Strategic Planning

In a recent blog, we wrote about the new tax bill that doubles the standard deduction, effectively reducing the number of taxpayers who itemize deductions from 30 percent to 5 percent, according to experts. That’s a decrease in roughly 30 million households...

The ongoing quest for funding can often feel like navigating a psychological minefield of cultural complexities and politics. Indeed, there were times I felt completely in the dark during the first few years that I was trying to get our ocean nonprofit Beneath the Waves off the ground and evolve from a small, grassroots organization.…

Filling a seat and collecting a paycheck aren’t enough for the new generation of nonprofit employees. With Millennials representing the largest group of Michigan’s 430,000 nonprofit sector employees, their employers need to pay attention to what will attract and retain this growing sector, said Bill Gesaman, strategic growth officer with the Michigan Nonprofit Association.  Gesaman…

One of the most dreaded moments of being a nonprofit founder or social entrepreneur can be the moment you realize you're out of funding. Whether it was a grant that didn't come through or a fundraising strategy that never took off, it's a scary feeling. Funding, for businesses and nonprofits alike, is the fuel of…

First, some bad news: Early-stage funding is harder to come by than it used to be. The seed-funding market has collapsed, with seed deals dropping by nearly 50 percent by some estimates, since 2014. Venture capitalists are putting more money into later-stage deals, leaving early-stage startups scrambling to grab investors’ attention. The good news is that…

In order to run programs that benefit society, nonprofits obviously need to raise money. But many groups still don’t grasp whether they’re going about it in the right way. As it turns out, the easiest answer may be the most obvious: use email. A recent Blackbaud survey of over groups 700 groups on its cloud-based Luminate platform…

Welcome back to #NPPTrendingNow, a weekly video series where NonProfit PRO Editor-in-Chief Nhu Te breaks down the top three coveted stories of the week. Here's what we've got going on for you this week: emails to engage donors all year round, breaking through MGOs mindsets and how silos are holding your organization back...

At CrowdRise and GoFundMe, we're combing through huge amounts of social fundraising data and putting together a report that will help nonprofits better understand how people donate and share. (You'll be able to check out the full report in March.) Till then, we came across some early insights that were too important not to share right away...

It’s clear: nonprofit organizations have very different accounting needs than for-profit companies.

Nonprofits might find it difficult to prioritize marketing—especially if budgets are tight and resources limited. However, there are ways to maximize your marketing dollar and not sacrifice the opportunities to promote your mission. Even a small investment can pay off. Time and time again, I’ve seen how marketing significantly impacts a nonprofit’s ability to get greater support...