Fundraising solicitations drop into my inbox every day. I usually ignore them, but one caught my eye recently, and not for a good reason. The subject line read, “The reason we have to send so many fundraising emails.” I was intrigued and began reading. It wasn’t until the third paragraph that I found out the answer: They send so many emails because “only 1 percent of our readers ever make a donation, and that’s a problem.”
Read MoreStop us if you’ve heard this one before: A new technology walks into an organization and says, “I’m here to solve all your problems!” Yup, you have. We get it, the last generation of digital tech, particularly email and social media, created a cacophony of messages and amplified the always-on, toxic work culture. You have every right to be furious at whoever created the “reply all” button.
Read MoreDuring November 2021 alone 4.5 million people quit their jobs—the highest number on record. The pandemic work experience encouraged many employees to draw a line in the sand between what’s important (family, flexibility, and free time) and what’s not (toxic work cultures that lead to exhaustion, mistakes and ultimately burnout.) Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) have particularly felt the strain of office life with 97 percent wanting a hybrid or full-time remote working model (compared with 79 percent of white knowledge workers in the U.S.)
Read MoreThe next wave of digital tech, or “smart tech,” has the potential and power to help us rehumanize work. Rather than doing the same work faster and with fewer people, smart tech creates an opportunity to redesign jobs and reengineer workflows to enable people to focus on the parts of work that humans are particularly well-suited for, such as relationship building, intuitive decision making, empathy, and problem solving. But it will require organizational leaders to make informed, careful, strategic decisions to ensure the technology is used to enhance our humanity and enable people to do the kinds of relational, empathetic, problem-solving activities we do best. This article offers some initial steps to get started introducing smart tech within your own organization.
Read MoreKanter and Fine have presented us with a stellar comprehensive guide for furthering nonprofits’ forward momentum. They lay out the pros and cons of planning for a smarter future, show the balance needed to integrate humanity and technology, and provide a structured plan for implementing the transformation needed as our world becomes increasingly automated. Their expert perspectives are poignant, timely, and essential.
Read MoreNonprofit employees have quit their jobs at record levels since the start of the pandemic.
Read MoreImplementing smart technology is a decision that involves more than just the IT department.
Read MoreCovid-19 created cascades of shortages, disruptions, and problems that rolled downhill and landed in the most vulnerable neighborhoods.
Read MoreThe use of smart tech by social service agencies and other nonprofits exploded during the pandemic….
Read MoreNearly a million nonprofit jobs were lost in 2020, and an estimated one-third of all U.S. nonprofit organizations may shutter within two years.
Read MoreAs nonprofits emerge from the shock of the pandemic and financial crisis, there is an opportunity to rethink fundraising and improve donor retention rates by embracing emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
Read MoreIn this paper, we provide an overview of the current state of how AI is being integrated into online giving platforms and tools to enhance and expand philanthropic giving by all types of donors. We examine the current opportunities and challenges presented by AI in philanthropy.
Read MoreAutonomous technologies can support social services programs, but delivery must always be centered around people.
Read MoreFamily foundations bring passion, good will and, of course, money to their philanthropy. Another asset they can bring to their efforts is the art of online conversation.
Read MoreThese days, it's easy to be afraid of the world outside our companies. But great leaders get over that fear.
Read MoreMost leaders of traditional organizations are missing enormous opportunities to tap into the social networks, ingenuity, and good will of their own constituents.
