Briefing No. 44
What we’re reading
On the Greenwood Place Bedside Table
Fundable & Findable: The Brand-New Way to Fix Your Nonprofit Fundraising
Greenwood Place advisory board member Kevin L. Brown has just published this brilliant, practical book. We’ve had the privilege of both working with Kevin and reading a preview of his book - and it’s great - crammed full of insights gleaned from Kevin’s work with social entrepreneurs across the world.
How to have a serious disagreement with a friend
Simon Sinek on how the most powerful act of resistance in our polarised world might be talking with someone whose beliefs you find absurd.
ANTIqua et nova
AI is a wonderful and scary technology. It forces us to re-examine the big questions. What is intelligence, what is consciousness, what does it mean to be human. The Vatican has published a profound and - we thought - helpful paper on the relationship between AI and human intelligence.
FInland’s zero homelessness policy
Remember Covid? When lockdowns began, those of us in the UK saw people who had been living on the streets or in shelters housed in a matter of days. Finland had been working to achieve zero homelessness long before Covid with remarkable levels of success, and continues to do so today.
Wisdom in the age of information
“We live in a world awash with information, but we seem to face a growing scarcity of wisdom." Maria Popova believes it’s the storyteller’s role to interpret information and shape it into wisdom for the rest of us to share.
The mental health of small charity Ceos
We’ve seen a wave of senior leadership changes in the charities we work with over the past few years. And most of our partners are more robust, mid-sized organisations rather than “small charities”. Fair Collective surveyed 350 leaders in non-profits with an income under £1million - the results are worrying.
Project Resource Optimisation
In light of changes affecting nearly all USAID-funded work, a team of economists and experts in global development and humanitarian settings have come together to identify high-impact, cost-effective and shovel-ready humanitarian, health and development activities
2025 skoll awardees
Our friends at the Skoll Foundation have announced the amazing 2025 Skoll Awardees for Social Innovation (including one of Greenwood Place’s fabulous grantee partners). We’re delighted to see this group of high-performing, life-changing organisations.
And… Pathways to change
We’re starting to recruit participants for Pathways to Change - a year of highly interactive educational and community building opportunities where participating philanthropists will learn more about what it takes for everyone to have the chance to lead a healthy and productive life, no matter where they are born. If you’d like to find out more please let us know. A deep thank you to the Gates Foundation for making this possible.
HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
Greenwood Place provides philanthropy support, advice and execution for a small group of strategic philanthropists. We take an entrepreneurial approach to tackling tough social and environmental problems. We work closely with our clients to find the places where they can make the most difference, we support their learning and we partner with them to achieve real, lasting change.
The Greenwood is the place in Shakespeare's plays where characters go to grow, change and learn.