Strategic Planning

Having interacted with all types of organizations over the years as donor, employee and consultant, I can say that many nonprofits encounter similar challenges to strategic planning, fundraising and board leadership. While it’s comforting to know that you’re not alone, you’re still left with the ultimate dilemma of how to address these issues. 

A nonprofit has the same needs as any other business. If you want to attract donors and patrons, then you need to constantly build buzz and awareness about what you do. The interest you build moves people into the top of your sales funnel, so they can become donors by the time they reach the bottom.

I’d like to put a notion out on the table: The fundraising models that drive most of today’s nonprofits were designed for a world that no longer exists. The ways in which people communicate, connect, relate and learn has changed dramatically over the last 20 years.

Nonprofits can take advantage of performing a competitor analysis when developing their messaging or outreach strategies to position themselves for success. After all, it’s a very noisy world, and there are many good causes out there.

If you inspire, trust and lead your staff well, you can and will retain fundraising staff. If our missions deserve increased philanthropy, the teams we’re asking to attract that philanthropy deserve attentive and effective leadership.

Nonprofit leadership has to come into focus. We now live in an age where artificial intelligence is changing the very nature of our work. Nonprofits have to come to terms with substantial changes.

How do you create high-quality, SEO-friendly, evergreen content that ranks well, benefits your visitors and spurs them to action — especially as you work with a limited budget and resources? Try the content strategy tips listed in this article.

I bet the last thing you want to hear more about right now is storytelling. There are innumerable books, articles, speeches, even whole conventions about it. “CONTENT IS KING!” innumerable hordes of consultants seem to stream out of every doorway.

Interested in how to create an effective nonprofit annual plan after an organization develops a strategic plan? In an interview with Pinky Vincent of the Police Athletic League, Jennifer Flowers, founder and CEO, Accreditation Guru, Inc., shares several tips and tactics on developing an annual plan.

Visualizing data in charts, graphs, dashboards and infographics is one of the most powerful strategies for getting your organization’s numbers out of spreadsheets and into real-world conversations.