Everything impacts everything in some way. This is an agreed upon concept, often referred to as system thinking, that is pretty basic to understand. And is often completely left behind in corporate philanthropy. When you somehow contribute to a community, or an organization, or an issue, that issue isn’t the only thing impacted. Tons of […]
You invest in the market, in local businesses, in your employees. But what about the community? So often, when we think about philanthropy, our minds go to charity. We are giving back to the community out of the kindness of our hearts. It feels good, it looks good, it’s the right thing to do. We […]
CRA stands for the Community Reinvestment Act. It requires that financial institutions commit a portion of their resources to underserved communities. Basically, financial institutions open branches, give loans, donate money, in communities that they normally wouldn’t, or they get a big fat fine (and plenty mess up still). It was designed to fight inequality in […]
So you’ve done your research and figured out that philanthropy can be a huge benefit to your company. You are ready to commit employee hours and expertise, your company product or service, and make a public commitment to community work. You are excited, your team is excited, you are ready to do this! I am […]
The general thought process behind corporate philanthropy is that philanthropy=charity=public relations=more business. Look at us, we built a house for a homeless family,collected canned food at Christmas, and gave $10,000 to the animal shelter, be our client, work for us, etc. Very few businesses think about the social and economic gain that results from actual […]
Johnathan Star talks about the future of nonprofits being VUCA. Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. This doesn’t sound very promising. But it’s true. When you talk to nonprofits or survey the nonprofit landscape, they are in survival mode. They are protective, frantic, and sometimes even hostile. This environment stifles change, rather than contribute to it. […]
Hi! My name is Abby, and I am the woman behind the curtain at Buckhouse Community Consulting (S/O to Hayley Johnston, my website/media/business lady, for creating the curtain). So many people ask me WHY I started this business since I am a social worker. “Shouldn’t I be working in nonprofits?” To be honest, when I […]