This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. As donors move into the climate space for the first time, the options can be overwhelming. The climate landscape is exceedingly technical and multifaceted, with myriad possible solutions vying for…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. The challenges that nonprofits take on — hunger, disease, climate change, armed conflict, racial injustice, gender inequality, and human rights abuses, to list just a few — are amongst the…
The 2021 Frontiers of Social Innovation Conference: “People, Power, Resources: Enacting an Equitable Future” featured senior leaders of nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, academia, business, and government addressing how the social innovation community can…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. Much has been written about the impact and significance of leading edge, equity-based practices in philanthropy, such as trust-based philanthropy principles, sharing power through participatory decision-making, getting proximate to community,…
Since Hillary Clinton’s spearheading of what she called a “gender data revolution” in 2014, numerous initiatives have been launched to generate more and better data on the lives of women and girls.…
This article originally appeared on Blackbaud’s ENGAGE blog. I have been on this quest for some time, sharing the message that there is no bad grant.But like a band … Continued…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. There’s no lack of visual models for organizing people to get stuff done. Bottom up (think: pyramid). Top down (inverted pyramid). Groundswell (maybe the image of an ocean comes to…
The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project plays a key part in the Fluxx mission, and we hope to see this kind of work employed more often.
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. In January 2022, more than 500 people across philanthropy joined us for a webinar exploring the question, “What does a more equitable and trust-based approach to learning and evaluation look…
Annie Grier , Feedback Labs | March 24, 2023 Is it possible to have human-led conversations at scale? Katikati is a remote community feedback and engagement tool that allows for “configurable conversational journeys”. Born out of humanitarian work with UNICEF, Oxfam, and the Red Cross, Katikati’s software focuses on relationship-centered design with a new stance to machine assistance technologies, allowing users to connect live with human-led conversations at scale, creating conversational journeys in a technological platform. Arnav Kapur of Katikati led an interactive session with LabStorm participants in attendees engaged in a real-time demonstration of the tool, seeing how the platform looks to both end-users and the staff behind the scenes. Participants provided feedback on key questions such as how to navigate the challenges of utilizing the platform as the user base grows and how to improve two-way conversational tools to receive and respond to feedback rather than one-way standard surveys. The group discussed how to make semi-automated conversations “personal”, how to prioritize conversations for response time, and how to make the platform customizable to serve the varied purposes for which organizations desire to use the platform to engage with those at the heart of their work. At the events conclusion, Katikati reflected on key takeaways such as lessons learned from other citizen engagement tools such as automating as much of the platform as possible in order to reserve the human engagement (and bandwidth) for responses to sensitive or nuanced topics and creating a few pre-designed options for organizations to use (with some suggested pre-populated questions and responses) instead of an entirely customizable platform. Also, participants discussed strategies for furthering trust through anonymity such as programming key words in user responses to be flagged for human-led conversation (instead of automated responses), a “pop-up” window that explains with whom responses are shared and how responses are used in the feedback process, and opportunities to opt in/out or have a consent checkbox. Lastly, participants discussed ways to increase organizational uptake of the platform to improve their own listening practices. Learn More About LabStorms LabStorms are collaborative problem-solving sessions designed to help organizations tackle feedback-related challenges or share what’s working well in their practice. Presenters leave the experience with honest, actionable feedback and suggestions to improve their feedback processes and tools. To learn more about participating in a virtual LabStorm, please visit feedbacklabs.org/labstorms.
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. Most white leaders in philanthropy, including myself, know that systems in the U.S. have been built to yield inequitable outcomes, especially along racial lines. We know that philanthropy exists because…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. In mission-driven circles, systems-change work—which is focused on the root causes of problems—is sometimes treated like an unattainable dream. Excitement grips hold every few years about a promising pathway, only…