Michael Hickey

You may have seen my prior post on why the nonprofit sector is so tech averse. If you haven't read it you should, because my observations are fresh, keen, and […]

Everybody knows that if you want to restore integrity to your downtown business corridor or your local industrial park, if you want to create jobs and point your community toward the future of the workforce, or if you want to capture the hearts and minds of DIY makers and social entrepreneurs, you'd better have a […]

I was speaking with a friend of mine who works at a very large nonprofit organization (very large as in over $100 million in annual revenues). They serve thousands of clients every year with job development, alcohol and other drug abuse treatment, affordable housing, psychological counseling and a variety of other supports. As a result […]

It used to be that the idea of one nonprofit taking over another was simply anathema.  Nonprofits didn’t, you know, do that to one another. Mergers and acquisitions were the territory of national banks, energy companies and pharmaceutical giants with oversized ambitions and possibly malevolent intent. Nonprofits weren’t motivated by “creating efficiencies,” particularly at the […]

Domestic social impact investment is stuck. Each year a few deals trickle through, but despite the potential and promise, impact investments in the United States are rare, complex, and entirely […]

In the callow youth of the nonprofit sector, you needed two kinds of capital: (1) financial capital, because money does, after all, grease the wheels of change, and (2) social […]

Taking on a “fixer upper” means taking on the unexpected.  If you are a cultural organization seeking a home, there are real benefits to obtaining a space that needs a […]

Moving into a newly adapted space usually entails a leap in operations—not a slow, steady climb.

For many cultural organizations, buying a fixer-upper is a good strategy for acquiring a home at a reasonable price and turning it into something uniquely right for their needs.   […]

What do community development intermediaries do these days, and why do we need them?

When was the last time you sat down with your financial manager and the actually considered the various tranches of capital you would need?

There are wealthy people and institutions out there in the world right now who are willing to give your nonprofit a lot of money. As a matter of fact, that number appears to be growing.