The Mary Valloni Show

On today's show, I am talking with Brent Silkey.  Brent and his wife serve college students in St. Paul, Minnesota through the ministry of Chi Alpha and they started a program called 30 for Freedom.  The idea is 30 for Freedom exists to end sex trafficking in our lifetime.  We engage college students in biblical justice initiatives like ending sex trafficking through runs, fundraising, and the lik...

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who was feeling so defeated because she was in a group of business leaders and felt she was letting down the group and her business coach because she wasn't living up to their expectations.  I had to remind her that she is not a for profit business leader.   On today's episode, I am focusing on 3 areas.  First, you need to stay clear on your mess...

On today's show I am featuring an episode from a new podcast I am co-hosting with my friend, Joel Kessel.  The Nonprofit Executive Podcast is for growth-minded executives who are looking to take their nonprofits to the next level through strategic planning and fundraising.  On this podcast, Joel discusses his steps to create a successful strategic plan as well as my steps to fundraising freedom. ...

We are just coming off the holiday weekend and we're gearing up for the end of the year.  If you're anything like me, you're thinking about all of the things you want to accomplish in the new year.  December is also the biggest giving month of the year; more than 30% of all donations are going to hit in this month with 12% hitting the last 24 hours of the year.  Many times, we feel like we have to...

On today's episode, I'm joined by my friend and client, Dan Hurrelbrink.  Dan is the director of Barnabas Ministries and is coming to us from Romania.  Dan realized that what he was doing to raise money wasn't working and he needed to make the necessary changes to be able to meet his fundraising goals. Barnabas Ministries was founded in 1993, several years after Romania came out from under Communi...

My guest today is April Jurgensen, who is the co-founder of The Boaz Project and one of my Fundraising Freedom Academy students.  April just recently won an author academy award for her book, The Orphan's Abba.  April and her husband inspire and equip leaders around the world to care for orphans in their own communities.  Tell us about the fundraising project you've been working on this last year....

These last few weeks have been quite the whirlwind for me.  I went out of town for 10 days that kicked off with a workshop I did with my friend Joel for nonprofit executives, then to the Igniting Souls author conference, and concluded with taking on a brand new client. What is gratitude?  It's a feeling of appreciation and showing an appreciation of kindness and being thankful.  Being grateful is...

Today we are talking with Danny Ozment, founder and producer at Emerald City Productions .  Danny was on a path to becoming a conductor when his daughter's birth necessitated flexibility and a major change in priorities.  Danny spent the first seven years in his new business focusing on a cappella given his 20-year music career as a singer and producer of choral music and contemporary a cappella....

On today's show, we are joined by my guest, Meredith Noble. Meredith is the lead instructor and founder of SenecaWorks project management consulting firm and learngrantwriting.org.  Their mission is to empower natural change-makers in making our communities vibrant, sustainable, and healthy. Can you demystify grant writing for us? Grant writing is not free money; it's a vehicle for driving innovat...

This time of year, the weather starts to get chilly, the leaves begin to turn, and we start thinking about the upcoming holidays.  People enjoy spending time together in this season and it's a great time to invite folks into your home for an intimate fundraiser.  You don't have to put on huge fundraising events in order to be successful; fundraisers held in someone's home can be just as successful...

On today's show, I'm talking with Paul Klein, who has moved through the business world into consulting.  Paul's story is a very common one, he worked in the corporate world for 18 years and around the age of 40, realized how unhappy he had become and decided to make a change.  Although he was experiencing a very successful career, he felt unfulfilled and miserable and just couldn't take it anymore...

On today's show, I interview Mary Hiland with Hiland Consulting.  Mary has been involved with nonprofit organizations for more than 40 years.  She went from volunteer to staff to executive director.  Mary led two mergers of her nonprofit with 530 staff and has worked with budgets ranging from $100,000-$26 million. Mary is now a consultant and coach for nonprofit leaders and their boards.   What ar...

If you're anything like me, you love good motivation.   We're told we need to motivate our teams, our volunteers, ourselves, but is it actually garbage?   The definition of motivation is the desire or willingness to do something.   Motivation Garbage comes from Mel Robins and her book The 5 Second Rule .   She says motivation is garbage because if we wait to feel motivation that we will never get...

