The Nonprofit Leadership Podcast discusses important issues facing nonprofit leaders in our community and features real stories from real leaders about what strategies and practices have made them successful. Enjoy the show!
How to turn volunteers into champions of your nonprofit
Mar 24, 2024
Show notes
Because nonprofit organizations thrive on the dedication of volunteers, we want to ensure we are not only recruiting the right people but also maximizing their impact. Today’s guest, Tyler Manley, shares how nonprofit leaders can improve volunteer recruitment and retention so volunteers become empowered champions of the mission.
Rob’s guest, Tyler Manley, is the VP of Growth and Engagement of Catchafire. Catchafire is the largest skills-based volunteer platform in the world. The organization aims to bring together philanthropy and employee engagement by creating and tracking volunteer opportunities with immediate impact that simultaneously support nonprofits.
Tyler outlines the 3 most important steps nonprofit leaders must take if they want to increase volunteer participation and engagement across the board. He describes the 3 different volunteer program types that nonprofits utilize and offers advice on the best way to decide what type will work best. Tyler encourages leaders to have clearly defined roles in place with volunteers, why it’s so important, and what that looks like when implemented. He warns nonprofit leaders of mistakes to avoid when creating volunteer programs, such as avoiding vague timelines for projects. Finally, Tyler explains the mission behind Catchafire, and how they connect skill-based volunteers with nonprofit organizations, for free.
How Charity Water is providing sustainable solutions to one of the world’s biggest challenges
Mar 17, 2024
Show notesHannah Bellamy
Every year, approximately two million people worldwide are dying from water-borne diseases. Lack of safe drinking water, while not a new problem, is an issue that can be solved. Today’s guest, Hannah Bellamy, shares how Charity Water allocates 100% of the donations they receive to long-term, sustainable systems that provide clean water to different communities across the world.
Rob’s guest, Hannah Bellamy, is the UK Managing Director for Charity Water. Charity Water brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Charity Water invests in long-term, sustainable solutions to communities, by working directly with local partners in 22 countries.
Hannah describes the mission of Charity Water and shares how their “one hundred percent model” allows them to allocate 100% of public donations to clean water projects. She explains how this model works for their organization and how it allows their team to have a bigger impact on the communities they serve. Hannah describes the types of clean water systems they invest in and what the vetting process looks like when selecting partners to work with. She also explains how Charity Water develops strong relationships within the organization and builds their staff. She shares how the organization encourages team members to live out their values every day, while explaining why the organization is so intentional about transparency with donors by showing proof that clean water projects have been implemented and maintained. Finally, Hannah gives examples of fun events Charity Water has hosted that have successfully built brand awareness. She believes what is more important than having a “cool” brand, is doing cool things with your brand.
How 501(c)(8) and 501(c)(3) organizations can collaborate together for good
Mar 10, 2024
Show notesMike Lee
When most people think of nonprofits, they think of 501(c)3 organizations. Did you know that there are over thirty different types of nonprofit organizations, including 501(c)8 organizations? Today’s guest, Mike Lee, explains how nonprofit leaders can access extra financial resources for their missions, by becoming a member of a 501(c)8.
Rob’s guest, Mike Lee, is the founder of the 501(c)8 Impact Initiative. Their mission is to bring awareness to fraternal benefit societies and the education, resources, and funding that is accessible to everyday people, communities, and nonprofit organizations. These fraternal benefit societies are also known as not-for-profit insurance companies that offer a wide variety of programs to their members.
Mike explains what a 501(c)8 entity is and how it compares to a 501(c)3. He describes different grant programs offered to members of these fraternal benefit societies and how members can then use these funds to support community outreach programs like construction projects, coat drives, etc. Mike gives examples of successful partnerships between 501(c)8 organizations and 501(c)3 organizations, and how the partnerships increase community impact. For those interested in the many benefits offered, Mike describes the simple process of becoming a member by signing up for a life insurance policy. He describes other programs available to members such as discount clubs, testament services, child support programs, and college tuition programs. Mike explains that while 501(c)8 organizations have existed for over 100 years, most people, including nonprofit leaders, have never heard of them. With that said, Mike believes that with more education and outreach efforts, more people will become aware of 501(c)8 organizations.
How to improve your grant writing
Mar 03, 2024
Show notesGauri Manglik, CEO & Co-founder of Instrumentl
Whether grants generate a large portion or a small portion of your budget, it is important to be efficient in your grant prospecting process. Today’s guest, Gauri Manglik, explains how nonprofits can improve their fundraising and grant prospecting.
Rob’s guest, Gauri Manglik, is the CEO and Co-founder of Instrumentl. Instrumentl is a platform that brings grant prospecting, tracking and management into one place. The platform uses a personalized process to help grant seekers discover, research, and track their grants.
