Recent Posts

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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.

How to Plan and Execute an Emergency Succession

Succession planning gets a bad rap. But in a pandemic, especially in the early days, an emergency succession plan becomes essential to a nonprofit.

How Nonprofits Can Return to In-Person Board Meetings and Retreats

Explore these tips to have a safe and productive first in-person meeting with your board as the pandemic winds down.

The Employee Retention Credit: What Nonprofits Need to Know

Originally enacted as part of the CARES Act in March 2020, and subsequently voted into law last December, the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) may now be claimed by eligible employers — and that includes tax-exempt nonprofit organizations — that previously received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. Since most eligible employers opted for a PPP

Ask Rita: Recording Conversations in the Workplace — Do I Have to Put Up with This?

We want to discipline an employee for an unauthorized recording of our conversations. What are our options?

Running Your Nonprofit’s Accounting Department During COVID-19 and After

A professional accountant discusses how to make your nonprofit’s accounting more virtual.

Making Nonprofit Strategic Planning (Relatively) Painless

A nonprofit talks about how they accomplished a successful strategic planning process with as little pain — and as much gain — as possible.

Re-Opening After Covid-19: What Nonprofits Need to Know about Reasonable Accommodation of Employees with Disabilities

Nonprofit employers must navigate a multitude of workplace laws and risks, including employees with underlying medical conditions.

Creating a More Robust Volunteer Development Program

Now is a good time to review and focus on two key pieces of your volunteer program: training and engaging your volunteers.

Ask Rita: We Can Require Employees to Receive the Covid-19 Vaccine—But Should We?

It is important to take into account legal and practical considerations so as to balance community safety with the impact on individuals.

New York Nonprofit Employees Get Additional Paid Sick and Safe Leave Rights, Part 1

Explore new state laws, in addition to COVID-19 leave, provided under New York State’s Emergency COVID-19 Quarantine Paid Sick Leave.

How to Use Asset-Framing to Strengthen Nonprofit Work

Instead of defining people by their problems, asset-framing defines people by their aspirations, their gifts, and their contributions.

How Partnerships Help Nonprofits Stand Out in the Race for Funding

Partnerships are an opportunity to step up, tune out the noise, rethink funding priorities, and advance the common good.

Ask Rita: Can Our Paid Employees Also Do Volunteer Work for Us?

If you have an employee that also wants to volunteer at your nonprofit, here are some tips to help protect your nonprofit and your employees.

How to Build a Compassionate Workplace

Methods for interacting with emotional labor that create a net positive for everyone in your nonprofit organization.

Emotional Labor and Othering: Understanding Terms to Create Equity and Inclusion in the Nonprofit Workplace

Read “How to Build a Compassionate Workplace”? Here’s some background and resources to support branch one of othering: emotional labor.

A Primer on Nonprofit Contributions and Revenue from Contracts with Customers

Revenue from contracts with customers (ASU 2014-09) will impact your nonprofit, depending on the nature of your revenue and support.

Ask Rita: What Is a Hostile Work Environment?

Unhappy employees sometimes say they are working in a “hostile work environment”. Here’s what that means, and when to investigate it.

Five Examples of Gen Z Innovators Tackling Social Isolation

How might you pivot your work to help end social isolation and loneliness? Listen to the wisdom of elders and youth.

Strategic Planning 101 for Nonprofits: Strengthen a Nonprofit’s Board-Executive Director Relationship

A step-by-step guide to refocusing the board-executive director relationship to better align with their nonprofit’s greater mission.

Ask Rita: How Can We Help Our Employee Care for Family During COVID-19?

Empathy, understanding, and flexibility is necessary to ensure that we help our employees, and in turn, our nonprofits survive and flourish.

Ask Rita: I’m Confused Over EXEMPT vs. NONEXEMPT and SALARIED vs. HOURLY Employees

Employees are classified as either “exempt” or “nonexempt.” However, many in the workforce instead use the terms “salaried” or “hourly”.