Successful Nonprofits Podcast

Dolph talks with Joe Vella, former Director of Corporate Giving at Macy's, to learn how nonprofits can position themselves for corporate gifts in an era of more restricted giving. *****Timestamped Highlights***** (2:10) A happy accident: How Joe began community engagement (4:50) Massaging the numbers fairly, judiciously, and strategically (9:36) Securing funds from a corporation by showing tangibl...

In Part Two of his Mini Program Planning Series, Dolph outlines the steps to set goals, track program outputs vs outcomes, secure initial funding, and obtain sustaining funding. He also throws in a few out-of-the-box ideas to consider and shares a real-deal timeline for program planning.   Links: Lean more about the MVP (Most Viable Product) in episode 106   *****Timestamped Highlights***** (2:41)...

Flood waters of Biblical proportions have forced Dolph to go solo for a few podcast episodes! It's all good, as Dolph kicks of a Mini Program Planning Series today. In part one, Dolph provides step-by-step check points of the crucial components involved in creating a successful program plan.   *****Timestamped Highlights***** (3:19) Dolph's cautionary tale about program design  (8:37) Back to the...

Board builder Rob Acton joins us to discuss specific strategies and tactics to optimize your board. He offers actionable tactics that you can implement today. Acton, founder of Cause Strategy Partners, discusses the three categories of tactics: making better use of board meeting, treating board members as individuals not "the board" and reshaping board culture. ****Timestamped Highlights***** (10:...

In part one of his episode, Kevin Chase shared the importance of honing your professional development to prepare for a director-level job. In part two, Kevin discusses how resume building, negotiation skills, and your personality can help you secure the executive-level position you've been after.     Links: Kevin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinscakesla/?hl=en Kevin's LinkedIn: https:/...

Guess who's back… back again! Executive Search Consultant Kevin Chase returns to our podcast for a two-part episode. In part one, Kevin walks us through how to better position yourself for an executive-level job. A tip: Start by building your skills and investing in your professional (and personal) development. Links: Kevin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinscakesla/?hl=en Kevin's Linked...

Nonprofit fraud is the topic of this conversation with Tiffany Couch, CEO of Acuity Forensics. Sharing true stories of fraud found in her book, The Thief in Your Company , Tiffany breaks down what fraud looks like, who is likely to do it, and how to prevent it from happening to your organization. Links: Tiffany's Book: The Thief in Your Company https://www.amazon.com/Thief-Your-Company-Organizatio...

Brad Wolff, author of the bestseller, People Problems? How to Create People Solutions for a Competitive Edge , joins Dolph to deliver an important lesson: all problems are people problems. Walking us through his origin story, Brad shares the experiences and lessons that have helped him understand that solving any organizational problem starts with taking an honest look at your people – especially...

Mazarine Treyz of Wild Woman Fundraising joins Dolph for a session of career coaching. They share a lot of Amen! moments as they discuss strategies on everything from negotiating a great salary to making the world a better place for all of us. Links:  Mazarine's Book: Get the Job: Your Fundraising Career Empowerment Guide Wild Social Media: https://wildwomanfundraising.com/product/the-wild-womans-...

Evaluation consultant Shelby Roberts joins Dolph to discuss how to squeeze the most out of your data by tracking as you go along. Simply put, start counting! Shelby also explains how she helped implement the strategic plan of Intown Collaborative Ministries.   Links: Shelby's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelby-roberts-4935358/ InTown Collaborative Ministries: https://intowncm.org/about/b...

Kim Powell is back and she's changing the perspective about who can be a successful CEO! Podcast veteran Kim Powell returns to the podcast to discuss key takeaways from her latest book, The CEO Next Door . Kim explains the traits of successful executive directors and debunks CEO myths.   Links: Kim's website: www.ghSMART.com Buy the book: The CEO Next Door : www.ceonextdoorbook.com Kim's debut, Ep...

Dolph talks with Rick Alexander, author of Benefit Corporation Law and Governance: Pursuing Profit with Purpose . Rick schools us on the various Bs: B certified, B Lab, and B Corporation. He also outlines the similarities and differences between B corps and nonprofits, and shares instances where nonprofits spin off for-profit entities with B corp legitimacy.     Links: Rick's Book, Benefit Corpora...

Kate Hayes of Echoing Green,  a seed-funding and leadership development program for social entrepreneurs, joins Dolph for a lively discussion about the care and feeding of baby boards. Kate also shares her love of site visits to reignite board members' passion for the organizational mission.   Links: Kate's firm: www.echoinggreen.org Kate's Article in SSIR: A Roadmap to Better Boards Archive of Ka...

We invite Larry Velez, founder and CTO of Sinu, to help us understand and accommodate millennials in the workplace. Top of the list: make sure your organization's systems and tools are mobile-ready.    *****Timestamped Highlights***** (6:58) The trend: Millennials love iPhones! (9:23) Finding balance for seamless integration of devices, data and more (12:45) Yahoo's semi-cautionary tale (15:47) Be...

Dolph and Kelsey Vatsaas, principal at CliftonLarsonAllen, discuss ways to streamline operations within the nonprofit finance department to improve efficiency, accuracy, and audit results. A good place to start? Step back and ask, "Do we actually use this information?" Learn what to track and what to let go.       Links:   Kelsey's Firm CliftonLarsonAllen: www.claconnect.com Read Kelsey's Blog: Si...

Peter Gross of Build Consulting is a nonprofit technology expert. And he's here to tell you that the real issue around technology in many nonprofits is not that they have the wrong system. Nope. It's the failure of leadership to get behind the system and support its implementation and use across the organization. Peter never wants to hear another ED say, "Well, I'm not a tech guy…" again! Links: B...

We are well underway on this bonus break series about succession planning, and this episode is about the often-discussed, hot topic of executive director contracts. We explore the pros and cons of offering the executive director an employment contract, specifically as they relate to transition planning.

Some leadership transitions are straightforward – the executive director gives a month's notice before their final day. These are often the simplest and easiest transitions to plan for, but the board needs to prepare for more abrupt and even temporary transitions.   In this bonus break, we will outline the four types of executive transitions your organization may experience and help you begin the...

We received such strong feedback on the strategic planning bonus break series, that I'm now offering another series – this one on executive transition planning. In this seven-part series, we'll discuss What is a transition plan? Why do you need one? The four types of transitions. Good time to think about contracts Developing your interim plan Write your ED playbook Reviewing and refreshing your pl...

The ability to research prospective funders and develop a highly targeted list of  possible foundations is a key skill that all grant writers must develop. Dolph shares how you can build a list of likely funders, narrow down the list, and create a great grant calendar.     Links: www.guidestar.org www.propublica.org  

Look before you leap by asking these three questions before you even start writing a grant proposal.

Taking time off work for self-care is essential. Sure, financial and work obligations are reasons to forgo vacation, but Dolph shares his tricks for making the time to take a trip - - - even when your budget won't allow a vacation at the Ritz.  

Dolph Goldenburg offers 14 interview questions that will help ensure you find a good consultant in your local market.

When it comes time to hire a new member, there is a lot of pressure to settle for the candidate that seems sufficient but not stellar. Beware, settling for the short term actually causes more pain in the future.  

This is the tenth segment of our strategic planning blog series, and in this final segment, we will discuss overcoming the most common objections to strategic planning.