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

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Every year before GivingTuesdays, a lot of fundraisers and Executive Directors are scratching their heads and wondering whether they should do something on GivingTuesday, and if do do something, what can make their organization’s messaging stand out? On today’s podcast, Lys Huggesen, the VP of Partnerships at CanadaHelps and one of the pioneers and leaders of GivingTuesday Canada, shares her insights on how charities might best leverage this day of giving and generosity.

Myths that Lys wants us to walk away

1. GivingTuesday is not just about fundraising. Giving Tuesday is a day to celebrate generosity that over 73 countries are now participating in. Any form of generosity is celebrated. There are 100 different ways to celebrate generosity without making a money ask. 
2. People are tired of GivingTuesday asks. 52% of people say that they want to give on GivingTuesday because they want to be part of something bigger. Lys likened it to Black Friday - just because everyone is having a sale, does that mean you shouldn’t? Of course not - it’s an opportunity to capitalize on people’s planned behaviour.

Lys’ tips on leveraging GivingTuesday

1. Don’t treat GivingTuesday as just a day-long campaign. The best campaigns launch before the day, and the campaign can continue beyond GivingTuesday. Be intentional about the campaign launches and the different touch points you design with your audience and donors. 
2. Have good messages in your ask and don’t rely on “just because it’s GivingTuesday.” GivingTuesday or not, people give when they are emotionally motivated and inspired. While the day provides a great opportunity to make an ask, make sure your communication also includes compelling messages and storytelling.
3. Thank your supporters and express gratitude. If you are not planning to make an ask on GivingTuesday, there are still many ways to engage your audience. It is a day to celebrate generosity, and so why not thank your donors and share messages of gratitude and community togetherness? 

Favourite Quotes from Today’s Episode
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“People are primed to give. 52% of people say that they want to give on GivingTuesday itself because they're part of something bigger.”

“I think one of the biggest myths is that GivingTuesday is just a day. It's more than just a day. The best campaigns start well before.”

Resources from this Episode

The Good Partnership

Download toolkit and resources to support your GivingTuesday campaign

Connect with Lys on Linkedin

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Podcasting is exploding. More and more nonprofits have a podcast, or are considering getting into it. Should your organization also have a podcast? Is it a lot of work to manage a podcast? What should you talk about on the podcast? On today’s episode, Christian Robillard, founder of Purpose Podcasting,  joins our host Cindy Wagman, and the two of them are going to answer all your burning questions about why and how to podcast. 

Thinking of setting up a podcast for your organization and your cause? Christian shared with us some benefits and opportunities: 

1. Building an audience (especially age 18-35) in an intimate way. Especially during the pandemic, as we all suffer from screen fatigue, podcasts are a great medium to connect with an audience in a different way and make them feel that they get to know you and your organization intimately. 
2. Onboarding staff and volunteers and sharing resources internally. Especially for bigger organizations that have a large number of staff and volunteers, a podcast is a very great way to do internal resources and knowledge sharing. 
3. Raising awareness on how your organization is helping your audience overcoming a specific problem. Whether your target audience is your donors, your program beneficiaries, or your partners, understanding what problem your podcast is helping them to overcome is the first thing to do before setting up your podcast. 

Christian’s tips on podcasting

1. Hook your audience in the first 60 seconds. In the first 60 seconds of each episode, have a clear structure that introduces who you and your organization are and what the audience can expect from the podcast and this episode. 
2. Include a clear call to action in the podcast. Be very clear what you want people to do as a result of listening to your podcast and communicating that. 
3. Infuse personal touches. Let your audience know what is the host and the hosting organization’s stance and philosophies on issues that matter to them. 
4. Be strategic about the production of the podcast. Decide how much you want to do in house and how much you want to outsource. Set up a good workflow and rinse and repeat. 
5. Repurpose your podcast content. Take bits and pieces from the podcast and repurpose them widely to your blog, social media, e-news and even annual report. Christian’s take is if you are only doing less than 5 pieces of content from your podcast, you’re missing out.

