Today's video is Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action. Read more about the 21 day challenge here.
What lesson from this TED Talk is applicable for your work?
Share your thoughts in the comments and share this challenge with your network.
21 Day Ted Talk a Day Challenge- Day 2
Today's video is Dan Pallotta: The way we think about charity is dead wrong. Read more about the 21 day challenge here.
What lesson from this TED Talk is applicable for your work?
Share your thoughts in the comments and share this challenge with your network.
Join Me for the TED Talk a Day Challenge
For the past few years I have been learning as much as I can about how to use the tools of futurism to impact the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Developing skills of strategic foresight allow you to identify what is on the horizon for the issues and causes that you care about and adjust your current strategy to that coming reality. I have found that one of the most useful tools for me to identify promising practices and upcoming trends is to watch TED Talks and think about how the lessons from that TED Talk can be useful for my own work.
To share this practice, I'm starting a 21 day TED Talk a Day Challenge for do gooders. I encourage you to watch the talks that are posted here each day and leave a comment answering the question "What lesson from this TED Talk is applicable for your work?"
Todays TED Talk is How To Start a Movement by Derek Sivers.
What lesson from this TED Talk is applicable for your work?
Share your thoughts in the comments and share this challenge with your network.
Millennials and Civic Engagement
I spoke at the Compass Annual meeting about Millennials and civic engagement (spoiler alert, I use Memes to make my point). I cover why Millennials are facing unique challenges when it comes to civic engagement and what Millennials and Baby Boomers need to do to bridge their communications gap.
Philanthropy Predictions for 2014
Earlier this year I developed 7 predictions for the philanthropic sector for the Minnesota Council on Foundations. I’ll admit that some of these predictions are based on current trends, others are wishful thinking, but the purpose of futurism isn’t to predict the future but to help shape it by presenting some ideas to unstick us from the current reality. Let me know what you agree with, disagree with, or would add to the list in the comments below.
Shift to Collective Impact
More and more foundations become frustrated by the lack of movement on our communities’ most pressing problems and start to coordinate across sectors to achieve large-scale social change. While this means many foundations must put their own individual theories of change on the backburner for a more collective approach, the results create a new incentive to be flexible.
Rise of the Funder Collaborative
As foundations take a more proactive approach to accomplishing their objectives, they are increasingly relying on networks to spur the substantial human and financial resources required to move the needle on complex community issues. This spurs innovation, sharing of best practices, and a more targeted approach to creating change.
Mission-related investment grow
More and more foundations start intentional conversations about the “other 95%”, the 95% of foundation assets that are not used for grantmaking and are often invested in the stock market. Questions about how to better leverage those dollars lead to more foundations putting a growing portion of their assets in mission related investment, that seek to achieve specific environmental or social goals while targeting market rate returns. An effort to recognize foundations that put a specific percentage of their assets is developed and popularized.
Solving big problems with Big Data
Realizing that the disjointed nature of foundation funding gives us only a small picture of what is happening in the nonprofit sector, more foundations pool their data and expertise to analyze trends happening in the nonprofit sector. Efforts like Compass, housed at the Wilder Research Center, and Generation Next, housed at the Greater Twin Cities United Way, are supercharged by foundations sharing proprietary information from grantee reports.
GiveMn upgrade
After a roller coaster ride of a Give to the Max Day in 2013, that broke previous fundraising record despite technical glitches that rendered the site inaccessible for 5 hours, GiveMN works with their website vendor Razoo to ensure site stability and reliability. In 2014, GiveMN reaffirms its place as the go to place for Minnesota giving and Give to the Max Day 2014 breaks national fundraising records.
Minnesota launches a Coalition of Communities of Color
Inspired by a summer 2013 meeting with leaders of a similar effort in Portland, leaders of Minnesota’s people of color led nonprofits launch a similar initiative. The purpose of the coalition is to address institutional racism and socioeconomic disparities but the group will gain momentum with their joint work on addressing Minnesota’s persistent education disparities.
Planning for disaster before disaster strikes
As once every 100 year storms, flooding, and man made disasters become even more common, the current philanthropic strategy of convening funders to develop a plan after disaster hits becomes increasingly unworkable. Minnesota foundations will team up with elected officials, first responders, the Red Cross, nonprofits that have deep roots in the community, and community foundations with connections to individual donors to develop a philanthropic response template that can be adjusted for each disaster.