Lessons From the Field: Best Nonprofit Leadership Style to Support Growth
Throughout my career, I have helped educate and inspire nonprofit organizations to maximize their potential. While working with these nonprofits, I’ve observed a few similar styles in leadership that may limit the nonprofit’s growth, as well as a best practice to strengthen the organization’s ability to fulfill its role in communities. My experience has shown me that a nonprofit’s value and growth trajectory is often linked to its commitment to maintaining a continuous connection to the voice of their communities to inform and shape their work with them. Common Nonprofit Leadership Styles: The Inspirational Leader: They know they have a …
RDF Lends Support to UnidosUS Affiliates
The pandemic has exacerbated longstanding issues for organizations serving under-resourced areas. In our commitment to our communities, the Raza Development Fund strives to support nonprofits through these challenges to come out stronger. As a support organization of UnidosUS, RDF has sought to fill this need during and beyond the pandemic. In May of 2020, RDF brought together a select pool of talent to support UnidosUS affiliates and launched the Affiliate Support Program (ASP) initiative – aimed at empowering affiliates to better understand their organizational dynamics (e.g., governance, program-service financial flows, information streams, and community positioning) and unique value proposition to …
The Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Attend the UnidosUS Conference in 2021 and How to Make the Most of It
As conferences go, there is none like the UnidosUS Conference in bringing together some of the best and brightest which have been working toward the betterment of Latino communities nationwide. This year’s virtual conference will be held July 26-27 and is focused on the theme “Rebuild, Renew, Reimagine,” viewing this tumultuous time as a moment of opportunity and innovation toward an even better future than we had previously imagined possible before the pandemic. Knowledge & Community Leadership For this event, UnidosUS is bringing some of the strongest and most knowledgeable voices to share in their experiences on some of the …
6 Key Concepts To Turn A Nonprofit Into A Social Impact Organization
Private companies are considered “for-profit” entities, which clearly outlines their purpose – making money for their shareholders by providing a service people will pay for in a marketplace. Their counterpart “not for profit” entities are more complex, serving multiple stakeholders and aligning themselves to community needs. Yet, their nonprofit label communicates what they are not and offers no clear definition or path for sustainability. Words are powerful and these connotations often result in demonstrating that nonprofit organizations are not on a level playing field. After all, would calling nonprofits “charitable” and for-profit organizations “uncharitable” work? Probably not. At Raza Development …
RDF Launches Community Enterprise Development Program
To read part one of this blog, click here. At Raza Development Fund we are playing a role in supporting Small Businesses and Nonprofits through these difficult times, keeping community central in our approach. In February, RDF quickly pivoted available resources and developed a program – COVID-19 Hope Fund – to provide immediate financial assistance to small businesses across several markets in partnership with UnidosUS affiliates, a network of community-based nonprofits focused on serving Latino and underserved communities. Simultaneously we began a pilot affiliate support program offering technical assistance to UnidosUS affiliates on the frontlines of the pandemic response. We …
Four Areas to Help Re-build Beyond the Pandemic
The nonprofit sector is facing its biggest challenge yet responding to a confluence of issues, including the pandemic, social justice, political unrest, and an economy on the brink of recession, hitting underserved communities they serve disproportionately. Most small businesses that began in and have become an integral part of their community face similar challenges. Having to close for periods, with reduced access to capital and needing to adapt to the ongoing crisis, small businesses, like their nonprofit counterparts, cannot merely “go online” or shift their operations in other ways that may allow them to survive. I believe in the community-based …