Scaling Impact

From sketching animals as a teenager to founding Harvest107, Gracie shares the journey that turned creativity, family influence, and a little righteous anger into a mission-driven nonprofit fighting hunger through urban gardens, sustainability, and community impact.

Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact Podcast.

• How a children’s book inspired Gracie to fight hunger at age 12
• The birth of Harvest107 and its first community projects
• Navigating challenges as a young, foreign female leader in Haiti
• The role of education and organic farming in battling malnutrition
• Harvest107’s resilience after adversity and its future global goals

Resources:

• Harvest107
• DevNoodle
• NxtStep

Connect with Gracie Pfaff:

• LinkedIn

Connect with our hosts:

• Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn
• Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn

Quotables:

• 07:59 - I have an entire pantry and fridge full of food, yet there are kids just like me down the street and across the country who don't have that. And I was like, that's just unacceptable. Everyone deserves access to healthy and nutritious food, and food in general.
• 27:54 - And it also taught me to kind of like have a backbone and be a leader and you know, stand up for myself in those spaces. And then I think, especially as we started transitioning to work with primarily women and children, that a lot of that went away.
• 35:42 - We are, we are healthy, so let's just keep going. I wasn't gonna let it truly set us back. And so we raised enough money to get a plot for a test farm. 'Cause that's always been really important to us to make sure that we have space where we also do a lot of projects with trees.
• 45:07 - I've always loved, I mean, my dad was an entertainer, so it's like I've always kind of loved that creative side and being able to use that is really fun. Plus, being a nonprofit founder, there were many times in my life where I felt like I was always giving, and I love to give, but at some point, I was like, I need to also like take care of me and do something that fills me up, and creating content was that for me.
• 46:54 - I think I've never really believed in the whole niche down thing. I, I'm multihyphenate, and I fully embrace that. I love being a nonprofit founder and sharing about giving back. I love being a content creator and a model. I love, you know, just being creative in general. So, as my personal brand, I think the number one thing I go for is just being a good person and being authentic and sharing the things that I love and trying to make the world a better, brighter place.

If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.

In this episode, we sit down with Christian LeFer, founder of Instant Nonprofit, to explore the intersection of culture, festivals, and customer love, and how these elements shape a brand that truly connects. Christian shares the highs, challenges, and unexpected turns of launching and scaling a purpose-driven company, offering a candid look at what works (and what doesn’t) along the way.

Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast.

• Creating a company culture rooted in love and self-understanding
• Lessons from festivals and psychedelics applied to building teams
• Simplifying nonprofit formation and avoiding legal pitfalls
• Turning customer complaints into “refunds to raving fans”
• Innovative approaches to cash flow and personal growth

Resources:

• Instant Nonprofit
• DevNoodle
• Podcast Chef
• NxtStep

Connect with Christian LeFer:

• LinkedIn

Connecting with our hosts

• Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn
• Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn
• Sean Boyce - LinkedIn
  
  

Quotables:

