It is a truth universally acknowledged that all thought pieces about strategic planning must include mention of a shelf and something about dust.

(Seriously! Google "strategic planning" and you'll see what I mean.)

Because let's face it: strategic plans have a bad rap, don't they? The common perception is that nonprofits invest significant resources–time! money! energy!–into developing their strategic plans only to leave them on a shelf to gather dust. 

Does that happen? Absolutely.
Does it have to happen? In my experience, no.

And so, I'd like to offer five things you and your colleagues can do to keep your strategic plan alive and ensure that it is the worthwhile investment you need it to be.

If I may make a prediction during what feels like the most unpredictable year, it's this: 
virtual events are going to be with us long after the threat of coronavirus passes. 

Nonprofit leaders are saying that they're experiencing 100% attendance at board meetings. I've noticed from the panels and webinars I've presented or facilitated over the past few months that registrations and attendance are much higher than usual. And personally, I've appreciated that I've been able to spend less time in the car going from meeting to meeting and more time getting things done. 

There's certainly been a learning curve, though. Pre-pandemic, I had attended a handful of meetings via Zoom, usually small, informal groups. I was not well versed in the myriad features that virtual meeting platforms have to offer; how to manage large groups of people in a virtual setting; or how to make virtual events feel natural and welcoming.

I've learned some important lessons along the way. If virtual events are indeed here to stay, what can we do to make them more engaging and run smoothly? Here are some helpful tips for you: 

1. It All Starts with the Script
Virtual events, especially large meetings or webinars, are media productions. There are lots of moving pieces: different speakers, presentation slides, audience needs, video, audio, recordings, polls, breakout rooms, Q&A, etc. Technical glitches, hemming and hawing, and figuring things out on the fly are amplified in this environment.

For that reason, I outline everything that needs to be said and done during the event. Who's welcoming the audience and introducing the speaker? What information do we need to share with our participants so they know what to expect and how to ask questions? When do we need to start sharing a screen? Who's responsible for making sure the event gets recorded? When do we need to launch our poll? Who's fielding questions behind the scenes to assist those with technical difficulties? 

Documenting your entire event in a script format with production notes will ensure that your audience's experience is a favorable one.

2. Keep it Short
It can be more difficult to hold your audience's attention during a virtual event. There are many more distractions around them. They can't draw from the energy of other participants in the room. And there's just something about staring at screens for long periods of time that can wear people out. In turn, consider making your event shorter than you would if it were face-to-face. A 3-hour workshop in-person becomes 1.5 hours virtually. A 1.5 hour networking event in-person becomes 1 hour virtually. It's all about finding that sweet spot: just long enough to accomplish everything you need to; short enough to keep your participants' eyeballs and minds engaged. 
 
3. Ask the Audience
One way to keep your audience engaged and gather live feedback is to check in with them periodically with polls. This is great for webinars, in particular, where your participants can see you, but you can't see them. Kickoff your presentation with a poll to gauge their prior knowledge. Try asking them about their top concerns and tailoring your presentation to their responses. Quiz them on their understanding to determine if there's a topic you need to explain in greater detail. If the purpose of your event is to reach a decision or identify a course of action, use polling to determine your participants' priorities. 

4. Breakout the Breakouts 
In Zoom, you can use the Breakout Rooms feature to quickly divide the main group into smaller groups of any size. If you want your participants to "turn to a partner" to discuss a prompt, for instance, you can automatically and randomly pair off your attendees with the click of a button. If you want your participants to engage in small group discussions, you can break them into virtual clusters of 4-6 people and then bring everyone back to the main group for reporting out. This can be a great way to keep your audience engaged and encourage them to reflect on key topics. It is also useful for inviting participation from audience members who are more reticent to share ideas in front of larger groups–even in a virtual setting!

5. Use the Buddy System
​I mentioned above that there are a lot of moving pieces during a virtual event. It can be overwhelming for one person to manage. Allow yourself, or your guest speaker, to focus entirely on delivering content, moderating a discussion, or facilitating a meeting. Ask a savvy friend or colleague who's not easily flustered to take care of the rest: assisting audience members with technical difficulties, managing the influx of content-based questions from participants, launching polls, sorting the audience into breakout groups, and so on. 

