Our dream for the sector in 2012
I think we can all agree that 2011 was a really hard year - for nonprofits, for community members and, as we’ve become fond of saying, to just be a human. The political and financial instability at home and across the world has made for lots of feelings of anxiety, leading many of us to reflect on our values and our work. It can be easy to focus on the negative aspects of life - complaining about how hard it is, wishing for the good ol’ days. But, really, that isn’t much of a strategy. We, at NPower, believe that the genius is in action forward. Of course, we don’t have all the answers. But we’re willing to contemplate this big question: What is our role in creating a thriving community? Read more...
I think we can all agree that 2011 was a really hard year - for nonprofits, for community members and, as we’ve become fond of saying, to just be a human. The political and financial instability at home and across the world has made for lots of feelings of anxiety, leading many of us to reflect on our values and our work. It can be easy to focus on the negative aspects of life - complaining about how hard it is, wishing for the good ol’ days. But, really, that isn’t much of a strategy. We, at NPower, believe that the genius is in action forward. Of course, we don’t have all the answers. But we’re willing to contemplate this big question: What is our role in creating a thriving community?
NPower had some great accomplishments in 2011 including the creation of our own technology theory of change, the development of our IT best practices models, significant expansion of our free community education resources, and some great momentum-building in our quest to position technology as a key driver for nonprofit capacity-building. It was hard work that we did on top of serving our 200+ clients and continuing to find ways to collaborate with our colleagues across the country. And yet, it was hard to feel content with last year when we continue to see so much suffering in our community.
We know this will be another hard financial year and that the economy will continue to affect our community. We know we won’t be able to buy our way out of the social challenges. But what we can do is attack 2012 with new vigor to create organizational efficiency and reimagine how we do our work. I’m convinced that disciplined operational processes and effective utilization of technology will create a deeper impact. Streamlining, eliminating duplication, and creating a more productive work environment for our nonprofit staffers will help us accelerate down the path to meet our missions.
Ever the optimist, I’m hopeful for 2012. Let’s not let a good crisis go to waste. Join me in dreaming big to find ways to insure that everyone in our community has a safe place to sleep, enough to eat, access to healthcare, equality, and lifelong learning.
- Alison Carl White