• 13:20 - If you've ever read Simon Sinek, for example, you know, we believe that the world is not lacking for information. People are not broke because they can't do simple addition and subtraction. People aren't ineffective in what they want to do. Or maybe in switching careers to doing something more meaningful or they don't have the lack, they might not lack the relationship that they desire because of a lack of information. It's really a lack of understanding oneself. And really, to me that starts with self-love because 10 years ago, almost to the day, I lost absolutely everything. My entire life was in a conflagration. And the harder I worked, the worse things got. And I was literally brought down to my knees to where I, nothing that I could do with all my cleverness and ideas and information that I had at that time could help me, and I let go in a way that allowed me to relearn how to be a human.
• 15:58 - And I believe everyone has something inside this divine spark inside them that makes them great, beau beautiful, and unique. And so if you can create a space of safety for that thing to be able to blossom a little bit, you'll get a hundred or a thousand X out of that person, whether it's the guy on the street, your lover, your employee, team member, whatever. And so I started to play with that idea, and that's really how I've built a culture of love at this company, is first and foremost to really try to help everybody have an opportunity to understand everyone else and feel safe in that space in the company.
• 18:07 - I have this thing called refunds to raving fans. And that's something that everybody in on the team has embraced. And it's about just listening to that person. That person might be having a really tough time. They might have a tough board, they might have a tough home life, they might just find it really difficult to start their nonprofit and get through all the stuff, even though we make it so easy. And so listening to them first to diffuse that emotional balloon and create some understanding, appreciation, and just acceptance of that person does at least half the job. And then we go over and above to satisfy whatever it is that, you know, that they might be worked up about.
• 35:03 - My light bulb came on because I had that free space of being disengaged with all these things that had just been taken over my life, and made life just look very impossible. And I said, you know, if we start with process and just do these few simple things, I think we can pull this out and turn this into a juggernaut. And so we threw away the custom software we spent a lot of money on, and I had to let go of that, and I had a lot of letting go to do at that time.
• 52:22 - And I was able to tie that to the specific challenges that we were dealing with at that time. And that concept never left me. And that's just how I look at cash flow now, and it helps me so much on the tough months, right? Or the months where we have a dip or we broke something on the website, and it caused issues. We launched a huge new site, funnels, brand customer portal last year, and our little upward trajectory got knocked off a little bit. And this was really helpful for to me to say, look, it's okay because we just did spent a whole bunch of time beautifying and making this river flow more beautifully. And so when that rain comes, boy is it just gonna flow so nicely through there, and now we're getting the results of that.

Don’t miss out on this episode where non-profit expertise meets entrepreneurial spirit as Catalina Parker unravels her journey from burnout to brilliance. Learn how non-profit professionals are transforming their passion into profitable consulting businesses, combatting common industry challenges, and leveraging AI for operational efficiency. Whether you're in the non-profit sector 

Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast.

• Non-profit burnout triggers consulting pivot
• Strength training as a mental health tool
• AI fills in busy work, opens strategic room
• Fractional work is a growing non-profit trend
• Structuring services for non-profit consulting

Resources:

• Relatable Nonprofit
• DevNoodle
• Podcast Chef
• NxtStep

Connect with Catalina Parker:

• LinkedIn

Connecting with our hosts

• Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn
• Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn
• Sean Boyce - LinkedIn

Quotables:

• 09:30: I had found myself having panic attacks in my office every day. I was not a good mother, not a present wife, not a great friend. My whole life was really consumed by work and trying to make a situation that wasn't right for me work. And eventually, I couldn't stop ignoring the signs that my body was sending me, which were these panic attacks. I would have a lot of anger outbursts because I was just so overwhelmed with the emotions. I didn't know how to process emotions. So that's really what made me realize that there was a problem and something needed to change. 
• 13:04 - I think because I was doing what I thought other people wanted me to do growing up, I was always told that, you know, you have to achieve a lot. So there was a lot of pressure put on me at an early age to just push yourself, do better, do better. You're never enough was always the message I was given. So when I did all the things you're supposed to do, you know, I was a straight-A student, graduated college early, did my master's in an Ivy League school, I got my dream job, this was all before I was 30. And it was just because I realized kind, I was just doing what everybody told me to do. Others, what society tells you to do. And I never really asked myself like, what do you wanna do? What makes you happy? 
• 19:38 - I started reading a book by Keith Cunningham, and he mentioned this concept of thinking time, which he took from someone else. But essentially, scheduling time for yourself to just stop and think and going into that meeting with yourself with the right question in mind, like a very specific, narrow question that's an important one for you to answer. I haven't yet worked it into a ritual, but the couple of times that I've done it, I mean it's been, it's had a profound change on my business.
• 34:32 -  I really do believe that the future of the nonprofit sector, because the system really is not built in a sustainable way to support the people working inside nonprofits, right? Like donors believe that people are overhead and we need all of the funding to go just to the mission, but donors sometimes forget, well, who's gonna actually implement that mission work, right? So there are just a lot of issues with the nonprofit, just the system, the sector as a whole, systemic issues that are just going to take a while to be addressed. And that's why we see a lot of people choose consulting or fractional work as an option because it's like, what else do you do? Right? And again, I mean, the nonprofit sector pays people not well, just all of these various issues. 
• 38:04 - Catalina:  I have a sales bot trained on our script and everything. It's just incredible how much time you can save if you're using it correctly. I've seen it used incorrectly a lot as well.
  Josh: Yeah, I think just to kinda repeat that, I think it does a good job filling in the busy work that we were just sitting there typing a brief or something like that. And it leaves more time for strategy, which I think is where we get the human involved and let the AI do what it does best, and then we do what we do best. 

