COVID-19 Resources for Nonprofits and Social Impact Companies

There’s no question about it: Our world has changed. As we grapple with the reality of COVID-19, we are all struggling to keep up—not just as individuals, but as nonprofit leaders and business owners.

Fear and anxiety are high. Supplies feel scarce. Distraction is in overdrive.

And yet, our world needs your work more than ever.

You are the best of us.
You are the inspirers, the problem-solvers, the helpers.
You may be small, but you are mighty.

According to the Small Business Administration, 99% of businesses in the United States are small businesses, and this includes nonprofits. Of those, 88% have less than 20 employees. In fact, small businesses employ almost half of the private US workforce.

This means that nonprofits, social enterprises, and social impact companies are vital, not only to our lives, but our culture. So, during this challenging time, how can you succeed when on some days, the odds may feel stacked against you?

Here is my curated list of funding options, marketing and communications resources, current discounts and opportunities, as well as tips for running your business online in this brave, new coronavirus world. I hope this serves as a life preserver during this unprecedented season. And take heart, friends, it is just a season.

By the way, in case someone hasn’t told you today: Thank you for what you do. It matters.

Financial Resources for Nonprofits, Social Impact Companies, and Small Businesses

Many of us will take a financial hit during COVID-19, so if you need financial assistance, here are some resources to help keep the proverbial doors open and lights on.

• Benefits.gov helps point you to the right federal benefits that you may be eligible for.

• The Small Business Administration has disaster loan assistance available for businesses, private nonprofits, homeowners, and renters. They also created a page for small business guidance and loan resources. And here’s the direct page for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). NAV also put together a quick loan calculator, if you’re curious as to what you might be able to request.

• The SBS also has a resource guide specifically for women-owned businesses.

• Kiva has extended their free business loans to US entrepreneurs.

• Here is some economic assistance specifically for my Atlanta-based business community and those throughout Georgia.

• The TODAY Show has hosted multiple segments that provide financial advice to small business owners based on questions they receive on Facebook and Instagram.

• An article from The Penny Hoarder outlines multiple funding and loan options available to you.

• For my fellow Cobb County residents, the Cobb Chamber is striving to keep you updated and informed, both personally and professionally.

• If you are a Georgia restaurant, the Giving Kitchen may be able to help you and your employees through this difficult time.

• Forbes has a roundup of roundup of relief for small business owners, including quite a few options in the restaurant category.

• Modest Needs is dedicated to helping hourly workers impacted by the coronavirus, as well as others in need of short-term, hourly assistance.

• Springboard for the Arts has put together a list of funding resources specifically for the creative arts. Likewise, if you’re an author, poet, writer, or journalist, Poet’s & Writer’s has a guide for you.

• Time to rethink your budget? Here are three approaches you should consider.

• Vistage has given some good tips on protecting your small business from the virus, including legally.

• Yelp has partnered with GoFundMe too add donate buttons to for-profit busineses.

• Despite everything, it’s still tax season (though extended), so if you have questions about your small business’s charitable contributions, my friend Deb Meyer has some advice for you.

• Facebook is providing $100 million in grants and ad credits for small businesses.

• The Open Road Alliance is providing grants and loans to social impact organizations that run into unexpected obstacles.

• Duke School of Business has a searchable (and growing) database of capital relief resources for entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and businesses, including grants and loans.

• Verizon and LSIC have teamed up to offer $10,000 grants to small businesses, including nonprofits.

• Sara Blakely and GlobalGiving have teamed up for the Red Backpack Fund, which will support female-owned businesses. (Sole proprietors not eligible, sadly.)

• The final details are still somewhat forthcoming, especially for us itty bitty businesses, but this article from Forbes talks about the new CARES Act, which includes info on the Paycheck Protection Program, giving you the ability to keep your staff paid and working, resulting in loan reduction or forgiveness. (Includes nonprofits and solopreneurs)

• Alice has teamed up with other companies to provide immediate, short-term grants to social impact companies.

• GoFundMe is matching $500 grants on their platform.

• SheaMoisture is providing funding specifically for minority-owned social impact companies through their Minority Business Fund.

• Here’s a 12-page summary of the CARES Act, which is better than the 800-page original version, right?

• If your organization is too big for the Paycheck Protection Program, check out the Main Street Lending Program.

• If you’re in the fashion industry and suffering a loss of income, A Common Thread might be a great place to look for a grant.

• NAV put together a state-by-state list of grants, loans, and government/non-profit resources for small businesses.

• The Save Small Business fund is providing $5,000 grants to organizations in hard-hit areas who have 3-20 employees.

• Finimpact has curated a list that includes some of the above, as well as additional loan and insurance options you might not have seen yet.

• Global Giving is granting $1,000 to at least 100 vetted nonprofits, with no lengthy application required.

• Charity Charge guides you through five questions to help you make the most of your nonprofit or small business credit card.

• 500 Female Founders is increasing their commitment with more resources, mentorship, and investment.

• Three, new government credits available as of May 7th to all employers regardless of size, including tax-exempt organizations.

• Did you know that the $2 trillion stimulus bill that was passed leaves out immigrant families? Here’s a great financial resource for DACA recipients.

• Magic Johnson is offering $100 million in loans specifically for minority- and women-owned small businesses.

• LISC has just announced new grant partners to increase funding for women and minority-owned small businesses affected by COVID-19.

• Women looking for a small business loan should visit the national Chamber of Commerce website.

• Consumers Advocate has reviewed and outlined the best small business loans based on loan options, application requirements, and the average rates and fees.

• LISC opened up new small business grants, and are giving priority to underserved areas, but applications are due February 9, 2021.

• Worried about your taxes? Here’s a small business tax guide for reference, including tax rates by entity type. (Choose them for your tax or accounting services and get $100 off when you say I referred you!)

Tips on Working From Home and Running Your Business Online

New to working from home? Or working from home with a house full of kids, partners, spouses, and pets? Here are some ideas to keep you productive.

• Besides toilet paper, I should’ve bought stock in Zoom. If you’re just getting familiar with the platform, they’re hosting a few webinars to get you up to speed.

• Here’s a great, to-the-point guide from The Skimm. I especially like that they included tips for staying on the same page as your boss.

• Hypepotamus put together this list for startups, but the advice is applicable to just about any business.

