Chad Renando’s Post

Appreciated this recent article from Stanford Social Innovation Review that dives into the topic of unrestricted funding barriers. The article highlights some of the common challenges faced by organizations seeking unrestricted funding and offers insights on how to move past these barriers. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gnaP4nQ9

Burnout, turnover, and implosion are some of the biggest hurdles being faced by so many movement, organizing, and power-building organizations today. What is philantrhopy’s role in resourcing and supporting grantees so that they can pay living wages, address internal conflicts and tensions, and ensure transition plans that minimize disruption of the work? Read about some of it in this EBCF article, and let me know your thoughts!

With the rising costs of living in the Bay Area, the nonprofit sector is faced with new challenges to retain skilled staff, adjust to living wages, and address staff burnout — all while responding to increased demands for services due to growing inequities. EBCF co-hosted a first-of-its-kind convening with RYSE Youth Center and the Bay Area Power Building Funders Table (BAPBT) on the working conditions of youth organizers in the Bay Area. Financial instability is an increasing concern, and youth organizers often have to participate in the gig economy with multiple jobs to piece together a living wage in order to meet the high cost of living. Read about what we heard from young frontline organizers on what funders can do to address these challenges and how EBCF and BAPBT will pursue these recommendations in 2024. https://lnkd.in/ecZr4dxf

The Public Interest Registry recently celebrated the winners of the 6th Annual .ORG Impact Awards during a prestigious ceremony in Washington, D.C., hosted by the acclaimed Emmy Award winner Alan Cumming. This event recognizes outstanding organizations that leverage the power of the internet to create positive social change. With over 1,700 applications from more than 87 countries, the competition was fierce, highlighting the global impact of .ORG organizations. Among the notable winners, the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation was honored as the 2024 .ORG of the Year. This foundation stood out for its remarkable efforts in providing educational opportunities and resources to underprivileged children in the Philippines. Their innovative approach to addressing educational disparities has inspired many, showcasing how dedicated organizations can transform lives through community-driven initiatives. "Education is a universal right, and addressing its accessibility is a shared global responsibility. Humanity will never progress if we look only after our own backyards. Accessible, quality education is key to breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. I dedicate this award to thousands of Hope Paddlers, not just in the Philippines, but worldwide," said Dr. Anton Mari H. Lim, President, CEO and Co-founder of Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation. "With hope, the impossible becomes possible." The .ORG Impact Awards not only celebrate the achievements of these organizations but also aim to inspire others to harness their potential for social good. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the importance of such initiatives becomes increasingly vital. The event served as a reminder of the power of collaboration and the collective responsibility to foster a better world through technology and community engagement. | via PRNewswire #YellowBoatofHope #HopeSails #ORGImpactAwards #OIAs #ORGInAction #CommunityImpact #Philantrophy

This is an incredibly well written, intentional letter from CSO's in Ukraine, writing a plea for international NGO's to do better. Line by line, the same things could be said by grassroots, community-led groups in the US, speaking to well-intentioned foundations hoping to fund their work. # 1 was particularly poignant for me: "# 1 - Cut the bureaucracy. Despite official statements of international organisations that they seek to support local public initiatives in Ukraine, the reality is that in order to receive these funds, tens, or hundreds, or even thousands of procedures are required. We don’t have the human resources to do this, nor do we think this is a priority. Trust and accountability are basic principles for cooperation. Ukrainian NGOs cannot afford to fill out grant applications in volume, nor multiple, repetitive, lengthy due diligence procedures, by some designated International deadline. We are working in the conditions of hostilities. Small organisations need unrestricted flexible funding, provided rapidly: we can demonstrate our legitimacy in other ways, through our actions on the ground and the validation of our peers, the networks that we belong to and the communities we serve." Read more.... #GrassrootsLeadership #NonprofitInnovation #FlexibleFunding #ReduceBureaucracy #CommunityLedSolutions #TrustAndAccountability #InternationalNGO #FundingEquity #PhilanthropyReimagined #UkrainianCivilSociety #RapidResponseFunding #SocialImpact

