Many nonprofit organizations are focusing on how to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principals in their work to better serve their communities. Although there is no single response that can lead to racial justice and racial equity in our society, nonprofits play an important role in creating change, accessing resources, and attaining opportunities.

Additionally, studies show that organizational effectiveness increases with a more diverse workforce, and culturally relevant organizations may increase staff retention. DEI strategies are important for authentically realizing the organization’s mission and may result in more funding opportunities.

Studies suggest that communities of color are overlooked as potential partners, donors, and stakeholders. Many nonprofits focus on white, wealthy, and well-connected donors, instead of partnering with the community the organization aims to serve. This means the communities that nonprofits intend to serve are often left out of important decisions, and nonprofits may be missing an opportunity to bring in new partners.

Some organizations have utilized community partnerships such as co-production and community-centric funding to engage communities they serve in their organizational processes. An example of collaborative efforts for programming and shared funding is an organization that works to address homelessness partnering with neighborhood residents for a solution. Another example…

Successfully including all stakeholders in the life of a nonprofit requires attention to enacting and maintaining inclusive practices.

When traditionally excluded people are included, power imbalances weaken, work environments become more innovative, trust between colleagues increases, and financial performance increases. Diversity and inclusion remain one of the top nine challenges facing the charitable sector as reported by a survey of more than 1,000 diverse individuals, but disabled people are often left out of the inclusion conversation altogether. More than one in four Americans have a diagnosed disability. Nonprofits will be more relevant and more impactful in meeting their missions when they utilize strategies to include disabled stakeholders.*

(I will predominantly utilize Identity-First Language (e.g., “disabled people”) as opposed to Person-First Language (e.g., “people with disabilities''). For decades, many professionals were taught Person-First Language (PFL) as an effort to remove the disability from people's identities, and …

The nonprofit sector is ever-changing, and in this digital age it is now opening its arms to a new way to accept donations: through the blockchain and cryptocurrency. New apps and online services have made working with cryptocurrency easier than ever, allowing nonprofits to avoid turning away donors who wish to donate digital currency.

Some apprehension is understandable, but we’re here to answer some common questions. We’ll start with a few basics, and then move into questions about the advantages (and the risks) for nonprofits.

What is cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is often described as digital money or gold, stored in a virtual wallet. Its value is determined by its perceived value, just like a traded stock. When investors purchase cryptocurrency “coins,” like Bitcoin for example, they hope the value and utility will increase over time. Cryptocurrency is created by code, not issued by a government like dollars or pesos. This allows cryptocurrency transactions to be done peer-to-peer over a decentralized network, without a third party such as a bank or financial intermediary.

Thousands of cryptocurrencies have been created over the previous decade. In November 2021, the market cap of all cryptocurrencies…

As nonprofits rely heavily on donors to provide their revenue, the question becomes, how do prospects determine an organization’s donation-worthiness? What criteria do they use to make these decisions?

Motivations for their giving include receiving tax deductions and understanding the impact their investment is making. Studies show that donors ask less about where their money is spent and more about the impact their donation is making. But nonprofit leaders do not always know how to communicate their organization's impact to retain donors and attract new ones. So, how can nonprofit leaders effectively communicate impact to stakeholders?

The problem with ratios

Charity watchdogs are a type of nonprofit that publicly share information about charities, including reviews and ratings. They often use financial ratios to measure a nonprofit's impact, but these do not most accurately showcase a program's efficiency. High program ratios may be an attractive number to management, donors, and the public, who might mistakenly see these as evidence that an organization's revenue is going towards accomplishing its mission by providing services.

Storytelling as a solution

Evidence of impact comes through testimonies. Communicating what a nonprofit does through…

Workforce diversity is a significant concern for nonprofits with the recent growth of diverse populations in the U.S. In 2017, 87% of the U.S. nonprofit workforce and executive leadership identified as white.

Nonprofit board members in the U.S. also lack demographic, racial and ethnic diversity with less than 20% identifying as people of color. Nearly 30% of nonprofits report they have no board members who identify as a person of color. Consequently, nonprofits continue to have difficulties applying diversity initiatives which affect marginalized, underrepresented individuals’ outcomes, access to needed services, and trust. When nonprofit employees, leaders and their boards are not reflective of the communities they serve, they jeopardize mission attainment and the implementation of ineffective strategies to address social issues.

Research indicates workforce diversity is the cultural or demographic characteristics that makes employees unique, which is needed to effectively confront social issues and achieve social good. According to Nonprofit HR's 2019 Nonprofit Diversity Practices Survey results, workforce diversity is the purposeful “recruiting, hiring, developing, and retaining” of…