The non-profit sector is a huge and vital part of the economy. Doing serious work on serious issues, nonprofits help underpin what we think of as a civil society, often tackling the issues that private businesses or government agencies can't.
Unfortunately, trust in institutions continues to fall, making it harder than ever to run a non-profit – just when we seem to need them most. Luckily, there are many non-profit blogs out there that share tips and generally help organizations do their best, and even the average, caring person can benefit from reading.
This might sound like a silly question, but it's worth defining. A non-profit organization is operated for "collective, public, or social benefit" as opposed to a business aiming to generate a profit for its owners. Any money taken in is used to run the organization and pursue its goals, and as such, nonprofits are accountable to their donors, team members, beneficiaries, and the public at large.
A pretty big one. According to the most recent Health of the U.S. Non-Profit Sector quarterly review (released in January 2023), there are 1.8 million nonprofits in the U.S., and combined, they contributed $1.5 trillion to the economy in just the third quarter of 2022. Their "gross value added makes up 5.6% of Gross Domestic Product," a figure which is outpacing the U.S. GDP growth as a whole.
A Zippia research study says nonprofit revenue has grown at almost 8 percent annually since 2000. But, involvement in the sector is in decline. The number of U.S. volunteers declined by 19 percent from 2019-2021, and donors decreased by 7 percent in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the year-ago period.
Stay up to date with industry news, react to trends, and get the most out of your own nonprofit in a challenging environment. You might even have a little fun, and those looking in from the outside? You might find yourself inspired to help reverse the downward trend.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy can help nonprofits and average citizens alike stay up to date on industry news.
Using a paid model, The Nonprofit Times reports breaking nonprofit news and offers in-depth industry. It's a full-on newspaper dedicated to the nonprofit space.
If you're running a nonprofit, think of The Fundraising Authority as customer support. They are dedicated to helping nonprofits get better at raising money, communicating, and impacting their mission.
This one is great because of the pictures! Run by nonprofit pro Vanessa Chase Lockshin, the blog is built on short posts with lots of videos, often told in story form. It's a refreshing option.
If you are looking to donate or partner, Charity Navigator can help evaluate the decision. But it also covers legal issues and offers paid content like online training.
As the name implies, this nonprofit blog is focused on maximizing revenue by patterning organizations with corporate partners willing to match donations.
Through easy-to-read content, Get Fully Funded helps nonprofits understand the complexities of getting and managing funds without running afoul of the law (or going broke).'
Those in need of help engaging the public and then managing the results can find it at Bloomerang, along with advice geared especially toward smaller operations.
Nonprofit expert Vu Le writes this blog, which covers all kinds of ways to improve the function of any nonprofit. Fundraising, executive board management, finance, etc.
The mid-Atlantic region is a hotbed for nonprofit activity, and this blog functions as a job board and recruiting site for local talent.
The SSIR is a well-known magazine and website covering big problems and solutions. All with a global reach and top-level experts.
Many nonprofits can be optimized with the right tech solutions, and TechSoup helps make that happen – both with advice and by actually selling discounted technology.
Finally, GuideStar is like the Google of nonprofit blogs, so if you don't know where to look for a specific topic, just check here. Over 250 categories are included.
The U.S. nonprofit sector is huge and plays an important role in society, but despite growing revenue, involvement is down, and many other challenges remain.
Starting with a community engagement strategy is the secret to building a successful platform in the long term. Cause Machine helps customers build the plan of engaging a community well and then begin mapping out the technology to help support that strategy. We’re certain that you’ll find some great resources and powerful tools in Cause Machine to better engage your community. Learn how it can work for you here.
With the explosive growth of the personal development industry, an online coaching platform is a great way for people to add a side gig for extra income – or even start being their own boss entirely.
Almost anything can be taught, and if you have a skill, there’s probably someone who would like to learn it. The key is to find the best coaching platform.
Not convinced? Here are some hard numbers:
The global personal development market is currently worth over $41 billion and projected to hit $71.42 billion by 2030. Meanwhile, online learning represents a third of that total.
There are literally millions of courses and coaching programs people can choose from, and an existing pool of students who want to learn everything from songwriting, and money management, to sports betting or even sewing. If you’re good at it, you can probably turn it into income – with a quality coaching platform.
There are countless options that provide tools for course building, marketing, sales, scheduling, and more.
Kajabi is a well-known brand and coaching platform that pairs course-building with great marketing tools. Even without technical know-how, you can build course modules including text and video, and then utilize a marketing funnel that “includes email campaigns, welcome flows, and landing pages.”
Thinkific is another well-known brand in the online learning space, this time geared toward users who already have a WordPress website. Since WordPress powers about 40 percent of all websites, that is a lot of potential coaches. Its drag-and-drop course builder is simple for basic coaching platform functions, and it comes with some marketing and online payment options.
Plug a coaching service into your existing WordPress website
Some skills are not well suited for one-size-fits-all coursework – things like personal development, business coaching, or even physical fitness. With a coaching platform like Satori, you can set up and support one-on-one video appointments with automated scheduling tools, invoicing, and more. It’s kind of like having an administrative assistant, but it doesn’t help you build course modules.
Just like some coaching is best in a one-on-one setting, sometimes the initial meeting is just a start. Nudge is designed to keep students on track as they put your teaching to use. After setting up a video call, it features a “full suite of client tracking and coaching tools” to help you give attention where it’s most needed, which is great for fields like nutrition, mindfulness, and social development.
One coaching platform is designed for total flexibility, and that’s Cause Machine. It’s a simple-but-powerful community-building platform that can be customized to match your needs – whatever they are, from creating traditional course modules, hosting live virtual events, and spreading your cause word far and wide.
It’s not limited to one kind of website (you can even build your own, and host your coaching service there), and with Cause Machine, community is always a primary function. It can help coaches tailor their skills into a meaningful, scaleable service, maximizing reach and revenue – all with a custom design that stands apart from the templates found elsewhere.
Starting with a community engagement strategy is the secret to building a successful platform in the long term. Cause Machine helps customers build the plan of engaging a community well and then begin mapping out the technology to help support that strategy. We’re certain that you’ll find some great resources and powerful tools in Cause Machine to better engage your community. Learn how it can work for you here.
A successful community looks very different than it did years ago. Whether you’re an aspiring influencer, an artist, an entrepreneur or you run a non-profit, today’s success is often made online – and almost always goes hand in hand with a thriving digital community.
Just like building a community in the real world, a digital community is just a group of people with a shared identity. But this group is different. In a digital community, members can easily join or leave the group, meaning they only stay with the ones they like. It’s not as simple as being born into a neighborhood, and forever being part of that group.
Digital communities are created by people with a shared goal or interest, who take that commonality and make it the center of a whole online ecosystem. They interact, build friendships, debate, celebrate, support and even shop, all while keeping the common core in mind. These digital communities are vital to modern businesses and organizations and should be skillfully cultivated.
A thriving digital community can drive sales, strengthen name recognition and get people involved with a cause – but those people are more than just customers or fans. When healthy, members act almost like ambassadors, carrying a message out into the world, and helping brands achieve goals and grow bigger.
It involves capturing attention and earning respect and trust. Communities can do this by making self-expression feel safe and making it worth while for community members to get involved. That involvement should be something that signals passion – making a purchase, signing up for a volunteer opportunity, or even just sharing a post with the group. Hopefully, it will create enough goodwill and loyalty to keep the community members engaged over and over.
Ultimately, all modern brands and missions need a digital community, but if creating one sounds scary, don’t worry. It’s not nearly as daunting as it seems. It should be noted that the most effective examples are not always the ones with the most followers – they’re the ones whose members feel most comfortable engaging.
First things first, and you need to get real about what you want from this digital community. Consider why you are starting it, the needs of the brand, and who you are serving. That last one is a biggie – you have to have an ideal member in mind and prepare your messaging for them. What do they like? What are they against? Only by knowing your users can you find something in common with them, which is your core community bond.