Your Zone of Genius is the intersection of your interests, passions and skills and ultimately result in your superpower or your zone of genius. On today's show we tackle the 7 questions to ask yourself to harness your zone of genius. To start let's review the four main operating zones as described in Gay Hendricks book, The Big Leap -  https://amzn.to/2TBLYFw .   Zone of Incompetence - Working in...

Over the last two years, my husband and I have been in the process of building our dream home.  It all started when I did this one thing…I made a decision!  To make a decision means you're cutting off all other options to achieve your goal/dream.  For me, I wrote a personal check to myself for $250,000 and hung it on the refrigerator.  I told my husband that I was going to will that money into our...

I modeled this fundraiser off of a conference I recently attended.  The conference felt so special and exclusive and that's how I wanted the guests to feel at this fundraiser.  I always want every person – donors, staff members, and volunteers alike – to feel special and like they are a part of something bigger than themselves.   I wanted to create a fundraiser that was a little more low-key but f...

Arlene Cogen spent more than 20 years in the trust and investment services industry, and 9 years in non-profit development. She is a sought-after speaker and coach as well as a c ertified financial planner .  Arlene is also the author of Give to Live:  Make A Charitable Gift You Never Imagined.     Why is philanthropic giving so important? People give to causes for so many different reasons ; t he...

David Baker is a recovering lawyer who has provided comprehensive fund development services to nonprofits, social service agencies, churches, and libraries for over 20 years. David has raised hundreds of millions of dollars through major gift efforts. He has consulted with organizations in California, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee, Utah, Arkansas and more for capital and endowment c...

Culture in the U.S. is driven by success and the Enneagram teaches that every type has a driver/motivator.     Teresa McCloy has been married to her husband Dale for 36 years and live on a 3rd generation family grain farm in Central Illinois. Now that she's living and leading her passion, the joy has returned to her everyday, ordinary REALIFE! It continues to be a process and she wants you to feel...

Today's guest is my dear friend and new business partner, Joel Kessel.   I love talking strategy and in this episode Joel shares his 8-Steps to a successful strategic plan including:   Step 1 ==> Plan-To-Plan Step 2 ==> Environmental Scan Step 3 ==> Ideal Future Vision Step 4 ==> Current State Assessment Step 5 ==> Areas of Focus Step 6 ==> Performance Measures and Targets Step 7 ==> Tactics Step...

In today's episode we address the very common desire to want to jump right to our final destination. Of course we want to raise those funds fast, but we just might miss the best part…the journey!   Mary shares how to enjoy the journey by doing the following 5 things:     1. Travel with people you like. 2. Pay attention to the sites and sounds that surround you. 3. Listen to good music, podcasts, a...

Today's episode features social media expert, small business owner, and nonprofit executive director, Lauren Davis.   Lauren lives close to Chicago in Rockford, Illinois, but works with people around the world to overcome their personal branding discontent and grow their presence so that they can focus on sales, exposure, leadership and community impact.   She was named one of the 20 People You Sh...

Today we may get a bit emotional, but as you know emotions are important especially when raising funds for your cause.     In this episode we tackle 3 important questions (that I totally stole from my friend, Mike!).     They include:   1. What Pisses You Off? (The Injustice) 2. What Breaks Your Heart? (The Compassion) 3. What is the Big Problem You Are Trying to Solve? (Your Cause)   I also share...

Marketing expert, Mike Kim, joins the show to address what's working and what's not in nonprofit marketing.   Find out why you need to address the elephant in the room and how to do that by addressing these 3 P's…   1. Potential 2. Promise 3. Progress   Most people are willing to give you a hand up as long as you show potential, promise and progress.   Mike also shares a few of his magic words tha...

Some of us have an easier time than others, but the same thing holds us all back from growth and it comes back to…TRUST.   It's for good reason that our guard goes up especially if you really care about your cause. So how do we overcome our trust issues.     These four things will help: 1. Enlist team members who are more skilled at the job than you. 2. Expect success and don't assume people will...