As we approach the end of the year, nonprofit organizations of all sizes are gearing up for one of the most critical periods in their fundraising calendar— the end-of-year campaign. This campaign not only allows you to finish the year on a strong...Read more.
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By Val Neumark on September 19, 2023
By Val Neumark on September 8, 2023
In today's rapidly evolving workplaces, effective communication and collaboration are more important than ever. We all come from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, making it crucial to understand each other better. One innovative...Read more.
By Val Neumark on August 22, 2023
In the realm of problem-solving, the old adage "two heads are better than one" often rings true. When minds come together to tackle challenges, new solutions can emerge that might have been elusive to us when we were alone, working, and thinking in...Read more.
By Val Neumark on July 18, 2023
Case Study: Urban Strategies Council Partnership For nearly 7 years, rootid has been co-designing learning groups for nonprofit leaders, providing a safe and supportive environment for peer collaboration and exploration. One such partnership took...Read more.
By Val Neumark on June 15, 2023
They say, "A picture is worth a thousand words," and a well-crafted pitch deck can capture the essence of your mission, convey your impact, and inspire potential funders and donors to support your work. In this article, we will explore the key...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on June 4, 2023
The deadline to transition to Google Analytics 4 (GA 4) is fast approaching! In the rush to get GA 4 set up on your website, preserving your historical Universal Analytics data is often overlooked. Google has already announced that it won’t store...Read more.
By Maya Chupkov on May 3, 2023
California has come a long way when it comes to fighting for disability rights, but those of us who communicate with verbal diversity, what most people understand as a stutter, still belong to a community that often goes unrecognized.Read more.
By Val Neumark on April 27, 2023
As we count down the days to our anniversary, we thought we would do a round-up of all the articles we have collectively written about elements of a successful brand strategy over the last 12 years. Enjoy! moodboards | logos | brand revitalization...Read more.
By on March 15, 2023
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” – Dolly Parton This month we are featuring womxn working towards purpose in their own way. We have compiled a group of women that we have not only ‘rubbed shoulders’ with, but are also diligently working...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on February 13, 2023
Approaching Harm With Healing for Ourselves & Others Discussion between Reflecting Justice (Moneek Bhanot & Colleen Klus) and rootid (Sia Magadan & Val Neumark) around approaching harm with healing for ourselves and others. Transcript...Read more.
By Val Neumark on February 8, 2023
Thoughtful communication is the most effective path to connect and engage communities. It was bell hooks who said, “Building community requires vigilant awareness of the work we must do continually to undermine all the socialization that leads us to...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on January 27, 2023
We’ve all been in those planning meetings. Someone brings in the spreadsheet with the annual goals and tells you what your tasks are, when to complete them and what success looks like. Only a handful of people dominate the conversation. I hated...Read more.
By Bonnie Meyer on October 28, 2022
In the nonprofit world, donor segmentation is a term that’s thrown around when it comes to nearly every kind of donor outreach. From sending appeals to long-time supporters to inspiring new audiences, segmenting your donors is the backbone of...Read more.
By Sia Magadan on September 27, 2022
rootid's workshops, community roundtables and 1:1 work sessions facilitate spaces for collaboration with like-minded partners, development of meaningful relationships and more effective community engagement strategies that help put equity-centered...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on August 10, 2022
An extensive (but not complete) list of stock photography websites divided into themes across General, BIPOC, LBGTQIA+, Disability, Plus Size & Age Positive focused resources.Read more.
By Gabrielle Perham, MBA, Director of Marketing on August 6, 2022
When planning a fundraiser for your nonprofit or university, your donor database shouldn’t hold you back. But all too often, a dirty database, full of misplaced, incomplete, duplicate, ambiguous, or inconsistent data, limits an organization’s...Read more.
By Anjali Mehta on July 1, 2022
Every organization approaches KPIs differently. Some organizations have been meaning to start this process but haven’t gotten around to it; for those organizations...we’ve got you! Before we begin, I thought it’d be fitting to present a glossary of...Read more.
By on June 15, 2022
Our membership community facilitates spaces to collaborate with like-minded partners, develop meaningful relationships and co-design strategies to put equity-centered values into practice. what's included in rootid's community membership: Annual...Read more.
By on May 25, 2022
In these distressing times, it is vital that communities band together. Young children shouldn’t have to learn about tragic events; whether seeing it on the news, hearing about it from those around them, or experiencing it first hand - exposure to...Read more.