• Here’s some advice for hiring employees and running meetings online.

• The Management Team has provided input for how to manage a team remotely.

• Is your motivation waning during this extended time at home? We have some advice.

• If you have the time and ability, this might be a fantastic opportunity for a business retreat. (I take them quarterly.) There’s no time to plan like the present, right?

• Harvard Business Reviewe answered 15 popular work from home questions. Is one of them yours?

• Trying to decide between Google Hangouts and Zoom for your online meetings? Click the link for a breakdown.

• This Fast Company article has some stellar advice from the perspective of a CEO, including how to reinforce your mission, vision, and values.

• Here are some good tips from NPR, including addressing managing expectations and knowing your own limitations, both of which are super important.

• Share the joy. Have you been enjoying all the free-flowing memes online lately? Even though many of you work on serious issues, take a moment to share a laugh with your team. Having fun together matters, too.

• Still trying to figure out what your response should be from a business perspective? Silver Lining has a “Business Unusual” workbook to walk you through possible answers.

• Once co-working spaces open back up, should you move your team there? Here are some pros and cons.

• CocoFax put together a list of over 500 remote working tools to help you be more productive and efficient.

• CreditCards.com put together a guide specifically for disabled entrepreneurs who want to start a business.

• This work from home guide explains how to set up your office space for both productivity and comfort.

• OutwitTrade asked dozens of individuals for their work from home trips, and there are some great pieces of advice that I haven’t seen mentioned in other spots, such as: “Start working when you’d normally start your commute, not when you’d normally get to the office. Then you’ll have extra time for interruptions.”

• Novoresume has not just tips for working from home, but how to find a remote job, and expected salaries for some remote jobs.

• Need tech support for your Mac while working from home? One of these 17 tips might just be the support ticket you need . . . without the wait.

• Obviously, I’m a big fan of communication, but it doesn’t always work the same with remote teams. Here are six tips for effective remote communication.

Marketing Resources

While many small businesses and nonprofits have had to shutter their doors during the coronavirus, sadly, there are still a lot of us who are working. That means, you still need to let people know about your products and services—hello, marketing! Here’s how to get the word out.

• With everyone at home and online, this is an excellent time to improve your website!

• Crisis or not, here are my tips for how to make time for marketing.

• This is amazing advice from Hootsuite’s Vice President of Corporate Marketing on how to pivot your social strategy. I also love this quote by him, “Employees will remember leaders who led. Customers will remember who showed up, what we said, and how we helped them.”

• Here’s an awesome resource list for event planners, complete with examples to follow, if you need to cancel an event or move it online.

• My friend, Meg Casebolt, wants to make sure you get found online while everyone is at home, so she’s hosting free SEO workshops during March and April.

• The Adobe Digital Summit will be held for free on March 31st!

• If your cause is particularly relevant to the coronavirus conversation, this might be a great time to engage an influencer or get some good press. (Pro tip: If you’ve been previously featured in the media, reach back out to the journalist to see if you can help them again. Everyone is scrambling for relevant and helpful content!)

• Since you’re home (and everyone else is, too), this might be a good time to start a YouTube Channel.

• Improve your social media strategy with the use of hashtags. There are certainly lots of new ones popping up these days!

• Here’s my Marketing Q&A: Coronavirus Edition held on Facebook Live, where I answered some of the questions I’ve been getting over the last couple of weeks.

• The Social Enterprise Alliance gives you four steps for navigating COVID-19 as a social enterprise.

• Vincit will create a free e-commerce roadmap that includes a strategy, tech resource recommendations, UX recommendations, and a consultation.

• Here are 10 things you can do right now for your marketing and communications, including diagnosing whether your organization is candy, a vitamin, or a painkiller.

• Don’t forget all the marketing and communications resources readily available on this site! We want to equip and empower nonprofits, social enterprises, and social impact companies everywhere. :)

Crisis Communications

How do you communicate with donors, customers, partners, and sponsors during tragedy or uncertain times?

• My favorite COVID-19 email (is that okay to say?) came from Tiff’s Treats, and it came in the first wave of businesses talking about their response. I loved it because it took a positive stance. It doesn’t downplay the seriousness of the issue, but it does also talk about the good stuff coming out of a bad situation. I think more people should take their lead, and I think cause-focused organizations are in a unique position to follow suit. (Oh, and if you haven’t had their cookies yet, their chocolate chip variety is my favorite on the planet.)

• Are you a Wikipedia devotee like me? If so, check out their insanely proactive response back at the beginning of March. I also love how it’s written, like a letter to friends.

• 3BL is offering free press releases services for social impact organizations communicating about COVID-19

• Here are some strategies for communicating the coronavirus internally and externally, as well as examples you can follow.

• I thought Lyft had a great response to model. It’s heartfelt, informative, action-oriented, and easy to read.

• This post on the Public Relations Society of America blog gives a quick overview to get you up to speed quickly on talking about the pandemic.

• Here are seven ways to build trust with your customers and donors during the outbreak.

• The CDC has provided communications resources for us all to use, including print resources, videos, and images.

• SCORE has created a handy checklist for creating a crisis communications plan.

• Smarterqueue, the software I use for social scheduling (read my review here), has some tips on how to adjust your social strategy.

• Honeybook will walk you through 18 steps to create a business continuity plan.

• This is a good example from L.L.Bean, which speaks to the values of their company.

• TalkWalker has laid out a very in-depth view of PR for you, including several crisis communication templates.

• Engage for Good has a roundup of stats and studies for social impact organizations, which can help provide data for your response.

• Be sensitive, understanding, and responsive. Here’s how Hershey’s pivoted quickly, which is a good example. However, I’ve seen people shaming brands for social posts, commercials, emails, and more, which frankly, I think is overreacting at times. Why? Because these things were probably scheduled weeks, days, or even months in advance. So, let’s all do what we can, and also show some grace while we all try and figure this out, especially as news is changing day-by-day. You may need someone to show you grace down the line.

• Pathos Labs has created a playbook of 19 tips for influencers, explaining how they can talk with their audience about the crisis.

Software Discounts and Resources

Lots of companies are offering longer free trials and discounts. Be sure to check in with all of your favorites, or those you’ve been wanting to try.

• First, here’s a list of resources, software, and more that I use and recommend.

• Conscious Capitalism has moved their April conference online—and is giving it away for free!

