Summer 2017 Digital Issue

Welcome to the Nonprofit Quarterly‘s 2017 Summer digital issue, “Nonprofit Graduation: Evolving from Risk Management to Risk Leadership.”

In this issue:

The Nonprofit Whisperer: From battling a stubborn grant writer’s “spray and pray” technique to facing the future after the loss of a beloved executive director—the Nonprofit Whisperer is here to give advice on all your organizational challenges
Sorting Risk and Uncertainty: This article discusses the different categories of risk nonprofits may face and how to lead in times of uncertainty
From Risk Management to Risk Leadership: A Governance Conversation with David O. Renz: It is not enough to manage risk; nor should nonprofits fear it. In fact, as David Renz explains, “The imperative here is to embrace risk leadership.”
The Exciting Embrace of Risk and Leadership: Thoughts for Today’s Activists: This article highlights thoughts on socialchange leadership, self-organization, and action learning from Margaret Wheatley’s new book Who Do We Choose to Be?: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity.
Social Entrepreneurship’s All-American Mind Trap: We insist on raising up the “bold individual” as the hero of entrepreneurial endeavor—yet, as the authors write, “the uncertainty of our world requires the many to envision solutions.” In the long run, the entrepreneurship of a collective rather than a single individual may have a better chance of producing sustainable and relevant impact.
Risk and Reward: Positioning Your Nonprofit for Sustained Impact: This article outlines Community Resource Exchange’s framework for risk leadership, geared toward nonprofits that wish to take a more intentional and strategic approach to risk.
Risk, Uncertainty, and Nonprofit Entrepreneurship: “What distinguishes entrepreneurship from other economic phenomena is the activity of bearing uncertainty,” writes the author in this article exploring the difference between risk and uncertainty, and how they come into play vis-à-vis nonprofit entrepreneurship
Board Responsibilities: The Basics: This article is a useful reminder of the points at which boards need to be consulted about actions being considered, and how their stewardship can be enhanced to the benefit of the organization, its mission, its clients, and the rules of nonprofit law.
A Media Theory of Movement Power: “There is no single ‘correct’ strategy for leveraging digital media into movement power. There is, however, a set of practices that, when properly instituted, helps activist organizations adapt to the rhythms of the digital age,” writes David Karpf in this discussion of activism in today’s media landscape, excerpted from the author’s new book Analytic Activism: Digital Listening and the New Political Strategy.
Investing in Policy and Advocacy: A Foundation Shares Lessons Learned: In 2012, the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky launched a six-year initiative addressing four broad health-policy areas. This article presents the foundation’s strategies and the challenges it faced during a time of a rapidly changing policy landscape.