By Val Neumark on May 12, 2022
“We each had skills that balanced each other well, all felt strongly about contributing to positive change and making an impact through communications.” - Val This sentence sums up the founding of rootid. But since storytelling and providing the...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on May 11, 2022
It can be hard to know where to start testing your nonprofit website for accessibility issues. Feel confident by using our accessibility checklist.Read more.
By Val Neumark on April 12, 2022
When someone says the words, “it’s time for a rebrand,” does your heart skip a beat? In this 3-part series , we will examine a community-centered, values-embodied approach to the rebrand process. Part 1 will explore how we begin by centering the...Read more.
By Marcus Cinque Harris on March 16, 2022
As I scroll through hundreds of #WHM posts on my twitter feed, I wonder, how many businesses, organizations, and foundations are prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion in their core cultural values? How many organizations & institutions...Read more.
By on January 11, 2022
The problem with committing to equity, is that you might actually have to do the work! “Allyship born of heroism- not altruism- will ultimately be performative and harmful.” ― Jamie Arpin-Ricci introduction Welcome to the Nonprofit Allyship Theater...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on December 3, 2021
rootid is currently seeking applicants for a remote U.S.-based, part-time/contract, mid to senior, back-end Drupal website developer to join our small but mighty team. rootid was founded in 2011 and is a fully remote, brand, communications and...Read more.
By Russ Oster on September 14, 2021
Advocacy campaigns offer nonprofits a variety of benefits. Along with furthering your mission through political action, advocacy campaigns are an opportunity to strengthen your ties with your community and expand your supporter network. In addition...Read more.
By Team Rootid on August 17, 2021
It's time for a fresh roundup of resources, curated from our community conversations. This series highlights thought-provoking articles, clever strategies and helpful tools on a monthly basis to keep your team up to date with the latest! Get...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on July 22, 2021
rootid is currently seeking applicants for a remote, part-time (or contract if you prefer), senior, back-end WordPress and/or Drupal website developer to join our small but mighty team. rootid was founded in 2011 and is a fully remote, US-based...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on July 22, 2021
rootid is currently seeking applicants for a full-time, remote, Senior Project Manager to join our small but mighty team. rootid was founded in 2011 and is a fully remote, US-based, brand, communications and marketing studio committed to being a...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on July 20, 2021
rootid is currently seeking applicants for a remote, full-time, senior, back-end WordPress and/or Drupal website developer to join our small but mighty team. rootid was founded in 2011 and is a fully remote, US-based brand, communications and...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on May 14, 2021
Digital communications has quickly grown to be one of the most important ways we, as nonprofits, engage our communities. But are we clearly communicating to everyone through these mediums? According to the Center for Disease Control , more than 61...Read more.
By Team Rootid on April 20, 2021
It's time for a fresh roundup of resources, curated from our community conversations. This series highlights thought-provoking articles, clever strategies and helpful tools on a monthly basis to keep your team up to date with the latest! Get...Read more.
By on February 23, 2021
rootid is currently seeking applicants for a Part-time/Contract, Production Designer (Web & Print). Want to use your combined skills as a production and graphic designer to serve movements for social justice, community impact and positive change...Read more.
By on February 17, 2021
Nonprofits will explore, share and learn with peers how to leverage technology to increase staff bandwidth and the impact of their work.Read more.
By Val Neumark on January 28, 2021
Having a clear communications strategy is critical to adapt, act and shape the future you envision for our communities. Cohort Logistical Details: Start Date & Time: 8/19/21, 9am Pacific Frequency: Meets on Thursdays at 9am Pacific for 5 weeks...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on January 27, 2021
Looking for better ways to use and more effectively communicate data at your organization?Read more.
By Val Neumark on January 27, 2021
Having a clear communications strategy is critical to adapt, act and shape the future you envision for our communities. Cohort Logistical Details: Start Date & Time: 5/6/21, 9am Pacific Frequency: Meets on Thursdays at 10am Pacific for 5 weeks...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on January 26, 2021
Are you looking for ways to empower your board, staff and community as effective ambassadors of your work? Your community is full of authentic messengers that are excited to share your work. But, are they using consistent and accurate messaging that...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on January 26, 2021
Join a group of nonprofit leaders & staff to explore narrative framing during a 2-hour Virtual Roundtable. We strive to co-create spaces of meaningful connection and belonging (these workshops are not webinars). We encourage and model frequent...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on January 26, 2021
Join a group of nonprofit leaders & staff to explore narrative framing during a 2-hour Virtual Roundtable. We strive to co-create spaces of meaningful connection and belonging (these workshops are not webinars). We encourage and model frequent...Read more.
