Bright side

It must be summer, because nonprofits are sweating–and not just due to the heat, which has been knocking on 100 degrees here. Gas prices, a faltering economy, a rapid-fire series of natural disasters, and other ill winds are combining forces to challenge the resourcefulness of nonprofits to the max.

And that’s the gentle way of saying it. I could put it in harsher terms, but I don’t need to, because an army of recent reports and news articles have done that already, painting a gloomy portrait of the sector in contrast to the June sunshine. As I was copying and pasting this post, even, I was interrupted by a phone call from a reporter asking for a statement on the “perfect storm” of misfortune for nonprofits. Thanks for reminding us, mass media.

But we’re focusing on the positive around here, and luckily, we have some peppy compatriots to remind us all that the glass is half full: for example, Kivi Leroux Miller over at Nonprofit Communications, the d’bug blog, and the San Diegans, keeping things upbeat when others are heralding the Apocalypse. Just try going to the Good News Network and searching “nonprofit.” You get 50 hits. How cool is that? But it’s hardly a surprise. After all, we’re good at doing a lot with a little, and we’re still doing good things, and we have a lot to celebrate.

So the journalists looking for weepy stories of nonprofit woes will just have to dust off a sunnier angle as we push the positive and focus on what rocks.

And if nothing else works, we can all just move to San Diego.

P.S. How has your organization, or another you’ve seen, risen to recent challenges? Give them a shoutout in the comments section below.