Relish THIS: The Nonprofit Marketing Podcast

I don’t think it’s news that Amazon dominates the online selling game, both here in the United States and around the world. You don’t get to be a $1.75T—yes, that’s trillions of dollars—by slacking.

In any case, if you’re launching a consumer product, a little knowledge about how to market it on Amazon can go a long way.

On this week’s episode, I talked with Luke Tierney, the Founder and Director of Eco D2C a firm that helps eco-brands bring their products to market—primarily on Amazon. 

Our conversation focused around the challenges and processes around bringing a product to market, the factors that go into a successful launch, and how to develop marketing around eco-brand awareness to sell more products in this quickly-expanding sector of B2C sales. 

But here’s something else we discussed—Amazon isn’t just for selling your product. The site is also used by millions of people a day as…

A search engine. 

See, many consumers turn to Amazon first for product information, reviews, and pricing comparisons. Then they eventually purchase in-store or at another site online. This makes having your products on the service something to consider—even if you have no desire to sell millions.

If you’ve ever wanted to launch your own eco-product, this is a great conversation to listen to. 

Hope you enjoy it. 

Link: 

Eco D2C 

Ask:

Buy and re-up

Find 1 thing and shift to an eco-conscious brand.

When you’re trying to scale and grow, it can be daunting to think about all the moving parts that need to fall into place for your organization to reach the next level. 

Fundraising, messaging, outreach, hiring, infrastructure—all of these compound to create a lot of stress. 

That is, if you haven’t mapped out a plan. On this week’s episode of Relish This, I spoke with Regeanie Corona, the Founder and CEO of Advancing the Seed. 

Regeanie excels at helping organizations supercharge their revenue streams to enable predictable growth. 

A lot of our conversation focused on mindset and how everyone—no matter whether they work for a non-profit or a for-profit—should have an entrepreneurial focus. After all, that focus is what allows you to look at alternative revenue streams, to seek investments instead of handouts, and to create a stronger donor base. 

Regeanie has created a program called “10 in 30 Days,” a checklist and accountability program that shows you how to generate $10,000 worth of revenue in just a month. This is great for organizations who are just starting to build a strong financial foundation, as it really provides an understanding of how to generate revenue quickly. 

This is a fascinating show with a LOT of information about how you can take your organization to the next level. 

Links: 

regeanie.com

10in30days.com

@regeanie on socials

ASK: 

Sit down and create a list of everything you can do to monetize your organization then make a commitment to do one of these in the next 90 days to bring more revenue to your organization. 

What message are you trying to share with your stakeholders? 

On this week's Relish This, I chatted with Spencer Brennan, the founder and CEO of Boston agency Douglas Spencer. He and I met on an online group called Nonprofit.ist that enables those working in the nonprofit sector to connect with other nonprofit and purpose-focused experts.

Spencer helps mission-driven clients reframe their focus and remaster their messaging so they can thrive in any environment.

As you might imagine, he knows all the ins and outs of messaging—and we had an amazing talk about the complexity of crafting messaging that works. We also talked about the challenges most of us face when trying to get our message across to the masses.

There’s a lot to get out of this conversation. Hope you enjoy it!

Links: 

Spencer Brenneman

Nonprofitist

ASK: 

Pause and think about one thing about your work and what you know that others might not understand. Then take that thing and share it! 

My guest today is Richie Kendall, the co-founder of Goodworld, an AMAZING tech stack that helps organizations (both nonprofit and for-profit) manage and fuel their growth.

Richie’s platform combines many great features in one platform, making it easier to coordinate your outreach for maximum effect.

In my opinion, nonprofit organizations could especially benefit from using Goodworld to have all of their events, social giving, and rounding up campaigns all in one easy-to-view place. This would help to reduce costs and cut down on time wasted learning multiple platforms. 

Richie and I had a great conversation and I hope you enjoy it. 

Link: 

Good World Now

ASK: 

Educate yourself on where the world is moving. Encourage your leadership and workforce to engage in ritualistic good to provide the time and space, perks and incentives to have a stronger connection. 

Are you crafting a conversation with all of your audiences? 

On this episode of Relish This, I talked with Maya Brook, the Executive Director of Slow Food Denver, an organization that helps educate people about their food sources and encourages them to seek out  food that is produced using sustainable practices and is available to everyone. 

Their motto is “We believe in food that is good, clean, and fair for all.” 

During our conversation, we discussed the different avenues that Slow Food has created to support and promote its mission including its kids program, Little Sprouts, that helps children learn how to cook and creates a passion for good food at an early age. 

We also discussed Maya’s background in PR and how organizations can do a better job teeing up messaging and outreach to capture the attention of a wider audience and how to properly frame your story when sending out PR materials. The key is to ensure that you are creating the right content for the right audience in the right medium. 

