Philanthropy & Funding
Donor Intent Is Critical to Strategic Philanthropy
Far from constraining foundations, donor intent protects them from short-term thinking and liberates their creativity.
Tag: Strategic Planning
Business
The Dangerous Allure of Win-Win Strategies
For the past 30 years, celebrated academics and business leaders have promoted the idea that companies often profit by addressing social and environmental problems. Although these proposals have been hailed as promising breakthroughs, they are unscientific and counterproductive.
Nonprofits & NGOs
New Year’s Resolutions for Leaders of Social Change
A list of SSIR articles to help your team define and achieve its goals for doing better in 2020.
Leadership
Changing Systems? Welcome to the Slow Movement
System work is not about solutions; it’s about discovering and steering local pathways for change at a pace appropriate for our ability to learn and for what local communities can enact and absorb. A feature story from the Winter 2020 issue.
Organizational Development
Eight Practices for Strategic Agility
Rather than a glossy brochure that no one reads, your strategy should be an ongoing practice that informs your decisions and adapts as circumstances change. A Viewpoint from the Summer 2019 issue.
Impact Investing
Cultivating, Not Just Calculating, Social Impact
A new impact investing metric can not only help investors estimate the social impact of their investments, but also foster more thoughtful strategies for promoting social and environmental good.
Scaling
Massive Aggregation: A New Form of New Power
By pooling money, individuals who may otherwise feel powerless are attempting to address imbalances of wealth and influence in the social sector.
Leadership
Mastering System Change
Organizations are increasingly turning to system change to tackle big social problems. But systems are complex, and mastering the process requires observation, patience, and reflection. To begin, here are two
approaches to pursuing system change.
Collaboration
Six Proven Practices for Backbone Organizations
Collaborations among multiple organizations are simple in theory, but difficult in practice. Making them work requires a backbone organization that pays close attention to the needs of all participants.
Organizational Development
7 Articles to Improve Your Workplace Culture
A reading list to help your organization look inward and examine how to better foster a culture where employees are empowered to thrive, collaborate, and innovate for maximum social impact.