Bright Nonprofit

Story telling is becoming one of the main ways nonprofits spread awareness and fundraise for their cause. In this episode I talk with Meg Campbell and Marybeth Redmond from the Vermont Story Lab.

Meg and Marybeth talk about how to find the stories that are right in front of your eyes. Yup, it is that simple. Yet, seeing what is right in front of us can sometimes be difficult. They go on to help us inventory our stories with the creation of a “story vault” to help us track and plan the uses, and strategy, for our stories.

We then move on to discovering a formula that helps us actually “tell” the story. This is a great info for those who have story ideas but just aren’t sure where to start.

This is a fun and informative episode. I hope you enjoy it.

Website: VermontStoryLab.org

Story telling is becoming one of the main ways nonprofits spread awareness and fundraise for their cause. In this episode I talk with Meg Campbell and Marybeth Redmond from the Vermont Story Lab.

Meg and Marybeth talk about how to find the stories that are right in front of your eyes. Yup, it is that simple. Yet, seeing what is right in front of us can sometimes be difficult. They go on to help us inventory our stories with the creation of a "story vault" to help us track and plan the uses, and strategy, for our stories.

We then move on to discovering a formula that helps us actually "tell" the story. This is a great info for those who have story ideas but just aren't sure where to start.

This is a fun and informative episode. I hope you enjoy it.

Website: VermontStoryLab.org

Running efficient meetings can make or break a nonprofit. Long meetings that don't reach actionable outcomes can drain board members and increase turn-over in your organization. Having a simple meeting structure to follow can reign in distracting side-topics and keep members focused on the topics at hand.

One of the most common ways to structure a meeting is to follow Roberts Rules. In this podcast I talk with Susan Leahy about the fundamentals of using Roberts Rules. She walks us through how to structure a meeting and teaches us to use some of the most used meeting "motions".

Roberts Rules will help you:

• Build your team
• Increase communication
• Improve Efficiency

• www.GrouptoTEAM.com
• www.ConfidentWomanProgram.com
• www.RobertsRulesMadeSimple.com
• www.SusanLeahy.com

Do you have donors, volunteers, members, board members or staff? Of course you do. Do you know the best way to keep them up to date on events, programs and latest news?

Did you say FaceBook? Wonk, wonk, wonk… no.

How about blogging ? Wonk, wonk… no, but actually not a bad idea.

Did you say with emails? Ding, ding. Winner!

Having an email list can be one of most important tools you use to help grow your nonprofit. And we aren’t talking Excel spreadsheets or Outlook mailing list. We are talking full-on automated list with subscribe now buttons, opt-in offers and automated drip release. We are talking email marketing. Sound like overkill? Too technical? Too expensive?

It’s not. In fact, it is easy to get started, it will help you GROW your nonprofit AND it can done for FREE.

This ain’t hype. It is actually just what the modern mailing is made to do. And it is easy.

In this podcast I talk with John Haydon about building a mailing list. How to use it? What technology to use? And what you actually write to all your email subscribers. John is an expert marketer specializing in working with nonprofits and charities.

John is full of ideas and gives us usable suggestions on how to start using our mailing list.

Why is this important? Well…

This podcast will help you  start using powerful tools that will help your nonprofit grow.

Free Email Fundraising Basics Course: John’s Free Email Fundraising Course

John’s Website: www.johnhaydon.com

Twitter: @JohnHayden

Mailchimp: mailchimp.com

Do you have donors, volunteers, members, board members or staff? Of course you do. Do you know the best way to keep them up to date on events, programs and latest news?

Did you say FaceBook? Wonk, wonk, wonk... no.

How about blogging ? Wonk, wonk... no, but actually not a bad idea.

Did you say with emails? Ding, ding. Winner!

Having an email list can be one of most important tools you use to help grow your nonprofit. And we aren't talking Excel spreadsheets or Outlook mailing list. We are talking full-on automated list with subscribe now buttons, opt-in offers and automated drip release. Sound like overkill? Too technical? Too expensive?