By Val Neumark on January 26, 2021
Having a clear communications strategy is critical to adapt, act and shape the future you envision for our communities. About this Event This 5-week communications and brand strategy coaching cohort provides your team the tools and techniques to...Read more.
By Team Rootid on January 26, 2021
It's a new year, and we're back with a fresh roundup of resources curated from our community conversations. This series highlights thought-provoking articles, clever strategies, helpful tools on a monthly basis to keep your team up to date with the...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on January 12, 2021
SFDUG: 11/11/21 Design work and website builds are fraught with power and identity dynamics. Too often the design and build processes do not center the needs of those most impacted by its outcomes. Since 2019, rootid has been standardizing all of...Read more.
By Val Neumark on November 13, 2020
During this time of racial reckoning in combination with the global pandemic and catastrophic climate change, we must seize the opportunity to reinvent, reimagine and more effectively communicate a collective vision—a world of interconnectedness and...Read more.
By Peggah Azarvash on October 18, 2020
Picture this: one of your supporters is scrolling through their social media pages when your newest peer-to-peer campaign or crowdfunding post catches their attention. Eager to help, they log into your website, locate your donation page, and submit...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on October 14, 2020
Who doesn’t love a good discount? Nonprofits often have limited budget and bandwidth, which makes discounted digital tools all that much more important. Software and technology can be a huge capacity builder for nonprofits of all sizes. Used...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on October 14, 2020
Date & Time: October 14th, 2020, 9:30am to 12:30 PDT Location: Online Nonprofit staff and leaders will explore how to leverage technology to increase their staff bandwidth and scale their mission’s impact in our communities. The Summit is more...Read more.
By Andrew Berry, Head of Marketing and Customer Success at Donately on August 11, 2020
Even before the pandemic changed many aspects of our daily lives, virtual fundraising in the nonprofit sector was becoming more prevalent with each passing day. Now, due to social distancing guidelines, it’s absolutely imperative that your...Read more.
By Josh Meyers, Director of Marketing at OneCause on July 20, 2020
Getting started with virtual fundraising has been a major shift for organizations of all sizes over the course of 2020. It’s been a challenging year that’s required us to rethink everything, from how we craft impactful messages to conducting online...Read more.
By Sayana Izmailova at Content Marketing Specialist on June 20, 2020
The pandemic has forced fundraisers to shift from in-person focused fundraising to creative and engaging virtual events and activities. Can you relate? When you switch up how you engage your supporters, it’s easy to have donors slip through the...Read more.
By Val Neumark on June 8, 2020
Like many of you, our team has been filled with a lot of conflicting emotions around the recent events - anger, fear, frustration, inspiration and energy to fight. Internally, we have been holding a lot of discussions over the last year about race,...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on June 2, 2020
Our nation, in the midst of crisis, has found itself at a crossroads. The direction we take from here—whether good or bad—will not only impact policy, but shape culture and affect generations to come. It all depends on the steps we take today. That’...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on May 19, 2020
Today, we’re thrilled to announce a special collaboration with our longtime partner, the David Brower Center . The partnership is dedicated to helping environmental organizations adapt in the midst of this pandemic, creating more resilient...Read more.
By on March 31, 2020
Effective nonprofit messaging is critical to nurturing your existing community and growing new relationships. It can also be hard to communicate the reason that your organization exists and the impact that is has in one crisp statement. This post...Read more.
By on March 31, 2020
Donor personas are a critical building block of any effective nonprofit communications and marketing plan. If you have never created a donor persona or constituent persona before, we have put this post together as an easy guide that will walk you...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on March 24, 2020
This page is being updated on a regular basis to reflect new resources that our team and partners are finding and have distributed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest. Public Health Information CDC CoronaVirus Information CDC...Read more.