Join us in the dynamic world of nonprofit leadership with a seasoned expert who shares the ins and outs of organizational growth, retention challenges, and collaborative solutions. From scaling operations to forming strategic partnerships, get actionable insights that empower mission-driven executives to amplify their impact.

Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast.

• Retention and recruiting in modern nonprofits
• Automation's role in nonprofit evolution
• Corporate partnerships bolster nonprofit missions
• Strategies to address nonprofit funding decreases
• The importance of mission-driven leadership

Resources:

• Rob Harter Coaching and Consulting
• DevNoodle
• Podcast Chef
• NxtStep

Connect with Rob Harter:

• LinkedIn

Connecting with our hosts

• Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn
• Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn
• Sean Boyce - LinkedIn

Quotables:

• 31:44 - I'm a big believer that every organization, it either rises or falls based on their leadership. So if you want an organization to improve, and this could be a company, a business, a nonprofit, deal with that to improve you, improve the leadership. So if you improve the leader, you're gonna improve the entire organization. So that's kind of my, what drives me and what gets me excited too is that if I have some time to meet with that leader and or the leadership team or the board who has the really can move the needle for an organization, that organization gets healthier. When that leader gets healthier, that organization gets better when that leader gets better. And so that's a lot of what drives me in my consulting business
• 16:05 - We didn't have this in our budget to provide all this rent assistance. And so really it was a community thing. So it was mostly individual gifts, but the more people got excited about, Hey, I could do something, I'll send a check. And, and it literally just came in and we just sent it right back out. So it was an in-and-out gift. And so the more we were able to report back on that, on who we were helping, who we were serving, and Park City's not that big of a community, even though we have a two county region, the word spread pretty quickly, I guess is what I'm saying. And so people found out real examples of, oh, that's my friend, or that's my people that normally I employ. Those are the people I just, I can't employ anymore. We had to let 'em go or temporarily furlough them because we, there's no work to be had. So they knew that we were helping their, you know, helpers and their employees and whatnot. So the money was not hard to ask for, I guess, long story short.
• 39:07 -  I've had some people on the show that actually are part of these corporate foundations, right? And they, I've actually asked that exact question, and what they tell me, and so I'll pass that on. 'Cause I think it's really good advice is when it comes to corporate donors, and let alone, this is the same for state, you know, government, federal government, and local government. It's all about relationships. It's really building an honest and like a positive relationship with folks that are decision makers when it comes to potential funding, potential collaboration, getting in front of the right people to ask, Hey, would you think about collaborating on this project or supporting this project through your finances? You know, so I think that relationship starts the whole process. So if you just only go to corporate partners or if corporate foundations just go to nonprofits and it's just a money transaction, it's not gonna go very far.
• 24:08 - And I know it sounds so simple, we all know that. But if you don't put that literally into how you make decisions, it needs to become a funnel. So when things come at you, you run it through your, okay, does this match your mission? Yes. Does 'cause it matches your vision? Yeah. Is it according to of values? That's where I think sometimes people miss or organizations miss. When you make decisions, you start realizing and don't, not thinking through, well this is really not the values of our culture. This is not our DNA, this is not what we do.
• 40:52 - So now you're coming with more. Hey, this is an issue we all share in this community. How can we come together and actually address the issue as opposed to, Hey, I know you've got a little extra money in your budget, could you gimme some money for a food pantry? You know, it's just that the approach and really coming at it with much more of a broader perspective than just, I need money for my nonprofit, right? Or the corporate coming and saying, I just need a partner, 'cause I've gotta check that box on my foundation list. You know, it's like, let's really come together and look at these issues and what can we do together collaboratively. Because overall, when that has happened, and I've had multiple cases of people on my show, they've had some real success of bringing together government, for-profit, and nonprofits together to deal with really big issues in their city or their community or their country internationally, and have had great results. But it really starts with that relationship and that collaboration building.

