The Future of Nonprofits: Innovate and Thrive in the Digital Age [Hardcover]

David J. Neff (Author), Randal C. Moss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2011

"The creaky wheels of the nonprofit industry are about to get the grease they need! The Future of Nonprofits combines twenty-first century innovations (social media, alternative currencies, digital channels) with enduring success strategies of the best nonprofits (hiring killer talent, structuring smart). Moreover, David and Randal lay out a formula for organizational innovation--the Holy Grail of the nonprofit world. This is the playbook every nonprofit soldier needs to make it in the Digital Age."
--Beth Kanter, coauthor of The Networked Nonprofit

"The Future of Nonprofits is a must-read for anyone looking to go beyond the status quo and instigate sustainable change in an organization. Moss and Neff translate decades of hard-earned experience into an action-oriented book. The rapid rate of change brought on by digital technology has rendered the word 'innovation' a broadly defined cliché. The Future of Nonprofits reclaims meaning for this word."
--Kevin Dugan, Director of Marketing, Empower MediaMarketing

"If you work in nonprofits, I believe that this is the book that will eventually be sitting atop your desk highlighted, underlined, and dog-eared. Fostering workplace innovation and creativity is a lofty goal that all of us in the nonprofit world desire, but few of us know the secret formula to achieve. The Future of Nonprofits provides that formula, and I'm excited to put it to use to help Best Friends achieve our mission of No More Homeless Pets."
--Gregory Castle, CEO, Best Friends Animal Society

The Future of Nonprofits helps organizations capitalize on internal innovation and predicting future trends to remake and reshape their culture, structure, and staff. By applying the strategies laid out in this book, nonprofit professionals of all levels can prepare their organizations to take advantage of future trends and develop innovative "internal entrepreneurs" that will grow revenue and drive their mission.

• Provides nonprofits with a comprehensive playbook on how to create a new, more flexible, innovative organization.
  
• Provides nonprofits a look at the future of fundraising and communications trends into 2016.
  
• Case studies highlight successes and failures.
  
• Highlights the power and strength of Social Media.
  
• Hightlights how to hire, train, manage and inspire "internal entrepreneurial" employees.
  
• Features actionable advice on creating an organization that is primed to grow and thrive in the immediate and long-term future.
  

This game-changing book reveals how every nonprofit can put technology, innovation and future trends to work to reach their mission and grow revenue.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Ever heard of an internal entrepreneur? You might know the type. They're kind of employee who pushes mercilessly towards the trends of the future. Often looked at as a little bit outside the mainstream, more often than not the decisions this internal entrepreneur makes on behalf of an organization pay off in spades.

So what makes an internal entrepreneur? How can you, as a nonprofit, create a culture that rewards innovation and doesn't shut it down?

The book "The Future of Nonprofits: Thrive and Innovate in the Digital Age"  helps organizations do those very things. Better predicting future trends helps to reshape culture, creating the kind of environment ripe for positive growth in this fast changing world we work in today.

Designed for nonprofit employees on all levels, the book will become a handbook for those interested in adapting in the modern world, not looking to be left behind.

The Future of Nonprofits helps organizations like yours capitalize on internal innovation. Innovative nonprofits are able to better predict future trends to remake and reshape their culture, structure, and staff to be a more nimble and lean. By applying the strategies laid out in this book, nonprofit professionals of all levels can prepare their organizations to take advantage of future trends  and develop innovative "internal entrepreneurs"  that will grow revenue and drive your mission.

David J. Neff and Randal C. Moss

From the Inside Flap

In 2009, a group in the United Kingdom did something extraordinary. They held a Tweetup (using Twitter to gather friends for a meeting) to support one of their favorite charities, Charity Water, a nonprofit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Globally, the Twestival raised more than $250,000, providing the funds needed to bring access to clean water to more than 17,000 people. Learn how your nonprofit can discover new revenue streams, improve your constituent relations and become an engine of innovation with The Future of Nonprofits: Innovate and Thrive in the Digital Age.

Providing both inspiration and tactical advice to nonprofit leaders, program managers, staff, philanthropists, foundations, and new media professionals, The Future of Nonprofits shows you how to remake and reshape your nonprofit's culture, structure, and staff to become a more modern, nimble, and lean organization. This comprehensive playbook demonstrates how to create and launch a new, more flexible, innovative organization that is better equipped to embrace and leverage today's digital technologies. Authors David J. Neff and Randal C. Moss share their decades of experience creating innovative digital marketing, community building, social media, fundraising, and developing engagement projects and programs for the American Cancer Society, the AIDS Research Alliance, Planet Cancer, United Way, and Goodwill, among many others, to provide you with the tools, skills, and knowledge to grow and drive your nonprofit's mission.

Neff and Moss offer a wealth of insights into their methodologies and the projects and programs that inspire them. They dispense practical and tactical advice on how to begin and sustain a culture of innovation, how innovation pays, and how to evaluate the impact of your innovation efforts. They also show you how to present and sell the concepts to your organization's leadership at both the field and board levels.

