Next Stage - Social Impact Services

Social good strategy to amplify your impact

Thought Leadership

Igniting Change Through Movement-Building Marketing

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Movement Building Marketing: A Real-Time Case Study

At Next Stage, we talk a lot about movement-building marketing. And while you won’t find this term in marketing textbooks, it’s a hallmark of great nonprofit marketing campaigns. 

For many years, nonprofit marketing has focused almost exclusively on acquiring donors, event participants and volunteers. These are important goals and key personas for any organization that wants to make an impact. The challenge is when organizations get hung up on the what of their mission, focusing almost exclusively on service offerings or donor campaigns. 

Movement-building marketing focuses on the why of a nonprofit’s mission, inspiring action and engagement. It’s more than selling a program – it’s inviting people into the story.

Own Your Journey

Over the last year, Next Stage has partnered with The Center for Community Transitions (CCT), a long-standing nonprofit that supports justice-involved individuals and their families. Its programs are designed to support currently and formerly incarcerated people and their loved ones as they rebuild their lives. 

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, CCT aimed to build a year-long marketing plan to build its constituency and help launch its vision of a second chance city. 

It was important to CCT to build a campaign that fuels not just action – but also understanding of the criminal legal system and how it impacts culture. “We are so often focused on the ‘doing’ that we miss out on the ‘being,” said Patrice Funderburg, Executive Director of CCT. “Our goal is to encourage a pause for awareness and deeper conversation. We believe this understanding will lead to impactful action.” 

It was also critical to the CCT team that the lived experiences of their stakeholders were centered throughout the process. Every element of the marketing plan, from landing page images to email content, was built to reflect true experiences of an impacted individual and how those experiences relate to the bigger picture. It’s an intentionality that we believe sets this campaign apart. 

The first phase of the campaign launches in March with The UnLearning – a month of content that includes weekly emails and live social media conversations. The content is designed to connect participants to the big picture issues of justice involvement, while reflecting on their own relationship with the criminal legal system.

Follow Along

Our team is proud of this campaign. We believe CCT represents an authentic approach to movement building marketing. Follow along by signing up to watch this campaign unfold over the coming months!

The Data Won’t Save Us: Human Insights for Social Change

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The Data Won’t Save Us

I’m a self-professed data nerd. But there are long-held data points that have been repeated so many times that they have become conventional wisdom – or even tropes.

We plan for future prison capacity based on third grade reading rates. Source
Only 3% of youth exiting the foster care system will graduate college. One in five will experience homelessness. Source
One-third of children who grow up poor in the U.S. will experience poverty as an adult. Source
If your city has low economic mobility, it is nearly impossible to escape poverty.

If you’re plugged into any conversation about social innovation, you’ve heard these numbers, and many others like them. They are breathtakingly, shockingly awful – a stark report on the reality that many nonprofits, activists and community leaders live every day.

I think most of us like data – even if it is hard to look at – because we can make sense of it. Numbers can be studied and improved. We perceive that the ‘answers’ can be found in those numbers. And while data is driven by a desire to know more and do better, I wonder if it sometimes stunts our collective curiosity.

When I pause to consider what’s behind the data, I start to wonder: 

  • At what point does data become a self-fulfilling prophecy? How do we use these numbers to guide us rather than allowing ourselves to fall into resigned acceptance? 
  • In using data to make sense of complex issues – do we also use it to distance ourselves from the complexities of being in relationship with people?
  • How can data inspire us to imagine something new – instead of simply to predict an inevitable future?

Quantitative data is critical to the work of social good. We need it to shed light on issues, to help evaluate the effectiveness of programs and to galvanize us to action. But the temptation exists to bury ourselves in that data, to seek the answers in clean numbers and next steps.

The data won’t save us – but it can point us in the right direction.

Let it guide us towards relationships.

Data is a great starting point, but it’s no substitute for lived experience. This is one reason that Next Stage so strongly advocates for qualitative data. The data often tells us where to look – but how and why are most often rooted in conversations with people most proximate to the issue at hand. These relationships are where trust is built. And trust is where long-lasting social innovation starts.

In our report, Inside Out: The Case for Community Voice, we shared a story about a nonprofit’s mobile health unit. The unit nestled in a few locations before centering itself at a local community center. They saw very little traffic, even though the numbers suggested that this would be best supported by a mobile unit. But when the driver of the mobile unit walked into the local 7-11 and struck up a conversation with the owner, they found that the convenience store was a trusted ‘third space’ for that community and saw a lot of daily traffic. The manager offered the parking lot for the mobile unit once a week, the team accepted and use of that unit increased significantly – all because of a partnership rooted in a simple conversation.

