Next Stage - Social Impact Services

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Thought Leadership

4 Impact Report Production Pitfalls — And How To Avoid Them

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Every year around this time, a well-intentioned nonprofit team sits down to produce its annual or impact report and runs headlong into the same production problems their counterparts ran into the year before.

The good news is that the most common pitfalls in report production aren’t production problems at all. They’re planning problems — which means they’re solvable, and they’re solvable now before your team gets overwhelmed with other pressing year-end pressures.

We’ve had the privilege of being entrusted with the writing and design of enough organizations’ year-end reports to recognize some common patterns that can derail even the best of teams. Here are the four that show up most reliably — and what to do about each one while there’s still time.

1. Treating design as the last step

Design should not be decoration applied at the end of your report writing process. It’s how your content communicates. Your annual or impact report’s structure and visual decisions tell a reader what matters and in what order. When design comes in after copy is fully approved, the result is almost always a compromise: copy that was written for one structure gets forced into another, important content gets cut to fit, and the finished piece feels like it’s working against itself.

The prevention move is a brief conversation with your designer — internal or external — well before production begins. Share your format thinking, the kinds of stories you’re hoping to tell, your rough sense of audience, and length.

(Looking for design inspiration? Here are 5 annual and impact report designs — including one we produced!)

2. Writing by committee

A report written by committee almost always reads like one. The voice shifts from section to section, and sentences get hedged into vagueness by well-meaning reviewers who each add a qualifier. Beyond that, decisions that could’ve been made in 5 minutes by one person take three email threads and a meeting to resolve. And somehow the final document manages to please everyone involved while moving no one who reads it.

Collaborative input is valuable. Collaborative decision-making over final copy, however, is not. To prevent this pitfall, name one person who will own the final editorial call. Others can give input in early-stage review rounds, but ultimately, one person should be trusted to accept or reject changes. Making the decision before report production kicks off eliminates the single most common source of production delay and voice dilution in the entire process.

3. Forgetting distribution planning

Organizations can spend weeks (sometimes months) getting their annual or impact report right, but without a clear plan for sharing the final product with their audiences, all that work might be for naught.

Treating distribution planning as an afterthought can present a huge, last-minute challenge. Beyond potentially not having email outreach lists prepped or having to rush a plan for accompanying social and promotional assets, your report’s fundamental visual design may be in jeopardy. Why? Your report’s distribution medium affects the format, which affects the content. A report designed primarily to live on your website looks different from one meant to be printed out and handed to donors at a year-end event. Will your report be viewed as a horizontal double-page spread? Or a single page at time in a vertical PDF? To avoid problems down the road, be sure your team is in alignment on how your report will reach its audience well before you decide what goes in it.

4. Producing for internal pride rather than audience need

This one can be hard to catch because it masquerades as thoroughness. Your program team wants their work fully represented, your development director wants to acknowledge every event they supported, and your executive director wants to include detailed explanation of a strategic pivot that took 6 months to execute. All these desires are understandable; however…

Reports produced for internal pride rather than audience need end up longer, denser, and less read than they should be. Prevent this pitfall with a simple two-question test. Before you gather a single piece of content, consider: who is our report for, and what do we want them to feel or do after reading? Between now and publication, evaluate every content decision against those answers. If a section can’t justify itself by that measure, it doesn’t belong in the report.

The Bottom Line

None of these considerations requires immediate action or final decisions today, but taking some time to think through them will ultimately help your team produce a truly impactful report, seamlessly.

Need support bringing your report to life?

Next Stage partners with social good organizations, from nonprofits and health care organizations to government agencies and philanthropic foundations, to produce impact and annual reports that actually get read — and acted on by the people who read them.

Our report work includes:

  • Stakeholder interviews and community story capture
  • Content strategy and message development
  • Writing and editorial direction
  • Graphic design and layout 
  • Full-service production management from kickoff to review rounds to final distribution

If your organization is seeking a better way to tell your story this year, we’d welcome a conversation. Schedule a free consultation today.

What Breaks If You’re Not Here?

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Imagine being a nail trying to justify your existence while holding up a house that’s on fire.

