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...
By: Melissa Lagowski CEO/Founder/Queen Bee Big Buzz Idea Group COVID-19 entered the news in early January, but it entered our American lives hard in mid-March. For the last three weeks we have gone from “normal” living to modified living to shelter in place. And now we all wait and wonder when these restrictions will lift and when we will be safe to return to “normal” again. Unfortunately, normal will never be the same for any of us. So, what now? Immediate Needs As we all adjust to this new “normal,” it is important to identify your most immediate needs....
By: Katelyn Foehner Communications Manager Big Buzz Idea Group As many nonprofit executive leaders know, your title encompasses much more than what it states. Many executive directors serve as not only the ED but the bookkeeper, event planner, communications guru and everything in between. Finding easier ways to get the job done is essential to fulfilling all your tasks. Insert Canva into the equation to save stress, time and money. Canva is a free-to-use online design platform. While many people use it to create images for social media, Canva can be used to create t-shirt designs, invitations, blog banners, business...
By: Denise Dahl, MPA Founder & Principal, Epiphany Planning & Development Nonprofit Leadership & Strategy One of the most common questions I receive is “How do I get my board to do more?” The answer is easy, but the implementation can be a bit more challenging as board members each come with their own motivation regarding serving. Maybe they are serving as the cause is dear to them. Maybe they are serving because they feel a type of ownership (founder’s syndrome). Maybe they are serving to build their resume. Reasons to serve on a board are as varied as...
By: Melissa Lagowski Founder, CEO and Queen Bee, Big Buzz Idea Group You’ve got contacts. Maybe you have a collection of business cards, random notes and emails, or perhaps you’ve started to enter them in a spreadsheet or system. While taking the first step of obtaining contact information is great, it’s what you do next that can make a significant impact on your nonprofit's growth and the success of its mission. Here’s how to make your contacts count: Organize Contacts Into a System All of that general networking has left you with a bunch of business cards, so now what?...
By: Nicole Martin Chief Empowerment Officer, HRBoost LLC Both small and large companies need to attract talent then develop and retain the best talent for their organizations. Both nonprofits and for-profit businesses must comply with the ever-changing maze of the regulatory environment. When it comes to talent however, nonprofit businesses have a hidden competitive advantage: they lead with heart. Nearly every NPO has their transcendent organizational purpose at the forefront of their vision and mission statement. What is often missed however is the strategic opportunity to link their transcendent organizational purpose to the deeper calling talent seeks through their work...
Holding On When You Feel Like Throwing In the Towel: Seven Tips To Keeping a Positive Mindset By: Melissa Lagowski CEO, Founder and Queen Bee, Big Buzz Idea Group The nonprofit space is filled with good people doing good work, but in being a servant leader, you encounter many different personalities along the way. Most of the people who devote themselves to the nonprofit world are optimistic people hoping to make a meaningful contribution. But, unfortunately, along the way, there are also a lot of curmudgeons and naysayers, and it is incredible how much negativity enters the arena. How can...
By: Sherry Quam Taylor QuamTaylor LLC The energy and passion needed to successfully fund and launch a nonprofit is not the same energy and passion that will keep it moving forward. Growing your organization takes even more, and most leaders feel this playing out daily. I’ve found that most nonprofits are full of passionate, thoughtful, and sacrificial leaders who have the ideas to make a great impact in the world. But I also know gaining traction and momentum to move forward isn’t easy. Often it takes an outsider’s perspective to bring clarity to problem areas. Whether your organization generates $300K or...
Save time, money and effort By: Melissa Lagowski CEO, Founder and Queen Bee, Big Buzz Idea Group When your plate is full—perhaps too full—it’s hard to do anything well as you’re pulled in different directions and constantly hurtling from one task to the next. Meanwhile, your team is also working hard, but they likely don’t have the time or all the necessary skills to propel your nonprofit’s growth. The result? Burnout, stagnation and missed opportunities. Rather than focus internally, the solution may lie outside of your organization. Partnering with an external business to delegate key tasks or areas of expertise...
By: Lidia Varesco Art Director & Designer, Lidia Varesco Design I work with many nonprofits in Chicago, and one of the reasons they choose to work with me is because they need help bringing consistency to their branding and marketing materials. For an established organization (or even a new one), branding can start to become diluted over time, with marketing materials using multiple versions of logos, colors and images that are not on-brand, and messaging that is not targeted or audience-focused. This is where brand guidelines can make a big impact. What are brand guidelines? Brand guidelines (also sometimes called...
