Nonprofit Lowdown

It's  Q4, y'all!  How many times can I say it?  You gotta get in the game!   Today's interview is with Suhailah Waheed who walks us through the top  five tips she has for how to launch a successful digital fundraising  campaign.  This includes warming up your audience, ignoring your vanity  metrics and realistic goals (i.e. you're probably not going to...

Join me and communications expert Adora Drake as we talk about some of the do's and don'ts of nurturing your email list.  We talk about content strategies, how to move your audience from social media to your newsletter and how to do it without overwhelm.  As we head into year-end, Adora talks about how to plan for the new year.  Adora also has a freebie for Nonprofit Lowdown listene...

Join me and Jess Campbell to talk about how to end your Q4 with a "W".  I always say that Q4 is the Superbowl of Fundraising and Jess walks us through how to make the most of it.  Jess talks about how to avoid the most common mistakes, how to embrace progress over perfection and ways to do year-end without making you crazy.  We also talk about "magic" words and why direct mail trump...

Join me and my dear friend Shanthi to talk about social media.  Shanthi is a social media strategist and communications expert who walks us through the nuts and bolts of social media.  More than just a "necessary evil," Shanthi tells us about where social media should fit into our fundraising strategy, how to connect with your audience and realistic ways to do social media without a dedi...

Join me and filmmakers Tosca Davis and Cedric Smith to talk about their award-winning documentary film, TO BE US: To Work.  In this interview, they share their experiences of interviewing the experience of Black people at work and the harm and trauma experienced in predominantly white settings.  We discuss the relief of knowing you are not alone, of naming white supremacy at work and how...

I bemoan the fact that there is so little understanding between nonprofit people and corporate people.  Join me and my friend Lee Crockett as we explore the motivations that corporate folks have for joining nonprofit boards and how to make sure it's a fit on both sides.  Lee talks about ways to attract, recruit and utilize corporate people on your board.  Also, we share tips on how...

Have you ever considered developing a product to support your revenue goals?  Listen in to this conversation with Brenna Vaughn, founder of Mercantile for Good as we talk about the considerations for productizing.  She shares some successes and lessons learned from nonprofits that have gone to market with their products.  We cover how long to expect an ROI, what you should do (and n...

The nexus of generosity is where mission and donor purpose meet.  Listen in to my conversation with nXu founder Yutaka Tamura as we talk about his work in unlocking and connecting humans with their purpose.  Why does purpose matter?  Turns out, it drives everything from emotional well-being, community and even fundraising.  Yutaka shares actionable tips for us and asks some rea...

Listen in on my conversation with Karene Richards as she talks about her experience as a philanthropist and board member.  We directly confront myths about the lack of Black wealth and Black philanthropists and she shares some of her tips for engaging philanthropists of color.  Ultimately, it's all about relationships, people.  Karene majored in math, is a former banker and launched...

This interview was a total delight.  Join me and my friend Adili as he walks us through how he doubled his budget in one year via strategic partnerships and Facebook fundraising.  He shares how analysis of his competitive advantage led him to partner and generate revenues from bigger partners and the value of making others "the hero."  Adili is warm, knowledgeable and an all-around...

If organizational change is hard, try doing it with a 100+ year old institution.  Join me and my friend Carole Wacey as we talk about how she bravely took the reins of WCC in NYC and took on the challenge of revamping its mission, its board, its staff and how it does business.  Listen in on the details of her cultural change efforts, how she dealt with dissenters and even an attempted co...

If you are like me, the world of online marketing and paid ads is just head-spinning.  Join me and my pal Rishi to talk about how to get started with a paid ad strategy, how to use your (FREE) Google ads grant and what paid ads are for.  If you have found your prospect pipeline and email list a little dry, then paid ads might be a strategy for you.  In this interview, we talk about...

