Big Duck

Heading in to 2015 NonProfit PRO rounded up some of the nonprofit industry’s finest, who were kind enough to share their nonprofit trends for 2015, including these eight trends on nonprofit leadership and boards of directors.

To get a handle on what’s in store for 2015, NonProfit PRO rounded up some of the nonprofit industry’s finest, who were kind enough to share their nonprofit trends for 2015. Here are eight trends on nonprofit leadership and boards of directors.

A strong brand isn’t about having the right logo, tagline, messages or other things you’ll use to communicate. First and foremost, a strong brand is your reputation, and it emerges from your work, which has to be clear and should be excellent.

Over the past 20 years, it’s become obvious to me that a good organizational development process is critical to making sure the organization is still clear about its vision, mission, values and objectives.

Finding ways for your nonprofit to better communicate with your supporters will never go out of style — or be an activity you limit to one time of year. So while you may still be feeling the buzz of the new year, here are four ways to show your donors some love: 1. Revisit your ask. 2. Chart out your moments of communication — and seize them as opportunities to connect. 3. Divide and conquer. 4. Dive in to the future and put some social in your fundraising.

Here are things nonprofits should start doing in 2014, according to fundraising experts: keep an eye on the numbers, think about the second gift, experiment with raising money from the crowd, step up efforts to show impact, think multigenerational and take visuals seriously.

Fundraising experts offered the following tips to the Chronicle of Philanthropy on things nonprofits should stop doing in 2014: ignoring people who make medium-sized gifts, using social media indiscriminately, hoarding information, using generic language, fearing mobile technology and shying away from risks.

Kivi Leroux Miller, president of Nonprofit Marketing Guide and member of the FundRaising Success Editorial Advisory Board; Sarah Durham, president of Big Duck; Alia McKee, principal at Sea Change Strategies; and Laurence Pagnoni, chairman of LAPA Fundraising and author of "The Nonprofit Fundraising Solution," share some last-minute year-end steps to take now.

An effective year-end fundraising campaign plan requires a lot of thoughtful planning. One question to throw into the mix is — who’s asking? Take some time to think not just about what you are saying to donors, but who is delivering the message. This includes whose signature is at the end of your direct-mail letter, what name is in the “from” field in your e-mails and who (if anyone) is calling up past donors to remind them to give.

Recent tweets from folks you should be following.

I’m including the usual annual caveats about this list of words, especially this: If any word on the list is truly the most effective choice for reaching your reader, please go ahead and use it. I would simply suggest that you ask yourself if it’s truly the most effective choice. And, with that, here are a few words that Big Duck recommends you avoid (or at least be fully conscious that you’re using).