Can I ask you 2, very important questions? Ok, here goes: #1 – Does your organization need more ticket sales/class registrations/etc.? #2 – Do you need more engagement on your social media accounts and at in-person events to help you keep patrons and donors interested? You likely answered ‘yes’ to both of these,…
Today’s article is both a cautionary tale and a set of lessons. All arts organizations go through growing pains and setbacks, especially in the early years when they are still small-medium sized. I’ve seen many of them fall into the same traps time and time again. And I would like to use these common pitfalls…
For today’s incredibly sexy topic, I thought we’d talk about Endowment Funds. Before you run screaming or just nod off in boredom, let me assure you that this topic is so, so necessary to talk about and I will try my best to not make it dull as dirt. First, a definition: An Endowment…
If your arts nonprofit organization hasn’t written or received many grants in the past, then you may now be wondering how in the heck people even track down grant opportunities. Especially if the grants you have encountered fell in your lap because of someone you knew or another organization you may have partnered with. …
Nowadays every business and nonprofit organization needs a website, and yet I so often see them without it. Or sometimes they do have one, but it clearly hasn’t been worked on since the late 90’s or it’s lacking some really important functionality or legal features. I guess I’m probably hyper-sensitive to it since I…
There are tons of posts and articles out in internetland right now on GDPR. And for good reason, since it has the potential for affecting so much of what we do online. For anyone living under a rock (or maybe just avoiding the pain of dealing with it), GDPR is the European Union’s (EU) new…
Lately, I’ve been working with and hearing from lots of startup nonprofits and organizations who have only been around a few years. I absolutely love working with new kids on the block because they are typically so filled with passion for what they do and full of fire to get going and do a great…
It occurred to me recently as I was writing the staff and board series, that there was one more area where we could definitely stand to air some things out. Much like the relationship between staff and board, the relationship between the rank-and-file staff and the ED is another area that can be subject to…
Buckle up, folks. This is going to be a longer blog post than I normally write. But it’s going to be absolutely packed with my best tips, strategies, and hacks for finding, writing, and editing grant proposals that get funded. If you’ve ever wanted a start-to-finish rundown of the grants process, this is it. Plus…
Let’s talk about evaluations. They are vital to your organization and yet I see so many nonprofits neglect them either because they have trouble making the time to get them done, they fear upsetting already overworked staff and board, or a host of other reasons, some good some bad. Today I am challenging you…