• My friend Christina at The Contract Shop is offering 20% off of her legal contracts and templates through April 10th.

• Hootsuite is offering their Professional plan for free to small businesses and nonprofits until July 1st.

• Calendly is offering free Zoom and GoToMeeting integrations through June. And let me take a moment to say, if you are not using a scheduling software like Calendly or Acuity yet, please do yourself a favor and create an account! Minimize those back-and-forth emails about scheduling meetings.

• Loom, which is what I use for screen and video recording, is cutting prices, extending trials, and even offering free accounts for educators and students.

• Many cell phone carriers are opening up free Wifi hotspot access at this time. Get the full scoop on what telephone and internet providers are doing here.

• Take a look at all the ways Shopify is helping its customers with their online and in-person storefronts.

• A few female-founded brands are doing a big giveaway for Women’s History Month, including Edgar, a social media scheduling service.

• 1Password, the software I use to generate and store my passwords, is offering six free months of 1Password Business.

• Google (G Suite) is making some features that are normally reserved for Enterprise customers available to all accounts through July 1st.

• Forbes put together this fantastic list of free software you can use during the crisis. Some of these are already my favs!

• Mailchimp is offering free services to those with paid accounts. Your application must be submitted by April 30th.

• Google is providing free ad credits for select small and medium business accounts.

• Hypepotamus has a list of discounts, resources, leadership advice, and financial links for Southern startups.

• Don’t have a graphic designer on staff? You can get a bevy of free poster templates, social media images, graphics, and more from Canva, Unsplash, and PosterMyWall.

• Sparkhouse is offering to make a free video for local small businesses, in order to help them get the word out.

• Need to build a new website or improve the one you’ve got? Jottful will provide you with a free, online roadmap.

• With all of your employees working remotely, you may need to increase employee engagement and retention. Clarity Wave is giving you a free, three-month trial of their software to do just that.

• If you’re hiring right now, ShareAble for Hires is offering free pre-employment background checks to small businesses through July 31st. Get great people back to work!

Resources Specifically for Nonprofits

Hooray—lots of places already offer nonprofit discounts. But, now more than ever, you might be able to find freebies and offers that work in your favor.

• Was your fundraiser canceled as a result of the virus? This Mobile First post will walk you through some alternative options.

• Here’s a comprehensive list compiled by a few nonprofit professionals that you can also contribute to.

• Use the hashtag #NPCOVID19 to find recent updates and additions on the virus, and #Comms4Good anytime.

• Along with other great resources for nonprofits of all sizes, Candid has created a funding summary for those who are supporting the response to the coronavirus.

• Blackbaud has a great list of event and fundraising resources during possible impact.

• The Small Business Association has disaster loan assistance available for private nonprofits.

• My friends at Funraise have put together “Virtual Event Ideas From Nonprofit Event Experts”.

• Asana is giving away free licenses to nonprofits working on the COVID-19 response.

• The Nonprofit Finance Fund is telling you what you should be doing right now.

• Our friend and personal fundraising coach, Debbie Barron, will talk you through some techniques that ring true anytime or season.

• Marc Pitman gives you the “3 Biggest Mistakes of Fundraising During a Recession”.

• Victoria Vrana of The Gates Foundation has some terrific advice for grantors and funders.

• Boardable is giving you a 90-day free trial.

• The Georgia Center for Nonprofits has put together a wonderful guide that includes employee and stakeholder care.

• Be sure to care for your volunteers at this time! They matter now more than ever.

• Don’t forget about all the technology discounts you already have at your disposal via TechSoup. They also have a list of resources for remote work.

• WiredImpact has created their own list of resources to get you through this time, including topics like operations and HR.

• Anytime is a good time to make your nonprofit stand out online. Madeline Kardos of Candid shows you one easy way.

• The Communications Network is crowdsourcing a list of resources, examples, and best practices for nonprofits, as well as creating a crisis communications triage kit.

• Even if they’re already awesome, there are a few ways your board can support you in good times and bad.

• River Network has compiled a variety links for you, including a few that address equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice.

• My friends over at Charity Charge interviewed the CEO of Global Impact to get his take on how nonprofit leaders can step up during times of crisis.

• Anyone else a Lyft fan? They regularly provide community funding through LyftUp, and are also trying to figure out how they can help governments, healthcare entities, and nonprofits on the front lines of the coronavirus through this form.

• This is a terrific article in the Harvard Business Review about fundraising during the coronavirus, plus an example of how to do it well.

• Here are some additional grant funding opportunities that you may not yet be aware of, brought to you by NonProfit PRO and GrantStation.

• Don’t forget to join the Endangered Nonprofit Coalition to receive materials that will help you promote your mission.

Additional Resources

Looking for personal resources? I’ve got you covered over at my personal blog. Here are my ideas for making the best of the coronavirus at home. Why not stay positive, right?

And my friend who contracted COVID-19 has been sharing her advice and tips for getting through the coronavirus with friends informally on Facebook, so I took them and created a blog post on my personal blog (with her permission). It’s helpful to hear her first-hand perspective, as well as some things we aren’t regularly hearing in the media.

Did I miss something important? I’ll be updating it as we get through this situation. Leave it in the comments, or email me at: kristi@signify.solutions

And since we’re all in this together, would you mind sharing this post with someone who may need this information?

---

---

PIN THIS POST FOR LATER:

---

I’m Kristi Porter, and I help cause-focused organizations understand and execute effective marketing campaigns so they can move from stressed to strategic. Your resources may be limited, but your potential isn’t. Whether you’re a nonprofit, social enterprise, or small business who wants to give back, I’ll show you how to have a bigger impact.

---

Should Your Nonprofit Have A Blog?

Blogs seem to be a particular pain point for nonprofits. There is either pressure to create the content (and resentment when it doesn’t happen), or so much overwhelm with regular responsibilities that a blog never gets off the ground. So, what are you to do?

Do you launch a blog, and potentially leave it sitting idle?
Do you wait for the right moment to start it?
Do you rearrange your schedule so that you have time to write? And what do you say?
Should your nonprofit even have a blog at all?

We can’t answer these questions for you entirely, but we’ll lay out a great case to help you decide for yourself. Spring intern, Manny Portillo, will give you six reasons you should consider starting a blog—and two reasons why you shouldn’t.