If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.

Join us as Chika Nwaogu shares his revolutionary journey, infusing comic books and tech into menstrual health education. Discover how this coder turned advocate is championing young African girls' lives, one period at a time. Tune in for laughs, insights, and an uplifting saga of empathy and innovation.

Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast.

• Chika Nwaogu path from coder to advocate
• Combatting period poverty with creativity
• Empowering girls with comic books and tech
• Creating a sticky learning experience
• Bridging gaps with the Pather e-learning platform

Resources:

• PadHer
• DevNoodle
• Podcast Chef
• NxtStep

Connect with Chika Nwaogu:

• LinkedIn

Connecting with our hosts

• Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn
• Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn
• Sean Boyce - LinkedIn
  
  

Quotables:

• 09:32 - I'm not a parent yet, but I think there is such a value in getting, when you're a kid or your kid getting as many skills as possible. One, you just don't know what their future's gonna look like. And it's just good to have. But a lot of times success is found when you pull a skill from, and this is exactly what you did, right? You pull skill from something else, whether it's another job, another industry, another project, and you pull it into what you're currently working on. And it's having those skills, whether you realize that at the time or not, that says, oh, like I'm actually doing something a little bit different here, and these skills work really well in this field. So I think it's, it's really cool that kind of, whether it's an accident or not,
• 17:21 - We are always looking for innovative ways. You know, we first started with comic books. We, we, we are scaled to animations. We are, most recently trying to scale into digital games and then to e-learning platforms. So it basically, we are going to be always looking for more innovative ways and mediums to present menstrual and sexual health education to young African slogans.
• I always want to listen. I want to know how best can I do this? And I feel like it has also changed my entire outlook on life. It has allowed me to be someone who listens more, who gives people opportunities, like to, okay, can I hear what you have to say? And this is not this, this is never, never my style of leadership in the past. My style of leadership in the past was always like a top down planning. I just  have something, I just say that's what is gonna happen. But with Partha, it just taught me to listen to every person, every matter, no matter how little the person is in the group, in the team, their voice matters. I feel like. And I feel that's not only changed me as a person, but it has changed my leadership style. So yeah.
• 33:00 - They're like pointing at her, they're making fun of her, they're insulting her. And this is as a result of this is the period of stigma we are talking about is a result of society that does not build boys to show empathy towards their female counterparts. They are thought that periods are are something to shy about, to be embarrassed about. So we are trying to make sure that we change that narrative. One comic book at a time for boys. One of the thing we are also trying to do is wherever we go to a school, we always want to have that ongoing relearning. 
• 49:32 -  I had the passion, I have the passion for it, and I still have the passion for it. I just wanna see a future where period education is an essential part of a girl's education. It's not just something on the side, it's something being taught in schools like mathematics, physics, chemistry, where the girls are being taught about this, where also boys, these things are also boys, is also introduced to boys in a way that it can foster empathy and reduces period stigma.

Let’s dig into the critical world of nonprofit event planning with industry expert Amanda Nover. From crafting engaging fundraisers to optimizing donor journeys, get the lowdown on making every event count. Tune in for a blend of inspirational stories, practical strategies, and insider tips that can transform your nonprofit's next gathering into a resounding success.

Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast.

• Crafting engaging nonprofit events
• Integrating events with fundraising strategy
• Empowering organizations with event goals
• Enhancing donor relations post-event
• Navigating financial planning for events

Resources:

• Amanda Nover Event Strategies
• DevNoodle
• Podcast Chef
• NxtStep

Connect with Amanda Nover:

• LinkedIn

Connecting with our hosts:

• Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn
• Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn
• Sean Boyce - LinkedIn

Quotables:

• 14:44 - Honestly, I have not seen an organization yet say, we have a solid plan. I think everyone is just kind of waiting to see what happens, doing the best they can, and taking it day by day. Because a lot of the organizations I work with are direct service organizations, helping people with a variety of challenges who really need the help. And especially now with everything going on in our government, aren't getting it any other way. 
• 27:23 -  A lot of people say like, oh, we work all year to have this great gala. People love it. But then sometimes the people who are there don't hear from you again until you're hosting that event again the next year. That's fine, maybe they love your event, and they come every year. But is that bringing them closer to your mission at all? Is that deepening the relationship at all? Not really. So I think what a lot of organizations need to do is not just say what's gonna happen at this event, but what's gonna happen after this event? What is that follow-up gonna look like? Where are they on their journey with our organization, and where do we want them to be? And once you say where we want them to be, and that may be different for different attendees, once you say where you want them to be, how are we gonna get them there? And not just forget about them until the next year, but really think about what that journey looks like.
• 24:13 - There's organizations who have maybe an older donor population who have been committed for years who love the organization, but they're not getting new donors in the door. They might have an event where the goal is not necessarily raising money, but building their list, finding new supporters to kind of build the base of future supporters for the organization. Or you know, the kind of event, one kind of event I love to plan is sort of a cultivation event is like a jargony term in the fundraising world, but something that's used to bring your donors or supporters closer to your mission. 
• 45:32 - I think the biggest thing is to think about how your event fits into your larger fundraising strategy. It is a single moment in time, it's a very special moment in time. It's a really important moment in time, but it's not your whole fundraising strategy. You have your individual, your corporate, your foundation, your communications, there's all those pieces working together, and there's again, the journey that org that your supporters are on throughout the entire year, throughout their entire time with your organization. And the event is there to enhance that, whether it's a fundraising event or whether it's, you know, a feel-good community event to introduce new supporters to your mission, that is part of the strategy and can't live by itself on one side.
• 29:53 -  I think that ends up being a big pain point because people are pulled into planning events who really don't have time to do it. And then the final, I would say the final, like really big problem I see with events is some events, like a 5K, you can expect to kind of go have a great time and walk away maybe not knowing that much about the organization. And that's okay sometimes for that sort of event, but for other kinds of events, you really need to focus on how you're communicating your mission at many, many points throughout the event because you want people to not just have a great time, but be inspired, feel motivated to give, feel motivated to engage more deeply. 

Decoding into the world of nonprofit finances with expert Sean Hale! Discover essential strategies for financial resilience and the pitfalls of the overhead myth, as Sean unpacks decades of wisdom. Plus, learn how embracing financial literacy can empower your organization's success. Tune in for revelations that can reshape your nonprofit's fiscal approach.

Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast.

• Overcoming the overhead myth
• Importance of financial literacy
• Embracing strategic investments
• Nonprofit audit preparation tips
• Recognizing the value of tech upgrades

Resources:

• Nonprofit CFOs
• DevNoodle
• Podcast Chef
• NxtStep

Connect with Sean Hale:

• LinkedIn

Connecting with our hosts:

• Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn
• Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn
• Sean Boyce - LinkedIn

Quotables:

