Real Talk for the Non-Profit Event Pro

He's back! Keith Clarke, Senior Director of Corporate and Community Partnerships at Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and the most-listened-to guest in Real Talk history, returns for a conversation that's just as good as the first time — maybe even better. Keith manages a $7M+ community events portfolio that consistently holds multiple spots in Canada's Top 30 fundraising events....

Who decided your walk was 5K? And more importantly — why did everyone just agree? In this episode, host Amy Milne takes a hard look at the sacred cows of nonprofit events: the formats, distances, and details we've inherited without ever questioning whether they're actually working for us. Using real stories from her own career — including a gala that changed its dress code to pajamas and...

"Why are nonprofit event professionals still so underserved? That question is the reason I'm back." After two years away from the mic, Amy's not back because things slowed down — she's back because they didn't . In this milestone first episode of the new era, you'll hear why Amy went quiet, what she's been building in the silence, and why she's more fir...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Keith Clarke, Director, Corporate & Community Partnerships at The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. Keith started his career at PMCF as a Coordinator, and his passion for fundraising to eradicate cancer in his lifetime is what has kept him going strong 14 years later. You will often hear Keith mention the word "lucky" throughout...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne kicks off our hot seat coaching series with Pam Osmond, Fund Development Manager at Home Horizon, a local charity in Collingwood, Ontario that provides transitional housing, programs and support for youth at risk of homelessness. (Side note: if you haven't already listened to our episode with Pam, make sure you do that!). The event on the hot seat? The 15t...

On the eve of her 50th birthday, your host Amy Milne takes a moment to reflect on the past five decades which have been filled with both ups and downs, and she wouldn't change it for anything. Amy's gratitude for the life she has shines through as she shares her mantra and daily reminder with us to live life to the fullest each and every day. She truly believes in the power of acknowledg...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Pam Osmond, Fund Development Manager at Home Horizon, a local charity in Collingwood, Ontario that provides transitional housing, programs and support for youth at risk of homelessness. Pam kicks things off by walking us through Home Horizon's three signature events, which bring in almost 25% of their total revenue (who says events aren&apos...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Nicole Sinclair, Head of Hospitality at Destination Decoded. Nicole is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to creating engaging team member and customer journeys, and her passion for building and transforming teams to deliver branded experiences is like no other! There are so many parallels between the hospitality and non-profit industries and Ni...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Molly Fast, Director of Fundraising and Development at Event 360. Like so many of us, Molly didn't know what she wanted to do as a career and chose the oh-so-popular Communications as her major in university. However, when her sister completed the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Series event during their mom's breast cancer treatment, Molly just k...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne drops some exciting news! As part of our ongoing marketing and communication mini-series, we're introducing a new segment and it involves YOU: hot-seat coaching! We know how much is on your plate and that you don't always have the time to review your marketing and communications, or an outside expert to help you with those burning logistics and event...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Dr. J.J. Peterson, Head of StoryBrand and certified marketing genius. StoryBrand helps companies and non-profit organizations create a clear brand story and compelling marketing in order to grow their business. As a StoryBrand Certified Guide herself and a huge Dr. J.J. fan, this was a special one for Amy! Many non-profits struggle to talk clearl...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with a personal story; a real life experience about the virtues of perseverance and problem-solving and how it relates to all of us as non-profit event professionals. We've all been in a situation before (likely more than once!) where everyone only seems to be focused on the problem, and there's no solution in sight. Events are fraught with...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Lisa Cohen, Chief Copywriter & Wordsmith at Beyond Fundraising Inc. And we have a surprise in store for you: we're flipping the script as Amy takes the hot seat and Lisa asks the questions! After a career in Commercial Banking at Scotiabank, Lisa was was lucky enough to meet Amy through a mutual acquaintance and start her second career a...

In this episode, we are excited to kick off a mini-series that is focused on all things marketing and communications. We all know how important it is to foster deeper and more meaningful connections with our community, however we sometimes lose sight of the vital role that our communications play in developing those relationships. Let's face it, as non-profit event professionals, you wear man...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Jodi Wilding, a Certified Integral Associate Coach with a private coaching practice and a passion for helping people become who they want to be, achieve the success they desire and make the impact they are meant to have. Jodi kicks things off by talking about intentions and gives us our first of many "a-ha" moments of the episode. At th...

In this episode, we get a front-row seat to Amy's wonderful world of creativity, thoughts and ideas all centered around the theme of reward programs. She shares that a recent (joy-inspired!) spontaneous 48-hour trip to Dublin, Ireland was booked with airline points and it got her thinking about perk programs and why adding VIP benefits to our non-profit events is a must. The reasons why credi...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Seanna Thomas, Food and Nutrition Consultant and Host of Meal Prep Mondays on CP24 Breakfast in Ontario, Canada. She is a mom of three and passionate about helping parents, families and young athletes make easy, nutritious and budget-friendly meals. As busy event planners, we've all had those days where we're run off our feet and barely...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Cassidy Spencer, Director, Annual Campaign & Special Events at YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South. Cassidy has been in the non-profit sector for several years, she's passionate about events and a fan of the podcast! Amy and Cassidy dive right in to how small moments can have a big impact when it comes to bringing your cause to life, bei...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Brian Carney, CEO of Blue Sea Foundation. The vision at Blue Sea is a more generous world where charities thrive and Brian is an incredibly passionate advocate for non-profits, specifically in the peer-to-peer fundraising space. Blue Sea offers national peer-to-peer fundraising events for social service charities to consider, including the well k...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real with Jen Garden, Chapter Director for Northern Alberta at Make-A-Wish Canada. Jen has been in the non-profit sector for almost 15 years and her passion for fundraising and building relationships is contagious. Amy and Jen first met in person pre-pandemic at Camp Beyond, a one-of-a-kind conference for non-profit event pros. Jen is a big believer in fin...

Happy New Year! One year ago, this podcast was simply an idea so believe us when we say we are beyond excited to bring you another year of amazing guests doing what they do best to change the world one day at a time. In this episode, to start us off on the right foot, your host Amy Milne gets real about why we need to wave goodbye to those old new year's resolutions and usher in the era of se...

In this episode, we're serving up a full plate of year-end goodness as we hear from some of our favourite guests from 2023. Your host, Amy Milne, kicks things off by sharing that her year had more cry than laugh and cheer due to some events in her personal life. However, staying connected to the people and things that she loves the most meant that each day got a little bit better. With 2024 s...

Looking for something to read, listen to or watch this holiday? Look no further! Your host, Amy Milne, shares her top book, podcast and TV show recommendations and there's something for everyone! Whether you want to grow with some personal development, be captivated by a gripping true crime story, or tune in to some light-hearted fun, grab a hot cup of cocoa, a cozy blanket and dive in! The h...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne brings us back full circle with the return of our very first podcast guest (and one of our faves!), Jamie Lamont. When we first heard from Jamie, he was leading the Events team at SickKids Foundation, however he has recently moved to the Sinai Health Foundation as Vice President, Events - congrats Jamie! With an exciting new career move and the end of the year...

In this episode, your host Amy Milne gets real about how to take your events from good to great with her top ten tips that will have the biggest impact on your event experience. And the good news is, they don't cost a lot of money! Have you thought about revamping your communications, but don't know where to start? Not a fan of your event t-shirts, but at a loss of how to make them bette...