How important is it that your nonprofit website have a blog?

Starting a blog for your nonprofit can be a big commitment, and it isn’t always necessary. It all depends on the needs of your organization, your goals, and what you can handle. There are some things you should keep in mind when making the decision on whether or not to take the leap, and I’ll outline those for you below.

In short, it is often beneficial to have a blog for your nonprofit’s website.

However, while there are many reasons you should create a blog, the answer is not always a hard yes. A large part of making this decision is whether or not you and/or your staff can handle the added work.

Blogs can take a lot of time and effort, and ideally, you should be posting regularly to keep your donors and partners engaged and updated. So, while there are many different opportunities that come with having a blog, if you feel like it will be too much work, then this may not be the right time for you to start.

6 Reasons Why Your Nonprofit Website Needs a Blog

To help guide you in the decision of whether or not to start (or update) your blog, here are some considerations.

Establish Your Nonprofit Authority

A blog can be a great tool to establish your nonprofit as a reliable and credible source of information whether you’re just starting your nonprofit or have been around for years. This is a terrific opportunity to position your organization among peers, or it can be a way to distinguish yourself from others.

Keeping and maintaining a blog can communicate that your nonprofit is an authority in your field, is dedicated to informing stakeholders, and reinforces that you are deeply committed to your cause.

A great example of this is the Red Cross blog, on which they publish health tips. These tips are not only useful to the reader, but also shows that they are committed to public health in general. Their blog positions them as a place where people can go for information on how to live better and stay healthy.

This is also something that your nonprofit can do. For example, if you conduct any type of research or collect data, publishing the results in the form of a blog post can score major points for your organization, showing that you are a leader in that space. Plus, if this is a subject that you want to be known for, it’s another way to increase your S.E.O (search engine optimization) on that topic.

State Your Nonprofit’s Opinion

Nonprofits do not operate in a vacuum, meaning that they have to deal with a lot of things outside of their control that could potentially affect them and their funding. This might include policy changes, a major donor’s expression of their opinion on a controversial subject, or even a viral video with no connection to the nonprofit that deals with similar social issues.

A blog is a terrific place for your nonprofit to share its stance. For example, if there is a major change in policy that will affect how you operate, your organization’s blog allows you to state your agreement or disagreement with the policy, as well as what you will do in order to adapt to these changes.

One specific example of a nonprofit sharing its opinion is Refuge Coffee Company’s blog post on “Why Causes Matter.” The post not only aligns with their mission of supporting refugees, but also states their opinion on the abundance of causes vying for our attention and why they matter to all of us.

Provide Updates to donors and stakeholders

Something that people look for in nonprofits is transparency. Donors want to know what their donations are being used for, how the organization is operating, and what they can look forward to seeing in the future. A blog is a convenient place to talk about these types of updates, whether they are short-term campaigns or long-term initiatives.

The JC Evans Foundation, which provides housing for transplant patients and their caretakers free of charge, does a great job of providing its donors and the public with news on their progress. While they are still a small nonprofit, with the ability to only serve six patients at a time, they are continuously growing and make it a point to share when they are opening a new apartment to patients. They also do a wonderful job of updating donors on their long-term goal of opening a residential building for patients.

An example of a short-term campaign would be Giving Tuesday. Because it is a major fundraising day for thousands of nonprofits, having a blog post that can be easily shared with (and by) donors that talks about your mission, goals, and impact, as well as includes a link for donations can be hugely beneficial.

Information Archive Or Repository

A blog can also serve as a place to store information that would not have a home elsewhere on your website.

Sometimes you have a lot to share about your work, your beneficiaries, issues at large, and your stakeholders. However, you don’t want to have a million and a half things on your homepage.

Consider this: If you visited a website that is a wall of words to sort through or had numerous links and images to click on across a single page, you probably wouldn’t stay on it very long, would you? It would be overwhelming to look at. This is where a blog can come in handy.

Think of blog posts like subpages, where you go into detail about your organization’s annual reports, accomplishments, programming, and more. Moving this information to your blog keeps your main pages simple and easy to navigate, so that website visitors can quickly find what they’re looking for. Plus, if your blog posts regularly get sent to your email list, this ensures that donors see this important information, where they might miss it if it lived on a regular page.

Additionally, if your organization has a large website, a blog is easier to search, given the difference in layout. Instead of having a visitor navigate different tabs, they can narrow down their search through a category or tags.

Reasons Why Your Nonprofit Should Not Have A Blog

Operating a nonprofit organization is a lot of hard work, so taking the time to write a blog post may be out of your reach at this time. If your staff has already taken on quite a few projects, who is going to write the blog posts?

You Don’t Have The Time

This is the chief complaint among nonprofit leaders, and for good reason. Sometimes it’s a matter of prioritizing or delegating the responsibility, and then there are times when it just isn’t possible. Perhaps it’s a goal to set (and prepare for) in the future.

If you simply do not have the time to produce blog content, maybe hiring a copywriter could be an option for you. Making the decision to hire a copywriter is a discussion for another day, but one that you could consider if you recognize the value in having a blog for your nonprofit.

You Don’t Know What To Write About

Then there is the cursed writer's block, and simply not knowing what to write about. This is the second objection Kristi usually hears from clients and peers.

Keeping to a posting schedule is a hard thing to do if you don’t know what to write about. Thankfully there are lists online with tons of blog ideas (and most of them are free!). We’ve even created one for you. If you do take to Google, just make sure that you keep your nonprofit’s mission and goals in mind when picking topics.

Also, it’s a good idea to keep a list of running ideas somewhere, so that you always have them to come back to when inspiration or motivation fails you. Having them handy will go a long way in overcoming writer’s block.

Blog Best Practices

If you do decide to add a blog to your nonprofit’s website (good decision!), here are some things to keep in mind.

Evergreen Content

If keeping up with a blog or making time to write posts is an issue, you should consider creating evergreen content.

What is evergreen content? Well, just like evergreen trees, they are fresh and generally have a long life span. Evergreen content will not become obsolete within a few months. It can be useful long-term and year-round.

For example, writing a blog post about your upcoming fundraiser would not be evergreen content because it is time-sensitive. However, a list of “10 Ways To Donate to Us in 10 Minutes or Less” would be perfect because it is applicable no matter when someone reads it.

