Innovative ways to influence public policy (more)
Since 1970, more than 200,000 nonprofits have opened in the U.S., but only 144 have reached $50 million in annual revenue. They got big by doing two things: They raised the bulk of their money from a single type of funder. And just as importantly, these nonprofits created professional organizations that were tailored to the needs of their primary funding sources.
Most nonprofits don’t know how to lobby and, worse, think that it entails cutting shady deals with sleazy characters. Yet lobbying is nothing more than educating legislators – a right that our democracy guarantees. To make change, nonprofits must learn to lobby. And who knows? They may even learn to love it.
Responsible Wealth, a Boston-based nonprofit, is convincing many affluent Americans to challenge the very rules that made them rich.
To be effective, nonprofits cannot operate in isolation, but must engage with other organizations across the various sectors. Talking at the 2007 Nonprofit Boot Camp, Kevin Danaher delivers an energizing call for the next generation of leaders to make connections with business, government, nongovernmental organizations—and even the wisdom of nature itself in their quest to transform the world.
Alice Tepper Marlin created some of the most innovative models for corporate social responsibility. Her energetic work over decades has helped provide concrete research and practical methods for bringing companies, investors, consumers, and workers together to address issues of environmental and economic justice worldwide. In this audio lecture, Tepper Marlin traces her own history from her early days on Wall Street to her ongoing work in the not-for-profit sector, providing blueprints for social entrepreneurs.
Ticia Gerber sits at the center of one of the world's important current debates: How do we keep people healthy without having it cost an arm and a leg? At eHealth Initiative and LIGHT, Gerber is working across three continents to bridge the public, private, and social sectors. She talks with Globeshakers host Tim Zak in an audio interview about the role of technology in the future of healthcare and what it means to create a dialogue between the developed and developing world.
The nonprofit sector delivers social value and the for-profit sector delivers economic value, right? Wrong! Speaking at Bridging the Gap, the 2005 Stanford Net Impact conference, Jed Emerson argues that value is non-divisible, whole, and blended. In this audio lecture, he invites us to think beyond philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, social enterprise, and other limiting mindsets.
Three basic problems with philanthropy's attempts to address the issue of persistent poverty in this country.
Creating a policy platform for the nonprofit sector.
Nonprofits must find new ways to improve and defend government programs while popularizing a sense of public responsibility.
