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Few nonprofit leaders would ever intentionally design a fundraising system that exhausts staff, frustrates donors and rewards short-term revenue at the expense of long-term generosity. Yet many organizations find themselves in exactly that situation. That would be less of a problem in a forgiving environment. This is not one.  

Every organization reaches a point where it has to ask whether the way it has always operated is still the best way to serve its mission.

 Over the past several months, OneSource Center for Nonprofit Excellence, Leadership Council for Nonprofits, and Social Venture Partners Cincinnati asked ourselves that very question. Through thoughtful planning, due diligence, and many conversations, our boards and leadership teams explored how we could build on our individual strengths while creating something even more valuable for the nonprofit organizations we serve.

Find it here - all the nonprofit news, jobs and announcements in the Cincinnati region.

Many nonprofits do important work every day. They still struggle to explain that work in a way people remember.  

The problem is rarely a lack of good stories. The problem is often how the organization finds, prepares and shares them. Here are some of the most common communications mistakes I see.

Everything you need to stay up-to-date on all the Cincinnati nonprofit news is in our latest GC Nonprofit News issue. 

A few months ago, I attended a board meeting where a program director carefully walked the board through slide after slide of outcome metrics, retention rates and cost-per-participant figures. By the fourth slide, attention had drifted as eyes wandered and pens stopped moving.  

Then a case manager spent less than two minutes describing a single family the program had helped move from homelessness into stable housing. The room changed. People leaned forward and began asking questions, and the discussion became animated. A few minutes later, no one remembered the cost-per-participant figure. Everyone remembered the family.  

That moment has stayed with me because it captures one of the most important lessons: Effective nonprofit program evaluation isn’t a choice between data and stories. It’s about combining data and stories to show your program’s impact. Strong program evaluation answers three questions:  

Nonprofit boards are responsible for protecting mission, strategy, and long-term sustainability. Yet in many boardrooms, the most important question is rarely asked directly.

Instead, it appears indirectly through budget questions, cash questions, and operational updates. Beneath all of those conversations is usually one unspoken concern:

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The National Council of Nonprofits (NCN) has issued a set of guidelines for online fundraising platforms. The guidelines stress consent from, and control by, nonprofits regarding how they are represented by the platforms. The guidelines have been endorsed by more than 50 state and regional associations.