9 Years and Counting
Friends,
Today is Green Gate's 9th anniversary.
This morning, as I was reflecting on this milestone, I stumbled across this quote:
The ability to ask beautiful questions—often in very unbeautiful moments—is one of the great disciplines of a human life. And a beautiful question starts to shape your identity as much by asking it as it does by having it answered.
– David Whyte, poet
And it struck me that Green Gate started because I quietly asked myself the question: "Is it possible to love my work and do something that feels meaningful at the same time?"
With each small step I took, I gathered the evidence to answer that question with a "Yes. It is possible."
Questions have been foundational in our evolution as a business and in my growth as a human being. I've learned to regularly ask myself bigger questions like:
"What is this experience here to teach me?"
"What is my intention with the business?"
"Am I bringing the best of myself to this moment?"
As a business owner, every part of you gets tested and challenged, and you quickly learn that there is never any way around the difficulty—only through it. Questions allow us to see what’s possible—to recognize what might be rather than just what is. I’ve learned that when you prioritize asking beautiful questions, you will always find a way forward.
Over the years, I’ve come to realize that our ability to question is also what makes us good at our work. Questions help ground everything we do in strategy, allowing us to be more than just order-takers for our clients; by asking the right questions, we become partners in their missions.
I am grateful for nine years in business, and for the opportunity to live into the questions not yet asked.
Katherine Branch
Founder & CEO, Green Gate Marketing
More Green Gate News
Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates and tips on how to improve your marketing and communications.
Your donation page is the heart of your fundraising campaign. It’s where your campaign drives traffic and where all of your messaging and design come together to convert moral support into financial donations. We’ve put together a checklist to make sure your donation page is performing the way you need it to.
Identity is a complex thing. With brands as with people, there are multiple layers: who you are, how you look, and—ultimately—the things you do. Authenticity occurs when all of these things exist in alignment with one another.
To continue growing, nonprofits must build a thoughtful and intentional brand that leverages their strengths while taking into account their unique goals and challenges.
That process begins with brand strategy.
If you pay attention to brands and marketing, you may have noticed that “purpose” is having a moment, particularly with for-profit brands. Although you don’t hear that word as much among nonprofits. To understand why, we need to look at what these foundational statements actually are.
So much has happened in the past 10 years, both in the world and in our optimistic corner of it. In honor our 10th anniversary, we're giving ourselves the gift of a new brand!
Your visual identity is important. It’s part of what attracts people and it’s also how they recognize you. Ideally, the way you look also communicates a lot about who you are and what you care about. But just like there’s more to every book than its cover, there’s more to who you are than the way you look.
We’ve made some effort in the last few years to prioritize our own marketing, but it’s been a while since we looked at our brand with any real intention. Coming off of our Nonprofit Marketing Summit presentation on rebranding, however, we decided to fix that.
At the Nonprofit Marketing Summit, we shared branding insights with nonprofit professionals from all over the country. To accompany the presentation, we also developed a range of free resources exclusively for Summit audiences.
Katherine Branch will be leading a session at this year’s Nonprofit Marketing Summit March 5 - 7. We hope you can join!
For nonprofits—as well as all organizations—a brand includes who you are intrinsically, what you look like (i.e. your visual identity), and how others perceive you. Brand development is about creating and maintaining alignment between these various dimensions.
6 ideas for ways you can connect with supporters and improve donor retention, all while building a more engaged and positive culture at your nonprofit.
Over the years, I’ve come to realize that our ability to question is also what makes us good at our work. Questions help ground everything we do in strategy, allowing us to be more than just order-takers for our clients; by asking the right questions, we become partners in their missions.
What donor personas are, how to create effective ones, and how you can leverage them to serve your nonprofit’s goals and mission.
Green Gate was recently honored with a silver Anthem Award for Nonprofit Fundraising Campaign in the category of Education, Arts, and Culture.
As nonprofit fundraisers, it’s crucial that we learn to communicate not just with compassion, but with a deeper, more ethical intention.
Increase donations with a campaign-specific donation page that tells your story, engages supporters, and converts visitors.
Green Gate’s Founder and CEO, Katherine Branch, recently sat down with Kristen Rocco for a wide-ranging interview on Bold Moves: How Did You Know.
Both our CEO/Founder, Katherine Branch, and our Director of Strategy, Christian Carerra, recently attended this year’s Association of Fundraising Professionals ICON event in New Orleans.
Effective events are a lot of work, but in the end, they pay for themselves both financially and in the support and memories you create. Here’s provided a 10 step guide that your nonprofit can use to plan and host a successful fundraising event.
Maximize your nonprofit's impact by avoiding donor fatigue. Learn how to attract, engage, and retain supporters with these funnel strategies.
Learn the basics of good storytelling and how to structure your campaign to build emphasis at the right moments.
Green Gate's Founder and CEO is helping AFP’s Greater Atlanta Chapter promote opportunity, equality, and stewardship through effective communications.
Discover how the latest AI language model can help jumpstart your creativity and streamline your content creation.
We’ve come a long way toward gender equality, but we still have far to go.
Here are 6 tips on how to make the most of #GivingTuesday and support a cause you care about. Get involved and make a difference in 2023!
Discover how you can leverage storytelling, online and offline giving, and promotional assets to maximize your end-of-year fundraising campaign.
Learn how to connect with audiences by identifying your brand's unique qualities and developing an authentic tone of voice.
From outdated design to poor performance, learn how to determine whether it's time to invest in a new website.
Learn how a coaching workshop for women helped our founder identify her top personal values and use them to guide her life.
Learn how one client surpassed their fundraising goal by incorporating visuals, telling a story, and keeping donors updated.