As we welcome in a new year, Armstrong McGuire is wrapping up our 2024 celebration of a significant milestone—20 years of partnering with nonprofits to unlock the potential in their communities. This journey continues to be rooted in collaboration, trust, and an unwavering dedication to the social impact sector.

Throughout 2024, our team connected with nonprofit leaders, funders, and stakeholders in regions across North Carolina and beyond to gain insights, share challenges, and explore opportunities for shaping a brighter future together. From the mountains to the coast we asked questions, listened to diverse perspectives and tested ideas. Our planned gathering in Asheville was disrupted by Hurricane Helene, yet the resilience and spirit of the nonprofit community in Western North Carolina remains a powerful reminder of why we do this work.

From urban centers to rural crossroads, we heard loud and clear concerns about increasing economic disparities, housing affordability, and other social challenges in our communities. The strain these ever-increasing demands are placing on nonprofits with limited resources is palpable.

Yet, we were inspired as we heard stories of leaders navigating these challenges with great determination and conviction. We celebrated the teams, volunteers and donors who continue to show up with remarkable resolve to address the needs of their neighbors. We are inspired by their passion and admire their adaptability and agility in working to help their neighbors, build stronger communities, and bring relief and hope to people and places needing both.

As we look ahead, we recognize that the nonprofit sector must embrace bold strategies to navigate the fast-changing world around us. The stories we heard and the insights we gained are helping bring clarity for our team as we work to remain agile and capable of adapting to this changing environment ourselves. In partnership with our nonprofit and foundation clients, Armstrong McGuire will remain focused on strengthening the leadership, organizational, and resource development capacity of our social impact sector. Based on what we have learned over the past 20 years, and what we have heard and learned from sector leaders over the past 12 months, we will devote attention to several key areas:

Leadership Development. Succession Planning. Board Engagement.

Burnout, high turnover, and difficulty attracting and retaining talent are persistent issues. Investing in your people is an essential component of your organization’s success. Strengthening the pipeline of diverse, skilled leaders and engaging younger generations in leadership roles is vital. Strategically focusing on talent acquisition, professional development, succession planning and team engagement will foster stability and help nonprofits achieve deeper impact.

We heard loud and clear from nonprofit and foundation leaders that Boards must embrace new, more effective governance and financial oversight practices while also championing the mission, vision and strategic direction of the organizations to the communities they serve. Improved board recruitment and onboarding as well as focused engagement efforts and accountability are needed to equip your board members for emerging challenges and opportunities.

Embracing Innovation.

Overlap in services, insufficient coordination, and inefficient technologies and methodologies often leads to diluted impact. From adopting new technologies like AI, rethinking traditional operating structures, to committing to competitive compensation to attract and retain the best talent, nonprofits must foster a bold and unapologetic culture of innovation, investment, collaboration and partnerships to amplify their mission-critical impact.  

Reimagining Funding.

Many organizations are grappling with declining funding, inconsistent support, and difficulty securing multi-year commitments. Competition for fundraising talent, both staff and volunteers, further compounds these challenges. Adapting to shifting donor demographics and sentiments is critical for financial sustainability. From cultivating younger donors, to exploring unrestricted and multi-year funding, to embracing the philanthropic potential of crypto currencies, to helping faithful, longtime donors find joy in considering planned gifts, development teams must recommit themselves to relationship-based fundraising strategies that are rooted in an understanding of the motivations of their donors.

Embracing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Systemic inequities, unequal access to funding, and limited opportunities for marginalized leaders remain barriers to progress. As some are pulling back from addressing these realities, nonprofits have an opportunity to champion the powerful impact we can have on society when we embrace and celebrate the gifts, talents, and lived experiences that make us unique and authentic.

I, alongside Managing Director Shannon Williams, had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Patton McDowell, founder of PMA Nonprofit Leadership and host of the Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership podcast, brought to you in partnership with Armstrong McGuire, to discuss our tour of the state more in depth. Check out the first episode of 2025 here.

Steve Jobs once said that "The only way to do great work is to love what you do." I love the work we do at Armstrong McGuire, and the people we do it with. We believe deeply in our social sector and in the potential that exists for addressing the challenges facing our communities. We also believe that our sector must adapt and embrace a pace of change that allows us to remain leaders in bringing bold ideas and solutions that have significant impact. We are honored to walk alongside you in this important work and look forward to continuing this journey together.

Here’s to the next 20 years of unlocking the potential in our communities. Cheers!

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Bert is the Co-Founder and Principal of Armstrong McGuire. Learn more about Bert and check out his other musings in his bio.