The LinkedIn for Nonprofits Weekly Digest

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another edition of the LinkedIn for Nonprofits Weekly Digest. This week, we’re focusing on the theme of innovation in the nonprofit world. 

We’ve compiled articles exploring strategies for staying agile, adjusting your approach to major gift communications, and more. You’ll also find examples of ways real nonprofits are rethinking fundraising goals and using technology to better support the people they serve. 

Here are five must-read articles for nonprofits this week:

1. Focusing on fundraising goals is harmful — let’s measure love instead (Community-Centric Fundraising)

While nonprofits need resources to deliver their mission, focusing too much on financial goals can sometimes have detrimental effects. Vivien Trinh, Associate Director of Community Philanthropy Operations at Oregon Food Bank, shares why her team has ceased using financial goals to drive decisions or measure staff performance—and what they’re doing instead.

2. The Future Of Work: Staying Nimble Can Help Your Nonprofit Grow (Forbes)

Nonprofits had to adapt quickly to overcome the challenges that 2020 brought. Noa Gafni, Executive Director at the Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation, outlines some ways that nonprofits can stay agile moving forward to ensure they’re able to meet the needs of an evolving workforce. 

3. How to Insert Emotion Into Major Gifts (NonProfit PRO)

For people to make a major gift to your nonprofit, they need to feel strongly about your mission. But conveying and stirring emotion through written communications can be challenging. These tips from NonProfit PRO can help you imbue your major gift communications with emotion, without coming across as manipulative. 

4. The Virtual Food Drive: Turning a Website Visitor Into a Donor (NTEN)

Many nonprofits have had to innovate during the pandemic to continue raising funds and delivering their programs. This article from NTEN breaks down why the Food Bank Council of Michigan’s virtual food drive was an especially successful example of innovation in the face of challenge, and what other organizations can learn from it. 

5. Post-COVID-19 tech trends for charities (Charity Digital)

COVID-19 might have accelerated digital transformation in the nonprofit sector, but what does the future hold? Charity Digital weighs in on a few technology trends that may impact the nonprofit sector in the near future, from the rise of contactless payments as a health and safety precaution to the innovative ways that some organizations are using virtual reality to support constituents. 

To get the latest news and resources for nonprofits delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to the LinkedIn for Nonprofits blog today.