Favourite Quotes from Today’s Episode
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“With any type of podcasting, the why is definitely important. But ultimately you have to think about who your audience is and what's the problem. Or what are the challenges that this particular piece of content is going to help them overcome?”

“If you're getting any less than five pieces of content out there, including the podcast from your recording, I think you're missing out. I would argue if you have an hour-long podcast that you've recorded and produced, you could probably get up to 20 pieces of solid 30 to 60 second content, plus a blog post, plus the transcription, plus any other parts that you want to use to compliment other communications that you're doing.”

Resources from this Episode 

The Good Partnership

Connect with Christian

Purpose Podcasting

Beyond the Bake Sale Podcast

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Are you experiencing the awkward silences at the board meetings where people seem to want to say something, but no one is speaking up? Or maybe it’s that one person is dominating the conversation. How might leaders and organizations actually facilitate structure and process for all voices to be heard at the decision making table? On today’s podcast, organizational development consultant Susan Loucks shares with us how inclusive decision making can be facilitated and fostered. 

Myths that Susan wants us to walk away from

1. Having a structure for decision making restricts participation. While having a very complicated decision making framework can definitely be too restrictive, having no structure is not conducive for ensuring inclusive participation at the board or organizational decision making table. For people who feel that they are not the loudest or most powerful voices in the room, having a simple and clear structure can actually allow them to fall back to that structure and express their opinion. 
2. It’s great that our board is always in agreement and making efficient decisions. While there is value in efficiency, having consistent agreement might mean that you’re not paying attention to the diversity of perspectives and opinions at the table, or that you don’t have a diversity of perspectives at the table. 

Susan’s tips on fostering inclusive organizational/board decision-making

1. Adopt a clear decision making framework that people get behind with, and actually follow the structure. 
2. Establish the culture that accepts and celebrates disagreement
3. Don’t rush with decision making. Be ok to sit in the uncomfortable zone of deciding to not decide. 

Favourite Quotes from Today’s Episode

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“I am usually happy if everybody is in agreement, it means it's going to be easy. It means it's going to be efficient. But I have to watch myself - this is not the optimal place for the group. We don't want people at each other's throats, but to have everybody agreeing is not the best outcome for this group. We want to be able to see that disagreement. So actually just to frame this as disagreement is healthy and good, and we want to surface that and learn what we can do better.”

“I think the bias is towards let's just make this happen. We're informal. We'll just talk. We don't have to have a lot of rules. If you're the one in power, it's super easy for you to not understand how it feels if you don't have power. To feel like I have an open door. People can just come in and talk to me! They're not going to do that unless there's like a time in the week when you're allowed to come in and talk. Right?”

Resources from this Episode

The Good Partnership

Susan Loucks

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Grant writing. It’s one of those things that every organization struggles with. Often grant writing seems like it’s a bad investment of time and effort - you put 100 out there, you hear 1 back. So how can nonprofits be more “grant-ready” and less overwhelmed with the process. On today’s podcast, CEO of Think and Ink Consulting, Shavonn Richardson, walks us through the key steps to prepare for a successful grant writing cycle. 

Myths that Shavonn wants us to walk away

1. “Let’s start writing right away!”. Getting straight into the writing without doing any pre-work is not necessarily a sign of proactiveness when it comes to grant-writing. There are steps to set your organization’s grant strategy and writing up for success, See tips below.

Shavonn’s tips on preparing your organization to be grant-ready

1. Building relationships with funders. Do the research to find funders that are truly in alignment with your needs and values and have a conversation with them before applying if possible. This step will help you narrow down the list of prospects. 
2. Conduct a logic model exercise. What is the theory of change that your program has, and how are you going to deliver the impact you want to deliver? Articulating the logic model of your program will help you anticipate and answer so many grant questions that by the time you write, it will feel effortless. 
3. Establish measure of success and track metrics consistently. You don’t have to follow a grantor's definition of success, but you do need to establish your own measure of success and be able to track those metrics consistently. Regardless of which grant you’re applying, have these measures in place and develop the habit for tracking metrics now. 
4. Have a detailed program/project budget. Build out a program budget that has a very detailed, line-by-line program budget so that if the funder asks for a detailed budget, you already have it, and if they don’t, then you can simplify it. 
5. Train your board to take part in the process. The board needs to be involved in collaboration with the staff to come up with the strategic direction of programs, and they should be involved talking to funders when needed. Make sure your board understands their role and is supporting the staff.

