Immanuel Living’s Post

🆕 In the latest blog, Jeffrey Glebocki and Betsy McFarland, CVA, CAWA—co-directors of the Initiative for Strategic Volunteer Engagement—share how the collaborative was formed, why partnerships among funders lead to greater impact, and key learnings on strategic volunteer engagement along the way. To help advance the missions of funders and their grant partners, they highlight the following takeaways: 💡 Bring both funders and nonprofits to the table. 💡 Be patient, but remain focused on the goal. 💡 Leverage your resources and influence to make an impact. 💡 Learn from every "no" so you can turn it to a future "yes". For more insights, read the blog here: https://lnkd.in/e9teyHjQ

Nonprofit CEOs: Are your fundraisers taking your donors on a journey to their best gift? By going beyond traditional #storytelling? You'll see what I mean in this Forbes Nonprofit Council article where I share my thoughts... Back to the scenario: They booked that meeting with that sought-after donor you’ve heard about for years. It went great. They shared the mission, the photos, and the stories. There was a tear shed at some point but when the money came, the check was smaller than everyone had hoped. What was missing there? Laying out the #mission or program-based details isn’t enough. Investment-level donors must see how they fit into your financial story. “But, Sherry, donors don’t want to know those details.” Not true. They’re dying for you to pivot into explaining your true financial NEED and then asking them to help achieve it. I promise you. THIS IS THEIR LANGUAGE. Speak CEO to CEO. When my clients start doing this they see 7-figures they’ve left on the table for years. How about you? What can you promise today?

What could happen if we stopped looking at other nonprofits as competition? If two local food initiative groups began to dream of what their city without hunger looked like? If two state-wide ecology impact orgs set a co-goal for millions of trees planted? What if co-strategic planning between nonprofits became the norm instead of the exception?? Loving our newest Hive Mind article put out by Hiver Ricky Chilcott of the Mission Met/Causey team. Ricky highlights so many great points in this article including: - how effective our impact can be when we are aligned within a community - how sharing insights and being transparent can foster and improve community efforts - how much STRONGER our nonprofits are when we begin to recognize the strength of our collective action. Hivers, have you collaborated with another nonprofit before?? What kind of impact did you witness?? #collaborate #community #strategy #philanthropy https://lnkd.in/gTezcK5r

I am excited to share that Forbes has featured my insights alongside other nonprofit leaders about recruiting the next generation of volunteers. As many know, volunteers are often the heroes of organizations. Check out the article for practical and actionable steps: https://bit.ly/4c2BLdx #recfoundation #volunteers

In a clip from our recent webinar on worker self-directed nonprofits, Faye Christoforo of the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund offers concrete strategies for how nonprofits can be managed by their workers, including how to design decision-making: https://bit.ly/3z2Zdc0

In the nonprofit world, enduring impact relies on true, cross-sector partnerships. Relying solely on sporadic or year-end giving won’t propel us forward, and transactional gifts won’t push us closer to achieving the future our CSR programs aspire to. 💪 Even with a limited budget or team, you can consider the following 5 strategies: 🤝 Lead with commitment 🗣️ Practice regular communication 🔄 Create feedback loops 💗 Join volunteering and giving efforts throughout the year 🏅 Recognize and amplify Dive deeper into the strategies above in this blog from Natalie Norton: https://bit.ly/40OWiNE

How does #trustbasedphilanthropy work in practice? If you've read anything about some foundations' *support beyond the check*, you might not have known that a 3-month sabbatical for nonprofit execs is part of the deal in some latitudes. Well, for grantees of the LA-based Durfee Foundation, it has been for the last 20 years.  Their sabbatical program is a powerful respite in what is often a grueling job. It’s not only a good opportunity to reduce stress enabling EDs to stave off burnout, it also indirectly helps their organizations devise ways to reduce the need for the ED's direct involvement in some aspects of their operation. Plus, the alums get together every year to connect, strengthen their networks, and discuss sector challenges.   *Listening* is all the rage in philanthropy these days, and different funders have used various approaches over the years. From the now widely-known grantee perception survey to feedback loops, there is no denying that the field has been experimenting. But how do foundations *really* listen? Humility and curiosity are key in trust-based philanthropy - foundations need to intently listen and create conditions for grantees to openly share. The Satterberg Foundation, for example, was explicit in recognizing lived experience as a major source of knowledge: it hired a native-owned firm to facilitate listening sessions; the summary of the conversations was made public, and it changed some of its practices based on that input. They've also replaced written reports with site visits. These are just some examples of funders’ trust-based journey.   There's still so much to learn about the nuances of #trustbased approaches to grantmaking – Anyone interested in additional examples of successful listening strategies or "support beyond the check" from trust-based funders, let us know by replying in comments. 💬 💬 #Collaboration #SocialImpact #TrustBasedPhilanthropy LaShanda Robertson Rosa Peralta Juliet L. Stella Chung Claire Peeps Lisa Watson Trust-Based Philanthropy Project ** Panas is a collaborative effort of social-justice minded consultants from Latin America. We work with foundations and organizations in various fields and are continuously learning and sharing about grantee-centered approaches.**

Sharing some of my favorite examples of trust-based practices by some funders. 👇 👇 👇 👇 👇 Can you think of other examples? Is your foundation fully centering grantee organizations in some of its practices? Share in comments!

At Common Impact, managing and navigating corporate and nonprofit partnerships is one of our specialties. We’ve learned valuable lessons about cross-sector collaboration. By leveraging our collective expertise, we can accelerate solutions to our most pressing social challenges.  Learn more about key strategies for collaborative partnerships! 💡