By Andrew Berry, Donately on January 25, 2020
As a nonprofit, your biggest asset is your relationship with the donors supporting your mission. Your next biggest asset is the data you collect on those donors. Nonprofit fundraising is a practice of continuously improving practices to thrive with...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on January 2, 2020
We all know how important it is to maintain a fresh, engaging website. But did you know the average site undergoes a major redesign every 3 years ? Imagine the time, staff energy and money tied up in a recurring project of that magnitude—not to...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on November 18, 2019
#GivingTuesday is just around the corner, and with it, the opportunity to see a substantial increase in support for your nonprofit. Since its inception in 2012, the movement has raised over $1,000,000,000 online in the United States—including last...Read more.
By Val Neumark on July 5, 2019
Sample Slide Deck Outline/ Template Social change isn’t easy. Your organization may have the best of intentions, but unless you can convince others to join you, you’ll never make the impact you’ve been dreaming of. You need volunteers, donors, and...Read more.
By Guest Author on June 20, 2019
This has been a tumultuous time for all nonprofit organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic, limited in-person engagement, rising rates of screen fatigue, and a variety of other factors have complicated the already difficult task of fundraising. In the...Read more.
By The Rootid Team on June 11, 2019
Rootid is thrilled to announce our renewed partnership with Full Circle Fund in 2019! Since 2016, the partnership between Full Circle Fund and Rootid has focused on accelerating nonprofit impact to make the Bay Area a more diverse, equitable and...Read more.
By Val Neumark on May 15, 2019
We are excited to announce our 2019 brandUP participating organizations. Atma Connect is an award-winning creator of software products and digital services that connect people to report problems, share solutions, and improve their communities from...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on March 29, 2019
On April 10th, two of our founders, Valerie Neumark and Andrew Goldsworthy present their session on Design Strategies: Our Process for Building User-centered Websites . Below is a little bit about their session as well as the slides and links to...Read more.
By Val Neumark on March 27, 2019
How do you make visual language decisions and why? Current trends vs. universal constants need to be considered, as well as cultural contexts, ie. what may seem 'standard' in the US or for English speakers, maybe be very different elsewhere. If we...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on March 5, 2019
Few great things in the world were created without first planning, then measuring. So, why is your nonprofit any different? All too often, it's hard to know what should be measured and what should not be. What is really important for your nonprofit...Read more.
By Val Neumark on February 8, 2019
Nominations and applications are now open for the 2019 brandUP , a free 2-day intensive marketing and communication workshop co-presented with Full Circle Fund . One of last year's nonprofit participants Frailty Myths has now had some time to...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on February 7, 2019
Wouldn’t it be great if you could organize and sort your Google Analytics data in more detail so we could understand which campaigns and marketing channels were most effective in moving your nonprofit’s mission forward? With Google Analytics UTM...Read more.
By Jericho Gonzales, Content Marketing Specialist at Campaign Monitor on January 11, 2019
The need to boost donor retention is necessary to keep your nonprofit organization up and running. This is one fact we can’t ignore. Cultivating a strong and lasting relationship with donors proves valuable for nonprofit organizations in acquiring...Read more.
By Val Neumark on December 14, 2018
Last year, we showed you a great way to save time and money by letting your web team produce a website for your annual report. Online presentations are easy to deliver and easy to track, making them the perfect approach for conscientious...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on November 28, 2018
Email marketing is one of the most powerful marketing channels that nonprofits have at their disposal. According to research, the amount of revenue generated by nonprofits through email marketing continues to grow. In 2017, email donations increased...Read more.
By on November 27, 2018
Now in its eighth year, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season each November by encouraging global giving via social media. It’s a collaborative effort between nonprofits and civic organizations, small businesses and large corporations—not...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on October 25, 2018
We have good news for you! Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways for your nonprofit to raise funds, increase membership and build a stronger support base. Unfortunately, there’s bad news too. This year, your email list will degrade...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on October 12, 2018
Understanding your target audience is critical to building effective fundraising and marketing campaigns. But, it’s hard to know where to begin with the research process when building nonprofit personas. Stakeholder interviews and donor surveys can...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on September 27, 2018
“I’m a real data person.” I hear this all the time from our nonprofit clients. And, honestly, we love data too! The real question: "How is your team making marketing and fundraising decisions based data you collect?" Furthermore, are those data-...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on August 10, 2018
If your website uses Wordpress, you may be aware of the big update that is coming to 5.0. There are mixed emotions in the Wordpress community about the new editing interface, called Gutenberg. Regardless of which side you sit on, you better get...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on August 8, 2018
A nonprofit logic model is one of the most versatile and useful tools you can have for any nonprofit strategic planning process. Your organization can use logic models for strategic planning, operational resource planning, building a communications...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on July 31, 2018
Building donor personas can be challenging if you don’t clearly understand your audience motivations. We hear from our clients all the time: “I don’t know all of our donors in a one-on-one capacity, so how can I figure out their motivations?” This...Read more.