There are two other things to note about evergreen content:

1. There is a current trend in blogs to remove the dates, meaning you don’t know when the posts were published. We only recommend this action for evergreen content.

2. You may choose to solely publish evergreen content, and that’s okay. If you decide that your blog will only ever have a few posts, just be sure they are topics that are important to your nonprofit and that readers will be interested in. This is another instance where the posts might act like subpages on your website.

Call To Action (or CTA)

There is one thing that all your content should have—a call to action (or CTA).

A call to action is just what it sounds like: You state what you would like your audience to do. Every post you write should have a call to action.

This could mean that you ask readers to participate in an event, donate to your cause, or even sign up for your email list. It doesn’t have to be a large ask, but you do not want to leave your audience with just an implied “thanks for reading.” You want to lead them to deeper engagement with your mission.

Here are a few more possible CTAs:

• Volunteer

• Provide feedback

• Leave a comment

• Sign up for a tour of your facility

• Share your post on social media

• Email the post link to a friend

• Contact local representatives to voice their opinion in support of your cause

Blogs are a great way to continue building relationships with donors, as well as build new relationships with people who stumble across your content. Therefore, you don’t want someone to just read the post and move on. You want to invite them to take the next step.

Keep A Posting Schedule

Ideally, you should post new content to your blog once or twice a month, or even more, if you have the time. This is because we are all a little “out of sight, out of mind,” even with our best intentions. But the important thing is to find a rhythm you can keep up with, even if that’s every other month or quarterly.

Keeping to a posting schedule is crucial to the success of your blog. It sets both internal and external expectations. When it’s on your calendar, you’re more likely to stick to it. And, when it’s at regular intervals, your audience can anticipate it as well—and hopefully get excited for the next edition!

Whatever you decide, commit to a posting schedule and stick to it. Start off with an obtainable goal, and increase your posting frequency as you’re able.

Guest Posts

Good news: You and your staff don’t always have to do all the work! Inviting guest contributors is a fantastic way to give a fresh perspective to your blog and create content when you don’t have time.

Guest posts can be from someone on your team who typically does not write for the blog, a board member or donor, a beneficiary, a parter or sponsor, or even a subject matter expert. This person doesn’t have to know everything about your organization, they just have to be informed or engaged on one level that readers might relate to.

If you do decide to engage guest contributors, we recommend having a set of guidelines for them to follow so that you maintain consistency on your blog. This could include post length, format, style, do’s and don’ts, deadlines, and more.

Hire an Intern

Want to stick to your posting schedule, use the talent around you, and engage the next generation for your cause? Hire an intern!

There are tons of college students who would be thrilled to write content for your organization. This not only helps you accomplish your goals, but they get something of value to include on their resumé in return. This can be a terrific option if your organization does not have the financial resources to outsource a professional copywriter.

Do keep in mind that to keep this legal, your intern must be paid or able to get class credit for their work.

Blogs Do Not Have To Be Long

Finally, not all blog posts have to be a mile long! If part of what intimidates you or keeps you from getting started is thinking that you have to write a long post, think again.

While some topics will command a lengthy post, some can be relatively short. In fact, most SEO experts recommend a minimum of only 500 words—that’s about a third of this post!

You are an expert in what you do, so once you start writing, you may be surprised at how quickly you can reach 500 words. And if SEO is not a consideration at this point, you can make posts as short as you like.

SEO becomes a factor when you want more people to find you through Google searches and cold traffic on the internet. In the beginning, most nonprofits rely on friends, family, and people they know. So, if the prospect of writing for SEO is overwhelming at this point, just focus on keeping your audience informed and engaged for now.

---

Manny Portillo is a senior at Oglethorpe University, studying Communications with a track in Public Relations and Social Work.

Outside of class, he is the president and founding member of his school’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter, and president of the Environmentally Conscious Oglethorpe Students (ECOS).

In his down time, he collects exotic plants from every corner of the world. His collection now includes over 40 plants from South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Website I LinkedIn I Instagram I Twitter

---

---

PIN THIS POST FOR LATER

---

I’m Kristi Porter, and I help cause-focused organizations understand and execute effective marketing campaigns so they can move from stressed to strategic. Your resources may be limited, but your potential isn’t. Whether you’re a nonprofit, social enterprise, or small business who wants to give back, I’ll show you how to have a bigger impact.

---

Want Your Social Impact Website to Look Good? Start Here.

It takes about 50 MILLISECONDS (that’s 0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they like your site or not, whether they’ll stay or leave.

- SWEOR

Ummmmm….ok, that’s FAST (and scary!) That means your website needs to pack a visual punch in a hurry. So, let me ask you, how does your website look?

Does your nonprofit or social enterprise website look like it’s worthy of the dollars you’re asking people for, or does it look like you’re still trying to get your act together?

As a copywriter, obviously, I believe that the words on your site matter a great deal—and they do. But the first thing people will notice is the design.

And once you’ve made it past the hurdle of having a well-designed website that people stick around for, there’s something else you should consider that I see overlooked all the time, especially on DIY websites.

If you want your website to look good, you need to think about the consistency of your visual identity, or visual brand:

• It needs to be unmistakeable.

• It needs to be cohesive.

• And it needs to reflect your organization’s mission and personality.

A simple tool that will help you get there is a style guide, or brand guide. With it, your nonprofit, social enterprise, or social impact company can look like a million bucks (even if you aren’t). Without it, your organization can unknowingly communicate that you’re an amateur.

Let’s talk about how you can create your own style guide, even if you don’t have a designer on staff.

Let me give you two caveats before we jump in:

1. I think, whenever possible, you should work with a professional graphic designer or brand agency. I regularly get compliments on my logo, website, and branding, and that’s because I went to the pros. Even as a marketing consultant, I couldn’t have done this on my own. They set me up for success. And certain colors make people feel a certain way, so depending on your area of work, there may be colors they can advise you to run toward, or run away from. (It’s not always just based on what you personally like.)

2. If you weren’t aware by now, I’m not a graphic designer. I can Canva the heck out of a project, and I’ve art directed many times over the years, but it’s not my main focus. However, I keep coming across this problem with clients and friends, and felt the need to address it here on the blog.

Why DoES YouR Nonprofit or Social Enterprise NEED A STYLE GUIDE or brand guide?

