Tag Archives: Nonprofit

Ways your nonprofit can contribute to diversity in your community

Ways Your Nonprofit Can Contribute to Diversity in Your Community

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When describing their business models and the values upon which these businesses are founded and conducted, the subject of diversity is currently at the forefront of both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. In today’s workplace environment and going forward as well, decisive action is being taken by nonprofits to change the way diversity looks both internally and externally.

The intention may be present but without specific action, diversity becomes just another buzzword devoid of any real substance. Creating a definitive diversity strategy through nonprofit consultation with leadership, board members, staff, and community stakeholders will ensure that your nonprofit contributes to and mirrors the diversity of the community it serves.

Look Internally

Assess the make-up of all the players within your nonprofit and then do the math. What percentage of your directors, managers, and direct service staff reflect a diverse composition based on gender, race, orientation, and ethnicity? What about your board? Do you see a varied representation of demographics that achieves diversity at this level?

And most importantly, the staff members who provide direct services to the community, do they bear a similar reflection to those people who must rely on them and trust them?

Diversity within the people who make up your organization is not just about being bilingual or being a person of color. It is about including folks from all walks of life who bring an enormous array of experience and wisdom to the table so that no matter their background, they provide an effective, heterogeneous foundation of compassion and expertise for the community in which they serve.

Look Externally

Who is living, working, and going to school within the service area of your nonprofit? It is essential to know who they are not only according to their demographics based on race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status but also in what they value and how they may be appropriately engaged to receive support in a kind, dignified manner. Observe perceptions about your reputation and brand awareness in the community as an organization that is rooted in diversity with whom they employ and what populations are served.

Diversity is not just about inclusion. It is about denouncing inequity and intolerance and accepting that in both giving and receiving services all people are welcome and respected.

Where Do You Start?

There are many ways to address and improve the level of diversity in your nonprofit. Some are quickly achieved; others take a bit of time and are open-ended. Here are some ideas to get you started or thinking in this direction:

1. Assess who you serve and what issues you address. Are there diversity gaps that can be narrowed by broadening your scope of services or advocacy?

2. Create a diversity statement to be included in your by-laws and make it visible on your website and in any documentation, both inside and outside the organization.

3. Include diversity as part of your long-term strategic plan. Set goals and evaluate outcomes each year the plan covers.

4. Establish a pipeline of potential leadership, board members, and staff that reflects your commitment to diversity and inclusion.

5. Establish a similar pipeline for volunteers, community partners, and donors to ensure that diversity among these stakeholders is a valuable part of your mission and vision.

6. Create a robust digital marketing strategy that includes your website as well as social media platforms. Utilize photos, videos, and posts that allow your audience to observe your approach to diversity in action.

7. Engage the services of a nonprofit consultant to help you form a needs assessment and subsequent action plan addressing diversity as a priority.

A plan for improving diversity within your nonprofit requires creativity plus commitment, but nothing will be achieved unless the effort is made. The positive outcomes from this initiative will be rooted in this valuable work.

To get started with your diversity plan contact KM Clark, and our experienced nonprofit consultants can help you succeed in being a community leader regarding diversity.

Nonprofit Collaboration Pooling Ideas and Resources

Nonprofit Collaboration: Pooling Ideas and Resources

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It can be frustrating when nonprofits are aware of needs in the community, whether attributed to individuals or issues, but do not have the resources or staff to accomplish those specific goals. Their employees have great ideas and great energy, but sometimes there just isn’t enough of either to tackle the tasks needed in their community.

When this happens, it can be disappointing at best and dire at worst. Nonprofits provide extensive programming to their communities but are sometimes brought to a standstill because a lack of funding, manpower or various logistics prevent them from achieving the results they want and know the community needs.

That is where nonprofit collaboration comes into play. Nonprofits are resourceful and when they partner with other organizations in their community, the resources can extend even further. So, if your nonprofit is looking for ideas of how to collaborate more with others to continue your incredible work, keep reading. Not only will you be pooling some of your resources which can increase the likeness of success, you will be able to identify and reduce duplication of services as well.

Where to Begin?

Most nonprofits may have experienced periods of financial drought or limited resources throughout the years. The economy changes and budgets fluctuate. Or, unfortunately, circumstances like natural disasters can influence a community’s emergency needs. One agency can’t do all the work alone, nor are they expected to, but these are tough words to swallow when there are issues to address or individuals to care for.

Just because the focus shifts doesn’t mean the issues at hand cease to exist. Sure, this can be a crushing setback, but it can also be an opportunity. The nonprofit sector is not and never will be a “one and done”. We must always be reassessing and re-evaluating the needs of our community.

