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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A Board Member “Contract”
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What area of your nonprofit has benefited the most from having a specialist on your team?
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Don’t Call it a Crisis Plan: How Nonprofits Can Proactively Plan for Turbulent Times
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Re-Imagining Fundraising: How Funder Education and Systemic-Change Approaches are Changing the Game
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Can Nonprofit Boards Vote By Email?
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Blue Avocado Presents: Essential Board Governance Documents – Live Q&A
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What has been a “happy accident” that ended up benefitting your nonprofit?
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From Passive to Proactive: Strategies to Move Nonprofit Board Members Beyond Meetings and Into Action
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Your IRS Form 990 Questions Answered
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What do nonprofits struggle with the most?
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The Million-Dollar Question: What Could Your Nonprofit Do if Money Weren’t an Issue?
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Vision Before Strategy: A Nonprofit’s Guide to Defining Success
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Post-pandemic, what has changed for the better (or worse) in your nonprofit?
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As Nonprofits Face the DEI Wars, Can a “Prohuman” Approach Help?
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Free Harvard Courses for Getting Through Troubled Times
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Legislative & Executive Threats to Your Nonprofit – Live Q&A
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Can You Hear Us Now? Using Feedback to Create Community-Centered Services
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How does your nonprofit involve the local community in its programs and initiatives?
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Hedging Your Bets: Rajiv Shah, and the Limits of Large-Scale Changemaking
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Blue Avocado Presents: Nonprofit Governance Training 101 – Live Q&A
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Unlocking Potential: Collective Leadership in Nonprofits
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What are the best strategies and tips for managing a nonprofit board of directors?
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The 3 ‘Rs’ of Equitable Community Engagement
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Blue Avocado Presents: What Nonprofits Need to Know About Working with Consultants – Live Q&A
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From Crisis to Clarity: Five Steps to Demystify Succession Planning
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The most critical areas for improvement to achieve your mission
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Why Are Nonprofits Experiencing An Insurance Crisis? And What Can the Nonprofit Sector Do About it?
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The Expanded Matrix Map: Leveraging Your Triple Bottom Line for Fundraising
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What are your nonprofit’s priorities and goals for 2025?
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Nonprofit Leadership Isn’t Perfect, and That’s the Point
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Four Ways to Remove a Board Member
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What are the Biggest Challenges in Getting (and Keeping) Your Nonprofit’s Staff and Volunteers?
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When Does Interim Nonprofit Leadership Make Sense?
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Five Internal Controls for the Very Small Nonprofit
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2024 Blue Avocado Year in Review
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What is the Secret to Successful Grant Writing?
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A Nonprofit Partnership: How One Board Member Connected Two Organizations and Boosted Both
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A Practical Guide to Getting and Keeping Nonprofit Volunteers
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Key Qualities and Skills to Look for in Potential Board Members
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Innovative Leadership — Culture Doesn’t Have to Eat Strategy: Tending to Human Factors During Strategic Planning
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Treasurers of All-Volunteer Organizations: Eight Key Responsibilities
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The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Fundraising in 2025
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The Most Successful Nonprofit Fundraising Strategies
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Insider Newsletters: An Easy Way to Keep Your Board in the Loop and Engaged
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An Easy-to-Use Accounting Procedures Manual Template
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A Guide for Private Foundations: Tax Exemption and 990-PF Filing Requirements
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Nonprofit Leaders: How Does Your Nonprofit Measure Success?
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Why is it Hard to Give My Money Away? A Donor’s Perspective
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The Biggest Mistakes New Nonprofits Make
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Five Years and Growing: How One Nonprofit Built a Sustainable, Collaborative Mission
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The Best Route to Approaching Donors: Hand-Head-Heart
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Measure What You Value: Designing a Values-based Performance Appraisal System
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The One Tool/Strategy Nonprofits Wish They Implemented Sooner
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Link Arms to Elevate Your Nonprofit’s Impact
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Your Nonprofit Got its Grant. Now What?
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Rebuilding Nonprofit Boards: When a New Board Can Be a Fresh Start
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Nonprofit Rebranding Strategies: Five Steps to Achieving a Successful Nonprofit Rebrand
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The Realities of Living with Food Insecurity
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Drive Your Nonprofit’s Mission by Investing in Your People
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Blue Avocado Presents: What Nonprofits Need to Know About Fiscal Sponsorships – Live Q&A
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The Critical Role of Cultural Responsiveness in Today’s Nonprofits
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8 Easy Ways to Grab More Attention for Your Small Nonprofit
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Supporting Caregiver Employees in the Nonprofit Sector
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How Curiosity and Creativity Can Foster Self-Aware Nonprofit Leaders
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Nonprofit Grant Proposal Budget Calculations: A Road Map
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Increase Safety for Your Nonprofit’s Team
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Your Nonprofit’s Budget: A Window to Finding Your Priorities
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How can nonprofit leaders avoid burnout?
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Using Philanthropy to Address Racial Harm and Inequity
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Nonprofit Fundraising: Are You Choosing the Right Grants?