The people who run social good institutions that provide direct services are accustomed to justifying their existence primarily through the lens of their own mission. Organizations are accountable for the things they can directly control, regardless of the broader context in which their work unfolds. That’s simply the logic of cost-benefit analysis.

Most cases for support follow this structure. The argument is built around the direct impact an organization creates, typically measured through three familiar metrics: quality, cost, and impact.

Quality reflects the excellence with which programming is developed and delivered. Cost measures the efficiency with which financial and human resources are deployed. Impact focuses on outcomes, both immediate and long-term.

Impact, of course, is the tricky one.

Organizations can typically provide pre- and post-assessment data demonstrating the effects of their services immediately after implementation. But very few institutions have the financial resources required to track outcomes across multiple years. Instead, one-time holistic studies establish an evidence base, and organizations extrapolate from there.

And yet we all know something else is true: no organization’s work exists in isolation. 

An affordable housing initiative depends on a strong workforce pipeline. Economic mobility programs rely on healthcare providers, childcare systems, transportation networks, and dozens of other actors operating in tandem.

That is why it is called the social safety net.

So what happens when holes begin to form in the net? What happens to a community when parts of that infrastructure begin to fail?

A Different Set of Questions

The contraction of federal support for health and human services – Medicaid redetermination chief among them – is already reshaping the landscape for nearly every mission-driven institution. As resources decline and demand grows, an uncomfortable question is surfacing.

“In a diminished system, how do we determine which organizations are truly essential?”

The answer cannot rely solely on the traditional metrics organizations use to evaluate themselves. Those measures describe the work happening inside an organization’s walls. The coming period will require a clearer understanding of how each organization fits into the broader ecosystem of services that sustain a community.

Put differently: are your outcomes preconditions for someone else’s outcomes? If so, can you say that clearly – to funders, to partners, to the community?

Three emerging qualities will increasingly define which organizations can answer that question well: trust, proximity, and connectivity.

  • Trust: In a disrupted system, the organizations with the greatest leverage will be those trusted by the communities they serve. Trust functions as a form of social currency. It creates the ability to mobilize people, communicate effectively during moments of uncertainty, and help communities adapt as systems change.

    Trust also expands an organization’s potential beyond its current programming. The question shifts from “What services do you provide today?” to “What are you capable of helping a community accomplish tomorrow?”

    Think about the organizations in your community that people turn to first when something goes wrong – not because of their programming, but because of the relationship. That’s the asset we’re describing.

  • Proximity: As institutional systems become strained, the organizations closest to the community will matter more than ever. Referral networks may weaken as capacity declines, leaving residents to rely on organizations that are already embedded in their neighborhoods.

    Proximity shows up through mobile services, programming located in partner sites, neighborhood representation, and trusted local advocates who understand the lived experience of the people they serve. Combined with trust, proximity becomes something organizations can describe to funders and partners as a tangible asset – a network that extends their reach and the reach of others.

  • Connectivity: Connectivity reflects the strength of an organization’s relationships within the broader service ecosystem. It includes referral networks, cross-sector partnerships, and the collaborative scaffolding that allows organizations to work together to solve complex challenges.

    This form of connectivity rests on a different kind of trust – the trust earned among peer organizations. It is the confidence that partners have in one another’s ability to collaborate, share responsibility, and move quickly when conditions require new ways of working.

    When peer organizations trust you enough to refer their own constituents to your services – and you trust them enough to do the same – you’ve built something that can’t be easily replicated or replaced. That kind of connectivity is what makes an organization structurally important to a community, not just programmatically active in one.

Preparing for What Comes Next

Organizations accustomed to evaluating their work strictly through the lens of internal performance may face a difficult adjustment in the years ahead. The institutions most likely to endure will be those able to articulate their role within the larger network of services that sustain a community.

“What breaks if you are not here?”

That question forces a deeper answer than traditional metrics allow. It invites organizations to describe how their work enables the success of others – employers, schools, housing systems, local governments, and fellow nonprofits.

If you want to prepare for what lies ahead, start by evaluating your organization against these questions:

  • How trusted are you by the communities you serve? 
  • How proximate are you to the people most affected by the challenges you aim to solve? 
  • And how connected are you to the partners who make systemic solutions possible?