Let’s embrace the tension.

Working on any social issue is messy and rife with competing viewpoints. It can be tempting to lean on data that feels straightforward and ‘clean,’ when conversation feels messy. The reality is that every data point represents a real, complex human with a specific viewpoint. 

Our team learned this firsthand when we did work for TreesCharlotte. Charged with developing campaign messaging, we pulled from data and our own common beliefs to develop a message we thought was obvious – ‘Everyone loves trees.” When we workshopped this with our focus groups and stakeholders, the dissent was immediate and overwhelmingly more complex. It turns out that not everyone loves trees. They sometimes fall on houses, are expensive to maintain and have impacts that are out of our control. We changed the message to a more nuanced expression, “Everyone has a tree story,” but if we hadn’t been willing to engage the tension – and the disagreement – our data would have led us far astray.

Let it inspire us to imagine something different.

Rather than self-fulfilling prophecy, let’s allow those sobering numbers to help us get curious. The temptation to bury ourselves in the research is real, but so is the risk. It’s easy to forget that the data isn’t inevitable, and that we have the ability to imagine something different for ourselves.

Our team recently collaborated on a documentary about Southside Homes that featured highly proximate organizations, including ParentChild+.  In the documentary, NC State Director Angela Drakeford speaks to the need for imagination and action when she states, “We have all the data we need. We don’t need to waste ten, twenty, thirty more years on data – then the ten, twenty, thirty years of people that contributed to that data, it’s too late to save them. I think we have enough now to think outside of the box. Let’s kick those boxes over and let’s make a difference in this community.”

A Decade of Growth: Insights from Next Stage’s Journey

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Tomorrow night, we look forward to seeing so many of our friends and colleagues at our 10th Anniversary Celebration event where we will also reveal the selected organization for The UnFundable Project grant.

This milestone has made me reflective of late – on where we’ve been and where we’re going. It has also caused me to take stock of what I’ve learned from a decade as an entrepreneur. Because folks, there have been lessons… so many important lessons. Today I’ll share a few.

Lesson One: Purpose Fuels Action

It may be surprising to know that I was a bit of a slacker for much of my early years, skating by with minimal effort. You know the type: I was the kid cramming for the test or dashing off the book report in the back of the bus on the way to school.

Relocating to Charlotte and starting a career as a social impact consultant awakened something dormant inside me. I had only worked as a practitioner inside nonprofit organizations up to that point. Being on the other side of the table was a big adjustment, but once it was made, I never looked back. I love my job. It is probably the last one I will ever have, and I am perfectly fine with that. The opportunity to work with so many different organizations, to live inside so many disparate missions, is what gets me fired up in the morning. Where some people would see the chaos of colliding priorities, I gain energy that powers each new day.

I’m not sure there was a specific moment when it all clicked into place, but there is no doubt that purpose is at the heart of Next Stage. As a team, we feel a calling to do the work that we do. It urges us forward to continually disrupt what we think we know about how the world works.

I believe that there is a purpose inside all of us, and you are truly lucky if you can make that purpose your life’s work. It is a wellspring that makes everything possible.

Lesson Two: It’s Better Together

No one tells you when you start a company how lonely it can be.

My office when Next Stage was first launched was not an office at all – it was our family dining room table. Each night I would move the stack of paperwork down to one end so my wife Adara and I could eat dinner without getting spaghetti sauce on a recently-signed contract. [Sidenote: My wife has been so patient and understanding throughout this journey. None of this would be possible without her support.]

A big change came when I joined a coworking community and realized how great it was to be around other people. You can forget how important human connection is to maintaining positive energy and hopefulness. That move eventually led to hiring employees and committing to office space – all significant milestones.

Without a doubt, the thing I am most proud of is having built such a talented, values-aligned group of professionals who fuel our work. We recently made a commitment to advancing collaboration as our organizational mission, and that starts with our own team. Next Stage is a movement of people who choose to work together to advance social good. We complement each other with knowledge, skills and lived experience that strengthens everything we do.

It took me a while to figure it out, but I eventually arrived here: If you want to keep your impact small, go it alone. But if you truly want to change the world, the only way forward is together.

Lesson Three: Vision Drives Belief

So much of one’s early years are defined by boundless potential. When you’re young, anything is possible and the options feel infinite. But as time goes on, you start to realize that every choice you have made has led you further down a path. Eventually, the direction of that path begins to take shape.