• 39:29 - They're absolutely gonna be looking out for the organization's best health as if they were the full-time CFO, right? And so if they see that something's not quite right, at minimum they're gonna raise it with the executive director, right? Like I'm concerned that you have a lot of turnover, and I see that you're paying well under market rates. You know, should we have a conversation about that? Or I'm concerned that you're, we have kind of all of saying, you know, I looked at inventory, and the computers that you're using are all like five and six years old. Can we have a conversation about that? Or, I see that your basic back-office accounting-type processes haven't been documented. This is a real risk and a vulnerability for the organization because you have just one person that knows how to run payroll.
• 42:42 - I would add is financial literacy for every leader in the organization is really important. There are myths around that. There are myths that like, oh, I'm no good at math and I'm no good with numbers, and they've always bothered me, and besides our CPA has that or whatever. And that's baloney. And your organization, if you are a leader, you're setting yourself up for risk and possibly a world of hurt if you are not engaged at a certain level with the finances. 
• 25:47 - Certainly, one challenge that I see over and over again is when organizations have bought into the overhead myth. The overhead myth is a zombie idea that the less, if an organization spend, the less an organization spends on administration, the more impactful it must be and vice versa. And nothing could be further from the truth. And in actuality, the more you cut your back office expenses, the more likely that organization's gonna have really poor health overall and to have low impact. 
• 27:52 -  One thing I've found and you know, over and over again is that there's this penny wise pound foolish mentality in too many organizations. And so the more nonprofits that learn that, you know, sometimes you have to spend money to save money is such a valuable lesson that I wish more would come around on that. Sometimes yes, it might feel extravagant and crazy to go and spend 700 bucks to get a new laptop for any of your staff who feel like they need a new computer. But you know what? That investment is probably gonna pay for itself pretty quickly in terms of higher productivity and also improved morale. 
• 32:17 -  The organizations that they saw come out of the recession the strongest were the ones that took a different approach that instead they made some strategic cuts, right? They, and so just surgically kind of looking at what's gonna be most mission oriented, what's gonna be, what are, what's giving us the best ROI, we're gonna protect the things that are most mission oriented, most ROI, but we're gonna strategically cut some of these other areas.

In this episode, Community Engagement Officers from DreamSpring, Shaundra, and Meghan, share insights on the importance and impact of community engagement in small business growth. They discuss strategies for effective outreach, trust-building, and partner stewardship. The hosts also highlight the benefits of partnerships and the significance of investing in relationships for long-lasting success. Additionally, they touch on measuring impact and taking care of oneself and their ecosystem while growing a business.

Join Shaundra Jacobs and Meghan Rauker on this episode as they share their remarkable career journeys. Shaundra's experience spans roles at AT&T, Lyft, and BakerRipley, leading to her current position as a Community Engagement Officer at DreamSpring, where she fosters relationships to support entrepreneurs. Meghan's expertise lies in strategic communications, program management, and business development, showcased through her roles at PeopleFund and as a Business Development Lead at TÁPI Story. Together, they offer invaluable insights into community engagement, nonprofit organizations, and business growth strategies. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact:

• Community engagement is about long-term and sustainable outcomes, building relationships, and meeting the needs of priority populations such as minority entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, and veterans.
• Engaging effectively with communities involves asking why and offering services of value, being location-based, and using technology effectively. Consistency and genuineness are also essential.
• Building sustainable partnerships involves asking directly, “What do you need?”
• Regular touchpoints and checking in with partners can pay off down the line.
• Partnerships can help solve similar challenges and complement each other's roles.
• Community engagement is a vital part of small business growth.
• The company is rapidly expanding and offers a monthly entrepreneurial resource newsletter called Springboard.

