NOTE: This is an update of a 2024 blog post. Why Nonprofit Brand Consistency Matters A consistent nonprofit brand is not simply a marketing exercise. It shapes how people understand, trust, and support your organization. Your brand directly influences: Research continues to show that organizations with consistent brand presentation see measurable benefits. Studies have found…
In my last blog post, I wrote about what happens when a nonprofit CEO or ED sounds like everyone else. When messaging from executives blends in, your organization blends in. The work may be strong. The mission may be urgent. But the positioning becomes harder to see, and supporter confidence can diminish because they can’t…
In my recent articles, I’ve been exploring what happens when nonprofits sound alike. When you’re strapped for time and working without a real communications budget, it’s tempting to borrow language from larger organizations in your sector. To reuse digital assets. To echo phrases that seem to be working elsewhere. But when you try to sound…
Most nonprofit communicators don’t intend to blend in. They care deeply about their mission. They know their work changes lives. They want supporters to understand what makes their organization meaningful. And yet, when you visit many nonprofit websites, scroll their social feeds, or read their fundraising appeals, you’re left with a weird feeling of deja…
I’m late to discovering Untamed by Glennon Doyle, and I’m very sorry about that. Not in a cultural how-did-I-miss-this way, but in a more personal one. This book spoke to me as if it had been waiting patiently for me to be ready to hear it. The Lie We Learn About Life Being Easy There…
This is one I’m especially proud of. I love working with clients in the senior living sector and my partnership with Kisco Senior Living is a strong example of what thoughtful senior living content development can look like when it’s done with care. Building a Learning Center Families Can Trust Over the past six months,…
Note: This is a repost of this week’s LinkedIn newsletter article. I’ve never been great at New Year’s resolutions. It’s my all-or-nothing tendency. I turn even the most reasonable resolution into a set of hard rules, and those rules quickly become too much pressure. I don’t need more of that in my life. What has…
Here’s to more powerful stories and mission-moving ideas in 2026. I’ll be celebrating the holidays on the beach — my happy place. See you in the New Year! Tweet
When I led the marketing department at Lutheran Social Services (LSS), one of the biggest challenges wasn’t designing campaigns, segmenting donor lists, or deciding which channel to use. It was collecting real, human stories from our programs. You would think it would be the easiest part. After all, the most powerful stories lived right where…
A recent Chronicle of Philanthropy article titled, ‘Food Insecurity’ and Other Words That Sanitize Poverty, put clear language around something I see often in nonprofit communication. It was a powerful reminder of why human-centered nonprofit messaging matters now more than ever. The article points out that we often describe very real hardship with abstract, academic…
