11 Nonprofit Thought Leaders You Should Be Following

Looking for some inspiration? Check out these social media accounts and websites from the best thought leaders the nonprofit sector has to offer.

(Side note: many of these folks have spoken at Cause Camp, and, who knows, maybe some of them will come back this year!).

1. Julia Campbell (@JuliaCSocial)

Julia is an author, consultant and speaker who helps plan and launch modern nonprofit marketing campaigns. She helps organizations get more visibility and online connections through improving their social media presence and websites. She also has a ton of free resources like webinars, online classes and blog posts.

1. Vu Le (@NonprofitAF)

Vu takes a humorous, realist approach to nonprofit management with his blog called “Nonprofit AF.” He knows the ins and outs of the industry and tells it like it is, providing a fresh, light-hearted take on even the hardest-hitting content. With articles like “These 10 adorable bunnies want you to read this blog post about fiscal sponsorship and equity” and When you base pay on salary history, a unicorn loses its horn,” reading the serious stuff becomes a little more bearable—and a lot more fun.

3. Shanon Doolittle (@sldoolittle)

Shanon has a unique focus: along with usual fundraising efforts, she places an especially high importance on donor appreciation after they decide to give. “Put simply: If you’ve got donors dropping like flies? It’s time to point more appreciation their way,” she says on her website.

4. John Haydon (@johnhaydon)

John is another sought-after digital marketing expert for nonprofits. He’s had massive success helping major organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Komen Greater NYC with their fundraising. Along with coaching nonprofits, he’s a best-selling author and public speaker.

Update: Following a courageous battle with cancer, John passed away on February 9, 2020. John’s legacy will live on in his last book, Donor CARE. boldandbrightmedia.com/john

5. Dan Pallotta (@danpallotta)

Dan is an avid writer, public speaker and activist who focuses on unleashing the “untapped potential” in individuals and the nonprofit sector as a whole. His 2013 TED Talk entitled “The way we think about charity is dead wrong” is one of the 100 most viewed of all time.

6. Beth Kanter (@kanter)

Beth has made waves in the nonprofit sector with her viral blog and massive social media presence. In her 35 years in the field, she’s acquired 350k followers on Twitter, written over ten books and trained nonprofits on every continent. Her blog teaches fundraising strategy, donor retention practices, motivational stories and so much more.

7. Kishshana Palmer (@funddiva)

Kishshana left behind her life in the corporate world to “help professionals grow and help entrepreneurs put a little ‘do good’ in their business model.” She uses her spunk, style and altruistic attitude to coach and consult nonprofits, train boards and staff and speak at conferences.

8. Gail Perry (@GailPerryNC)

Gail is the president of Fired Up Fundraising and is an international fundraising consultant, keynote speaker, trainer and philanthropy leader. She specializes in major gifts and capital campaign fundraising. In her 30-year career, she’s helped raise over 500 million dollars!

9. Marc Pitman (@marcapitman)

Marc believes fundraising is all about leadership—so much that people often refer to him as the “Johnny Appleseed of fundraising.” He founded The Concord Leadership Group and FundraisingCoach.com, which The Atlantic calls “1 of 5 Philanthropic blogs fundraisers need to read.” He’s also a best-selling author, international speaker and the executive director of the fundraising training program “The Nonprofit Academy.” Marc knows his stuff!

10. Simone Joyaux (@spjoyaux)

Simone is an experienced nonprofit consultant and project manager. She specializes in board development and strategic planning along with individual coaching and mentoring. “I’ve worked with all-volunteer organizations with tiny budgets. I’ve worked with huge organizations with hundreds of staff and multi-million dollar budgets. And I enjoy them all!” she says on her website.

11. Tom Ahern (@thattomahern)

Tom is all about donor communications. As a self-proclaimed writer since birth, he’s written six books, worked as a “message strategist” and become a communications coach for organizations like Bloomerang. With strong backgrounds in both copywriting and sales, Tom knows how to use words to leverage people to action.

Hannah Trull

Hannah is a Content Strategist for Nonprofit Hub. On top of being a regular blog contributor, she serves as the social media manager and writes for all other content channels.

August 15, 2018

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