Those answers will increasingly shape which organizations endure in a period of contraction.

This month’s Impact Insider features our case study on Charlotte Community Health Clinic, an organization that put these principles into practice — repositioning itself from a healthcare provider into a foundational partner in Charlotte’s community development ecosystem. Read the full case study here.

If you need help assessing your position, developing a strategy, or preparing your organization for the next phase of this work, we would be glad to help guide the process. Reach out to us to start the conversation.

Community Voice in Times of Crisis

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“Things are not alright.”

This has been a tough couple of months. Everywhere we look, there are signs of strain in the social fabric that once linked us together as citizens, as neighbors. The idea that we are broadly aligned, that we care about one another, and that there is shared commitment to the common good feels shattered. Gains made on trust-building across difference have quickly eroded.

That unease is being reinforced daily by the chaos playing out around us – intensified immigration enforcement, recurring funding deadlines and brinkmanship in Washington, and ongoing policy disruption that makes it difficult for institutions to plan with confidence. The pace and tone of change are exhausting, even for those of us whose job it is to track it closely.

A recent report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy helps put this moment into sharper focus. Drawing on perspectives from nonprofit leaders across the country, the report describes a sector navigating sustained pressure – financial uncertainty, rising demand for services, workforce exhaustion, and an external environment that feels increasingly difficult to anticipate. Leaders shared a sense of operating without a clear horizon, and having to make consequential decisions while conditions continue to shift beneath them.

The findings point to a sector that is deeply engaged in planning, scenario modeling, and risk management. Organizations are revisiting assumptions, reassessing capacity, and preparing for long-term implications that extend beyond a single budget cycle. This level of attention reflects the seriousness of the moment and the responsibility leaders feel toward their missions, staff, and communities.

A Missing (and Needed) Perspective

At the same time, the conditions described in the report extend well beyond organizational walls. Federal policy shifts, intensified enforcement, and sharper public rhetoric shape daily life for the people nonprofits serve. Increased violence evokes safety concerns. The broader environment is present in every interaction, existing just below the surface. 

It wasn’t long ago that the pandemic reminded us of important truths. Many organizations, flush with ARPA resources, learned that strong programs and sufficient resources did not always translate into participation or connection. Engagement patterns changed, and long-standing assumptions about motivation, trust, and access no longer held. People related to institutions differently in the era of vaccine misinformation and mask mandates, shaped by fear, fatigue, and uncertainty.

That dynamic never really went away, and now it has roared back to the front burner.

As organizations focus on financial planning and operational resilience, communities are simultaneously navigating the emotional and practical impact of the national climate. They are noticing who reaches out, who listens, and who creates space for dialogue. Presence and acknowledgment carry real weight in shaping how institutions are perceived and trusted.

That fundamentally requires staying connected to the people at the heart of your mission, ensuring that community voice continues to inform decisions as this period unfolds.

Your people need to hear from you, and vice versa.

So how will you show up at this critical moment?

A Primer for Community Voice in Times of Crisis

Periods of disruption call for a different posture from institutions. When the ground feels unsteady, communities look less for certainty and more for presence, honesty, and care. Centering community voice during times of crisis is not about perfect process or polished engagement strategies. It is about getting proximate in ways that reinforce trust and shared humanity.

  • Listen first. You do not need fully formed solutions right now. Few people do. What matters most in the early stages of disruption is the act of listening itself. Creating intentional space for people to share how they are experiencing this moment – what they are worried about, what they are feeling, what they need – signals respect and partnership.

    Listening strengthens relational bonds at a time when many feel disconnected from institutions. It also helps organizations avoid making assumptions based on outdated conditions. What you hear may challenge internal narratives, but it will better equip you to respond with relevance and care as decisions come into focus.

  • Anchor in what remains true. There will be time to communicate what is changing – program adjustments, scaled-back services, delayed timelines, or difficult tradeoffs. In moments of uncertainty, however, people are often more grounded by what is steady than by what is new.

    Reaffirm your values, naming your commitment to the people you serve. Be clear about why your mission still matters and how your belief in community dignity and worth has not wavered. Continuity of purpose provides reassurance when external conditions feel volatile, and it reinforces the emotional contract between organizations and the communities that trust them.
  • Work together. Designing with communities has long been recognized as a best practice. In times of strain, it becomes a necessity. Decisions about cuts, consolidations, or shifts in strategy land differently when people understand the constraints and have a voice in shaping the response.

