Barry Hessenius of the Western States Arts Federation, writing at his blog: Everywhere today there are articles and media accounts of how the arts play a role in creative aging for seniors, and how that role is helping people growing older to live more interesting, productive, satisfying and fulfilling lives, and how that – plus a …
Social media has become Millennials’ top source for politics. A great new study by the Pew Research Center, released this week, finds that a solid 61% of Millennials say they get political news from Facebook, versus just 39% of Baby Boomers. Gen Xers like me bridge the gap at 51%. “Millennials and Political News” is …
There are a lot of things they don’t teach you in graduate school: how to prepare a budget, how to woo a donor, how to ease an unproductive colleague off the payroll without incurring his or her wrath. And a whole lot of other skills that are required to do a good job as a …
In his three-minute TED Talk, Derek Sivers tells us that a movement is made not by charismatic leaders but rather by the first followers. It is the people who are alert to a new idea, who are inspired to leave their comfortable routine, and who adopt and adapt an innovation—these are the movement makers. If …
Nothing to be afraid of. (Photo Credit: Flickr User Jonathan, licensed under CC BY 2.0) People who work in philanthropy are often are urged to “take more risks,” but I think better advice would be to try to recognize how few risks we face—and run with it. While we don’t always take full advantage of the opportunity, …
Plenty of room. (Photo Credit: Steve & Michelle Gerdes, licensed under CC BY 2.0) At the Hewlett Foundation, we believe that the data revolution should be a big tent where data experts and users of all stripes come together to swap ideas and form new and interesting partnerships. And there’s one group in particular that I think …
This piece is cross-posted from On Think Tanks, where it appeared as part of a series on Women in Think Tanks. -Ed. Think tanks should recruit and retain talented women as policy researchers and in other roles for many principled reasons, from basic fairness to the value of diverse perspectives. They should also do it for the most …
Flip charts and post-its will only take you so far. (Photo Credit: Samuel Mann, licensed under CC BY 2.0) Like laws and sausages, organizational strategies are best appreciated once they have been made. Busy nonprofit executive directors, in particular, often experience strategic planning as a frustrating time sink of cat-herding, budget-massaging, and word-smithing. Still, nonprofits do better …
Nothing (well, not much) to be afraid of. (Photo Credit: Gwydion M. Williams, licensed under CC BY 2.0) Here’s a phrase no grantee likes to hear: “Your program officer is leaving the foundation.” Immediately, the worry starts. Does this mean they’ll stop funding me? Will my proposal be hung up in limbo until a new program officer …
This post was originally published at Transparency Talk, the Glasspockets blog. Sara will join Pamela H. David of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and Peter V. Long of the Blue Shield of California Foundation in a panel moderated by Brad Smith of the Foundation Center to discuss the “Get on the Map” project May 13 in San …