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Powering Nonprofits to Fuel Positive Change

773.804.8589
info@bigbuzzideagroup.com
Big Buzz Idea GroupBig Buzz Idea Group
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How to Hire a Consultant

How to Hire a Consultant

By Brad Ball Vice President Big Buzz Idea Group As an association management company and nonprofit consultant, we’ve written extensively about the benefits of outsourcing for your organization. Outsourcing can help you navigate a tight job market or hiring market, ensuring that tasks are performed by competent professionals and the office is running efficiently throughout the hiring process. It can cost less than hiring new staff, is more reliable than counting on volunteers, and can even allow you to bring in an expert with a specific skillset you need for a limited time. With more and more complex tasks and responsibilities...

Silver Linings Discovered Amidst a Pandemic

Silver Linings Discovered Amidst a Pandemic

By: Melissa Lagowski CEO/Founder/Queen Bee Big Buzz Idea Group We have always known that, out of necessity, nonprofit organizations are incredibly nimble and resilient. Over the last 12 months, organizations have made quick pivots and showed great commitment and creativity to the missions they serve. Now that it has been a full year of life with COVID-19, we asked our clients if they had any unexpected positive results from the pandemic. Here is what they had to say:   Rogers Park Business Alliance “We added video interviews to our Small Business Saturday event in 2020. The pivot to video for...

Promotion Ideas to Benefit Your Nonprofit – Part I

Promotion Ideas to Benefit Your Nonprofit – Part I

By: Melissa Lagowski CEO/Founder/Queen Bee Big Buzz Idea Group I recently heard a horror story about a nonprofit that was promised a packed room for their annual fundraiser. The development team guaranteed that the tables would be full and the event would be a huge success. I don’t know all the intricacies, but in the end, their promotions clearly failed as there were not even three full tables and it was a huge flop. This is everyone’s worst nightmare. We are constantly tasked with growing our audiences and engaging new supporters but often don’t know where to begin. This list...

3 Questions to Ask If You Hope to Grow Your Membership

3 Questions to Ask If You Hope to Grow Your Membership

By: Brad Ball Vice President Big Buzz Idea Group If boosting membership is a key goal for your organization, we’ve got three questions to kick off your strategic planning. To add some context, we spoke with Lynsey Sorrell, the Vice President of Membership for the Ely Chapter of Lambda Alpha International, the Honorary Society for the Advancement of Land Economics. As one of our valued association management clients, she was able to share some of the impactful ways we’ve worked together to improve her organization’s membership. Read on for our thought-starters to move your own membership forward. 1. How can...

Budgeting for Your Nonprofit in Uncertain Times

Budgeting for Your Nonprofit in Uncertain Times

By: Melissa Lagowski CEO/Founder/Queen Bee Big Buzz Idea Group Far too many nonprofits that we talk to have a wash-rinse-repeat model of budgeting that we at Big Buzz do not generally support. For those readers who have been following us for a while, you know that we believe that forward-thinking budgeting leads to the growth of your organization. We fully believe that when it comes to budgeting, it is imperative to do a deeper dive about where you are and where you want to go as an association. You need to annually evaluate which resources are necessary to elevate your...

4 Ways Outsourcing Your Development Work Can Provide Value

4 Ways Outsourcing Your Development Work Can Provide Value

Three Nonprofit Leaders Share the Benefits of Enlisting Outside Support for Development Assistance By: Melissa Lagowski CEO/Founder/Queen Bee Big Buzz Idea Group For nonprofits with a small development department—or perhaps none at all—outsourcing is a valuable option. In our work at Big Buzz, we provide support with fundraising, events, communications, database management, marketing and more, offering a deeply impactful value to nonprofit organizations. But you don’t have to take our word for it. This month, we talked to three client partners to hear (directly from them) about the value they saw in outsourcing development work. Here are the main benefits...

