Cycle7 Communications

06/15/2026

Nonprofit friends, quick question:

Are you telling a nice story about your work… or a funding story that foundations and philanthropists can actually say yes to?

I made this short video for executive directors and fundraisers who are:

• Getting “we love this, but can’t fund it right now”

• Struggling to connect heartwarming stories to hard outcomes

• Wondering what funders really need to hear in a case for support

In the video, I walk through the key shift from:

• A general impact story that tugs at the heartstrings
➡️ to

• A focused funding story that shows strategy, results, and exactly what a grant or major gift will unlock next

🎥 Watch the video here, then take a look at your latest proposal or campaign draft:
are you telling a nice story, or a funding story?

For a deeper dive, you can read the full blog post too:
👉 The Difference Between a Nice Story and a Funding Story
https://cycle7comms.com/the-difference-between-a-nice-story-and-a-funding-story/

06/08/2026

Nonprofit friends: there’s a big difference between a moving story and a funding story.

A moving story might make a donor tear up.
A funding story helps a foundation or philanthropist see:

• The scale of the problem you’re tackling

• The concrete outcomes you’re delivering

• Exactly what their dollars will make possible next

If you’re hearing “we love what you do, but we’re not able to fund this right now,” it might not be your impact that’s the issue.
It might be how you’re telling the story of that impact to funders.

I wrote about the gap between a “nice story” and a true funding story, and how executive directors and development teams can bridge it in their next proposal or case for support.

Read the full post here:
👉 The Difference Between a Nice Story and a Funding Story
https://cycle7comms.com/the-difference-between-a-nice-story-and-a-funding-story/

If you’re an ED or fundraiser, I’d love to hear: what’s the hardest part of writing funding stories for foundations and major donors?

Picture this: You’re working late, trying to pull a last-minute grant proposal together when you come to that part of the application where you need to

06/02/2026

Nonprofit friends 👋

You’re doing important work every day. But are you turning that work into clear, human impact stories your donors, funders, and community can actually see and feel?

Impact stories aren’t just “nice to have” content. Done well, they:

• Show what has changed because of your work, not just what you do

• Build trust by pairing real people’s experiences with meaningful data

• Give you reusable content for fundraising, reporting, social media, and more

I’ve just published a new blog post on how nonprofits can approach impact storytelling more strategically — from what to collect, to how to frame it, to where to share it so it actually supports your goals.

👉 Read it here: https://cycle7comms.com/impact-stories-for-nonprofits/

If you’re an ED or comms lead, what’s your biggest challenge when it comes to collecting and sharing impact stories right now?

Photo by Theo Crazzolara on Unsplash Human service charities change lives for the better. They help people make gains in health and employment, improve

06/01/2026

Nonprofit friends 👋

Does your marketing and communications feel like a mix of good intentions, urgent requests, and “we’ll get to it when we can”?

A simple, realistic communications plan can make a big difference for a small team. It helps you:

• Get clear on who you actually need to reach and why

• Tie your messages back to your mission and strategic goals

• Focus on a few channels you can actually maintain, instead of trying to be everywhere at once

I just published a new blog post that walks through how to build a nonprofit marketing and communications plan that fits real-world capacity, not an ideal-world org chart.

👉 Read it here: https://cycle7comms.com/nonprofit-marketing-communications-plan/

If you’re an ED or comms lead, I’d love to know: what part of creating (or sticking to) a communications plan is toughest for your organization right now?

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash If you lead a small charity or nonprofit, watching the communications feed of a national charity is a little

05/27/2026

Nonprofit friends: how many impact stories are stuck in your head right now? The “small” moments you witness every week but never quite find time to write down.
A participant who finally felt like they belonged.�A client who avoided a crisis because your team showed up at the right time.�A community that looks just a little more connected than it did last year.
Those stories are gold for funders, partners, and your community. But turning them into something you can actually share — in a report, a grant, or a post — can feel overwhelming when you’re already stretched thin.
That’s why I created an Impact Story Starter Kit for busy EDs, program staff, and small comms teams. It gives you:
* Simple prompts to pull real stories out of case notes and conversations
* A clear, repeatable structure so you never have to start from a blank page
* Practical tips for consent and ethics, so you can share your impact stories with confidence
This is a free resource, designed to help you capture the change you’re already creating — and use it to move more money, build trust, and advocate for your mission.
👉 Get your free Impact Story Starter Kit here:�https://cycle7comms.com/impact-story-starter-kit/
If you download it, I’d love to hear: what’s one impact story from your work that deserves to be told this year?

