Social Trendspotter Weekly Blog
4 Steps to Turn Your Nonprofit’s Volunteers into Evangelists
April is National Volunteer Month, so we wanted to kick off the month by celebrating the heartbeat of every social sector organization – its volunteers! Interestingly, researchers have recently debunked the notion that happiness is the goal of life. In an interesting...
The Collaboration Commandments
As a political junkie, I always look forward to presidential elections and watching the democratic process unfold with the hope that the winning candidate can affect positive change for our nation. But the election process is a contentious one by its very nature....
Are You Elevator-Ready? The 6 C’s for a Dynamite Nonprofit Pitch
Nothing strikes fear in the heart of a nonprofit staffer or board member more than the dreaded question, “Tell me what you do?” After almost two decades of training on storytelling and now with our webinars provided free online, I have pinpointed why it is so...
Lessons from Dr. Seuss on the Power of Storytelling
On March 2, children and adults alike celebrated Dr. Seuss Day in classrooms across America. I love to visit an elementary school and read my favorite Dr. Seuss book – Oh, the Places You’ll Go! – to an enraptured audience of young learners. As Dr. Seuss taught us,...
Want to Stand Out from the Crowd? Social Marketing Lessons from “Don’t mess with Texas”
Saturday was Texas Independence Day – when Texans signed a declaration of independence from Mexico and created the Republic of Texas. To this day, Texans are fiercely independent, which is why our unofficial state slogan, “Don’t mess with Texas,” has resonated with so...
15 Years and Counting: Making Social Impact the Bottom Line
Fifteen years ago, I started Social Impact Architects with one disruptive goal: to reimagine nonprofit consulting. As every social entrepreneur does, I started with the problem. Based on my experience and research, I identified key issues in the nonprofit-consultant...
Email Etiquette: 5 Strategies for Clear, Concise Communication
When I grew up, we had a party line phone, and it was expensive to call people. So, you had to really think about what you wanted to say and be as concise as possible. Fast forward to today – calls, texts and emails are free. With that freedom, something has gotten...
Boost Your Nonprofit Donor Engagement with the 5 Love Languages
Valentine’s Day was yesterday, and love is in the air! While it is commonplace to celebrate your loved ones on this day, more social sector organizations are using this day to celebrate supporters and employees. For some inspiration, my friends and fellow consultants,...
Managing Nonprofit Conflict Resolution by Inviting Dissent in Decision-Making
The media was abuzz last week with the "Wheel of Fortune" – "Pink Orchid" debate. It nearly broke the Internet with a million views in two days as people watched and rewatched Megan Carvale guess the puzzle with five blank letters: P_N_/_RC_ _D. Whether you hear “Pink...
Can Nonprofits Lobby? The Answer is YES!
Each year in February, state legislative sessions begin across the country. It is an exciting time and opportunity for nonprofits – with new possibilities for proactive policy change to better address social issues in our communities. Whenever I discuss this the...
