Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership Strategies, and Community-Centric Solutions for Canadian and American Nonprofits

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Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership Strategies, and Community-Centric Solutions for Canadian and American Nonprofits episodes

February 28, 2023Confessions with Jess and Cindy: From burnout to being your own boss with Sabrina Walker
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In today’s podcast, we’re chatting with Sabrina Walker Hernandez about how she moved from being completely burned out (including how that affected her health) to growing a business that allowed her to still serve nonprofits but in a way that protected herself and her own well-being. Through her company, Supporting World Hope, Sabrina is a trainer, facilitator, and coach who specializes in strategic planning, fundraising, and leadership development.
Highlights:
How Sabrina invested in herself - for her health, but also in learning to start a business
Getting clear on your business’ offerings and services
Working in your business vs. on your business and how to balance those two
Connect with Sabrina:
Website: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/supportingworldhope
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/supportingworldhope?fbclid=IwAR1cQd9zCUNADjoUr_WMSiaqp_aD4gsJZE6_kJpngs7IwejJ3H05zbBcyNk
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43 min
February 21, 2023practical minimalism in nonprofits with Danielle Russell
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When you're a small nonprofit, your work often involves doing more with less—which is why it's so important to know which tasks are essential and which just add up to clutter. Today, we’re talking about one approach that helps streamline our workload while staying focused on the biggest priorities- minimalism.
Danielle Russell walks us through minimalism in nonprofits. Danielle S. Russell, CAE is a Canadian Not-for-Profit Industry Leader, Consultant, Author, Speaker, YouTuber, and Artist. She loves connecting ideas and people so that each individual can achieve their greatest potential impact. From keynote podiums, to the boardroom, to YouTube; Danielle leverages her unique strengths to help foster collaboration, empathy and action.
Key Highlights:
What is Minimalism in nonprofits?
Practical guide to minimalism for nonprofits
Letting go of “sentimental items” in your small nonprofit
Connect with Danielle:
Website: http://daniellerussell.ca/
Instagram:@Danny_S_Russell
Resources:
FREE Fundraising Strategy Guide: https://www.thegoodpartnership.com/guide

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30 min
February 14, 2023Introducing: Missions to Movements with Dana Synder
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On today’s podcast, we’re bringing you someone else’s podcast! That’s right, from time to time we’ll be featuring some friends and their podcast episodes that we think are worth a listen. Today it’s Dana Synder’s podcast, Missions to Movements.
If there is an organization to watch, Hope for Haiti is it, and today, you’ll meet Community Director of Innovative Philanthropy, Sarah Porter, and CMO Taylor Hebble. Hope for Haiti is pushing the boundaries with incredible creativity and innovation! A new VR experience transports supporters to a partner school in rural Haiti, they created a beautiful NFT collection in partnership with Haitian artists to fund the build of new schools after the earthquake, AND they’re using LinkedIn as an outlet to reach the media and have already more than doubled their following in the process.
It’s time to step into the future and imagine the possibilities as we consider VR experiences as a launchpad for deeper social impact.
Key Highlights:
Bringing Haiti to everyone through VR experiences
From concept to execution: how long it took Hope for Haiti to launch their VR experience
How Hope for Haiti grew to over 8,000 followers on LinkedIn
Connect with:
Hope for Haiti: https://hopeforhaiti.com/
Missions to Movement Podcast: https://positiveequation.com/podcast/

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52 min
February 07, 2023making your tech work for you with Kevin Christopher George
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The cloud is changing the tech game. In fact, it's already changed it. But how can you adapt to this new technology? How can your small nonprofit make sure that you're ready for what's coming next? On this episode, I speak with Kevin Christopher George of Green Merits Consulting, about cloud technology with a grounded, real life, practical perspective on what it means to research, select and adapt cloud technologies.
Key Highlights:
The benefits of cloud-based technology for small nonprofits
Why the cloud is better than an external hard drive
Building partnerships with technology providers
How to get started and adapt cloud-based technology
Cloud collaboration and accessibility
Connect with Kevin:
Website: https://www.greenmerits.com/
Email: [email protected]
Resources:
FREE Fundraising Strategy Guide: https://www.thegoodpartnership.com/guide

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34 min
January 31, 2023equity in data with Meena Das
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So many small nonprofits don't know where to start when it comes to managing the data they have. How can we use our data effectively and efficiently? And how do we make sure it’s being used with an equity lens? If you're struggling with this, definitely give this episode a listen!
On today’s episode, I’m joined by Meena Das, Founder & Philanthropy Analytics Consultant at NamasteData, and her focus of work is grounding data and analytics solutions for nonprofits in the ideas of equity and inclusion.
Key Highlights:
Best practices of equitable data management for small nonprofits
How to apply an equity lens in data collection as a nonprofit?
Ethical challenges of data collection in the nonprofit sector
How to balance DEI values with funders and partners?
Connect with Meena Das:
Meena’s LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/meenadas
Website: https://www.namastedata.org/
Resources:
FREE Fundraising Strategy Guide: https://www.thegoodpartnership.com/guide
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30 min
January 24, 2023employee volunteering with Heather Nelson
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“Everybody pays, nobody pays. Because I think one of the most important principles that we put in place with our clients around corporate is transparency” - Heather Nelson
employee volunteering with Heather Nelson
Is corporate volunteerism trendy right now? Absolutely! Should you still include it in your corporate giving strategies? Probably.
In this episode, I sat down with Heather Nelson of Bridgeraise, and talked about how your nonprofit can benefit from corporate volunteerism and how to get started with building a strong relationship with your corporate partners.
Key Highlights:
The value of corporate volunteerism to for-profit organizations and how to leverage it for your small nonprofit
Types of employee engagement: In-person, online, employee education
Activity ideas for an employee engagement program
How to gain revenue from corporate volunteering
How to set up corporate partnerships with transparency
Connect with Heather:
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/nelsonheather
Website: https://www.bridgeraise.com/
Resources:
FREE Fundraising Strategy Guide: https://www.thegoodpartnership.com/guide
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37 min
January 17, 2023practicing community centric fundraising with Maria Rio
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“Community-Centric Fundraising is about reimagining how we engage our communities, so whether that's our service users or volunteers, our donors, to make everyone feel really valued and invested in the work. - Maria Rio”
practicing community centric fundraising with Maria Rio
You may have heard of a growing movement called Community Centric Fundraising (CCF) but have lots of questions of how it works and how you might apply it to your organization.
Maria Rio, joins me in this conversation today on The Small Nonprofit Podcast. She has been working in nonprofits for ten years, has personal experience as a service user, and has spent the last year and a half testing out various CCF approaches. Maria is going to talk about how community-centric fundraising works—and how it can enable your fundraising program to raise money AND fulfill your mission at the same time.
Highlights:
What is community-centric fundraising and what makes it different?
Equitable donor stewardship
Building non-transactional relationships in fundraising events
Community Advocacy and public policy work
Collective mission
Connect with Maria:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariario/
Resource:
FREE Fundraising Strategy Guide: https://www.thegoodpartnership.com/guide
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37 min
January 10, 2023in between asks - with Mike Duerksen
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Sometimes fundraising in a small nonprofit can feel start-stop. You put in effort and maybe see results, but then as soon as you slow down, the money stops coming in.
But on today’s podcast, guest Mike Duerksen, Founder and CEO of BuildGood, shares with us his “flywheel” method for creating a fundraising program that operates on momentum, so that the longer you fundraise, the less effort it takes to grow.
Sounds dreamy, right? Mike covers:
The Flywheel analogy of fundraising for small nonprofits
Five parts of Flywheel analogy
Listening to donors
How to engage donors through virtual and in-person events
The tactics of a good “ASK”
Connect with Mike:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeduerksen
Website: https://buildgood.com/
Resources:
5minutefundraisingfix.com
FREE Fundraising Strategy Guide: https://www.thegoodpartnership.com/guide
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48 min
December 12, 2022direct mail isn’t dead with John Lepp
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And the small charities can slow down a little bit and stop automating. I remind people that direct response, whether it's direct mail or if it's online, I don't care what it is. It is an opportunity for conversation. You are talking to other human beings that we call donors. And that's an opportunity to have something, a meaningful connection with someone who wants to help you achieve your goals. And just like relationships are in real life. - John Lepp
direct mail isn’t dead with John Lepp
In today’s episode, we are joined by John Lepp, a partner at Agents of Good and the author of Creative Deviations. He has over 25 years of experience in the fundraising and design industry and is an expert in direct-response fundraising. John is breaking down how to raise more money through direct mail using design and authenticity.
Highlights:
The role of creative design in fundraising
The importance of direct mail in fundraising, despite the common belief that it is no longer effective.
The advantages that small organizations have in terms of being able to stand out and be more personal with their donor communications.
Debunking myths about direct mail in fundraising
How can small nonprofits stand out in direct mail to raise more money
Connect with John:
Website: https://agentsofgood.org/creative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnlepp/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnlepp_aog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnlepp
Resources:
The Good Partnership - FREE Fundraising Strategy Guide
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29 min
December 05, 2022networks for impact with Michelle Shumate
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“Your first goal is let's create a win where we can begin to work on these relationships, where we can begin to build some trust, and then we're going to come back and we're going to see what the next step is. ” - Michelle Shumate
networks for impact with Michelle Shumate
In today’s episode, we are joined by Michelle Shumate from Northwestern University and the author of Networks for Social Impact. If you’ve ever wondered about working in partnership with other organizations, Michelle shares her experience and framework to help that go smoothly so that everyone benefits.

Highlights:
How small nonprofits can benefit from collaboration
How to make partnerships work for your organization without depleting your resources
Two paths of sharing vision and goals in partnerships
Implementing an equitable collaboration
Managing collaborations during unexpected circumstances
Connect with Michelle:
Website: https://nnsi.northwestern.edu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProfShumate
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleshumate
Resources:
The Good Partnership - FREE Fundraising Strategy Guide
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28 min

About Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership Strategies, and Community-Centric Solutions for Canadian and American Nonprofits

From the publisher's feed

Welcome to Small Nonprofit, the podcast designed for leaders, fundraisers, and advocates in the nonprofit sector who want to create real change. We provide small nonprofit organizations with…

strategies to enhance their fundraising campaigns, improve nonprofit governance, and implement ethical fundraising practices that resonate with today’s values-driven donors.

Hosted by an experienced nonprofit consultant, Maria Rio, this show delves into the unique challenges of nonprofit fundraising and community-centric fundraising, providing tools for donor engagement and major gifts fundraising.

👤 Who Should Listen?

This podcast is perfect for anyone involved in a small nonprofit seeking practical advice on fundraising strategy, nonprofit leadership, and board accountability. Whether you're looking for innovative fundraising ideas for nonprofit organizations or trying to create an impact measurement framework that demonstrates your organization’s value, Small Nonprofit is here to guide you.

🎤 Core Topics We Cover

Community-Centric Fundraising: Learn how ethical fundraising practices can strengthen donor relationships, enhance donor engagement, and align your organization with values-based major giving principles. We’ll help you shift from a donor-centric model to one that prioritizes the community.

Systemic Change and Governance: From participatory budgeting to nonprofit board of directors best practices, we explore how to navigate the nonprofit industrial complex and embrace structures that foster diversity in nonprofit leadership and board accountability.

Preventing Nonprofit Burnout: Tackle topics such as nonprofit burnout prevention and learn how to cultivate a healthy, anti-oppressive work culture that supports your team’s well-being.

Nonprofit Storytelling: Understand how to measure your nonprofit’s effectiveness through nonprofit impact measurement strategies and leverage nonprofit storytelling to create compelling narratives that attract donors.

📣 Engaging Conversations and Real-World Advice

In each episode, we bring you insights from experts in fundraising consulting, nonprofit grant writing, and capital campaign strategies. From interviews with fractional fundraisers and major gift officers to deep dives on fundraising tips and innovative fundraising ideas, we offer actionable advice that you can implement immediately to strengthen your organization’s impact.

💰 Learn How to Build a Sustainable Nonprofit

Every nonprofit leader faces the challenge of achieving financial sustainability. Our episodes address critical fundraising strategies for nonprofit organizations, providing insights on volunteer management, capacity building, and nonprofit marketing strategy. Gain access to tools that help you execute successful fundraising campaigns and build a foundation for long-term growth.

🤝 Join the Movement for Systemic Change

At The Small Nonprofit, we’re committed to transforming the nonprofit sector from the ground up. Our focus on systemic change and community-centric fundraising aligns with our mission to support nonprofits in creating equitable, sustainable communities. By addressing topics like values-based decision making and nonprofit transparency, we’re working to build a more ethical, inclusive sector.

❤️ Stay Connected

Subscribe to Small Nonprofit on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your preferred podcast platform. Don’t miss an episode as we explore everything from fundraising tips to nonprofit social media strategy, and learn how you can become a stronger advocate for your organization’s mission.