A Modern Nonprofit Podcast

In this insightful episode of A Modern Nonprofit Podcast, join host Tosha Anderson as she delves into the innovative world of collaborative funding with her distinguished guest, Katya Hancock, the founding executive director of Young Futures. Together, they explore the organization's mission to support adolescents in navigating the complexities of the digital landscape and the powerful ecosystem of solutions lifted up through their unique funding model.

Applying for a government grant is an effective and powerful way for nonprofits to raise funds. But before you go that route, there is a lot you need to know.

On today’s episode, Tosha is joined by the Executive Fundraising Coach at Auxilia, Paul Morris. Auxilia is a technology platform created to help community driven nonprofit organizations with donor outreach, engagement, and retention.

Auctions, are they a thing of the past or do they still work? We answer this question on another episode of A Modern Nonprofit Podcast hosted by Tosha Anderson.

Bringing their expertise to the table, we are joined by Laurie Hochman, Director of Business Growth & Strategy at Auctria. Auctria is an easy to use tool that helps run your fundraising events.

Success through Auctions Whether auctions still work or not is a valid question, however the fact that they are happening daily should tell you everything you need to know about their success.

Laurie shares that fundraising will never go away simply because people like to socialize. Socializing stimulates happiness, and typically happy people elect to donate some cash. How much auctions produce for a fundraising event does depend on the audience and their response to the event.

So how much cash are we talking here though? Well, that depends once again on the audience.

Just like marketing pertains to a target audience or market, so does fundraising. Except dollars for profit or increased sales in the for profit world become synonymous with dollars raised for social programs and nonprofit missions. Some organizations may raise $400,000 to even $1 million dollars through their fundraising.

This isn’t to be compared with a startup fundraising campaign though. Laurie encourages the listeners to not be discouraged by a fundraising event that only brings in $30,000 to $50,000 in its first few years.

Some of the larger dollar amounts raised are typically equated to years of cultivation and hosting events. In other words, their audience has been to the show more than a few times. Remember, everything is a process and takes time to build.

Please be sure to engage with the interview. Whether you enjoy listening to it, reading about it, or watching us on YouTube, make sure you review, share, and engage with A Modern Nonprofit Podcast. You can find Tosha and the Charity CFO team on Youtube or our website, thecharitycfo.com!

In this episode of the Modern Nonprofit Podcast, Tosha Anderson interviews Alyssia Palacios-Woods, the executive director at Capital IDEA.

Welcome to another episode of a Modern Nonprofit Podcast! Today we will focus on the conversation with Pat Taggart, Chief Creative with Sky Blue Creative. The firm Sky Blue Creative is in the business of helping both for profit and nonprofits tell their story and share their missions through video media.

On today's episode Tosha brings on guest Dana Snyder. Dana is the host of Missions to Movements and she is also the creator of the monthly Giving Mastermind.

Dana and Tosha's conversation today will focus on digital marketing and how this tool can be leveraged, especially in nonprofit organizations, to assist in fundraising. Marketing is a fun game in the business world.

The misconception is that marketing is the 'art class' to business. All the pretty graphics and eye catching fonts combined with the data gathered from the rest of the team makes for the perfect marketing piece. This couldn't be further from the reality of what marketing truly is.This misconception even stretches into nonprofits. Tosha starts the conversation by asking Dana her thoughts on another misconstrued opinion on marketing.

Many 501c(3)s treat social media as a passive necessity. 'Sure, it's there and we should probably use it, but just because everyone else does.' - Some nonprofit (probably). Is there intentionality behind the use of social media and digital marketing within nonprofits? Let's find out.

Dana believes it truly does depend on the circumstance. It seems like COVID is talked about in nearly every episode, yet this was such a significant event that impacted the way we do business today. In Dana's opinion, COVID forced many businesses to lean into the digital marketing age and rely on it more than ever.

That's easy to see, when a group of people were confined to the inside, and left with the internet to communicate. This is one side of the coin. The other side is the intentionality of business planning with a marketing budget in mind. Dana has seen a lot of success when individuals with for-profit experience come to the nonprofit space.

They tend to understand the importance of marketing and how this creates a brand. We mentioned that the aesthetics are not all the marketing is, however it is a huge piece of it. Dana shares that when businesses have invested into marketing through means of establishing a budget, they can allocate these funds to their websites, designs, logos, and overall brand.When a business invests into marketing, they are investing in the quality of their brand.

And we know this is impactful, because this is ultimately the brand's reputation. When consumers, investors, donors, or whomever the business is trying to attract has a quality experience associated with the brand, cohesiveness is created setting the stage for growth.

Tosha raises some great points when it comes to taking a look at a nonprofit's 'self-view'. With plenty of experience in the nonprofit space, Tosha wonders if nonprofits aren't taking a hard look at their 'digital storefront', is the business being represented to its full capacity or being authentically portrayed to the outside world?

If providing the best service there is, yet most are unaware of this service, then are their missing pieces?She is also launching a virtual event; the Monthly Giving Summit on September 5th & 6th.

This will focus on building subscriptions for good. The event will host panel discussions, corporate partnership presentations, 1-to-1 networking with other nonprofits, and even small breakout sessions.

The goal is to remove any smoke and mirrors to allow organizations to have those real conversations with each other about where they are in the business. Please be sure to engage with the interview. Whether you enjoy listening to it, reading about it, or watching us on YouTube, make sure you review, share, and engage with A Modern Nonprofit Podcast.

You can find Tosha and the Charity CFO team on Youtube or our website, thecharitycfo.com!

Embracing the Future

By viewing AI as a tool to enhance human creativity and efficiency, organizations can overcome resource constraints and achieve their marketing goals. It may even allow them to reach more people, and engage existing stakeholders more effectively. 

In conclusion, while AI has many pros and cons, nonprofits can gain a lot if using it strategically for their marketing efforts. By understanding its capabilities, using it responsibly, and crafting effective prompts, organizations can unlock new levels of creativity, efficiency, and impact. 

For those interested in learning more, Josi offers free resources on her website and is developing a prompt builder tool to further assist nonprofits in using AI effectively.

Let us know your favorite AI tools and how you’ve used them for your marketing!

If you’d like to connect with Josi:

Website: branchout-social.com

Linkedin: Josi Garfield

Instagram: branchout_social

There isn’t much that Trina Ramsey can’t do. We welcome her and her many talents to the podcast today and are excited to talk about all things leadership. Trina is an Executive and Career coach, author, speaker, and non-profit consultant. She is the founder of Just Do You Institute for Women’s Empowerment.

During today’s conversation on a Modern Nonprofit Podcast, Tosha welcomes Dr. Krystal White. Outside of a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a Masters degree in Christian Leadership, Dr. White also has a Masters degree in Mind, Brain, and Education from Harvard University. Needless to say, Dr. White is a skilled professional and we are excited to welcome her! She is the founder of The Executive Shaman and founder of Free Leadership, Inc. The latter is key for today’s conversion as Tosha and Krystal discuss what it takes to start a nonprofit from the ground up.