Free Download for Non-profit Leaders Stop Starting from Scratch. Five Story Frameworks for Busy Executive Directors You know your work is making a

04/20/2026

If you lead a nonprofit/charity or work in comms, you probably know this feeling: lots of effort, lots of requests … but no clear communications plan holding it together.

In this short video, I introduce a Practical Communications Plan – a simple way for EDs/CEOs and comms staff to:

• Get on the same page about goals and audiences
• Focus on a small number of priorities
• Build a plan you can actually carry out with the capacity you have

Watch the video, then check out the full article for the details and steps:
👉 https://cycle7comms.com/how-to-build-a-practical-communications-plan/

04/14/2026

Nonprofits do life-changing work, but their strongest stories stay “stuck in the room” instead of showing up in grants, reports and donor updates.

I’ve just published a new guide on impact stories for nonprofits in human services: how to create data-informed, consent-driven stories that actually move money and respect your clients’ dignity.

In this guide, you’ll find:

What an effective impact story really is (beyond a nice anecdote)
How to balance emotion, data and ethics in your storytelling
Why so many organizations struggle to capture and share stories
Practical ways to build capacity: story banks, consent processes, team habits and more
If you’re an executive director, development director or communications lead at a charity or nonprofit, this is for you.

👉 Read the full guide here: https://cycle7comms.com/impact-stories-for-nonprofits/

What’s the hardest part of impact storytelling in your organization right now — time, data, consent, or culture?

Photo by Theo Crazzolara on Unsplash Human service charities change lives for the better. They help people make gains in health and employment, improve

04/07/2026

Ever scroll through a big national charity’s feed and think, “How on earth are we supposed to keep up with that?”

If you’re leading a small‑ or medium‑sized charity or nonprofit, there is nothing wrong with you or your team. You’re just trying to match a level of communications capacity that was built over years, with more staff, bigger budgets, and a lot more infrastructure than you have right now. When smaller teams try to copy that, it usually shows up as late posts, missed opportunities, and a constant feeling of “we’re dropping the ball.”

And it’s not just frustrating — it’s exhausting. Many nonprofit employees and leaders are already stretched thin, and an overstuffed comms plan can quietly push a team toward burnout.

Instead of doing “all the things,” there’s a kinder, more realistic approach: right‑size your communications. That means:

• Being honest about the hours and skills you actually have

• Focusing on 2–3 priorities for the next 90 days

• Choosing 1–2 key audiences and 1–2 channels you can show up on consistently

• Letting the rest go (for now) so you can protect your mission and your people

I’ve turned this into a simple framework I call the Practical Communications Plan, designed specifically for small‑ and medium‑sized charities and nonprofits who are tired of feeling overextended. I share the full approach in my latest post, “Stop Trying to Communicate Like a National Charity: How Small Nonprofits Right‑Size Their Communications.”

If you’re reading this and thinking “yep, that’s us,” I’d love to help. I offer a 30‑minute Clarity Call where we’ll map your current comms load and identify 1–2 concrete changes to reduce overwhelm and refocus on what actually moves your mission forward — whether or not we work together afterward.

Check out the post linked below. If you’d like that kind of reset, comment “clarity” below or send me a DM, and I’ll send you the blog link and my booking link.

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash If you lead a small charity or nonprofit, watching the communications feed of a national charity is a little

04/02/2026

Nonprofit communications can lead to competing priorities, limited time, and pressure to ‘be everywhere’ at once. If you’re wondering whether your comms are actually effective, aligned, and realistic for your team, this might help.

I’ve created a free Practical Communications Plan Self‑Assessment to show you what’s working, what’s missing, and where to focus next.

Take the self‑assessment: https://cycle7comms.com/practical-communications-plan-self-assessment/

How is your organization doing with communications? Take the following quiz to find how much you could benefit from a Practical Communications Plan. Scoring:

04/01/2026

"Nonprofit communications can lead to competing priorities, limited time, and pressure to ‘be everywhere’ at once. If you’re wondering whether your comms are actually effective, aligned, and realistic for your team, this might help.
I’ve created a free Practical Communications Plan Self‑Assessment to show you what’s working, what’s missing, and where to focus next.
Take the self‑assessment: https://cycle7comms.com/practical-communications-plan-self-assessment/
"

How is your organization doing with communications? Take the following quiz to find how much you could benefit from a Practical Communications Plan. Scoring: