But don’t forget to take time for some self-care, too.
Remember, you are not by nature a contented person—neither am I. We work for, or on behalf of, nonprofit causes. It is in our nature to want things to be different, to want them to be better, to want them to be something other than they are.
But when your pace of life is too fast for too long, it's time to pull back and recalibrate. We are just not wired to go full-bore, day after day. Eventually, something is going to go “boink,” and we are in for a system crash.
If you find yourself more easily angered than usual or if your reactions to events are starting to seem out of proportion to the actual situation, it is likely that you need to set aside some time for recalibration. Take a vacation with planned downtime to breathe and clear your mind.
In this month’s edition of Rossi’s Roundup, I wanted to share some of what I’ve been reading. Time to grab your favorite beverage and take a break.
Here’s the reality: You must budget contingency dollars for 2024—at least 5% increase in postage for January and another 5% increase in postage for July. The U.S. Postal Service has made it clear that rates will increase every January and July.
Ouch.
Standardized first-class stamps were introduced in 1866 at 3 cents. Let’s look backward at the cost in decades:
Now let’s look at the cost overseas:
Trust me, I understand that every increase is a strain on the budget and use of those hard-earned gifts from your organization’s donors. But looking through a broader lens, our first-class stamp and other methods of mailing are still low when compared across the decades or with other countries.
Nearly 70,000 people reached out to the helpline last year, according to a recent NPR report. Those numbers doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic, when volunteers and staffers recalled more “crisis-type” situations, with callers reporting not only disordered eating, but also self-harm, suicidal thoughts and child abuse.
Lauren Smolar, Vice President, Mission and Education at NEDA, told NPR that the increase in crisis calls led to the volunteers being legally liable.
“Our volunteers are volunteers. They’re not professionals,” Smolar said. “They don’t have crisis training. And we really can’t accept that kind of responsibility. We really need them to go to those services who are appropriate.”
NEDA is no longer taking new calls or messages, and the transition to the Tessa chatbot is scheduled for June.
The report found that GoFundMe campaigns shared more than six times in the first few days are three times as likely to raise more donations than those shared less often
Other insight/highlights from the report cover:
Here are six things nonprofits can do now:
By analyzing an organization’s financial position, taking a collaborative and equity-centered approach to challenges, and communicating clearly and frequently with grant makers, staff members, and other stakeholders, nonprofit leaders can steady their course through choppy economic waters.
In this report, we see which states are thriving and which ones are struggling in today’s economic environment. Here’s a sneak peek:
5 States Whose Economies Are Failing
5 States Whose Economies Are Thriving
Podcast updates:
Past Webinar Recordings: