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

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"What are those moments where we can captivate our audience in a different way,  because otherwise, they would just be standing around. And how can we use those moments to also encourage donations in giving?” — Rebecca Alfred

Optimizing your event revenue in surprising ways with Rebecca Alfred

Fundraising events can be hard for small organizations. The time and effort to get it off the ground and make it “profitable” doesn’t often work out. But if you are going to host an event or have a legacy event that is profitable, our guest for this episode will make sure you achieve maximum results. Join Rebecca Alfred, Charity Relationships Lead, Trellis Social Enterprise Inc. to learn how to raise more money and have a bigger impact with your events. 

Highlights:

• Optimizing fundraising events for meaningful giving opportunities
• Fundraising drivers that are helping organizations hit and succeed their fundraising goals at their events
•  The future of fundraising events - hybrid, online, in-person
• Creating better donor experience at events

Connect with Rebecca Alfred:

• https://trellis.org/
• LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-alfred
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/trellis.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trellisorg
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/trellis_org
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCegTxlyqGK8R3lxMn7sA0pw

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There's more fear than there was courage. We had to sort of change into, you know what, we're trying something new. We are not asking the clients to give to their own campaigns or to give to anyone else's campaign. We are asking them to tell their story to their friends and family and invite their friends and family to support us. — Deborah Gold

From a plan to implementation with Deborah Gold

Planning to change the world might seem daunting. Getting help with your fundraising - maybe even more daunting! Today’s podcast is a conversation with one of our clients about how she made the leap to hiring a fundraising consultant, what she learned along the way, and what’s working for them now. On today’s podcast, join Deborah Gold to dive deep into all things fundraising for BALANCE for Blind Adults.

Highlights:

1. Making a decision to seek fundraising help
2. Behind the scenes, challenges and wins in implementing a fundraising plan
3. Raising funds and awareness through peer-to-peer campaign
4. How the campaign evolved over time, including lessons learned about what works and what doesn't

Connect with Deborah Gold:

• https://www.balancefba.org/
• LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/deborahgold
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balanceforblindadults/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balanceforblindadults/
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/balancefba

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"Grant writing is one of those things that small organizations love and hate. I would say the idea of grant funding, that is, funding programs that feels like large amounts of money coming in and one ask is really a dream for so many small organizations, but they struggle with how to do it.” — DeaRonda Harrison

get those grants with DeaRonda Harrison

Are you still hesitant to hire a grant writer for your organization? Maybe you’ve had great success with grants and the portfolio has become time-consuming and too large to handle. Or, maybe your sending out applications left, right, and centre and still not having any luck. Join DeaRonda Harrison to deep dive into all things grant writing - from benefits, challenges and the importance of it!

Highlights:

• How can grants help small organizations
• How to get started with grant writing
• Guide to hiring grant support and internal training
• Outreach and networking for grants
• Managing relationships after getting the grant

Connect with DeaRonda:

• https://junefirstfirm.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/DeaRondaharrison
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DeaRondah/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeaRondah
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3zRU5o_FjbL3P4BDpQx16w

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“And number one question I would get usually is how many emails should I send in a year? So if you're starting from that big picture and I was like, oh, great, great, and I want to write a book, how long should it be? And you get why is that an appropriate response? And it's like, well, you shouldn't write bad content. And it turns out you can write seven books about a middle school kid who's a wizard. And it's like, if we do great content that's really engaging, keep going, please.” — Ben Johnson

the secrets to successful emails with Ben Johnson

Email marketing is the most effective way to engage your supporters. But how do you leverage it for maximum impact? In this episode, we'll discuss how to use email marketing to maximize your nonprofit's fundraising efforts in a way that is aligned with your values and mission. .Join Ben Johnson as he deep dives into the successful ways and strategies to engage community and raise more money for your nonprofit.  

Highlights:

1. Trends and best practices of email marketing for small nonprofits
2. Benefits of email list segmentation for fundraising
3. How to leverage email marketing tools and funnels to raise more money
4. How you can communicate effectively with donors using email
5. 
   

Connect with Ben:

• https://www.frontier.io/
• LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/mrbenjohnson

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“Patience is getting beyond yourself. If there's a lack of patience, it's because you're putting yourself as a priority to any situation that there is.” - Patrick Rodriguez

tending the seeds that you sew with Patrick Rodriguez

In our work in the nonprofit sector, it often feels like things need to happen right away - the needs are, after all, urgent. But today on the podcast we’re talking all about patience - the ability to play the long game to have a greater impact. I’m joined by first-time ED and formerly incarcerated Patrick Rodriguez, from the Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison. Patrick’s journey from inmate to ED along with his deep reflections and patience, teaches us how to look beyond the immediate needs to a more strategic long-term vision.

