The contemporary nonprofit sector exists within a shifting landscape of complex social problems, innovative technologies, and the growth of grassroots efforts. In order to be successful in effectively addressing social ills, nonprofit organizations must learn to utilize a network strategy of collaboration amongst diverse stakeholders to create true social impact. While there are many benefits related to a network-centric framework, including access to new and diverse perspectives, networked resources, and mobilized, coordinated action, there are also barriers to effective networking that can arise, such as collective preconditions, substantive uncertainty, and competition within the network. By utilizing four key strategies of involving diverse stakeholders, creating a backbone infrastructure, developing shared terminology and measurement indicators, and promoting collective action, organizations can find success in effective networking and produce meaningful social change.

1. Involving diverse stakeholders – Stakeholders must have a vision and goals that are aligned with that of the network, and efforts must be taken to involve diverse cross-sector groups, including those from private and corporate foundations, community advocacy groups, grassroots organizations, businesses, government entities and other related nonprofit organizations of various sizes, etc. These stakeholders should exist across all levels, from the CEO to the…

There is a saying among fundraising professionals that proposal writing is both an art and a science. The art aspect refers to how well an inspired writer describes a project and the grant-seeking organization. The science aspect refers to the comprehension of the technical structure upon which those words are arranged” (Blanchard & Bullock, 2010).

Grant funding can be a great way for a nonprofit to boost its revenue, with giving by corporations and foundations in the United States in 2013 amounting to $67 billion. Many nonprofit organizations are active in the grants marketplace, seeking funding to support their programs and operations; but with the number of nonprofit organizations on the rise over the last decade, the competition for funding has become more intense. Grant seekers must find ways for their proposals to stand out among the rest.

While many nonprofits give much attention to fundraising and grant writing, they often place less emphasis on supporting areas – such as planning and budgeting – that can improve the likelihood that a grant request will be funded, as well as lead to further financial stability of their organization. It is not always enough for an organization to write an amazing grant proposal. While that may help to win grants from some funders, other funders will want to take a more in-depth look into the organization and the program before awarding funds.

Some of the most common errors with…

Nonprofit organizations rely on a strong base of volunteers. Getting people behind a cause is not particularly difficult, but learning to harness the energy of your nonprofit’s mission can take some work. The following tips will help you gain, manage and inspire volunteers for any nonprofit. 

1. Follow-through:
When someone expresses interest in volunteering for your organization, make sure there is immediate follow-through by you or a member of your staff. Encourage the potential volunteer by either email or calling them a.s.a.p. If they don’t get back to you within a week, call to re-express the value and need for their time.

2. Shower volunteers with recognition:
You basically cannot say thank you enough to volunteers. Let them know often how much you appreciate them for their time and effort towards furthering the mission of your nonprofit.

3. Discuss how their contribution helps:
Often volunteers may feel jaded that their efforts aren’t making much of a difference. Let them know on a regular basis exactly what their contribution does for your organization.

4. Know what volunteers you need:
Know the type of services and goals you are trying to achieve in order to attract essential volunteers.

5. Coincide the program’s mission with the volunteer opportunities:
Try to make your…

There’s a saying that often refers to personal relationships: Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.

But think it over for a bit, and you’ll soon see that it’s quite applicable to management, too. It takes time for an organization to build a good reputation, but it takes only one publicized issue to ruin it.

The issue in question doesn’t even have to be true. The public’s perception of the brand value of an organization (whether it’s for-profit or nonprofit) is easily affected once talk starts to spread. In this day and age of social media, news — especially the bad kind — spreads fast, and no one is exempt.

However, according to a poll conducted by Deloitte (one of the Big Four professional services firm in the world) during a webcast, only 24 percent of the participants belonged to organizations that had formal ways to measure and assess brand value. Worse, fewer than 22 percent believed that their respective organizations would become the subject of negative publicity on social media. The problem with this outlook is that it leaves organizations ill-prepared to handle large-scale PR problems.

Before, dissatisfied clients would complain to their family and friends…

As a keen volunteer at our local charity, AlphaTutorials, I was tasked with helping them try to attract more students, as they were in decline every year. The charity seeks to improve the education of those in need for free, while also providing tuition for students. This is done with the help of local teachers who volunteer their time. The centre had helped me a couple of years prior, by allowing me to earn my A level Psychology, which was something I decided to do to improve my own education. It felt right that I do something to help them back.

One thing was apparent when I sat down and tried to figure out how I would help AlphaTutorials as a volunteer. I knew that the main resource we had available at our disposal was knowledge. We had qualified teachers in all the main subjects taught across the UK, from Mathematics to the sciences, and therefore it made sense to try to utilise this to our advantage somehow.

Only a few weeks prior, I had stumbled on the story of Pat Flynn, who wrote about how he had sold educational resources which proved popular when he started his website SmartPassiveIncome.

I saw no reason why we couldn’t do the same, with our goal being to funnel students to the centre, but also diversify into resources. We sat trying to understand our market and we found websites…