    Partnership does not mean consensus on every decision, but it does mean transparency, shared problem-solving, and an acknowledgment that those closest to the impact often hold insights institutions cannot see on their own. Collaboration in difficult moments builds credibility and reduces the sense that change is being imposed rather than navigated together.
  • Dialogue often. Extended uncertainty can make organizations hesitant to communicate. The instinct to wait until everything is known and the message feels complete is understandable. Yet silence creates its own narrative, often one filled with anxiety or misinformation.

    Communicate what you can. Be honest about what is still unclear. Share updates even when they are partial. Invite questions and feedback, and be prepared to listen again. Regular, human communication reinforces trust and reminds people that they are not facing uncertainty alone.

How We Show Up 

Periods like this test institutions. They also reveal what kind of partners we choose to be to the communities we serve. Community voice is more important when conditions are in flux. Listening, communicating, and co-creating in moments of strain helps organizations remain grounded, relevant, and trusted.

Things are not alright. That makes how we show up – and who we choose to listen to – more important than ever.

Why Strategic Planning Can’t Wait: Preparing for Social Good’s Greatest Challenge

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It is now 2026. A new year. And with it comes no shortage of uncertainty about how social good will fare in the months and years ahead.

With so many variables at play, you may be asking yourself: Is now really the time to embark on a strategic planning effort?

Pardon the colorful language, but hell yes.

Organizations that elect to take a “wait-and-see” approach — or focus only on the next calendar year without considering what comes after — are likely to be unprepared when the worst of the disruption arrives in early 2027.

Revisiting the One Big Beautiful Bill

I hate to do this so early in the new year, but some may need a reminder: a tsunami of epic proportions is approaching. Federal policy change in the form of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) will disrupt everyone. It feels like watching a car wreck in slow motion. We know the outcome, and yet there is very little we can do to stop it.

But maybe your area of human services wasn’t mentioned in the bill. Maybe you think this doesn’t apply to you. Maybe you believe you’re the one organization that can rest easy.

Think again.

While the impact of the bill to date has been largely administrative, in early 2027, people will roll off Medicaid in large numbers — and they will lose much more than just access to healthcare.

Medicaid is one of the largest funding mechanisms for addressing the social drivers of health, which include food access, housing stability, and transportation. And when people lose Medicaid coverage, the burden for meeting those needs will not disappear. Instead, it will shift to state governments, local municipalities, nonprofits, and philanthropy, and the challenge that creates is sobering. In our home state of North Carolina, NC DHHS estimates that nearly $50 billion in federal Medicaid funding will be lost over the next decade. No state can absorb that level of loss and continue operating as before. Simply put, there is no realistic way for the gap created by federal spending cuts to be made up elsewhere. It is too large a shortfall to backfill. 

At Next Stage, we believe this represents the single greatest challenge to social good in our lifetimes — one that will manifest in predictable ways:

  • Increased competition for resources. Everyone will be competing for a much smaller pie, forcing painful decisions for boards, executives, and funders alike. The desperation this creates will likely produce false choices about what matters most in sustaining healthy, safe, and affordable communities.
  • Surging need as services shrink. As resources contract, need will continue to grow. When people experience unmet needs — food insecurity, housing instability, untreated health conditions — those pressures do not stay contained. They ripple outward. Families across income levels will feel the consequences of communities under strain, and the calls for solutions will intensify even as capacity declines.
  • Continued politicization of settled assumptions. All this is unfolding in a moment when there is deep disagreement about what it means to be an American. Ideas that once felt broadly shared — that people deserve access to health, opportunity, and dignity — are increasingly contested. Addressing barriers to access becomes more difficult when the language of equity itself is under attack.

That’s why the work in front of us should not focus on overcoming this disruption — that is not where we are. Going forward, the social good sector must work to minimize harm, manage contraction, and make hard choices as thoughtfully as possible.

But without a shared internal framework to create alignment, clarity, and discipline in decision-making, institutions may risk their own sustainability moving forward.

