The last year has brought a lot of change and a lot of new learnings. And from healthcare to poverty to racial justice, social good organizations are looking to find new solutions that meaningfully impact these important issues. However, as with any big social impact initiatives, that will require that organizations embrace learning from the inevitable failures along the way. That’s why today we’re bringing back an episode from August 2019 featuring Kate Robinson, executive director of the documentary film Failing Forward: On the Road to Social Impact.
Kate talked to host Steve MacLaughlin about how nonprofits and other social good organizations can use failure to make a bigger impact. Listen to the episode to hear what Kate Robinson has to say about learning culture, the questions that organizations should be asking to improve programs, and what role funders play in the process of failure and learning.
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There’s always something that can throw your organization’s budget off track. Some crises are worse than others – the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, for example, brought completely unforeseen challenges – but even if internal or external factors don’t rise to that level, you can count on some type of shift.
Today’s episode covers how to prepare for budget shifts so you are ready when they come. Listen in to hear Mary Aquino and Melissa Rancour from Blackbaud University talk about how to identify potential causes of budget changes, understanding the legal process for budget shifts, and anticipating and handling fundraising impacts.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
Webinar: Keep Calm & Carry On: Handling Unplanned Budget Changes
Article: Budget Changes? Keep Calm and Carry On with These Tips!
Article: Annual Planning in an Ever-Changing World
Quotes:
“When the economy’s up, most of the time donations tend to go up with it. But when the economy’s down, then donations normally decrease too.”
“Sometimes people don’t realize there’s a domino effect that kind of goes on with these shifts.”
“Word of mouth is not a budget update process.”
Relationships are everything. While networking may be a buzzword, intentionally building a community and making deep and meaningful connections can have vast positive professional impacts. But how do you get started?
Today’s guest has answers. Susan McPherson, founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies and author of the new book The Lost Art of Connecting, joins the podcast to talk about how she became such a prolific networker, the differences between networking and connecting, and the steps to take to build a network of meaningful connections.
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Quotes:
“For introverts and shy people, meaningfully connecting is actually a little more tolerable and palatable and doable.”
“If we lead with how we can be helpful to others, the help will come back.”
“Every single one of us has secret sauces.”
For decades, fundraisers have been trying to understand some of the differences in philanthropic giving between men and women. And, while much remains to be studied regarding same-sex families, women in heterosexual households have increasing financial power. It is a crucial element in understanding decision-making about giving across households.
In today’s episode, you’ll learn more about that process as you listen to Jeannie Sager and Jaquie Ackerman of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, part of the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, talk about this year’s Women Give report. They explain what they were hoping to understand from the research, how it compares to previous years, and how the conversations couples have about philanthropy can affect their giving.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
Women Give 2021: How Households Make Giving Decisions
Women’s Philanthropy Institute
Quotes:
“Joint giving is still the norm.”
“Most households seem satisfied with the way they make giving decisions.”
“Having robust conversations about giving results in robust giving.”
This episode was originally published in September 2019.
As a charitable organization, how can you leverage the popularity of live streaming to fundraise? How do you find a live streamer to pair up with? And how can you build and have a successful relationship with live streamers?
Today’s episode features Alyssa Sweetman, the Charity Program Manager at Twitch. Tune in to hear her talk to Roz Lemieux, director of Blackbaud Labs, about how nonprofits and other social good organizations can work with live streamers, also known as content creators, to raise money on live streaming platforms.
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Twitch
Alyssa Sweetman
Article: How to Harness the Fundraising Power of Twitch
Today’s guest has a mission, and that mission is to teach the people who are doing good how to get noticed by using their words. Erica Mills Barnhart is the CEO of Claxon Marketing, and she joins the podcast today to discuss what people in the social good community need to be saying in order to get noticed in a good way.
Listen in to hear Erica discuss why a social good organization needs an elevator pitch, the biggest mistakes that she sees, and how nouns and verbs need to be used in a mission statement. You’ll also learn how to craft an effective elevator pitch for your organization.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
Pitchfalls: Why Bad Pitches Happen to Good People
SSIR Article: Great Mission. Bad Statement. Why the social sector should worry more about words.
Quotes:
“Think of it like an invitation. When the door opens, what’s the invitation?”
“There is very much an emotional piece for those in the social good space. We care about what we’re doing. Deeply.”
“There’s always two stories being told even if it’s one or two sentences. What you think the story is, what’s coming out of your mouth, and the story that’s heard and received.”
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Joanne Pasternack, president & chief impact officer at Oliver+Rose and creator of Athletes’ Voices, about her work with athletes who want to engage in philanthropy. Listen in to hear about how Joanne is helping athletes and examples of athlete stories that she is particularly proud of.
