No matter what your organization’s mission is—community health, post-secondary access, art expansion, food distribution, whole child education, etc.—there is a shared challenge you and other organizations must solve: How to inspire and attract a new generation of donors to your cause. For many of our nonprofit partners, their aging donor base is disappearing—and younger donors
People don’t like to talk about competition in the nonprofit world. For many, competition suggests a dog-eat-dog fight where one valuable nonprofit edges another out of the marketplace. It’s more comfortable to view good causes as working together to accomplish shared goals. But this mindset can make nonprofit leaders overlook their competition and miss out
In the nonprofit and education sectors, there is an increasing awareness and effort to produce communications that are inclusive and anti-racist. But what happens when, in an effort to be more inclusive, we alienate the very people we are trying to connect with? We’ve written on inclusivity best practices and here we want to share
Lukewarm, disengaged, uninspired. This is not how you want people to feel about your organization’s values. Many nonprofits, schools, and foundations use a set of single words to express their values. But while words like respect, transparency, and innovation may be ‘accurate,’ these singular words can lack individuality, impact, or definition. They can also unintentionally
Times are changing—rapidly! Are your messages keeping up? The echoes of COVID-19 still linger, the ongoing nationwide reckoning with racism pushes forward, and American politics invite weekly whiplash. Not to mention the number of people changing jobs and cities, resulting in organizational changes whether you want them or not. No matter your organization’s mission, the
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As you plan how you want your next year to go, put your values front and center. So many of us who work for value-driven organizations miss the opportunity to think deeply about our personal values and how those may or may not align with our daily reality. We try to separate our personal lives
With Thanksgiving and Winter Break around the corner, your out-of-office email is one simple yet powerful touch-point you can take advantage of to communicate your organization’s brand and values. When we think about where or how we can activate our brand, we often first look towards our formal communications, digital platforms, and fundraising events. But
For your brand to be successful, it must do more than just stand out — it needs to invite in. A strong brand strategy, fresh and relevant messaging, and a true-to-you visual identity are all key steps in drawing more people to your work. And when it’s time to delight your community with your new
We’re not the first to opine the traditional fundraising pyramid is dead, but our reason might surprise you. Jargon alert! “Fundraising pyramid/ladder” is fundraising speak for a way to categorize, engage, and move donors up to larger gifts one level or step at a time (see Traditional Fundraising Pyramid below). A common fundraising approach is