The Smart Communications Podcast

Farra Trompeter, Big Duck’s Vice President , and Chris Tuttle, digital engagement strategist , bring their respective love for cats and dogs to the analogy of fighting communications and development teams. Hear how they create cross-departmental alignment and collaboration.

Alice Hendricks is the CEO of Jackson River , a firm that helps nonprofits harness the power of technologies to achieve their goals. In this mind-blowing conversation, she shares how the consumer marketing space is using technology (chatbots, artificial intelligence, and more) and outlines how nonprofits can apply those tools to create more personalized and relevant experiences for supporters.

Elizabeth Toledo, President of Camino Group and former Vice President of Communications at Planned Parenthood, is a crisis communications expert. She discusses the biggest internal communications challenges she’s seen and how strong values alignment can help nonprofits communicate more effectively internally and externally, especially about social issues and controversial topics. Plus, she shares...

We sat down with Andrea Kihlstedt and Amy Eisenstein , capital campaign experts with over 50 years of collective experience in the fundraising space, to talk about their new project: the Capital Campaign Toolkit. They discuss how the model of capital campaign development is changing—from nonprofits relying on consultants to lead the process to embracing online resources and tools staff can use the...

Claire Taylor Hansen, Big Duck’s Creative Director, helps nonprofits answer the age-old question: Do we need a new logo? She discusses signs that a logo might need to change, the power of using visual elements—typography, colors, patterns, and more—consistently and well, and shares a simple exercise in-house teams can do to assess whether their nonprofit’s materials align with communications goals...

Christine Hughes, Vice President of Institutional Advancement for Burke Neurological Institute , is a world-class fundraiser and scientist with extensive experience in the biomedical field. Christine is in the process of building the Burke development and communications departments—and their pipeline of donors—from the ground up using precision communications. By applying this strategy, she’s buil...

Stephanie Paul, Vice President of Marketing and Development at the American Parkinson Disease Association , sits down with Sarah Durham to discuss her experiences creating PSAs and shares lessons learned along the way. Tune in to learn how APDA uses their PSAs as tools to raise awareness, reach new audiences, gather stories, and change perceptions about Parkinson’s disease.

George Weiner, Founder and Chief Whaler of Whole Whale , a social impact tech company, sits down with us to discuss all things data—why it matters for nonprofits, what data to pay attention to, how to visualize and share it, and how to get started with Google Analytics. This is a must-listen if you’re a nonprofit communicator responsible for collecting and measuring data related to your mission, o...

Farra Trompeter, Big Duck’s Vice President, and Dan Gunderman, Big Duck’s Creative Director, have successfully facilitated many nonprofit name changes throughout the years. In this episode, they discuss reasons why more nonprofits are changing their names, what it takes, and lessons they’ve learned that may help organizations thinking about evolving—or radically changing—their name.

Suzanne Shaw is Director of Communications at the Union of Concerned Scientists and has over three decades of expertise in nonprofit and private sector marketing and communications. She restructured her communications department with the intention to build in-house capacity, increase efficiency, bridge “channel-silos,” and measure marketing efforts more effectively. Tune in to hear how she did it...

Marcus dePaula, co-founder of Mixtus Media and producer of this podcast, is an expert in online content creation. In this episode he breaks down creative commons licensing, explains the ethical (and credibility) issues in grabbing images from Google for fundraising appeals or marketing communications, and shares resources for great, free photography and music every organization can use.

Nonprofit leaders must make their vision clear and get everyone—staff, board, and other stakeholders—aligned and motivated to work toward it together. For Wayne Ho, President and CEO of CPC (Chinese American Planning Council), this means communicating effectively with over 4,000 employees. In this episode of the Smart Communications Podcast, Wayne shares three essential rules that guide all of his...

Vince Warren reflects on his twelve years (and counting!) as Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Over the course of his tenure, Vince has built the organization around its potential—and his vision of what it could become. Tune in to learn about his, and the Center for Constitutional Rights’, journey. Want more on the Center for Constitutional Rights? Read all about our bran...

In this episode of the Smart Communications Podcast, two members of Big Duck’s strategy team, Laura Fisher and Gil Mejia , define strategy, unpack the differences between strategic goals, objectives, and tactics, and offer tips for nonprofit communicators looking to develop their strategic thinking. If you want more resources on strategy, download our free ebook, Achieve more: Putting strategy to...

Chandra Hayslett, Communications Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, sits down to share her experiences launching the podcast, The Activist Files , for her organization. She discusses why she started the podcast, results she’s seen so far, the nuts and bolts of production, and shares practical tips for starting a podcast for your nonprofit. Curious about the Center for Constitutional...

Craig Shelley, Managing Director of Orr Group , shares how nonprofit leadership and staff can foster stronger, more productive relationships with board members. He unpacks different board types and offers simple suggestions for executive directors looking to build trust and partnership with their board, and more.

Elise Dowell is Vice Chancellor for Communications and External Affairs at The Jewish Theological Seminary . Since joining JTS in 2002, Elise has lead transformational communications efforts, upgraded their recruitment marketing program, and won two Emmy Awards. She sat down with us to share lessons she has learned over her illustrious career, focusing on how to collaborate more effectively and bu...

Jenny Dyson, Ruler and Creative Director of Pencil, a creative agency specializing in brand storytelling in the UK, shares her experiences turning content from one conference into a rich, multi-channel story for her client, One Small Thing. She also shares practical advice for nonprofit communicators looking to translate their organization’s work into clear, compelling, and authentic stories.

Sarah Durham and Farra Trompeter head to Fundraising Day to ask development professionals one question: “What can communications do to support development?” You’ll hear answers at the beginning of this episode from Samantha Coolidge, New York Area Director of Advancement at Moishe House , Margaret Fredrickson from Graham Pelton , Leslie Weber, Deputy Executive Director for External Relations at Hu...

Stephanie Paul, Vice President of Marketing and Development at the American Parkinson Disease Association shares how the rebranding process helped APDA unite its 19 local chapters and ensure all had the tools to communicate with one clear voice.

In this episode of the Smart Communications Podcast, Ally Dommu, Big Duck’s Director of Strategy , shares the four core elements a nonprofit organization needs in place internally—culture, team, assets, and reflection—to ensure the hard work of a rebrand doesn’t go to waste.

Simone Joyaux, author of “Firing Lousy Board Members,” and organizational management, development, and fundraising expert tackles what makes a great nonprofit board. She maps out the process of getting smarter about governance and shares the steps nonprofit boards can take right away to begin reflecting, discussing, and reaching consensus about what good governance looks like.

Liz Ricca, Big Duck’s Managing Director, shares tools and practices that can help facilitate great internal communications. She gives tips on how to use organizational values actively as an HR tool and provides a structured feedback exercise you can put into practice to spark meaningful, productive conversations between staff. Listen in.

Should nonprofits squeeze in a full rebrand when their website needs an update? In this episode of the Smart Communications Podcast, Sarah Durham, CEO of Big Duck, outlines the basic order of operations for a successful rebrand process—from the strategic plan to the website overhaul.

Cecilia Clarke, President and CEO of the Brooklyn Community Foundation, shares her experiences listening to over 1,000 community members about their vision for Brooklyn, and how those insights helped redefine their work and organizational values. She also shares tips on how to articulate your nonprofit’s values and get to the underlying why of your work.