What other techniques have you used for keeping your virtual events smooth and engaging? I'd love to hear them! And if you have questions about running virtual events, I invite you to share those in the comments or get in touch. ​

And if you could really use a hand with planning or facilitating your next virtual meeting or webinar, let me know how I can help with my virtual event services.

For many years, I have used Pinterest to gather ideas for big, personal projects: planning events, renovating my home, collecting dinner recipes, and–perhaps my biggest project of all!–raising my daughter.

It occurred to me only in the last year that I could also use Pinterest to plan my nonprofit. #facepalm

Now there are not nearly as many nonprofit pins as there are, say, hairstyle or home decor pins, but they are there. And their number is growing.

In that spirit, I have started curating boards just for nonprofit leaders like you who could use easy access to the best communications + board development ideas out there. I have a board for newsletter tips, a board for storytelling, a board for social media, and more.

I invite you to join me over on Pinterest. Follow my boards that resonate with you, that can help you to solve the communications + board development challenges you are facing. Check in often–I add new pins and boards on a weekly basis.

And better still, create some boards of your own. If you are new to Pinterest, here are two suggestions for maximizing your time and the resources you find:

• Create a board for each topic. Instead of starting a general "Nonprofit" board, have smaller boards, like "Nonprofit Website Makeover Ideas" or "Nonprofit Board Recruitment Tips." In this way, it will be easier to find the resources you like later on, rather than scrolling through 10s, or even 100s, of pins on a single board.
• Be a curator, not a squirrel. When you are searching on Pinterest, it is so tempting to pin everything in sight. But take a minute to consider the quality of the information you find before you pin. Again, it will be easier to locate the most useful resources right when you need them instead of sifting through a whole lot of chaff.
  

I have lamented before that nonprofit organizations, especially small ones, sell themselves short when it comes to board recruitment.

You may believe that the best you can hope for in a new board member is someone who participates in meetings, volunteers to take on a few simple tasks, and gets along well with the Executive Director and the other board members.

And you may believe that it does not matter what knowledge, experience, background, skills, or attributes your board members might possess.

But what if I told you that you and your organization could dream big about whom you can recruit to join your board? In today's post, I am going to help you kick these limiting beliefs to the curb, and give you the tools to figure out whom you need on your board.

Where do these beliefs about board recruitment come from? In my conversations with nonprofit leaders, I have found that these beliefs are often rooted in a sense of humility. I have heard things like:

• I love my organization! But it has some flaws. I am willing to tolerate or work on those challenges, but I just don't feel comfortable asking someone else to do the same.
• Everyone is so busy. I doubt anyone would want to make time for my little org. I mean, we're great, but we're not that great.
• I don't have any special skills or knowledge, and I haven't found it difficult to be a board member. I don't think we need to get too specific about who or what we're looking for. (The subtext here is that this board member is completely underestimating the value of their own effort, expertise, and leadership!)

Do any of these sound familiar to you? Whether you are a staff leader or a board leader, then let me ask you:

• Would you love to have a group of knowledgeable advisors to support your organization in achieving its mission and strategic plan?
• Would you benefit by having a wide variety of perspectives to inform your group’s decision-making?
• Would you be honored to work with a group of respected leaders who are just as passionate as you are about moving your organization forward?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then I encourage you to think strategically about your board recruitment.

> > > Related: If you could still use a confidence-boost that you should dream big about whom you can recruit, then check out these reasons why you must set the bar high for board service.

How do you figure out whom you need to serve on your nonprofit organization's board?

I really wish there were a one-size fits all template for determining the ideal composition. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all say: I need a lawyer, a banker, a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker. Check, check, and check! 

Instead, you need to determine a composition that will best serve your organization’s unique vision, needs, and values.

Here are some things I would consider...

1. Who is on your board now?
Take inventory of your current leadership to learn more about the knowledge, experience, background, skills, and attributes your board members possess.

• What inspired them to join your board?
• Do they bring a unique perspective to the table, one that is relevant to the work of the organization?
• What do they do for work? If they are retired or recently switched jobs, what did they do earlier on in their career? Are any of them in occupations that are commonly useful resources for nonprofits (e.g. law, accounting, fundraising, marketing)?
• What did they study in school?
• Do they have any special skills?
• What are their interests, hobbies, or volunteer experiences?
• How do they identify in terms of gender or race? About how old are they?
• Where do they live? Where are they from?
• What other businesses or organizations do they have connections to?
• When did they join the board? When will they reach their term limit?

