[Editor’s note: Today, we say a tearful goodbye to Sonia Leone, our creative director and one of Give Lively’s earliest hires. As she describes below, she began as a contractor, but turned her talent, enthusiasm, clarity of vision, determination, virtuosity, collegiality and kind-heartedness into a force that reached all parts of Give Lively and our member nonprofits. Very much in character, she leaves us all with the wisdom of her experience, two qualities Give Lively will miss, though her mark is indelible. Thank you, Sonia, for all you have been and all you have brought to us.]     

Your nonprofit does work that matters. You know it, your team knows it and the people you serve know it. The tricky part? Getting everyone else to see it, feel it and want in.

That has been the primary challenge of my job for nearly nine years. As Creative Director at Give Lively, I have helped tell the story of a free fundraising platform built for nonprofits like yours. I have also learned more than I can express from the organizations we serve. 

Now I'm stepping down and saying goodbye to the company where I went from making a single video to leading our brand, web, email and visual communications. Pinch me!

But before I go, here are the five lessons I'd love to hand to every nonprofit team out there.

1. Start with one thing, then share every idea

Back in 2017, I was hired by Give Lively as a contractor to make one animated video. Just one! By the end of that year, I had made several more. Then I did what any excited creative would do: I told my then manager, Brooke, every single idea I had for the brand. I had a brand new Master's degree and a whole lot of curiosity, but zero experience in the nonprofit world.

Here's the thing. You don't need a big budget, a full team or even a decade of experience to get started. One video, one email, one story told really well can open the door to everything else. But you have to speak your ideas out loud. Someone might be eager to hear them.

2. Expect change and grow with it

If there's one thing the nonprofit sector guarantees, it's change. Funding shifts. Teams shrink and grow. The channels that reached your donors this year might totally miss them next year. But the organizations that thrive aren't the ones dodging change. They're the ones built to roll with it.

I lived it. Give Lively went from a tiny team in New York City and everyone doing a little bit of everything to a larger and fully remote company in 2020. During that time, we did a full rebrand and are about to embark on a new one this year to help us assert our unique identity in an increasingly crowded space. Every shift made us rethink how we work and how we tell our story. And every single time, we came out stronger.

So plan for change instead of bracing for it. Keep your mission steady but your methods flexible. Hire curious people who get excited about learning the next tool and give them room to grow. When your people grow, your story grows along with them.

3. Make it simple, human and a little joyful

As Give Lively was becoming a prominent nonprofit fundraising platform, the organizations we served needed great tools they could use without a background in tech. So our brand had one job: make giving feel simple. Human. Clear. And yes, a little joyful.

A brand is so much more than a logo. It's every touchpoint: the video on your homepage, the email in a donor's inbox, the ad that stops someone mid-scroll. We treated each one as part of the same story, told in the same voice, with the same warmth. And sometimes with a little extra sparkle, like the time I designed Beyoncé's hand and ring for a video about her donating. True story!

Your supporters are busy. Clear and human wins their attention and joy is never, ever wasted. A brand people enjoy is a brand people remember.

4. Give your people room to own, try and fail

The best work rarely comes from people waiting for permission. It comes from people who are trusted to own their work, test ideas and sometimes get it totally wrong.

At Give Lively, I got to prove myself through action, not polished answers. That ownership gave me space to explore, experiment and fail forward. And it shaped our brand as much as any style guide.

Ownership also means room to disagree. Our team pushed back on each other constantly and the work only got better for it. Healthy debate is how good ideas get sharper, not a sign of a broken team.

If you lead a nonprofit team, make it safe to try, to question and to miss. That room is one of the best investments you'll ever make.

5. Choose partners who truly show up for you

The tools you choose matter. The people behind them matter even more. A platform is only as good as the team that answers when you need help, listens when something isn't working and genuinely believes in your mission.

That's what makes Give Lively special. Behind the technology, people are truly there for nonprofits. That care runs deep in the culture. The same people who show up for nonprofits showed up for me, too. They stood by me through big life changes, tough seasons and motherhood, always with the flexibility and trust to keep growing, both at home and at work. A team that takes care of its own is a team you can count on.

So find partners who show up. Keep rolling, keep trying new things and surround yourself with people who believe in your mission as much as you do.

What nonprofits taught me

What stays with me most about my time at Give Lively is the nonprofits themselves. Nine years of watching them do more with less, remain committed to their communities and keep going when things get hard. Honestly? That's the real story behind every campaign we launched and supported.

I'm leaving my role at Give Lively, but not the lessons. I'm taking nine years of knowledge, experiences and a deep, deep appreciation for nonprofits with me. As I step into new creative paths and more time with my two young sons, I plan to keep freelancing as a creative consultant for mission-driven organizations and entrepreneurs whose values align with mine. Maybe one day I'll even start a nonprofit of my own. Who knows?! This sector has a way of pulling you back in.

Wherever your mission takes you next, remember this: your story deserves to be seen, and a story told well can take you anywhere.

To my Give Lively colleagues: I'll miss the collaboration, the collages, the honest debates and all the shared wins with people who made a remote team feel like family.

Thank you Give Lively, and thank you to every nonprofit that let us be part of your story.