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?
Board composition matrices focus our attention on what people are, rather than on what the organization needs board members to do.
A brief introduction to donor-advised funds (DAFs). A DAF typically affords the advantages of two kinds of anonymity for a donor.
An employee with a disability requests intermittent leave as an accommodation. But coming to work is an essential function of the job.
Everybody has an opinion about nonprofit executives’ salaries, but almost nobody has any real data outside their own experiences.
Board meeting time is precious time, and the fulcrum of board-staff opportunity or disappointment. Let’s be smarter about how we use it.
An overlooked but crucial element in strategic planning is the attitude or stance that the executive director takes to the process.
Kim Klein declares the that she is a Christian, calling for all who are religious to stand against the war on women and people of color.
A sample job description you may consider using or modifying to fit your nonprofit’s open board support positions.
The single most common question asked of experts on nonprofit boards: What’s the right number of people to have on the board?
Evaluators explain a type of program evaluation — and how to make it work for your nonprofit.
Increasingly, nonprofits are finding scrip to be a comparatively easy way to raise funds. How does scrip fundraising work, anyway?
Think more broadly (and effectively) about how board members can support the key aspects of your nonprofit revenue strategy.
Doug Plank of MobileCause explains the benefits of using text messaging to reach people for nonprofit outreach.
Spend a few minutes ahead of time thinking about what to ask prospective board members to get a better idea if it’s a good match.
Rick Cohen provides thoughts about the fall of the Vanguard Foundation and the impact on the nonprofit sector.
The true life story of an environmental organization’s audit, how they survived, and their tips for the rest of us.
A tongue-in-cheek version of the familiar Salary Calculator model to comment trenchantly on the indiscriminate — and not so indiscriminate — differences in how nonprofit staff get paid.
A process and an evaluation instrument for executive director evaluation surveys. Includes survey in Word format for easy modification.
An update on Vanguard CEO Hari Dillon and major donors involved with businessman Mouli Cohen and a series of get-rich-quick schemes.
Rather than supporting nonprofits, foundations and consultants are increasingly telling nonprofits what they should be doing.
Can nonprofit employees get fired for posting negative comments about their employer on their private social media accounts?
Board evaluations of ED performance are radically different from any other type of performance review and must be approached differently.
“When you start with the needs of the community, and you’re opening to listening, you realize that doing one or two things isn’t enough.”
“Nonprofit staff don’t vote.” The Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits tested this. Here’s what they found.