Tips for adding the right numbers to your one-page budget. In a previous article, I talked in general terms about how to provide a proposal budget that the grantor will find to be concise, comprehensive, and transparent. Now we are faced with putting the numbers on the page. Challenges abound in calculating the revenue and expense numbers that will populate your one-page budget. Here are the five most common challenges I’ve come across when calculating the grant proposal numbers, as well as my recommendations for strategies to overcome them. Challenge 1: Estimating fringe benefits Payroll and ..read more

Six Actions to Increase Employee Safety The focus on serving and uplifting our communities is something we all likely share in our work at nonprofit organizations. Because this focus can be so consuming, however, it can be easy to overlook how the employees within our agencies may be actively experiencing harm in their own lives. We are all human beings, and as such, may find ourselves in situations where our safety and security are at risk. We may even be experiencing the very things that our work is seeking to remedy. Creating a safer1 workplace for employees — who might be experiencing the ..read more

Like teachers, social workers, and front-line medical staff (among others), nonprofit leaders are asked to perform minor miracles on a regular basis. However, these miracle workers often don’t get much support themselves. The result is a recipe for burnout — for the leader, their staff, and the organization as a whole. To demonstrate, let’s look at some data. The Society for Human Resource Management reports nearly a third (30%) of nonprofit employees say they are burned out, and a further 20% are at risk. The voluntary turnover rate for nonprofit organizations is 19%. And with one out of ever ..read more

Tools to strategize and operationalize racial justice at your nonprofit. Throughout the past few years, much of the renewed energy and attention given to racial justice within the nonprofit sector has been rightly fueled by the confluence of events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial justice protests that erupted throughout the country in 2020. These events — particularly the pandemic, given how broadly and unevenly it impacted different populations — helped to reignite a broader conversation around systemic racism: it made the nonprofit sector face how the intersectionality of th ..read more

Tips for reviewing your nonprofit’s grant prospects. One of the questions I’m often asked is: “How do I find grants?” But I don’t hear the more important question: “How do I know the grant is right for me?” Grant funding is great, but often comes with requirements such as financial tracking of the award, measuring the program, reporting to the funder, and more — so look before you leap! First, let’s start with the most basic question. Who has money to give (and what strings are attached)? As many nonprofits are probably aware, multiple sources offer grant funds. However, not all grant sources ..read more

Stepping away is part of the nonprofit circle of life. Over the years, I have worked with many founder-led (or until-recently-founder-led) organizations. There is something exciting about being part of that first wave, when a bold new idea emerges, takes shape, and hopefully improves society around it. But for those toiling away in young nonprofits, it is often grueling and sometimes even cruel. And after all the difficulties of starting a nonprofit, the end of the beginning rarely goes well. As anyone who has witnessed Founder’s Syndrome can tell you, the first leader is often abruptly shown ..read more

Three pieces of advice for nonprofits looking at litigation as advocacy. It is trite to start a discussion of advocating for change by mentioning the dysfunction in the US political systems, but here we are. As federal and state legislative bodies have stalled from political polarization, many nonprofits find that traditional advocacy pathways are no longer viable to create systemic change for their clients and communities. In response, many nonprofits are now moving toward using litigation as a normative standard in advocacy campaigns. Establishing Historical Precedent This type of so-called ..read more

Past programs can hold potential lessons and positive legacies that could be revived or adapted to meet your nonprofit’s current needs. Innovation has been a big buzzword as of late in the nonprofit community, perhaps as a result of that double-edged, trickle-down policy (courtesy of the for-profit world). Living and working in the Bay Area, it’s hard not to get caught up in the tech-world’s latest rebranding as disruptors ofvarious industries (however you feel about the validity of that word). But what if the most innovative—or disruptive, or whatever the latest creative rebranding is—strateg ..read more

A free webinar for the nonprofit sector. Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 11 am PT; 2 pm ET (60 min.) Nonprofits often create content for awareness, fundraising, or educational purposes, and understanding copyright principles is essential. In this one-hour webinar, participants will get an overview of how to protect their copyright and avoid the infringement of others, including: What is protectable What is not copyrightable Public policy behind the law How to protect your organization’s copyrighted works Infringement risks to avoid Chris Reed, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer for Nonprofi ..read more

Six best practices for small ways your nonprofit can lead great change. When I began a food drive for folks who had been affected by the pandemic, I did not think it would lead me to a career change, a 501(c)(3), and a lot of incredible lessons and knowledge. Growing out of a single event, Nourish LA now provides a free bag of groceries to any person who shows up at our weekly distribution sites. It’s a simple act with a big impact—like what many of us do in the nonprofit sector. And just like many other nonprofits, the more you start trying to address this need in your community, the more you ..read more