Finally, for those of you who are looking to move into an Executive Director role (or if you are searching for an ED), we finished our conversation about the ED hiring process and how Maya prepared herself to successfully land her new role as Executive Director of Slow Food Denver. 

This was a fun episode. I hope you enjoy it

Links: 

Slow Food Denver

ASK:
 Ask questions, grow your own food, try new things!

On this week's episode, I talked with Mike Reichert, the Director of Operations at Wild Bear Nature Center in Nederland, CO. 

Wild Bear Nature Center has an ambitious plan to educate people about nature by building a new facility down the street from where I live. (They’re currently running a big capital campaign to raise the necessary funds.) 

They’ve been active in Nederland for over 27 years, making avid supporters out of the local community and businesses. Drawing on this history to engage partners in the area and expand their reach will be key to reaching their ambitious goals.

We discussed using those partnerships and building trust to expand their message and get more people involved and engaged. 

WBNC is doing some amazing things for the local community and beyond. Check them out on this episode!

Link: 

https://www.wildbear.org/

ASK: Reduce, reuse, recycle. Pick up trash on the trails!

Are you hosting an event this year? If not, you should consider doing so. (Within the bounds of safety, of course.)

On this week’s episode I talked with Dave Jensen, the CEO of Encompass Events Group. 

Their company helps nonprofit organizations put on live hybrid and remote events. They offer support and production services to help organizations knock their events out of the park. 

And listen—if you don’t know how to run an online or hybrid event, but want to, then this is the show for you. Dave and I go over a lot of great stuff, from how to start your first online event to how to make your hybrid events engaging. 

Recently, I had the pleasure of doing a virtual tour of Dave’s studio. Encompass Events Group has done a great job of adapting to the online world of events and they really have the skills to help you up your online or hybrid event game. 

I think there are two main takeaways from this episode. 

First, flip the script: make your audience the main attraction at the event. Get them participating or highlight them to make things feel like “not just another Zoom call.” 

Secondly, do something. Even if you host just a small event, it can help you stay relevant to your stakeholders and front-of-mind. 

You are going to love this episode. 

Link: 

Compass Event Group

MobileCause

Ask: 

Just do something. Even if it's a small event and 100% online, do something to remain relevant. 

Are you keeping your foot on the gas? 

This week I talked with Angela Forster, the co-founder of Tiny Studio. Angela and her business partner, Nancy Rice, have a women-owned business that does lots of work in the nonprofit sector. 

Since both of us are in the design world, our conversation naturally touched on design trends. We also talked about remote working challenges—and even our mutual love of opera! 

The biggest takeaway from our conversation was remembering—even in hard times—how important it is to stay consistent and “keep your foot on the gas” with your marketing spend. It’s crucial to keep at it—even allowing your tactics to be more creative and experimental, if you can. (Experimentation can help you find new and interesting opportunities to be successful.) 

This was a great conversation and I hope you enjoy it. 

Link: 

https://tinystudiollc.com/

ASK: 

Reach out to a nonprofit and figure out how to share your expertise with them.

Have you ever thought about generating donations by hosting a sweepstake? (Yes, “sweepstakes” means more than one. 😁)

This week we are talking to Annie Tukman, the Sales Director at Tapkat, a platform that runs online sweepstakes for nonprofit organizations. 

Sweepstakes are great for an organization because they help gamify the donation process. This can make donating more enjoyable for your donors, increase donation amounts, help with list-building, and increase overall engagement with your stakeholders. 

Our conversation was a comprehensive how-to for running successful sweepstakes—everything from how to acquire prizes to how to effectively engage your audience.

Take a listen, then reach out to Tapkat to set up your first sweepstake. Don’t forget to let us know how it goes! 

https://www.tapkat.com/

Ask: 

Go eat a delicious snack!

Go check out Tapkat and set up a sweepstake for your organization. 

Have you committed to getting your story out to your stakeholders? 

Today’s episode of Relish This, we talk to Rhiannon Hendrickson, Founder and CEO of Orapin Marketing, a fantastic PR firm that does a LOT of work in the nonprofit sector. 

Her firm focuses on helping nonprofits get their stories out to their stakeholders. Orapin’s approach focuses on first getting you to commit to your story, and then helping identify why people should care about what you are up to. 

Our conversation reminded me that nonprofit leaders are experts in their fields. They understand the issues, and intuitively know what solutions are needed to solve problems. But they’re not always great at communicating this expertise.

Nonprofit leaders should feel empowered to use their voice and speak up. Not only will you be sharing your passion, but also you’ll be building trust with your donors—who will feel more willing to give when they feel their money will be used competently. 

This episode is great for any nonprofit leader seeking to expand their mission and amplify their story. 

Links: 

https://orapinmarketing.com/inspired-impact/

ACT: Focus on clarifying your story, What you do, why it matters, Why should they care. Answer the "So What" question.