It's not. In fact, it is easy to get started, it will help you GROW your nonprofit AND it can done for FREE.

This ain't hype. It is actually just what the modern mailing is made to do. And it is easy.

In this podcast I talk with John Haydon about building a mailing list. How to use it? What technology to use? And what you actually write to all your email subscribers. John is an expert marketer specializing in working with nonprofits and charities.

John is full of ideas and gives us usable suggestions on how to start using our mailing list.

Why is this important? Well...

• It helps you buid relationships with your community
• It can establish trust and authority within your given field
• It can make event planning simplier and increase turnout
• You most certainly will use it to improve your fundraising efforts

This podcast will help you start using powerful tools that will help your nonprofit grow.

Free Email Fundraising Basics Course: John's Free Email Fundraising Course

John's Website: www.johnhaydon.com

Twitter: @JohnHayden

Mailchimp: mailchimp.com

In this episode of the Nonprofit Ally Podcast I talk with Amanda Babine from Evaluate for Change. We talk about the “Logic Model” which is an evaluation method designed to help build the capacity of nonprofit programs.

The logic model helps you understand how your organization does what it does? It is a tool that allows you to break down the different components of your organization’s programming and clarify how your organization’s program works to achieve its objectives.

It is broken down into three main components, with many subcoponents within each main category. The three main component are, inputs, outputs and outcomes-impact.

Taking a program through the logic model will help you better understand your resources, how you are using them, how you deliver your services, what resources are taking the most effort, what your cost/benefit is,  etc, etc.

It is an indepth analysis of how you do, what you do – and how you can do it better.

Evaluate for Change website: www.evaluateforchange.com

Resource Templates: www.evaluateforchange.com/resources/templates

Virtual Book Club: http://www.evaluateforchange.com/resources/virtual-bookclub/

In this episode of the Nonprofit Ally Podcast I talk with Amanda Babine from Evaluate for Change. We talk about the "Logic Model" which is an evaluation method design to help build the capacity of nonprofit programs.

The logic model helps you understand how your organization does what it does? It is a tool that allows you to break down the different components of your organization's programming and clarify how your organization's program works to achieve its objectives.

It is broken down into three main components, with many subcoponents with each main category. The three main component are, inputs, outputs and outcomes-impact.

Taking a program through the logic model will help you better understand your resources, how you are using them, how you deliver your services, what resources are taking the most effort, what your cost/benefit is, etc, etc.

It is an indepth analysis of how you do, what you do - and how you can do it better.

Evaluate for Change website: www.evaluateforchange.com

Resource Templates: www.evaluateforchange.com/resources/templates

Virtual Book Club: http://www.evaluateforchange.com/resources/virtual-bookclub/

In this episode I talk with Robert McGuire about how to use content marketing for your nonprofit. Robert is the owner of McGuire Editorial where he provides content marketing strategies for nonprofits and businesses.

So, here is the cool thing. Prior to recording the podcast I talked with Robert about my desire to make the information we present as practical as possible. And boy did Robert deliver! Not only is the follow post completely written by Robert (with a great example of how nonprofits can use content marketing) there is also a FREE download.

Here is a very hands-on email Robert sent to me about Nonprofit Content Marketing:

I just now Googled the term "services for disabled children" and the name of my state. After links to state government agencies. national organizations with directories, and for-profit providers, the first actual nonprofit service provider -- on page two of the Google search results -- is the page for the local chapter of a national organization we would all recognize the name of.

Going down the navigation menu of their site, we see versions of "What we do, what we need, how hard we work, why our work matters, the people who support us, how you can support us, success stories about our clients and news about us."