By Aiasha Khalid on July 25, 2018
If you've done any strategic communications work, the implementation phase that follows can be challenging. You’ve spent weeks, sometimes months, creating a comprehensive communications plan only to freeze during the campaign execution. So often, we...Read more.
By Guest Author on June 20, 2018
Picture this: one of your supporters is scrolling through their social media pages when your newest peer-to-peer campaign or crowdfunding post catches their attention. Eager to help, they log into your website, locate your donation page, and submit...Read more.
By Val Neumark on April 12, 2018
Nominations and applications are now open for the 2018 brandUP , a free 2-day intensive marketing and communication workshop co-presented with Full Circle Fund . Last year's Awardee Root & Rebound has now had some time to reflect on the...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on February 9, 2018
As of January 1st, 2018, Google Grant Ad accounts that do not meet updated requirements could end up being suspended or cancelled! Assuming they are strictly enforcing the new AdWords Grant policies , you have until the end of February to get things...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on January 2, 2018
By all measures, 2017 was quite the year. Though it began with a sense of confusion and uncertainty, we can’t help but feel inspired by how our clients, friends, and partners have joined together to make a difference around the world. In 2018, we...Read more.
By Val Neumark on December 14, 2017
Even nonprofits with established identities need to reevaluate from time to time in order to stay relevant. In many cases, a brand refresh may be necessary. What is a Brand Refresh? Simply put, a brand refresh is a makeover. The goal is to enhance...Read more.
By on November 16, 2017
November 28th will mark #GivingTuesday’s sixth annual day of giving. The holiday—which follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the US—kicks off the charitable season. Brands, influencers, and everyday folks come together with a single purpose in...Read more.
By on November 9, 2017
Digital marketing has stolen the spotlight in recent years, thanks to its accessibility and reach, but does that mean print is obsolete? Not according to a Two Sides survey: “88% of respondents indicated that they understood, retained or used...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on September 20, 2017
If you're still putting out annual reports the old fashioned way—pulling stacks of statistics, rounding up designers, blowing your budget on print copies, etc.—this post might be an eye-opener for you. Not only are annual report websites generally...Read more.
By on September 8, 2017
You've spent time crafting your website— planning , designing , and writing —and now traffic is really starting to pick up. So, what's next? You may be getting a lot of new site visitors, but are they signing up for your newsletter, an upcoming...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on July 20, 2017
This title is not clickbait. It’s a real problem. It's been more than a year since Drupal 6 was abandoned by the open source Drupal community, leaving major security vulnerabilities in its wake. If it hasn't already cost your organization, it will—...Read more.
By Val Neumark on June 20, 2017
We're back with our 2017 favorite examples (in alphabetical order) of what a great non-profit website looks like and what makes it stand out. Our hope is that by emulating these exemplary non-profits, you'll soon be able to provide an even greater...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on June 8, 2017
Donor retention is a critical part of growing your nonprofit’s mission. Using a drip email welcome series is a great way to start a relationship with new constituents that hopefully lead to a long-term relationship. According to research, donor...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on June 8, 2017
Your organization's identity is tied to its logo. Well thought out design leaves a great first impression—compelling your community to engage more deeply. That's why we've dedicated ourselves to helping non-profits forge and refine their brands. We'...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on May 23, 2017
Nonprofits ask us all the time: “how can I raise more money through our website?” Although there are many moving pieces to the answer, there are several donation page best practices that will help raise more money online. Our team has compiled a...Read more.
By Val Neumark on April 11, 2017
Generating a marketing plan for a nonprofit is a daunting task, to say the least. Content strategy is an easy process that will help you figure out who you are marketing to, and how to talk with them in a way that motivates them to take action. Our...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on April 6, 2017
Let's face it—writing content for nonprofit websites can be difficult. We all know the feeling of staring at a blank page and trying to develop compelling content. Unfortunately, research shows that great content for your online marketing efforts is...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on April 3, 2017
We don’t talk much about food and drink on Rootid’s blog, but when you’re getting ready for a 3 day trip to New Orleans for the NTEN conference , you have to plan accordingly. If you’ve been to New Orleans, you know that the Crescent City has some...Read more.
