Strategic Planning

I was not into cars growing up, except for one beautiful late 1950’s Dodge that had the greatest speedometer ever. That speedometer showed green, yellow or red colors as perfect indicators of the speed of the car as it went faster. I have always remembered that color indicator tool that I use for dashboards today. Besides cars, should dashboards be used in business to denote performance?...

Finding new ways to reach volunteer and donor prospects can be challenging in the nonprofit marketplace. There are many nonprofits competing to catch the attention of your organization's prospects. In the U.S. alone, there are over 1.5 million nonprofits trying to gain exposure and live out their mission...

Does your organization have a volunteer engagement strategy? Engaging volunteers takes an investment of time and also yields incredible benefits. It’s the time, treasure and talents: Research shows that people who volunteer donate five times more than those who do not volunteer. People give greater gifts to where they volunteer...

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: Kayla Matthews shows you how to use Google Ad Grants, Gary Wohlfeill dives into social fundraising and Jason Lewis discusses employee vs. employee job expectations...

So much of what a nonprofit does revolves around reaching out to people for money or volunteering. However, there are other ways to leverage the crowds out there who are looking to do their part in helping others. That's exactly how the movement known as crowdsourcing really took off. Although crowdfunding falls into the category…

We often hear it called “peer-to-peer,” “crowdfunding” and a few other things. Social fundraising is definitely being talked about in both the nonprofit and direct giving space a lot these days. But as I read through post after post, a thought occurred to me: What if everyone is sort of “missing it” with social fundraising? There seems to be something larger here that nobody is really talking about...

You’ve heard of the term, “solo player.” It refers most often in a sales environment to someone who does everything alone and won’t include others in the work. In most cases they are not very successful. In fact, we see a tremendous amount of burnout from this type of MGO...

There’s never a bad time to convert your constituents to give monthly, but there are two months a year that typically fit better in your overall communication plan: January and September. “Why September?” you may ask. Because, it’s typically slower with events. Donors are back home, back to school, back to work and in their “routine.” It’s not yet busy with Thanksgiving and holiday preparations…

Lest we assign blame to organizational leaders, we must understand that fundraisers are often quick to sign on with new employers who reveal all the signs of unreasonable expectations. Most fundraising professionals I know want to be admired for their abilities to turn things around and make things happen...

This week’s solar eclipse was heavily anticipated and highly celebrated. About 16 percent of the U.S. was able to experience a total eclipse, including Nashville. Here in Nashville, hotels were sold out as visitors came to view the eclipse, and there were plenty of viewing parties and events as everyone geared up for the magical experience...