I’ve described this in the past as a branching tree. Twenty-five years ago, I had no idea that decisions that seemed so arbitrary at the time – choosing that internship, relocating to this city, taking that get-to-know-you coffee – would be so defining of my life. When you are at the start of that branch, it seems like it extends out into forever, and each decision, no matter how small, seems only to take you to the next moment, to the next opportunity.

I am now old enough that I can look back on the branch I’m on and know exactly how I got here. And out in the future, I am also now old enough to know the branch doesn’t actually extend forever. If I squint, I can see way off in the distance where the divergent branches reach their destination.

When we work with our clients on strategic planning, we challenge them to establish a time-limited vision – “where do you want to be ten years from now.” Of late, we’ve been taking our own medicine. I recently wrote about our new strategic plan, which defines who we are and how we want to make a difference in the world. It commits us to a specific branch – one we are choosing for ourselves.

Our ten-year vision is now crystal clear, and every client, partner, contractor and new hire is joining a movement of people who believe the world can be what we want it to be. We look forward to partnering with you on the road ahead.

Our 2024 Social Good Forecast

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One of Next Stage’s annual traditions is this blog post. We think about what’s ahead for social innovators everywhere. This year, we’re breaking from our usual ‘trend’ language – because we don’t believe that anything on this list is temporary – and instead we are forecasting. In our 2024 Social Good Forecast, we delve into how emerging trends like AI integration in content creation, the expanding role of Medicaid in the nonprofit sector, and the rising significance of trust-based philanthropy are redefining the landscape of social innovation and community collaboration.

Here’s what we are predicting for next year – and beyond:

AI for All

2024 is the year when artificial intelligence naysayers will start seeing the benefits of this tool and integrating it into their workflow. For content creators, the emergence of ChatGPT and similar AI-powered writing “assistants” has felt a little shaky. Are we being replaced? If we tap into this, are we contributing to our craft’s doomsday? The answer is no. There’s no replacement (yet) for lived experience, relational nuance or your emotional connection to your stakeholders/audience. In 2024, expect more late-tech-adopters to lean into AI as a collaborator for brainstorming, refining thoughts and combating writer’s block.

Medicaid Expansion Will Impact Nonprofits

Medicaid officially expanded in NC on December 1. The impact on individuals and families has been well documented – but what hasn’t been mentioned is the slew of impacts this could have on nonprofits. It is likely to mean more funding and new referral pipelines as more community-based organizations have the opportunity to participate in service delivery. Stay tuned for more specifics on the ways this will inevitably affect nonprofits across our state!

Trust-Based Philanthropy Will Pick Up Steam

The concept of trust-based philanthropy is already picking up steam among philanthropy and nonprofits. This year, we expect it to become a hotter topic among companies – and for good reason. Trust-based philanthropy is all about creating more equity in grant-making processes. This most often shows up as multi-year, unrestricted funding, streamlined application processes and more transparent, bi-directional feedback. Our team is dipping our toes in these waters through our UnFundable Grant – we can’t wait to share what we’ve learned.

Collaboration Will Be Even More Critical

The biggest challenges facing our communities are layered and multi-faceted, with positive outcomes in any one focus area dependent on supports in other, seemingly unrelated areas. How can a child achieve academically when affordable housing for that child’s family is out of reach? How do we build workforce pipelines that realize economic mobility when transportation options are limited? We have arrived at a clearing in the woods, where leaders in overlapping sectors are realizing there is no successful path forward without collaboration. We wrote earlier this year about the Federal Plan for Equitable Long-Term Recovery and Resilience – an initiative that lays out how federal funds will be invested to advance positive outcomes in these areas of intersection. We see great potential in it to help take on these social challenges head-on – but only if we do it together.

Businesses Will Look to Fund Community-Based Organizations

Companies are increasingly looking to fund community-based organizations (CBOs) as a way to fuel local impact. It’s a way to support hyper-local impact through organizations most proximate and trusted by communities – but the challenges for companies can be equally steep. For companies used to funding highly structured, large nonprofits with strong processes, working with CBOs can require more patience and support. Watch for more conversation on how to do this effectively.

Cultivating Community-Level Engagement Through Trust

The collaboration mentioned above will only happen if we use a methodology of trust. It is essential to displaying care and responsibility for one another as well as addressing pertinent issues around affordable housing, education, healthcare, navigating systems, workforce development and more. Charlotte and cities across the country are seeking ways to do this kind of engagement more effectively while assessing areas for growth, improvement and opportunities.

