Nonprofit

Corona Insights employee Karla Raines

10/30/12

Seeing the light when setting strategy

A key task when engaging in strategic planning for any nonprofit is scanning the external environment. Our goal? To spot the signal. Why is the signal so darn difficult to see? Our sight is clouded by the details and drama of today. Too often we find executives and boards mistake near-term drama for tomorrow’s opportunity […]

By Karla RainesRead More

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10/10/12

“Feel Inside” Helps Cure Kids

This story has it all.  Cutting-edge market research with a hard-to-reach demographic. Strategic philanthropic success. And the perfect blend of hilarity, cuteness and pure musical talent. Introducing, “Feel Inside (and Stuff Like That)” by musical group Flight of the Conchords. How did this masterpiece come to be and why is it relevant? In August, a […]

By Meredith BadlerRead More

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10/4/12

Geena Davis loves research! (And you should, too.)

Growing up as (what I felt was) a too-tall girl with boring brown hair featuring accentuated gawkiness during my teen years, I tended to take note of famous women who fit a similar description (minus the gawky) – but made it work for themselves.  As such, I felt a sort of bond with women like […]

By Holly RussoRead More

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9/17/12

Power of the nonprofit brand

Successful nonprofits harness the power of "brand" to boost their individual identities while promoting social change.

By Meredith BadlerRead More

Corona Insights employee Karla Raines

8/27/12

The power of showing up

Several years ago I received one of the most meaningful compliments of my consulting career.  As we were wrapping up a long-term strategy consulting engagement, a nonprofit customer said to me, “Karla, one of the things I appreciate about you is that you show up.”  In essence, he said: You are present with us You care You speak up on our […]

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Corona Insights employee Karla Raines

8/20/12

The new era of commonalities

This summer, the Stanford Social Innovation Review released an article entitled “In Search of the Hybrid Ideal” by Julie Battilana, Matthew Lee, John Walker, and Cheryl Dorsey. In the article, the authors identify four challenges for nonprofits that seek to combine aspects of a classic charitable organization with features of a commercial enterprise.  While limitations to legal structure and financial markets create roadblocks, […]

By Karla RainesRead More

Corona Insights employee Karla Raines

8/13/12

Time to check in: How’s your strategy?

Every strategy is based upon a set of assumptions, some of which prove to be true and others false. Those assumptions play out real time, each and every day.  Now that you are half-way through the calendar year, you may find the need to reality check your current strategy.  At Corona, we define strategy as a coordinated series […]

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Corona Insights employee Karla Raines

8/7/12

Of the Higgs boson and lavender farms

I celebrated my 2nd annual birthday stay-cation with a trip to Palisade, Colorado.  The draw?  Their annual Lavender Festival and a day-long bus tour to five lavender growers.  While I learned about the different species of lavender and what it takes to grow lavender successfully on the semi-arid Western Slope, I learned much more about a group of enterprising […]

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7/27/12

Changemakers and the Synergistic Business Model

Recently, Karla posted an article on CausePlanet.org introducing that readership to Corona’s Synergistic Business Model™. You can read Karla’s article, “Naming and claiming the nonprofit business model,” on CausePlanet. Denise McMahan, Founder/Publisher of CausePlanet, provided the following commentary on this article and the Synergistic Business Model™ in relation to a new book by Beverly Schwartz […]

By Meredith BadlerRead More

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6/20/12

Synergistic Business Model on CausePlanet.org

Karla Raines has been on the forefront of shaping the nonprofit sector’s thinking about business models.  Check out her recent article on CausePlanet.org: “Naming and claiming the nonprofit business model.” While we’ve been using and promoting Corona Insights’ Synergistic Business Model™  for quite a while, it was exciting to see it on this widely used and […]

By Meredith BadlerRead More