Learning to "spiral up" in the nonprofit partnership space

I had the honor and pleasure to represent The Patterson Foundation recently at a convening hosted by La Piana Consulting, the Tides Foundation and the Foundation Center.

I came to the convening hungry for answers to vexing questions and left feeling enlightened and energized. You can read into this that my questions may not have been directly answered, but I am now connected to a whole bunch more peeps in this space!

The purpose of the convening was to share, learn and innovate among funders who support independent facilitators. The tenor of the conversation changed in the very beginning of the daylong gathering when Diana Bucco, CEO of The Forbes Funds, stated that the conversations aren’t about nonprofit mergers…..they are about creating energy to spiral up.

Talk about a seminal moment coming at you at a hundred miles an hour….this was it!

I don’t think Diana’s statement needs an explanation, but then again, I’m an insider.

What does spiral up mean to you?