Suzanne Smith

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy talks about the need for a "whole-of-society approach" to advancing social connection. We've tried to heed that call in our work at Einhorn Collaborative, supporting a broader range of efforts that engage actors across sectors. That includes: Projects like Team Up to enlist large national civic organizations with a presence in local communities to help people build connection across difference through service. Research groups like Building H to measure the impact of products on consumers’ health and urge companies to do better to improve social connection and other health outcomes. Initiatives like Human Connections AI to bring together social connection experts with technologists to puzzle through how AI companions can be designed to enhance and not degrade human relationships. Another project that has helped us explore a facet of the whole-of-society approach is the Connective Tissue Framework, which puts forward a range of recommendations for how government – especially at the local level – can create the structural conditions and everyday opportunities for people to experience healthy connection. I've learned a lot from Sam Pressler, lead author of Connective Tissue. In this piece, I asked Sam to share more about the story behind the framework and a few highlights. https://lnkd.in/esayJU3b

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The Far Side of Fundraising Tip of the Week Transactional fundraising leads to high rates of donor loss. Most organizations lose 4 out of 5 first-time donors. The more rapidly and impersonally we secure support, the more we sub-optimize giving potential and the more rapidly donors depart. High rates of donor attrition, coupled with the continue contraction of giving households, spell long-term disaster for most nonprofits. Don't follow the transactional lemmings as they plunged into the sea. Adopt sustainable practices. You may be in the minority but you will help your organization survive and eventually thrive. This one requires that you closely to see who stands out in adopting sustainable practices.

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The National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers (NNCG) and 21/64 are partnering on a survey to assess the practice of philanthropy by understanding the behavior and attitudes of grantmakers and the consultants and advisors who serve them. If you are a donor, staff at a grantmaking institute, or a consultant or advisor who works in the field of philanthropy, take this survey and share your insights on the role of consultants and advisors in helping Grantmakers advance their philanthropy:

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The National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers (NNCG) and 21/64 are partnering on a survey to assess the practice of philanthropy by understanding the behavior and attitudes of grantmakers and the consultants and advisors who serve them. If you are a donor, staff at a grantmaking institute, or a consultant or advisor who works in the field of philanthropy, take this survey and share your insights on the role of consultants and advisors in helping Grantmakers advance their philanthropy:

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As a proud member of National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers (NNCG), we recommend participating in this ten-minute survey to inform the 2024 Philanthropy Benchmark Survey: Insights on the Role of Consultants and Advisors in Advancing Giving. Link to survey here: https://lnkd.in/ggYjtX-H The results will help assess the practice of philanthropy by understanding the behavior and attitudes of grantmakers and the consultants and advisors who serve them. #philanthropy #funding #grantmakers

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Whilst its hard to see that any progress has been made, to the contrary - it looks like 0 progress made and everything got worse, with recent years breaking through the 1.5C targets. We mustn't give up hope that the many initiatives that have been kicked off as a result of these agreements, have prevented worse things from happening... too optimistic? maybe But working in the sustainability and SDG space has never been more exciting, with many people sharing that a just transition to a more sustainable, de-growth and circular economy is, ...possible. The questions is how fast, to prevent worse things from happening (Climate Catastrophy, Ecological Collapse, ...the list is getting longer). Currently the ANNUAL financing gap to the 2030 SDGs is (according to UN estimates), around $4 trillion. This is the same as Germany's or Japan's Gross Domestic Product. This is a staggering number and concept that the money missing to achieve the SDGs is the same as the monetary value of ALL finished goods and services made in Germany or Japan on an annual basis. And yet, the world economy is worth around $100 Trillion, so $4 trillion = 4%. That ...almost...sounds doable? too optimistic? maybe When it comes to asset managers, total discretionary assets under management (AUM) of the 500 biggest managers amounted to USD 113.7 trillion at the end of 2022, down by 13.7% from the end of 2021. The largest, BlackRock, manages $10 trillion and the next biggest 2, Vanguard ($9 trillion) and Fidelity ($4 trillion). Surely, investing into solutions on a planet that is actually liveable with resources being consumed at a sustainable pace is what its at? Otherwise, what will be managed in 20 or 30 years?

