Submission Guidelines

7 mins read

Open Call for Submissions

Blue Avocado is accepting submissions from the nonprofit community.

To make sure your submission is successful, please read each of these four page sections:

  1. Donations for published articles made to the nonprofit of the contributor’s choice
  2. We are accepting submissions for these article categories
  3. These editorial requirements will help as you write your article
  4. Learn how to submit your article

Donations

In keeping with our mission to support the nonprofit sector, donations for published articles in most categories will be made to the 501(c)(3) nonprofit of the contributor’s choice. This may be the nonprofit at which the contributor works or volunteers.

Blue Avocado articles are targeted toward the experience of the nonprofit sector. Articles written for general audiences will be rejected. Preference is given to authors with direct experience working or volunteering with community-based nonprofits.

Donation checks are mailed directly the 501(c)(3) nonprofit 4-6 weeks after an article is published.


Blue Avocado Categories

NEW: Climate Change / DEI / Environmental / ESG Practices

  • Donation: $600 + Publication
  • We’re looking for: Practical takes or big ideas about how nonprofits can move other nonprofits and our communities and/or the for-profit sector toward a sustainable planet where power serves the needs of people, the planet, and all living things.
  • Length: Articles accompanying templates should be a minimum of 1,000 words.
  • Details: Note the category you are entering at the top of your article’s first page (for example, “Climate Change DEI Environmental ESG”) Please send us completed articles. We are not accepting pitches.

NEW: VIDEOS

  • Donation: $500 + Publication
  • We’re looking for: Candid and thought provoking takes on nonprofit leadership.  What unhelpful leadership habits should we stop?  What sort of leadership do we need now to transform our economy into one that serves community instead of private wealth accumulation?
  • Length: No more than 10 minutes in length.
  • Details: Pitches are highly encouraged, please email editor@blueavocado.org. Once pitches are approved, please upload your video to a private video environment and share the link to it via email.

NEW: Board Horror Stories (Anonymous)

  • Donation: $500 + Publication
  • We’re looking for: This series can be thought of as a fainting couch for the board of directors. It’s intended for authors to post their board horror stories anonymously, so there’s no disparagement of any particular organization. While this is a venting space, we also want to focus on being constructive, by listing possible fixes and solutions.
  • Length: Articles accompanying templates should be a minimum of 1,000 words.
  • Details: You can submit with your real name / email, and it will be kept anonymous for the article. Note the category you are entering at the top of your article’s first page (for example, “Board Horror Stories”). Please send us completed articles. We are not accepting pitches.

NEW: Unhelpful Management Practices

  • Donation: $500 + Publication
  • We’re looking for: Candid takes on bad/unhelpful management practices, and good/helpful alternatives.
  • Length: Articles accompanying templates should be a minimum of 1,000 words.
  • Details: Note the category you are entering at the top of your article’s first page (for example, “Unhelpful Management Practices”). Please send us completed articles. We are not accepting pitches.

Financial Health and Risk Management

  • Donation: $500 + Publication
  • We’re looking for: Nonprofit staff and leaders can submit articles with templates to help readers prepare for auditing, budgeting, risk assessment and other financial analysis. Templates should be thoughtful and provide guidance to other nonprofit leaders.
  • Length: Articles accompanying templates should be a minimum of 1,000 words.
  • Details: Templates should be sent as Excel files. Please send Excel files directly to editor@blueavocado.org. Note the category you are entering at the top of your article’s first page (for example, “Financial Health — Effective Audit Planning”). Please send us completed articles. We are not accepting pitches.

Innovative Leadership

  • Donation: $500 + Publication
  • We’re looking for: Are you a leader with a unique perspective who has navigated complex, systemic issues and confronted organizational or societal obstacles to operationalizing your mission? Submit an article describing the problems, how you’ve strategically solved them, and how other leaders like you can do the same.
  • Length: Submissions should be a minimum of 1,000 words.
  • Details: Note the category you are entering at the top of your article’s first page (for example, “Innovative Leadership — How Organizational Change Leads to Social Change”). Please send us completed articles. We are not accepting pitches.

Nonprofit Boards

  • Donation: $200 + Publication
  • We’re looking for: Articles from nonprofit executives and board members on the topic of management-board relations, managing disagreements between the board and organization, fundraising, board responsibility, strategic planning, and other board-related topics.
  • Length: Submissions should be a minimum of 1,000 words and a maximum of 2,000 words.
  • Details: Note the category you are entering at the top of your article’s first page and the title of your contributed article (for example, “Nonprofit Boards — Onboarding New Board Members.”) Please send us completed articles. We are not accepting pitches.

Human Resources

  • Donation: $200 + Publication
  • We’re looking for: Do you have updates in employment law, legislation that affects nonprofits, or other legal discussions to offer Blue Avocado’s nonprofit readership? Our audience encompasses a diversity of nonprofit leaders in various causes whose organizations are impacted by changes in the legal landscape.
  • Length: Submissions should be a minimum of 1,000 words.
  • Details: You may submit a pitch.

Funding

  • Donation: $200 + Publication
  • We’re looking for: How can nonprofits reach donors? How have you communicated effectively with your donors? Share your approaches and be sure to include checklists or other tools to help nonprofit leaders.
  • Length: Submissions should be a minimum of 1,000 words.
  • Details: You may submit a pitch.

Categories and their allotted donation may change with the needs of the sector and new calls for submissions.


Editorial Requirements

  • Write for easy online reading. Use subheads and bullet points and avoid long text blocks.
  • Articles must be original.
  • Attribute content drawn from other sources.
  • Style: Insight, perspective, advice, case study, first-person perspectives, checklists, quizzes.

Other Considerations

  • Blue Avocado encourages irreverence in articles. In other words, we welcome you to speak truth on behalf of nonprofits. We don’t want to be overly negative, but we’re not afraid of enlarging the good and diminishing the bad. Don’t be afraid to speak the truth about your successes and foibles!

How to Submit Your Article

After reading the instructions above carefully, submit your article through Submittable.

Submittable is a system that allows you to collaborate with us during the review and editing process.

Note: Submittable requires user registration.

We do not accept articles submitted by email, unless they require an Excel file. If your article includes an Excel file, please email it to editor@blueavocado.org.