This can also serve as a great opportunity to get to know your board members a bit better. Invite them for coffee 1:1, or take time during a board meeting to go around the room and share. You will be delighted with what you learn.

2. Does your board reflect the community you serve?
There's an expression, "Nothing about us without us." This slogan has its origins in Central Europe, and has been widely used in a variety of social justice movements. No matter the mission of your organization, it is important that the voices and perspectives of those whom you serve are well represented and empowered on the board. For example, if your organization mentors homeless youth and provides them with a safe, warm place to stay, then several of your board members may have experienced homelessness as young people. If you find in the course of your inventory that the board does not reflect the community you serve, your recruitment process should rectify that as much as possible. 

3. What do you need help with?
Start with any formal plans your organization might have. By this, I mean your strategic plan, fundraising plan, communications plan, etc. Are there any goals or strategies that you are unsure of how to achieve? That require special professional connections? That require significant funding?

Maybe you have formal plans. Maybe you don't. Whatever the case may be, here are some additional questions to ponder:

• Is there something on your to do list that you can never quite get to?
• Is there some significant challenge you need to address or opportunity you would like to pursue?
• Where is your organization in its life cycle? Is it a startup? Is it growing? Is it mature? Is it on the verge of collapse?

4. Putting It All Together
Take all of the information you have gathered back to your current board. In an ideal world, they have been engaged in the process alongside you. But no matter their level of participation, it is useful to review everything in the aggregate with them and to work together to put some stakes in the ground.

• Look at your compiled list of goals, strategies, challenges, and opportunities. What are your top priorities? You are going to recruit new board members with these priorities in mind.
• Did you learn anything new about your existing board that surprised you? Do any of these details align with your top priorities? If you discover some alignment, ask that board member for their advice, or to engage the challenge or opportunity with you. By taking advantage of what you already have, you can fill your remaining board seats strategically.
• Here is the biggest question: who in your community can help your organization work toward achieving those top priorities? If you are hoping to boost enrollment of elementary-aged children in your after-school program, for example, you might consider recruiting a teacher who can help you make the right connections in the local school system. If you want to increase participation in your individual giving program, you might ask someone with a background in development to join your board and offer their expertise. If your organization wants to make it easier for people to access the services you offer, you might invite someone with experience in streamlining business processes.
• And don't forget: "Nothing about us without us." Did you find that your board does not reflect the community you serve? Recruit with this priority in mind, too.

By the end of this process, you will have determined a board composition that is ideal for your organization. You will use it as a guide to help you find those in your community who will become your organization's best advisors, ambassadors, and advocates.

What am I missing? Share your best practices for determining your organization's ideal board composition in the comments below. Your questions are welcome, too!

'Tis the season for EDs and Development Directors to begin crafting their organization's year-end campaign. If you are like most, your campaign will include an appeal letter from the ED or Board Chair that will walk the fine line between, "Look at how amazing we are!" and "Please, please, please give us money so we can keep the lights on. Please."

If you have ever written such a letter–or had to sign it, fold it, and stuff it in a handwritten envelope 200+ times–you know how much work goes into this aspect of your campaign. Given your investment of time, energy, and papercuts, shouldn't you get a great a return?

Before you waste any more paper and ink on a lackluster, formulaic appeal letter, check out this list of ways to upgrade your correspondence and receive more contributions in return.

1. Name Names
Fundraising is ultimately about building relationships. But it is difficult to cultivate a relationship with someone if your letter greets them with a generic salutation, such as Dear Friend or Dear Donor. Moreover, the psychology of giving tells us that folks are more likely to open their wallets if they feel like they, and they alone, are being asked to give. If they perceive they are part of a group of people being asked–as a generic letter might imply–they will just leave it up to other people to donate.

Presumably, if someone is on your mailing list, you have their name. You can use mail merge in Microsoft Word to create and print personalized letters. The additional expense of printing these letters versus copying them en masse at your local office supply store is a worthwhile endeavor.

