About Bright+3

Bright+3 advises community, communications and fundraising leaders who want to build content programs that reach and engage audiences. We work with non-profits, campaigns and news organizations.

We provide one-to-one coaching, fractional leadership services, strategic consulting and campaign implementation.

Our team has held senior positions in nonprofit organizations, worked on candidate and ballot campaigns, and founded and led consulting teams. We understand nonprofits, their resource constraints, and the pressure their teams face to meet their mission.

Current and Recent Clients

What We Do

In addition to our communications and community coaching, leadership support and consulting, we build and support spaces that connect people who this work.

Our newsletter, Future Community, explores how organizations are navigating the intersection of content and community.

We run Future Community Jobs to share good roles in nonprofit communications and tech, content, journalism, fundraising and more.

And we host community events like Newsletter Nerd Club and conversations like Job Searching: From Chaos to Calm that bring together job seekers and coaches who can answer questions and offer support.

Leadership and Strategy

We believe that every person hopes to live in a healthy, thriving community that offers opportunity to them, their family, and neighbors. Too often organizations are stuck in their heads and old ways of working to understand what people need. And so they don't connect, have an impact or meet their goals.

So we advise communications, content and fundraising leaders who are looking for ways to find audiences, build teams that have an impact through content and storytelling, and hope to grow people power through their programs.

We help organizations find audiences and develop content and stories for them. This could be email programs, newsletters, audio or video. We develop advertising and distribution strategies, have an eye on retention and help organizations test, learn and grow their impact.

Content and Email Strategy

We run digital content audits to help you understand the data, challenges and opportunities of your email, social, web and other content products. We also help clients manage, train and develop content teams and run content production.

Community and Membership

We help nonprofits and news organizations develop stronger membership programs using content, fundraising strategy and better community management.

Technology

We help organizations through tech implementation and transition projects including CRM selection and website design and development. We are also an Engaging Networks Account Services Partner.

About Ted Fickes

Ted is a senior communications and fundraising strategist who has advised leaders and teams of local and international advocacy organizations as they sought to reach new audiences, grow their influence and create lasting social change.

Prior to starting Bright+3, Ted served as digital director at The Wilderness Society and the Environmental Law and Policy Center. He also served as development director at Citizens for a Better Environment and Colorado Environmental Coalition.

Ted has been involved in several several political campaigns, put together one of the first nonprofit technology circuit rider programs, founded Colorado Conservation Voters, and started his first consulting firm in 2002 to help progressive nonprofits and campaigns better communicate online.

He is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.