Browse All Nonprofit Articles

12 mins read

There is plenty of wisdom and knowledge among the leaders and staff of the community-based nonprofits themselves. We just need a place through which to share these valuable nonprofit resources. Blue Avocado is that place.

We also believe that nonprofits can only be vibrant, healthy, and effective when they have access to financial resources and practical know-how shared by experts and peers. So welcome home.

Board of Directors

Insider Newsletters: An Easy Way to Keep Your Board in the Loop and Engaged

Insider newsletters give your board members upbeat news in quick, regular bites — so your work will stay present to them between meetings.

Board Horror Stories: How to Reduce Board Resignations

Good communication about common objectives can prevent dissatisfaction and go a long way toward preventing board member resignations.

Rebuilding Nonprofit Boards: When a New Board Can Be a Fresh Start

How one nonprofit moved forward when the only solution to a dysfunctional board was a brand-new one.

Community & Culture

Nonprofit Photo Contest

This photo contest for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations offers $5000 in cash donations for 25 winning photos, with a $1000 grand prize.

Link Arms to Elevate Your Nonprofit’s Impact

Nonprofit collaboration strategies: Working with like-minded people and organizations can create a deepened impact, more sustainable relationships, and a stronger funding pool for your mission.

Can Nonprofits Look to the Past to Build the Future?

Nonprofits may be surprised to find that their communities have already implemented the kind of innovative, collaborative programming that their leadership — and funders — are looking for.

Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG)

Using Philanthropy to Address Racial Harm and Inequity

Learn how the United Way of Greater Los Angeles (UWGLA) is using racial justice to inform their grantmaking efforts, and how other philanthropic organizations can help work to undo the legacies of harm inflicted upon communities of color.

Beyond the Hype: Why ESG Frameworks Miss the Mark for Small Nonprofits

When we take a closer look at what Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks actually entail, it is often not worth the time and resources for most small nonprofits to go through such a process.

How Nonprofits Can Benefit from Embracing ESG Practices

By expanding ESG efforts and communicating them effectively, nonprofits can engage new audiences and achieve greater impact. This article discusses how nonprofits can document and communicate their ESG impact and provides five steps to get started.

Finance

Treasurers of All-Volunteer Organizations: Eight Key Responsibilities

Here is a wonderful, succinct guide that provides help for the 600,000 + treasurers of all-volunteer organizations (AVOs).

An Easy-to-Use Accounting Procedures Manual Template

Accounting Procedures Manual Template in Word. Download the Word document, and everything you need to fill in is in red.

A Guide for Private Foundations: Tax Exemption and 990-PF Filing Requirements

What you need to know to meet your foundation’s tax requirements and the 990-PF.

Fundraising

The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Fundraising in 2025

Fundraising Fuels Your Nonprofit’s Mission. We’ve distilled the best practices and innovative approaches to help you secure the funding you need.

The Best Route to Approaching Donors: Hand-Head-Heart

Effective donor engagement strategies: Consider and articulate how supporting the mission benefits your donors too.

Your Nonprofit Got its Grant. Now What?

Getting a grant isn’t just a handshake and a check — they can come with many conditions. Is your CFO ready?

HR & Employment Issues

Drive Your Nonprofit’s Mission by Investing in Your People

Nonprofits must advance their mission by valuing their employees’ worth by providing benefits and fair compensation for nonprofit employees.

Supporting Caregiver Employees in the Nonprofit Sector

With more workers than ever doubling as caregivers, nonprofits must find new, caring ways to support them in the workplace.

Increase Safety for Your Nonprofit’s Team

Take action to protect nonprofit employee safety and contribute to a community of acceptance and support where violence is not tolerated.

Leadership & Management

Insider Newsletters: An Easy Way to Keep Your Board in the Loop and Engaged

Insider newsletters give your board members upbeat news in quick, regular bites — so your work will stay present to them between meetings.

Five Years and Growing: How One Nonprofit Built a Sustainable, Collaborative Mission

An executive director shares the story of a nonprofit’s first five years, and her process of building sustainable nonprofit collaborations.

Measure What You Value: Designing a Values-based Performance Appraisal System

Developing and sustaining a motivated, productive, and highly engaged workforce means your employees must be measured on how they demonstrate the organization’s values.

Marketing & Communications

Insider Newsletters: An Easy Way to Keep Your Board in the Loop and Engaged

Insider newsletters give your board members upbeat news in quick, regular bites — so your work will stay present to them between meetings.