2. Show, Don't Tell
Instead of telling your recipients that your program has enriched the community in some way, how about showing them through storytelling? Stories have the power to inspire and motivate people to act, in a way that statistics cannot. To wit:

• This year, we distributed more than 1,000 sets of pencils, scissors, glue, and crayons to schoolchildren in need. Their teachers tell us that these students are better prepared than ever.

versus...

• When Rachel arrived for her first day of school this year, she was thrilled to open her backpack to find all the tools she needs to learn. She has pencils to ace her math test, crayons to illustrate her stories, and folders for keeping her homework organized. Because of your support, Rachel knows she can be a star pupil.

3. Don't Ask for a Donation
I know. This sounds counter-intuitive. Hear me out. Instead of asking your dear reader to "make a tax-deductible contribution" to your organization, invite them to join you in the good work you are doing. For example:

• Can you help a local family put a nutritious dinner on their table tonight? Your gift of $15 can feed a family of  four.
• Would you join us in keeping milfoil out of Lake Lorelai? Your support would mean that we could educate boaters about the dangers of invasive species.
• You can bring much-needed support to communities in times of crisis. Just $18 can provide a hot meal, warm blanket, and other simple comforts to someone displaced from their home.

This can make your prospective donor feel more engaged: they are not simply writing a check...they are changing the world!

4. Make It Easy to Give
Easy is subjective, of course, but you should offer your recipients at least two ways to give. Whatever methods you might suggest, you should facilitate those processes as much as possible.

For example, many people still prefer the old standby of writing checks, so you ought to include a return envelope. I once heard a seasoned fundraiser say that not including an envelope is like putting a pool of crocodiles between the donor and their contribution.

For other people though, writing a check requires an act of Congress, and possibly an errand to buy stamps. Yet more pools of crocodiles! Consider alerting them to an online or mobile giving option.

Bonus: Put 'You' Before 'We'
Here's something that might put a little spring in your step today: it's all about you!  Well, not you per se, but 'you' as in the person to whom you are writing. It is very easy to fall down the rabbit hole of "we did this and we did that; we will do this and we hope to do that." In the examples I offered above, I modeled this best practice as much as possible. Sometimes a 'we' is unavoidable, but you should try to make the letter about the recipient and the positive impact they can have their community.

What am I missing? Share your best practices for writing appeal letters in the comments below. Your questions are welcome, too!

If you are a nonprofit leader who has spent any amount of time on social media lately, you know the internet is ripe with tips, tricks, do's, don't's, mistakes, and best practices for successfully executing your organization's #GivingTuesday campaign.

And you have likely heard that in 2016, nonprofit organizations around the world received $177 million in a single day. I know when I hear that statistic, I think, "I want a piece of that pie!"

But let's take a step back for a moment: is #GivingTuesday right for your organization? That depends...How big is your nonprofit? Is your community active on social media? Have you had success with online giving in the past? Do you have the resources to develop a thoughtful, effective #GivingTuesday campaign? And more.

There's a lot to think about.

And so to help you with your thought process, I have rounded up some of my favorite essays that address the factors you need to consider before you ask for a slice of the #GivingTuesday pie.

• Is Giving Tuesday a Waste of Time? (John Haydon)
• 6 Questions to Ask Before You Plan Your #GivingTuesday Campaign (Rob Wu, HubSpot)
• Why Your Non-Profit Should Avoid #GivingTuesday Like the Plague (Joe Garecht, The Fundraising Authority)
• Is #GivingTuesday Worth the Effort for Your Nonprofit? (Cara Wood, Capterra)
• #GivingTuesday: Should You Embrace It or Not? (Jay Love, Bloomerang)
• How to Decide if Your Organization Should Participate in #GivingTuesday (Angela Cuadros, nonprofit hub)
  

Is your organization planning to participate in #GivingTuesday? Why or why not? Do you have any favorite articles that have informed your thinking about this day of giving? Share in the comments. Your questions are welcome, too!

Things have been going so well. You have had 100% attendance at board meetings for the past six months. Most of your board members have been actively engaged. They are asking great questions,  offering their input, and connecting your Executive Director and staff with the resources they need to fulfill the organization's mission. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and just when you thought life could not get any better...

You realize that the terms of two your best board members are coming to an end in a matter of months. You whimper. You gnash your teeth. You briefly consider proposing a resolution to eliminate term limits. Ultimately, you pull up your big-kid britches, sit down with your contact list, and think, "Let's see...who do I know who has a pulse?"