Resources:

• DreamSpring
• DreamSpring News
• Spring Board Newsletters
• Business Resource Blog
• NxtStep
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Shaundra Jacobs and Meghan Rauker: 

• Shaundra Jacobs
• Meghan Rauker

Connecting with Sean Boyce:

• LinkedIn
• Email

Quotables:

• 03:33 - “Money is not always the answer. It is more to educate and empower people to be able to start a small business, be entrepreneurs and sustain themselves and their family, create generational wealth. That is our goal with this engagement role.”
• 17:36 - “I just love to see it in a chart form and say, oh look at all these people I've connected with and let me see exactly where my, you know, how I've interacted and engaged with people. So that's how HubSpot does help us. That's our little way. And then we do have other things like Domo that'll show exactly the impact, and it pulls it into charting and shows you how many people you've impacted and all of that.”
• 08:28 - “That's the other trick I'd also add to organizations, if you can find other people who have titles like community engagement or community manager in their role, they're much more likely to respond to you. And it's also really great to have like a peer in that space if that's your job. And you're just kind of starting to navigate that space.”
• 24:12 - “So kindness goes a really long way in connecting with people even after they've left the organization. Especially if you get along, and you're passionate about the same things goes a super long way. Again, it's a long game, a super, super long game, it's a marathon for sure. You have to make sure you take care of yourself and the people in your ecosystem while you're doing it.”
• 24:36 - “You want to invest in these relationships and the more you invest in them, the more likely you're to get out of it as well too. As such, the community benefits as well. So I love the partnership angle for a whole bunch of reasons. Just great to be able to kind of grow together, find folks who are trying to solve also similar challenges, and maybe they play a complimentary role to what it is that you may be doing as such. You can grow together, right? Rising tide raises all ships kind of thing”

If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.

In this episode of Scaling Impact, Sean Boyce hosts Anne Haynes and Marisa Barrera from DreamSpring to discuss their mission of supporting entrepreneurs and driving economic and social change. They explore the meaning of impact and the importance of equitable access to capital. Additionally, they delve into the role of nonprofit boards in fundraising, building a partnership with CEOs, and maximizing positive change. 

Marisa Barrera is the Chief Impact Officer at DreamSpring, bringing over 27 years of experience to her role. With a background in public and international affairs, Marisa is dedicated to driving economic equity and inclusion through her work. Anne Haines, the CEO and President of DreamSpring, is a recognized leader known for her commitment to ethics and excellence. Under her guidance, DreamSpring has become one of the top-performing nonprofit microfinance institutions in the United States, providing funding and support to small businesses across 27 states. Anne's vision and impact have earned her numerous awards and accolades, making her a respected figure in the industry. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact:

• Equitable access to capital is essential in empowering entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.
• Regular communication, exposure to the organization's work, and in-person meetings keep the board engaged.
• Dream Springing transitioned from a larger board of directors to a smaller one to enhance governance and leadership excellence.
• The composition of the board is carefully developed to best support the organization's short term and long term strategic goals.
• Technology expertise has been brought onto the board to support the development of Dream Springing's in-house software.
• The board's role is to align its membership with the organization's strategic goals and ensure impactful outcomes.
• The episode provides valuable advice and insights for other organizations looking to achieve similar success.

Resources:

• DreamSpring
• NxtStep
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Marisa Barrera:

• LinkedIn

Connecting with Anne Haines:

• DreamSpring

Connecting with Sean Boyce:

• LinkedIn
• Email

Quotables:

• 05:08 - “So as a nonprofit community development organization, we're very committed to putting capital into the hands of underserved entrepreneurs and historically underserved communities. For us to make the broadest space economic and social impact, we believe that combining passion and heart and technology to support the scaling of impact are all critical inputs into some of the desired outcomes.”
• 13:52 - “Nonprofit boards are also responsible for being advocates for the organization for ensuring sufficient financial resources for an organization, which means nonprofit board of directors mostly do need to get involved in fundraising. I think there are very few nonprofit boards where there isn't, you know, some kind of fundraising responsibility that is actually a core part of a nonprofit board role.”
• 25:57 - “And so we do find that it is important to cultivate through the board's nominating and governance process, really mindful identification of board members who bring the experience, the networks, the background that are needed for a nonprofit's mission fulfillment.”
• 06:32 - “And when we are working with small businesses, it's so important that every entrepreneur around the country, no matter what their background is, men, women, entrepreneurs of color, individuals with a disability, whoever that person is, if they're dreaming of starting a business and have the tenacity and grit to launch it, we wanna make sure that they're championed and have access to capital to start that business or to grow the business.”
• 16:19 Sean: “So how do you keep the board engaged in the work that's ongoing so that they can also maximize their impact and track progress?” .. Anne: “Certainly it begins before somebody becomes a board member with a series of really thoughtful conversations. There should be a committee of the board of directors or if it's a very small board to start with, it could be the full board that evaluate who might be potential candidates that would be great for the organization, where the organization would be great for who they are and the passion they have.”

