Ideally, yes, we are businesses, and we should be accorded the same level of respect. But the frustrating reality is that we are judged as businesses without given the rights and resources to fully operate as businesses.
Read MoreGuest Post: Leading your nonprofit – almost – like a business
Leadership in a nonprofit organization should not look much different from leadership in a business. So many of the basics are critical, regardless of mission. Bringing in these concepts and experiences, married to a mission, can be extremely powerful.
Read MoreGuest Post: How to design an effective marketing & communications budget
What percentage of a nonprofit’s budget should be spent on marketing and communications? The answer is (as you probably expected) “it depends.” You definitely need to have a comprehensive, realistic budget. It’s a critical component of your annual marketing and communications plan and, like the work plan, serves as a map to ensure you reach your goals. Learn more.
Read MoreGuest Post: Love, power, & the nonprofit sector
Our sector embraces love, but facing injustice we must now also embrace power. As our country moves further into intolerance and chaos, we must summon our strengths and be the balancing force. “Power without love is reckless and abusive.”
Read MoreGuest Post: How to deal with uninformed nonprofit-watchdogs around the holidays
Around this time of the year, we nonprofits work to bring in year-end donations, incurring paper cuts and envelope-tongues in the process (seriously, the glue stick is your friend). Around this time also is when people start pushing “guides” about which nonprofits to give to, warning of shady nonprofits that spend too much on “overhead” and leave nothing for the people they are supposed to be serving.
Read More
Guest Post: You are not your target audience
Anyone can fall victim to the projection bias, or the tendency to assume that other people think and feel the same way we do. This is why doing some objective market research is so important to your communications strategy. The value of defining your target audience and their preferences for engagement will prove itself time and again.
Read More