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Quotes:
“We are based on the philosophy that athletes could and should and can speak up on any issue that’s of interest to them.”
“In truth, there’s nobody better you could hire than somebody who’s been through everything and has worked over the barriers that have been in their way.”
“You might have kicked the own goal. But, like, what are you going to do next? What’s the next chapter?”
We already relied on technology to communicate before the pandemic, but over the past year we’ve become even more dependent on video and digital communications to live and work. So, how can you make use of the tech you need to navigate the world without succumbing to burnout?
Today’s episode features mindfulness expert Meico Marquette Whitlock in an excerpt from the sgENGAGE Rethinking Change webinar series. Listen in to hear Meico explains how distractions impact us and how to make space for mindfulness and intentionality to avoid burnout.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
7 Steps for Mastering the Art of Work/Life Balance in a Digital World Starter Kit
Webinar: Why Technology is Ruining Your Love Life (And What You Can Do About It)
Rethinking Change webinar series
Working in a Changing World eBook
Quotes:
“It’s not lost on me that it’s not your first or your last perhaps of conversations mediated by video like what we’re having today.”
“The science tells us that it is physically impossible to do multiple things simultaneously.”
“One of the first things that slowing down allows us to do is it allows us to get clear about our aim or our intention.”
The last year has taught us that change is the only constant - however, that makes it difficult to stick to a traditional 3-year or 5-year strategic plan. So, how can social good organizations plan in a way that allows for change?
Here to talk about why adaptive strategy is the new strategic plan is Steve Strang, senior consultant and practice director at Spectrum Nonprofit Services. Listen in to hear what Steve has to say about what an adaptive strategy is, what it looks like when organizations implement an adaptive strategy, and how to get started.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
How to Implement Adaptive Strategy in Nonprofits
Annual Planning in an Ever-Changing World
2021 Planning & Goals Workbook and Calendar
Quotes:
“As tough as the last year has been, being adaptive helps your organization get through crisis moments like this.”
“The important piece to not only this but moving into any strategic process is buy-in from all your stakeholders, especially internal stakeholders.”
“Your budget is really a document that shows how you actualize your strategic plan.”
Database administrators (also commonly called database managers, DBAs or DBMs) are often operating behind the scenes, outside of the spotlight. However, DBAs are critical team members and it’s important they promote their value within their organizations.
That’s what today’s host and guests are here to discuss. Listen in as guest host Ashley Sweeney, Technical Solutions Engineer for Blackbaud talks to Sunshine Watson, Donor Database Manager for Valleywise Health Foundation, and Carlene Johnson, Database Administrator for BC High, about how they shine as DBAs and make sure their value is recognized. They also discuss the importance of networking and continuing education.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
Confessions of a Nonprofit Database Administrator
Confessions of a Nonprofit Database Administrator, Part II
Quotes:
“Just being able to be a fly on the wall sometimes helps me so I can do my job better.” –Sunshine Watson
“When I’m paying attention and listening, I can hear the pain points.” –Carlene Johnson
“Because of networking, I was much more easily able to land a position that had the kinds of things I was looking to work on.” –Carlene Johnson
Everyone knows about Giving Tuesday, but it’s not the only giving day out there. At this point, a lot of organizations are running their own giving days that have become a part of their regular giving and fundraising programs. Today’s guests, Kelly Cortes of St. Joseph’s College, New York, and Jeffrey Starrett, of Pine Crest School, join the podcast today to talk about how their organizations gave implemented these giving days and what lessons they’ve learned from their giving days.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
5 Tips for Successful Online Giving Days
Quotes:
“We try to raise about a third of our money in one day now.” –Jeffrey Starrett
“This year, our office, and we’re an office of nine, we did all the texting.” –Jeffrey Starrett
“If we have 90-year-old donors that we have to stay in touch with, we do still do a direct mail campaign and we can keep that piece of it there for them so they can still give in a traditional envelope on giving day.” –Kelly Cortes
Sometimes, change is hard – especially when it seems that there isn’t enough money or other resources to accomplish your organization’s mission. However, by adopting the right mindset, social change leaders can begin to attract more support. That’s where today’s guest comes in.
Nell Edgington is the president of Social Velocity, a management consulting firm for nonprofit organizations, and the author of Reinventing Social Change: Embrace Abundance to Create a Healthier and More Equitable World. She joins the podcast today to discuss moving from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset and what that looks like for social good organizations. Listen in to hear what Nell has to say about why there’s a scarcity mindset in social good organizations, what to do to move to an abundance mindset, and how social change leaders can bring others along into their abundance mindset.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
Reinventing Social Change: Embrace Abundance to Create a Healthier and More Equitable World
Quotes:
“A scarcity mindset is essentially believing that there’s not enough.”