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Listening to Patrick MacKenzie, Manjeet Dhiman, Steve Reynolds and Tonie Chaltas discussing the desire to focus on #outcomes, rather than outputs. I absolutely agree, *and* tracking real, long term social outcomes is a lot harder than nonprofits are given credit for, making a lot of outcome data...wrong, or little more than outputs. 1) As a former academic very familiar with #surveyfatigue, in gathering outcome data, we need to recognize misaligned incentives between what is in it for "us" (nonprofits, or funders incl. government) who want this data to create better data driven programs, vs. the incentives for our research subjects (in this case, newcomers). What do/can we offer to incentivise the gathering of qualitative data 6 months, 1 year, 3+ years down the road? A couple good examples were shared: Manjeet Dhiman mentioned the community created at ACCES Employment that clients want to return to that helps people stay involved. Patrick MacKenzie mentioned Immigrant Employment Council of BC's work with employers to understand and align value for their knowledge and hiring practices. Otherwise though, this needs more thought. 2) Then you add in the constraints of low #nonprofitfunding, short project timeframes, and the common pressure to #scale #impact ("what you're doing works? Great, now reach more people!"). The result is a version of the "good, fast, cheap: pick two" adage for social impact: "gather deep longitudinal outcome data (good); scale your impact (big); and stretch your budget (cheap)" For both ourselves and funders, it should be: pick two. All to say, YES we should be focusing on #outcomes, but there needs to be deeper understanding from nonprofits and funders of what it takes to realistically do so. Fortunately, smart minds in #MEL have been tackling this for a while, and I'm excited about the opportunities for tech to help with some (but not all) of the problem. #FutureofSettlementServices The Conference Board of Canada #ImmigrationSummit2024

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🌟 Calling all Nonprofit Leaders! 🌟 🚀 Dive into the latest insights from Standford Social Innovation Review shedding light on the roadblocks to foundations granting more unrestricted grants! Discover: 💸 The freedom and advantages of no-strings funding ✅ Debunking funder concerns with proven accountability strategies 🔄 Challenging power dynamics and dispelling money myths for better philanthropy 📈 Success stories illustrating the profound impact of unrestricted support Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/4bcQ8L8 Join the dialogue and share your invaluable experience in the comments! 🗣️💬 Let's break down barriers and truly empower our communities together. #Empowerment #TrustBasedPhilanthropy #NonprofitInnovation

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Based on my experience, here are five key aspects to focus on when developing impactful nonprofit programming: 🧠Needs Assessment: Understand the community's needs and identify gaps in services. 🤝🏿Collaboration: Foster partnerships with local organizations, businesses, and stakeholders. 💡Cultural Competence: Develop programs that are sensitive to the community's diverse backgrounds, values, and beliefs. 💪🏿Sustainability: Design programs that are financially viable, scalable, and have a lasting impact. 🤔Evaluation: Regularly assess program effectiveness, gather feedback, and make data-driven improvements. By focusing on these five aspects, nonprofits can create effective programs that truly make a difference in their communities and lead to real sustainable change. #Nonprofit #CommunityOutreach #ProgramDevelopment #Sociallmpact #NonprofitWork"

