Welcome to our first e-newsletter! This month’s newsletter gives you a sneak preview of the upcoming July issue that explores the identity of the nonprofit sector, its relationship to business and government and the implications for realizing your mission.

Click through to Paul Light’s article and let us know what you think makes the nonprofit sector unique! Look for a synthesis of your colleagues’ collective thinking in the Fall issue.

“Nonprofit-like” Tongue Twister, or Aspiration?
by Paul Light
Light urges us to begin to generate our own language to define higher performance rather than defaulting to the business and government sectors. Whatever the final list of strategies, operational goals, and core values, the debate over being nonprofit-like is long overdue.

Going Beyond Efficiency
by Peter Frumkin
Frumkin questions the wisdom of evaluating program effectiveness on the basis of cost-savings, rather than program quality and responsiveness to need. To successfully fundraise in the future, nonprofit leaders will need to move the performance conversation to the broader measures of program outcomes and impact and away from the narrow measures of efficiency.

The Magic of Dialogue — Transforming Conflict into Cooperation
by Daniel Yankelovich
There are two reasons to dialogue: strengthen personal relationships and problem solving. Yankelovich clarifies the difference between dialogue, debating, discussion, conversation and deliberation. He also makes a compelling case for dialogue as a path to public wisdom and as a means to create public policy. This book is getting high praise from staff. Our program director thinks it is conceptually very clear and is “making a significant contribution.” One of our trainers agreed with this comment but wished there was more “how to” information. The overall consensus is that this book is highly recommended.