Nonprofits Need to Invest in Collaboration

September 19, 2016

While I doubt that I would give nonprofit collaboration the highest marks possible, as a whole, the nonprofit leaders I know rise above the mediocrity that the capacity survey authors suggest is “universal.” Let’s stop promoting the mythology of mediocre nonprofits. Rather than haranguing on nonprofit deficits, I would like to suggest four investments related to collaboration that nonprofits can make in order to build even more effective at collaboration.

Nonprofit Leadership Lessons From a Street Performer: Guest Blog

June 2, 2013

the busking lessons I have learned apply to nonprofit leaders too. There is power in starting, persisting (even when rain forces you under an awning), being open to abundance, and embracing the network that develops around you.

Facilitating a Crowdsource

November 10, 2010

Crowdsourcing is a buzzword for community engagement and a skilled facilitator can unleash the potential of the crowd through a carefully constructed facilitation process.

Facilitating Advisory Groups: Labels and Social Contracts

January 20, 2010

When convening a group, two of the primary tasks of a facilitator are to clearly articulate the label that is applied to the group and to create an appropriate social contract between group members.

Constructivism in Facilitation

December 22, 2009

. Once a couple of years ago, I was in a car listening to my sister swear at the voice on her car’s GPS system and I once rented a car with the sometimes handy device. Until recently, that was the extent of my expertise with car directional GPS systems but in the last month […]

Measuring Network Effects in Community Engagement

October 23, 2009

A community engagement process such as developing a coalition or an advisory group typically has the dual purposes of achieving a specific program outcome (such as advocating for funding or policy change) and attempts to build social networks between participants.

Facilitating Community Engagement: Skills and Competencies

October 21, 2009

the overriding theme of facilitating community engagement is the paradoxical challenge of giving away control and power in order to accrue back trust, collaboration and process ownership. Facilitating community empowerment requires not only an understanding of group process but, in the words of a mentor of mine, “group process squared.” Community engagement takes basic facilitation skills and requires them to be lengthened, deepened and expanded by a social theory multiplier

Facilitating Collaboration: Five Potential Models

September 17, 2009

There is a myth perpetuated that “collaboration is an unnatural act” but thinking about the models and process of collaboration is, at its core, systems thinking. If we are intentional about imagining what collaboration could look like, it can serve as a frame for a strategic conversation about the role collaboration plays in strengthening the capacity of stakeholders as they seek to expand, grow and achieve a common mission.