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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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?
Should a nonprofit organization accept a personal loans from a board member? A starting point for a discussion with your board or financial advisor.
We are considering changing some of our employees into independent contractors as a cost-saving measure. What is the potential downside?
Let’s review the rules around car donations, with some tips on how to donate, and how to get great mileage from a few donations a year.
Planning for executive director transition is called succession planning: Thinking in advance about setting the stage for strong transitions.
A car donation program is a great way for a nonprofit to expand its donor base and provide new ways to involve existing donors and volunteers.
Keira Havens makes a case for nonprofits to servicemembers and veterans thinking about going to work in nonprofits.
With volunteers of all ages coming, it’s even more urgent that we change the way we talk — and think — about volunteers.
A board chair shares how their organization found itself on the precipice of bankruptcy and then was able to walk away.
Keira Havens reflects on her career change from the armed services to working in fundraising for the nonprofit sector.
Advice for nonprofit HR departments that need to correctly perform layoffs, furloughs, and temporary shutdowns.
Health care is a society-wide crisis as well as a personal, individual one, and there aren’t ready solutions on either level.
We asked Blue Avocado readers to tell us how you found out you had gotten laid off. Too often grace and consideration aren’t part of it.
While the need for nonprofit services continues even in bad economic times, workers are just as vulnerable to layoffs as any other industry.
The role of the board of directors in personnel or human resource administration is frequently a sticky issue for nonprofits.
A convenient sample letter for use in nonprofit layoff situations when/if they become necessary.
Can the “Obama movement” – with its community organizing and its newly empowered warriors for change – revitalize nonprofits?
Carol Stone applauds President George W. Bush for bringing the visibility, recognition, and importance of volunteering to new heights.
Did you know that hundreds of nonprofit organizations helped make Dr. King who he was? And do you know what they’re up to today?
Heroes don’t act alone: Nonprofits support heroes, and heroes understand nonprofits are impactful platforms for evolving social movements.
A model document retention policy designed to help nonprofits adapt to changing laws around statutes of limitation.
Although Sarbanes-Oxley wasn’t aimed at nonprofits, some saw the law’s passage as a wake-up call for nonprofits.
The 360-Degree Look helps compensate for the board’s limited view of how well the organization is functioning by seeking other viewpoints.
Three easy ways to accelerate the nonprofit board recruitment process by pre-qualifying prospective candidates.
A vibrant, rough-and-tumble ecosystem of nonprofits serves our society best — rather than bemoan its complexity, we should treasure it.