Would YOU give to you? Be honest.

Pretend that you're outside of your nonprofit, looking in. As a prospective donor or volunteer, do you like what you see??

Here are five questions to ask yourself honestly:?

1. Do you understand the mission? Is it easy to comprehend based on the nonprofit's website/materials??
2. Does the community seem engaged with this organization? Are friends or colleagues involved? Do they attend or volunteer at the nonprofit's events? Do they help fundraise? Have they "liked" the nonprofit's Facebook page, and do they follow the org on Twitter??
3. Is there a track record of giving? When you visit the organization's website or review their form 990 on Guidestar, can you quickly locate a list of donors? Or, more generally, how much the nonprofit raised last year in charity and grants??
4. Is the nonprofit responsive? How long would you receive a response if you were to call, email, or FB message this group? Would that response be helpful, informative, and courteous, or rushed??
5. Does the nonprofit's work excite you? Do they talk about their efforts in a way that inspires you? Do you see pictures online illustrating their excellent work and the people they serve?

?If you can answer "yes" to all five questions, your nonprofit is doing great! However, I suspect many organizations would not get a perfect score--not because they aren't doing awesome things, but because they may face more work conveying their mission to the outside world. Online presence (website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest), elevator speech, customer service, and presenting a consistent, easily understandable brand is critical if the rest of the world is to see just how valuable your nonprofit is.