Here’s a secret: Just because you built the community, that doesn’t mean it’s yours. A true digital community belongs to the people, and people value a community most when they connect, engage, and feel encouraged to share. Whether in an open forum, live event, or even a digital community around learning through online courses. Always listen to the community members and consider their suggestions; this will give them a sense of ownership. And when you do start sharing content, be human, and be vulnerable in what you express (this isn’t the place for corporate business-speak).
This may come as a surprise, but there is evidence that a digital community is at its most active when celebrating success, even if it’s a small win. According to a study by The Visual Capitalist shared by Rolling Stone’s Culture Council, even the world’s biggest influencers see peaks in interaction when they announce milestones like new albums, endorsements, or personal achievements – you can do this, too. Is a longtime team member getting married? Have you reached a sales goal or some other marker of progress? Share it with your community, because they just won, too. That’s the point of community to begin with. In the immortal words of Billy Dee Williams, “Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with.”
Starting with a community engagement strategy is the secret to building a successful platform in the long term. Cause Machine helps customers build the plan of engaging a community well and then begin mapping out the technology to help support that strategy. We’re certain that you’ll find some great resources and powerful tools in Cause Machine to better engage your community. Learn how it can work for you here.
Remember the age-old adage "The customer is always right?" Well, it's still true.
If you want your business to survive in a challenging, competitive environment, the customer experience is essential. You need a clear vision and strategy for solving customer needs and leaving them satisfied, so they will come back and engage again.
In one 2022 report about customer journey mapping from Hanover Research, 94 percent of businesses using customer journey maps said they help develop new products and services to match customer needs. Seventy-nine percent said customer journey maps helped make them more customer-centric. And 91 percent said maps drove sales.
But only 47 percent of companies use them.
It's no longer enough to present your product or service and "wing it" on the customer experience end. You have to anticipate what potential clients will do, how they think, and what they will feel about each step of interacting with your business. That's what a customer journey map can do.
A customer journey map is a diagram that shows the process your customers go through when interacting with your business. It's a flow chart – a visual representation of a customer's experience with your brand. It could track an experience with your website, visiting a physical store, ordering a service, or any other interaction, and you can make one for each type of transaction. About 55 percent of companies using customer journey maps have between three and five versions.
Importantly, a customer journey map is data-driven. It should include "touchpoints" where a customer does something, plus the team members involved, the feelings customers experience, and whatever action you want them to take.
They often look like detailed timelines. Customer Journeys can ultimately help you refine the product or service you offer to better serve the customer and your overall community. You are ultimately leading to more revenue and better community engagement.
First, imagine a fictitious (but realistic) ideal customer. Imagine them interacting with your business as realistically as possible. Think about what you want this person to come away with after interacting with your business. Determine what the big picture and fundamental goals of your customer experience should be.
Next, build up some data. You could interview actual customers and look through online reviews to see what the people using your business are really like. Talk with your team members as well. Find out how easy or hard it is to interact with your business and what customers are likely to do and feel about it.
Touchpoints are the moments customers interact with your business and how they experience your brand. The number and scope of touchpoints will depend on the business. A car repair garage is different from a coffee shop, after all.
A customer might need to find you through a web search – how hard is it to reach your website? They might walk up to the counter and look over your menu – what kind of feelings does that elicit?
List every interaction from the initial idea to interact with your business, through finding you, making a purchase, using the product or service, and the resulting impact. Include information in each touchpoint, like what the customer does, how they feel, and any challenges they face.
Now organize your info on a graphic flow chart. Start with a timeline, placing touchpoints in order along it with employees/teams involved in each one. There's no "right" way to make it look, just as long as each step of a customer experience is accounted for. You should include how the customer feels and be as truthful as possible.
This is the current state of the customer journey, and it should help show where things are working well and where they could be improved. If you have team members, make sure they share input on the steps of the process they are included in.
Using your customer journey map, we now know how good the customer experience is – and where it could be better. It's time to start taking action. Referring back to the goals you initially established, determine where and how you could make the customer experience better.
Maybe the transition between one touchpoint and the next could be smoother or require less of the customer's time. Maybe that coffee shop menu could be bigger and easier to read. Maybe getting in contact with customer service about an issue after the purchase could be more pleasant and easier to access.