And that’s where we start. Identify the community needs and then create a list of which organization does what and where, and for how long and at what financial cost. This will help in identifying where the gaps are and how collaboration can fill in those spots where needs exist. Remember we talked about reducing duplication of services. This can be an opportunity to better utilize some of those resources and ensure maximum impact while reducing waste.

What Are the Next Steps in the Plan?

This is where your collaborative efforts begin to take shape. The informal conversation about possibly working together leads to a more formal agreement with resources and goals in mind. Each member of this partnership must be aware of the scope of commitment each other can provide. While you are linking services to address a broader mission, parameters must be in place to ensure a smooth delivery of services.

The Ever-Present Notion of Collective Impact

There is no organization in the nonprofit sector that is unaware of collective impact especially when it influences securing funding for programs or other initiatives. Funders from corporations to private foundations to government entities want to see that nonprofits are ready and willing to collaborate in order to pull resources and reduce the risk of duplicating efforts.

This sounds great in theory, but often funders don’t realize how difficult collaboration can be to coordinate program logistics and execute services. Nonprofit organizations must employ a detailed development plan with their partners to assure funders that programs will operate with efficiency and eliminate waste or duplication. Adhering to a strategy of collective impact can improve the chances of full funding in order to execute programmatic goals.

Playing Nice and Making Friends

There will be complexities along the way that can create challenges as well as the unexpected unseen forces that can hopefully move each organization to adapt with flexibility and grace. Nonprofit organizations and the people they employ are driven by a passion to improve the lives of all individuals in their communities as well as address needs that make their towns and cities robust with education and culture. Keeping in mind the initial reason for the collaboration to take place should cement the overarching mission of providing services to those in need and benefiting the community in which all belong.

Non profit e fundraiser

What are the Best Nonprofit e-Fundraising Strategies?

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Online giving is steadily on the rise, especially since the emergence of the pandemic, and it has accounted for 22% of all online fundraising revenue for 2021, according to M+R Benchmarks. This presents a huge opportunity, especially for the smaller nonprofits that might not have access to large annual donors.

Don’t get me wrong, traditional social events and campaigns are not going anywhere but with the modern world we live in and easy access to the internet, e-fundraising strategies will create opportunities to reach a larger audience, attract a new audience and donors, integrate new campaigns and stewardship techniques, and build stronger relationships with current donors while also reducing the overall cost of the fundraising “event” allowing for more dollars received to go towards and impact the cause.

There’s no denying the fact that e-fundraising has, without a doubt, changed the nonprofit donation landscape and what organizations can do, but because there are so many different types of applications to start a digital nonprofit fundraiser, how do you know which ones to use for your nonprofit?

Well, there’s certainly no one-size-fits-all strategy, but in order to determine which strategies will work best for your nonprofit, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of the different e-fundraising strategies available to you. Below you’ll find a few of the more popular strategies.

Host a Virtual Gaming Tournament

If there’s one thing about a virtual gaming tournament that will make it successful, it’s that gaming is an industry that already has a loyal audience dedicated to playing video games.

You’ll definitely want to do your research on the best games to host for this event, simply because a game that’s popular right now, may not be in seven months at the time of your virtual gaming tournament.

Once you’ve decided on a game, you want to get set up on a streaming service to promote your event. The donations come in by setting a dollar amount for an entry fee for players.

Additionally, you can encourage the viewers watching the competitors play to donate as a way to show support for their favorite players. If you’re going to have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners, reach out to your local business and see about donations for the winning participants. Trophies or medals work great as well!

Create a Donation Form or Page for Your Nonprofit’s Website

A donation form or page isn’t necessarily a fundraiser in the traditional aspect, however, it’s a convenient and effortless way for people to make donations for all virtual fundraising events you may have.

Whatever virtual event you have, incorporating a simple link or button that redirects the online user to the donation form or page will streamline the donation process without donors having to click around to find out how to make a donation.

Host an Online Auction

Charity auctions aren’t a new event or concept but hosting virtual auctions does bring about a new flare of ease and convenience of the process. With an online auction, you don’t need to book a physical location for the event; a simple picture of the item or listing of the service can be uploaded to your bidding platform. Just be sure to find sponsors, write clear and concise prize descriptions, and properly promote the event via social media, email campaigns, and through local media.

Once the auction is over, you want to get in contact with the winners and discuss payment options as well as delivery options for the prizes. And, of course, thank them for participating in the auction and making their nonprofit donation to your organization.

Getting Your Nonprofit Out There

When it comes to getting donors and reaching new audiences, you have to get your name out there, because if people don’t know who you are and what your nonprofit represents or its mission and vision, your odds of acquiring donations are going to be lower. This particular aspect is how e-fundraising strategies make the biggest impact and difference for nonprofits. There are a lot of free and/or low cost options to help get your nonprofit and its mission out there. One free resource to help get your nonprofit out there is the FREE Google ads campaign they offer to nonprofits. Never heard of this? We are happy to provide you with information about this service. There are also events like “The Big Payback” that your nonprofit can participate in as well as the Amazon giveback program.