So what does this mean for your nonprofit, government agency, or philanthropic organization? Strategic planning.

A Passionate Argument for Strategic Planning

Strategic planning differs from annual planning or budgeting exercises. And especially in uncertain times, it can be a powerful way to help your organization make intentional operational choices.

The most effective versions of strategic planning include:

  • A focus on external data. Strategic planning forces organizations to look outward — at policy shifts, demographic trends, funding trajectories, and community needs — rather than relying solely on internal performance or historical success. In moments like this, intuition and gut feelings are not enough.
  • Greater clarity on perception and reality. Many organizations believe they understand their position in the ecosystem. Strategic planning creates space to test those assumptions. What role do you truly play? Where are you indispensable? Where are you replaceable? These are uncomfortable, yet necessary, questions.
  • A multiyear horizon. Annual planning keeps the lights on. Strategic planning prepares you for what’s coming. A multiyear horizon allows organizations to scenario-plan, sequence decisions, and avoid reactive whiplash as conditions change.

Strategic planning matters in moments like this because it creates shared discipline when instinct pulls leaders in different directions. It gives boards, executives, and staff a common set of assumptions to work from, a clear understanding of tradeoffs, and an agreed-upon rationale for difficult decisions. Without that alignment, organizations drift into reactive mode — chasing funding, protecting legacy programs, and deferring hard conversations until options narrow. 

A strong strategic plan does not eliminate uncertainty, but it does provide a stable platform for making choices grounded in reality as conditions continue to change.

Our Commitment to You

While we will continue to track and share updates on the impacts of federal spending cuts throughout the year, our central focus will be on supporting you, your organizations, and the communities you serve by highlighting tangible ways social good leaders like you can get actionable.

Because we believe informed, intentional efforts are the best — and only — way forward.

Our collective legacy, as organizations, as communities, and as people, will be defined by how we respond to this moment. This is an eyes-wide-open period. The decisions made now will shape what survives, what adapts, and what is lost.

We stand ready to support you as you navigate the future. Reach out to set up a call today. 

Want the latest social good trends, insights, and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to the Impact Insider today!

10 Trends That Will Shape Social Good in 2026

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Every December, the Next Stage team looks back across the year’s retreats, board meetings, listening sessions, late-night conversations, and messy whiteboards. That’s where the real story lives — in the patterns that start to emerge from the lived experiences of leaders trying to navigate an increasingly complex landscape. You can feel when something in the ecosystem shifts, even before the headlines catch up.

2026 won’t be gentle. It will be a year defined by adaptation, creativity, and a reckoning with systems that are stretched thin. Yet I’m encouraged, because our sector has always shown its best instincts when we stop waiting for ease and start building for what’s next.

Here are six trends I believe will shape social good in the coming year:

 1. Innovation Becomes a Requirement

Innovation is one of those things that tends to thrive when times are tough. When the world of social good feels relatively stable, there may be more financial resources available for testing new approaches, but institutions often lack the urgency and appetite for the change management needed to see them through.

But when the pressure is on, “doing things the way we’ve always done it” stops being an option.

The challenge, of course, is that innovating on the fly can feel risky and chaotic. That’s why the best time to test new methodologies is before the crisis hits, when the stakes are lower and teams have more capacity to experiment.

Still, we’ve seen this sector make some of its most meaningful advancements under duress — most recently during the pandemic, when necessity forced creativity at a scale no one expected. If 2026 continues its current trajectory, we’ll need that spirit again. Innovation isn’t a luxury anymore. It’s infrastructure.

 2. Rebuilding Trust Will Be Difficult — But Essential

We’ve talked a lot about trust this year, and for good reason. Communities are waking up each morning to a landscape that feels less stable and less safe than it did just a few years ago.

BIPOC residents have watched the progress made under diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts be rolled back — in many cases literally deleted from nonprofit websites. Families in our own city of Charlotte hesitated to leave their homes after recent actions by Customs and Border Protection. The trauma of these moments is real, layered on top of the lingering disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Service providers are carrying that weight. Communities are carrying it.

Rebuilding trust won’t happen through a new program or a sharper tagline. It will take sustained, visible investment in relationships and transparency — at both the organizational and community-wide level. “Who are we?” is a question every community leader should be asking as the new year crests. The answers won’t come quickly, but they matter more than ever.

