Most nonprofits can’t—and shouldn’t—look to grants as the path to the promised land of stability. But a solid search strategy, a strong sense of grant writing fundamentals, and a commitment to integrating grant-getting into an overall revenue plan can help ensure that your nonprofit thrives. In the coming weeks, we’ll be posting a series of […]
Last week, Molly Gage wrote about a new research study that found writing—specifically, writing a to-do list for the next day—can promote sleep. While it may be strange that tallying to-dos promotes sleepiness, it turns out that writing about as-yet-undone tasks is both relaxing and practical. In fact, the utility of ending the day by planning […]
Sleep was so great. I can still remember—so well!—the muted delight in putting my head down on a pillow, sliding my socks off under the covers, and falling quickly into REM sleep. Or later, post-children, lying face-down on the bed with a pillow doing its heroic best to safeguard against noisy nights. That worked pretty […]
The good news: your organization is growing. Maybe you’ve got new funding sources, your client base has expanded, or you’ve rolled out successful new services. You’re expanding your reach, your impact, and your team. All of this requires strategy. Growing your communications does, too. In many ways, communications don’t scale like other organizational functions. This is especially […]
Katie Thune is an advocate, a teacher, and the founder of Mad Hatter Wellness—a wellness center for classes, workshops, and retreats that empower children and adults with and without disabilities. She is also a Double Shift Press author! After spending 12 years teaching and advocating for kids with disabilities, Katie has seen firsthand that students need—and teachers […]
We’ve been doing a bit of mental spring cleaning at MWS—namely, how best to package our most requested services. That’s led us to a bit of spring cleaning for our website: check out our new Services page! Our three packages (Comprehensive Communications Plans, Review of Public-Facing Communications, and Review of Communications Operations) describe the support we […]
My (very few) Twitter followers already know that I loved Patricia Lockwood’s essay, “How Do We Write Now?,” published in Tin House, particularly what she calls its “alternate title”: “how the fuck do we write now?” Lockwood is a poet—and a bawdy one—so the vulgarity is allowed, expected even. But she makes a good point. How do […]
This is the third part in a series about communications plans, which are crucial tools for nonprofits and businesses. Check out part I and part II for more! A communications plan lays out a comprehensive picture of an organization’s communications goals and offers executable steps for how to achieve them. It can be created or updated […]
Our post on beta readers offered a strategy for soliciting structured feedback before project release. But it didn’t discuss strategies for handling that feedback once it arrives in your inbox. Reading criticism is hard. After all, writing requires time and self-expression. No matter how professionally oriented, criticism can sting. But integrating criticism is even harder. It’s never […]
We’re thrilled to introduce one of our inaugural Double Shift Press authors: Margaret Klein Salamon. Margaret is the founder and director of The Climate Mobilization, a New York-based nonprofit that’s shifting the conversation about climate change, activism, and ultimately, the future of humanity. The Climate Mobilization lays out a policy platform that approaches climate change as […]