In the late 80s, R&B singer Karyn White had a hit song called “Superwoman”. The chorus went a little something like this:I’m not your superwomanI’m not the kind of girl that you can let downAnd think that everything’s okayBoy, I am only humanThis girl needs more than occasionalHugs as a token of love from you [...]
I’m Not Your Superwoman: Creating a Not So Big Life & Saving the World at the Same Time
How Much is it Really Worth to the Nonprofit Sector to Put Ourselves Out of Business?
I have had many rich conversations with nonprofit leaders and grantmakers about the importance of being effective in doing the work it takes to achieve their missions. We all lament the lack of adequate funding, staff, and volunteers that it takes to serve our clients and communities. Within those discussions inevitably comes the mention of [...]
Connected Learning: The Antidote to Founder’s Syndrome?
Jeff Cobb at Mission to Learn tips us off to another awesome presentation from Stephen Downes, which introduced me to an idea I’ve become very fascinated with: connected learning vs. immersive learning. Most nonprofit folks are stuck on immersive learning, or learning by doing, gaining experience on-the-job by responding as best we can to the [...]
We Need to Stop Rewarding the Wrong Kinds of Nonprofit Leaders
We need to stop rewarding the wrong kinds of nonprofit leaders if we are ever going to have lasting change in our communities. I wrote last month about my question to Kathleen Enright, the dynamic leader of GEO: It seems to me that current leadership is not valued by how effective you are in your [...]
Nonprofits Need More Than Just Warm Bodies (or Why I Hate QuickBooks)
You can’t have an effective organization when you have all the right people working on all the wrong things. – Albert Ruesga, White Courtesy Telephone There’s a running joke within the nonprofit sector that we are so cash-strapped to pay the kind of salaries that attract professional staff, that most of us are just looking [...]
