Through the Noise

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#180 Global Fund for Children - Susan Goodell Jun 02, 2016

Show notes

Susan Goodell today joins us to talk about her role as Executive Director of the Global Fund for Children. The Global Fund is a nonprofit that funds and strengthens smaller, grassroots organizations around the world that are using creative approaches to solve problems for the world's most vulnerable children. Ms. Goodell talks about the importance of corporate partnerships which allow her organization to have a greater impact by reaching, training, and funding additional groups that may not have access to corporate donors. They currently assist and are helping grow 230 partners around the world with a small staff of 25 and understand the necessity of storytelling in fundraising and awareness campaigns.

Susan Goodell is an experienced non-profit professional who has been serving as the CEO for The Global Fund for Children for just over two years now. She came to The Global Fund for Children with a background in fundraising, corporate partnerships, non-profit management and public policy, and is now committed to strengthening the work of grassroots partners working with children around the world.

The Global Fund for Children finds and invests in small, locally led grassroots organizations that transform the lives of the world's most vulnerable children.

#179 Community Lodgings - Lynn Thomas and Jasmine Witcher May 30, 2016

Show notes

Lynn Thomas, Executive Director of Community Lodgings and Jasmine Witcher, Director of Development join us today to talk about their work in Alexandria, VA which works to lift people out of homelessness and help them transition into stable housing and self-sufficiency. Lack of affordable housing is a growing problem around the country and it is particularly bad in the Washington, DC area so Community Lodgings provides a way for families to live in an apartment, rather than a shelter, while going through their very successful program. Working with dedicated caseworkers, the clients learn budgeting skills, receive help getting out of debt, and resolve other barriers to transition to full housing. Jasmine Witcher shares her persuasive "Ask" which is key in fundraising to make the work of Community Lodgings possible.

Lynn Thomas joined Community Lodgings as Executive Director in January 2014 bringing 30 years of nonprofit leadership experience, particularly in grants administration, affordable housing and supportive housing management. She is a certified housing counselor, holds a Master's of Human Services from Lincoln University, PA and is an active member of the Governing Board of the Alexandria Partnership to Prevent and End Homelessness.

Jasmin brings over a decade of experience in the non-profit sector, specializing in housing and homelessness issues. In her role at Community Lodgings, Jasmin oversees all aspects of a comprehensive development program to provide long-term funding stability for the organization.

Community Lodgings is an Alexandria, VA based nonprofit established in 1987 with a mission to lift families from homelessness and instability to independence and self-sufficiency through transitional housing, affordable housing and youth education programs

#178 Advisory Board - Graham McLaughlin May 26, 2016

Show notes

Graham McLaughlin has a pretty cool job. He gets to help his community and help his colleagues do the same through managing the Corporate Responsibility office of the Advisory Board Company. The Advisory Board is a consulting firm focused on making mission-driven organizations do their work better and more effectively but they are also known for their commitment to giving back to the communities around the world where their 4,000 employees live. Through their corporate responsibility program, they encourage employees to donate their time and skills to local organizations doing something meaningful and allow everyone to volunteer 10 daytime hours every month in order to maximize their impact. Don't miss this episode to find out how a workplace policy that builds in the ability to work for others is making the individuals volunteering more focused and better at their jobs while improving their cities and towns. Could something like this work for your organization?

Graham McLaughlin is the Managing Director of Community Impact at Advisory Board Company. In addition to his business role, he is the co-founder of Clean Decisions, a social enterprise supporting and hiring only individual coming out of incarceration, and has been published or profiled in Guardian Sustainable Business, Washington Post, ABC News, Forbes, National Journal, Washington Business Journal, and others for this professional and personal work

The Advisory Board Company, a global technology, research, and consulting firm partnering with 125,000 leaders at over 4,000 organizations across health care and higher education

#177 Signature Theatre - Eric Schaeffer May 23, 2016

Show notes

Today we sit down with Eric Schaeffer, Artistic Director of Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. He founded the nonprofit theater in 1989 with actor Donna Migliaccio to stage smaller, more innovative, and challenging productions then available at the time in the Washington, DC area. Their productions are consistently nominated for awards and in 2009 they won a Tony award -- the most prestigious award of the theater world -- for best regional theater. Signature Theatre also has an educational component with two full-time staff and teaches programs in schools as well as teaching adults. Find out how Eric Schaeffer turned a dream into a one of the most respected theaters in the country.

