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A Giving Tuesday Campaign Primer for Small Nonprofits

There are many of us running small nonprofits who certainly know of Giving Tuesday but are skeptical of launching a Giving Tuesday campaign. In this post, my goal is to (1) define the initiative and its origins; (2),outline reasons to consider putting together a Giving Tuesday campaign and (3) offer some practical ways of implementing one quickly, i.e., in about a week. How much work am I talking about? Once you decide on your on fundraising project, you will need…

Nonprofit Annual Report Writing Simplified

I've scoured the Internet, gathering and synthesizing the latest best practices on how to write a nonprofit annual report. You can find my sources for this post at the very end of what's below. Here, we’ll cover (1) why annual reports are important, (2) things to consider before we begin to write, (3) the basic elements that a report should include, and, (4) finally, where to go for inspiration, i.e., where to find examples and templates. 1. WHY creating a…

A Simple Primer on How to Build a Nonprofit Website

A Simple Primer on How to Build a Nonprofit Website In this post, I will attempt to outline the basic principles governing how to build a nonprofit website. The principles fall into the following four categories: Organizational principles, which drive the page order and type; Design principles, which address navigability, simplicity, conventionality, and responsiveness; Content principles, which address donor-centricity, the incorporation of emotion and engagement, and search engine optimization basics; and Monitoring and maintenance principles, which involve employing free tools…

The Why and How of the Nonprofit Fact Sheet

The Why and How of the Nonprofit Fact Sheet When I first started at my nonprofit, we had few marketing materials and little money to develop them. Coming from a marketing and legislative relations background, I knew I could solve this problem in the short term with a few well-crafted fact sheets.  In this post, we'll review: What purposes fact sheets serve; Why they are especially important for smaller nonprofits; The basic types of fact sheets; and How to create…

The Basics of Nonprofit Marketing Messaging

The Basics of Nonprofit Marketing Messaging After you’ve described your audiences, delineated the right media for your messages to them, and decided on the channels for delivery of those messages, you need to think about what you’re going to say.  In this post, we’ll discuss: (1) Why nonprofit marketing messaging is important; (2) Four components of a good foundation for nonprofit marketing messaging; (3) Three key nonprofit marketing messages that you should develop and keep in your back pocket; (4)…

How to Develop a Simple Nonprofit Marketing Plan in 5 Short Steps

A marketing plan is an essential component of any well-run nonprofit, no matter how small. In this post, we'll review the definition of marketing and why the term has negative connotations for some people.  Next, well look at what a marketing plan is and why it's important to have one.  And, finally, we'll look at the five short steps involved in developing a marketing plan.  We'll use plenty of examples and illustrations along the way so that in just a…