Let’s do a quick refresher on what a “brand” is, in case you’re unfamiliar with the term, but nod along in a crowd like you understand, or in case someone made the mistake of telling you that a brand was a logo.

First of all, a brand is not a logo!

My designer friends really want you to know that.

This misunderstanding is where many organizations go wrong from the beginning.

In simple terms, think about your organization like a person. A person is made up of lots of characteristics, like what they look like and how they make you feel. A brand is similar. It’s all the little details, physical, emotional, and more, that make them who they are. So, it’s way more than just a logo.

Now that we’re on the same page, let’s talk about the importance of a style guide, also sometimes known as a brand guide. (I’ll distinguish the two of them for you below.)

A style guide, or brand guide, can be your best friend when you’re designing something new. This might be a website, social media posts, printed materials, or anything else that has a visual component.

Having a style guide (or brand guide) is important because it helps ensure that everything you design looks consistent and cohesive. It makes you look professional, and maybe even like you’re a bigger organization than your actual head count.

“The more cohesive and consistent you branding, the easier it will be for your audience to recognize you. Constantly switching up fonts, colors, and photography styles seems exciting, but it can actually cause you and your brand to get lost in the crowd.”

- Madison Beaulieu of Mad + Dusty

WHAT DOES A STYLE, OR BRAND, GUIDE DO FOR YOUR SOCIAL IMPACT ORGANIZATION?

Let’s think beyond social impact organizations for a moment.

• Do you have a favorite sports team? I bet you can tell me what their colors are immediately.

• FedEx and UPS? You can probably tell me their colors, too.

• The Disney font? Yep, you can see it in your mind.

• The Apple and Windows logos? They might be in front of you as you read this post!

• The shape underneath the word Amazon? You’ve seen that curved arrow a million times.

See what I mean? When you think about brands that you know and love, you can instantly recall their logo, colors, fonts, and more. Their visual identity is the same no matter where it shows up.

What if you went to the UPS website and saw neon green everywhere? It would stop you in your tracks, and you’d probably wonder if someone hacked their site.

This is why you need to think about creating a style guide for your nonprofit or social enterprise. You want people to have the same, thoughtful experience with your brand.

You should think about a website, social media posts, and collateral as all part of the same family. The design, look, and feel should be intentional and made to go together.

Brands with a consistent visual identity look more professional and trustworthy.

Don’t unintentionally send up red flags to your donors and customers with a brand that looks haphazard and amateur. You’ve worked too hard for that—even if you’re just starting your nonprofit.

Plus, it can be hard enough to keep your brand consistent when it’s just you, but add team members into the mix, and it can get out-of-hand quickly. This is especially true because, if you don’t have any guidelines, people may choose what they personally like best, whether you’d consider it in-line with your brand on not.

“Brand guidelines are so important. You need more than just a logo, you also need a guide to using your branding across both print and digital media. Stick with the same colors, fonts, and photography styles. I know it can feel boring to you after a while, but it’s not to your customers! You're in it every day, whereas your customers or donors may only interact with you once or twice a month, or even just a few times per year.”

- Madison Beaulieu of Mad + Dusty

TWO EXAMPLES OF WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE A STYLE GUIDE

As I mentioned above, having an inconsistent visual identity often shows up in DIY websites. And why wouldn’t it? That probably means that the site is usually create by someone who is not a professional designer, so it makes perfect sense that they wouldn’t know better.

However, it can happen even when you hire someone to design your website. Let me give you two examples:

Client #1:

One of my clients is a nonprofit who has been around for over 15 years. They do incredible work overseas, but like many nonprofits, they bootstrapped, utilized volunteers, and called in favors when it came to their website design.

I started working with them on what I think was the third iteration of their website. I was asked to audit their marketing and communications before they launched their brand new website to their donors and stakeholders.

What I immediately noticed was that their brand lacked cohesion. A lot of the same colors were used in the design, thanks to a WordPress template, but the colors in the photos were all across the board. So, they didn’t have a look and feel that I could easily identify as theirs.

In fact, in 15 years and three websites, I was the first person to suggest that they use a cohesive color scheme or color palette! They really liked the idea, but had never heard it before.

Now, they have a color palette that they intentionally chose, and use it as a guide for anything new that they create. And it’s helped them look more polished, which is a better reflection for their years of experience.

Client #2:

Another client is a for-profit social impact company, who also works on a global scale. He’s been in business for about 10 years, and is currently in the process of launching his company’s second website.

The same graphic design agency who built his first website is completing the rebrand. Not long ago, he and I sat down to discuss the changes that should be made before the site goes live.

In clicking through the pages and links, he stopped on one page in particular, which had caught his eye for a very good reason!

He said, “I don’t like the photo at the top. It just doesn’t feel right.”

And he was correct. The stock photo on this page was completely off-brand. His colors are bright blue, red, and gray, for the most part. This photo was pastel. So, he couldn’t articulate why “one of these things was not like the other,” but he knew something was wrong.

This example goes to show you that even professionals can make a mistake. And it again reinforces the importance of having a style guide. If he had been given a style guide, or if the designers had been working with one, they would have immediately been able to see that the photo didn’t make sense.

how to diy a STYLE GUIDE OR visual brand guide

When we’re talking solely about design, I prefer the term style guide. If we’re talking about the brand as a whole, down to the brand message and brand voice, I like the term brand guide. But I wanted you to be aware of both because they’re frequently used interchangeably.

So, whether you DIY’d your website and need to create a style guide, or your graphic designer didn’t provide you with one, let’s talk about how you can create your own.

Basics to Include in Your Style Guide

Here are the nonnegotiables you should include in a style guide:

• Logo colors and usage: What are the correct proportions of your logo, and what colors should it only appear in?

• Brand mark colors and usage: Do you have only a portion of your logo that gets used from time-to-time? If you look at your website tabs above, you’ll see that mine is just the lightbulb part of my logo. (This section of your style guide can also include icons that you frequently use.)

• Brand color palette: You’ll likely have two to four main colors that should be front-and-center at all times. Then you should have another two to four-ish that get used only as accent colors. As an example, my primary colors are red, yellow, and light gray. My accent colors are a teal, dark gray, and two other green-ish colors. Of course, they all have fancy names, but this gives you an idea.

• Typography: What are your fonts? You probably have a primary font and one or two secondary fonts. My primary font is Raleway and my secondary is Arvo. This gives me a sans serif font and a serif font to play with.

