New Year, New Opportunities

Charting a course for increased impact with your goals

Happy New Year, nonprofit family!

As we enter the new year and celebrate our 10th anniversary, Angel Oak Creative is excited about the impact nonprofits are going to have on our communities in 2022. We’re thrilled to play a small role in changing the world, one cause at a time!

Changing the world is a tall order, but we’ve seen our nonprofit clients relentlessly tackle tough challenges like homelessness, addiction, hunger, health disparities, natural disasters and so much more. And the new year is the perfect time to reassess our goals and priorities and resolve to do better, to increase our impact and to empower nonprofits to change the world. In this spirit, we’d like to propose a handful of resolutions we believe will help you reach, and hopefully exceed, your goals for 2022. New Year’s resolutions don’t just have to be for individuals after all – they can benefit entire organizations as well! Here’s a few ideas to get you started. 

1. Get buy-in from the whole team. As we all know, resolutions are rarely successful if they’re made halfheartedly. That means you need the whole team aligned with what you want to accomplish as an organization this year. Also, don’t be afraid to keep it simple. Is there a team focus, theme or mantra for the year? An overarching fundraising goal to collectively push towards? A specific group of stakeholders you’re trying to love on a little extra? Getting the team centered around a common vision acts as a rallying point that generates excitement and drives results! 

2. Chart a clear course. Once you have everyone rowing together, it’s important to give them a clear destination and path to get there. This means clearly and consistently communicating with your team, donors and recipients to ensure they’re informed and engaged in reaching your goals. Use the resources and channels you have to keep your stakeholders informed about the progress you’re making and how they can continue to help you stay on track to achieve your goals. Be intentional not just about creating goals but sharing what those goals are with the individuals they’re going to impact.

3. Equip your ambassadors. One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned over the years is that it’s critical to equip your stakeholders (donors, staff, volunteers) with the tools they need to be effective ambassadors for your organization. Pointing them in the right direction and communicating clearly is a great first step, but it’s just the beginning. Follow-through is as important as the goal itself. It’s important to remember that most of your supporters are busy living their lives and the more you can do to equip them with resources for telling your story, the more likely they are to actually take that extra step on your behalf. This could mean developing a toolkit that includes rich content like video and images, pre-written social media posts, success stories and the like. It takes a team to help you reach your goals so make sure you’re equipping yours well! 

4. Remember the three C’s of nonprofit communications. Clear, compelling, concise. In a world where there is so much noise, competition for attention and great causes to be supported, it’s important that your message is heard, understood and moves people to action. This means anything you write, design, film, etc. is clear in its message and call to action, compelling in its story and concise in its length. With this resolution top of mind throughout 2022, we’re confident your marketing will be taken to the next level! 

Every new year presents new opportunities for nonprofits to improve and increase their impact. At Angel Oak Creative, our resolution is to elevate, celebrate and engage nonprofits to help them communicate more effectively, increase their impact and ultimately crush their goals in 2022. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if we can support you with your resolutions. Happy goal-setting!