I’m not sure it’s possible to write this blog post without looking like a grammar Nazi, but I’m going to give it a whirl. Should be interesting, anyway.

This post is about the way people write the word nonprofit. Or non-profit. Or sometimes I even see non profit. Maybe these alternate spellings are all the same to you, and that’s fine. But for some people, the way you write this word says something about you. In the extreme case, if you do it the “wrong” way you might not get that grant, or that job, or that meeting. It might just matter that much. You never know who is on the other side of your writing or what they are thinking. 

Before I wind my way to my point, let me give a couple examples of how the words we use signal whether we are in with the cool kids or outside in the cold. The first one goes back about 3,000 years, when the armies of Gilead beat back the invading Ephramites. As told in the 12th chapter of the “Book of Judges” in the Christian bible, the Ephramites tried to blend in with the locals as they were fleeing the country. How do you sort out the bad guys? The Gilead soldiers had learned that the Ephramites had a hard time pronouncing some Hebrew words, including one that described the grain-bearing part of a plant stalk: shibboleth (שִׁבֹּלֶת‎). So, as people were crossing out of Gilead, army checkpoints asked each person to pronounce the word shibboleth. Say it like a Gileadite, and you can pass. Say it like an Ephramite…

Let’s face it, Most nonprofit organizations probably don’t know how to focus on stellar marketing efforts. They mostly get their goals achieved through fundraising events and word of mouth.

There are many benefits that a nonprofit can gain from an effective online marketing strategy though. In order to create a marketing strategy, nonprofits need only analyze how for-profit online businesses are competing.

In doing this, nonprofits can learn valuable information that can help their organizations get more volunteers, donations, advocates and other forms of support they need for their important work.

Here are five hand-picked examples of service and product based businesses, in some not-so-exciting industries, that are setting the bar extremely high with their online marketing efforts:

• BlueWhale.com - Family run, Austin moving company.
• Vonigo.com - Software for service companies and nonprofits.
• FilterBuy.com - A small company in an extremely competitive niche.
• PowerMeterCity.com - An entrepreneur with a passion for cycling.
• Adster.ca - Powerhouse brother owned marketing agency.

If you closely examine the above…

Designing a site for a nonprofit organization is one of the most important steps in establishing an online presence. An effective nonprofit website can build a strong brand, drive more donors to your site, and increase your volunteer recruitment efforts. However, many nonprofits fail to develop a strong online presence because they fail to build a useful website. 

One of the first things I notice about  nonprofit websites is that many  fail to produce a feeling of urgency around the issue, provoke an emotional reaction in the customer, establish the organization's capability to cover the matter and inspire the visitor to take immediate actions and accept contributions throughout the site.

The bottom line is that your nonprofit organization is competing with large for-profit companies and other nonprofit organizations for attention and resources from your target audience. 

Let’s take a look at the top three things that your nonprofit needs in order to have a robust website that will help  drive your organization’s goals and fulfill your organization’s mission!

Navigations Needs to Be Intuitive & Easy to Use

The navigation menu of your website is the primary location that your audience…

As organizations serving public interests, nonprofits answer to the voices of multiple stakeholders. The complex accountability relationships facing nonprofit organizations include responsibilities to donors, clients, community partners, staff members and volunteers. Under pressure from multiple stakeholders, nonprofits tend to prioritize accountability to donors, foundations and governments over accountability to clients and the populations served by the organization (Ebrahim, 2003). However, by seeking out the voices of the people they serve, nonprofit organizations can embrace their responsibilities and improve their organizations.

By improving downward accountability, defined as accountability to the populations nonprofits serve, organizations can meet their obligations to clients and others affected by the services and programs of a nonprofit (Ebrahim, 2003). Nonprofit organizations have a responsibility to embrace client perspectives, as serving clients often represents a primary purpose for many nonprofits (Twersky, Buchanan, & Threlfall, 2013). Improving downward accountability benefits nonprofits by empowering the individuals they serve, improving the legitimacy of the organization, and enhancing organizational effectiveness (Mercelis, Wellens & Jegers, 2016; Twersky et al., 2013). Even as different stakeholders demand their share of responsiveness from the organization, improving organizational effectiveness should appeal to most…

On Feb. 21, 2017, the transportation company Uber debuted a new self-driving car program in Tempe, Arizona. As of this writing, customers can now request a ride in one of these self-driving cars.  Uber is not the only company debuting this newest innovation- Waymo, a Google subsidiary, and General Motors are both testing their own self-driving cars in the Phoenix area. Self-driving cars are not science fiction; they are a reality on Arizona roads today and will only continue to become more prevalent as technology reaches its full potential.

Self-driving cars are perhaps the most visible element of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” a term used to by some scholars to refer to the rapidly increasing use of automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) over the next two decades (Schwab, 2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution will disrupt the US and world economy by simultaneously creating new economic growth and large-scale unemployment. Automation has the potential to reduce costs, increase productivity, and increase demand for some occupations, such as computer programmers. Yet, automation will replace millions of American jobs, leaving workers such as taxi or truck drivers out of work. “Rapid and accelerating digitization is likely to bring economic rather than environmental disruption, stemming from the fact that as computers get more powerful, companies have less need for some kinds of workers. Technological progress is going to leave…