Rich with case studies and experience gained from the authors' real-life successes and failures, the book concludes with actionable, concrete advice on how to create an organization that is ready and primed to grow and thrive on innovative ideas that reap results.

Make the most of today's digital marketing opportunities with the help of The Future of Nonprofits.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (May 3, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470913355
• ISBN-13: 978-0470913352
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.9 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone involved in nonprofits April 19, 2011

By Dan Graham

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

A fantastic overview of the changing face of non profit management, structure, strategy and tactics. In addition to being a great read, full of inspiring ideas, the authors include ample resources, case studies and interviews to put practical tools into the hands of the readers. A must read for anyone working at or managing a non-profit. I particularly enjoyed reading about several distinctions drawn between running efficient business processes and creating an innovative nonprofit environment.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for building innovation into your organization May 3, 2011

By Clay Spinuzzi

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Full disclosure: I know David Neff. Actually, I'm pretty sure that at least 60% of Austin knows David Neff, who is one of the most gregarious people I've met. He's constantly on social media, he was named the 2009 AMA/AMAF Social Media Marketer of the Year, and he is famous for his annual Mustache and Bad Sweater Party. He's spoken to my classes once or twice. And he's very passionate about nonprofits.

So I was happy to hear that David had teamed up with Randal Moss, with whom he had worked at the American Cancer Society, to write a book on the future of nonprofits. The Future of Nonprofits is definitely worth reading - not just for those in the nonprofit sector, but for anyone who is interested in opening their organization's culture up to innovation. Neff and Moss take a strategic approach, illustrated with cases from their own work and interviews with innovation leaders at nonprofits.

The authors cover a lot of ground here: they define innovation, discuss how to measure it, discuss how to build it into the organization's culture, and describe upcoming social and technological trends that will impact it. They give us lots of resources, from basic processes to sample job descriptions to advice on how to set up an innovation "Skunkworks." Their cases, interviews with innovation leaders in the nonprofit sector, and other examples are all illuminating. And the writing style makes the book a page-turner.

Although the authors talk about strategy, future trends, and principles, they also cover nuts-and-bolts decisions and resources. The book's not just full of ideas; it also covers practical issues and gives plenty of guidance.

With lists that predict trends of the next five years, obviously parts of this book will have a short shelf life.... That just means you should buy it quickly. The other parts will age more gracefully, I think, and the book as a whole should be useful to nonprofits - but also to other organizations that prize high constituent engagement. If you're in the position to hire, innovate, or engage in your organization, consider picking it up. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm adding this book to my syllabus! July 14, 2011

By Alice Batt

Format:Hardcover

I first met David Neff at last fall's Texas Nonprofit Summit, where he gave a presentation on social media trends and the ways nonprofits can take advantage of them to promote their mission. The room was packed, and he rocked it. So when I heard he had co-written a book, I immediately added it to my "must-read" list. I'm glad I did.

David Neff and Randal Moss pick up where Dan Pallotta leaves off. In Uncharitable, Pallotta asked readers to think critically about the ways outdated ideologies and illogical assumptions restrain nonprofit productivity and effectiveness. Neff and Moss take up one of Pallotta's key claims--that nonprofits must be encouraged to innovate--and compellingly demonstrate how a culture of innovation can be achieved in the digital age.

The Future of Nonprofits is chock-full of interviews with nonprofit professionals and case studies that show how they applied technology in revolutionary, productive, profitable ways. While nonprofit professionals and volunteers are clearly the primary audience, academics who research and teach about nonprofits will be equally engaged. Neff and Moss recognize that digital tools are the latest in a long line of technologies that have fundamentally altered the structure of community, providing challenges but also new opportunities for fundraisers and PR teams. By discussing social media within this context, the authors are not just providing interesting background; they are helping readers see that all messages are rhetorically situated, that the choice of medium is critical, and that audiences who spend significant amounts of time online are best approached there.... Their approach allows readers to develop the necessary historical and critical perspective to recognize trends, anticipate change, and consider how nonprofits, by harnessing power of social media, can take advantage of both.

I'm certainly adding this book to the syllabus for my Writing for Nonprofits class! Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Does Wiley hire editors or copyeditors? September 27, 2011

By Heather Backman

Format:Hardcover

The book was fine, I suppose. But I had real difficulty focusing on the content because the presentation was so poor.

To begin with, the book was clearly not copyedited. There were often missing periods at the end of sentences, occasionally a partial sentence, misspellings and grammatical inaccuracies (incorrect use of "principle" vs. "principal", and in the last pages the incorrect use of "loose" instead of "lose"!). It's hard to take a book seriously when it's so unprofessionally presented.

Then, too, there were places where the writing was just poor - sentences repeating each other, very unclear phrasing, just plain awkward choices. It wasn't as bad as many books written by management types, where hundreds of pages of verbiage end up saying almost nothing, but it was not easy or pleasant to read.

Had the book had an editor and copyeditor, it would've been a lot easier for me to take it seriously. As it is, it feels like this was rushed out and treated carelessly - and if it's not even worth a quick edit, then why is it worth my reading it?