Relatable Nonprofit

One team appreciation email.

The people who did the actual work are waiting to be named.

The people who were barely involved have already replied all with “so proud of this team.”

Now the inbox is weird and everyone is pretending this is fine.

This is never one email.

It is the old logo, the new logo, the transparent logo, the blurry logo, the logo in a Word doc, and one file called “logo final maybe.”

Brand management, nonprofit edition.

Every organization's shared drive has a story.

And at least five versions of the same document trying their best.

If you know which one is actually final, you deserve a raise.

You finally get the need, the program, the outcomes, the budget gap, and the “why this matters” into a paragraph that actually feels good.

Then you check the word count... whomp whomp.

Now you’re deleting the sentence that made the whole thing make sense.

Can you relate??

One day you’re reviewing last year’s numbers.

The next day the fundraising goal is doubled because someone said we should “be more ambitious.”

Same staff.
Same systems.
Same donor list.
Very different expectations.

Tell us the wildest logic you’ve seen behind a fundraising goal.

You know the one.

The number pops up, someone says, “Jane is calling again,” and suddenly the whole office knows this is not going to be a quick question.

It might be about the newsletter.

It might be about a receipt.

It might be about an event from 2018.

It might be an idea they have been thinking about for three weeks and simply must share today.

Lovingly, this is nonprofit life.

Drop a 📞 if your org has a Jane.

Every nonprofit database has been “getting cleaned up this year” since 2017.

There are duplicate records.

There are donors listed three different ways.

There is at least one “do not contact” note that everyone is afraid to delete.

Someone imported a spreadsheet in 2019 and nobody wants to talk about it.

And everyone says, “We’ll fix it after the EOY campaign.”

What's the most chaotic thing you’ve ever found in a nonprofit database? Tell us in the comments!

The role has been open for months.

Everyone is exhausted.

Someone says, “We really need to move quickly on this.”

And then the candidate has to meet with the hiring manager, the ED, two future coworkers, someone from finance, a board member, and one person who is “not involved in the decision but wants to weigh in.”

By the end, the candidate has basically met everyone except the auditor and the office plant.

Then someone decides maybe the job description needs to be revised.

Nonprofit hiring is not for the weak.

Drop a 🫠 if you’ve been through this.

You send the reminder email.

Then another reminder email.

Then the text.

Then someone replies at 9:47 p.m. asking what time they should arrive, where they should park, whether they signed up for the 8 a.m. shift or the 10 a.m. shift, and if their cousin can come too.

Meanwhile, three people have confirmed twice, one person is suddenly out of town, and someone else is “pretty sure” they can make it.

And somehow, the event still happens.

Because volunteer coordinators are magic.

Or deeply organized.

Or both.

Drop a 🐈 if you’ve ever coordinated volunteers.