By Suzanne Smith - Social Impact Architects

Summer is around the corner and you have a to-do list a mile long – what is an ideal solution? Use interns to help tackle it over the summer! We are so excited that apprenticeship (in all its forms: internships, job shadowing and project-based learning) has made a strong comeback as a hands-on learning experience for all types of jobs. Since 2015, we have rallied our clients and TrendSpotters to hire new-gen interns. Talent is the great multiplier for the social sector, and it is just as important for us to “grow our own” as it is for every other sector. To read more in this subject.... Click Here.

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Suzanne Smith, CEO and Founder         

Social Impact Architects

Because the social sector is in the business of changing the world, we often have an inclination to see every need or idea as a call to jump into action. The result of taking on too many opportunities comes in the form of mission creep, donor confusion or staff burnout. Research indicates that poor planning is at the root of most of these failures. No one likes to fail, but starting a program or social enterprise has inherent risk. In the office, we often encourage each other and clients to take risks, but to mitigate the risk by “failing early and failing cheaply.” So, how is this possible with a new program opportunity? To do this intentionally, we encourage the use of opportunity assessments to help make a GO or NO GO decision. As I often say – every idea is a good idea, but not every idea is viable.  To read more on this subject.... Click Here.

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Written by Theresa Sintetos

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Leading With Purpose and the Need for Board Transparency 

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Board transparency was already a red-hot issue when the pandemic swept across the globe, opening up newer concerns about transparency. On the one hand, transparency is a good thing as it inspires trust and credibility. On the other hand, it could put confidentiality at risk.

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Today’s mission driven organizations have more good reasons than ever to be transparent. With several embezzlement cases, cyber hacking, political divisions and misinformation proliferating, the public is more cynical than ever about a groups motivations  To gain credibility as a purpose led organization, your actions — not your words — are what really matter. That is why transparency is at the core of leading with purpose. To read more.......  Click Here.

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By Jan Masaoka - Board Café

At our upcoming board and senior staff retreat we will be discussing what size our board should be to be most effective. Help!!

You've hit upon the single most common question asked of experts on nonprofit boards: What's the right number of people to have on the board?  We're tempted to answer: "17. That's the average board size in the United States so it must be right."   Actually, the real answer is "It depends."

But what does the right board size depend on? For some real-life answers..... Click Here.

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By Karen Eber Davis

Take a moment and a deep breath to recognize your achievements during the pandemic.

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When you suffer from decision fatigue, your brains seek shortcuts (it uses your biases). It also increases errors—which doesn’t matter when it’s lunch but does when it’s someone’s life or livelihood.

You might be avoiding decision fatigue by making fewer decisions—if so, good on you. Reducing your choices helps. It’s the most common decision-making technique recommended to overcome decision fatigue. But can you reduce decision fatigue throughout your organization using it? Probably not. Since you make at least 35,000 decisions daily, you’ll barely notice even if you’re terrific at streamlining.  To reaed more in this topic............  Click Here.

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Flexibility is one of the most important determinants of employee satisfaction and retention. Not surprisingly, flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting, are becoming more commonplace [1]. Advances in technology allow remote workers to stay connected with their workplaces, and mobile devices can now be used by workers to perform many, if not all, tasks that were once possible only from traditional offices.

The reality today is that work has become so mobile that some nonprofits operate with “virtual offices.” For their staff, each worker is a remote worker. And nonprofits that do have physical offices may still want to offer employees the option of flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting, from time to time, since it can boost productivity, save employees travel time, and potentially help close the gender gap [2] and reduce the nonprofit’s carbon footprint. In fact, more Americans now telecommute [3] than take public transportation to work!  To continue reading on this topic..... Click Here.

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