This time of year giving by Americans is in the news and on our minds. Someone at every nonprofit eagerly awaits the mail in anticipation of generous responses to the end-of-year annual appeals that have been filling our personal email and snail-mail boxes in increasingly pointed ways. Requests to support nonprofits that protect the most vulnerable among us pull at our heartstrings as we look at the plenty around us and consider where to target our contributions to make the most difference. A gift to ESC makes it possible for ESC in turn to help over 100 nonprofits make their communities stronger and more resilient. For that reason, I sincerely hope that ESC is on your contributions list!

Companies large and small also look for ways to give back to the community. On Giving Tuesday this season, Eastern Bank chose to give back to ESC, becoming the first sponsor of our Nonprofit Executive RoundTable. I am overjoyed with this development as this sponsorship allows ESC to continue giving nonprofit leaders the support they need as they grow and sustain their organizations. We currently have two cohorts comprised of nonprofit CEO's from 10 organizations each and are proud to announce a third cohort! Interested parties can learn more here and apply.

I participate in the Nonprofit Executive RoundTable, sponsored by Eastern Bank, and find it tremendously helpful to address problems among my peers, leaders who strive for the best in their sector, and who embrace the opportunity for peer coaching and skill-building outside the office. As we come together month after month, our bond strengthens as does our capacity for change and we gain new insights on the world. In pursuing your journey, perhaps the quote below from Lauret Savoy, author of Trace: Memory, History, Race and the American Landscape  will help you as it has helped me:

"It is difficult yet crucial to cultivate the capacity to ask significant questions about our lives in a larger world and about lives not our own.  Deep relationship and commitment begin here, in trying to meet all people where they are, wherever they are.  Not where you think they are, or where you think they should be.  Key is acknowledging and honoring difference as enriching and at the same time finding, across divisions, common interest and common humanity.  By doing so we might begin to dismantle patterns of living in this country that fragment and exclude and allow one to believe you don't have to think about or care about some 'other'."  

With very best wishes of the season,
Julie Crockford, Executive Director
ESC of New England
What We're Reading
Each month we gather the best articles about the nonprofit sector. See what we enjoyed this month!

Nonprofit leaders may enjoy this article which outlines the best types of people to keep close as you guide your organization to success.

A researched-based look into why people give less or do not give at all and the steps to take to increase your own charitable giving.

That 95% of nonprofits reported pro bono service improved their effectiveness comes at no surprise to us at ESC - our consultants work pro bono to support and enrich the nonprofit community.

With 2016 coming to a close, look here for trends that may guide nonprofits' use of tech in the new year and beyond. Trends of note: decrease in social media and increase in email marketing.
Recent ESC Consulting Engagements

Children's Friend | Worcester, MA

Harborlight Nursery School | Beverly, MA

Family & Children's Service of Greater Lynn | Lynn, MA

Recent ESC Encore Fellowships

Children's Friend | Worcester, MA
Richard Walter, Information Security Specialist

Community Action, Inc. | Haverhill, MA
Gregory Betley, 
Business Analyst/Project Manager

EcoTarium  | Worcester, MA
Keith McCrone, 
Information Technology Management Fellow

Physician Health Services | Waltham, MA
Jaidev Dasgupta, 
Project Developer for "Managing Workplace Complexity" Project

Playworks Massachusetts | Boston, MA
Ann Barysh,  Gen2Gen Playworks Fellow
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