Highlights:

• The benefit of having patience for long-term growth and mission fulfilment
• How to take time to do things well to set your organization up for success
• The role of relationships to get buy-in for patience and long term planning

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison
  • Website
• Good Partnership

Connect with Patrick:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Email: [email protected]
• Outlook: [email protected]

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“I'll talk often to clients about the idea of building a culture of succession so that we know from the get go that when we hire someone into the organization, that our hope is to offer development pathways. It doesn't necessarily mean climbing the ladder, but an opportunity for professional growth and naturally with professional growth, we need to be open and honest around feedback.“ Danielle Rocheleau

leveling up your leadership with Danielle Rocheleau

Your employees are your BEST asset when it comes to having an impact, yet it’s also one of the most under invested in resources. In today’s episode, we have Danielle Rocheleau from Laridae sharing ways to support your employees in honing their skills and empowering them as leaders.

Highlights:

• The reason why investing in your team is important for your organization 
• Identifying opportunities and providing support to employees
• The importance of onboarding process for internal candidates 

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• Laridae Website
  • Website
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
• The Good Partnership

Connect with Danielle:

• Email: [email protected]

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“We're not changing for the sake of change. We're changing because we wanna do something different or grow or improve.” - Ashley Fontaine

get unstuck with Ashley Fontaine

We’ll all be there - stuck! In a rut. Bored. Trapped.

It feels like this is just part of the nonprofit experience. But this can be hurting our missions. And ourselves. In today’s episode, Ashley Fontaine, founder of Flux AF Consulting shares with us how she is helping nonprofits navigate getting “unstuck” by building skills, improving leadership, and avoiding burnout.

Highlights:

• The story behind her upcoming book “Unstuck: Disrupting the Status Quo”
• Dichotomy of change and status quo bias
• Power and influence of nonprofit leaders
• Values-based leadership for creating change

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• Flux AF consulting Website
  • Flux AF Consulting
• Get a copy of: Unstuck: Disrupting the Status Quo 
• The Good Partnership

Connect with Ashley:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fontainea/

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You might have heard about the benefits of testing in your fundraising. Tweaking copy and sending to two different groups to see which performs better. Testing different web pages to see which gets more conversions. Maybe you’ve also tried to survey your donors to see what they like. This can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! On today’s podcast join Cherian Koshy to deep dive into all things testing in a way that’s accessible to small organizations with limited resources. 

Highlights:

1. Why you should be testing and getting to understand your donor’s behaviours
2. How to use market research and other tools to get a clear picture of how your donors actually behave (vs. what they say they will do)
3. Testing behavior through conjoint analysis (and what even is conjoint analysis)
4. Framing questions to avoid bias and social desirability bias

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• Endowment Partners
• Robert Cialdini’s Pre-Suasion

Connect with Cherian:

• http://www.cheriankoshy.com/ 
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cheriankoshy/
• Twitter: @cherian_koshy

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“What am I doing in modeling for future leaders? I firmly believe everyone is a leader. Everyone has that ability just innately from birth. And so what are we doing to support the next leaders of the community, of the nonprofit sector in particular? - Jarrett Ransom

NONPROFIT SECTOR ROLE MODELS WITH JARRETT RANSOM

Join our conversation with Jarrett Ransom, known as The Nonprofit Nerd. We reflect on the legacy that we would want to leave behind in the nonprofit sector, which led to a discussion of the mindsets we don’t want to pass on, and how we can overcome these.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. The responsibility of teaching the next generation of nonprofit professionals
2. Why investing in people is so important for our sector (and why we’re bad at it)
3. Shifting to an abundance perspective

CONNECT WITH JARRETT RANSOM:

• Jarrett’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrransom/
• Jarrett’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonprofit_nerd/ 
• The Rayvan Group: https://www.therayvangroup.com/

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“If you're learning about what indigenous protocols are applicable and relevant to your work? That's a journey. If we're learning how to balance decolonization and philanthropy, that's a journey. And I feel like that's also aligned with what I understand, or the people who I've worked with from the indigenous communities looking at how they've approached just everything. It is a journey.” - Rowena Veylan

INDIGENOUS PROTOCOLS IN FUNDRAISING WITH ROWENA VEYLAN

In today’s episode, we are joined by Rowena Veylan from New School Of Fundraising to talk about how to meaningfully incorporate Indigenous Protocols in fundraising through an authentic and impactful approach.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• What are Indigenous Protocols and why is it important to fundraising
• Meaningful and authentic land acknowledgments
• Fundraising, colonization and anti-oppression work

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Good Partnership
• New School Of Fundraising

CONNECT WITH ROWENA:

• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/newschoolway
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newschooloffundraising/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rowena-veylan

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