By Val Neumark on March 9, 2017
Mood boards are a an effective way to discuss ideas, share insights and clarify communication. They will help you visually explain a feeling and in turn, develop a more authentic and successful brand. What makes a successful mood board process? Here...Read more.
By on February 22, 2017
Even in a debate-driven world, there’s one thing most professionals agree on: Word-of-mouth is king. Think about it. Would you be more likely to trust the intentions of a banner ad or the person sitting across from you at brunch? A recommendation...Read more.
By Jason Mickela on February 9, 2017
I've gotten support issues from several clients that all revolve around a central theme: things need to happen differently on the development server than the live server and no one wants to manually change or configure anything. I've hacked together...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on January 13, 2017
Imagine going to a new grocery store and not having a clue where anything is. There are signs, but they’re vague and confusing. Maybe they’re so obscure you don’t notice them at all. Would that make for a good first impression? If you’re anything...Read more.
By Rootid Staff on December 21, 2016
Every organization has a story. Somewhere along the line, a spark inspired someone to challenge the status quo, and that idea was tempered by milestones to forge the business we see today. What better way to celebrate that history than to put it on...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on December 6, 2016
Rootid is very excited to announce the 2016 brandUP winner - Root & Rebound. We're thrilled to be working with this amazing organization to help them build out their marketing strategy and broaden their reach.Read more.
By Val Neumark on September 8, 2016
Mood boarding can be tough, but is a great excerise to help generate a new look and feel for your brand. We've generated an infographic to that makes creating a mood board fun and easy in four simple steps. Below we've written out a step by step...Read more.
By Val Neumark on September 1, 2016
Information architecture and page hierarchy can make or break you. Your interface should be designed with your end goals in mind. Website visitors arrive with many levels of literacy, attention spans and 'will' to figure out how to use your website...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on August 29, 2016
If you are like most nonprofit marketing professionals, you’re overworked and under-resourced. Email automation is the solution you’ve been waiting for! Setting up marketing automation systems that trigger emails and autoresponders, drastically...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on August 11, 2016
It’s hard to make your organization stand out in the crowded nonprofit space. That’s one of the reasons that Rootid started the brandUP awards . Our team saw over and over that there are a lot of great nonprofits that are facing resolvable obstacles...Read more.
By Val Neumark on August 4, 2016
"Being a human-centered designer is about believing that as long as you stay grounded in what you’ve learned from people, your team can arrive at new solutions that the world needs." -IDEO Field Guide to Human-Centered Design What is Human-Centered...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on August 3, 2016
Designing a new website, or redesigning your old website, is a large project to undertake. Larger than most people think. According to SME Website Statistic , 48% of people cited a website’s design as the number one factor in deciding the...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on July 29, 2016
Jessica Van Tuyl is the Executive Director of the Oasis For Girls organization, located in San Francisco. The Oasis For Girls program partners with girls and young women from under resourced communities to help them cultivate the skills, knowledge...Read more.
By Val Neumark on June 30, 2016
Building a logo can be as easy as ABC, or 123...yes, just like the Jackson 5 song. It is composed of basic building blocks of shapes, colors and letters. Just like a children’s cartoon, because really, if it does not read that simply, then you are...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on June 24, 2016
Increasing the speed of your website will reduce bounce rates significantly on your nonprofit Wordpress website. Decreasing abandonment rates can help drive more donations, memberships, volunteer sign-ups, and engagement rates. According to an...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on June 15, 2016
Recently, Rootid and American Rivers, a Washington, DC based nonprofit, launched a new website together that showcases refreshed branding, an updated UX design focused the use of storytelling to drive user conversions, as well as seamless...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on June 6, 2016
Keeping your audiences attention in this time of phone alerts, sound bites, social media and noise is hard. But, a powerful story is one of the most powerful ways to capture someone's attention. Relating to stories is hard wired into the human...Read more.
By Val Neumark on June 5, 2016
1. Identify your core values This is not just your mission, philosophy or that elevator speech people are always telling to you refine. These are the heart and soul of the work that you do, the high level concepts, the attributes of your brand that...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on May 31, 2016
Before you decide between Drupal and Wordpress for your next website, consider these important questions. They may mean the difference between success and failure for your project.Read more.
By Val Neumark on May 31, 2016
A style guide should have a few main components, but often times it gets bogged down in a lot of “descriptive jargon” that is just not that useful for your typical non-profit organization or association. A style guide is needed so that anyone who is...Read more.
