Something surprising happened to me this week. I was preparing a pre-reading list for a client – the list of readings and video clips that allow our precious face-to-face time to be more meaningful. This workshop will be about engagement, and so I flipped through the books I’ve written on those subjects, to cite pages … Read more
A thought occurred to me today, as I was reading a post from yet another well-meaning business person wanting to donate his skills to a “nonprofit” because those “poor nonprofits” so badly need business skills. Well-meaning. Patronizing. Maddening. We all see varying degrees of this in individuals and institutions who speak from their self-appointed place … Read more
An organization Dimitri and I love is about to die. Everyone says it is a casualty of the economy. We know that is not true. Even when times were good, the ABC Group was struggling. And so five years ago, when we were teaching an earlier version of our “Building Engaged Support for Your Mission” … Read more
One of the 2010 goals for Creating the Future is to aim the dialogue in this sector more towards what is possible than what is wrong. As part of that effort, we facilitate a monthly Twitter chat for consultants to Community Benefit Organizations. Every month, consultants from all over the world share their wisdom and … Read more
(This is Part 7: Community-Driven Tour 2010 New Zealand. To read these posts from the beginning, head here.) We flew to Christchurch then drove to Queenstown via Lake Tekapo, a lake made mesmerizingly green-blue by mineral deposits. Dimitri had made reservations at an apartment hotel in Queenstown that seemed online to be luxurious for the … Read more
This week, Clyde announced it is officially the holiday season! Given the focus on Transparency & Engagement that has captured me the past few weeks, it seems only fitting that I re-post last year’s post introducing Clyde. Somehow that post is even more appropriate this year than it was last year. Enjoy! ***** If Community … Read more
From Parts 1 & 2 of this series, we begin to see how much can be accomplished by authentic, transparent community engagement – the power of gardening in the front yard. The following are some of my observations as we’ve worked to put transparent engagement into practice in the various organizations we have founded over … Read more
Yesterday’s post originally ran 2 years ago. The comments following both the original post and its re-run yesterday talked about a hesitancy to be transparent, the desire to keep organizational issues in the “back yard” where no one would see them. I can understand that. Building the Community-Driven Institute, Dimitri and I often wonder how … Read more
Yesterday’s post originally ran 2 years ago. The comments following both the original post and its re-run yesterday talked about a hesitancy to be transparent, the desire to keep organizational issues in the “back yard” where no one would see them. I can understand that. Building the Community-Driven Institute, Dimitri and I often wonder how … Read more
The post that follows isn’t new. But because I will be writing about the concepts in this post this week, I thought I’d start by posting it again, as a sort of “refresher course.” Tomorrow, I’ll post about why I am thinking so much about the concept of Community Engagement. (Hint – it has to … Read more