Gauri explains the top 3 reasons why nonprofits are inefficient with their fundraising and grant prospecting. She believes that if you measure things quantitatively, you can avoid these mistakes. Gauri also outlines the 4 things you need to do, in order to be successful with your grant seeking and why focusing on the funder’s perspective is vital to your success. Gauri discusses why funders require a “logic model” for grant applications. She explains exactly what a logic model is and the benefits to this type of framework for your whole organization. She shares the importance of a “win – win” mindset and why you need to be confident before you reach out to funders. Finally, she discusses why nonprofit leaders should consider offering competitive compensation to their staff.
Links to Resources: If you have questions or want to come on the show, email Rob at rob@robharter.com To be added to the monthly email update, go to http://nonprofitleadershippodcast.org/ If you have any suggestions for the show, email nonprofitleadershippodcast@gmail.com
How the right data can drive an organization’s story and impact
Feb 26, 2024
Show notesAngela Redding
It’s one thing to have a belief or a hypothesis. It’s another thing to have credible numbers available to you as a nonprofit leader looking to make a real difference. Today’s guest, Angela Redding, shares how the power of data can help shape an organization’s story and impact.
Rob’s guest, Angela Redding, is the Executive Director of Radiant Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to cultivate a more personal, positive place for faith within modern society. One of the ways Radiant Foundation does this is through their app, Skylight, which offers short meditations aimed at connecting people with their higher power.
Angela describes the mission behind Radiant Foundation and why the organization is dedicated to providing spiritual self-care tools to help people improve and manage their well-being. She describes why having partnerships with credible, global research firms has been critical to obtaining accurate data for their programs.
Angela explains how nonprofit leaders can make their mission relevant to more supporters. She also describes the factors that make it difficult to spread her organization’s message, and what her organization is doing in response. Finally, Angela dives into how social media affects our mental health. She offers advice on how we can establish a healthy relationship with technology so it doesn’t control our lives.
How to scale altruism
Feb 18, 2024
Show notesDonald Summers
When we talk about nonprofits struggling with fundraising, typically we focus on solutions that address just the fundraising aspects of that organization. But often times, perhaps most of the time, if a nonprofit is really struggling with fundraising, it’s not just a fundraising challenge, it is an organization-wide challenge. So the solution to solving the issue is much deeper and more systemic than just fixing the fundraising department. Rob’s guest is Donald Summers and he will share his guidebook for creating sustainable growth with a step-by-step guide to scaling social impact for any nonprofit mission.
Donald is the author of the book Scaling Altruism and the CEO of Altruist Partners. Altruist Partners helps mission-driven organizations of all types make their social impact goals a reality. They use proven, practical solutions to solve the biggest strategic, fundraising, and organizational challenges to amplify the good nonprofits can do. Their Altruist Accelerator program is a boot camp for small to mid-sized nonprofit teams who are dedicated to growing their impact.
Donald explains that he decided to write the book, Scaling Altruism, after recognizing the consistent results his company was making with the “Altruist Growth and Impact methodology” they implemented with clients. The goal of the book is to help nonprofit leaders improve the whole infrastructure of the organization, with a practical and easy-to-implement approach. Donald shares his opinions on why so many people are lacking trust in nonprofits, and what nonprofit leaders need to do to earn the trust of future donors. He passionately believes that nonprofits are suffering because they are being held back by certain concepts, ideologies, and approaches. Donald describes different chapters of his book, and how each chapter digs into the seven-phase process his company uses to help nonprofits scale. He also explains that for this process to be effective, nonprofit leaders have to possess certain qualities because this growth process is not as easy as it may seem on the surface. Finally, Donald shares what he believes are the biggest challenges facing nonprofits, and what organizations need to focus on to resolve these challenges.
How the Wounded Warrior Project is expanding
Feb 11, 2024
Show notesVilma Consuegra
How much should your nonprofit invest in marketing and fundraising before it becomes excessive? This is the question we aim to discuss today. Rob’s guest, Vilma Consuegra, explains how you can find a healthy balance between your marketing budget and your mission.
Vilma Consuegra is the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at the Wounded Warrior Project. WWP offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans who incurred a physical or mental injury, illnesses, or co-incident to their military service on or after September 11, 2001.
Vilma shares how she got started with Wounded Warrior Project and the impact she hopes to make in her position in marketing and communications. When it comes to effective marketing, Vilma describes what she believes are the three biggest barriers that nonprofits face. She explains what nonprofit leaders need to focus on in order to create a healthy balance between effective marketing and operating within budget. As the WWP Communications Officer, Vilma shares the two most essential aspects to effective communication. She believes a nonprofit’s mission can be propelled more successfully, if one applies both of these aspects together. Vilma describes to what degree WWP integrates the use of AI in their organization process. She also shares whether or not she believes this technology will take over staff positions in the future. Finally, Vilma explains what impact she is hoping WWP will make in the lives of veterans as they continue to grow.