“Let your branding be a reflection of your values. Design trends come and go, but values rarely change. Personal values (honesty, courage, kindness) spill into your business. It's a great place to start when thinking about how you'd like to translate your business to the visual space.”

- Madison Beaulieu of Mad + Dusty

other ideas IN CASE you want to go the extra mile:

• Mood board to give examples of colors, photos, and textures

• Basic details about your organization that might affect the visual design, such as values

• Key messages to keep in mind and reinforce when sharing in different formats such as a website or social media

• Contact info in case there are any questions or decisions to be made

Want to include the entire kitchen sink?

Create a brand guide that encompasses the A to Z of your organization. One of my clients has a brand guide that’s 100 pages—no joke! But you don’t have to go that far.

Here are additional components for your brand guide:

• Examples of what was done well in the past

• Market research or details about your target audience, including words and emotions that represent them and what they’re looking for from your organization

• Goals and objectives for different mediums, such as how specific stories should be used or what is considered a win

• Brand message and brand voice, including words and sentiments that should and shouldn’t be used

Which is right for you?

I think just starting with a basic style guide is a terrific idea, especially if you’re a small nonprofit, social enterprise, or social impact company. If you’re a little larger, or frequently utilize contractors and freelancers, I think you should expand your guide to ensure that your brand stays tight, even as it grows.

SIGNIFY’S Brand Guide As An Example

Want to see what a brand guide looks like? Here’s mine!

Click the image below to see the full, nine-page PDF.

3 PRO TIPS to Help You Keep Your Brand Consistent

1) Pinterest

What do you do if you don’t have a graphic designer handy, don’t know what your colors are outside of “green” and “blue", or don’t consider yourself a style guru?

You turn to Pinterest!

And you thought it was only for recipes and hair styles . . .

Head on over to Pinterest, and type in some variation of “color scheme", such as “light green color scheme”, for example. There are thousands of color palettes already put together by professional designers that you can use!

Just type in one or two colors plus “color scheme” or “color palette” and you’ll be amazed at what you see. This is exactly what I suggested to my nonprofit client above, and they quickly found one that worked for them.

2) Canva

I can’t believe how many people still don’t know about Canva! This amazing (and free) website lets anyone become a competent graphic designer. There are hundreds of templates for social media posts, presentations, flyers, and much more. You can even pre-set a couple of your main brand colors so that they’re always handy.

But use responsibly!

Just because you have so many templates at your disposal doesn’t mean you have to use them all! The idea is to create consistency, right? Find a template that can be used over and over again for social media posts, brochures, flyers, presentations, and more.

My Canva account is set up for my social media posts, Pinterest posts, and more. So, when I or my interns log in to create new ones, all we have to do is make a copy of a previous design. This keeps the same look and feel intact each and every time. Remember, you want a brand that is recognizable.

3) Professional Photography

Of course, we can’t talk about a style guide or brand identity and leave out photography. But if you don’t have a photographer on staff or aren’t planning a photo shoot anytime soon, you want to find photos that both look good and also fit within your color scheme.

For this purpose, I like Unsplash. But other great options include Pexels, Pixabay, and Pikwizard. These are all royalty-free sites, meaning you don’t have to pay to use the photos. Choose whichever site has the best options for your brand.

In Unsplash, I have an account so that I can earmark photos that work well for my brand as I come across them. Because I post on this blog twice per month, I’m always searching for new photos, or looking to see what I’ve already saved. This not only makes them easy to find in the future, but again, my interns can choose from photos I’ve already approved.

Before I go, let me reiterate: I still suggest working with a professional designer whenever possible. They can help you set up colors and templates to use on your own when you can’t afford them, or are capable of creating something in-house. I never would have achieved the consistency that I have no without help from the pros in the beginning.

---

---

PIN THIS POST FOR LATER:

---

I’m Kristi Porter, and I help cause-focused organizations understand and execute effective marketing campaigns so they can move from stressed to strategic. Your resources may be limited, but your potential isn’t. Whether you’re a nonprofit, social enterprise, or small business who wants to give back, I’ll show you how to have a bigger impact.

---

Why Your Social Impact Mission Isn't Enough

• Have you ever read an entire nonprofit or social enterprise website, only to find yourself still wondering what they actually do?

• Have you ever had a fantastic conversation with someone about their mission, only to find that their website lacked the same passion?

• Have you ever seen an organization use different styles and tones across their social media, website, blog, and even when they speak in person?

If you’ve seen any of these issues in action, you’re witnessing a lack of clarity and consistency in the nonprofit or social enterprise’s brand message or brand voice.

They probably know internally what they do, but it may not be translating well outside of their walls. And, as you can imagine, that’s a big problem, especially when trying to find new customers, donors, and partners.

For your mission to not only engage the right people, but compel them to act, you need a clearly defined brand message and brand voice. You may think of your “brand” as only part of your marketing, but your brand informs what you say, how you say it, and what your mission looks like visually. It’s essential to every aspect of your organization.

With a strong brand message and brand voice, people will know what you do, why it matters, and how they can be a part of it. Without it, people could be left confused or even apathetic to the incredible work that you’re trying to do.

Let’s talk about how you can make your effort more effective.

Why Is knowing your brand message Important to Your Nonprofit or Social Enterprise?

I’ve already mentioned how having a strong brand message and brand voice contributes to your bottom line, but before we move on, I want give you a couple of other reasons why this subject should be on your radar.

Do you ever write about your nonprofit or social enterprise? Do you have employees, board members, volunteers, or other key stakeholders that talk about your mission? Have you ever hired a third-party contractor, freelancer, or intern that communicates on your behalf in person or online? If any of these situations apply to you, so does this topic.

Having a clear and consistent brand message and brand voice ensures that everyone (including you) is talking about your organization in the same way.

It helps everyone communicate the right message in the right way. To put it simply, it gives every person a common language to use, and a template to work from. One of my clients even called it her compass because it guides her in the right direction, and steers her back when she gets off track.

Wouldn’t it be great if everybody used the same playbook?

Even if your nonprofit or social impact company is just you right now (hi, fellow solopreneur!), a solid brand voice allows you to talk about your work in a way that resonates with the people you want to reach. Meaning, people get excited when you talk about your mission! No more difficulty trying to explain what you do, watching someone’s eyes glaze over as you struggle to reach your point, or your message falling flat when you simply recite your mission statement.

