Recent Posts
Navigating the nonprofit world can be challenging. Blue Avocado offers expert guidance on a range of topics — from building strong boards to maximizing your fundraising impact. Explore our latest posts for practical tips, strategies, and solutions to common issues facing nonprofit organizations today.
Recent Nonprofit Articles
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Ask Rita: Wading through the New Family and Medical Leave Act Regulations
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Finance Fear Factor Ratios
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Too Many Nonprofits? Yes – At Least Too Many AIDS Organizations
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Health Insurance: A Bit of Good COBRA News
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Too Many Nonprofits? Yes! Clueless in Seattle
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Volunteer Time Financial Statement Illustrations
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Tracking Volunteer Time to Boost Your Bottom Line: A Complete Accounting Guide
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A Devil’s Advocate on the Board?
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Loans From Nonprofit Board Members
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Ask Rita: Downsizing from Employees to Independent Contractors?
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The Car Donation Controversy and the Right Way to Donate Your Car
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Succession Planning for Nonprofits of All Sizes
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The 411 on Starting a Car Donation Program
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Advice for Servicemembers and Veterans Looking at Nonprofit Jobs
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New Thinking and Talking About Volunteers
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A Board Leads an Organization Out of the Ashes
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From Air Force Captain to Nonprofit Fundraiser
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Nonprofit Layoffs and Furloughs: Do Them Right
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When You Lose Your Health Insurance Coverage
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Layoff Stories from Blue Avocado Readers
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Laid Off From a Nonprofit: Me!
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The Nonprofit Board’s Role in HR
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Sample Layoff Letter
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Will Obamaniacs Change Nonprofits?
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George W. Bush’s Legacy: A Dramatic Increase in Volunteer Spirit
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Ten Nonprofits that Shaped the Life of Martin Luther King Jr.
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New Growth from Old Wood: Heroes & Nonprofits (and Sarbanes-Oxley)
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Model Document Retention Policy for Nonprofits
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Sarbanes-Oxley and Nonprofits: Bogeyman in the Boardroom?
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A 360-Degree Look at the Organization: Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us
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Speed Up the Board Recruitment Process!
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Too Many Nonprofits? No — There Aren’t Enough Good Nonprofits
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Six Things Every Board Member Should Know About the New 990
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An Insight About Catholic Schools’ Business Model
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Nonprofit Executive Director Assessment
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The Secret to a High Impact Annual Report
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Governance Committees: More and More Common
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What Information Should Board Members Get?
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Succeeding With (or Maybe in Spite of) Evidence-Based Practices
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An Alcohol Problem Holds the Bookkeeping Hostage
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Nonprofit Email Sign-Offs
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Nonprofit Embezzlement: More Common and More Preventable Than You Think
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A Drug and Alcohol Free Workplace Policy for Nonprofits
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Fun at Work
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A Steep Road Ahead for Immigration Volunteers?
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The Board Builds Its Sense of Self: Body-Building for Nonprofit Boards
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Ask Rita: What Happens When the Office Coffee Comes With Politics?
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Three Steps to Effective Board Oversight of Insurance
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A Board Member’s Guide to Nonprofit Insurance
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If You Don’t Have Time to Save: Nonprofit Retirement Part 3
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What Nonprofits are Saying About the Bailout: A Fast Roundup
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Closing Down the Right Way
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Nonprofit Retirement Part 2: How and Where to Save
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Thinking the Unthinkable: Maybe We Should Shut Down
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Community Nonprofits: Katrina’s Unsung Heroes Still on the Job
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How to Take a Public Policy Stand, with Sample Criteria
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Nonprofit Retirement: Calculating retirement Needs & Exploring Choices
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Ask Rita: Zero Cell Phone Use While Driving Policy
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A Family and Medical Leave Act Checklist
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Ask Rita: Can an Employee Come and Go Using Family or Medical Leave?
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Is It Time for an Audit?
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Gas Rates, Volunteers, and Justice
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Should the Board Hold Executive Sessions?
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More Than the Olympics: Sports, Nonprofits & Community
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Boards of All-Volunteer Organizations
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Three-Step Immigration (IRCA) Compliance for Employers
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Obama: the Nonprofit Sector’s Favorite Son?
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Overtime Pay for Nonprofit Preschool Teacher?
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The Best Way to Raise Money? Choose a Revenue Strategy
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What Should Nonprofit Boards Know About Insurance Brokers?
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In Search of Unicorns: Finding & Hiring Outside Grantwriters Part 2
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Unicorns Found: Meet Two Grantwriters
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Word on the Street from the Council on Foundations Conference
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The Unrecognized Value of Community Nonprofits, Hiring Grantwriters, Extended Warranties, MTV
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In Search of Unicorns: Finding & Hiring Grantwriters, Part 1
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Nonprofit Budgets Have to Balance: False!
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Don’t Drive, Chew Gum and Use the Phone at the Same Time
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Meaningful Acts of Appreciation for Nonprofit Boards and Staff
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Nonprofits and the Media
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Pay Off My Student Loan or Pay Into a 401K?
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Why is it called Blue Avocado?
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Abolish Board Committees?
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Reasons to Have (& Not to Have) an Attorney on a Nonprofit Board
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Can We Require An Employee To Take Her Meds?
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Promises, Promises: Rural Advocates vs. Big Philanthropy
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Five Ways to Let Government Money Run You Over
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Good Management vs. Good Leadership
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What Do I Say to a Donor or Funder?
Nonprofits can lift up volunteers and VEPs. The key to success is visibly appreciating volunteers’ roles in contributing to your mission.
5 ways to maintain a nonprofit culture that will not accept or tolerate any sexual misconduct or activity in the workplace in any form.
With a scarcity mentality, we are competing for a slice of pie. Collaborating with a mentality that there’s enough to go around, can we grow the pie?
There’s a growing movement among foundations toward impact investing: equity investments, loan guarantees, and everything in between.
In-kind solicitation enables you to supplement your budget in meaningful ways, create stronger, lasting mutual relationships, and more.
When bringing on seasonal workers, you need to pay close attention to age and properly classify workers to avoid getting burned.
The nonprofit sector is undercapitalized, and one organization is trying to solve this problem.
Learning from the experience of those who started a nonprofit out of their basement and grew to be nationally recognized leaders.
Equity is ultimately about creating a level playing field and ensuring that everyone has an honest chance at achieving their potential.
The nonprofit community is asking important questions: What is our responsibility to speak out on behalf of our staff, clients, and community?
Millennials know it’s easier to fix something than replace it. They join nonprofits to make a difference, not complain about their managers.
Despite Millennials’ desire for jobs that allow them to do good and feel good, student debt may be keeping them unaffordable to nonprofits.
Collaboration is tough, collaboration might hurt your ego, but its outcomes can be much more satisfying than solely through individual work.
Many nonprofits haven’t adopted policies and systems to attract young professionals, invest in their development, or incentivize them to stay.
Nonprofits must follow low-income children and families if they are displaced by a new population that does not align with the mission.
While many nonprofits focus on impact evaluations, process models can be invaluable for helping organizations make real, lasting impact.
Knowledge sharing allows members of one organization to share relevant information with one another and anyone outside of the organization.
The Lidè Foundation provides instruction in the arts and literacy to over 550 adolescent girls at a dozen locations in rural Haiti.
Broaden your fundraising tactics to be more inclusive of multigenerational giving. Employ technology to save time and resources.
Blue Avocado readers share thoughts on how the current political landscape will affect your organization’s funding.
Asked to join a nonprofit board? Here’s what to look for in your due diligence process – before you sign on the dotted line.
How U/X and user-centered design methods can better communicate visual stories in a way that advances the mission of your organization.
When a nonprofit leader moves on, the process isn’t always easy. Questions about nonprofit ownership can be organizational life-or-death.
Nonprofits are always looking for creative ways to raise funds, but requiring employees to make financial donations is unlawful.