Nonprofit Rebranding Strategies: Five Steps to Achieving a Successful Nonprofit Rebrand

Nonprofit rebrands are tricky. Nonprofit rebranding strategies to help provide you with a roadmap to your own successful transition.

8 Easy Ways to Grab More Attention for Your Small Nonprofit

Getting what your nonprofit needs — funding, staff, and more — means showing how working with you can be a win-win.

Opinion

The Realities of Living with Food Insecurity

Food insecurity is not an abstract: Our friends, neighbors, and communities are struggling to thrive. The challenges of food insecurity.

Volunteering Alone Will Not Save Us

To fight the battle against hunger, nonprofits can advocate for meaningful change in our societal structures.

Nonprofit Lessons from Star Wars

Deepak Bhargava of the Center for Community Change channels the Force to call nonprofits to action, drawing parallels to Star Wars.

Risk Management

Rethinking Perpetuity: Resetting Endowment Expectations After the Pandemic

With endowments, let’s rethink ‘forever’ and explore new, flexible ways to ensure your nonprofit organization’s longevity and effectiveness.

Risk Management for Nonprofits: Copyright

When web designers have an email from another nonprofit saying they don’t mind if you use one of their images, are you ok to use the image?

Don’t Let Internal Controls Slip at Your Nonprofit Organization!

Internal controls are more important than ever to have in place and operating effectively in order to prevent wrongdoing and malfeasance.

Political Issues

Litigating a Path to Progress: Nonprofit Advocacy through the Courts

Legislative inaction at the state and federal level has seen nonprofits moving toward using the courts to advance their advocacy campaigns like never before.

Citizens United Unfair to One Million Corporations

What to do about the Citizens United decision allowing for-profit corporations to spend unlimited funds on electoral campaigns.

Nonprofit Staff Don’t Vote in Elections? False!

“Nonprofit staff don’t vote.” The Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits tested this. Here’s what they found.

Sample Policies & Templates

An Easy-to-Use Accounting Procedures Manual Template

Accounting Procedures Manual Template in Word. Download the Word document, and everything you need to fill in is in red.

5 Best Practices for Building a Nonprofit Annual Operating Budget (with Template!)

While no two nonprofits are exactly alike, there are some best practices that all organizations should use when building their annual operating budgets.

7 Guiding Principles for a JDEI Policy That Isn’t Just Hot Air. Plus, a Free Sample Policy!

Guiding principles for organizations that want to create a binding, board-approved JDEI policy with values, action plans, and accountability.

Volunteers

Treasurers of All-Volunteer Organizations: Eight Key Responsibilities

Here is a wonderful, succinct guide that provides help for the 600,000 + treasurers of all-volunteer organizations (AVOs).

A Practical Process Guide to Getting and Keeping Your Volunteers

Providing your nonprofit’s volunteers with the same recruitment, training, mentoring, and appreciation as your employees can reduce turnover and create a better overall volunteer experience.

Volunteering Alone Will Not Save Us

To fight the battle against hunger, nonprofits can advocate for meaningful change in our societal structures.

Webinars

Blue Avocado Presents: What Nonprofits Need to Know About Fiscal Sponsorships – Live Q&A

Understanding fiscal sponsorships for nonprofits. Learn about the benefits, limitations, and considerations of this arrangement in our free webinar.

Blue Avocado Presents: Copyright Concerns for Nonprofits – Live Q&A

In the digital age, nonprofits engaging in various creative endeavors must be mindful of copyright concerns.

Blue Avocado Presents: Does Your Nonprofit Qualify for the Employee Retention Credit (ERC)? – Live Q&A

The ERC program has been amended several times and has officially concluded, but eligible nonprofit organizations are still eligible to file and benefit from this tax credit. Find out more about this government stimulus program.

Ask the Blue Avocado Community

The Most Successful Nonprofit Fundraising Strategies

Nonprofit leaders share their most successful fundraising strategies with other nonprofits.

Nonprofit Leaders: How Does Your Nonprofit Measure Success?

Nonprofit leaders share examples to answer the question: How does your nonprofit measure success? Strong staff, data, satisfaction, and more.

The Biggest Mistakes New Nonprofits Make

Nonprofit leaders reveal the biggest mistakes that new nonprofits make: Finding identity, losing focus, board issues, and more.