News and Views
On January 30, GivingWorks consultant Allison Schwartz spoke on an alumni panel to a group of students from the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy on careers in consulting. Among the panelists - which also included consultants from IBM, ICF International and Avalere Health - Allison represented the unique perspective of consulting with a small, niche firm serving exclusively social sector clients. Allison spoke to the complexities of consulting for public benefit organizations, where social impact rather than the bottom line is the true measure of success. Attendees asked a range of practical questions from work-life balance, managing client relations, required skills, and "standing out" as an applicant. A Ford School graduate herself, Allison shared insights into how her experiences and coursework prepared her for a position in consulting, and offered her perspectives on the skills necessary to succeed in the field.
On January 19, UNICEF released an update on the organizational improvements within UNICEF to address the strategic shifts recommended by GivingWorks' Organizational Review. The report describes the progress made in 2008 and ongoing efforts expected in 2009 on several key improvement initiatives, including: accountability; dynamic programming approaches; enterprise risk management; global framework for collaborative relationships and partnerships; internal communication initiative; knowledge and content management; organizational performance management; talent and leadership development and management; business process improvement and the single Enterprise Resource Planning (One ERP) software application system ("the One ERP").
According to the report, "One year into the organizational improvement process, the initiatives have taken significant steps towards sharpening UNICEF's strategic focus. These improvement initiatives continue to move forward in reshaping organizational policies, practices and procedures to more effectively and efficiently achieve results for children. As the initiatives enter into more substantive phases of development and as concrete organizational improvements are identified for implementation, these efforts will have an impact on the design, structure, and content of UNICEF's programmes of support, enhancing opportunities to sustain positive outcomes for children."
This report will be presented at the February 4-6 session of UNICEF's Executive Board.
On October 24, Nazir Ahmad was invited back to speak at and moderate Giving Circles Network's (GCN) second annual conference. GCN is a non-profit organization that "seeks to assist Giving Circles and other individual donors in making their contributions more meaningful." According to GCN, this day-long event brought together a "national gathering of Giving Circles, with representation from the West Coast (State of Washington), Midwest (Michigan), Southwest (Texas), Northeast/Mid Atlantic region (New York, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC), and Southeast (Florida and South Carolina).
According GCN, "Nazir Ahmad, President of GivingWorks, Inc. framed the discussion in global terms, noting that we are in one of the deepest recessions (and only in the beginning of that) as a redefinition of the global order and of our own government is occurring. There is a confluence of social and economic challenges, with significantly less resources available, resulting in weaknesses in our social infrastructure. We are faced with finding solutions inside a new phenomenon called the "global grassroots", which is small and intimate but which is not as dependent on one given locale as in the past with our interdependent communities and countries. Thus, there is a profound shift in the way we must respond locally within Giving Circles, given the rise of global technologies, the diasporas, human rights, and environmental and economic factors, including food shortages. This reality -- of needing to keep the global factors in mind when working locally -- is at the same time both liberating and more challenging for Giving Circles.
One of the roles that Giving Circles can do is build communities as well as move away from the concept of "charity" to one of "partnership" in our grantor/grantee relationships. We are moving away from individual donors to "co-investors towards a common vision", both as a group of givers and in partnership with the grantees we support, who are catalysts for innovation in our communities. We need to do more with less as well as find more effective solutions in accountability, impact and social change. Accountability needs to be less about the "contract and obligation" and more about "vision, responsiveness and trust." It is as much about sweat as money, drawing the relationship between intention and results in social change, promoting risk taking and learning, and achieving impact. Giving Circles need to look beyond "palliative care" to rebuilding our social fabric through systemic change. As a social movement of change, Giving Circles need to pool not only their resources and decisions inside each circle but also pool themselves as organizations, access "idea banks" for Giving Circles (such as is available through the GCN website), and leverage knowledge and resources for the greater good across the U.S. and the world."
For more information on GCN's conference,
click here...
On May 25, GivingWorks released its findings for the global UNICEF Organizational Review. The year-long assessment and analysis produced a set of recommendations designed to enhance the organization's strategic coherence, position it to drive systemic change for children, and build readiness to capitalize on external trends and opportunities. The recommendations were organized into five broader key shifts, each of which included a set of specific and actionable recommendations. The five strategic shifts emphasized:
- Sharpening program focus, formulation and strategy
- Realigning structures and systems to deliver quality results
- Positioning UNICEF as the global knowledge leader for children
- Enhance partnerships for resources and results
- Managing for performance
The GivingWorks report was the topic of a lively substantive meeting of the UNICEF Executive Board during its annual session in June 2007. "A key message from the review was the need for a more flexible and responsive organization that was fully equipped to carry out its mandate in an ever-changing environment. Overall, the national delegations said that the consultant's report provided a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and opportunities facing UNICEF, and commended UNICEF for making this effort to strengthen the organization. Some delegations emphasized the importance of the UNICEF role in strengthening national ownership and supporting the Millennium Development Goals." (Official Records of the UN Economic & Social Council, 2007)
Read GivingWorks' Organizational Review report
Watch a 2006 update of progress on the Organizational Review
On February 3, Nazir Ahmad was invited to speak on issues and trends in philanthropy at Giving Circles Network (GCN)'s first annual networking event held in the Washington, DC metro area. GCN is a non-profit organization that "seeks to assist Giving Circles and other individual donors in making their contributions more meaningful." The networking event provided a platform for learning, collaboration, and the exchange of information, resources and techniques. The event was attended by almost 30 participants from 11 organizations across 3 states and the District of Columbia, including multiple Giving Circles, the New Ventures in Philanthropy, GCN, individuals interested in forming new Giving Circles, and representatives from GivingWorks and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Nazir's spoke to several key issues and trends in philanthropy, including:
- The enormity of philanthropic giving, particularly from living individuals
- Increasing focus on performance
- Active versus passive philanthropic engagement, with more personalized involvement of donors
- Emergence of philanthropy as networking activity with email and internet connection
- Increased innovation and diversification in giving
- Decline of faith-based giving via religious organizations
- Existence of "many micros leading to macro change," but concerns by some with an interest in giving over where to start and how to produce the right results
Drawing on these trends and his insights and experiences in the world of philanthropy, Nazir offered several ideas for Giving Circles to help connect "giving need" to "giving judgment." Specifically, his comments emphasized the need to:
- Develop the tools and practices to engage in a higher quality of giving
- Bring to Giving Circle members other issues that may not touch the group directly to avoid becoming "self referential"
- Move the Giving Circle from "episodic choices" to "sustained choices" through connections with other Giving Circles
- Take advantage of the range of available technology to connect with people from disparate places
- Through Giving Circles, take giving from a "solo activity" to a "social activity" not only in terms of philanthropy but also the role we play in socially
As part of the Global Organizational Review of UNICEF, GivingWorks conducted a scenario workshop that brought together senior leaders from across UNICEF and external experts on children's issues drawn from the World Bank, international NGOs, and academia. The group explored how social, economic, demographic, environmental, political, and technological trends might impact children over the next 20-30 years. They considered three markedly different plausible future states of the world and the implications of each for children. GivingWorks facilitated a discussion on how UNICEF and other influential organizations might retool themselves to effectively address both new and persistent children's issues.
The Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS) - the nation's single largest grantmaker for museums and libraries - has released a report prepared by GivingWorks outlining the strategic challenges and opportunities facing African American museums nationwide. The release of African American History & Culture in Museums: Strategic Crossroads and New Opportunities dovetails the appointment of Lonnie Bunch as the director of the future National Museum of African American History and Culture of the Smithsonian Institution. The report also complements the President's request to Congress to appropriate funds to launch an IMLS program to strengthen African American museums across the country.
Note: This exercise provided impetus for a new IMLS national grants program to advance the value of museums and libraries as critical resources for a nation of learners. Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (AAHC) are intended to build institutional capacity in the African American museum community. The program provides opportunities for staffs of African American museums to gain knowledge and abilities in the areas of management, operations, programming, collections care, and other museum skills identified as high priorities by applicants. It provides an opportunity for African American museums to design projects that will enhance institutional capacity and sustainability by utilizing professional training, technical assistance, internships, outside expertise, and other tools.
GivingWorks president Nazir Ahmad was invited to speak on a panel at the 2005 Social Enterprise Conference presented by Harvard Business School and John F. Kennedy School of Government. The panel, Applying Private Sector Tools, brought together cutting edge innovators to discuss how private sector tools could be adapted to serve social sector organizations. Joining Mr. Ahmad on the panel were Ellen Kaplan, a pioneer in the application of the Balanced Scorecard, and Jason Saul, founder and CEO of B2PCommerce Corps, a company tailoring software to the needs of nonprofits. The discussion was moderated by Fernande Raine, executive director of Harvard's Carr Center for Human Rights and a former executive with Ashoka.
Panelists were asked to discuss the topic from their respective expertise in refining mission (Kaplan), developing and implementing strategy (Ahmad) and supporting software tool implementation (Saul). After general discussion, Mr. Ahmad provided a quick overview of several tools that GivingWorks uses with clients to inform fundamental strategic choices. Using a causal map developed by GivingWorks, Mr. Ahmad illustrated that social sector goals were far more complex than those faced by most private entities. He further showed that the resolution of difficult social problems required both an understanding of how "non-linear" causality plays out across complex systems and an appreciation of how such systems evolve over time.