How to Manage Your Organization During an Election Year Without Violating Your Nonprofit Status

How to Manage Your Organization During an Election Year Without Violating Your Nonprofit Status

By: Melissa Lagowski CEO/Founder/Queen Bee Big Buzz Idea Group During an election year, people within your nonprofit may want to support political causes and candidates. What does this mean for your 501(c)(3) organization? To maintain tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code, your organization cannot directly or indirectly participate in a political campaign to support or oppose a candidate for elected office. This means your nonprofit cannot show political bias. You may not, in any way, indicate that the organization favors or opposes a candidate. Your organization cannot make political statements or endorsements in favor of one candidate or make...

Our Top Five Free Online Tools for Nonprofit Management Teams

Our Top Five Free Online Tools for Nonprofit Management Teams

By: Brad Ball Vice President Big Buzz Idea Group Whether you are well-seasoned in your nonprofit management career, just starting out at an entry-level nonprofit job or somewhere in the middle, you most likely spend a good deal of time in the digital workspace. In this post, we’re going to tell you about our top five favorite online tools to make your life easier and keep your nonprofit organization running smoothly without spending a penny. DESIGN: Canva We’ve written about this one before and it’s worth mentioning again because it’s such a powerful tool for your nonprofit marketing team. Keep...

Big Buzz Idea Group Launches Additional Services

Big Buzz Idea Group Launches Additional Services

Big Buzz Idea Group has enjoyed consulting nonprofits for the past 15 years, and over that time, whenever we met a new potential client, we heard a very common theme: “I had no idea a company like yours even existed!” The need for assistance has never been more obvious, which is why we are presenting a new suite of budget-friendly services to a larger audience of nonprofits.

Your mission is our mission, and now in addition to “powering nonprofit organizations to fuel positive change in the world,” we want to also “power nonprofit professionals” to accelerate your organization to fuel positive change in the world.

The Compelling Case to Renew

The Compelling Case to Renew

By: Melissa Lagowski CEO/Founder/Queen Bee Big Buzz Idea Group   Today’s the day to make things happen. It’s time to move forward (while the whole world seems to have stopped, and we watch and wait and wonder and worry). Put aside the feeling of helplessness, that the more we learn, the less we understand what it all means for each of us. That’s the problem with paralysis by analysis: while we’re stuck in the mud and waiting for something, time keeps slippin’ and the world keeps spinnin’… A boulder has been placed in your path. While deciding what to do...

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Check Out These Recent Posts

  • Client Spotlight: Hope For The Day
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Insights Blog Archive