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Much of the work we do at Building Impact Partners is about helping donors get more money moving to where it’s most needed. My first book, Money with Meaning (https://bit.ly/3CHmwtv) is part of that effort. It's written as a DIY guide for donors looking for more meaningful giving--where social impact and personal fulfillment come together. I launched the book back in June 2023, I am so grateful for all the help, support and encouragement from friends and colleagues, helping the book hit #1 in the Philanthropy, Charity and Nonprofit Fundraising categories on Amazon, not only in launch week but a couple times since then. One of the best parts has been hearing stories directly from readers about how it has made a difference in their lives and helped them gear up their giving. So why am I posting about this now? Because the end of year giving season is upon us and there is still so much untapped potential in philanthropy--literally trillions of dollars on the sidelines. This is the unique time of year when many donors who’ve been putting off their giving start to give it more attention. This giving season feels all the more pivotal because over the past year or so many of us who work in the philanthropy and fundraising space have been hearing from amazing leaders and organizations that they have started to hit a wall in their fundraising efforts. Even as many organizations are doing their best work in a world that is literally and figuratively on fire, many are growing beyond their base of existing donors and running out of folks to ask. I know from what readers have already shared that this book can really make a difference. But one of the challenges with a niche book like this is that conventional marketing isn’t a great way to reach the book’s core audience of wealthy individuals and their advisors. This is an audience for whom personal recommendations and word of mouth go a particularly long way.    So, if you’re game to help boost this book, please help spread the word--whether by sharing this post, buying a copy, gifting a copy, writing a review or recommending it to someone you know. I’ve created a simple 30-second form (https://bit.ly/4fWsc1L) with options for how to help (plenty of which don’t require you to have a rolodex full of wealthy would-be donors!) If you complete the form we’ll follow up with you directly to make next steps fast and easy. Asking for help isn’t always easy, but I definitely feel more comfortable doing so because I believe that getting this book into more people’s hands has potential benefits not only for those who read it--but also for extraordinary social entrepreneurs who will benefit from the resources that flow when more people begin taking action to gear up their giving.   With much gratitude! --Alex

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This recent piece by FSG argues that foundations committed to systems change need to take an ecosystem approach guided by the principles of trust based philanthropy to inform strategy development, program implementation, and learning and evaluation. This reorientation takes funders from positioning themselves as central to positioning themselves as one component of an ecosystem. This results in, among other things: Strategy development moving from being developed internally to being co-created with ecosystem partners; Strategy implementation expanding beyond siloed grantmaking for organizations to support for collaboratives and community-led solutions; and Learning and evaluation expanding beyond grant-level outcomes and accountability with proscribed outcomes to co-developing systems level outcomes and learning. The authors provide helpful examples and frameworks for each stage of the strategy lifecycle. For those of you who fund in systems change, what resonates with you?

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Thank you Linda Wood and The LeadersTrust team for your leadership in lifting up this critical intervention of raising independent revenue in the field. With rising fascism and backlash on our power building/wielding work across the country, we need to make some critical shifts in our mindset and practices. In particular, we need to prepare for and support the growing number of multi-entity organizations in the country that are building self determination and preparing to govern. Here are 6 mindset shifts from the report. For the full report click here https://shorturl.at/dLbc5 SHIFT #1: “INDEPENDENT REVENUE SUPPORTS SELF-DETERMINATION AND FREEDOM.” Individual giving offers organizations the flexibility to act on urgent needs and priorities, and to take advantage of emerging opportunities, without the restrictions of foundation grants or government contracts. SHIFT #2: “ORGANIZING, COMMUNICATIONS, AND RESOURCE GENERATION ARE NOT SEPARABLE.” Fundraising is organizing, and messaging and digital commu- nications are crucial to both. SHIFT #3: “RAISING RESOURCES IS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY.” Development directors cannot do this work alone; organizations and movements need to build and sustain the fundraising capacity of their entire board and staff teams. SHIFT #4: “ORGANIZATIONS AND MOVEMENTS APPROACH FUNDRAISING WITH AN ‘INVESTMENT MINDSET.’” Shared responsibility for fundraising starts with a deeper understanding of all sources of an organization’s revenue, as well as the costs and returns associated with each one. SHIFT #5: “WE TRANSFORM HOW WE THINK AND FEEL ABOUT MONEY AND FUNDRAISING.” Asking for money doesn’t come easy for everyone. As we broaden responsibility for resource development, it’s important to understand our varying experiences and perspectives vis-à-vis money, while reframing fundraising so it’s not about scarcity. SHIFT #6: “FUNDRAISING CAN BE ABOUT LOVE RATHER THAN CHARITY.” Placing love and belonging at the heart of fundraising can make it more empowering and lead to greater success. Shifting from a charity frame expands the possibilities of who belongs, how they contribute, and what it looks like when we all win.