Remember, a customer journey map is just a tool. It's not about playing the blame game but working together to create the best customer experience possible.
Learn how Cause Machine can help take your vision of a better customer experience and make it a reality.
"Email marketing" sounds a bit old school considering it has been in widespread use for nearly 40 years. But when it comes to reaching customers, email marketing is still one of the most effective tools aspiring companies utilize.
Considering its importance, choosing an email marketing tool that serves your business needs is crucial.
First, a little context for any doubters.
According to recent research, email marketing has an ROI of $36 for every $1 spent – much higher than any other form of marketing. As of 2020, over 4 billion people use email worldwide, and by the end of 2024, 361 billion emails will be sent each and every day. That means consumers are comfortable with this form of communication, and many report being glad to hear from a business they like.
Actually, it’s more than that.
A full 60 percent of consumers have made a purchase as the result of a marketing email they received. In contrast, just 12.5 percent say the same of social media marketing. That may seem counterintuitive in the age of TikTok, but the numbers don’t lie, proving email marketing is still a vital part of the business world – especially if you have a small budget to work with.
If you’re a start-up business or one of the many digital creators aiming to monetize your work, you need to get this task right, and that means finding the best email marketing tool for the job. There is no shortage of services aimed at helping harness the power of “you’ve-got-mail,” but to grow a business effectively, you’ve got to know what to look for.
When it comes to the best email marketing tools, this is one of the biggest names out there – and for good reason. Founded in 2001, it set the standard for the “all-in-one” email marketing category, and it’s still one of the best options for beginners or small operations. Its templates are clean, its drag-and-drop editing is intuitive, its automation will run effective email journeys and its analytics will help you decide what worked, and what didn’t.
All those features are bundled into multiple price tiers, and there’s a popular Free Plan for users with less than 1,000 email list subscribers. Not to mention, the Customer Journey automation tool serves your audience with timely content.
Key Features
ActiveCampaign is another top choice; its email builder is drag-and-drop with dynamic features that can serve a variety of your email marketing and automation needs. ActiveCampaign also helps optimize your work by letting you A/B test up to four email/subject line variations at a time. And if someone puts an item in their cart, but leaves without buying, ActiveCampaign can help get them back to finish the deal.!
Key Features
HubSpot is much more than an email Marketing tool. In fact, they have developed quite complex software for all things CRM. The email marketing features offered by HubSpot are similar to numbers 1 and 2 on this list; however, where HubSpot is unique is its all-in-one CRM solution approach. Essentially it's like buying into an ecosystem where each tool (email marketing, website, CRM, etc.) is all running on the same system.
Key Features
MailerLite is an easy-to-use email marketing tool – especially for beginners – but where it really excels is at selling subscriptions. Users can choose from three campaign styles, then personalize the messaging for different target customers to get the most out of your email effort. Much of the workflow is automated, and one of the best features is its free version.
If your email list is 1,000 subscribers or less, you can design your own custom email campaign and send as many emails as you want, making it great for smaller businesses or digital creators with a subscription model. Many in the growing digital economy are focused on e-learning and online classes – it's an industry projected to be worth about 645 billion by 2030 – and if that’s you, this might be a winner.
Key Features
Email marketing is still an important part of today’s digital landscape, even if you’re not running a massive company. And it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With a sound email marketing strategy/platform in place, your business can realize more revenue, greater customer loyalty, and growth.
Starting with a community engagement strategy is the secret to building a successful platform in the long term. Cause Machine helps customers build the plan of engaging a community well and then begin mapping out the technology to help support that strategy. We’re certain that you’ll find some great resources and powerful tools in Cause Machine to better engage your community. Learn how it can work for you here.
You want to have a significant impact on the world AND generate revenue. In order to do that you need valuable resources and a means to deliver those great resources. The problem is that most people with great content and a great community don’t yet have the right tools or plan to bring this next step in their vision to life. We understand the challenges of building a revenue-producing community. This is why we've created this resource to help you build a plan forward.
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