The Common Ground Blog

This Video Made Parents Cry. The Research Says That's Not Enough.

Sitting in a dark theater, this video made Ella's parents cry. It won a Cannes Grand Prix. It's been shared by child safety advocates everywhere. It's been called a must-watch. It also breaks many rules in prevention science. And is probably ineffective.This article explains why fear-based prevention campaigns keep winning awards while the evidence keeps saying they only work when certain rules are followed.

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Why I'm Still Disrupting Myself (Part Two)

What AI is really changing in boutique consulting, and what it isn't. A reflection on thirty years of consulting work across 35 countries, and whether boutique firms are better positioned than they think.

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Scott Galloway’s 2026 Predictions: Through A Nonprofit Lens

Every year, New York University professor and author Scott Galloway publishes a set of predictions about the near future of business and technology. He is typically speaking to investors and corporate leaders. I react as someone who works every day with in-the-trenches nonprofits.

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Foundations Love AI. Their Grantees Are On Their Own.

AI is already inside philanthropy. It just hasn’t reached the places where power and money decisions get made.

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Finding Our Way Back: A Gratitude Practice for Divided Times

When the year feels heavy, start small. A shared meal. A kind word. A seat for one more. Gratitude isn't the soft option—it's the strategic one.

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Why I'm Disrupting Myself

After 30 years and 35 countries, the future of consulting depends on our ability to reimagine the past—using AI to amplify human-centered work.

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The Future of Giving: What AI Is Reminding Us About Trust

New donor perception data shows that the social sector’s most significant innovation challenge isn’t technological—it’s human. In just one year, AI has moved from a sector curiosity to a defining issue for nonprofits and foundations.

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The Confidence Collapse in Global Philanthropy

When one of the world's largest foundations decides the U.S. has become too unpredictable to fund, it's not just philanthropy—it's a flight from uncertainty.

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AI Change Fatigue: Your Staff Are Tired Before You Even Start

Nonprofit teams are tired. Not from AI itself, but from the idea of change. The problem isn’t resistance. It’s exhaustion.

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Digital Distance: An Essential AI Skill

Walk into almost any nonprofit staff meeting right now, and you’ll hear the same mix of curiosity and anxiety. But we rarely hear the most important question: Is AI bringing us closer to our mission—or quietly pushing us away?

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Building AI Capability Without Pilots

If pilots are designed to fail, what's the alternative? How do you transform an organization with AI without isolating innovation, excluding staff, or measuring the wrong things? The answer isn't to be reckless. It's to be radically inclusive.

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Your AI Pilot Is Designed to Fail

Everyone knows the "right" way to adopt AI: Start small. Run a pilot. Test with early adopters. Gather data. Scale what works. Everyone is wrong.

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When Platforms Violate Trust

GoFundMe's unauthorized nonprofit pages strike at the heart of our sector's biggest challenge—the trust crisis that's eroding donor retention and confidence.

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Readiness Isn't Technical—It's About Equity

When leaders ask, “Is my nonprofit ready for AI?” they often imagine that “ready” means having the technical infrastructure, data pipelines, or staff capacity. But true readiness is an ethical capacity—the ability to spot harm before it happens, to respond when things go off track, and to center equity not as an afterthought but as a design principle.

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AI Can’t Fix Inequity—But It Will Expose It.

When people in our sector talk about AI, the conversation often starts with efficiency. How can it help us write faster, reach more people, or stretch our limited capacity? Those are fair questions. But they can also distract from a deeper one: What does AI reveal about us?

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Making AI Count: A Nonprofit Guide to ROI

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. From boardrooms to TED Talks, the nonprofit sector is being told that AI will transform the way we work. Yet for many executives, the question isn’t whether AI is powerful—it’s whether it’s worth the investment.

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Strategic Planning in the Age of AI

At Common Ground, we’ve been leading strategic planning processes for social profit organizations for more than three decades. Our work has always been designed to be unique, efficient, and engaging. We never bought into 10-year, 100-page plan boondoggles. Today, we’re enhancing that same philosophy with new tools that make the process even faster and more effective.

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When AI Becomes a Minister

Why Albania's Bold Experiment Threatens Democratic Accountability Albania just made history by appointing the world's first AI "minister" to oversee government procurement. As someone who's worked extensively in Albania supporting organizational transformation, particularly justice reform, this deve

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The New Math of AI Infrastructure

Our conservation colleagues will think we've sold out to Big Tech. Our AI teams will think we've lost our nerve about what we're building. Good. That means we're finally having the right conversation about AI's environmental footprint—one grounded in measurement, not mythology.

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