The lifeline of all mission-driven organizations is the volunteer. According to the Independent Sector, a national advocate for the nonprofit sector, “A volunteer can impact the quality of services in charities and congregations while reducing costs.” Everyone loves to save money, but when is saving money more important than taking care of the people that help implement and accomplish the ever-changing objectives and strategic plans?

I enrolled in the Nonprofit Leadership and Management Program at ASU to gain an expanded view on the sector. It is clear that the manner in which an organization provides goods, services and outreach can be determined by human capital. Not being able to fully deliver these services can be attributed to the constraints on budget, staff and lack of resources. These limitations can be decreased if nonprofits embrace the voice and vision of the volunteer. 

CEOs in the nonprofit sector are often considered visionaries who chart the voyage of the organization. We are familiar with the marketing video of the visionary speaking to a group of volunteers and encouraging them to donate time or make a financial contribution, but what about championing the volunteer experience? When will nonprofits actually welcome volunteers as people who can also be a part of charting the voyage? Being able to fully utilize volunteers and truly benefit from their skill sets can be addressed with the help of a volunteer manager.…

According to a 2019 Statistica report on social media use, users spend an average of 136 minutes per day on social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat. Facebook alone has 2.41 billion monthly active users, and that number is expected to grow to over three billion by 2021. Individuals are not only using digital channels to entertain themselves or connect with friends and family, but to connect with causes they care about. 

The digital age represents an opportunity for nonprofits to increase giving. With merely a click of a mouse or tap on a phone, individuals can quickly learn about and donate to nonprofit organizations. Digital fundraising, specifically on social media channels, provides a way for nonprofits to connect to younger generations who do not have the time nor desire to receive lengthy appeal letters or printed newsletters. It is a rapidly growing medium that nonprofits must tap into if they wish to attract and maintain donors.

Social media and online giving both increased six percent between 2010 and 2018. On the other hand, direct mail decreased by 26 percent. With 75 percent of the population on social media every day, nonprofits have an ever growing audience of vast ages to solicit their…

Professional development (PD) is the "process of improving and increasing capabilities of staff through access to education and training." PD is crucial to keeping the right people working for your organization.

According to Guidestar, there are three reasons why PD is extremely important. First, it helps with staff retention rates. When staff are happy and feel good with not only the work they are doing, but know that they are appreciated and are shown that their work matters, the likelihood of them sticking around in their role is much higher. Second, better results for the organization as whole. When a nonprofit leader invests in the PD of their employees, it will have significant positive effects on fundraising and donor involvement. Lastly, investing in PD means better-educated and more motivated employees to help reach the mission for which the organization is striving.​​​​​​​

While conferences were once the only idea in gaining professional development skills, peer-to-peer mentoring is shown to give the highest output of learned skills. According to a Stanford Social Innovation Review survey, 70 percent of social-sector…

I’ll keep this simple, as many of us have a lot on our minds as we experience the world grappling with a public health crisis. Once you have looked out for the safety and well being of your employees by implementing work from home, social distancing, and community hygiene, it is critical that you turn your attention to your organization’s future fiscal health. Putting this off may impact, and potentially prevent, your organization from implementing its mission and providing critical services.

We have to look at the financial markets

The dual shocks of COVID-19 and an oil price war have roiled global markets. As of mid-March, the S&P 500 has plummeted over 27 percent since a market high on February 19, 2020. Uncertainty is likely to continue as the dual shocks on the global economy are increasing the probability of recession. Keep this idea of uncertainty in your back pocket, as we will return to it soon.

We just saw this

Again, with the focus on financial markets, we’ve seen this before and not too long ago. Remember the global financial crisis (GFC), aka the Great Recession, of 2007-2010? Of course you do. It took well into the last decade for most to recover; and, in some cases, organizations and communities never recovered.

For the nonprofit sector, the GFC wreaked havoc on donations and budgets…

Technological advancements have fundamentally changed the way people live, and they will continue to do so. These changes have significant consequences for how organizations connect with donors, clients, partners, and employees. According to Pew Research Center, a whopping 96 percent of Americans now own a cell phone, and the share that own smartphones is now 81 percent—up from just 35 percent in 2011.

Roughly one in five Americans have abandoned broadband Internet altogether and now exclusively use their mobile device. Notably, this isn’t just a trend for younger generations. 96 percent of those aged 30-49 own smartphones along with 79 percent of 50-64 year olds. In an article in Nonprofit Quarterly, Holly Ross said society’s implementation of technology has altered expectations of responsiveness, internal visibility, and the lure of newness and innovation. Bottom-line: the nonprofit sector must adapt.

Leveraging technology is about strategically selecting tools that will advance an organization’s mission. Mobile technology includes all portable communication devices, such as smartphones, tablets, or smartwatches, that connect to Internet or cellular data and can be used to increase trust and transparency, fundraise, story-tell, and work more efficiently.

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