It’s almost an American ritual to complain about taxes as we rush to the post office to file before the deadline. That old saw about “death and taxes” will be repeated ad infinitum.

But not me. This year, I’ll be skipping down the street, singing merrily about the joy of investing in our communities.

Why? Partly because I had the privilege to travel this year, and while walking a dusty road in a far away country, I had occasion to contemplate how much I missed sidewalks, and how easy it is to take the basic infrastructure we enjoy (like sidewalks!) for granted.

An Investment in the Common Good

But more than that, I believe that those of us who work every day for the common good have a special responsibility to help others understand the value of the common resources and common assets we all share.  We all pay taxes and we all use public structures paid for, maintained or protected by taxes. Libraries, clean air, schools, parks and yes, sidewalks are all brought to you courtesy of taxes.

Taxes aren’t something to complain about – they’re a reflection of our values, and an investment in our communities.  So if you care about the commons, I urge you to SHARE about the commons.

Changing the Conversation

Along with the rest of my LightBox Collaborative colleagues, I am pleased to support the work of these important organizations as they advance the conversation on the worth of our investments in the commons:

• Demos is partnering with the American Prospect on a six-part series demonstrating why taxes matter.  Rich with infographics, the stories show how taxes pay for the things that underpin our public life and connect us to one another through our communities, our states and our country.

• Community Coalition is celebrating taxpayers for their investments to build the basics we need for a functioning society – like clean water, police, parks, roads and more.

• Our colleagues at CompassPoint have teamed up with Kim Klein and the Building Movement Project to create Nonprofits Talking Taxes. Fun videos, webinars and workshops engage the nonprofit sector in conversation on how taxes mirror community values, and actions nonprofit leaders can take to ensure that taxes reflect an investment in the common good.

What are you glad to be investing in this Tax Day?

(Image courtesy flickr user futureatlas.com)

. . .

Holly Minch is LightBox Collaborative’s chief engineer and founder and wishes you “Happy Tax Day.”

It’s been at least a couple decades since I played an April Fools joke, but this week I’ve been getting inspired. Maybe it’s because I have a 7-year-old who is surely gearing up to play her own jokes on me. Or maybe it’s because, as we note in the LightBox editorial calendar, April Fools can be a humorous hook for serious stories. You can use the date to point out how politicians try to fool us (no shortage of that right now!) or to pull off a message-driven prank.

So I thought I’d check out how do-gooders had made use of April Fools’ Day in the past few years — to highlight their issues, get new supporters on board, or bring a playful dimension to their often sober work.

For sheer scope and scale of the ruse, there’s no one more effective year-round than the Yes Men. They’ve created a hoax edition of the New York Times, declaring an end to the Iraq war. They’ve staged a fake press conference announcing Chamber of Commerce support for climate change legislation. And they’ve created the incredibly goofy SurvivaBall, a self-contained living system for surviving climate disasters.

But if your budget doesn’t allow for a Yes Men-size prank (or if you think your staff will crack up too soon and ruin the joke), there are still creative ways to make use of April Fools.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) created three spoof messages in 2011 to highlight the perils of climate change:

• Climate change pushes Groundhog Day to January
• “Jersey Shore” cast warns of NJ sea level rise
• Giving away “Snuggies” to reduce carbon footprints

UCS sent the first message to supporters, and then gave them the option to share any of the three via social media or email. The result was a good bump in site traffic and increased social media buzz — and it’s still paying off a year later, with a mainstream press hit noting that Punxsutawney Phil could be out of a job if he doesn’t adjust to the new shorter winter.

Staff at charity:water showed their silly side by posting their April Fools jokes to their blog and sharing on Instagram – making the point that in addition to their critical work providing clean water to developing countries, they know how to have fun, too.

Missoula folks angry that major Missoula employers Macy’s and Smurfit-Stone had closed their doors — and laid off hundreds of workers right before Christmas — publicized their version of what these longtime employers should have done when they left town. They sent out a press release and blanketed Missoula with fliers about a completely fake “thank you Missoula” concert and gala event, complete with food and cash giveaways. You can read more about this prank and others in this Huffington Post article by Joseph Huff-Hannon and Yes Men co-founder Andy Bichlbaum.

And lastly, fellow LightBoxer Lauren Girardin pointed me towards an oldie but goodie cartoon from the archives at CompassPoint. The cartoon’s take-home message: make sure your April Fools joke lands right. If it’s too subtle, or simply makes people afraid, your message will get lost. Let on that you’re pulling your audience’s leg before they have a chance to get irritated.

Because the last thing April Fools’ Day is about is making people angry, right? Says the mom who’s sure to have a “kick me” sign on her back come 4/1/12.

So, what are you planning for April Fools’ Day?

(Image courtesy Flickr user Will Montague)

. . .

