Brad Rourke’s Blog
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Join Me At The Democracy Imperative
Today I am giving a presentation for a group convened by the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. But since I’ve already written about them (more than once), I thought I would let you know instead about an exciting conference I will be presenting at later in July. It’s “No Better Time: Promising Opportunities in Deliberative…
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Are There Projects You Should Let Go?
How many projects are you working on that are off-mission or off-topic for you? Why don’t you kill them? Are there clients you should fire, foundations you should let go? Do it! Make room for something better.
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The New White House Office Of Public Engagement
President Obama made big news among the community engagement field when yesterday he announced the creation of the White House Office of Public Engagement. This is actually a re-tasking of the already-existing Office of Public Liaison, augmenting and building its role. The idea is to have a dedicated office at the highest level of government…
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Do Organizations Get A Failing Grade For Civic Engagement?
My good friend John Creighton has been working on an idea that outlines how civic life has changed fundamentally. Whereas we used to define civic engagement in terms of how citizens relate to institutions, there’s been a power shift away from that. The action is all happening as individuals relate to one another. That seems…
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Take My Strategic Planning Survey
I am working on a report on strategic planning in the nonprofit sector. I am actively seeking your help. Please take this survey on strategic planning for nonprofits. As some of my readers know, this is an area where I have worked for some time. Some people enjoy strategic planning, others don’t. I enjoy it and…
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On My Radar 5/8/09: They Knew
* They Knew * DC Buys Foreign Electric Cars * Journalist Slams Media Narcissism
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Social Innovators: Why It's Time To Move On
If you’re reading this, you may well be in the same field I am in. It goes by various names: civic engagement, deliberative democracy, dialogue, citizen participation, and more. The basic idea is that ordinary people have a lot more to say about self-rule than we often give them credit for. There are many of…
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On My Radar 5/7/09: Ring Ring, Neo
* Cell Explosion * NASA Back To Earth * Nick Cave Pens Gladiator II? __________ Here are the stories that interest me this morning, along with my take on why they may be of interest to philanthropy and nonprofit leaders. More cell-only households than landline-only. For the first time ever, according to a survey released…
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How To Review Programs: Head, Heart, Hands
To go along with yesterday’s article and video on three dimensions for reviewing documents, here is a way of looking at programs and program plans. You need to pay attention to head, heart, and hands. Heart: What is the overall intent of the program? Is it on target? Head: Do the plans make sense and…
Brad Rourke 