Polarizing Politicization

It’s an election year, and you know what that means. And I don’t just mean obnoxious candidate commercials that make us all want to throw our TVs out a window. No, these days an election year brings with it increased vitriol and baseless hatred at a time when we need to be coming together for the greater good. Politicized messaging can create rifts and disrupt forward progress in communities at a time when they are addressing the long-term impacts of a global pandemic. Keep that in mind as you engage the people you serve, your colleagues and others. What may just seem like empty rhetoric and hot air to some can feel like the reopening of old wounds that rarely ever fully heal.

DEI Will Remain Under Attack

Speaking of polarization – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) will remain under attack and will continue to have opposition in 2024. And that is unfortunate. After the death of George Floyd, DEI evolved and structural changes were prioritized. And yet, we believe there are individuals, companies, and institutions that will continue to hold the line and create space for DEI, belonging, and respect, evaluating processes and examining the root of systemic disempowerment – and calling that out. In 2023, we wrote a blog entitled “Walk A Mile In My Shoes” – in 2024, who’s willing to go the distance?

Intentionality Will Replace ‘Disruption’ in Change Management

An intentional focus on change management and ‘just-in-case’ planning will be top of mind. Many companies have recovered from the emergency state of the pandemic and have pocketed a lot of wisdom from their experiences. Putting key operational plans in place for future disruptions will give leaders and their teams peace of mind. There are more things to plan for than you’d think! Succession planning, financial planning and planning for major technological shifts in how we work will be a valuable resource in your back pocket when the time comes. 2024 feels like a good year to get that done!

Organizations Will Build Their ‘People Resiliency’

Gone are the days when employees’ tenure could be reliably mapped out. The job market continues to shift and employees (and employers) are not afraid of seizing new opportunities and facilitating personal and professional development. Companies will be building strong HR teams to help organizations and companies avoid major disruption to company success and workflow amidst employee turnover.

And finally, your annual reminder that Community Voice is not a trend. We expect community voices to rise in prominence throughout 2024 – and we can’t wait to see what arises!

We’d love to know – what would you add this list?

Announcing The UnFundable Project Top 10 Finalists

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If you’ve been following along, you know we’re in the middle of our first grant initiative – The UnFundable Project. 

In October, to mark our upcoming 10th anniversary, we invited Mecklenburg County nonprofits to apply for a $10,000 grant for a project that typically would be considered “unfundable.” We were thrilled to have 44 applicants, including some organizations that even we weren’t familiar with! 

The Review Process

The Next Stage team reviewed the applications individually and then discussed each project as a group. Projects were graded on a rubric that covered these topics:

  • Innovation
  • Justification
  • Relationship to Organizational Strategic Vision and/or Community’s Goals
  • Feasibility
  • Efficiency of Tactic/Approach
  • Sustainability

We were inspired – and felt our heartstrings pulled – by so much of what we read. We’re so proud to work in a city that’s eager to do so much good. The voting was very close but today we are excited to share the top 10 finalists (listed below in alphabetical order) who are moving on to the panel review phase.

Congratulations to these organizations:

Caroline Calouche & Co – Pay off a credit card that was used to repair a sprung dance floor that was damaged by mold.

Catawba Riverkeeper – Hire a project-based data manager to audit and modernize systems to build a public-facing dashboard that shares water quality measurements with the public.

Charlotte Bilingual Preschool – Translate and validate the transcripts/credentials of 25-40 participants in the Workforce Development Program.

Latin American Coalition – Plan, build and maintain a community garden to foster intergenerational connections in the Latino/a/x community.

Lorien Academy of the Arts – Replace the original windows in their space (a church built in the 1960s).

McColl Center – Contract an artist to document McColl Center’s work in photos and videos.

Metrolina Association for the Blind, Inc – Update the website to meet WCAG standards.

Mind Body Baby NC – Provide free, evidence-based videos that break down common perinatal challenges. 

The Frankie Mae Foundation – Provide a safe, judgment-free space to support family caregivers.

UrbanPromise Charlotte – Grow and enhance staff professional development and training.

As you can see, there was a wide range of projects submitted. We’re learning so much from this process, including that nonprofits need many things that are being excluded from typical funder priorities. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, trust-based philanthropy is important now, and it’s the future way of working.

What’s Next

Our stellar panel will complete the same process as our team – reviewing the 10 finalists individually, and then gather in person in January to discuss the results. They will decide who will receive the grant money, which we’ll announce at our celebration event on February 8 (save the date!).

Thank you again to everyone who applied!

So You Want to Be on a Board?

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As a member of the Next Stage team and experienced board member, I often receive inquiries about how to become a part of a board. How do you find a good fit and learn the right tools? Today’s blog is all about my own journey with boards, along with some tips on becoming a great board member yourself.