There are also local initiatives in your area that provide free platforms for your nonprofit to register for that brings donors and recipients together, providing a greater reach.

At KM Clark, we work to help your nonprofit grow and thrive by implementing strategies to do just that. Though we don’t provide funding, we do provide resources. Contact us today for a free discovery call and let’s see how we can help you!

We offer four primary services:

1. Management and Strategy

2. Media and Marketing

3. Partnership Building

4. Training and Facilitation

Depending on where you are with your nonprofit, you may need one or potentially all of these services to truly take your organization to the next level, and that’s what we’re here to help with.

We understand it can be frustrating when you have great work to do for your community but are struggling to reach enough people to make the difference you know you can make. Don’t get discouraged. We are only a click away!

Contact KM Clark Consulting today to jumpstart your nonprofit and make the difference your community needs.

 

Creating a Strong Mission & Vision Statement

Creating a Strong Nonprofit Mission & Vision Statement

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In the nonprofit world we talk, what seems sometimes endlessly, about our mission and vision statements. Who hasn’t been in a meeting where the entire hour was filled with disagreements over this word or that word and in the end you still didn’t have a finalized product? It can be overwhelming, stressful and emotional to create these statements.  It doesn’t have to be!  We want to help make it a better process for you, your organization and all those involved.

Before we move into tips… let’s talk about definitions.

According to Oxford Dictionary, a mission statement is a formal summary of the aims and values of a company, organization, or individual.

A strong mission statement:

  • Answers the questions “What you do + who/what you do this for”
  • Is clear and easy to understand to anyone inside or outside the organization

It is what you want to accomplish for who and how.

A great example of a mission statement is from the Girl Scouts of America.

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character,
who make the world a better place. 

The Girl Scouts answer all the strong missing statement questions. What they do: builds girls of courage, confidence and character. Who they do it for: girls, and to make the world a better place. It is also clear and easy to understand for anyone.

Not too hard, right?

Okay so we have the definition of the mission statement, now let’s move onto the vision statement.

A vision statement is typically a broader statement or idea that your nonprofit organization is striving for. It should read like the headline of a news article…pull you in while being short and concise.

The vision statement is the ideal world that will exist if your mission is completed. 

A great example of a mission statement is from the Alzheimer’s Association.

A world without Alzheimer’s disease.

Would this make a good headline? Is it short, clear and easy to understand by those inside and outside of the organization?

Yes! It definitely is.

Okay, so you have the definitions… Now what? How do you take this information and put it into action with your organization?

Well the starting point is as easy as looking at these definitions in comparison to your current mission or vision statement, if you have one, then you can begin adjusting from there.

However, if you don’t have either of these statements, let’s get into what your next steps might be.

Create them as a team.
Whether it’s your board of directors or a small group starting your organization, build these foundational pieces together. Gaining viewpoints from multiple people will allow the organization to create a mission and vision statement that best encompasses what the organization truly stands for and ensure it is understandable to the greater community.

Unsure of how to facilitate this kind of meeting? Download our two favorite Activities to Facilitate Creating your Organization’s Mission and Vision Statement.

Make it a living statement.
Just because your organization creates a mission and vision statement now, doesn’t mean it can’t be changed later. As your organization grows, as you learn more about what you stand for and as changes come, you want to allow your mission and vision statements to reflect those changes.

This is especially important for those of you who have a current mission and/or vision statement. It’s alright to review it, in fact, it’s GOOD to review it! If you haven’t reviewed it in several years, it’s time. Make sure it is still in line with your organizational goals and values.

Learn it. Know it. Repeat it.
Now that you’ve written the best mission and vision statement for your organization, make sure everyone knows it. No, you don’t have to be that annoying kid on the playground who is constantly talking about themselves… but you should know your mission and vision statements. And so should your board members and other members of your organization. Be intentional about using them on all written communications including emails, agendas, and business cards.  Ensure that board members and volunteers acknowledge their involvement in the nonprofit in their other pursuits whether as a school board representative, Rotary Club member or church leader with others outside the organization.  Provide them with materials with the mission and vision statements.

Then it leaks out into the community and THAT is how real change begins.

If you’d rather have an outside set of eyes to help in this process, reach out to our nonprofit consulting agency! We have years of experience with helping nonprofit organizations build strong brands, including their mission and vision statements. Get in touch with KM Clark Consulting Group, and we’ll set up a call to see how we can best help.

Don’t forget to download our favorite activities to help facilitate creating your mission and vision statement!.