One spiritual practice that I continue to learn about and grow into is the practice of gratitude and appreciation (I’ll be writing a lot about this topic). When we are in a state of appreciation we are transmitting some of the highest and most spiritual energy vibrations as possible. As appreciation elevates our own energy …

Mentors are a benefit for all parties involved and a GREAT case for KM in an organization.

Guest submission from Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, LLC. An Earlier Time When We Fantasized Heroic Leaders In the 1960s and ‘70s, many of us took part in “rap” sessions. Back then, rapping was a free-floating discussion, usually centered around utopian dreams of what society should be, but wasn’t. We lamented how corrupt “the establishment” …

You have sent out your news release. Now what? Get back to what you do best? Take a walk? Sit by the phone and wait? Most people who don’t have a public relations person in their company, or don’t use a PR advisor or agency often make the mistake of thinking that just because the …

Let’s take a quick look at a few companies’ policies and guidelines on employee use of social networking. The policy excerpts below offer highlights of their own in-house guidelines.

In case you haven’t yet been there and done that, applying for and accepting a grant is the equivalent of signing a contract – in some cases, there really is a contract. The process is that grantors publish parameters for projects/programs they will fund, and you request funding for a project/program that is within their …

Writing a business plan takes time. Using software can help organize your work and save you some time, especially if you haven’t written one before. Here’s a quick summary of what, from my experience, are the three best choices: Business Plan Pro by Palo Alto Software claims it’s the best selling business planning software for …

It used to be that there were essentially three choices: private, public, or nonprofit. Privately-held companies offer the most flexibility, without outside investors or the IRS constantly looking over your shoulders. A privately held social enterprise can choose to invest some of its profits into achieving social impact without anyone second-guessing those decisions. But if …

Far too often, organizations choose the wrong approach to strategic planning. As a result, strategic plans sit untouched on shelves and planners become even more cynical about goals-based or issues-based planning. This occurs especially with 1) new organizations, 2) organizations having many current issues, and 3) organizations having very limited resources. Here’s how to fix …

On which side of philanthropy’s great divide do you stand? More importantly, where do your donors and potential donors stand? The divide used to be less noticeable, but with the explosion of social media over the past five years, tweeting, blogging, and linking has brought the great divide to the forefront. On the one side …