My Board Journey

My board journey started with the Junior League of Charlotte’s Get On Board Training. I attended the very first training session to learn about board involvement and gain knowledge on topics such as Board Roles and Responsibilities, Strategic Planning, Engagement, Fundraising, Fiduciary Responsibilities, and Impact Evaluation. The room was filled with JLC members and non-members and created a foundational learning environment for experts to cover key topics and a safe space for participants to fully engage and ask questions. Once the training was complete, the goal was to take respective interests and match them with a nonprofit(s) seeking aligned qualifications.

Many received board assignments right away, and I eventually received mine with a nonprofit that focused on literacy-based initiatives – a personal passion of mine. Since that time, I’ve served on several boards geared toward education and literacy, including the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation, Parent Child +, South Charlotte Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Sugar Creek Charter School, and others. Get On Board was the introduction and entry point to my board service for which I’m deeply grateful.

Four Questions About Boards

In addition to my own service, I reached out to a few community leaders to inquire further, and they shared the following tips for joining a board – and being a great board member:

How does board representation help/support a nonprofit institution?

  • A nonprofit’s board is a direct reflection of what the organization embodies. Board members are an extension of the organization’s brand, and ideally, a board member’s profile should positively amplify the mission and vision of the organization. 
  • Diverse representation is critical to support the work of the nonprofit. It’s also beneficial for a few board members to have knowledge, lived experiences, or ties to the mission to help determine or clarify what’s exactly needed and share a different perspective.

What characteristics are you looking for as it relates to board membership?

  • Nonprofits today need to have board members with a myriad of talents – Human Resources and Organizational Strengthening, Finance, Information Technology, Communication & Marketing, Fundraising, Strategic Planning, Data Analysis, and Legal. Some of these skills are needed in order for nonprofits to be successful for operational support.
  • Having consistent and authentic engagement with attendance, event participation, and networking, exuding a passion for the organization’s cause, and being intentional to advance the mission and engage with business and community connections are essential and valuable.

What are ways to best prepare and position a new or existing board member?

  • Onboarding, ongoing training, and board retreats are some ways to help new and existing members. Another way to help existing board members is to have an annual meeting with the Executive Director or CEO.
  • It’s also important to pair new board members with an existing board member who is engaged and willing to share pertinent information that could help them integrate successfully to the board.
  • Other examples specific to new board members include shadowing the staff, reviewing financial statements, and reading testimonials and narrative stories that have great impact for services. For existing board members, stay abreast of the strategic plan initiatives and be a resource for challenges and opportunities.


When asked, “What are 1-3 things that you wish every board member knew?,” several themes emerged that I believe are helpful for people considering board service:

  • Consider the expectations before you join.
    What are board obligations and expectations around the goals and objectives of the organization? Are you willing to leverage your social capital and networks for strategic, fundraising, and volunteer purposes?
  • Think about your willingness and ability to commit time and resources.
    What is the financial commitment to be on the board? What is truly the length of the board term? If you become an executive member, the length of term is usually extended. What is the REAL time commitment for the board outside of board obligations such as committee meetings, program attendance, exhibit openings, etc.?
  • Know the organization – and make sure that you have strong value-alignment.
    Have a deep understanding of how the organization provides its services and program offerings, and know that service is more than financial contributions. For example, who are the benefactors and what are the future plans? Also, know the elevator speech and be able to fully communicate what the organization does.


If you’re interested in learning more about board engagement, here are a few local sources that are helpful in preparing individuals for boards to check out that may be useful:

  • The Arts and Science Council (ASC): ASC offers cultural leadership training geared to supporting local arts organizations. The training is known to be competitive and expects full participation for nine monthly sessions. Also, fees are required to participate.
  • Urban League of Central Carolinas Young Professionals Auxiliary (ULCCYP): ULCCYP enlists young professionals (ages 21-40) who are willing to serve and give their time and resources to create collective impact in the community. The organization has membership requirements that apply not only to ULCC but also to the National Urban League that’s beneficial.
  • Women’s Impact Fund: Although Women’s Impact Fund is primarily focused on philanthropic endeavors in the community through the Arts & Culture, Education, Environment, Health, & Human Services, the organization does provide a valuable source of understanding nonprofits. With their membership model, committees help to uphold the organizational structure along with robust learning opportunities.

There are many nonprofit organizations who are seeking new board members, particularly around the beginning of each annual or fiscal year because of the board term commitment. Thus, I encourage you to connect with organizations that may interest you and inquire about their board selection process and guidelines.

And if you are a nonprofit seeking great board members, consider communicating your needs through your communication and your network channels. You never know who might be interested – and who might be a great fit!