Ever get the sense that your fundraising efforts are not driving forward your results?  Ever feel like you're experiencing paralysis by analysis?  Join me and Greg Warner, Founder and CEO of MarketSmart, to talk about how to use new technology to support the fundamental basics of fundraising.  How can you use surveys to start a conversation?  How do you lead with questions to b...

This episode will save you organizational change agents a lot of time and grief.  Have you ever been charged with leading change?  Ever wondered why the path was never as smooth as the plan?  Short answer: humans.  Nancy helps us to identify some of the major blockers of change, and how we reframe it.  She talks about empathy as the "Swiss Army knife" of change and how one...

Have you felt your fundraising mojo drain a little?  Do you dread fundraising?  If so, this interview is FOR YOU.  Join me and my new friend Mark as we discuss all the ways in a little change of perspective can make you go from "ugh" to "Yasss!"  We talk about how to put your own positive energy towards fundraising, how to make it real for your donors and, most importantly, how...

Join me and my two friends, Evin and Jessica of America on Tech, to discuss their success as start-up founders.  Evin and Jessica are best friends and co-founders of a fast-growing organization that scaled from idea to national nonprofit in only seven years.  They discuss their lessons learned, what they wish they had done differently and how they were able to build hype from the beginni...

This is a super-fun and nerdy conversation about how to systemize your fundraising systems as a small shop.  We also chat about specifics in major gift fundraising, Duane's favorite hacks and how to manage your time effectively (timeblocks!). Duane, a Director of Development at UC Irvine, shares his clear-eyed strategies on how to implement the habits and tools to be an effective fundraiser i...

Are you overwhelmed with all of the different social media platforms?  Do you feel like social media is just one of those things you "have to do," but don't really know how to monetize?  Join me and my friend Steve Larosiliere, Founder of Stoked, to talk about his social media strategy and how he's been able to build followers, parlay his social media into donors and corporate sponsors a...

Daniel is speaking some truth!  Join me and my friend Daniel Horgan to learn more about how you effectively develop corporate partnerships for your organization.  Spoiler alert: it's all about relationships.  Daniel shares some tips and best practices about how to use corporate volunteerism as an on-ramp, how to align your values and goals with your corporate partners and how to bre...

So often, when grant-seekers apply for funding, it can be a black box.  Who makes the decisions, how and why?  The process can be particularly opaque for BIPOC-led nonprofits who don't have a network to access privileged information.  Join me and Kerri Forrest, Director at the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, to share some of the changes they have made to make their funding...

This was seriously a masterclass on rebuilding a board.  Lucretia headed up fundraising for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and helped to revamp the board to reach their $100M fundraising goal.  Whether you're raising $100K or $100M, your board is key to your success.  Lucretia provides key insights from her experience, which includes how to recruit and orient new members, how...

Join me and my friend Mino Lora as she talks about what it means to truly lead with a community.  Mino is the dynamic co-founder of People's Theater Project, proud New Yorker and candidate for City Council.  Mino's irrepressible spirit, commitment to service and relentless optimism will give you hope for the future of New York.  She is a true leader for the people and exactly what w...

Ok, ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts because we're taking a ride on the #realtalk train.  Join me and master communicator and coach, Marti Fischer, as we tackle the #1 problem most Executive Directors face.  Listen in to these gems like how to identify WHY your board isn't fundraising and tactics for dealing with it.  Some other juicy topics we explore: how to make your b...

I'm the first to admit it--I HATE seeing my face on video.  As the face of an organization or company, our jobs might include being the public face, but many of us don't like it.  Join me and Jeany Park, actress turned video producer, to talk about how to come across your best in video.  We discuss why it's important to have a video strategy, how to improve your video presence and o...

For a career 501c3 ED such as myself, I thought of 501c4s as a mystifying entity.  I thought, they're like us...but different.  In this conversation with veteran nonprofiteer, Steven Choi, he pulls back the curtain on the differences between the two from a fundraising and policy perspective.  If you've ever considered a 501c4 arm of your current nonprofit, this is a valuable episode...