May I stop you right there? It does not have to be this way. It should not be this way.

Perhaps I painted a very rosy picture at the beginning about the current status of your board. Maybe you have trouble getting some board members to attend meetings. Maybe you have some board members who remain silent. Maybe you have some board members dutifully clutching their rubber stamps. You might even have some board members who are outright hostile to each other.

How to address those types of situations is the subject for a future blog post, or two. But however functional (or dysfunctional) your board might be, you owe it to yourself, your organization, and the community you serve to recruit the best darn board members you can find. Time and time again, I see organizations sell themselves short at the outset of their recruitment process, and end up settling for board members who prove to be dispassionate, disengaged, or otherwise dissatisfying.

I don't want that for you. And I know you don't want that either. Instead, I invite you to dream big about whom you can recruit to join your board, no matter the size of your organization. And here's why...

Board members are your organization's ambassadors. They are sharing stories about the impact of the work that you do. They are leveraging their networks to help you find the time, talent, and treasure your organization needs. They are cultivating relationships with your best donors, volunteers, and community partners. If a board member is lukewarm about your mission, or is afraid to ask others to learn more and do more for your organization, then they will not effectively fulfill their role as ambassador.

Board members are your Executive Director's most trusted advisors. They bring their knowledge, experience, skills, background, and attributes to bear on the work of the organization. They can support your Executive Director in solving problems, overcoming challenges, and identifying opportunities. Your organization will best serve its community if its work is informed not only by the Executive Director, but by the diversity of perspectives represented on your board.

Board members play a role in staff retention. Your Executive Director sends an email to your board asking for their input or announcing a significant gift. Crickets. Your Development Director attends a board meeting and asks for volunteers to assist with lapsed donor re-engagement. No one raises a hand. A board member directly approaches the staff with a long list of tasks or requests. A board member provides destructive criticism of the Executive Director, to their face, in the presence of the rest of the board. If your staff members perceive that the board does not care about their work, micromanages their work, or does not respect their work, they will leave.  And then you will be looking for much more than a few new board members.

Board members can help or hinder the future of your organization. They collaborate with your Executive Director and other staff members to set strategic directions, often in 3-5 year intervals. But is not uncommon for board members to get stuck in the weeds or to dwell in the past because there is great comfort in dealing with the known rather than the unknown. You need board members who don't mind this discomfort, and are adept at creative and strategic thinking.

See what I mean? Board members are so much more than warm bodies to achieve a quorum. They have a tremendous influence on the stability and impact of your organization. As you begin thinking about your upcoming board recruitment cycle, I hope you remember that your organization deserves board members who bring more than their pulse to the table. They must also bring their head and their heart.

What am I missing? Can you think of other reasons why organizations should "dream big" when it comes to board recruitment? Share in the comments below. Your questions are welcome, too!

It's not every day that you get to meet your heroes. I still haven't met mine, but I did get to be a guest on her podcast!

I had the pleasure and honor of joining Joan Garry on a recent episode of "Nonprofits are Messy" to talk about what it's like to be the only staff member of a small nonprofit.

 If her name is not familiar, Joan is the former CEO of GLAAD, a regular panelist on NBC's Emmy award-winning show "Give", and a consultant and published author on nonprofit leadership. Joan knows nonprofits!

One of the things that I enjoy most about Joan–apart from her endless wisdom and generous spirit–is her ability to maintain a sense of humor about the nonprofit sector and also remain in absolute awe of the good work we are all trying to do. This feels like a healthy balance to me.

During our podcast conversation, Joan and I covered a lot of ground: elevator pitches, a day in the life of a solo Executive Director, board roles and responsibilities, volunteer engagement and management, and trying to grow when there aren't a lot of resources.

You can stream our episode online, or download it to your mobile device with your preferred podcast app.

And don't stop with that one! Joan has had a lot of amazing guests over the years. Here are just a  few of my favorite "Nonprofits are Messy" episodes...

• Episode 41: What Every New Board Member Needs to Understand 
  

            (What about incorporating this one into your new board member orientation?)

• Episode 38: What the Heck is Marketing Anyway? with Sarah Durham
• Episode 35: Stop Asking Your Board to Fundraise! with Gail Perry