Give Better Get Better

Welcome to Give Better Get Better, the show for community foundation professionals. Thanks for checking out our regular conversations with community foundation leaders across the country.

This week Josh welcomes Tracy Yellen, the CEO of Paso Del Norte Foundation in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. Tracy shares the unique history of her foundation and the four pillars of their work. She then describes what it is like to serve a community that crosses an international border, and dives deep into their response to acute and longer-term crises. Finally she recommends an award-winning local author with an international profile who recently passed away.

Share your thoughts, questions and guest suggestions at [email protected].

Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Give Better Get Better, the show for community foundation professionals. Thanks for listening to our weekly conversations with community foundation leaders from across America.

Today, Josh talks with Dennis Buehler from the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation. Dennis discusses how his community handles being known for one specific thing and they way they leverage that high-profile partner into enduring support for local nonprofits. Dennis shares how constraints are actually helpful in crafting such projects, and the suspenseful, surprising streaming show he enjoyed over the summer.

Share your thoughts, questions and guest suggestions at [email protected].

Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Give Better Get Better, the show for community foundation professionals. We hope you find our weekly conversations with community foundation leaders from across America interesting and helpful in your work.

Today, Josh gets to know Eric Wilkie at the FM Area Foundation in Fargo-Moorhead (North Dakota/Minnesota) and his buddy FM Phil. Eric explains how he worked with local partners to create an AI-powered chatbot that fields questions from donors, advisors and nonprofit leaders. Hear his recommendations for how to make a project like this successful, and the country singer/songwriter he's been spending time with this year.

Share your thoughts, questions and guest suggestions at [email protected].

Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Give Better Get Better, the show for community foundation professionals. Our weekly conversations with community foundation leaders from across America focus on something big they are tackling in their community.

This week, Josh talked with Alan Davis from Whitefish Community Foundation in Montana. He explained how he has leveraged circles of giving to bring seasonal residents together for collective, high-impact charitable experiences. Learn the three reasons this technique has been so effective for his community foundation, and stick around to hear which parenting book he's keeping handy these days.

Share your thoughts, questions and guest suggestions at [email protected].

Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Give Better Get Better, the show for community foundation professionals. We're bringing you weekly conversations with community foundation leaders from across America about something big they are tackling in their community.

This week, Josh welcomed Jennifer Bartenbach from Central Indiana Community Foundation. She told Josh about her efforts to connect donors and nonprofits across government boundaries, the importance of building deep trust with partners and the necessity of "staying in it" over time. Jennifer then shares the popular (and surprisingly emotional) streaming show she enjoyed this summer.

Share your thoughts, questions and guest suggestions at [email protected].

Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Give Better Get Better, the show for community foundation professionals. We're back with weekly episodes, talking with community foundation leaders from across America about something big they are tackling in their community.

This week, Josh welcomed back Ralph Serpe from the Adams County Community Foundation in Pennsylvania. In 2025, Ralph received the Council on Foundation's first ever Excellence in Community Foundation Leadership Award. He talks with Josh about his passion for growing unrestricted endowment funds and offers advice to community foundation leaders who want to undertake such a campaign in their community. Ralph wraps it up with a Broadway musical recommendation that showcases the power of a generous community.

We want to hear from you at [email protected].

Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Give Better Get Better, the show for community foundation professionals. We've returned from our summer vacation and look forward to a new season of conversations with community foundation leaders from across the country. This year we are asking about One Big Thing they are working on and what others can learn from their experience with that issue.

To launch our next season, Josh talked with David Cicilline, President & CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation. David was a state legislator and mayor of Providence before being elected to Congress in 2011. In 2023, he took the helm of the Rhode Island Foundation, which celebrates its 110th Anniversary in 2026.

David explained the four things that community foundations do and then dives into his work to promote civic health at the local level. He describes the frontline tactics that ensure a nonpartisan approach and the nationwide network of partners who are collaborating on the effort. Finally, he shared the book he's reading that can help redefine the role of philanthropy in our communities.

We want to hear from you at [email protected].

Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the last session of Summer School on professional advisor engagement. Thanks for checking out our conversations with participants from Embolden's Intensive Advisor Cohort program about what they learned and how they are applying it to their work. Attorneys, accountants and financial planners are valuable partners for community foundations, so we all need to think about how we can contribute to building trusted relationships with these community members.

NOTE: The registration deadline for the Intensive Advisor Cohort starting in September was August 14, but you can reserve your spot for the January and April 2027 cohorts now. Learn more here: https://embolden.com/cohort-programs/2026/4/23/professional-advisor-intensive-cohort

To wrap up, Josh invited Kim Alvarez from the Foundation for Enhancing Communities and Matt Failor from the Arlington Community Foundation to share a few things they learned from the cohort program. They mentioned knowing how much we know and understanding how valuable that is, as well as the power of charitable planning to help advisors retain clients. They also highlighted the importance of "playing the long game" with legacy gifts and staying patient.

We want to hear from you! Share how your organization connects with advisors at [email protected].

Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to session three of Summer School, our series exploring professional advisor engagement. During August we're talking with participants from Embolden's Intensive Advisor Cohort about the content and how they are applying what they learned to their work. Professional advisors are essential partners for community foundations, and every staff member plays a role in earning (and keeping) their trust.

NOTE: The registration deadline for the September Intensive Advisor Cohort was August 14, but you can already reserve your seat in the January and April cohorts. Learn more here: https://embolden.com/cohort-programs/2026/4/23/professional-advisor-intensive-cohort

This week Josh talks with Kelli Cavey who leads the Intensive Advisor Cohort program for Embolden. Kelli talks about her background as an estate planner and how she discovered the value of working with a community foundation. She also discusses trends in the charitable planning industry and how community foundations can offer value to advisors. Finally she describes the structure of the Intensive Advisor Cohort program and what kind of community foundation professionals most commonly participate.

We want to hear from you! Share how your organization works to earn the trust of advisors at [email protected].

Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Summer School, our seasonal series focused on professional advisor engagement. We will spend August talking with participants from Embolden's Intensive Advisor Cohort program about what they learned and how they are applying it to their work. Advisor partners are essential to the growth of community foundations, so whether you work directly on advisor engagement or not you'll find useful insights from these conversations.

NOTE: The registration deadline for the Intensive Advisor Cohort starting in September is August 14. Learn more here: https://embolden.com/cohort-programs/2026/4/23/professional-advisor-intensive-cohort

This week Josh welcomed Rachel Bailey from Wyoming Community Foundation and Michelle Gleason from Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin. They shared a few things they learned from the cohort sessions, like casting a wide net, actively maintaining your lists and making regular contact. They also share how working across a large, largely-rural service area shapes their approach to finding and engaging advisors, and offer tips on advisor outreach to community foundation professionals.

We want to hear from you! Share how your organization benefits the advisors you work with at [email protected].

Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.