Nonprofit AF

Gift Guide: 12 amazing gift ideas for your nonprofit staff or grantees!

Posted on December 5, 2022December 7, 2022 by Vu

[Image description: Assorted wrapped presents, tied up with ribbons, surrounded by round ornaments and pine cones. Image by buzukis on Pixabay]

Hi everyone, just a quick reminder that this week on December 7th, the amazing Sandy Ho and I are having a conversation called “Dismantling the Culture of Professionalism,” part of a series of talks in celebration of the brilliant Alice Wong’s new book, Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life. Join us for this fun discussion. I think a few lucky people in the audience will also get Alice’s book for free, which I have read and which fills me with awe, joy, and gratitude, and not just because she uses the Oxford Comma consistently. Register here. ASL/CC will be provided.

It is December, which means that many of us are thinking of gifts for the people in our lives, thanks to the joy of capitalism and consumer culture. Now, if you work in this sector, especially if you are an executive leader, board member, or funder, you may be trying to figure out the best gifts for your staff or grantees. They can be so hard to shop for! That’s why I’ve compiled a list of gifts sure to please even the most discerning of nonprofit professionals:

18 tips to help you become a kickass writer!

Posted on November 27, 2022November 28, 2022 by Vu

[Image description: A cat sleeping with their eyes closed and their head resting on a silver laptop. Image by beauty_of_nature on Pixabay]

Hi everyone, before we get started on today’s topic, if you’re free on December 7^th at 4pm Pacific Time, please join me and Sandy Ho of Disability Inclusion Fund at Borealis Philanthropy, for a conversation called “Dismantling the Culture of Professionalism,” sponsored by the Longmore institute on Disability. This is a series of conversations sparked by Alice Wong’s brilliant and hilarious new book, Year of the Tiger. It is FREE, and ASL and captions will be provided. We will talk about how the concept of professionalism plays out in work culture, hiring processes, philanthropy, communications, etc. It’ll be informal, Sandy and I will be cussing, and at least one of us will be dressed in a unicorn onesie, you have been warned. Register here.

People often ask me for advice on writing. (No one ever asks me for my skincare routine, which is understandable, but hurtful). First of all, you don’t need to make writing your main form of communication if writing is not your thing. There are others, possibly more enjoyable and effective ways for you to get your ideas out into the world. Videos, for example. Or Vietnamese water puppetry. I always say we don’t have enough Vietnamese water puppetry in our sector.

20 Nonprofit Dad Jokes to Brighten (or Possibly Ruin) Your Day

Posted on November 13, 2022May 25, 2023 by Vu

[Two brown mountain goats peeking over a rocky ridge. There’s a larger adult goat staring at the camera and a cute little baby goat looking off to the side. Image by Dušan veverkolog on Unsplash]

I got feedback earlier that Nonprofit AF has gotten a bit too serious over the past few years. You’re right, this blog needs more humor! And what is the highest form of humor? Dad jokes! I hope you enjoy these below. Contribute your own in the comment section or go on twitter with the hashtag #NonprofitDadJokes and add to the fun before Twitter collapses.

10 terrifying tales set in nonprofit and philanthropy guaranteed to give you shivers

Posted on October 30, 2022October 31, 2022 by Vu

[Image description: Three jack-o-lantern pumpkins with menacing faces, one directly facing the camera. Image by Vladvictoria on Pixabay.]

Happy Halloween everyone! Below are the 10 winners of the Nonprofit AF Scary Story Contest 2022. Thank you to the dozens of colleagues who sent in entries. I read them all under a blanket with a flashlight, shivering with mounting fear and dread as if I was creating a budget using a funder’s budget format set in Word. It was a very difficult task to choose the 10 winners. We have some talented writers (and at least one amazing actor, as you’ll see in a video below) in our sector. These stories won based on creativity, scariness, and originality. Understandably, many colleagues asked to remain anonymous. I did very little editing, except to add Oxford Commas. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Greek Myths if They Were Set in the Nonprofit Sector

Posted on September 12, 2022September 12, 2022 by Vu

[Image description: A stone statue of Heracles against a blue sky. He is standing, clad with a cloth around his waste, one hand resting on the head of a lion. Image by FelixMittermeier on Pixabay]

Over the past several months, my kids have been obsessed with Greek Mythology, thanks to a podcast they listen to called “Greeking Out.” Greek myths are awesome, and there’s a lot they can teach us. Actually, many of the terms we use in this sector have Greek origins. For instance, the word “philanthropy” comes from the Greek “philos” which means “love of” and “anthropos” which means “burdensome and pointless grant applications.”

Anyway, while listening to Greeking Out with the kids, I couldn’t help but imagine these iconic stories being set in the nonprofit sector, so I wrote some of them out below. Enjoy. (And stop judging. Like your Saturday nights are so much more interesting.)