How to implement effective accounting principles into your nonprofit
Feb 04, 2024
Show notesJason Kruger
As nonprofit leaders, we aim to run organizations that thrive, especially in a tough economic climate. In order to thrive, we have to be able to make the right decisions. One area that impacts our ability to make the right decisions is accounting. Rob’s guest is Jason Kruger and he explains that nonprofits who have financial clarity are better able to manage their organizations effectively, and thus make a bigger impact in the world.
Jason is the President and Founder at Signature Analytics. Signature Analytics provides expert-level accounting and business advisory solutions to small and middle-market businesses. They also have an entire team dedicated to serving nonprofits through outsourced accounting and CFO-level business advisory services.
Jason explains it is critical for nonprofits to have confidence in their accounting processes, especially when making decisions for the future. In uncertain economic times, he advises nonprofits to focus on a few areas including annual budgets, cash flow, employee output, debt strategy, and real estate. When it comes to audits, Jason suggests doing no less than one audit per year, and explains why audits are worth the expense. He explains what organizations can do on a monthly basis, to have an easier audit process. Jason describes how Signature Analytics helps their nonprofit clients establish and manage these processes, so accounting becomes streamlined. He believes the biggest factor stopping nonprofit leaders from having a sophisticated accounting process is the cost. He wants leaders to know that most Board of Directors are actually willing to invest in hiring an accounting team. Finally, Jason explains why it’s so important for nonprofit leaders to provide both timely and transparent communication about finances to their donors, team, and board.
How can we reverse the downward trend in giving and volunteering?
Jan 28, 2024
Show notes
Nonprofits have been dealing with a downward trend when it comes to the donations they receive and the volunteers that join their organizations. For example, contributions from individuals to nonprofits have decreased over thirteen percent, while corporations have given over ten percent less in 2022 compared to the previous year. Additionally, there has been a decline in volunteering for the past 10 years. With that said, there is hope for nonprofits to reverse these trends. Today’s guest, Emily Creek, believes that nonprofit leaders can harness the amazing power of market research to turn these numbers around.
Emily has been in the nonprofit space for 20 years. She is currently the Senior Director, Customer Insights & Strategy at Stable Kernel. She helps nonprofits develop strategies to overcome their business challenges, by conducting and leveraging market research.
Emily describes her role at Stable Kernel, where she helps nonprofits increase their volunteer base and improve their fundraising effectiveness. She explains that in order to compete in this current climate, nonprofit leaders need to fully understand their constituents’ needs and tailor messages directly to them. For those who don’t know the true power of market research, Emily describes the list of benefits nonprofits can obtain by investing time and money into this tool. For organizations who decide to get started using market research, it can be challenging to know where to focus first. Emily believes the most important step is making sure all the stakeholders are aligned with the key objectives. When it comes to smaller nonprofits, she explains that using market research tools doesn’t have to be too timely or expensive. Emily describes how AI can be used in the process of market research, but that there are still limitations to what it can do in this area. Finally she shares why she is hopeful for the future of nonprofits who use this amazing tool. She believes market research is like a GPS system that takes the guesswork out of everything and helps nonprofits get to the destination they desire.
What effective leadership looks like
Jan 21, 2024
Show notesTommy Spaulding
As nonprofit leaders, we are not only making an impact in the lives of those we serve, but we have the opportunity to lead others within our organizations. So what does it take to be an effective leader? Rob’s guest is Tommy Spaulding who explains how we can be better at leading our teams, what an effective leader looks like and one key underrated trait we should all develop as leaders.
Tommy is a national speaker and trainer on the topic of leadership. He is also the author of three New York Times Best Selling books. Tommy is also the President of Spaulding Companies LLC, a national leadership development, consulting, coaching, and speaking organization.
Tommy describes the two different types of leaders that exist, and which type of leader one should be if they want to build a healthy team dynamic. He believes that in order to be a servant leader who genuinely cares about others, one has to heal their own heart and learn to love themselves first. Tommy offers advice to leaders who realize they need to change and shares a specific example of something they can do to show others they truly care. He explains why it is so important for leaders to be focused on their core mission and to prove they are not easily swayed by money. Tommy believes that influence “is not a part of leadership,” but that influence “is leadership.” He also shares a powerful metaphor of the extent of our influence throughout our lifetime. Finally, Tommy shares what he believes is the most powerful, yet underrated quality of leadership, and how this quality not only impacts our team but our donors as well.
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