 3. AI’s Move From Experiment to Infrastructure

Artificial intelligence is changing the way work gets done, and nonprofits — long understaffed and overstretched — are feeling its impact quickly.

Executives now have something they’ve never had before: a powerful productivity partner sitting on their desktop. A grant application due tomorrow? No problem. Need to untangle an HR issue? AI can surface options in seconds. Administrative teams that have been underwater for years finally have a lever that helps them breathe.

The next frontier is shifting from staff experimenting with AI in isolation to the development of organizational adoption strategies — policies, workflows, expectations, and guardrails.

We predict that 2026 is the year nonprofits begin institutionalizing AI. It will reshape job descriptions, performance expectations, documentation practices, and capacity models across the sector.

 4. A Deepening of AI’s Impact on Social Good Mission Delivery

If AI is transforming nonprofit operations, its effect on mission delivery may be even more profound.

Next Stage works with many organizations focused on workforce development, and the landscape is shifting quickly. For years, STEM training was held up as the ticket to economic mobility — “learn to code” was the refrain. But as developers face layoffs due to AI automation, that assumption is shifting.

Trades educators from carpentry to HVAC repair are positioning their fields as “AI-resistant,” and they’re not wrong. The promise of technology as a universal upward-mobility path needs a fresh look.

Beyond workforce development, AI is reshaping healthcare, human services, climate resilience, and philanthropy. It brings incredible potential, but also new questions about equity, ethics, and long-term opportunity.

We expect 2026 to be the year AI takes center stage in the larger fight for social and economic mobility, and every mission-driven organization will feel its ripple effects.

5. A Renewed Focus on Individual Philanthropy 

Organizations overly dependent on institutional support — foundations, corporations, or government agencies — are heading into choppy waters.

As the most consequential elements of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act begin to take hold at the end of 2026, federal funding shifts will act as a force multiplier. The domino effect threatens the sustainability of countless programs and institutions.

This is the moment when individual donors step forward. What we call “elective taxation” — individuals voluntarily fueling causes they care about — is poised to become a defining factor in who survives and who struggles.

We’ve talked about this trend throughout the year, and all signs suggest it will accelerate in 2026. Organizations with clear messaging, strong stewardship, and genuine community alignment will be the ones positioned for stability.

 6. Gen X Steps Up

The times, they are a’changing. As a member of Gen X myself, I’ve long wondered what it would look like when the Baby Boomer generation began handing the torch to us. We’re now seeing it happen.

The oldest Gen Xers turned 60 this year. Many are still in the workforce, at the height of their earning potential, and stepping into leadership roles across sectors. Our hopes for increased philanthropy need them — especially as Boomers shift into more fixed-income mindsets around giving.

But Gen X is not a monolith. If organizations want to engage this cohort effectively, segmentation, persona-building, and the adoption of an acquisition mindset are essential.

This is a year tailor-made for new approaches to brand marketing, with institutions examining who they’re speaking to and why it matters. At Next Stage, we’re gearing up for a big year in 2026 because we believe Gen X will shape the next chapter of social good.

 What Our Team Is Watching 

One of the advantages of working at Next Stage is that our team views the sector through many different lenses — workforce development, health equity, philanthropy, community engagement, culture-building, and data and evaluation. We are in rooms with people solving very different problems, and we see the through-lines that connect them.

So after reflecting on my own predictions, I asked my colleagues to share the trends they’re watching as we head into 2026. Their insights add important texture to the picture and underscore how interconnected these shifts truly are.

 7. A Push for Partnerships to Address Public Health Infrastructure Gaps 

—Jalah Blackmon, Director of Impact for Health

One concerning trend I’m watching is the quiet erosion of our public health infrastructure. We’re seeing holes left by job turnover in government agencies, and with that, a real fragility in the systems we rely on. As a new parent, I was alarmed to learn during my child’s early doctor visits that the CDC’s vaccine schedule was temporarily unavailable online. Key datasets and alerts are becoming inconsistent or disappearing altogether, creating a dangerous void that challenges public trust and health equity.


