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.
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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?
There is no law that mandates employers conduct performance reviews. But most employment attorneys always say, “document, document, document.”
Having 100% of board members make personal donations is a cliché. But, if you have this requirement, make it as easy as possible.
A list of 13 guidelines and practices that you can heed, if you want avoid recruiting terrible nonprofit board members.
A look at six charity raters, who they rate, and the criteria they use to rate them.
Beyond helping nonprofit leaders understand the business model, the Matrix Map can help you strengthen it.
Nonprofit executive directors often want boards to have lively discussions followed by votes that agree with the executive director.
You may have heard of the Dual Bottom Line: the idea that strategic choices must serve both mission impact and financial viability. But how do you turn this idea into a quantitative decision-making tool?
The Affordable Healthcare Act creates sweeping changes in health care law. There are two key provisions which may help your nonprofit.
Nonprofits spend way too much time navigating the complex maze of funding restrictions, time that could be spent delivering services.
The challenges of writing a grant proposal and getting funded evidently go back to colonial times.
“To err is human,” and as we all ruefully know, nonprofit board members and executive directors are typically human.
Organizational problems can bring out the best in people. Through it all, life goes on. It’s your choice how to embrace everchanging moods.
Often, conflicts of interest in nonprofits do not involve personal financial gain, but conflict of loyalty.
Humor columnist Vu Le comments on the joys of meeting scheduling with The Official Rules for Scheduling Nonprofit Meetings.
What you need to create a more nuanced and fair hiring policy regarding criminal background checks and convictions.
Vu Le proposes a new tv show called ED featuring a group of Executive Directors of several nonprofits located in Seattle.
Blue Avocado humor columnist Vu Le gives some fashion advice to us nonprofit folk.
Maybe in some mythic past it was possible to think first about strategic impact goals, and then about how to raise the money. But today we know better: you can’t talk about what you’re going to do without talking about how to get the money.
How can nonprofits properly handle a board member when they cross the line?
Collective Impact (CI) has covered lots of ground, but like taking naps at work, it should be done strategically and sometimes not at all.
A deputy director describes the crisis at an organization where the founding executive director left, and how the organization almost closed.
If you’re on a board, before you turn over the reins, these ideas will help your new executive director get acclimated to their new role.
This booklet was originally published by the National Center for Nonprofit Boards and the Support Center for Nonprofit Management.
Donor-advised funds are believed to incentivize charitable giving. Donors get to pick from a smorgasbord of benefits. Nonprofits struggle.