All necessary. Nothing necessarily wrong with that. But here are some of the questions not answered anywhere on this site:

• I'm a department manager of a small team, and one of my direct reports just told me her child was diagnosed with a severe disability. How can we support her? What are my obligations for her schedule? What are the family leave regulations I should be aware of?
• My disabled child is being teased at school. How do I open a productive dialogue with the principal?
• My oldest child is struggling with the attention our family has to give to her disabled brother. Where can we get family counseling?
• My brother and his wife need a break. How can I organize some respite time for them?
• I'm a new policy director at city hall, and I keep hearing how services for disabled students are a growing share of education budgets. What's the best source of data on that?
• I own a fast food franchise, and the director of the group home down the street asked for a meeting about employing some of his residents. I want to be supportive, but how would I have to manage my business differently?

In other words, this direct service provider does have a wealth of insight and expertise that is valuable to somebody in their community. And all of those people mentioned -- the manager, the parent, the extended family member, the government employee, the small business owner -- are people that a nonprofit agency would want to reach for one reason or another. Content that answers questions like those above is a way to start engaging them so that they are more receptive later to the "How you can help" conversation.

As I discuss in this definition of content marketing, it is a "plan to grow and engage your customer base that is built around discovering what you can do for someone else, developing and delivering related content, and then measuring the results".

Hope that illustrates the idea.

Thank you Robert for the great example of how to use content marketing.

Robert's Website: mcguireeditorial.com

Robert's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/robertwmcguire

Robert's Twitter: twitter.com/robertwmcguire

Nonprofit Marketing Guide: The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing for Nonprofits

And of course the FREE download:https://nonprofitally.com/wp-content/uploads/Content-Marketing-Strategy-Template-Nonprofits.pdf

In this episode I talk with Carolyn Appleton about grant writing. Carolyn is a grant writing and fundraising specialist and she gives us some insider tips on how to get our next grant.

Carolyn begins by presenting us an ethical view of grantsmanship to help guide us during our grant writing endeavours. She then goes into detail with tips on how to research your grant, what to include in your grant and how to develop a relationship with your potential grantors.

This is a rolling conversation with a lot information packed into it.

Carolyn's Website: carolynmappleton.com

Carolyn's Email: [email protected]

GuideStar.org

Grant book mentioned during podcast: Grantsmanship: Program Planning and Proposal Writing

I Got It! (501.c.3 status): nonprofitally.com/gotit

• Congrats to Redemption Housing for getting their 501.c.3!

Build your own website (free course): nonprofitally.com/website

• Nice job ShawnDDelifus.com for making a fantasitc website

Crowdfunding can seem overly simple and, at the same time, overly complex. It's pretty easy to start a crowdfunding campaign - just sign up for an account, upload some photos, add a video and paste your content. Once you have it all added, just turn your campaign on and you are fundraising.

That's the easy part.

But then what? You now have a crowdfunding campaign to maintain and manage. What exactly does that mean? How do run a crowdfunding campaign? And where are all these donors coming from?

Well, that is the hard part.

In this podcast, I talk with Mauricio Belgrano and Megan Innes about the details of running a crowdfunding campaing. In particular, they answer the following quesitons:

• What, in your opinion, is the most important part of a crowdfunding campaign?
• How do you convert visitors to donors?
• Best strategy for social media?
• What do you say on your campaigns home page?
• How do you build and keep interest during the campaign?
• How do you reach new and old donors?

We can't make crowdfunding easier. It is a lot of work. But we can take the guess work out and simplify the process of running a crowdfunding campaign.

TAKE THE GUESS WORK OUT OF CROWDFUNDING

The Complete Crowdfunding Course is your detailed guide to running a successful crowdfunding campaign. This course gives you a start-to-finish implementation plan that will help you run an awesome fundraiser.

The course gives you sample content you can use for your campaign page, your donation request email and your thank you emails.

Each step of the campaign is covered in detail so you won't feel alone in the midst of your campaign. You'll always know what to do next.

And if you ever have questions, you'll have access to a private forum just for the Crowdfunding Course.

So take the guess work out of crowdfunding and get ready to run a successful fundraiser.

Learn more about The Complete Crowdfunding Course.