Next in Nonprofits

Houda Elyazgi is the Chief Client Officer at Saxum, "an integrated digital agency obsessed for good." Houda is committed to making the world better through her work in diversity, equality, education and public policy.

Houda joins host Steve Boland talk about social permitting, a practice she uses at Saxum to help charities think about engaging with audiences to support nonprofit goals. The focus on permission, multiple entry points, and user feedback builds a more effective strategy over time. One permission to seek is for donations, another may be for access to a supporter's network to expand support for the work. Houda goes over some case studies to illustrate how Saxum works in this space.

Gauri Manglik is the CEO and co-founder of Instrumentl, which "brings grant discovery, research, and tracking to one place. With Instrumentl, development staff are more effective and efficient at finding the right grants for their nonprofits."

Gauri joins host Steve Boland to talk about the origins of the tool, and what makes Instrumental different from other tools for grants in the nonprofit sector. Gauri talks about the evolution of their discovery algorithm, features like understanding how much funders invest in new applicants, updating government funding opportunities and so much more.

Emily Heck is owner and marketing consultant at Evergreen Marketing Solutions, which "work(s) with clients to elevate their brands and grow the engagement of their audiences. We blend data driven decisions with our years of experience to build strategies that evolve as audiences and markets change."

Emily joins host Steve Boland to talk about how users join email lists, creating and using a welcoming series in automation using tools like Mailchimp, collecting "point of pride" information from supporters when they sign up, and asking for more personalized connection over time toward better engagement. Emily and Steve briefly mention the value of tools like postal mail and print, and listeners can hear more about that topic on this past episode.

Daniel Moss and Michelle Garrison are the Co-Founders & Virtual Event Strategists at We & Goliath, which "provides a beautifully branded end-to-end solution that will engage your attendees, improve their collaboration and performance, and keep them coming back for more."

Daniel and Michelle join host Steve Boland to talk about the changing nature of events in 2022 and beyond, especially as it relates to changes in virtual events and hybrid events with a virtual component. We & Goliath talk more about engagement tools and strategies, integrating vendors and sponsors, tools to support this work and much more. They recommend a free e-book on tools to help nonprofits expand their reach for events and communications.

Dr. Michelle Shumate is a professor at Northwestern's School of Communication, where she "investigates the dynamics of interorganizational networks designed to impact large social issues." She is co-author of the new book, Networks for Social Impact.

Dr. Shumate and her co-author Dr. Cooper depict when and how to use networks for social impact to improve issues related to educational outcomes, mental health and wellness, gender-based violence, climate change, senior and veteran care, and more, by providing a new framework for organizations to more seamlessly work together. She talks to host Steve Boland about the axioms used in framing the book, the case studies which illustrate these issues, understanding the necessity of some partners needing to pause in the work, and much more.

Lauren Kaufman is the President of the Young Women's Alliance, and Bijal Patel is the Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Belonging of the Young Women's Alliance. The Alliance is "building a community that supports, empowers, and connects women."

Lauren and Bijal join host Steve Boland to talk about the changes community building face since the COVID-19 pandemic impacted in-person events as a primary strategy. They talk about how their work has grown during this time, how they think about support for members online and in-person, and how adapting to new tools and tactics may impact the future direction of mission-based organizations.

Patrice Davis is the Founder and Managing Principal of Grants Works, which "helps organizations, businesses, and municipalities identify, acquire, manage, and comply with government and foundation grants."

Patrice joins host Steve Boland to talk about government funding for nonprofit work, including federal grants, federally funded work which may be re-granted from state, local, tribal or territorial governments, and more. Patrice shares specific information about new resources from the American Rescue Plan Act which could really change the game for many charities in working with government sources, both in terms of amount of dollars and how they are accessed. Charities should evaluate these options to scale their impact in communities, but also be planning how to maintain that impact after this influx has been awarded.

Professor Russel James has been on the Next in Nonprofits podcast before, talking about resources for donors after the changes in itemization in 2018. Russell joins the conversation again to talk about his new book series, Fundraising Myth and Science. The books are available in audio for free on YouTube, in .pdf by connecting to Russell on LinkedIn, or in paper if desired via Amazon.

The books are a series in four parts: The Storytelling Fundraiser, The Epic Fundraiser, The Primal Fundraiser, and The Socratic Fundraiser. Russell talks about research in each of these categories, and how the science of that research provides useful insights for people working in fundraising. Russell shares his insights on how different research can be considered in these different contexts, and how professionals in the field can connect in these ideas.

Rob Shavell is the CEO and Co-Founder of Abine and DeleteMe, "a hands-free subscription service that will remove your personal information that’s being sold online."

Rob joins the podcast to talk about the risks of general data availability for nonprofit organizations. Groups will need and want to publish some information online about their key officers and directors for the community, but can also take measures to ensure a more secure experience and reduce possible downsides to being online. Rob also discusses how charities can honor their trusted relationships with donors by understanding how that information can best remain private when that is import to donors.

Jon Pratt recently retired as Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. Jon was the founding director, working in that role since 1987. The world of collective action by and for nonprofits has evolved in many ways since that time. It has also kept some very solid foundational elements through those decades.

Host Steve Boland talks to Jon about this history of building one of the largest state nonprofit associations, and what we can learn about the future from that work. Some things have stayed the same - though the current web-based job-board started out as a literal bulletin board at first. Other issues of interest to the nonprofit economy continue to change and may point to new challenges in the coming years.

More information at NextInNonprofits.com/podcast.