Reprinted with permission from The Center for Effective Philanthropy. You can link to the article on their website here. As funders, we are privileged to support leaders, organizations, and networks that create movements for change. To succeed, that work must be done in partnership, moving together toward our shared goals for positive impact in the world….

Last month, I had the opportunity to learn from Consortium of Christian Relief and Development Associations (CCRDA) and its partner Harmee Education for Development Association (HEfDA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia about their work to leverage the power of feedback and accountability through a process called Social Accountability. In Social Accountability, users of public services are…

When I was growing up, every weekday afternoon a half-hour before my family’s dinnertime, Fred Rogers opened his door and sang “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood” to his TV audience. And pretty much every afternoon, my siblings and I would plop ourselves into easy chairs and fall into the satisfying and soothing routines…

This should be obvious, but it’s key for our sector: To deliver on their mission and sustain their good work over time, nonprofit organizations require the right mix of financial resources. Resources to pay the right people to get the job done well. Resources to have cash on hand for unexpected events. Resources to allow…

Despite the protests of generations of economists, recent neurological and psychological research shows that human decisions come from our heart, not from our head. In small decisions, like which jam to buy, and large ones, like whom to marry, we are more often swayed by our psycho-social circuitry than by rational thought. For social changemakers,…