What Do People Say About You?

Jeff Bezos is often quoted as saying, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” And while I think there is a lot of truth to that, I also like how my friend, Jaci Lund of Treebird Branding, states it, “A brand is an expectation.”

No matter how you look at it, though, a brand isn’t just a logo, an elevator pitch, a mission statement, a color palette, or even a website. Your brand is the culmination of all of these things and more.

If your organization were a person, your brand would be all the little characteristics that make that person who they are.

It’s a lot, I know.

For now, we’re going to talk about your brand message and brand voice, which are two of my favorite characteristics. And, without clearly defining these two pieces, your brand’s puzzle is incomplete. Without them, it could mean that donors and customers don’t connect with your mission, resulting in stagnant sales or donations. It’s that important.

Brand Message and Brand Voice Defined

Think about the companies or nonprofits that you love most. One of the reasons you probably love them is because you know some of their background, what they stand for, what problems they solve for you, and where they’re headed in the future. You know their story, and you know how you fit into it. In that way, they’re a little like a friend you’ve gotten to know over time. 

You’ve had these ongoing conversations with them internally and externally via their brand voice. Whatever they said, and however they said it, made you a fan out of you. And we want that same thing for your audience.

Your brand message is what you want people to understand about your organization.

Your brand voice is how you communicate your organization’s message to others. 

Essentially, your brand message is your mission, and your brand voice is your mission in motion. You can’t have a clear and compelling brand voice without first defining a strong brand message.

Your brand voice is the specific mix of words and tone that you use—not just what you say and do, but how you say it. A great brand voice is easy-to-understand, consistent, repetitive, and uniform no matter where it shows up. And it always reflects your organization’s core message.

That means the words on your website, your social media posts, the conversations you have with people, anything you say from a stage, emails, printed materials, packaging, advertising, and more should all be using the same language and emotion to describe your work, mission, and vision. Think of it like your unique vocabulary and personality rolled into one.

You want people to hear your “voice” and know it’s you, with or without your logo or photo present. Like your own distinct personality, your brand message and voice is what will help authentically attract others to you.

Having a firm grasp of how to communicate your story, mission, and vision in all your marketing and communications will help you attract the right (and more) donors, customers, sponsors, and partners.

A Brand Message in Action

Not long ago, I was out with my friend, Katrell, who owns Dr. Bombay’s Underwater Tea Party here in Atlanta, and also founded the charity project, The Learning Tea. While I was waiting for her at the tea shop, a guy sat near me at the community table. He was looking around wide-eyed like it was his first time there. In fact, when he caught my eye, he gushed, “This place is awesome! I’ve never been here before.”

We chatted for a minute, and I told him that the proceeds from the tea shop put girls through college in India. Turns out, he was at the tea shop waiting for an event to start just a few blocks away. It was a social impact arts show, so he was thrilled to know of the store’s greater purpose.

After Katrell and I left the tea shop, we went to a nearby restaurant and sat at the bar. While chatting with the bartender, we found out even though he’d been in the Atlanta area for a while, he was only recently taking the time to discover the local haunts. And he actually mentioned going to Dr. Bombay’s recently. As the unofficial brand ambassador, I mentioned that Katrell was the owner. He got so excited, threw his head back and his arms up, and said, “That place is like a warm hug!” He loved the unique, but cozy vibe.

A couple of hours later, Katrell and I were about a block away from Dr. Bombay’s, peeking in the glass windows of a store that was yet to open, trying to figure out who her new neighbor would be. A man rode by on his bike and struck up a conversation with us. We all noted that the architecture of this building looked very out of place on that street, so we were curious about it. The guy said, “I wonder what Dr. Bombay will think about this building?” To which I replied, “This is Dr. Bombay!” while pointing at Katrell. He laughed, smiled, and said, “I love your shop! It’s one of the only places I let my kids ride their bikes to in the neighborhood.” (And then proceeded to tell her which ice cream flavors she should swap out, ha!)

True story—all three of those conversations happened in a matter of hours. It was a marketer’s dream come true!

So, out of these three men, which one nailed the brand message?

The answer: All of them. Each of them found something about Katrell’s tea shop that resonated with them. And, for that reason, each of them was going to come back.

How to Define Your Brand Message and Brand Voice

Okay, so now that we’ve talked about how utterly important it is to have a clear and consistent brand message and voice, as well as who it benefits, let’s talk about how to get you there.

Here are a few questions to think about regarding your brand message:

• What are the two or three top things someone should know about your work?

• Why does your work matter?

• What makes you different from your competitors?

• What problem do people have that you solve?

• What is the transformation you provide?

Here are a few questions to think about regarding your brand voice:

• How do you want people to feel when they think about your organization?

• How does your audience describe themselves?

• What words and phrases do you find yourself repeating over and over again?

• What words or phrases would you never use to describe your organization or work?

• What tone should your organization communicate in? (ex: serious, playful, authoritative, compassionate, etc?)

Hopefully, these questions will get you started, but if you get stuck or need help, I’m here.

I can guide you through my own five-part framework for defining your brand message and brand voice.

I’d love to help you communicate more effectively, so that your work gets the attention it deserves.

Here’s what one of my clients said:

Kristi’s Brand Message Consultation serves as a "compass" for everything from communications to fundraising to partnerships and more. It really lays out the language you can use in your website, newsletters, presentations, and social media to stay true to the organization’s mission and values. You can reflect on anything that you are working on, and quickly see if it aligns with the current narrative.

During the consult, we really dug deep into who we are, why we do what we do, what makes us different, and more. Afterward, it's spelled out in a document right in front of you that you can always refer back to! It’s so helpful.

The Brand Message and narrative that we worked on really boosted my confidence in being able to explain what we do and what makes us different. And I think having that solid foundation really helped me to secure early grants.

- Jaycina Almond, The Tender Foundation

---

---

PIN THIS POST FOR LATER:

---

I’m Kristi Porter, and I help cause-focused organizations understand and execute effective marketing campaigns so they can move from stressed to strategic. Your resources may be limited, but your potential isn’t. Whether you’re a nonprofit, social enterprise, or small business who wants to give back, I’ll show you how to have a bigger impact.

---