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Preparing Your Nonprofit to Move Beyond the Founder
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Litigating a Path to Progress: Nonprofit Advocacy through the Courts
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Can Nonprofits Look to the Past to Build the Future?
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Blue Avocado Presents: Copyright Concerns for Nonprofits – Live Q&A
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How Lessons Learned From Fighting Food Insecurity Can Help Your Nonprofit
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Five Lessons for Creating an Effective (and Accountable) Nonprofit Board
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Grant Management Series: Involving Your CFO throughout the Grant Application Process
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Empowering Community Voices: The Strategic Advantage of Nonprofit Advisory Committees
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Ask Rita in HR: Should Murphy’s Law Be a Consideration in Making HR Decisions?
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The Big Chill: Why Nonprofits Should Care about Affirmative Action
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Beyond the Hype: Why ESG Frameworks Miss the Mark for Small Nonprofits
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Charting a New Course for Youth Engagement
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Blue Avocado Presents: Does Your Nonprofit Qualify for the Employee Retention Credit (ERC)? – Live Q&A
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Is Your Nonprofit’s Mission Obsolete — Or Just Ready for a New Direction?
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Five Signs Your Nonprofit is Ready to Reach a Bigger Community
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The MONGO Dilemma: To Collaborate or Not?
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Unmasking the Silent Impact of Trauma in Nonprofits
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The Art of Grant Budgeting: A Guide for Nonprofit CFOs
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5 Ways Nonprofits Can Balance Creativity and Structure
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How to Persuade a New Generation to Join Your Nonprofit’s Board
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Nonprofit ROI: How “Measuring the Good” Can Help Nonprofits Justify Investments
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9 Principles to Make Your Nonprofit Fundraising Effective — and Fun!
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Blue Avocado Presents: Cyber Incident Response Plans for Nonprofits – Live Q&A
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Moving Beyond Performance: Making DEI Actionable
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Is There Anybody Out There? Navigating the Challenges of Managing Hybrid Work Teams
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From Startup to Success: Guiding Nonprofits with Six Core Principles of Improvement
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Blue Avocado Presents: IRS Form 990 – What Your Nonprofit Needs to Know (Live Q&A)
Adopting solid organizational policies can help your nonprofit set expectations and avoid a laundry list of problems.
Exploring how nonprofits can remain committed to supporting the health, economic security, and well-being of historically marginalized communities — even after the end of affirmative action.
When we take a closer look at what Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks actually entail, it is often not worth the time and resources for most small nonprofits to go through such a process.
A blueprint for how using strategic inquiry can help your nonprofit better understand your community’s needs and provide key insights with the potential to help you innovate and better serve those who count on you.
Measuring the dual bottom lines of sustainability and impact can help you determine if the time has come for your nonprofit to conclude your mission — or pivot to a new one.
Does your nonprofit consistently reach the same group? It may be time to consider expanding your marketing efforts to reach a wider audience.
Many nonprofits overlook the opportunity to partner with existing organizations in favor of creating their own programs and solutions.
A trauma-informed culture enhances your nonprofit’s organizational sustainability, employee well-being, and overall productivity.
Is your organization’s CFO ready to put together a grant proposal budget that will make an impact with potential funders?
Learn how balancing creativity with structure can help your nonprofit foster innovation — without compromising your mission and goals.
Highlighting the personal and professional benefits of serving on your nonprofit’s board can help you make the role more appealing to younger candidates.
Expanding what “return on investment” means to your nonprofit — beyond just money — can help provide a clearer idea of how you’re helping your community and serving your mission goals.
Raising funds for your nonprofit doesn’t have to be stressful. Learn how one California nonprofit proved that, when designed thoughtfully and collaboratively, fundraising can be successful and enjoyable.
If you want to make your organization a healthy space for all and overcome biases and prejudices, you have to do the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work. It’s that simple.
Remote work is the new normal. Be sure your nonprofit’s managers and executives are equipped to successfully lead remote and hybrid work teams.
Six core principles, drawn from STEM education, can help new nonprofits assemble a diverse team, raise funds successfully, and learn to use the gathered resources for strategic growth.
With endowments, let’s rethink ‘forever’ and explore new, flexible ways to ensure your nonprofit organization’s longevity and effectiveness.
How nonprofits can overcome the complex legislative landscape to effectively lobby and pass laws that serve their communities.
To fight the battle against hunger, nonprofits can advocate for meaningful change in our societal structures.
One board member’s personal trials and triumphs of serving on a board, including invaluable lessons that every board member can benefit from.
A tale of transformation and innovative thinking from Motley Zoo Animal Rescue, which shares the lessons they’ve learned and how they overcame obstacles to create a sustainable, community-focused animal rescue system.
Why nonprofits, particularly those supporting marginalized communities, must become active players in the landscape of advocacy.
Why nonprofits that embrace a consensus-based decision model can enhance services, adapt to change, and make a lasting impact.
Seven things nonprofit executives can begin saying to set boundaries with funders and say no without consequences.