The Continuing Evolution of Best Practices

Get out and Learn, a project of Tides Center.

As the nation's largest fiscal sponsor, Tides takes its leadership role seriously.  That’s why we have acted as the host of the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors for the past six years and why we’re proud to promote the newly developed Guidelines for Fiscal Sponsorship. Congratulations to Tides’ Jane Levikow, who serves as the chair of NNFS, and the other members of the NNFS steering committee who have contributed to this important milestone for...

Curious about Fiscal Sponsorship?

Fiscal sponsorship is practiced across the country in dynamic ways by dedicated organizations that believe social innovators should be more concerned with achieving their missions than with establishing and maintaining the administrative infrastructure of an organization.  Yet, as an emerging field, fiscal sponsorship can raise questions of regulatory compliance for funders and programs struggling to understand the true nature of the relationship between a fiscal...

The Power of Networks: Effecting Greater Impact in the Social Change Movement

There is a lot of talk in the air these days about networks. At a recent conference, activists discussed how the future of social change movement rests in how we network our individual efforts with one another to create more coordinated and unified action - examples of that power can be seen in the past weekend's successful efforts around Health Reform and the turn out for the Washington Immigration march. Today I'm part of a conversation with a few foundations at Monitor Institute about networks within philanthropy and...

Fiscal Sponsors = Fiscally Responsible

I know it probably sounds silly when I say that I'm passionate about fiscal sponsorship, but the truth is—I am! I care about how fiscally sponsored projects are treated and I care about how fiscal sponsors practice in the field. Mistakes made in the field affect all fiscal sponsors in very real ways, regardless if the errors are malicious or honest. As Tides' Intake Manager, I am often one of the first people an aggrieved project comes to for solace and guidance after it realizes it’s been cheated or mistreated by their...

View from Across the Pond: Nonprofit Space and Infrastructure in the UK

The NonProfit Center of Boston, developed by Third Sector New England

I traveled to London last month on behalf of Tides to speak at a conference. The conference focused on strategies for nonprofit capacity building and what "third sector" (the U.K. term for nonprofit) organizations could learn from international models. I represented the U.S.; other speakers hailed from New Zealand, Cyprus, and East Africa. The conference was sponsored by an organization called Capacity Builders, which ...

Shared Services Guide: Collaborative Solutions

As doing more with less has become the new normal for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes, budget-savvy nonprofits are wisely teaming up to share resources and services through innovative “shared services” programs.

Sharing workspaces, IT resources, administrative functions like accounting and human resources and other services through a shared services arrangement is a relatively easy – yet highly effective – way for nonprofits to increase their operational efficiencies,  lower their operating costs and...