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?
As an executive director, what can feel like micromanagement from members of your board can be a symptom of larger problems.
Disabilities activist Mary Lester says there are simple ways to make your office and program sites more accessible without busting the bank.
Should telemarketers really be despised? Blue Avocado readers share their experiences making telemarketing calls for their nonprofits.
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) guru Bill Huddleston tells how nonprofits can raise money from federal employees in just eight great points.
Consult a labor law professional to check federal and state laws before firing an employee for excessive absences or with a known disability.
Packets can give more than information, if done right, they can improve board confidence in the staff and in the board-staff relationship.
Use this helpful template, and a discussion on the finance committee with the ED and the finance staff to clarify roles around accountability.
Blue Avocado concludes an exploration of how it was possible for Vanguard Public Foundation to have come to such an inglorious end.
FAQs on hiring accountants for nonprofits, including what to do if you’re having an impossible time of it.
Koreatown Youth and Community Center and Program Director Sam Joo defy assumptions about nonprofits serving people and communities of color.
Blue Avocado shares strategies to reduce the amount of unnecessary emails showing up in your nonprofit’s inboxes.
Just Awards “honor” the New York Times and the Rockefeller Foundation for poor coverage and narcissism related to the nonprofit sector.
Men share their thoughts on being male in the majority-female nonprofit world.
A staff member faces a domestic violence situation and her boyfriend threatened to come to our office to harm her. What can our nonprofit do?
Here are some guidelines for advisory committees, as well as a sample letter inviting an individual to join such a group.
Nonprofit board members are often puzzled when it comes to setting the salary of the executive director. Some legal and practical guidelines.
Once acclaimed as a pioneer in philanthropy, the Vanguard Foundation is no more. This is Part I on some of the clues to its sorry demise.
Wondered how to break into the traditional civic leadership networks? Joan Dixon explains why the Rotary may be the unexpected solution.
Cate Steane shares her experience guiding her nonprofit through a harrowing organizational crisis and living to tell about it.
Sometimes you need to raise funds in a hurry. Here are some ways to raise modest funds in a pinch.
Pam David, Executive Director of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, shares lessons learned about philanthropy since coming to it from government.
Conventional approaches to classic conflicts of interest. Model policies that address these concerns. Non-financial conflicts of interest common to many nonprofits. Steps an organization can take to handle conflicts of interest and more detailed sample policies.
Meet two married couple co-executive directors of nonprofits. What organization wouldn’t want two for the price of one?
A fast look at just four critical areas facing American society today: Poverty, race, environment, and democracy.