Category: Perspective

As we reach the midpoint of 2025, the political and legal environment is sending a clear signal to funders, nonprofits, and corporate social impact leaders: legal advocacy is no longer a side strategy—it’s central to protecting and advancing mission-critical work.  When we first explored legal advocacy in our 2017 series, “Stepping into the Fight: Philanthropy’s … Continued

The gaming industry is a powerful tool for social change, offering innovative solutions to pressing societal challenges like education, public health, and community engagement. By leveraging scalable, data-driven initiatives, games can revolutionize learning through simulations, drive behavioral change for wellness, and inspire meaningful action. For funders and partners, gaming presents a unique opportunity to support … Continued

In my recent discussion with Glenn Gillis, CEO of Sea Monster Games, which streamed on LinkedIn Live and Twitch, we discussed how games can effect positive change, on both a personal as well as global level. As someone with decades of experience in the social sector, I’ve always been intrigued by various ways to affect … Continued

Last month, I attended the American Evaluation Association’s (AEA) annual conference in Portland, Oregon. The event brought together evaluators, researchers, and practitioners from around the world to explore emerging topics and share innovative practices.  One of the most captivating themes of this year’s conference was the surge of interest in artificial intelligence (AI) as a … Continued

While we know that meaningfully including and centering the voices of stakeholders, partners, and community members in the evaluation process is crucial (and was in fact, the theme of the 2024 American Evaluation Association (AEA) Annual Conference), in practice, it can often prove challenging. Including non-evaluators can increase buy-in to evaluation processes, build evaluation capacity, … Continued

Sometimes, when it's hard to articulate your thoughts, art can be an excellent way to spark ideas. At the American Evaluation Association (AEA) 2024 Conference, I found myself wrestling with how to capture the conference's transformative spirit. After three unsuccessful attempts at writing this blog post about the future of evaluation, I decided to try … Continued

The policy landscape just shifted drastically- and the philanthropic sector is bracing for impact. Just one week after a pivotal general election, the Grantmakers in Health Annual Health Policy Exchange provided a timely forum for leaders from government, media, and philanthropy to grapple with the uncertainties that lie ahead. While much remains uncertain, what is … Continued

Centering communities in grantmaking isn’t just an ideal in today’s philanthropic world—it’s essential. Innovative funders recognize that true impact comes not from simply working in communities, but by partnering with them as active collaborators in shaping lasting change.  Community members bring invaluable lived experience to the table; their insights reveal challenges, opportunities, and cultural subtleties … Continued

I’ve spent the past year diving deeply into the world of gaming and social impact. Starting with a literature review, what I found offered me tantalizing evidence that games can and do affect aspects of change[1]. Research study after research study demonstrated that it can and does affect change – but these were research studies. … Continued

Ask any funder what they hope to accomplish, and the answer will likely be “lasting change”. But in the current ever-shifting policy environment, we must recognize that lasting change is increasingly difficult to come by.

The need for effective convenings has never been greater.  In our rapidly evolving social and political landscape, organizations are faced with an array of increasingly complex social problems that demand collaborative approaches leading to innovative solutions. Convenings—both in-person and virtual—have the unique potential to address these challenges by building trust, bridging divides, fostering teamwork, and … Continued

A Conversation with TCC Group’s Jared Raynor  Q: In 2020, you authored a pioneering report on understanding the value and effectiveness of convenings for the philanthropic and nonprofit sector, A Framework For the Effective Evaluation of Convenings. Why did you choose to focus on convenings, and which findings surprised you most? I was participating in … Continued

Most conference host cities offer attendees a convenient, welcoming, and unique environment and in that way, New Orleans, where we gathered with our social sector peers from June 2nd-June 5th didn’t disappoint with its extraordinary cuisine, music, culture, and charm. However, with their “equitable exchange with the city”, EPIP’s planners elevated things to another level … Continued

At TCC Group, we know how essential it is to support our philanthropic partners in deepening their accountability and trust with communities to sustain lasting impact. Last year, we shared how we designed a Community Listening Tour to accelerate community-driven approaches to ending the HIV epidemic in Puerto Rico, where historical harm has created a … Continued