Survey of Foundations
Posted June 6, 2008 9:14 AM
by Ted Jackson
Ascendant is very interested in learning more about how foundations measure impact across their grantees. As a result, we created a simple survey for attendees of the Council on Foundations Leadership Summit last month. We are now opening up the suvey to foundations that come to our website
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Norton says money can buy happiness
Posted June 3, 2008 8:04 AM
by Ted Jackson
In the March 21, 2008 issue of Science magazine, Harvard professor Michael Norton, not to be confused with Balanced Scorecard co-creator David Norton, published his findings that money can buy you happiness. I certainly was intrigued when I read this news in a Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge interview earlier this week.
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Achieving Breakthrough Performance
Posted May 28, 2008 9:43 AM
by Ted Jackson
One of the key articles in the Summer 2008 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review is titled Achieving Breakthrough Performance, and is written by Gottfredson, Schaubert, and Babcock (two partners at Bain and one CEO of a nonprofit). In this article, they argue that there are 4 principles that nonprofits should follow to achieve performance.
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iPod Winner Announced
Posted May 13, 2008 9:18 AM
by Ted Jackson
Susan Towler, the Executive Director of The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida, won the iPod Touch drawing at the CoF Summit. The drawing was from the various attendees who filled out the Foundation Impact Survey. Congratulations Susan!!
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Council on Foundations Summit Recap
Posted May 12, 2008 10:36 AM
by Dylan Miyake
I recently returned from the new National Harbor development and the Council on Foundations annual summit in Washington, DC. It was a great opportunity for me to learn more about issues facing community, family, and corporate foundations and to hear from leaders in the field on key strategic problems.
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Philanthrocapitalism?
Posted May 6, 2008 8:41 AM
by Ted Jackson
In the April 2008 issue of Alliance magazine, a journal dedicated to philanthropy and social investments, Michael Edwards wrote an article about myths and realities of philanthrocapitalism. The title caught my attention, and when I read ahead, Mr. Edwards wrote about his real concern about the amount of money in the philanthropic world that was being dedicated to solving charitable issues with a capitalistic approach. I wrote about a good example of philanthrocapitalism in an earlier blog about Smile Train.
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Engaging Volunteers: Making it Relevant
Posted May 1, 2008 11:09 AM
by Dylan Miyake
A constant problem for many not-for-profit organizations is recruiting, engaging, and retaining volunteers. The volunteer labor force has a lot of benefits: it costs little and is typically passionate about the cause. But volunteers bring baggage, too: there's a lot of turnonver and retraining required and they typically have their own ideas (not all bad) on how to acheive the organization's objectives.
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Win an iPod Touch / Visit us at Booth 637
Posted April 24, 2008 2:22 PM
by Dylan Miyake
We're getting all of our ducks in a row for the Council on Foundations Leadership Summit week after next. We just found out our booth number -- 637 -- and have decided to hold a drawing for an iPod Touch in return for filling out a brief survey.
Even if you're not interested in winning the iPod, please stop by to say hello and to learn more about how we're helping foundations, associations, government agencies, and charities execute strategy with the Balanced Scorecard.
You can also pick up a copy of our shiny new brochure, or some ever helpful Ascendant SMG sticky notes. We look forward to seeing you in DC!
The Eisenhower Principle applied to Nonprofit Management
Posted April 21, 2008 2:30 PM
by Ted Jackson
I was skimming Newt Gingrich's new book, REAL CHANGE, and was reminded about General Eisenhower's amazing success in executing strategy. In World War II, Eisenhower coordinated the largest military undertaking ever, the invasion of Normandy. He not only managed huge sea, air, and land forces, but also managed unpredictable weather as well as the political forces of Roosevelt, Churchill and de Gaulle. When asked about his success, Eisenhower said "Whenever I run into a problem I can't solve, I always make it bigger.
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Get the Most out of Your Board with the Balanced Scorecard
Posted April 9, 2008 10:57 AM
by Ted Jackson
It seems to be the age old question:
How can I get the best out of my board without being subject to their disruptive whims?
Communications is often cited as the key success factor or failure point in working with the board. I contend that the most essential form of communication is around the strategy and progress against that strategy. The Balanced Scorecard Management System can create that communication platform for the Board and the Executive Director and provide the structure, format and content for a strategy review.
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