Silverberg, President of TANO, asked me to pen an article for [...]
If you’d care to hear it, my appearance on Denver Frederick’s Business of Giving radio show on WOR 710AM in NYC last week -where we discuss nonprofits, outcomes, and my Outcomes Toolbox book- is now available in the archives
Advertising guru Elmer Wheeler once said that the best way to close a deal was to “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.” Unfortunately, the nonprofit sector has, for the past 50 years or more, largely applied that thinking to its management, its reporting, and, most especially, its fundraising. The result is a sector that largely [...]
July gave us an interesting conversation on evaluation and the underlying theme of performance measurement, in Jonathan Lewis’ 4-part series in the Huffington Post. Beginning with Social Impact Evaluation: Useful? Utopian? and working its way through three subsequent essays, Lewis sought to –in the kindest terms we can use- put evaluation into perspective by making [...]
As June draws to a close, we want to take a moment to draw readers’ attention to three significant happenings in the Outcomes World this past month. The first was the release of Mario Morino’s Leap of Reason, a book which is not only destined to be viewed in the long term as a seminal [...]
On March 21st I will be appearing at the Vermont Nonprofit Conference 2013. My host, Common Good Vermont, asked me to answer a few questions ...
Words matter. They contain nuances, shades of meaning, and implications. Far more importantly, however, they often bespeak a mindset, a perspective, and even a course ...