By Jason Mickela on May 27, 2016
DrupalCon 2016 in New Orleans exceeded expectations. NOLA played an incredible host to Drupalers from around the world. Just as importantly the Drupal community banded together with energy and creativity to establish a vision for how the open source...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on May 20, 2016
Loading your website faster can drastically reduce bounce rates on your nonprofit Drupal website. Lower abandonment rates means more donations, volunteer sign-ups, memberships and engagement rates. According to an Akamia study , 47% of users expect...Read more.
By Jason Mickela on March 28, 2016
Hiring a web development firm to design and build a website can be daunting—time consuming and resource intensive. Finding a development company to work with can feel a like finding a mechanic you can trust to work on your car. Here are six...Read more.
By Val Neumark on October 22, 2015
UPDATE: Our presentation at Innovations in Healthy Food at The Federal Reserve Bank on December 14, 2016. See Slide Deck This past weekend a few of our Rootid co-hort and friends participated in the first hackathon ever organized in Richmond,...Read more.
By Val Neumark on September 15, 2015
There are a variety of ways of approaching logo design as well as determining what makes a good logo. We choose an approach that is extremely collaborative and iterative with our clients, focusing on the following concepts: simplicity,...Read more.
By Val Neumark on August 12, 2015
There are a few basic prinicpals to keep in mind when choosing typography whether it is for print or web design. Let's start with what needs to be considered for both and then we will focus on web design specifically. Personality & Tone The...Read more.
By Val Neumark on June 19, 2015
As I am sure any front-end developer can attest to, there are a lot of "small bits" (and maybe some large ones) that we as designers forget to create, or just simply overlook. This can include functionality like hover effects that maybe unclear, or...Read more.
By Jason Mickela on June 8, 2015
Making use of the Drupal progress bar is a relatively easy and straightforward process, finding information on how to do it isn't. First of all because most people will be searching for variants of 'progress bar' when they need to be searching for...Read more.
By Jason Mickela on June 3, 2015
Creating a Ctools content pane doesn't have to be a pain, I'll help you out by giving you the least you need to know in order to get off the ground. If you want to just cut to the chase (read: copy-and-paste) you can view the source for the module...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on May 28, 2015
Make your Wordpress website mobile-friendly, and pass the Google mobile test, without touching a line of code. Find out how!Read more.
By Val Neumark on April 5, 2015
We may be a small company, but that only makes a company retreat so much more important. I think many times we under-estimate the importance of time with your co-workers where you are getting to know eachother on a personal level. Company culture is...Read more.
By Val Neumark on January 5, 2015
The Essential Access Health is a statewide nonprofit that champions & promotes quality sexual + reproductive health care for all. They are leaders in passing recent legislation that as of 2015, gives those covered under another person's health...Read more.
By Val Neumark on December 17, 2014
Infographics are come in many different shapes, sizes, formats and quality. I am sharing the process in developing this particular infographic because my learning process was particularly interesting this go. Our goal was to use as much of the...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on November 21, 2014
Creating an RSS-Driven MailChimp campaign makes email marketing quick, easy, and automates your email marketing. These campaigns are triggered by your website's RSS feed everytime you post new content to your blog or news updates. Rootid uses RSS-...Read more.
By Val Neumark on November 17, 2014
Not to toot our own horn, but I think we make wireframes that are pretty good...and unique. We include some basic design elements to help clients get a clearer idea of what the final product is actually going to look like. This is unusual since...Read more.
By on June 8, 2014
Building upon our previous article, Getting Started on Tumblr , we'll take a look at building our own custom tumblr theme. For this we'll want to take a look at other simple themes to base our custom design off of. It is entirely possible to build a...Read more.
By Val Neumark on June 2, 2014
What is branding? Designers, strategists, marketers all throw this term around, but do you really know what it means? You know what your brand is, but what is “branding?” Well, it is composed of a few different things: Your Mission – This includes...Read more.
By on May 2, 2014
What is Tumblr? Tumblr is a popular microblogging platform that allows users to post a variety of media and connect with other users through follows, reblogs, likes, and other features similar to most social networking sites. While nowhere near as...Read more.
By Val Neumark on April 13, 2014
Stakeholder interviews are an extremely useful process for your nonprofit and can be used in a variety of situations. Whether you're rebranding your organization, adjusting marketing strategies, developing donor personas , creating key messaging or...Read more.
