Join the Conversation
Here is a bit of what’s on our minds. We’d love to know what’s on yours!
Should SVP Encourage Competition or Collaboration? Part II
About a year ago, as I wrote about Collective Impact, I raised the question of whether SVP was encouraging competition or collaboration. Where are we now?
Occupy the Crib
SVP's Spring Meeting is just around the corner, and we're delighted to introduce some of our featured speakers! First up, Executive Director, Mark Holloway discusses why SVP Portland has gone all in for early learning.
6 Reasons to Come to the SVP Reunion!
Busy next week? No? Good! Because our SVP Partner Reunion is next Tuesday, and we wouldn't want you to miss it.
Circling Back
Someone on staff had the “audacity” to suggest that maybe we should circle back on some of the blog posts over the last few years that have addressed topics like the need for more cross-silo / connected philanthropy, whether SVP should encourage more competition or collaboration, and some of the daunting challenges involved in taking a “hyper-collaborative” approach and talk about where SVP is today.
Social Innovation Fast Pitch 2012 Begins Today!
Today, local social businesses and nonprofits have the opportunity to take their organizations to the next level. After a successful year in 2010, Social Innovation Fast Pitch is back again - this time, with even more capacity building, mentorship, pitch clinics, and opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals. There are plenty of ways to get involved, both as an applicant and non-applicant, so check out the options and sign up!
Being a Nonprofit with Balls, Part 2
Two weeks ago I had lunch with Luke, whom you may recall from “Being a Nonprofit with Balls.” Luke had come to VFA a couple of months ago asking us to rally 15 to 20 community members for a focus group. I had just woken up from my daily ED power nap and was kind of groggy and in no mood to be accommodating, so we got into a fistfight.
No Diva's Here
This isn’t the post I intended to publish. My original post was a list of do’s and don’ts for fundraising event organizers. Maybe I’ve attended too many events. Maybe I’m still a little scarred from the last crowded, overly long, poorly catered event I attended. The post was a rant. A pretty angry one.
Special Event Planning: About as much fun as 19 consecutive root canals
For the past eight months or so, VFA has been hatching one of our baby turtles, the annual event. I am not an event planner. In fact, I and other Executive Directors find the process of planning a special event so horribly painful that the Department of Homeland Security should consider using it as an interrogation method: “So, you refuse to talk, huh? Well, let’s see how defiant you are after serving six months on an annual dinner planning committee!”
Generation STEM & Women in Technology
STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) careers pay more on average than other careers yet even with unemployment what it is we are not producing enough graduates in the United States to fill all of the available STEM jobs in the US.
The Staff 360, an Instrument of Pain and Enlightenment
About once a quarter, the VFA staff conducts what we call a “Staff 360,” a time dedicated for team members to give each other feedback in 8-minute one-on-one meetings. It’s like speed dating, but instead of talking about how much you love Modern Family, you give and receive constructive feedback that will help improve team dynamics and, more importantly, prevent people from hogging the entire bag of Tim’s Cascade jalapeno-flavored potato chips.
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