If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.

In this episode, Amber Kani, Head of Stakeholder Engagement at Dream Springing, talks about their approach to using technology to overcome challenges in scaling impact for underrepresented communities. She emphasizes the importance of analyzing donor journeys and addressing pain points through technology while staying open to changes. Dream Springing also adapts to pandemic challenges by providing self-paced options for donor engagement.

Amber Kani is an experienced professional in the field of stakeholder engagement and philanthropy. She currently serves as the Head of Stakeholder Engagement at DreamSpring, where she has successfully implemented comprehensive business development and stewardship strategies to advance the organization's mission. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact:

• Dream Springing is a nonprofit that provides small business owners and entrepreneurs underrepresented in traditional banking access to capital, education, and resources.
• Technology is key to scaling impact by reducing friction points for clients and donors alike, enabling Dream Springing to capture data to improve outreach for clients and fundraise more effectively beyond traditional networks.
• Map out the existing workflows to identify challenges and select appropriate technology
• Unstick stakeholders by adding a touchpoint into the process and identifying needs to hire appropriate staff
• Know your process and deploy your team intentionally.
• Crafting innovative solutions using the resources available.
• Technology enables stakeholder engagement to be more impactful.

Resources:

• DreamSpring
• NxtStep
• Podcast Chef

Connecting with Amber Kani:

• LinkedIn
• Email

Connecting with Sean Boyce:

• LinkedIn
• Email

Quotables:

• 09:12 - “And by leveraging technology we're able to take our digital assets, client features, videos, things that tell our story better than I ever could face-to-face or in a letter and get them in front of people that go beyond the networks of anyone on your fundraising staff. You know, capacity is always a challenge for nonprofits, and leveraging technology can let your fundraisers and your partnership builders and your executive teams do what they do best. And it also enables your clients to have a voice in the process.”
• 11:24 - “I mean, the great thing about technology is you're constantly getting data on what is working and what isn't, and it enables you to pivot and change as you need. And it would take a long time to figure that out with face-to-face and meetings, certainly at the scale that we're trying to do it.”
• 11:45 - “Because in terms of cost-effectiveness, I've seen a lot unfortunately of nonprofit organizations that have developed amazing local programs but then they kind of collapse, or they stall under the weight of the growth that they want to try to achieve as they're trying to scale because they haven't taken into account just how expensive time-consuming, how much effort is going to be involved and what it's going to be like trying to manage that at scale.”
• 19:36 - “Because you're expecting the process that worked yesterday to work for the process of tomorrow's world. That's unlikely to be the case, even if it does, it's going to be significantly less effective. So you're going to need processes to improve those as well too. It isn't like they're going to have to adapt, they're going to have to evolve, and your tools should evolve with you as well too.” 
• 13:27 - “Sean: You'd alluded too as well to the data that you've used to kind of better understand where to apply technology, software, any of these other tools that can help you with scaling more efficiently. What does that look like? What is DreamSprings' process for that? Like how do you know where to apply it next that would also be good for, you know, other nonprofit leaders to learn from in terms of what you've done successfully?

Amber: Yeah, I think the first thing is you need to put your head down before you can put your head out. And you know, we really looked internally at who are our donors and partners, and aspirationally who are we trying to attract? Because like you said, the folks who are supporting you in your backyard and your community are absolutely essential.”

If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.