Branding

From 2015 to 2016, the number of nonprofit organizations with 50 or more volunteers increased from 55 percent to 76 percent. Growing numbers of volunteers could mean major benefits to the nonprofit sector. Volunteers are an important source of labor, expanding fundraising networks and saving many organizations thousands of dollars with their unpaid service...

Uneeka Jay, founding principal of Rewrite 365, delivered the opening keynote where she emphasized the importance of being plugged into the “right” power source. To those who attended the meeting, she asked: Are you doing the work that you were created to do on this earth?...

I’ve seen great turnarounds in poor-performing nonprofits. I’ve also seen many fail terribly. To map out a plan for greater mission focus, increased impact, heightened leadership and transformational philanthropic support are invigorating. But to get to that vision, you must first deal with reality—where you are. And that often means making tough decisions...

Throughout the last few years, the entire world has been buzzing about the power of story. On the surface, all this conversation makes it seem like we've collectively forgotten the millennia of storytelling sprawled out before us in museums, history books, novels and campfires...

Conventional wisdom says that when people support nonprofits, “it’s all about the mission.” Nonprofit CEOs and other C-suite executives say this a lot. Their supporters are connected to a cure for cancer, global warming, humane treatment of animals, etc. And when you ask constituents why they do what they do for nonprofits, this is exactly what they will say. It’s all about the kids, homeless animals, clean air...

One of the toughest challenges in our sector is getting donors to give time and time again—to get one-time donors to become repeat donors. Perhaps it’s showing donors the impact that the organization is making or having a mission powerful enough for donors to want to be a part of the organization. Perhaps simplifying the…

When I visit with nonprofit leaders—staff and board alike—the need for high performing board members who clearly understand their roles is often the greatest need cited within our field...

The Coca-Cola Foundation and The Coca-Cola Company together donated more than $106 million to more than 230 organizations in 2016. These contributions will directly benefit communities across more than 200 countries and territories, with approximately 97 percent of the grants focused on The Coca-Cola Company’s core sustainability priorities of women, water and community well-being. The…

Last week, this piece on marketing automation ran in the Huffington Post, pushing nonprofits to invest in marketing automation. I am here to beat the drum again, as it may be one of our most important conversations...

Your organization’s major donors are, after all, right in your backyard. Yep, they’re already in your donor database, and you just have to know how to work them. Here’s the 411: If you’re not honoring your first-time or small-dollar donors and if your systems are broken, you’re going to have a hard time getting from here…to there...