I’m a story teller by nature and by vocation, so I shivered a little bit when I read this sentence in Mario Morino’s excellent Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity, …

Occupy Wall Street, the angry and widespread protest collective that has moved well beyond Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, is a month old this week. For those of us who work in the nonprofit and …

In its early years, the Clinton Global Initiative often seemed to present a kind of Democratic administration in exile – a gentle yet important correction to the Bush White House. The former President acted as …

While the much-criticized “deal” to forestall the United States’ defaulting on its bonded debt obligations did avoid a take-down of the charitable deduction in the tax code, nonprofits and those who support them can hardly …

Three weeks ago at the 10th annual Global Philanthropy Forum, Handicap International received the 2011 Hilton Humanitarian Prize at the ceremony in Redwood City. Formed in 1982 by two French doctors to help Cambodians …

Celebrity philanthropy can be a mixed bag. For all the attention it can bring to a cause, sometimes the baggage simply isn’t worth it. [See Madonna, Malawi et al]. Yet when actor Ben Affleck sat …

The La Pietra Coalition first gathered two years ago in a Renaissance villa outside Florence with a goal of putting the drive for women’s rights and economic growth front and center on the global leadership …

The philanthropy and microfinance sector is nearly united in opposing an attempt by the government of Bangladesh to oust Professor Muhammad Yunus as managing director of Grameen Bank, the social enterprise for which he won …

I’ve had a few notes from friends over the last two weeks that all ran along the lines of “this is CauseWired coming to life!” meaning Egypt and seemingly-spontaneous January 25th uprising, which deposed strongman …

This is the tail end of the busy season for experienced prognosticators, and few in the social sector are as voluble (or respected) as Lucy Bernholz, who blogs at Philanthropy2173 and runs Blueprint …

When is an extra click and a “walled garden” software market bad for philanthropy? When it closes off easy access to mobile giving, according to online nonprofit activists. The last week has seen an interesting …

There are a lot of lessons in the new book Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding: Seven Principles to Power Extraordinary Results by cause marketing expert Carol Cone along with co-authors Jocelyne S. Daw, Kristian Darigan Merenda, and …

When the mother of cause marketing declares that “cause marketing as we know it is dead,” it’s time to pay attention. So said Carol Cone last week as she introduced the fourth annual Good Purpose …

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We’re here in the media bunker of the old Sheraton on Seventh Avenue, plugged into the sixth annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting – my fifth, as it turns …

Watch CGI 2010 as it happens:

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In my consulting work, I meet plenty of nonprofit leaders – development directors, board members, executive directors – who know they want to open their organizations to social media but lack the right blueprint. It’s …

Will an index replace an estimate? That may be the question with the release of Blackbaud’s new Index of Charitable Giving, hot on the heels of this year’s Giving USA estimate of charitable giving in …

Giving in the U.S. dropped for the second straight year in 2009, reflecting the depth of the American recession, and a slight drop in individual giving but a steep decline in foundation philanthropy. The annual …

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $1.5 billion this week in alliance with the United Nations to improve the health of women and children around the world – but the dollar …

Mark June 26th on your calendars and hope for good beach weather – if you want to see a change in national energy policy, that is. That’s the day that the dream of a Florida …