Eric Schaeffer is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Arlington's Signature Theatre. Under his leadership, the Theatre was honored with the 2009 Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional Theatre in America, as well as 90 Helen Hayes Awards with an additional 368 nominations for theater excellence in Washington, DC. On Broadway, Schaeffer directed Gigi, the critically acclaimed Follies as well as the Tony Award®-winning Million Dollar Quartet, Glory Days and Putting It Together.

Recipient of the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award®, Signature Theatre is a non-profit professional theater company in Arlington, Virginia dedicated to producing contemporary musicals and plays, reinventing classic musicals, and developing new work.

#176 Verto Solutions - John Cox May 19, 2016

Show notes

John Cox is a managing partner of Verto Solutions, an association management firm which run most -- or all -- staff functions of associations. Working with seven different organizations, they help plan and execute conferences, membership programs, and technology solutions. Social media is one key realm where nonprofits need to improve in order to have a dialogue with their members. Don't miss this informative episode covering generational change, Millennials, technology, and connecting people.

John Cox focuses his skills helping associations serve their members in effective and innovative ways. He has provided advocacy, communications, and legal counsel to the food and cosmetic ingredient industries since 2000. John is a lawyer, a communicator, and an association executive, bringing passion and expertise to all three roles.

Verto Solutions is a professional management and scientific services company located in Washington, DC. We specialize in providing thoughtful and effective solutions to clients in food, agriculture, and science-focused industries.

#175 Unemployment Services Trust - Donna Groh May 16, 2016

Show notes

Today we're joined by Donna Groh, Executive Director of Unemployment Services Trust -- a sponsor of Through the Noise. Like many of the guests on our show, Unemployment Services Trust exists to serve nonprofits helps them become more effective organizations. Many -- if not most -- nonprofits overpay in taxes and UST analyzes nonprofits and provides cost-saving support. They are also expanding their focus to assist nonprofits in retaining employees while also offering a placement assistance programs in the event that someone must be laid off. Ms. Groh mentioned that 65% of their members don't pay annual admin costs for the programs because the interest from their savings account covers it. Listen up to find out how you can save your organization money and better prepare for the future

As the Executive Director of UST, Donna Groh is responsible for the effective management of the Trust and manages relationships between UST, its service providers and its partners to assure the Trust is meeting the needs of its members. Groh has broad experience in not-for-profit organizations, associations and healthcare. Donna was the Executive Director of Toastmasters International where during her tenure the international membership grew by 50% and their net assets doubled. Prior to that, she served as Director of Operations & Business Development for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Previously, Groh was Vice President/COO of the Irvine Medical Center and Regional Hospital. She has a BS and Master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and has completed coursework for an Ed.D in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University.

UST's purpose is to help nonprofit organizations manage and reduce their unemployment costs, while also helping remove back-office burden and paperwork, so they have more time and more money for their missions.

#174 CostTree - Nicolie Lettini and Cathy Galbraith May 12, 2016

Show notes

A lot of people get into nonprofits because they are passionate about the mission or cause of an organization, not necessarily because they are stellar accountants (though there are some). That's why we've brought back Cathy Galbraith and Nicolie Lettini of CostTree to clarify some of the most opaque aspects of nonprofit management. Lately, funding trends have started moving in the direction of understanding direct and indirect costs and it is important for nonprofits to get it as well. Too many are stuck in the "Nonprofit Starvation Cycle" -- constantly struggling to produce tremendous results without accurate funding in place. Join us today to find out how you can more appropriately fund your work.