🧐 What do we mean when we say the Spots are 'community-led'? We've realised the importance of unpacking how this works in our context, given the huge variation in our NGOs use this phrase. 📖 Some actual and potential questions answered! ❓ How do you identify the Spots? Do you target specific regions? We have an open application process across Ghana, enabling community teams to apply to join the network. This ensures there is community leadership from the start of their involvement with us. ❓What reason do the Catalysts have to participate? Catalysts typically want to be the change they want to see, but whilst holding many assets, have some limitations in resources, skills and network support. Through EduSpots, they advance their professional and wider skill-set as community educators and agents of change. ❓Why don't you pay the Catalysts? Most Catalysts have full-time jobs (with 70+% being teachers), and act as Catalysts for no more than 1-2 hours a week. We build the community's capacity to pay their own Catalysts as they see fit, avoiding generating a dependent relationship on EduSpots' central funding, cementing the notion of community ownership. ❓What timings do your Spots open? This is completely up to the Spot teams, and depends upon the communities needs, aspirations and time! Of course, they aim for daily opening, with some times set for weekend and evening study. ❓Do you complete regular maintenance checks of the Spots and do renovations? In partnership agreements, this is listed as the community/school's responsibility with our regional coordinators supporting teams with local fundraising, and some flexible grant funding available. We give training on risk assessment and do basic checks on visits. ❓Can we give gifts to the learners / Catalysts? We avoid giving out any gifts or items from EduSpots to individuals, because we believe this can diminish a sense of community ownership and power, and potentially undermine those valuable assets that exist within communities. ❓How do you decide the focus of the clubs? Communities choose whether to lead 1-4 education strands (EduKidz, DigiLit, Ignite Equity and EcoSTEM), or devise their own club, with support from our specialists. The strands were determined by the network, with a formalised Catalyst committee forming shortly and 60% of our staff team coming from Catalyst backgrounds. ❓This Spot doesn't have enough books. When will you sort this by? We support Spots in leading their own resource collections; however, we also have staff dedicating to building relationship with partners such as Books For Africa and Book Aid International, alongside seeking funding for books by local authors. In summary, there's an inside-out mentality threaded throughout - following Cormac Russell's ethos of an assets based approach to development. 📷 Was great to visit the New Ebu team on Monday - September Spot Team of the Month! #ourcollectivefuture #communityleadership

We believe that the most effective way to deliver for people and communities across the UK, is to involve them in the research of issues that affect them and the design of the services for them. As we welcome a new mission-driven government that works towards national renewal, we're excited and hopeful to see participation and lived experience make an appearance on the agenda. We know how challenging it can be to engage people and communities that have been underserved for generations - but how transformative it can be when it succeeds. The Labour government manifesto proclaims "A new Britain, where wealth is created in every community. Where the golden opportunity of clean British power is harnessed for lower bills. Where our children are equipped with the skills to thrive in the future." TSIP would like to challenge the new government to deliver their manifesto in partnership with communities to truly understand how communities want to build their own wealth, to ensure those most affected by climate change and the cost of living crisis have a seat at the table, and to harness the incredible insight and creativity of our young people to design their own future. Bringing experts together with lived experience is key to setting a level playing field and unlocking effective and tangible change. This can only be achieved through expert participatory, inclusive approaches that support people and organisations to learn, develop, challenge power structures and drive equitable change. We look forward to working in cross-sector partnerships to help reimagine a fairer society. Learn more about our approach to participation here https://lnkd.in/e9eYpw9g #TSIP #Labour #SocialInnovation #Participation

📣New article out now and open access! 📣 I’m very happy to see my first peer-reviewed paper from my PhD published in Evaluation. Many thanks to my incredible supervisor and co-author Cameron Parsell for his ongoing support (in all arenas except LinkedIn)! This paper is concerned with our large systematic review sample of Australian charity evaluation reports. We draw on imprinting and institutional theories to examine how the norms surrounding evaluation have influenced the approaches we use, and how they shape the evaluation process. Theory driven evaluation in particular appears to have become imprinted on the field, but is itself embedded with managerial norms emulating from neo-liberal governance. We then explore how this may affect evaluation utility and service design for beneficiaries. https://lnkd.in/gbdVTcVJ