By Val Neumark on March 21, 2014
Deciding which marketing channels you want to focus on and what you want to present on those channels can be challenging. Many organizations and companies try to "do it all" and find that they are not getting the results they had hoped for. If you'...Read more.
By Val Neumark on March 18, 2014
Revitalizing your brand is not often easy and means assessing where you came from, where you are now, and where you want to go from here. It can often feel like you are starting your branding process over from the beginning, and though it will be a...Read more.
By Val Neumark on March 17, 2014
Maintaining a consistent visual presence is hard. Creating a quick brand guide can help you ensure everyone in your organization is maintaining a consistency in all of your marketing materials. Here's how to get started in 4 simple steps! 1. Pick 1-...Read more.
By Val Neumark on March 6, 2014
A mood or vision board can be a lot of things, but the most successful are small collages that end up feeling a little like an art therapy exercise. Building a brand is hard. Mood boarding is a great way to help you and your team build a visual...Read more.
By Val Neumark on February 27, 2014
Educating...I mean Engaging Your Community We throw around this idea of using stories to engage your community, audience, and site users a lot. I would say, most people take for granted that this is true and that it works to keep people interested...Read more.
By Val Neumark on January 30, 2014
Not everyone is in your target market and that is ok...actually, that is good. How are you supposed to create authentic messaging (written or visual) if you are trying to talk to everyone at once? Often times when new clients are responding to our "...Read more.
By Andrew Goldsworthy on January 21, 2014
YouTube videos are an effective way to get your supporters to act. However, until recently, it was hard to get those supporters to do anything after watching a video. Now with YouTube cards, you can drive users to any place on your website or...Read more.
By Val Neumark on January 2, 2014
Outrospective Marketing in the 21 st Century Conversion levels, effective mixed-media strategies, integrity of core brand promise, optimization…and synergy, what does all this jargon actually give you? As a company, we talk a lot about starting...Read more.
By Val Neumark on November 4, 2013
Sharon and I were talking about what is “good design” these days and she brought up the idea of minimalism—especially interesting because it is something I had already been thinking about myself. When I look around or look at the latest and greatest...Read more.
By Val Neumark on October 25, 2013
“Heretics look at the status quo and say ‘this will not stand’.” I was having a great conversation with a client last week and we were talking about how you find your “people” (…and I would say this applies both personally and professionally)...Read more.
By Val Neumark on October 25, 2013
What Does Designful Thinking Mean? I read the below excerpt by Holly Willis, a Design Educator who spoke at a recent AIGA conference and thought it was a really good way of explaining what I mean when I say “Designful Thinking” — a term being used a...Read more.
By Val Neumark on October 25, 2013
I find myself so often telling clients that the most important thing they can do is to share ideas with other experts in their field. Partially, I say this because the internet is “word of mouth” and is the most powerful grassroots tool available. I...Read more.
By Val Neumark on October 25, 2013
Oversimplified and Out of Touch, Current Advertising Lacks the ‘Nutritional Value’ Consumers Are Desperate For When I think of “going on a binge” it usually involves mass consumption of something that is not healthy over a short period of time, like...Read more.
By Val Neumark on October 25, 2013
There are many definitions depending on discipline, but here is how I define it for strategic communications: Building a visual language that connects a company’s vision and messaging to their marketing deliverables. This includes their brand,...Read more.
By Val Neumark on October 25, 2013
I thought this was a really great talk. Even though it is technically about the psychology of games and how they are being used to generate huge amounts of revenue (through facebook, online, etc.) I thought Jesse Schell presented some really good...Read more.
By Val Neumark on October 25, 2013
What really does motivate us? Is it intrinsic or extrinsic? I think you would be surprised….Read more.
By on October 25, 2013
One of my schoolmates posted this in our forum this morning, I thought it was great and wanted to share. “Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines)...Read more.
By Val Neumark on October 25, 2013
I highly recommend watching this video. If you are interested in how we need to change the way we consume and think about the world in today’s mass media and “social networking” society, this is a great place to start. It is a great talk on...Read more.
By Val Neumark on October 25, 2013
One of my dMBA collegues wrote, “Michael Jordan was able to bring out the best in everyone.” I would argue that the real question of what makes a good team is, what was Jordan doing in order to bring out the best in his teammates? How did he help...Read more.