Overhead on the mind of most nonprofit leaders these days. The new Uniform Guidance, which pulls together eight different OMB circulars, has changed the way federally funded nonprofits get reimbursed for their indirect costs (overhead). For more than 16 years, CostTree's CEO, Nicolie Lettini, has created cost allocation plans and indirect cost rate proposals (ICRP) for government agencies. Now she is bringing that experience to the nonprofit world. According to Lettini, "It's time to stop starving nonprofits and allow them to achieve their true impact. It starts with reimbursing them for their true costs,"

CostTree is a cloud-based cost allocation software that simplifies the process of creating an indirect cost rate and allows for maximum transparency.

#173 Building Momentum - Brad Halsey May 09, 2016

Show notes

Brad Halsey is CEO and Founder of Building Momentum, a firm based in Alexandria, VA that specializes in intensive technological training with practical applications. Working in the high-paced, high-stakes, and high-pressure environment of a warzone, he created solutions that were put into place to directly save lives. His enthusiasm for education is contagious and since returning from his time in Iraq, he has been using it to educate government contractors, government officials, teachers, and -- recently -- children. Ernesto and Blake have some great ideas to help him grow his newest venture.

Brad Halsey, CEO of Building Momentum and of the non-profit TechGarden, is at his best when he is solving, or teaching others to solve, the hardest, most important, and the most time-critical technical problems we face. Brad prides himself as an experienced and extremely motivated scientist who thrives at leading or mentoring teams of fellow scientists, engineers, educators, community members, veterans, and kids to develop bespoke technology to rapidly solve critical technology problems—especially in challenging, austere, and combat environments.

TechGarden is focused on providing the resources for teaching problem solving with technology to the community—especially underserved communities, veterans, educators, and kids. TechGarden aims to create a project-centric educational resource—a build space—where people learn how to create solutions using the tools of technology.

#172 The School Superintendents Association - Dan Domenech May 05, 2016

Show notes

Our guest Daniel Domenech joins us from the American Association of School Administrators. He has been the Executive Director AASA since 2008 and a member since 1979. Known as the "School Superintendents Association," AASA represents 13,658 administrators who manage every facet of the school system from the details of the classroom to the grounds of the schools. 98% of school superintendents used to be teachers so they have an intimate understanding of the workings of the classroom and the needs of students, teachers, and parents and bring that to the running of the school system. While all superintendents manage a tremendous workload with each school, the size of school districts vary widely and the school systems in Virginia and Maryland are some of the largest. Join us to learn more about the workings of school systems, a discussion of teacher vs baseball player pay, and moving away from No Child Left Behind.

Dan Domenech is the Executive Director of AASA The School Superintendents Association. AASA represents all of the nation's school superintendents and is an advocate in the Nation's Capital for public education and a provider of professional development for its members. For 27 years Domenech was the superintendent of schools in Fairfax County Virginia and school systems in New York. He is the author of "Personalizing 21st Century Education" and numerous other articles and publications.

#171 Goris Communications - Denis Goris May 02, 2016

Show notes

Dennis Goris is the principal of Goris Communications who joins us not long after the firm he helped found 30 years ago underwent a transformation from Bremmer & Goris. Goris Communications now focuses (almost) exclusively on nonprofits to help them project a unified brand and identity. With so much turnover passion and personalities in the nonprofit world, it's easy and common for organizations to lose sight of the big picture of what they are showing the world and Goris Communications helps by bringing a fresh, outside perspective to redefine, refocus, and emphasize their brand. As Dennis Goris asks "Do you want to be a house of brands or a branded house?" Selling ideas, concepts, and solutions can be a lot harder to distill than something concrete like a car, a house, or an experience. Join us for business and stay for pleasures as the conversation turns to the exploration of art and how to rectifiy commerce and art when your passion becomes your living.

Dennis is president and creative director at Goris Communications in Alexandria Virginia where he has directed projects and campaigns for over 300 organizations, including associations, nonprofits, fortune 500 companies, and the US government.

Goris Communications is a creative powerhouse specializing in branding, messaging, and communications that add value by helping organizations identify what makes them unique.

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