What most people do not realize is that nonprofit organizations experience similar complications and obstacles that a businesses face. Whether it is a small group or a large nonprofit corporation, the struggle to get the marketing message out there for the public to respond to is a battle that is fought every step of the way. If you are involved in this ongoing struggle with your nonprofit organization, we have eight tools that can help your organization get its marketing message across loud and clear.

1. Decompress the marketing budget with WordPress

In addition to the everyday headaches of marketing your message to the public, nonprofits often also struggle with a much lower marketing allowance than the for-profit competition. Nonprofit organizations can use WordPress, an easy to use application, for blogging and websites, making telling your riveting story and engaging your supporter’s interest easier and with far less expense.

WordPress allows you to compete in a visually stunning and attractive online format. You can be extremely search engine friendly without putting limitations on video, audio, or depth of social media reach. WordPress should definitely be at the top of every nonprofit toolbox.

2. Luminate Online lightens your fundraising load (By tons)

…

I recently completed a nonprofit internship, and it was a very difficult and challenging experience. My internship took place at Fairbanks Youth Advocates in Fairbanks, Alaska. I was in Alaska for the summer as an AmeriCorps Summer Crew Leader. After a successful summer, I was asked to stay and help open an emergency youth shelter as the Emergency Youth Shelter Coordinator.

My first day on the job was to familiarize myself with the organization by learning about their history and development. For the next few days I became familiar with runaway and homeless youth issues. The next big challenge was researching how to open an emergency youth shelter. There weren’t many options in Alaska, so I had to expand my search. I looked up shelters all over the U.S. and Canada. I looked to many of my nonprofit leadership and management classes at ASU for insight.

This gave me the tools to develop the steps to get the program going. We named it the Emergency Youth Shelter / Safe Space. The next step was to look for a location. We worked on finding sites, and then mailed out 15 letters. The letters explained our mission and what we were looking for. A few days went by, and then we got a response. It was from a church…

I attend Sabbath services almost every Saturday morning at Congregation Beth Israel. It is my chance to have at least 90 minutes of down time to reflect on the week that’s passed and look forward to the week ahead. The service a few Saturdays ago was conducted by the 10th graders that were being confirmed at the temple. They each played an active part in the service, sharing their reasons for continuing their religious education and their hopes for the future, saying the prayers and reading from the Torah.

Amy Baer’s speech started much like the others; she talked about her experiences in confirmation class, the friends she made. But it was her very clear statement of purpose that her connection to Judaism and her commitment to “tikkun olam, repairing the world” was what motivated her the most.

“For me, living like I am Jewish means that I am on a mission to repair the world. In order for me to feel like I am Jewish and embrace Judaism I have to be helping other people and be making the world a better place.”

Wow. How does a 10th grader have such a clear grasp on the concept of giving back? My family is big on volunteering. As kids we were always involved in some project or another – volunteering at the senior center, gift-wrap booths at the holidays, working the overnight shift at a telethon. But I’m fairly certain as I was doing…

When providing services to individuals of Latin American descent living in the U.S., service agencies whether public or private are faced with three overarching issues: the dramatically growing population, the different values and cultures based on their heritage and levels of acculturation, and the different life contexts which influence their needs. Taken together, these issues suggest a more comprehensive effort is needed to effectively service this population.

Within the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, the Latino Institute was developed to help address these issues and to serve as a bridge between the City and the Latino community. Today, the Latino Institute produces numerous programs for the community and serves as an outreach specialist that provides special events, networking, and cultural competency expertise to the City and agencies which aim to provide services to the Latino community. Over the past 12 years, the Latino Institute has gained a number of insights which have helped their program to succeed where others have not. These four key insights will be discussed in this blog.

First, the importance of partnerships is paramount. Approximately 80% of the Latino Institute budget is funded via sponsorship and programming fees with the remaining funds coming from the City of Phoenix. Funding through the City has fluctuated over the…

A few Decembers ago when I was home in Vancouver, I went with some girlfriends to serve breakfast and hand out holiday gift bags at a drop-in center for the less fortunate, where community members are offered shelter, activities, and a daily hot meal. The morning that we went also happened to be Women’s Wednesday.

I don’t remember her name, or really what she looked like, but I remember her asking us for a pen to write with. I also remember her sitting by herself, hunched over a table, long after the scrambled eggs and hash browns had run out.

Once we had finished cleaning up and were getting ready to leave, she came into the kitchen. She handed a few of us letters, said they were for everyone, and then she left.

The letter that I held was titled “Favorite Ladies,” and this is what it said: