National nonprofit consultants share wisdom with Milwaukee organizations

Two nationally known nonprofit consultants David LaPiana, author and president of LaPiana Consulting and Leslie Crutchfield, author and senior adviser at FSG Social Impact Consultants, recently visited Milwaukee to share insights on challenges faced by the nonprofit community.
LaPiana was brought to Milwaukee by U.S. Bank, in partnership with the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee. LaPiana spoke directly to some of the adjustments nonprofit organizations will have to make as a result of five key challenges presented in society.
“His message applies to everyone,” said Barbara Markoff, community development officer at U.S. Bank. “The future is going to require all of us, U.S. Bank included, to work together to make sure the nonprofit community can survive and thrive. All of us, the entire community, benefits from the safety net of services that the nonprofit community provides here.”
La Piana is the author of The Nonprofit Strategy Revolution: Real Time Strategic Planning in a Rapid Response World (2008).
He targeted changes in the demographic of society, changes in technology and the availability and influence of personal networks as a result of that technology as two key challenges nonprofit organizations will need to adapt to. He points to an increase in shared leadership and deeper collaborations between organizations, for profit and nonprofit as ways to address some of those challenges. To see a video interview with LaPiana click here. To learn more about his research, download his paper from www.lapiana.org.
Easter Seals of Southeast Wisconsin played host to Crutchfield at its annual Thought Leaders Luncheon. Crutchfield addressed the concept of effective philanthropy and her book Do More Than Give: The 6 Practices of Donors who Change the World.
Crutchfield is a leading authority on effective philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and nonprofit leadership and management.
“Catalytic philanthropy is really just a term we use to describe philanthropy that goes beyond just writing a check and does more to get to the root of some of society’s biggest problems,” Crutchfield said. “The case studies in the book are really fascinating and range from some of the worlds biggest foundations and companies to some of the less well known philanthropists who have catalyzed change in their communities.”
According to Crutchfield, the standard notion of philanthropy in the world needs to change.
“Philanthropists have given billions of dollars to nonprofits in the U.S. alone,” Crutchfield said. “But if you look at some of the systemic problems our country faces, we’re a long way from eradicating them. Writing a check is one way to address a problem, but it isn’t enough to get catalytic change. We need to take an adaptive response and approach problems as if they don’t necessarily have a simple solution.”
To see a video interview with Crutchfield at the Easter Seals Thought Leaders Luncheon click here. For more information about the book, Do More Than Give visit www.domorethangivebook.com.