Yet, I’m optimistic. Health-focused nonprofits and community-based organizations are stepping into the gap as temporary librarians and translators of essential information. The increased focus on the social drivers of health and lessons from the pandemic have equipped them to provide trusted, hyper-local outreach. It’s a powerful testament to the sector’s agility.


This interim work is crucial, but underscores an urgent call to action. We must come together across sectors to defend and restore a public health system that doesn’t leave anyone behind. Protecting our most vulnerable isn’t just a healthcare issue; it’s a test of our collective commitment to a healthy society.

8. A Shift in Strategy Horizons 

—Caylin Haldeman, Director of Strategy

Across my work with Next Stage clients and leading internal strategy, one pattern is showing up again and again: the speed at which the world is changing and communities are organizing far outpaces the speed at which institutions and organizations are planning. The three-to-five-year strategic plan — once a reliable anchor — feels increasingly misaligned with a world shaped by policy volatility, funding whiplash, and localized crises that unfold on weeks-, not years-long, timelines. Meanwhile, grassroots groups and informal networks are adapting in near real time, guided by proximity, trust, and an ability to move without bureaucratic drag.

In 2026, I believe the most resilient and impactful organizations will rethink not just what they plan, but how far out they plan. Strategy will need shorter horizons, lighter structures, and stronger feedback loops — designed for calibration, not prediction. Long-term vision still matters. What’s changing is the operating posture required to sustain it: governance models that absorb uncertainty, funder relationships that allow for course correction, and measurement systems that surface signals early rather than reporting outcomes too late.

The organizations that thrive won’t be the ones with the most polished plans. They’ll be the ones that treat strategy as a living practice — and build the muscle to respond as conditions, and communities, change.

 9. An Increased Need to Meet Donors Where They Are Scroll

—Nora Hines, Marketing Manager

Vertical video content will only become more essential in 2026. With 41% of Gen Z and 24% of Millennials being motivated to support causes based on what appears on their social media, and short-form video content consistently performing better on TikTok and Instagram, social good organizations that fail to prioritize video-first storytelling risk missing out on significant swaths of the younger generations. Posts with images already see 650% more engagement than text-only posts, and video only further amplifies this effect.

And the good news is, you don’t have to have an in-house TikTok expert on your team to pull this off. In 2026, nonprofits can (and should!) tap into their existing community for content creation. Organizations can reshare videos from volunteers on the ground, ask donors to explain why they give, and turn testimonials into Instagram Reels. Successful nonprofits will crowdsource their video content, giving beneficiaries, volunteers, and young supporters simple prompts to create authentic 15-30 second stories about their experiences with the organization. This user-generated approach solves both the expertise and authenticity gaps, as peer-created content resonates far more with younger audiences than polished organizational messaging ever could.

 10. A Renewed Demand for Authentically Human Visual Designs

—Wendy Orrego, Visual Design Manager

As audiences face information fatigue, fractured attention spans, and growing distrust in institutions, the role of design will shift from decoration to translation, turning complex data, community insights, and impact stories into visuals that people can immediately understand and emotionally connect with.

While AI will continue transforming how creative work gets produced, I predict a strong counter-trend: a renewed demand for authentic, human-centered visuals and storytelling. In a world where almost anything can be generated instantly, audiences will value what feels real — original photography, genuine community representation, and narrative and design choices rooted in lived experience rather than automated templates.

Want the latest social good trends, insights, and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to the Impact Insider today!

Getting Your Nonprofit Ready for 2026: An End-of-Year Checklist

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The season of end-of-year leadership retreats are upon us. Next Stage is supporting a number of organizations as they prepare for an unprecedented set of circumstances in 2026, and one thing is certain:

It’s difficult to plan when the ground feels like it’s shifting beneath your feet. 

The ongoing federal government shutdown has created real consequences across the social good sector — for nonprofits, local governments, and even private companies like ours at Next Stage. Many organizations are seeing ripple effects from delayed contracts, paused grants, and reduced cash flow. The reality is that this moment of instability is not isolated, but rather a part of a larger wave of change resulting from ongoing policy shifts and legislative stalemates.

