By Jessica Mason, The Social Impact Studio

The power dynamic between funders and grantees is an issue that no foundation or nonprofit can escape. No matter the size of your organization, or your issue area, chances are you see how excellent relationships with your funders or grantees can magnify your impact. At the Independent Sector Conference this month, we will debut two ideas that we have prototyped to address this critical issue and offer conference attendees the opportunity to shape these potential solutions.

By Ann Hale, Anchorage Museum and Chair-elect of the Association of Fundraising Professionals

Fundraisers, like all professionals, have witnessed a sea change in their working environments over the past fifteen years. Socioeconomic, geopolitical, and geo-economic events have given rise to so many more vulnerable communities. All of them need help and most need it urgently – from a donor base that increasingly seeks to leverage their gifts to generate quantifiable impact. Add to that: emerging technologies, a tumultuous economy, an increasingly interconnected world, and the arrival of millennials in our workforce have created opportunities – and challenges – that require fundraisers to reinvent and re-commit to their jobs.

By Tim Bloechl, CyberDx

Ask any security professional what the biggest security threat to the network is and they and their own fellow employees are likely the answer phishing. Despite this consensus, many organizations accept their personnel may cause a malware outbreak and have instead focused their budget on other defensive techniques, rather than prevention through providing training to employees. Untrained employees can cost a nonprofit corporation or foundation substantially more money in the long run.

By Amber Cruz Mohring, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network

In this year’s election the Millennial and Gen X voters are once again key to determining the next leaders of our country. In fact, the Pew Research Center has said that this may be the last presidential election that Baby Boomers are the dominant voting population. Now more than ever emerging nonprofit and philanthropic leaders play a critical role in their organizations and their communities setting the agenda for change.

By MacArthur Antigua (Public Allies), Ben Duda (AmeriCorps Alums), Monisha Kapila (ProInspire), and Kerrien Suarez (Equity in the Center)

We believe that the nonprofit sector needs diverse leaders at all levels in order to better achieve organizational missions, as well as reflect the communities in which they work and serve. Currently there is a lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the nonprofit sector. We must come together to push the field forward and create change that is urgently needed.

By Tracy Boak, Esquire, Perlman & Perlman, LLP

Navigating the financial, compliance, and reporting requirements for charitable fundraising can be a daunting experience for charities and their fundraisers and sponsors. Currently, 45 states and the District of Columbia have statutes regulating charitable solicitation activity conducted within their borders. It is essential that charitable organizations and their advisors have a basic understanding of what constitutes a charitable solicitation and the extent to which the various entities are subject to the state’s charitable solicitation laws. Knowledge of the regulatory framework governing charitable solicitations will make it easier to identify compliance issues and prevent potential fines, penalties, and other consequences for the organization.

By Sally Schaeffer, Independent Sector

In a Q&A in the Huffington Post, Commissioner David Jeffrey with The Salvation Army asked Senators Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Tim Scott (R-SC) about how to “wage a smart war on poverty” in distressed communities across the country. It’s been 52 years since the declaration of the war on poverty by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and more than 43 million Americans still live in poverty. In response, Senators Booker and Scott unveiled a bipartisan plan called the Investing in Opportunity Act. In the Q&A, Senator Booker spoke to the importance of collaborating to raise awareness of major problems affecting our society and finding ways to solve them together.

By Maggie Dunne, Lakota Children’s Enrichment

Women comprise almost 75% of the workforce in the charitable sector, but only 10% reach top leadership positions. What are promising strategies to address gender inequity in the talent pipeline? Are women CEOs in the charitable sector compensated as much as their male counterparts? How do we create diverse and inclusive organizations? Join nonprofit and philanthropic leaders and the 2015 American Express NGen Fellows at the 2016 Independent Sector Conference where, during a special session, we will have a conversation about gender equity—one of the most important challenges facing the charitable sector today.

By Marc Freedman, Encore.org

In a time when the divides in our society are so raw and exposed, there may be one historic fracture that’s healing. A new nationwide survey conducted for Encore.org finds little interest in generational war. On the contrary, most Americans see cooperation between young and old as a source of national strength. That would make the late John W. Gardner smile. Gardner, an inveterate and lifelong social entrepreneur, became Lyndon Johnson’s Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, where he implemented Medicare and many other groundbreaking reforms. He then went on to found Independent Sector and Common Cause, to help establish what is now AARP Experience Corps and Encore.org, and to write a series of books on leadership and civil society. And he did all that after the age of 50.