Posted on Friday, 2nd December 2011 by chris wignall

My job at Catalyst focuses on working with charity leaders to help them improve their organizations by raising the bar for leadership. Part of that means that I need to be able to figure out fairly quickly what I think about the leaders I work with. My assessment of their competence, character, and fit for [...]

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Posted on Monday, 29th August 2011 by chris wignall

I really like the idea of Management By Wandering Around popularized by Tom Peters. Recently I think I’ve stumbled across a corollary to that theory where I consult with leaders by going out with them for a run or walk. My friend Sven Walther coined the term “runsulting” to describe it. Much more than merely [...]

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Posted on Monday, 8th August 2011 by chris wignall

If wordpress is correct, this is my 200th post on this blog. My hope is that somewhere along the way there has been some value in it for those who read here, I know there has been value for me in the process of writing. Today, a glimpse behind the curtain. As Catalyst has grown [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 19th July 2011 by chris wignall

Two weeks ago I spent a few hours in a garbage dump outside the city of Sosua in the Dominican Republic helping illegal Haitian immigrants scavenge for recyclables, and food. I was there leading a group of young people who have been recipients of the Catalyst Award. Having been chosen for their demonstrated commitment to [...]

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Posted on Friday, 3rd June 2011 by chris wignall

It does no good to fill your aquarium with cute castles and sunken ships if you don’t feed your fish. A number of recent interactions have reminded me that many of our charities are being slowly starved by donors who are well-intentioned but ill-informed. As major donors we tend to give to specific projects, often [...]

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Posted on Monday, 30th May 2011 by chris wignall

I want to be good at what I do. Professionally this means I’ve spent a great deal of time exploring the fields of philanthropy and nonprofit leadership in an effort to understand best (and worst) practices. Being a good donor involves a lot more than the grants we issue, it relates more deeply to matters [...]

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Posted on Wednesday, 25th May 2011 by chris wignall

Catalyst’s uniqueness seems to be in our strong focus on leadership development as the area in which we seek to invest both our granting efforts, and our time and energy. Feedback from charities we interact with regularly affirms our strategy as helpful. Whether through funding or (formal and informal) consulting, we are becoming known for [...]

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Posted on Thursday, 28th April 2011 by chris wignall

My friend and colleague Mark Petersen posted some of his thoughts on partnership based largely on what he’s noticed while working on our shared Stronger Together 2011 project. Earlier this year we hosted a small conference for charities we work with called Gather. (Some of my thoughts on the event can be found here). The [...]

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Posted on Wednesday, 9th February 2011 by chris wignall

Today I read an article from Fast Company on how to decide if a conference is worth attending. I’m still in the review/recovery stage from our Catalyst Gather a couple weeks ago. It was the second time we’ve brought together leaders from many of the organizations we work with on an ongoing basis for some [...]

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Posted on Thursday, 23rd December 2010 by chris wignall

This is a time of year when rituals, traditions, and symbols are everywhere. Some represent family, others are seasonal or sacred. In fact, a lot of the things I do that make it feel like Christmas are meaningful in ways I can’t easily explain. Defining why it seems so wrong that my parents bought an [...]

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