Blogs and Articles

Tips & Tools for Network Instigators: Fiscal Sponsorship

In this blog, the NNSI team untangles a new tip for network instigators: Fiscal Sponsorship. This tip, like all the “Tips & Tools for Network Instigators,” is straight out of  Michelle Shumate and Katherine R. Cooper’s book, Networks for Social Impact. Fiscal sponsorship is a resource management technique for new networks that allow networks to operate as a program of another organization, delaying the need for them to have their

Read More »

Tips & Tools for Network Instigators: Actor Mapping

In their book, Networks for Social Impact, Michelle Shumate and Katherine R. Cooper provide tips and tools on the best ways to set up a network. When creating a network, it is essential that all major actors–relevant leaders, organizations, and existing collaborations–are included in the network. If a critical actor is left out of the network, this results in 1) the duplication of service efforts by both the network and

Read More »

Tips & Tools for Network Instigators: Root Cause Analysis

“The only way to teach people how to truly do it and do it the right way, is to get those ingredients and kitchen tools in front of them and in their hands to use” – Wolfgang Puck Learning to design and manage networks for social impact effectively is a lot like learning. And one of the most important things in both cooking and in network leadership is using the

Read More »

Facts and Flux: An Updated Review of Active Referral Technologies

Referral technologies are a rapidly increasing and adapting addition to care operations in the United States. Not only are present technologies constantly updating and adapting their practices, but new platforms are implemented into the care continuum on an ongoing and rolling basis. In 2019, Yuri Cartier, Caroline Fichtenberg, and Laura Gottlieb produced a comprehensive review of the present nine primary community resource referral platforms in their publication, “Community Resource Referral

Read More »

The Future of Referral Data Metrics

Our last two blogs discussed the current state of referral metrics and the changes needed to optimize these metrics going forward. Now we will discuss the necessary data requirements for further improving the quality of care. While navigation systems track a breadth of data metrics, several untracked variables remain integral to the improvement of care. This blog advocates for three groups of outcome measures needed to assess the efficacy of

Read More »

#SystemsofCare: What Is Cultural Competence, and How Can We Use It to Battle Health Inequality?

By Brett Mayfield Health disparities in the United States continue to be an area of focus for many nonprofits. In 2021, NNSI Founder and Director Michelle Shumate focused on this area herself, partnering with leading researchers from renowned medical institutions, namely NNSI’s neighbor organization Northwestern Medicine. Following research1-3 that found that Hispanic medical patients “receive disproportionately fewer living donor kidney transplants (LDKTs) than non-Hispanic Whites” (Gordon et al., 2021), these

Read More »