The Purpose Possible Blog
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When running a nonprofit organization, every decision carries significant weight, especially when it comes to staffing. The choice between hiring an employee (hiring in) or a consultant (hiring out) is significant, with numerous factors to consider.
Applying to every grant you find isn’t an efficient way to fund an organization. Achieve success by strategically planning your grant-seeking efforts.
Before you submit your next grant application, here are some commonly asked funder questions that demonstrate impactful whole-learner programs to consider…
The Betty and Davis Fitzgerald Foundation is pleased to announce a renewed strategic direction following a comprehensive planning process.
This webinar that's all about finding the most effective techniques to spice up your end-of-year campaigns! Join Laura Hennighausen as she dives into the research studies and revealing the best tips and tools for securing donations.
For the first time ever there are five different generations in the workplace. Three Purpose Possible consultants discuss their experiences working in diverse environments and share how Purpose Possible's T.E.A.M. strategy has helped them better collaborate with colleagues.
Rhythms create processes, boundaries, and pave lanes for success. Taylor Johnson, Consultant with Purpose Possible, discusses Rhythm Making for nonprofits and how it can help fundraising teams become successful in planning, communication, donor relationships, and more.
Every August, Black Philanthropy Month (and Black Business Month) celebrates Black-led and Black-serving organizations while also cultivating resources and pathways for growth, success, and awareness.
Traditional polling and surveys feel like work. In this presentation, Sarah and Laura explore ways to create surveys using play and backed by substantive survey methods, to create meaningful engagement opportunities.
Assets are additional fundraising opportunities that are massively untapped by small to mid size nonprofits. From stocks, crypto and donor advised funds to endowments, learn more about how nonprofits should approach them, and why it should matter to you. Join us as Karen Houghton, CEO of @Infinite Giving and a Nonprofit Investment Advisor, guides us through asset giving for nonprofits!
Cultural planning is a public process in which representatives of a community undertake a comprehensive community assessment and create a plan of implementation for future cultural programming.
Purpose Possible hosted a webinar on May 17, 2023 to talk about burnout in nonprofits. With guests Patricia Duboise and Ike Ubasineke, Susannah Darrow led a discussion on how to identify burnout, how it affects our work, and how to combat it for individuals and teams.
Ethical storytelling means sharing your story in a way that respects the dignity and humanity of the people you serve. It means being transparent about your intentions and methods and ensuring that your content doesn't harm the very communities you're working to support.
Much like the 2022 State of the Baltimore Nonprofit Sector released by T.Rowe Price Foundation in late 2022, this new report shows that the nonprofit sector in our region continues to be robust but needs significant capacity and leadership to continue to thrive. As a consulting firm in the DMV region, we are also seeing some of the most impactful nonprofits struggle with staffing, burnout, financial challenges, and a strategic vision for the next horizon.
We are proud to announce a new content series led by Managing Partner Starsha Valentine. In an effort to address some of the unique challenges facing minority leaders as they navigate organizational growth, strategic decision-making, fundraising, and more, we are launching LEADERSHIP IN COLOR!
At Purpose Possible, we think a lot about how our firm shows up for our clients, our fellow team members, and our communities everyday. In 2020, before Purpose Possible was launched, our early consultants spent time establishing a set of core values to guide the purpose and vision for the firm. Since then we have revisited and refined those values every year to best reflect how we work and who we work with. Now, as a firm of over 40 consultants in nine states, our values are ever more present in our daily decision making.
Did you know that 76% percent of hiring managers admit attracting the right job candidates is their greatest challenge!
Lara and Katyra teamed up to answer questions, provide recommendations, and share insights into their experiences.
In September, I had the opportunity to present at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Science of Philanthropy Initiative Conference alongside our partner, Mailchimp. While one of our key takeaways from the conference was the realization that we did not take enough data analytics courses in school, others had some valuable takeaways for application in more practical fundraising efforts.
How fiscal and development teams can work together to create a proactive budget for the next year.
In May, we began the conversation on the importance of committing to a formal Continuous Quality Improvement Strategy (CQI) with an initial blog post on this relevant topic. In it, we posed the question “Do you have a clear strategy on how to track, evaluate, and articulate your impact?” If you remain unsure of your answer to this question, we want to share four reasons on why you should invest in a strategy to affirm delivering mission-aligned successful programs are top of mind at your organization.
While social media can be a powerful tool for building awareness, it’s not great for getting people to actually take action. To build a relationship with your audience that motivates them to attend events, volunteer their time, or donate to the organization, an engaging newsletter can’t be beat.
Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to work on raising funds for so many organizations through my work as an executive director, consultant, advisor, and leader. While every organization is different, here are three tips that can really help your organization stand out with funders.
In addition to your Community-Centric information from residents about specific needs and interests, grantors are interested to know the research data that specifies the problem and informs your approach, and how local issues reflect regional/national food-related challenges.
Donor-Centric Fundraising has long been the de facto fundraising model - the belief that nonprofits must center the donor and their desires and expectations to accomplish necessary fundraising goals. But if donors are centered, then where does that leave our work, staff, and communities? Join Starsha Valentine and Laura Hennighausen of Purpose Possible for an overview of the Ten Principles of the Community-Centric Fundraising movement and an exploration of how and why to incorporate them into our practices.
Is your organization doing incredible work, making a difference, and fulfilling your mission? Do you have a clear strategy on how to track, evaluate, and articulate your impact? Better yet, do you use this strategy to make intentional quality improvements over time?
Here are some books we recommend for fundraising, understanding wealth, managing a nonprofit and team, professional writing, and the inner workings of how power impacts society and philanthropy.
I, like so many other Black leaders, bring my whole lived experience to my work. That perspective has allowed me to connect with some of the most dynamic Black-led organizations in the Mid Atlantic region.