“That scarcity mindset is itself that’s holding these nonprofit leaders back.”
“A broken system isn’t going to change itself.”
Over the past year, a lot of experts have joined the show to talk about the different ways that social good organizations can respond in the age of COVID-19 to continue their missions and impact. Now that we are almost a year in, what have we learned and how can we retain the new donors we’ve had give to our organizations?
Today, Melissa Bank Stepno, Director of Analytics & Business Consulting Services at Blackbaud, joins the podcast to talk about some lessons we’ve learned from organizations that have been successful with engaging new donors during the pandemic. Listen in to hear Melissa speak with Steve MacLaughlin about why retention matters so much right now, how to successfully leverage personas, what organizations are doing differently from a data and analytic standpoint, and how to cut through the noise and better communicate with donors.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
Supporters in Sight Part 4: A Look at Direct Marketing Personas
The sgENGAGE Podcast Episode 144: Leveraging Personas for Fundraising During COVID-19
Quotes:
“In some ways, 2020 gave us acquisition by happenstance.”
“Those of us who do appreciate the arts want to make sure that when the world returns to whatever our new normal looks like, those organizations that we supported in the past are still there.”
“I do think I’ve seen a lot of organizations who didn’t have good data and analytics practices realize how critical it is this past year.”
Interpersonal and communications skills are essential skills that are vitally important for achieving success in the workplace. But what are the most important interpersonal skills for the way that most of us are working now? And what are the best practices for communication, especially virtual communication? Today’s episode answers those questions.
Today, you’ll hear from Anne Converse Willkomm, Assistant Dean of the Graduate College at Drexel University, talks about interpersonal skills for today’s changing workplace. Listen in to learn about the five most important interpersonal skills, how they’re related to each other, and how you can build strong communication with colleagues and others.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
Drexel University Professional Services Blog
Working in a Changing World eBook
Rethinking Change webinar series
Quotes:
“To be successful in today’s workplace, social professionals like yourselves really need to develop and enhance your interpersonal skills.”
“When we’re open-minded, we can see things more clearly from another perspective – which is really empathy – which often means we can turn something negative into an opportunity.”
“Without empathy, people’s voices are not heard. Resentment can build, dysfunction can set in, and then there’s a loss of productivity.”
There’s no question that online communities are more important than they’ve ever been in the past. These communities can offer real action and tangible support to all types of people who live anywhere in the world.
Today’s guests, Lesley Pinder, Head of Supporter Experience for the British Red Cross and Lucy Caldicott, Founder of ChangeOut, discuss their Facebook group, Fundraising Chat, as an example of community development, the sector supporting each other, and lessons learned. Listen in to learn how they set up the group, how they navigated the rules of the group, and how they’ve continued to grow the community.
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Quotes:
“The people that we seeded the group with, which wasn’t – in hindsight, we can pretend we were being really strategic – but were people that we knew were already really active on social media and already had really good networks.” – Lesley Pinder
“We’re accidental community managers – Lesley Pinder
“When you’ve got something like George Floyd’s murder and everyone’s talking about that in every other space, it felt completely negligent to not do something in Fundraising Chat.” –Lucy Caldicott
Employees are a business’s most valuable asset, which is why more companies are starting to implement employee relief programs to provide a crucial safety net in times of disaster and hardship.
Holly Welch Stubbing, CEO of E4E Relief, joins the podcast today to discuss the results of E4E Relief’s employee impact survey and why employee relief programs are good for business. Listen in to hear Holly discuss how employee relief funds differ from other charitable efforts, the possible negative consequences for companies that don’t consider the impacts of employee stress, and how companies can start an employee relief program.
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Quotes:
“It is not ideal to wait until a disaster strikes.”
“When you’re launching something short-term and long-term, you want to know what your financial implications of that are.”
“I think we’re still trying to get our arms around what the impact is going to be of COVID.”
While lapsed donors are inevitable, there are strategies you can use to both reacquire them and prevent attrition in the first place.
In today’s episode, Stu Manewith, Director of Thought Leadership and Advocacy for Omatic Software and Bailey Benzlé, Director Of Pre-Sales & Sales Enablement for Omatic Software, discuss leveraging data quality and strategic communication to increase the win-back rate. Listen in to hear them talk about how to identify those donors most likely to re-engage and the steps to take to create a successful win-back strategy.
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Quotes:
“I guess we have to understand that lapsed donors are going to happen. They come and they go.” –Stu Manewith
“Look internally and ask yourselves which bucket here you fit in.” –Bailey Benzle
“When resources are limited - time, money, etc. - make sure that you are first targeting the donors that are most likely to re-engage.” –Stu Manewith