  • Grateful for Nonprofit Leaders
  • Why You Need to Establish Gratitude as a Pillar at Your Nonprofit
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  • The Board’s Hot (Summer) Topics
  • Four Pillars to Attracting and Retaining Ideal Employees
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  • Please Send a Hi-res Copy of Your Logo
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  • Word of the Year: Manifestation
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  • Cancelling or Postponing Your Events in Light of COVID-19
  • 3 Reasons Why Your Organization Should Use Canva
  • New Year’s Resolutions for Board Members
  • Nonprofit Event Venues 101
  • Securing Help from Your Board: Are You Ready?
  • 7 Tips for Managing Hybrid Events
  • Nonprofit Form 990: Friend or Foe?
  • Are You Leaving Money On The Table?
  • Tips to Ensure Event Safety
  • Board or Bored Leadership – Enter the Magnificent Seven
  • Does Your Mission Have a Compelling Voice?
  • The Compelling Case to Renew
  • What’s Your Nonprofit’s Story
  • Big Buzz Idea Group Launches Additional Services
  • 10 Tips to Cultivate Sponsor Relationships
  • Why Identifying and Communicating Your Core Values Is Important
  • Post-Pandemic Event Lessons
  • Holding On When You Feel Like Throwing In the Towel
  • Client Spotlight: Illinois Theatre Association
  • Fundraising: Creating a Straighter Path to Revenue Growth
  • Defining Your Value: Reclaiming Relevance to the Community You Serve
  • Outsourcing: The Only Solution To Staffing Shortages
  • Organic Methods to Cultivate Sponsorship Leads
  • Networking for Personal and Professional Growth
  • SPONSORSHIP 101: To Package or Not to Package
  • A Job Gone Wrong
  • Put Some Zing in Your Zoom (Or Any Other Virtual Meeting)
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  • The Hidden Costs Behind Your Fundraiser
  • Lessons Learned in Nonprofit Management
  • Boost Your Daily Productivity
  • Client Spotlight: Cyberjutsu
  • How To Secure More Donor Dollars
  • Promotion Ideas to Benefit Your Nonprofit – Part II
  • 4 Ways Outsourcing Your Development Work Can Provide Value
  • Organizational Operations Versus Organizational Strategy
  • Engage Your Board – Start with Recruiting and End with A High-Performance Culture
  • 5 Reasons to Outsource Instead of Rely on Volunteers
  • Keep Your Mission in Mind to Maximize Results
  • Four Tactics to Resolve Nonprofit Staffing Shortages
  • The Birth of a New Vision
  • 2020: A Lesson in Gratitude
  • Tips For Meaningful #GivingTuesday Follow-Up
  • 11 Tips to Make Your Newsletter More Readable
  • Our Top Five Free Online Tools for Nonprofit Management Teams
  • Promotion Ideas to Benefit Your Nonprofit – Part I
  • Why Is My Organization Not Growing?
  • How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media to Meet Goals
  • 50 Content Promotion Tactics: How to Drive Traffic to Your Next Article
  • Time to Assess Your Year-End Campaigns
  • Fostering Board Engagement in Virtual Times
  • Implementing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Your Nonprofit
  • Innovative Approach to Volunteer Recruitment
  • Never Overlook the Value of Gratitude
  • Financial Planning for Uncertain Times
  • Interim Directors Provide Strength in Times of Transition
  • Fresh Funding Ideas Are Blooming
  • Seven Tips to a More Productive Year for Your Organization
  • Want To Retain Your Employees? Wellness in the Workplace Matters!
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  • 9 Lessons Learned from Our First Virtual Conference
  • Budgeting for Your Nonprofit in Uncertain Times
  • Big Buzz Has COVID-19 Resources For You!
  • How to Hire a Consultant
  • The Need to Go Beyond Surveys
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  • Conference Call Hero – 6 Tips to Master the Art of Video and Audio Conferencing
  • Talk to Me! Prioritizing Internal Communications During Times of Transition
  • Board Nominating: A Better Way
  • How to Manage Your Organization During an Election Year Without Violating Your Nonprofit Status
  • Virtual Fundraising: 18 Ideas for Nonprofit Revenue
  • 3 Questions to Ask If You Hope to Grow Your Membership
  • 6 Tips for Healthy Collaboration with Your Board Chair
  • Crisis Management: Are You Ready?
  • 6 Tips for Cultivating Gratitude in the Workplace
  • Cyber Security: How To Protect Yourself In Today’s “Connected” World
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  • How to Rewire Your Brain with Positive Thinking
  • How to Secure Mega Sponsorships For Your Fundraising Event!
  • 5 Ways to Generate Sponsor Leads
  • Is Your Marketing Missing the Mark?
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  • Silver Linings Discovered Amidst a Pandemic
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  • Something Good: Building Your Team’s Connection
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  • Becoming a Virtual Event Planner in an Instant
  • 3 Tips For Maintaining Your NPO’s Digital Assets
  • Transparency and Nonprofit Organizations
  • Re-Imagine the Possibilities to Better Serve Your Mission

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CONTACT INFO

  • Big Buzz Idea Group
  • 4055 W. Peterson Ave., #105 Chicago, IL 60646
  • 773.804.8589
  • 773.804.8986
  • info@bigbuzzideagroup.com

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