The weather outside is frightful (and so is the daily barrage of news) and I sure could use a distraction from it all. I recently told a colleague that my blood pressure immediately goes down when I enter a bookstore…
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I’ve long maintained that social enterprise is the answer to building and sustaining an equitable economy for all. I’ve also advocated for the definition of social enterprise to be expanded to include locally-owned independent businesses that serve their community with…
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Nonprofits are in a crisis. As nonprofit consultants, we can tell you story after story of nonprofits’ funding cuts, staff burnout, reduced donations, and grants becoming more competitive than ever before. But we’re going to get right to the point.…
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Even though we've worked at this consulting thing for more than a decade now, sometimes a client comes forward to reveal how impactful the work you did with them was in surprising ways. Earlier this year Crooked Forest Institute approached us looking…
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We are in a nonprofit crisis in this country, with the federal government attacking the sector from many angles - funding cuts, investigations into DEI and organizing work, potential changes to laws that govern the sector - and it feels…
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We recently launched our six month community of practice group called “Disrupting the Path — Part 2: Navigating Current Chaos” at the end of April. This monthly gathering allows for nonprofits professionals of all levels of leadership to come together…
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Being a small business owner or social entrepreneur right now is . . . a lot. If you aren’t worried about how tariffs will impact your business, then you are probably worried about how federal small business programs will impact…
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Disrupting the Path: A New Way Forward for New Mexico’s Social Sector was a series of conversations held in December 2024, along with an online survey distributed in December 2024 and January 2025, that brought diverse voices together toward developing…
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We are in a rapidly changing and deteriorating state of things right now. If you are with a nonprofit organization or running a small business or social enterprise, you are likely feeling the pressure of federal funding cuts, donor increases…
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There are many techniques and tricks that exist for getting people to comply with things that seemingly go against their values. For example, in psychology, there is a compliance tactic called “Foot-in-the-door” which is about making a small request to…
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“The most successful networks and movements are defined not by their strategies for action, but by a common purpose informed by shared values and principles. By a process of collective sensemaking and discovery, informed by work happening on the ground,…
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Graphic illustration by Taslim Van Hattum It’s been a little over a month since we hosted and facilitated four discussions as part of Disrupting the Path: A New Way Forward for New Mexico’s Social Sector in early December 2024. These…
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We are well into the December holiday shopping season and it’s time to talk about supporting locally owned independent businesses – again. I know, I know . . . I’m a little late this year and probably should have mentioned…
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Resources and Reflections after the Election We are a woman immigrant owned, and queer, woman, and disabled led company and the outcome of the recent election was, well, the worst. Leaders are now empowered to create a world centered on…
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A few months ago, I saw a social media post thanking a federal agency for bringing together “communities” for a day of conversations around outdoor equity to increase access in New Mexico. The word community was thrown around quite a…
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For years, good people who are trying their best to do good work in nonprofits have told us about the obstacles they face when trying to really change things for the better within the nonprofit system. This includes frustration with…
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Every nonprofit consultant has heard it – the desperate tone in an executive director’s voice when they call, breathlessly asking for help with a strategic plan. “And, we need to do it in the next 90 days.” Ah, that's a…
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As facilitators who love to design community engagement processes, you know we love a good check-in! And, since we can’t stop talking about community engagement this year, we thought we’d host a mid-year check-in on our community engagement work and…
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Wouldn’t it be great if there was a strategic planning process that reinvigorates your team, inserts lots of space for creativity, supports deeper thinking like finding and addressing root causes, and centers the needs and priorities of people and communities?…
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Impact Boom, a B Corp and certified social enterprise that is focused on the support and development of social enterprise globally, hosted Vicki on their podcast this month. She was grateful to spend some time chatting with host Indio Myles…
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Vicki's op-ed, "Nonprofit Boards: Yes, We Have a Problem," was published in the Santa Fe New Mexican this month. In it she responds to an earlier piece ("The Pleasures and Perils of Nonprofit Board Service in Santa Fe") that explores…
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Vicki authored "How to Do Community Engagement Right" for NPQ (Nonprofit Quarterly) this month. In it she asks: What is community engagement and how do you really, actually center a community in your social impact conversations? She also offers plenty…
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It’s only a few weeks into 2024 and we’ve been seeing a lot of organizations and foundations looking to community engagement as a way to renew their impact efforts. So, what is community engagement and how do we do it…
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Twice in my professional life I have been asked if I was the real deal. The first time was over lunch with a theatrical colleague who I pitched a social justice theater project to, back in my theater directing and…
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Social entrepreneur, author, current chair of the Social Enterprise Alliance board, and long time friend and colleague of Vicki’s, David Gaines visits the Impact Out Loud podcast this month for a lively talk about all things social enterprise. In part…
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