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A Discussion of The Four Principles of Purpose-Driven Board Leadership– Live Q&A
Thursday, November 4, 2021, 11 a.m PT, 2 p.m. ET (60 minutes) In response to our society’s deep and systemic inequities, BoardSource has evaluated the current state of nonprofit boards. What needs to change to equip boards to govern social secto …
To Solve the Problem, Focus on the Desired Outcome: A Formula for Nonprofits
The gala attendance for your nonprofit is down, year over year. So, you ask, How can we fix our gala attendance? Naturally, this leads to ideas to make the gala snazzier. However, that doesn’t actually solve the shrinking attendance problem. …
[DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE] How to Found and Run a Nonprofit Remotely
Are you founding a nonprofit remotely? Download the free template here. A note from the author to Blue Avocado readers: A few years ago, I was stranded in Malta, a small island country and, with two friends, started to reach out to refuge …
The Worst Way to Share an Idea is to Say, “I Have an Idea.”
How nonprofit employees can help ideas be heard and embraced Bryan has an idea for something he thinks might help his nonprofit. His supervisor, Wanda, already has a lot on her plate at the moment. When Bryan says, “Here’s my idea,” it feels lik …
How to Plan and Execute an Emergency Succession
Covid-19 has had most of us asking generative questions at some point. What is the real purpose of our organization? If we can only do one thing, what should it be? If our leaders become caregivers, sick themselves, or even die, how will the organizati …
Alleviate Accounting Systems and Staff Training Chokepoints to Power Nonprofit Missions: A Case on How One Oregon Nonprofit Did It
Part 1: Innovation is Iterative In 2019, I came to Lost Valley Education and Event Center (LVEC), first as a student for the Holistic Sustainability Semester (HSS), one of LVEC’s programs, and then began employment as LVEC’s bookkeeper, with no prior t …
Making Strategic Planning (Relatively) Painless
Strategic planning time! Do I hear groans or cheers? In my experience sitting on nonprofit boards and employed as a nonprofit staff member, I typically hear some grumbling when the topic of strategic planning comes up. Volunteers (or very minimally pai …
How to Use Asset-Framing to Strengthen Nonprofit Work
In The Antidote, a new documentary created in response to growing divisions of our times, award-winning filmmakers John Hoffman and Kahane Cooperman tell the stories of nine ordinary people using “kindness, decency, and the power of community” to find …
How Partnerships Help Nonprofits Stand Out in the Race for Funding
One strategy that charitable organizations can adopt in the face of rising competition for donations is placing a greater emphasis on innovation through partnerships. Partnerships are an opportunity to step up, tune out the noise, rethink funding prior …
Resiliency in the New Normal: Nonprofit Colleagues Share Their Experiences
When the first shelter-in-place orders were imposed, most nonprofit organizations paused to rethink their fundraising efforts. Galas moved to the virtual world. In-person meetings with major donors became video calls. Appeals were rewritten to referenc …