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I wish I were one of the 12 women granted $20 million by Melinda French Gates. I would have distributed it among C/Can cities' local CSOs to strengthen their organizational capacity, enabling them to expand their impactful work without  fundraising and reporting hassles. (#MelindacallIsabel) Until Melinda gets to know us and learns that the C/Can model works, I will continue working closely with all our partners. 😍 Because cancer care requires a cross-sector commitment to drive real and meaningful change, partnerships between the non-profit and for-profit sectors are essential. For 6 years, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with Roche. Our journey has been incredibly rewarding, filled with challenges and breakthroughs. After a comprehensive partnership review of our collective impact, we decided to document our journey and develop a collaboration framework between City Cancer Challenge and Roche. We both agree this framework could help many organizations navigate cross-sector collaborations. It may not be a one-size-fits-all, but I believe it will benefit many CSOs and corporates. Access the framework here 👉 https://lnkd.in/diVTfp-Y Here is a short video that captures reflections from Michael Oberreiter and I on our partnership and roadmap for the next three years ahead! Full video here ⏩ https://lnkd.in/eSmNVu8x

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"Scenarios help us simplify our complex reality and describe possible futures. There is rarely, if ever, just one factor to consider in building scenarios. In addition to the election outcome, let’s layer on another dimension—the response of the social sector (inclusive of civil society, philanthropy, and nonprofit organizations) to the outcome. The degree to which there will be strong and aligned resistance or support for an administrations’ priorities might also have a significant impact on you and your organization and the actions you need to take." Election-Year Resource Center for Nonprofit Leaders

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Important new report from First Nations Development Institute, led by the indefatigable Mike Roberts, that shows the poor inclusion of Native people on foundation boards. Shocking stat: "The report notes that 93% of America’s largest foundations do not have any Native American representation on their board of directors." Link to the report in the comments.

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🚀 Exciting News from Giving Compass! Yesterday, we proudly released the Donor Satisfaction and Unlocking Public Sector Funding from DAFs report. This groundbreaking study, led by Dr. Sara Konrath of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, dives deep into how DAF donors think, give, and engage. 🌟 Key insights from the report include: 68% of donors are driven by long-term impact, seeking sustainable change through their giving. 98% of donors are more likely to give after watching a short video, showing the undeniable power of storytelling. 37% of donors still rely on credit cards, missing the opportunity to use their DAFs more easily. 84% of donors who didn’t use their DAF gave to local nonprofits, highlighting the potential to channel more DAF funds into grassroots organizations. This research also emphasizes how DAF donors see themselves as strategic, thoughtful givers, yet we’re just at the beginning of this wave—only 10% of affluent households have a DAF. The potential for growth is enormous! A special thanks to Dr. Konrath and our incredible team at Giving Compass, including Brandolon Barnett and Madeleine Alegria, for leading the charge on this important work. We are excited to continue helping donors maximize their generosity. To learn more, check out the full report below! Let’s keep pushing the boundaries of donor engagement and unlocking the full potential of philanthropy! 💡 #DAF #DonorEngagement #Philanthropy #GivingCompass #Innovation https://lnkd.in/gFN4pJGD

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If you are a philanthropic consultant or donor advisor, please take a few minutes to complete this benchmark survey! 2024 Philanthropy Benchmark Survey - Insights on the role of Consultants & Advisors in Advancing Giving

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