News

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:

It's all here - the news you need, the jobs you want from GC Nonprofit News. 

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.

It's here! Your latest issue of Greater Cincinnati Nonprofit News. 

By Joe Frye

Matching gift challenges drive donations. A large‑scale field experiment on matching giftsv found that simply announcing that match money was available increased revenue per solicitation by 19% and raised the probability that a donor would give by 22%. With numbers like this, it is no wonder matching gift challenges are a tactic used in every direct response program.  

FInd the up-to-date nonprofit news and events in our latest issue. 

A few years ago, we at the National Environmental Health Association found ourselves in what most nonprofits would call a dream scenario. We had just been awarded two of the largest federal grants in environmental health. These grants accelerated our work toward our mission to build, sustain, and empower an effective environmental health workforce. This was not incremental funding. It was transformational funding - the kind that unlocks an organization.