Five Quick Reads to Give Your Nonprofit a Midsummer Boost

A collection of resources to spur fresh thinking for nonprofits, federations, and foundations.

Reinvention, Relevance, Resets, Refreshes, and Renovation. These five “R”s represent a collection of resources to spur fresh thinking for nonprofits, federations, and foundations.

Reinvention: Explore our collection of insights about the unique strengths and challenges of federations and other nonprofit networks, and how they are responding — often through some variety of strategic reinvention.

Relevance: Gain new perspective on what relevance means for social sector organizations in The Art of Relevance, by museum director and participatory design expert Nina Simon. It’s flush with examples of how not only cultural institutions, but all nonprofits can open doors and touch more lives.

Resets: Be inspired again by Jim Canales’ 2014 article on foundation “resets,” identifying four areas where he encourages philanthropies to switch from their “default setting” to a new mindset. We think it bears revisiting as the sector continues to think through foundations’ role in driving social change.

Refresh: Take a moment for some mid-year reflection to consider your organizational structure and whether it could use a refresh, with this article from Scott Cotenoff. Remember, how you do the work is just as critical as what you do!

Renovation: Delve into “Renovation Nation,” The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Special Report on how three “legacy” organizations have retooled, rebooted, and given themselves a new lease on life.

Have you read something that you think should have been on this list? Add a sixth “R” and send us your Recommendations in the comments section below!