Dr. Kimberly Harden

📣 ALAS Education Summit Session Alert: This session will provide insight from Portland Public Schools on how to overcome achievement gaps in underserved communities. https://lnkd.in/gRjEvX5h #EdLeadership

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Attention #California Social studies educators! 🌟 Does your school district provide a pathway for students to achieve the State Seal of Civic Engagement? Recognizing student leadership and excellence in civic engagement is crucial. If you're seeking a education partner to assist your school district's local implementation team, I'm here to help. Interested in introducing project-based learning to help your students earn the CA State Civic Seal? Reach out to learn more. Generation Citizen #CaliforniaEducators #CivicEngagement #ProjectBasedLearning 🎓🌱

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LEVEL UP YOUR NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT SKILLS! Fall 2024 semester of the Nonprofit Management Certificate course at Sonoma State University is now open for enrollment. Join live on Wednesday evenings, Sept. 11-Nov. 13, 2024. Fast-paced live-streamed course on fundamental concepts, best practices & hands-on skills-building, taught by diverse instructors and enriched by students’ experiences. Topics include: * Nonprofit Program Development * Legal Issues * Finance & Accounting * Fundraising (I teach the session on grantwriting) * Board Governance * Leadership -- & more! When you complete the course, you receive a Certificate of Nonprofit Management. https://lnkd.in/ggdECCGv Students rave about the course: * I was offered a higher starting salary after I told the hiring manager I’d just completed this course. * Thank you for leading an inspirational program for nonprofit leaders. It elevated my understanding of working in a nonprofit organization. * Having different instructors each week is refreshing and potent. * Great class for the fundamentals of nonprofit management.

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“Equity-centered design is the practice of involving diverse communities throughout planning and implementation, to allow their voices to impact solutions to the inequity at hand”. Too many leaders build programs without the input or perspectives of those for whom they are designing for. That’s okay if you want to build a stand alone program full of inequity, but when designing programs to advance equity, it requires that you build with people and not for people. Let’s normalize including employee voices, perspectives and ideas of all backgrounds, experiences, and levels at the “table”. It is a part of my practice and should be a part of yours too! https://lnkd.in/ehB7Dem5 #edi #programdesign #equity #equitydesign #inclusivedesign

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Advancement Leaders Must Have a Vision, Too. There are common threads to what advancement leaders say they need in a president if they are to be optimally effective. The president needs, they say: A compelling vision Concrete examples of how that vision could be advanced through private investment To listen to where donors are coming from and suggest where interests could converge To stay on task, like a candidate running for office To patiently and methodically build strategic partnerships, not just chase the occasional gift To create a culture of accountability and transparency to ensure private support is applied to the greatest strategic effect To work toward building a stronger community of shared purpose Okay, fair enough, but then listen to some of the most common frustrations expressed by those same advancement leaders, including the fact that much of the board, the executive team and many internal stakeholders have naive if not unrealistic expectations about fundraising. That means advancement leaders need to have a plan to build internal support with the same elements presidents must have if they are to build external support. Those elements are contrasted below. Yes, I know, you have too little time as it is but too much of your time is spent explaining how this business works in a reactive, defensive mode. Accept that these barriers and limitations will be found in just about every organization and develop a plan to build greater internal awareness, understanding and participation. Help internal stakeholders see that building partnerships will get the organization to a better place than chasing gifts. Show how all will benefit over time by with a deeper understanding of philanthropy and by working more collaboratively. Take advantage of all the information you have on LinkedIn. Forward posts from fellow practitioners that speak to the issues that you think are too little understood within, especially those that cite research that debunk myths and point to more adaptive practices. You, too, must understand that you are like a candidate running for office. You must have a message and stay on it. You must be visible in the right places and be viewed as a good listener trying to represent the will of the people. The president must tell the story of the organization's unique strengths and contributions, then cast a vision of how it can better serve society using the right blend of wow and how. You must tell the story of how the greatest support won by the organization has been achieved by attending to relationships over time and how by expanding and deepening those relationships your organization can build a more sustainable philanthropic culture. If you hire a consultant, hire one that will assist you in this task, not one who will nurse delusions, offer the same old products and services, and ply simplistic formulas thereby ensuring your team will be held to increasingly unrealistic expectations.

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Your organization cannot survive without the generosity of your donors. In this post, learn how donor engagement can help your organization retain donors and increase impact. #nonprofit #fundraising #donorengagement

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Excellent Advice from a case study of the The California Endowment in the The Chronicle of Philanthropy How to Pivot Toward People Power Embrace Messiness: Real community engagement often involves conflict and course corrections Listen and Adapt: Be ready to pivot based on community feedback. Build Local Power: Focus on strengthening local groups — not prescribing specific solutions. Broaden Your Scope: Be open to funding issues that may not seem directly related to your primary mission. Invest for the Long Haul: Long-term change requires sustained, multi-year support. Stay Transparent: Be open about mistakes and course corrections throughout the process.