Isobel White is a LightBox collaborator who can’t keep a straight face but hopes you can.

As nonprofit leaders know all too well, the practices around setting and refining organizational strategy are changing profoundly. Leaders are more concerned than ever to have evidence-based mandates, to share stories of impact amidst fierce competition for stakeholder attention, and to refine business models for greater sustainability in an unpredictable economy.

Earlier this week at CompassPoint’s annual Nonprofit Day (#11npd), I had the privilege of speaking on a panel with Jeanne Bell, CEO of CompassPoint and Jara Dean-Coffey, Principal at jdcPartnerships. Our session, “Rethinking Strategy,” examined the intersection of impact, brand, and business model.

Recognizing that leaders need real-time tools to address strategy in a dynamic environment, we offered three questions to get to the heart of the matter:

1. Is it working and why?
2. Who’s buying?
3. Who knows and who cares?

These questions may sound like the domain of strategic planning, but as Bell pointed out, nonprofit leaders no longer have the luxury of time in which to make critical decisions. In our rapidly-evolving context, Bell said:

“A deferred decision is costly and not necessarily more informed. Better to invest in the pivot point than running out your resources waiting for the change to happen to you.”

Nonprofit leaders are called on to make vital decisions in real time. Clarity on these three questions can take the place of traditional strategic planning processes, freeing you and your organization be more nimble and more adaptive to the shifting landscape in which you operate.

Is it working and why?

As nonprofit leaders, we’re in the business of changing the world, and it is this quest for impact that drives not only the day-to-day work of our organizations, but also the marketplace economics of the nonprofit sector. Dean-Coffey explained it this way:

“Nonprofit leaders want to be able demonstrate the value of their efforts on a continuous basis. That means engaging in evaluative practice — not in evaluation as a one-time event, but as an ongoing practice that reaches beyond performance measurement and monitoring in the relentless pursuit of quality and value to improve organizational performance.”

Where the quest for resources is increasingly competitive, the ability to articulate impact is often a key differentiator in the marketplace.

Who’s buying?

Simply put, a nonprofit cannot be sustained if no one is willing to pay for the services it provides or the programs it offers. Clarity about the value the buyer derives from the nonprofit is critical as leaders seek revenue streams to support their program offerings. As Bell said:

“For better or worse, it’s all earned income now. We’ve trained donors to look for return on investment in the form of mission impact.”

In no small part, the trend toward the articulation of impact stems from the fact that impact attracts resources. People don’t give money to problems — they give to solutions. Foundations often want to invest in scaling what works. Understanding the motivations of the buyer is a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace of ideas.

Who knows and who cares?

The success of your cause hinges on how you engage your staff, board, volunteers, donors, constituents, community members, and decision makers. Without their interest and active support, you can’t achieve results.

In the new communications landscape, nonprofit leaders have a strategic imperative to communicate — to share information and build emotional ties to your cause among your stakeholders and community members. In turn, these people can become passionate champions for the cause. Smart, sharp communications is the key to building that army of passionate champions who can buy in to programs and help increase an organization’s impact.

So how is your organization operating at the intersection of impact, business model, and brand? How are you clarifying and communicating impact in order to sustain it?
. . .

Holly Minch is LightBox Collaborative’s Chief Engineer. She is a strong proponent for strategically getting to the heart of the matter.

Our awesome clients at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and Meyer Foundation recently teamed up to release Daring to Lead 2011, the third in a series of such national studies produced over the past ten years.

More than 3,000 nonprofit executive directors shared their hopes and fears to provide a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like to run a nonprofit today.

And the picture is a little overwhelming, according to the study: The continuing economic slump means that raising the money and meeting the rising demands for services are both tougher than ever. Long hours and low pay mean it’s difficult to hang on to great staff. Boards of directors seem ill-prepared to partner with executives to meet the challenges. You can visit the Daring to Lead site for the full report and to learn about the implications for nonprofit executives and boards, philanthropy, and capacity builders.

But it’s this finding that makes our team here at LightBox Collaborative stand to salute nonprofit leaders: Despite the profound challenges of the role, nonprofit executives remain energized and resolved. The executives in the study give a candid picture of the challenges for certain, but they also exude resolve, commitment and confidence in their organizations’ abilities to serve.

A while back, we declared National Nonprofit Executive Director Appreciation Day in honor of those leaders who so valiantly serve our sector. We’re marking our calendars again this year, and counting the ways we’re so very grateful to these leaders who dare to make our sector strong and our nation better each and every day.

What about you? Why do you dare to lead?

. . .

Holly Minch‘s most daring act of leadership was to launch the LightBox Collaborative, based on the idea that collaboration creates the strongest organizational culture.

The provocative question, “What would you do with three months off?,” was at the center of our strategy to gain visibility for and generate conversation about Creative Disruption.

Creative Disruption centered on sabbaticals as tool for nonprofit leadership development and capacity building, so it was a natural to point people’s attention (and unleash their cubicle-bound imaginations) toward the potential of a few months away from the daily grind. LightBox Collaborative helped get the word out about the report through both social media and more traditional communications outreach.

Using the power of questions is a powerful trick to perk up your social media strategy. We used the above question as the subject line of an email got a 31% open rate, and a 22% click-through rate—pretty darn high, right?

(Of course it helped that Creative Disruption was was put together in 2010 by a very credible, compelling group of partners: report authors from CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and Third Sector New England had support from funders Durfee Foundation, the Barr Foundation, the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the Rasmuson Foundation, the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, and the Alston Bannerman Fellowship Program.)

Questions are part of a winning social media strategy because they are the perfect tool for engagement, which is exactly what we seek to generate across our social media platforms. Questions automatically get our brains noodling on answers. Questions spark conversation. By setting the tone and suggesting the content, questions allow us to direct the conversation.

Nonprofit social media guru Beth Kanter wrote about the power and effectiveness of questions in her social media strategy. In particular she highlighted questions that encourage:

• people to share wisdom
• people to share resources
• healthy debate
• sharing of stories

So how about you? What’s the powerful question that will spark positive conversation about your issue?
. . .

Holly Minch is LightBox Collaborative’s chief engineer and founder. With three months off, she’d read up on game theory (and her collaborators know she’d come back with an enormous number of new ideas!).

(image courtesy Flickr user cristinacosta, Creative Commons)

We hope you’ll join LightBox Collaborative at our series of skill-building workshops at CompassPoint. The series is designed to shed light on communications topics for nonprofits throughout the Bay Area.

Session topics include social media, strategy, crisis communications, messaging, visual facilitation, and presentation design and delivery.

Each session functions as a stand-alone workshop, or you can group them to create a cohesive professional development study series. The workshops run through summer 2011 and registration is now open for all sessions.

Communications series schedule:

• Messaging What Matters: Making Meaning to Make a Difference – December 15
  You’ll gain tools for brand-level and program-level message development to guide your communications efforts, from the highest level vision statement down to the day-to-day messages you can share to motivate supporters and engage your community in solutions.
• Storytelling for Success – January 13, 2011
  Learn how to leverage the power of stories to inform, persuade, inspire, and engage. Get insight on how to use stories as a management tool inside your organization, and how to tell stories that inspire deep connections among your donors, volunteers, and others.
• Social Media and More: Communications for Engagement – February 17
  What can social media do for your organization? This workshop will help you learn the social media strategies that can engage your audiences in deep and authentic conversations about the issues that matter most. You’ll leave this session with lots of ideas and a focused blueprint to guide your organization’s social media strategies.
• Presentation Skills – March 15
  Go from dull and deadly to inspiring and engaging! This session will offer tips and tools for designing great presentations, building great PowerPoints and delivering great talks to help your organization shine.
• Communicating in Pictures – April 18
  Learn how to integrate visual elements into your group work. Use flip charts, stickies, big paper, or even index cards to spark the visual and kinesthetic thinkers and up the collaboration level of any group with simple visual tools. After this workshop, with your powerful new set of visual facilitation skills, you just might get a reputation as an artist.
• Crisis Communication – May 17
  This session will help you identify those moments in which you might need to respond to and craft a plan so you’ll be ready before the you-know-what hits the fan. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
• Fun and Games for Serious Strategic Clarity – June 7
  We’ve created a series of games designed to help nonprofits jump start strategic thinking, engage in real-time planning, and identify actionable approaches. You’ll learn how to use this new, fun tool to initiate dynamic, nimble strategy in your organization.

(image courtesy Flickr user batmoo, Creative Commons)

With the holidays fast approaching, we recently got to thinking: how do holidays start? What has worked before? A pagan ritual, a president’s birthday, a revolutionary war. But, what you really want is: a) something worth celebrating, and b) the gumption to declare a special day to celebrate it. Luckily, at LightBox Collaborative, we have both.

That’s why we’re declaring next Thursday, November 18, 2010 as National Nonprofit Executive Director Appreciation Day!

(That’s the third Thursday in November, for those of you eager to save the date for next year). Think of it as a special giving of thanks before the more general Thanksgiving one week later. If you want to get technical about it though, you’ll need an act of Congress to get a new long weekend out of it.

Who would argue with the idea that nonprofit executive directors deserve our thanks? Being an executive director is an extremely difficult job, requiring a broad range of professional skills, from leadership ability to financial acumen, and a strategic mind to marketing chops. Let’s not forget interpersonal skills like facilitation and mediation, plus a way with communications.

The job involves considerable sacrifices too, often involving long hours for low pay—usually far lower than what the same people could earn in the private sector. However, money is not the motivation. Our nonprofit executive directors have dedicated their career to a cause. They advocate for a healthier environment, provide services to those in need, fight for social and economic justice—simply put, they do good. For these reasons and many more, we at LightBox Collaborative believe nonprofit executive directors deserve their own day to be celebrated.

Now, without that act of Congress I mentioned, we can’t give all our executive director friends the day off, nor can we promise cash prizes (but, we already know that they’re not in it for the money, right?).

What we can offer in recognition of all of their hard work is the opportunity to be heard.

Our colleagues at CompassPoint and the Meyer Foundation have launched a new research project, Daring to Lead 2011, a survey of nonprofit executive directors in the United States. The survey is designed to reveal useful information about the career paths, tenure, challenges, and professional development needs of nonprofit executive directors.

The two previous Daring to Lead surveys, published in 2001 (PDF) and 2006 (PDF), produced a wealth of data about the state of the nonprofit field and the roles executive directors play. This year’s survey promises to project that knowledge into a new decade, and provide an opportunity for appreciating all of the hard work that nonprofit executive directors do.

If you are an ED: first, thank you!

Second, why not take a few minutes to fill out the Daring to Lead survey and tell us about the challenges you face and what you need to be more successful? The deadline to participate is Friday, November 19.

If you’re not an ED, please take a moment to send a note of thanks to your favorite executive director and let them know how much you appreciate their work (and while you’re at it, send them a link to the survey).

Let us know how you will celebrate National Nonprofit Executive Director Appreciation Day on November 18!

(Image by Pete Prodoehl, Creative Commons.)

. . .

Holly Minch is LightBox Collaborative’s chief engineer and founder. She hopes to see you at her November 15 CompassPoint workshop on “Branding is Bonding.”

Storytelling is at the heart of effective communications. But powerful storytelling doesn’t always come easy to the nonprofit sector.

To address this need for some schooling in storytelling, last week’s CompassPoint’s Nonprofit Day 2010 included the first Communications Institute. A conference within a conference, the Institute was designed for attendees who wanted to spend their Nonprofit Day discussing the state of the art in nonprofit communications. LightBox Collaborative is proud to have partnered with CompassPoint to design the Communications Institute.

CompassPoint has also asked LightBox Collaborative to develop a series of trainings, which will kick off later in 2010. Look for more details about this exciting project on our blog, Facebook, and Twitter in the coming months.

Here are the highlights from the Communications Institute:

The Minute Message Model

Jennie Winton and Zach Hochstadt of Mission Minded hosted the Minute Message Model, their new workshop. They taught attendees how to stop talking about what you do and focus on why you do it through a framework for effective storytelling.

One of the insights Jennie and Zach shared was the key building blocks of any good story: narrative and the moment of reflection.

• Narrative (“First this happened, then this happened, and then…”) is not simply a way to hook your audience. Narrative also shows how your organization’s work leads to real changes in people’s lives.
• The moment of reflection, which appears at the end of many well-told stories, reminds people why they should care.

Combine narrative and the moment of reflection, and you’re on your way toward winning your audience’s support.

We don’t want to give too much away since Mission Minded is hosting another Minute Message Model training on September 14th in San Francisco.

Excellence in Engagement

The “Excellence in Engagement” panel featured three smart individuals who are telling gripping stories in innovative ways:

• Jacob Colker of The Extraordinaries talked about opportunities available via new networks being catalyzed by technology. He gave a tour of his company’s microvolunteering platform, which allows individuals to become part of a nonprofit’s story in a powerful and unique way.
• Will Valverde of Watershed Company highlighted email and online campaigns that engage their audiences in a narrative of advocacy and inclusion, including the Humane Society’s “Thistle’s Story,” National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Queer the Census, and Planned Parenthood’s The Pill is Personal.
• Cara Jones of Storytellers for Good showed a video she’d shot in Kenya just the week before about the personal story of a woman carrying on her mother’s charitable work—a reminder that good storytelling benefits from powerful characters the audience can care about.

Strategic Communications Planning

LightBox Collaborative’s Holly Minch closed out the Communications Institute with a session on strategic communications planning that tied together the day’s learnings. Holly provided participants with a framework that will help ensure that their stories serve a strategic purpose in their communications work.

Whether your issue is climate change or healthcare, for a successful communications plan you should first define measurable goals and identify target audiences. Then, craft messages that truly connect with those audiences—messages that will imbue your audience with shared values and embed them in familiar narratives. It’s a tried-and-true method for moving constituents to action.

Moment of Reflection

This quote, shared by Cara Jones, could have easily served as a motto for the first Communications Institute at CompassPoint’s Nonprofit Day:

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

- Maya Angelou

(image courtesy Flickr user __Olga__, Creative Commons)
. . .

Heath Wickline is a raconteur at LightBox Collaborative. He is looking forward to the upcoming series of communications trainings at CompassPoint.