These 12 adorable baby animals are very worried about the US Census and you should be too

[These two baby javelinas are worried about the US Census and its potential to negatively affect funding for many vulnerable communities]
Hi everyone. I wrote a post about the grave consequences of undercounting in the US Census that’s coming up. And it was read by approximately 8 people. So I am re-posting it now with a new title and pictures of baby animals. This is important, and if pictures of baby animals will help us all to pay more attention and to share the message, then I will gladly spend three or four hours during work researching to find the cutest, cuddliest baby animals to display here. Please share this post widely.  Continue reading “These 12 adorable baby animals are very worried about the US Census and you should be too”

How the concept of effectiveness has screwed nonprofits and the people we serve

[Description: An adorable little light-brown hamster, with tiny feet, staring directly at the camera. Its little hands are clasped in front of it. This hamster has nothing to do with the content of this post. It’s just a cute hamster, because it’s Monday and you deserve a cute hamster. Image obtained from Pixabay.com]
Hi everyone. Before we delve into today’s very serious topic, a quick announcement. January 12th is International Nonprofit Karaoke Throwdown Day! Here’s a blog post I wrote on why staff and boards of different nonprofits need to hang out more. Find a nonprofit or two in your area and challenge them to a #NonprofitKaraokeThrowdown. Here, I even crafted an invitation email for you:

“Hey [org(s)], Nonprofit AF has declared January 12th to be International Nonprofit Karaoke Throwdown Day, so we at [your org] challenge your staff and board to a singing contest. This is It, we’ll be Right Here Waiting for You, and Chances Are, You’re Going Down. Sorry Not Sorry.”

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about effectiveness. Last week, Kathleen Enright, the CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) wrote this thought-provoking article. Here’s an excerpt:

“[The] work to define effectiveness has typically come from white organizations – prominent consulting firms, think tanks, universities, philanthropy and management support organizations. These institutions – and I count GEO among them – have advanced ideas about effectiveness that have unwittingly perpetuated or even exacerbated inequity in the nonprofit sector.”

Continue reading “How the concept of effectiveness has screwed nonprofits and the people we serve”