Written by Janet Ervin I feel lucky to have the chance to work directly with every member of the Next Stage team. One of my favorite partners is Helen because we’re usually working to match community voice to an organization’s messaging efforts. In the course of this...
To ESG or Not to ESG – That is actually not the question
Written by Josh Jacobson Last month, our company released a new report on a continuing theme – the role of social impact in the private sector. Profit & Purpose: The ESG Addendum summarizes our findings following 18+ months of discussions and engagement with...
Centering Community Voice in Trust
Over the last few months, we’ve talked a lot about the importance of centering community voice and building trust. But what is the cost of mistrust? Lack of trust for an organization, project or community comes at a huge cost. Cultivating authentic, long-term...
Intentionality is Our New North Star
Written by Haley Rafferty Gone are the days of doing something just for the sake of doing it. I’m talking about things like checking a box, buying the cheap thing that we know will break in a year, choosing something that is ‘good enough’ or doing something we just...
Addressing a Growing Community Threat: Diminished Referral Pipelines
by Josh Jacobson Have you noticed Next Stage looks different than it did a few years ago? For one thing, we’re larger. We’ve doubled in size since the onset of the pandemic, adding new service lines, digital tools and approaches to our work. We recently moved into a...
Handle with Care: Why Trust is at the Center of Community Voice!
Written by Helen Hope Kimbrough We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community… Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own. – Cesar...
How To Build Culture Through Workspace
In The Social Good Report: Profit and Purpose, company culture showed up as a key theme – and one that’s become even more important as businesses and nonprofits navigate post-pandemic, hybrid work life. In the aftermath of the Great Resignation, it’s been...
Three Things We’ve Learned About Impact Reporting
by Janet Ervin, Chief Marketing Officer When Josh and I filmed this video last year, we called out impact reporting as one of the hottest ESG topics to follow. Over the last year, we’ve had the chance to experience that firsthand. Impact reporting is hard,...
Community Voice is Not a Trend
By Helen Hope Kimbrough “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.” – Maya Angelou Last week, Josh Jacobson talked about the evolution of Next Stage’s service lines with a focus on...
Three Marketing Tips For Nonprofit Organizations
After last week’s marketing-focused blog How important is marketing to the work of social impact?, we heard from many of you that this is a topic that is front of mind for nearly everyone! And while the big picture challenges are important, the day to day...
How important is marketing to the work of social impact?
The importance of marketing is a topic I’ve written on in the past for The Biscuit, so I won’t rehash the central premise – institutions advancing social impact (particularly nonprofits) tend to spend entirely too little on marketing and communication. This is due in...
Doing Bereavement Better and Why it Matters
Written by Haley Rafferty, Team Success Manager A good bereavement policy is sort of like having an emergency kit in your home. You feel a lot more at peace knowing it’s there, but you hope you never have to use it. Next Stage recently gave our employee handbook a...