The engaged audience asked many questions about using tools and the intersection between private sector and social sector organizations. A veteran of both worlds, Mr. Ahmad argued that both sectors could learn from and gain from each others' competencies and social capital. He then shared how for-profits could partner with non-profits to enter underserved markets in a socially valuable way. Questions continued to flow after the formal discussion ended. Later in the day, Nazir and colleague Yvonne Stone hosted a group lunch with students and practitioners. The focus of the second discussion extended beyond tools, and addressed how social sector organizations should establish priorities, define results, and link data and evidence to decision-making for greater impact.
GivingWorks Senior Consultant Paul Hashemi spoke on a panel on the consulting industry on December 3rd, 2004, to MBA students at Georgetown University. The panel, addressing the topic "Bringing Value to the Client," was comprised of professionals from McKinsey & Company, BearingPoint, Gartner Group, Fluor Corporation, Design Alliance, and GivingWorks. The hour-long discussion addressed how each of the firms approaches the task of building client value.
The large and spirited audience asked questions ranging from the role of internal research and development to the ways that success is measured. Representing the only company on the panel exclusively focused on social impact, Paul highlighted the flexibility and customer service ethic required to serve clients effectively. One questioner asked how a small firm can compete with the larger "body shops" that can draw on expertise from across a vast pool of consultants, often including former employees of the client organization. "We don't compete with the body shops," he replied. "Our clients tend to be leaders in their own fields. They do not hire us because we have more in-depth knowledge of their field than they do. They hire us because they are looking for fresh perspectives and new and creative solutions. We have found that by demonstrating our value as informed, independent outsiders, we have been able to help clients looking for breakthrough change." Paul also indicated that the firm maintains a steady focus on social impact in all its assignments. "Our ultimate measure of success is how much we have helped our clients maximize their social impact. If they can make improvements - and have positive effects on others - then we know we've served them well."
On July 13, 2004, His Excellency, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra presented Thailand's Millennium Development Goals Report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Secretary General welcomed the report, saying, "Thailand is to be commended for setting ambitious MDG-Plus targets, going well beyond those agreed internationally." Prime Minister Thaksin expressed the hope that the Thai endeavor "can serve as an example of how the MDG framework can be adapted and applied in a middle-income country." By extending and expanding the MDG targets to ensure that the benefits of sustainable development reach all parts of the country, Thailand has, indeed, emerged as such a model. It has been our privilege to assist with this effort since its inception.
In 2002, GivingWorks was invited to design and facilitate a workshop on the MDGs sponsored by the National Economic & Social Development Bank (NESDB) and the World Bank Office in Bangkok. GivingWorks president Nazir Ahmad presented our MDG-Plus methodology at this workshop attended by senior officials of multiple ministries as well as international agencies. (Download the Report: August 2002 MDG Workshop Report for Thailand.) Following the workshop, GivingWorks was engaged by NESDB to serve as the international consultants for the preparation of its national report on the Millennium Development Goals. GivingWorks' role was to provide independent advice to NESDB on the design and formulation of the analysis, to review and revise the drafts, and to help ensure that the benefit of global best practices was embedded in the Thai MDG Report.
It was our honor to assist and advise such a talented confluence of government planners, local experts, and international agencies in producing this landmark report.
On February 24, 2004, GivingWorks hosted its first Winter Leadership Workshop. Participants represented a diverse group of organizations, including local, national, and international nonprofits, private foundations, corporate foundations, and associations. GivingWorks President Nazir Ahmad started off the session with a discussion of the changing communications environment facing nonprofit and foundation leaders, driven by an emerging focus on results and enabled by dramatic advances in technology.
Workshop leader Lisa Baird then guided the participants through a tour of cutting-edge topics in branding, drawing on her experiences at IBM and her observations and experiences with the nonprofit sector. Jointly developed with GivingWorks staff, the workshop covered:
The structure of a well-managed brand, and the distinctions between social brands and commercial ones
The ways that branding and communications practices help drive the value networks of philanthropic and nonprofit organizations
Innovative ways that technology can create value for public-benefit organizations
We would like to thank all of our participants for their thoughtful and enthusiastic contributions, and our speaker, Lisa Baird, for sharing her insights and energy with us. The workshop validated some of the conceptual frameworks and practical tools that GivingWorks has developed to help our clients grapple with the role of communications and technology in philanthropy.
GivingWorks can provide a tailored version of this workshop for your organization. To learn more about our work at the intersection of branding and philanthropy, or to join our mailing list for future Leadership Workshops, please contact us.
Lisa Baird, Vice President responsible for Worldwide Integrated Marketing Communications at IBM Corporation, is a member of the GivingWorks Advisory Board.