Posted on Saturday, 12th December 2009 by chris wignall

What a great idea!!
Playpumps International has come up with a way for African villages to access desperately needed clean water by rigging a pump with a children’s merry-go-round. As the children laugh and play together they provide life-giving water for their entire community. The perfect photo op is so many ways. It even gathered support [...]

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Posted on Saturday, 12th December 2009 by chris wignall

Kiva has initiated something not far short of a true paradigm shift in donor relations; everyone else would be wise to pay close attention.
By taking a model with some similarities to traditional child sponsorship (as World Vision and Compassion are well reputed for) and taking full advantage of the immediacy of the internet, Kiva has [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 10th November 2009 by chris wignall

Microcredit loans such as those offered by Kiva are not the ultimate solution to all the world’s poverty issues.
As a new industry, microfinance has had some struggles and even when working well it really suits just a portion of the needy populations around the world. Some recent research has even suggested that the entire model [...]

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Posted on Monday, 9th November 2009 by chris wignall

A few weeks ago I posted an explanation that Catalyst is not a “Christian Foundation”. That has prompted some conversations both outside and within our organization.
Today I read an article from Dr. John Stackhouse that provided a well reasoned explanation of similar thinking. In part he writes:
I deliberately did not support the United Way Campaign [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 27th October 2009 by chris wignall

The stories we tell about people who receive the benefits of charity are very important. They are often a key part of what motivates us to give, they are the way we express progress, and they are the way we assure ourselves that what we are doing is really making a difference. But there is [...]

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Posted on Thursday, 15th October 2009 by chris wignall

Paul Polak, founder of one of our partners International Development Enterprises, is currently profiled in The Atlantic magazine as one of the 27 significant people who “who commit acts of moral and intellectual bravery by espousing unpopular or controversial positions.” His listing appears immediately below that of Barack Obama in the front page of the [...]

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Posted on Thursday, 21st May 2009 by chris wignall

A couple quick comments to non-profit leaders on how to get funding from Catalyst and most other foundations that I communicate with.
1. Don’t send me an uninvited, impersonal, and obviously form letter requesting funds. I will not respond positively. Take even a few minutes to give me a call or read some of our website [...]

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Posted on Thursday, 16th April 2009 by chris wignall

An interesting piece from the Stratford Social Innovation Review today that relates to some leaders I know, including myself not too many years ago. Here’s a taste:
Let me tell you about this guy I know. He’s a young, energetic nonprofit leader in his field and in his extensive volunteer work as well. We are about [...]

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Posted on Thursday, 9th April 2009 by chris wignall

How is the economic crisis impacting the world’s most vulnerable?
Our partners at Opportunity International have something to tell us about that.
Bottom line: More people are going to be desperate. With that despair comes a lot more potential for exploitation and evil, but those who are doing microfinance well are positioned to sustain and even increase [...]

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Posted on Tuesday, 3rd February 2009 by chris wignall

I am increasingly convinced that a key to crafting direction, for organizations as well as individuals, is to look into the past. With few (if any) exceptions what we will become at our best is rooted in things that have been true since our beginning.
When I work with individuals on figuring out their best context [...]

Tags: Partners, Vision
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