Nonprofit SnapCast

Latest Episodes:

Increasing Board Engagement, With Sara McCaskey Jun 25, 2024

Show notes

Sara McCaskey is the Content Strategist at Surfboard. Surfboard is modern governance software for your board of directors. The first of two episodes, Sara and I talk about Increasing board engagement. We cover:

The current state of nonprofit board engagement
Why this is a problem for nonprofits
What do you do about it?

We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

Board Recruiting Through A DEI Lens Jun 20, 2024

Show notes

Christal M. Cherry is a nationally recognized nonprofit board consultant and certified leadership coach. She is the Principal and CEO of The Board Pro. We talk about Board Recruiting with an eye on Diversity and Equity. Changing beliefs, behaviors, and practices related to board service and leadership can be challenging, but with the right coaching and tailored training you can steer your organization toward a sustainable future and an equitable governance mindset.

We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

Anthropomorphizing Technology Jun 18, 2024

Show notes

Emily Hicks-Rotella returns to the SnapCast. Emily is a Nonprofit Data & Tech Strategist with her firm, Make Tech Work For You. We talk about what positive data & tech culture looks like. Our conversation covered:

What is data & tech culture, and why is it important to consider?
Three foundational sub-cultures necessary for fostering positive data & tech culture at NPOs: a Culture of Learning, encouraging continuous professional development; a Culture of Using, promoting job-embedded training and coaching; and a Culture of Loving, nurturing a positive long-term relationship with data and technology.
How will culture look different at different nonprofits - based on size, location, mission, budget, etc.
Examples of organizations/people in this work as well. Specifically organizations like CTData and COMPASS youth collaborative, which have really well built cultures, and also smaller orgs like Our Justice and the Digital Defense Fund.

We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

2024 Salary & Satisfaction Survey Jun 14, 2024

Show notes

Our friends at Our Fundraising Search are conducting the 2024 Nonprofit Salary & Satisfaction survey. Thought leadership is an important part of what Our Fundraising Search does. The goal is to give nonprofit executives and boards insights into what it takes to recruit and, perhaps more importantly, retain talent.

Please forward this on to everyone in your nonprofit organization. We'd be honored if all nonprofit professionals would take a few minutes to share some information with us. Here’s the link to the survey: Nonprofit Salary & Satisfaction Survey

We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

Volunteering Is Back! May 21, 2024

Show notes

Geng Wang returns to the SnapCast. Geng Wang is the CEO and Cofounder of Civic Champs. We celebrate the return of Volunteering. Among the many things we discuss:

Despite popular belief based on the census (old data from 2021), volunteerism is back and appears to be above pre pandemic levels.
Multiple data points show this including civic champs data (both actual anonymized data from our customers but also surveys we have conducted), volunteermatch data, and also Google search trends.
In addition with individual giving continuing to go down, this gives organizations a great additional reason to lean into building up their volunteer programs.
Volunteering is the number signal for affinity or the willingness to donate

We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

How To Run An Effective & Sustainable Nonprofit Without Quitting Your Day Job May 14, 2024

Show notes

Kerry Stumpe and his wife are co-founders of Children of Conservation and have made it to the top of their professional careers (not quitting their day jobs) while successfully running a sustainable and impactful nonprofit in Africa. Both founders have received coveted awards of global recognition by Dr. Jane Goodall for their nonprofit endeavors. Among the things we discuss:

How to run an effective & sustainable nonprofit without quitting your day job.
Innovative partnerships with other NGO's and their benefits.
How to start a nonprofit with a business mindset without losing the passion.
How to make the most impact with your donations and avoid funding administrative costs.
How to make your nonprofit dollars go further with limited (or no) employees.
How to make the most impact as a nonprofit in remote areas outside of the U.S.

We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

Overwhelm Is A Symptom May 07, 2024

Show notes

My guest today is Sarah Olivieri, a true visionary in the nonprofit space. Founder of Pivot Ground, Sarah returns to the SnapCast to talk about the critically important topic of avoiding burnout and overwhelm. Seems simple, but you may already be overwhelmed and not even know it. Among the things we discuss:

Clearing your mind
Clearing your calendar
Clearing your to-do list
Showing up for the help
Avoiding martyr complex
Don't let someone say there's a fire where there is not a fire.

We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

CEOs, is Your Organization Too Dependent on You? May 05, 2024

Show notes

Emily Taylor, Principal of teenyBIG, returns to the SnapCast. Even the most impactful leaders have limitations. Eventually, their superhuman trajectory plateaus, or worse– drops off the cliff. No one can be everywhere at once, or all things to all people. Leaders must draw on the skills and talents of others if they want their organization to thrive. Among the topics in our discussion:

Identifying the telltale signs a leader has hit a growth ceiling
Why this issue is so critical to address for the long-term health of the organization
How organizations can begin transitioning their decision-making process from top-heavy to well-balanced

We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

Why You Shouldn’t Jump Into Your Next Strategic Plan Apr 02, 2024

Show notes

Emily Taylor returns to the SnapCast. Emily is the Principal of teenyBIG. We talk about why you may not want to jump into your next strategic plan. Many funders say you “should” have a strategic plan. But if you keep putting it off, it may signify you’ve encountered one of the four little-known reasons organizations fail at strategic planning. These challenges can limit buy-in from your team, make the plan seem unrealistic in the eyes of your community, and prevent you from getting funded. They guarantee your strategic plan remains untapped and on the shelf.

Among the things we discuss:

Identifying strategic planning success blockers within their organization
Steps to resolving the biggest 4 reasons nonprofits fail at long-term planning
Rethinking the Strategic Planning process to work for the organization vs. against it

We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

Talking Financial Leadership with Jason Kruger Mar 26, 2024

Show notes

Jason Kruger is the President and Founder of Signature Analytics. We talk about what it means to shake up the way nonprofits look at their financials. The dos and don'ts of financial leadership, and things that ALL nonprofit managers (including board members and staff) should be understanding when it comes to their org's financials.

We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.