A 30-45 second explanation of your organization and why it's important, an elevator pitch provides an important tool for educating the public about your organization. When created with your leadership team, board and staff, it also empowers them to both better understand your organization and to share a consistent message with their friends and network.

Effective leadership drives mission success. When the executive director leads with clarity, integrity, and purpose, the organization thrives. Like every employee, even the most talented leader needs regular and structured feedback, direction, and accountability to continue to grow personally and professionally and strategically move the organization forward. For a nonprofit, the board alone carries that responsibility. These five reasons explain how board-led evaluations of your chief executive will reap long-term benefits for your organization.

Last time we talked about why you need a fund development plan. This video walks through the steps to gather the data that will inform your plan and how to use that data to develop the strategies to move your organization and its fund development work forward.

Nonprofits don’t exist to make money — but they do need it to make an impact. A social enterprise can help you do both. Read more to learn how to build a mission-driven business venture that strengthens your sustainability, credibility, and connection to your cause.

One type of strategic plan focuses on your fund development work. Are you spending time in a way that will raise the most money for your organization? Are you meeting best practices benchmarks? A plan can help you determine that and create strategy to fill in any identified gaps.

At a meeting back in February, my staff and I talked about some of the likely challenges with which we thought our clients lived after the barrage of executive orders that the current administration had released at that time.

As executive orders and funding freezes began to feel more common, we started collecting data in a quarterly Federal Grant Impact Survey. Today's blog post highlights are most recent findings and the state of Quad Cities nonprofits today.

One strategic plan that I recommend all organizations have is a strategic fund development plan. It allows you to chart out your long-term and short-term goals, find the gaps in achieving that goal, and develop specific steps to get there.

Last week, I had the honor of cohosting the inaugural Table Talk session of the OneTable QC initiative, a joint venture between Wastyn & Associates and the Quad Cities Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The event brought together nearly 60 local nonprofit leaders from various sectors to discuss their realities in the current political and economic environment, to share what they anticipate as the various elements of the Reconciliation Bill get implemented, and to brainstorm ways to minimize these impacts on their organizations and the people they serve.

Organizations that have a good strategic plan will more likely achieve their goals, their goals will more likely move them toward their vision of success, and they will have more engaged board members and staff. Learn why you need a strategic plan and how a good planning process can get you there.

Did you know? If 10% of your sporadic donors become recurring donors, you can boost five-year fundraising revenue by more than 70% (source: Virtuous) But how do we increase recurring gifts? Check out today's blog post for 5 tips!

In this ever-changing environment, the need to have a diverse funding mix becomes even more critical for organizational survival and prosperity. Learn how you can determine if you have a diverse enough portfolio of funders as a starting point to strengthening your financial future.

To help you understand the recent executive order on Federal grantmaking, these 9 steps will give you a general concept of how federal grants operate and your role as the applicant or recipient in the process.

Fund development work relies on relationships. People give to people. Understand the importance of building relationships and leveraging your board and volunteers to expand your circle of relationships to expand your fundraising success.

Having advocates on your board does not happen overnight nor does it happen by osmosis or chance. You have to prepare them. These 5 tips can help you grow a more advocating board.

You've probably heard me say many times that you want to make a specific ask of a donor, meaning putting a dollar amount in front of them. Learn why and how and hear an example of how one organization may have left money on the table by not making a specific ask.

Your membership program isn’t just fine. It could be fundraising gold. If you’re not building relationships, you’re leaving dollars (and future board members) on the table.

Too many nonprofits think that they cannot talk to lawmakers about the causes that matter to them because they know that lobbying can jeopardize your 501c3 status. While the latter is true, you can engage in advocacy. Learn the difference between the two in this short video.

In this uncertain grant environment, these 10 basic steps can help increase your chances of success.

Now is the perfect time to reach out and thank your donors for investing in your organization and show them what a difference they make in fulfilling your mission. At the halfway point through the year, giving tends to slow down which should give you some time to implement some stewardship activities while cultivating your donors to give again at the end of the year.

In our latest survey, 90% of Quad Cities nonprofits say they’re feeling or anticipating the squeeze. That means real impacts on local programs, staff, and services our community relies on. But there’s strength in this story, too. Nonprofit leaders are stepping up, and so can you.