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Why your organization needs a contact model

Whether you’re communicating with members, donors or volunteers, your outreach will always be richer and more effective if you have a thorough understanding of the needs and interests of your supporters. Many teams attempt this by creating personas – fictional characters, developed through user research, who represent and humanize their most important audience segments. As

Strategy & Governance

Four New Year’s resolutions for nonprofits in 2021

Tony Kopetchny | 9 minute read

As 2020 draws to a close, the nonprofit sector continues to face economic and social challenges—ones that won’t immediately recede when the clock strikes midnight on our tumultuous year. The need for innovative solutions persists. And there’s no better time than the turning of a calendar year to think creatively and strategically about how our

Strategy & Governance

Where is the upstream starting point for digital transformation?

Tony Kopetchny | 5 minute read

The need for digital transformation in the mission-driven sector is not new. Yet with the onslaught of changes caused by the pandemic, it heartens me that digital transformation is finally being recognized as an operational imperative by nonprofit executives. Any talk on this topic centers around the idea of “integration.” What this means is that

Strategy & Governance

Overcoming change fatigue in the mission-driven sector

Tony Kopetchny | 8 minute read

In the course of my job I have the luck of talking extensively with communications and fundraising experts about nonprofit technology and digital transformation. Even before the global pandemic, this meant I heard lots of chatter about “change fatigue”—the constant upheaval that folks in our sector experience in adapting to ever-changing systems. At one point

Strategy & Governance

Zoom fatigue and meeting culture

Tony Kopetchny | 5 minute read

“Zoom fatigue” is now a trending topic—just as a culture of endless work meetings was trending before the pandemic. I sympathize and relate, and appreciate the studies about which parts of the online meeting experience are wearing us out. Who knew staring at ourselves for so long would have such a draining effect—Adonis would be

Change Management

Six Tips for Leading Effective Digital Innovation Projects

5 minute read

If you are leading any digital transformation effort – from a “simple” website redesign, to a much bigger reimagining of business operations – you are inevitably leading a change management initiative. The case for such a transformation is likely clearer than ever, given the rapid shifts propelled by the pandemic and other recent events. Yet

Analytics & Optimization

Data for impact: How our emerging data scientists are spending their summers

Stefan Byrd-Krueger | 3 minute read

Insights from Data Strategy Mentorship program participants In June, ParsonsTKO and TechSoup launched the inaugural Data Strategy Mentorship (DSM) program. Since then, a diverse collection of 20+ students and recent graduates have been gathering daily via Zoom to learn how they can use data for good. Participants are embarking on a range of data projects,

Analytics & Optimization

How to exclude staff traffic to your site in Google Analytics

Chris Sabat | 8 minute read

Nearly all nonprofits would like their high-value donors and most prominent policy makers to be among the most loyal visitors to their sites. This is true in some instances. Yet it’s equally likely at least some of your most frequent users come from a more familiar place: your own payroll. Employees and contractors can drive

Analytics & Optimization

How data can improve the lives of your staff

Rick Richards | 4 minute read

The goal of our data strategy work at ParsonsTKO is to make sure every organization’s data lives up to its highest and best use. These efforts take many forms, but can be distilled to this: Does your data support your people and does it help make their daily work easier? As an analyst, I spend

Analytics & Optimization

Hidden treasures: Putting your under-utilized data to work

Rick Richards | 6 minute read

In my work unpacking the data capabilities of nonprofits, we frequently uncover the phenomenon of ‘hidden’ data—that is, data that can answer key business questions without requiring any additional investment in advanced systems or technical implementation. You might be surprised at the valuable data your organization already has at its disposal! Yet it’s not enough