Past Events

Nonprofit Management Institute 2019

Many of us today are living in a constant state of generalized anxiety, in both our personal and professional lives. Concerns about the state of the economy, the ever-shifting political landscape, and what these forces could mean for the future are creating a heightened sense of apprehension, and those of us in the nonprofit sector often feel especially vulnerable.

How do we transform this unease into a sense of renewed purpose and focus for the future?

Attendees found answers to these questions at Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute 2019: “Transforming Anxiety into Active Leadership.”

While the challenges we face are real and varied, the goal of this year’s institute is to provide social innovation leaders with the resources and insights they need to set or renew their objectives, expand their resources, and keep moving their organizations forward!

Topics included:

• Effective Communications Strategies and the Upside of Conflict
• Fundraising Approaches for Tougher Times and Changing Giving Patterns
• Maximizing Skilled Volunteer Talent
• The Role of Government Funding
• Partnering with Organizations Outside the Nonprofit Sector for Greater Impact
• The Power of Movements and Grassroots Organizing
• Technologies to Improve Efficiencies
• Collective Action
• Mergers as a Tool for Growth
• The Neuroscience of Anxiety
• Stress Management and Life Design for Nonprofit Leaders

… among others.

Data on Purpose 2019

Data on Purpose 2019: “Navigating the Digital Now”

In both our personal and professional lives, we are living in a digital world. The days of planning for our digital future are past. Today we operate in the digital now. Whether we identify ourselves as such, we are the leaders of digital organizations operating in a digital environment.

Nonprofit organizations have moved well past the time when technology and data were treated as standalone entities. Now they are an integral and critical part of our organization’s operations, on par with fundraising, communications, and other core functions. And like those other core functions, we must examine our technology and data strategies to properly evaluate and prioritize our needs and successfully build our digital capacity. How we do this is the theme of this year’s Data on Purpose 2019: “Navigating the Digital Now.”

At our 5th annual Data on Purpose conference, Stanford Social Innovation Review will help nonprofit leaders identify the best ways to build data and technology capacity. We will weave together the latest research- and practice-based insights from data scientists and researchers, nonprofit and foundation leaders, policymakers, and other prominent experts, to help identify what is truly important, versus simply what is possible or what is urgent.

Participants in Data on Purpose 2019 will come away with:

• insight into the latest technology trends impacting the social sector, and an understanding that they don’t need to keep up with every trend in order to successfully build digital capacity;  

• ​clarity of the changing role and practice of ethical data use, and an assurance that they don’t need to become (or hire) a data scientist to be a data-driven, digital organization;

• and confidence in their own ability to answer the technology questions that have bedeviled their organizations, and tools to bring those answers to fruition.

Additionally, we will have a special module at the conference dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Blueprint, the annual philanthropy and civil society industry forecast produced by Lucy Bernholz, director of the Digital Civil Society Lab at the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.

Nonprofit Management Institute 2018

“Toward Real Change: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”

While issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity have existed for decades (if not centuries), they have taken on a new urgency today in the worlds of business, politics, and—yes—even the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits, foundations, and social enterprises are hardly immune from challenges that include the lack of representation of people of color among boards and leadership teams, gender-biased wage gaps, hostility towards religious or sexual minorities, or sexual harassment, to name only a few.

The social sector faces problems with how our organizations are run, as well as how we work with the communities we serve. If we want to fully realize our goals as agents of social innovation, we need to address these issues head-on. And while we realize this change will not happen overnight, long-term solutions need to begin now if they are ever to be realized.

With this commitment in mind (and recognizing that we are just as guilty of not doing enough to address these issues in our own organization), Stanford Social Innovation Review announces the theme of the 2018 Nonprofit Management Institute: “Towards Real Change: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”

Over the course of three days—September 12, 13, and 14, 2018—SSIR will bring together respected scholars exploring the latest research and thinking on the root causes and most promising solutions to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion; notable leaders of organizations working to make progress against these issues, and prominent voices elevating the dialog on these topics. But we aren’t satisfied to merely raise awareness of these issues. Our goal is to probe the complex layers of these challenges, to create a greater understanding of the mechanisms that cause them, and to outline steps we can all take to address them.

In the spirit of co-creation, we encourage you to work with us to make this goal a reality by helping us craft this year’s program. Please use the apply using this link: http://bit.ly/NMISpeakerApp, or visit our "Schedule" tab to submit speakers and session topics that you feel should be represented at the 2018 Nonprofit Management Institute.

Frontiers of Social Innovation 2018

Every two years, Stanford Social Innovation Review—the leading global publication on cutting-edge theory and practice for the social sector—brings together senior leaders from nonprofit organizations and foundations, social entrepreneurs and philanthropists, leading academics and researchers, executives of for-profit CSR-centric businesses, and government policymakers from around the world for two days, to discuss, debate and develop solutions that address the most pressing global challenges. On May 21-22, 2018, attendees at Frontiers of Social Innovation explored some of the most important emerging forces impacting the world and society, including:

· AI's Human Impact 

· Modern Slavery and Global Income Inequality 

· Social Innovation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution 

· Democracy and the Growth of Social Movements 

· Systems Change and Impact 

· Inclusion and the Rise of Societal Equity

Data on Purpose 2018

The technologies that connect us and provide unimaginable opportunities to effect positive change can also expose us to potential liabilities and tremendous risks. This year’s Data on Purpose was a mix of plenary and breakout sessions, examining some of the larger forces for good and ill shaping public discourse and action (from click-tivism to cyber-hate, from movement-building to fake news), and presenting emerging technologies and tools that can make the work of social innovation more efficient and effective. 

Additionally, over the course of the two days we featured a series of quick “Technology for Good” presentations, where organizations addressing various challenges (education, health, environment, etc.) demonstrated how they are using the tools of the connected world to make a difference.

Nonprofit Management Institute 2017

The twelfth annual Nonprofit Management Institute—Leading Social Change in Turbulent Times—recognized that organizational leaders face difficult and uncertain roads ahead. Through a mix of intensive sessions, hands-on workshops, and insightful interviews with thought leaders from academia, nonprofits, for-profits, and government, this conference inspired and made the attendees ready to take action.

Data on Purpose | Do Good Data: from Possibilities to Responsibilities

Data experts, academics, practitioners, and social sector leaders led sessions on topics ranging from aligning practice with policy to creating a culture of data, and how Silicon Valley is facilitating data practices in civil society.

Nonprofit Management Institute 2016

On September 12-13, 2016, the eleventh annual Nonprofit Management Institute explored the power of network leadership to drive social change.

Frontiers of Social Innovation

On May 3-5, 2016, Stanford Social Innovation Review hosted leaders from around the world at its inaugural Frontiers of Social Innovation forum to discuss the best ways to build a more inclusive society. Foundation presidents, scholars, social entrepreneurs, government officials, NGO leaders, philanthropists, and business executives explored the most recent research and thinking on the causes of social inequities, and, importantly, the approaches and programs that are proving to be most effective at creating a more economically just world.

Data on Purpose: Telling Great Stories with Data

This conference discussed how organizations can build powerful narratives with the support of data.