So yes: things feel uncertain. But “wait and see” is not a strategy. Sitting on the fence until the dust settles is the surest way to get left behind. Because what distinguishes resilient organizations isn’t an innate ability to predict the future, but a willingness to prepare for it (uncertain as it might be).

If you’re heading into your end-of-year retreat or annual planning process, here’s a simple checklist to help get your nonprofit ready for 2026.

:ballot_box_with_check: 1. Conduct a Risk Assessment

Federal policy impacts won’t disappear when the shutdown ends. Many analysts predict 2026 will be a staging year for broader spending shifts in 2027, which makes now an essential time to examine your organization’s exposure.

  • Where are you reliant on government contracts or federal programs?
  • How might indirect impacts, like delayed reimbursements, declining consumer confidence, or disruptions to partner agencies, affect your work?

To get started, gather a small cross-functional team, including finance, operations, and program leaders, and spend a few hours mapping your dependencies. Identify all major revenue streams, partnerships, and contracts, then rate each by both likelihood and impact of disruption. Explore: What might happen if this funding source pauses for three months? If this vendor can’t deliver? If this partner downsizes? Document your findings in a simple risk matrix and note which exposures can be mitigated now versus monitored later. 

The Bottom Line: Performing a proactive risk audit can help you identify your exposure before gaps become crises. Use this process to strengthen your balance sheet and clarify your strategy.

:ballot_box_with_check: 2. Gather Metrics and Know Thy Databases

If 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that data clarity equals decision clarity. On the revenue side, review your fundraising or new business data to pinpoint trends:

  • Which funders or customers are dependable?
  • Where are you seeing growth?
  • Where are you overexposed?

On the operations side, consider how your organizational structure supports (or hinders) agility.

Activate these efforts by pulling a year-over-year comparison from your CRM or accounting system. Look beyond totals to instead segment your data by source, type, and relationship length to see what’s really driving results. Then, bring that same discipline to internal metrics: staff capacity, program utilization, and expense categories. Schedule a short data review session with your leadership team to translate those numbers into insights, identifying where to double down and where to pivot.

The Bottom Line: You can’t build resilience on gut instinct alone. Use your databases to guide resource allocation, performance targets, and scenario planning. Numbers tell stories; make sure you’re listening to them.

:ballot_box_with_check: 3. Check In With Peers

You’re not alone in this uncertainty. Every nonprofit executive, municipal leader, and small-business owner is navigating similar headwinds. Rather than making decisions in isolation, use this moment to engage your peers and compare notes on what’s changing.

Create a top-20 outreach list by identifying the leaders and partner organizations whose perspectives you trust the most. Schedule brief, focused conversations – even 20-30 minutes can reveal valuable insights about funding pipelines, staffing shifts, and community demand. Consider hosting a small roundtable or virtual session to surface shared challenges and spark new ideas, and commit to at least one peer discussion each week through February 2026. 

The Bottom Line: Shared learning uncovers blind spots and builds a sense of solidarity across the sector. In volatile times, collaboration becomes a risk-mitigation strategy.

:ballot_box_with_check: 4. What Can We Do About It? An Advocacy Toolkit

Uncertainty is unsettling, but ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. 

Build your framework by outlining three plausible futures for your organization over the next 18 months: best case, middle ground, and worst case. In each, map your financial position, staffing levels, and program adjustments. Assign clear decision triggers: at what point would you pause hiring, cut expenses, or shift priorities? Involve both leadership and frontline staff so plans are realistic and account for downsides that are not readily apparent.

Keep these scenarios handy and revisit them quarterly. Doing so turns preparation into a habit rather than a reaction.

The Bottom Line: Scenario planning is less about accurately predicting disruption and more about building the muscle to adapt when it happens. The goal of this exercise is steady footing, no matter how unpredictable the future may appear.

An Ounce of Prevention 

We often tell clients that the work of planning is the work of hope. It’s an act of optimism to prepare for a future you can’t yet see

The coming year will test many institutions, but those who make time to plan now — with clarity, courage, and a willingness to adapt — will enter the new year from a position of strength.

If your organization is ready to take a proactive approach, we’d welcome a conversation about how our team can help facilitate a risk assessment, scenario planning process, or end-of-year strategy retreat to help get your nonprofit ready for 2026.

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