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Navigating Election Uncertainty with Design Thinking in Nonprofits and Schools As we approach the election, it's clear that the outcome will stir a range of emotions—1/3 of us might be ecstatic, 1/3 indifferent, and another 1/3 potentially despondent. While we all hope for clear and unambiguous results for the sake of our country, we also need to prepare for the challenges that election uncertainty can bring to our organizations, particularly in schools and nonprofits. Uncertainty and unease can be one of the greatest challenges our organizations face during polarized times. It can impact team morale, and individual performance, influence public communications, and even disrupt programming and fundraising efforts, especially in schools and nonprofits. What are the biggest challenges you and your organizations are currently facing? I'd love to hear your thoughts. In this series, we’ll explore how design thinking can help organizations anticipate and respond to the needs of our teams, communities, and stakeholders in these uncertain times. We’ll dive into strategies for applying empathy, defining challenges, ideating responses, and prototyping solutions that might help us and our organizations as we navigate the next few days and maybe weeks. Taking action during uncertainty can be one of the biggest tools in our toolbox to mitigate unease for ourselves and set up our teams and organizations to navigate it with empathy and a human-centered approach. For schools needing resources now, I’m a huge fan of the work Leadership + Design has done around elections. https://lnkd.in/gUyGgXWt

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New Resource Alert! 📊 Digitunity’s latest report, "A Simple Guide for Conducting Nonprofit Evaluation for the Digital Equity Community", is here to help nonprofits strengthen their evaluation efforts. Co-authored by Dr. Amy Gonzales ( UC Santa Barbara), this guide draws on insights from 22 nonprofits actively involved in digital equity work. Download to discover practical tools to measure impact, build trust with funders, and make data-driven decisions for digital equity programs. https://lnkd.in/evPxwN88 #NonprofitEvaluation #DigitalEquityPrograms #NonprofitResources

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A special thanks to NPFX: The Nonprofit Fundraising Exchange for having me on the podcast to talk about the AFP Compensation and Benefits Study! Compensation is an important factor in retaining talented fundraising professionals, but there are also some other items organizations can do that benefit staff and boost organizational culture. Take a listen and let me know your thoughts!

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The wait is over! Jonathan Meagher-Zayas, MSW, MPA, CFRE, CDP, and I are thrilled to launch the RAISE Queer Leadership Program for nonprofit fundraising leaders! This program is designed specifically for LGBTQ+ nonprofit fundraising leaders. It is a one-of-a-kind program designed to advance your skills and develop you as a leader within your community and sector. So, what's part of this? ➡ A community of like-minded LGBTQ+ leaders looking to grow their leadership ➡ 11 group coaching sessions from January through June ➡ 2 one-on-one coaching sessions ➡ Tailored knowledge and tools to mobilize resources ➡ Creation of your personal growth plan The best part of this? It's all about using your unique skills and greatness to empower your success. While we often talk about authentic leadership, we don't dig into what that truly means enough. And for queer people, it has an even deeper meaning. If you have questions or want to learn more, please contact Jonathan or me. We're accepting applications on a rolling basis between now and December 15th. You can apply at the link below (it also has program cost and date info included). https://lnkd.in/e73c6uQJ Can't wait to have you join us! #leadership #fundraising #LGBTQIA #nonprofit

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I'd add that this is a chance to work with a fabulous team including Moriah Jacobs and Lucas Donavan-Lafuente--and a powerful and insightful leader, in Eva Hernandez! This is a great job focused on what's needed right now to solve big #environmental and #climate issues. That's because the big wins we need this decade require greater alignment, capacity, and influence, not just good policy ideas. In fact, across so many issues from climate to conservation, there are good ideas and plans that frame "what" we need to do. Too often what we don't have is the shared influence to translate ideas into action. Mosaic is focused on building the bigger coalitions, new voices, and shared tools essential to boost the collective power of environmental, climate and environmental justice advocates. If you want to be at the center of that critical work, there's no better job.

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Which leverage points are you currently using to support learning in philanthropy? Where else can you push to make that support stronger? Check out this Tool for Systems Change that Supports Learning in Foundations: https://lnkd.in/gcTyCPeR

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🎇At Capacity Builders, your nonprofit's mission is our organization's vision. 🎇 We aim to embrace, enforce, and expand your nonprofit's mission and reach through strategic planning in the development, fundraising, and analytical facets of your operations. With over 30 years in the nonprofit sector, our team of experts wants nothing more than to see your organization continue to make a positive impact in your community. Contact us today to learn what we can do to take your organization to the next level! >> NonProfitPros.org #nonprofit #consulting #nonprofitpros #nonprofitexcellence

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Many donors still are trying to understand how donor-advised funds work. Likewise, a lot of nonprofit leaders still are unsure the right way to work with donors who give through DAFs, much less the DAF providers themselves. In the latest Giving Ventures podcast, we tackle both sides of the equation. The podcast plays back a great webinar we hosted for non-profit leaders last week exploring how to use and work with DAF providers. Take a listen, whether you be a donor, non-profit CEO, or a fundraiser. You'll find something to help you!

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Leeze’s new blog is on system solutions to support minors experiencing homelessness and housing instability. Hint: they are all cross-system and/or multidisciplinary approaches that put the power back in the hands of youth themselves. These approaches all also accept referrals/clients under ALL definitions of homelessness including at risk and unstably housed populations. You can’t effectively serve minors if you’re excluding unstably housed youth and youth at risk of imminently losing their housing. We get asked all the time how to best support minors. Check it out 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

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