What’s the secret to increasing revenues and increasing your workforce during hard times? Apparently, it’s having a great relationship with your employees.

Nonprofit Giving Has Changed. Does Your Nonprofit Measure Up?

by Geri Stengel on Oct 6, 2011 - 12:20am

How To Lessons Learned Nonprofit nonprofit funding nonprofit fundraising philanthropy Trends

$23 billion. That’s the decline in giving from 2007 -- the peak giving year -- to 2010.

More than One Road Can Take You Where You Want to Go

by Geri Stengel on Aug 30, 2011 - 12:20am

Lessons Learned vacation life lessons

Vacations are for relaxing and recharging, but what happens when things don’t go as planned? As with business, sometimes you plan for X and Y happens. So it was with my vacation.

Scaling Nonprofits: Lessons Learned By A Winner

by Geri Stengel on Jul 29, 2011 - 10:45am

board development Lessons Learned Nonprofit nonprofit business plan nonprofit funding Scaling Social Impact SIEX10 siex2011

Editor’s Note: This is the last in a 7-part series on Developing A Growth Business Plan. The series is based on presentations made at the Social Impact Exchange Symposium on Scaling Impact held June 14 and on the experiences of nonprofits that participated in the business plan competition.

The Parent-Child Home Program won much more than $50,000 and nine months of free consulting at last year’s Social Impact Exchange Conference.

A Hand Up Is Better Than A Hand-out

by Geri Stengel on Jul 5, 2011 - 12:05am

10000 Women Program building communities corporate philanthropy entrepreneurs investing in women Lessons Learned Nonprofit philanthropy Social Entrepreneurship Women Entrepreneurship

In a recent interview with Women In Development, Dina Powell, president, Goldman Sachs Foundation, discussed the progress and lessons learned from Goldman’s, 10,000 Women Program, a $100 million effort that began in 2008.

Learn From Micro-credit Mistakes: Grow Wisely

by Geri Stengel on Mar 29, 2011 - 12:14am

Lessons Learned micro-credit Nonprofit nonprofit growth nonprofit scaling public-private partnerships Scaling Social Impact SIEX Tips

With the Social Impact Exchange Conference coming soon, I want to keep the focus on scaling well rather than just getting bigger. As I wrote before, the micro-credit industry provides examples of the good and the bad of growth and private-sector investment in nonprofits as well as a fine example of sharing lessons learned.

Don’t Get Bigger Unless You Get Better: Lessons From Micro-credit

by Geri Stengel on Mar 22, 2011 - 12:08am

Lessons Learned microfinance Nonprofit scaling nonprofits Scaling Social Impact

Microfinance has become the poster child for troubling growth and questionable nonprofit/for-profit cross-overs. Is it the rapid growth or too much emphasis on investor returns or not enough government regulation that has led to suicides by borrowers and a request for Nobel Laureate Mohammed Yunus, founder of the movement, to step down from Grameen Bank.

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Be a Winner: Learn From Mistakes – Yours and Those of Others

by Geri Stengel on Mar 1, 2011 - 12:12am

collaboration failure Lessons Learned networking Nonprofit nonprofit. social enterprise Social Entrepreneurship

Failing doesn’t make you a failure; it makes you a learner. If you don’t think that this applies to running a business or nonprofit, think again. Bad experience is a great business leader.

Expanding an Entrepreneur's Network Fires Up Her Business

by Geri Stengel on Dec 2, 2010 - 7:00am

entrepreneurs Lessons Learned networking Small Business The Foundation of Entrepreneurship

I can't resist: I have to tell you about another entrepreneur who, to her surprise, has found networking and lifelong learning enriching and even essential.

Sharon Ng doesn't know where to start when she recounts the benefits of networking, going back to "school," and listening to people she thought had nothing to offer her. She had, after all, developed a unique and effective way of teaching Mandarin, French, and Spanish to children. Who could help her with that niche business?

3 Guidelines for Corporate Philanthropy

by Geri Stengel on Sep 21, 2010 - 10:04am

corporate philanthropy DotOrg Lessons Learned Nonprofit nonprofits social enterprises Social Entrepreneurship

The world of nonprofits and social enterprises is aboil about new ways to structure funding, about public/private partnerships, and ways to tap private money for public purposes.