Posts in 'Nonprofit Capacity-Building'

conference room
Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Our Duty of Obedience

By Russell Johnson, President & CEO Several years ago, I served as board chair on a nonprofit organization that suddenly lost a major contract with our primary funder. Faced with a significant revenue loss supporting the overhead expenses of a large staff and facility, we had to make swift and...
dandelion in front of sunset
Thursday, April 2, 2020

Early lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

By Russell Johnson, President and CEO The Covid-19 pandemic caught the world by surprise. While epidemiologists created scenarios of how a pandemic might impact local communities, the reality of its length is just starting to sink in. Many of us are sheltering in place and practicing social...
A gardener wearing a hat and gloves bends down to plant seedlings in a raised bed. A fence and red barn are in the background.
Monday, April 1, 2019

Tackling food insecurity: Best practices from Bucks, Chesco, Delco and Montco

Chester County Food Bank manages raised bed gardens at Springton Manor Farm in Glenmoore, where volunteers help grow food specifically for the organization's constituents. Courtesy photo used in article. As we’ve explored this month , poverty is unexpectedly present in Philly’s suburban counties —...
Multi colored graphic
Thursday, March 28, 2019

HealthSpark pens article for Phila. Social Innovations Journal on the Resiliency Initiative

The Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal released its 54th issue, which includes an article written by Tamela and Russ entitled, "Mending a Frayed Net: HealthSpark Foundation's Safety Net Resiliency Initiative." The article, copied below, can be found on the Social Innovation's Journal's website...
A man in front of a wood panel, in glasses, a white shirt and gray knit sweater
Tuesday, March 19, 2019

HealthSpark welcomes John Ramirez, Jr. as its Controller

We are pleased to welcome and introduce John Ramirez, Jr. to our foundation staff. John joined HealthSpark in mid-January as the new Controller. In this role, John will have overall responsibility for financial planning, management, oversight and reporting for HealthSpark. John comes to the...
woman in blue suit smiling

System Leadership Capacity Building Program

Today's nonprofits require leaders who are more than managers - they need to be boundary-spanners, innovators, and collaborators to meet today's challenges. However, traditional leadership programs often neglect the unique skills necessary to position one's nonprofit for success in a systems change environment.

In 2021, HealthSpark Foundation supported the development of the Racial Equity Learning Community in partnership with the Bucks-Mont Collaborative, TriCounty Community Network, and Interagency Council of Norristown.

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Food Pantry Financial Management Toolkit (2018)

We commissioned Bee, Bergvall & Co. to create this toolkit to help food pantries better manage their finances and learn how to use their financial reports in planning. This updated toolkit builds upon two previous financial management toolkits – one for standalone pantries and one for faith-based...
Equation, 1+1=3

Beyond Grants

Foundations are known for providing funding to support organizations and projects. We support other activities that can have a multiplier effect on our grants:

Pantry advocacy volunterr toolkit covers
Tuesday, June 26, 2018

New Food Pantry Advocacy and Volunteer Management Toolkits

Philabundance recently created two toolkits for food pantries and other organizations in the emergency food system: advocacy and volunteer management.
Jeff Olivet, senior advisor to the Center for Social Innovation shows data on the impact of homelessness on African American, Latino and white communities. Photo by Tamela Luce.
Thursday, June 14, 2018

A focus on equity for the 6th annual your way home summit

“If we can figure out how to solve homelessness for a young, black trans woman, we can solve it for everyone else.” Jeff Olivet, a nationally recognized expert in homelessness, behavioral and public health and senior advisor to the Center for Social Innovation delivered the above quote at the 6th...