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Innovation

Pursuing Innovation in the Nonprofit World

October 3, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute

“Innovation’s something everyone is striving for, but nobody actually knows what it is.”

Darell Hammond
Chief executive, KaBoom

Grappling with what it means to be innovative in the nonprofit world is tough. But given the daunting issues charities tackle, there’s no choice but to try.

With this blog, we plan to dive in and take an expansive view of innovation. We’ll report on nonprofit groups that are taking bold, new approaches to solving social problems and look at organizations that have found better ways to run their operations.


The blog will explore what charities can learn from other disciplines, such as business, design, and the social sciences. We’ll highlight new forms of financing and what they mean for nonprofits, as well as the management issues leaders face as they try to encourage their employees’ creativity.

It’s going to be an exciting ride. And if you share your innovation stories, the challenges you’re confronting, and the ideas you want to learn more about, it’ll be even better.

To get started, take a look at what some of your nonprofit colleagues have to say about innovation. What would you add to the conversation?

About the Author

Features Editor

Nicole Wallace is features editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. She has written about innovation in the nonprofit world, charities’ use of data to improve their work and to boost fundraising, advanced technologies for social good, and hybrid efforts at the intersection of the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, such as social enterprise and impact investing.Nicole spearheaded the Chronicle’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast and reported from India on the role of philanthropy in rebuilding after the South Asian tsunami. She started at the Chronicle in 1996 as an editorial assistant compiling The Nonprofit Handbook.Before joining the Chronicle, Nicole worked at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs and served in the inaugural class of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps.A native of Columbia, Pa., she holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University.