Favourite Quotes from Today’s Episode

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“Really take the time and focus on quality over quantity and do the research to only select foundations that are really aligned with what you do. Not a stretch. Not outside of your current program. But are really aligned with what you do. And if you take the time to cultivate a relationship with that funder, you will go much further when you go to submit an application.”

“A logic model will pull out all those juicy details that funders ask for. They will ask what are your smart outcomes? What are your short term, intermediate term, and long term objectives? What's your overall vision? What are your activities? How are you measuring them? One logic model can answer 500 questions that a funder would ask you.”

Resources from this Episode

The Good Partnership

Connect with Shavonn on Linkedin

Think and Ink Grants Consulting 

Shavonn’s writings on Forbes

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Our sector - especially in small nonprofits - is filled with reluctant fundraisers who were assigned the responsibility of fundraising so that they can keep the organization afloat. Reluctant fundraisers know a lot about fundraising best practices, but when it comes to actually doing it, fundraising still feels difficult and even impossible. 

To support all the reluctant fundraisers, our very own Cindy Wagman wrote a book titled Raise It! The Reluctant Fundraiser’s Guide to Raising Money Without Selling Your Soul. On this very first episode of the season, Cindy shares with us an excerpt from the book. 

Myths that Cindy wants us to walk away from

1. “How dare I ask people?”  There is always a hesitation to ask because of our assumptions about donors and funders. A helpful reframe for this thought is - “how dare I not ask people?”  Our organization’s mission is too important for it to be sitting in dust and not rally people’s support. 
2. “If this strategy works for other organizations, it must work for us. Right?!” The comparison game shows up a lot for small organizations. The truth is - a cookie cutter approach to fundraising doesn’t work. What works for another organization is not a magical solution to your problem. Start from where you are. 
3. “We need this and that in place before we can fundraise” Is this thought true, or is this another excuse to delay the action of actually doing the fundraising? You don’t need a fancy branding guide or marketing plan before starting to fundraising. 

Cindy’s philosophy on addressing the root cause of fundraising pain

1. Focus on changing how we think and feel when we fundraise, rather than chasing for the magical solution. Recruiting a board member that knows fundraising won’t fix all your fundraising pain. Speaking to another organization that does individual giving well is not going to drastically increase your donations. If you are reluctant to fundraise, you will never prioritize it. 
2. Check in how our beliefs around fundraising show up in different fundraising situations. For example, before going into a donor meeting, what are all the thoughts that are showing up on your mind? How are you feeling? Write these down and see if these thoughts are true or just assumptions that you’re bringing into the situation. 

For more on how to change our mindset around fundraising, listen to the podcast and get your hands on Cindy’s new book and the amazing bonuses exclusive to the presale period. Pre-order your copy of Raise It! here today. 

Resources from this Episode

 The Good Partnership

Pre-order your copy of Raise It! The Reluctant Fundraiser’s Guide to Raising Money Without Selling Your Soul and get all the amazing bonuses today. 

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Do you get butterflies in your stomach before making a big pitch or presentation? To end the season off, we invited Lucia Cesaroni, world renowned opera singer and voice consultant, to share with us how to find our own voice and project it with confidence and ease. 

Myths that Lucia wants us to walk away from

1. “I get nervous before presenting because I am not good at it.”  Everyone gets nervous. We’re biologically wired to get nerves before a big presentation. Our brain perceives the presentation as a threat. Our nerves are a signal that our brain is trying to protect us from danger. 
2. “I am not an extrovert and so I am not good at presenting.” Despite the fact that we’re often informed by the assumption extroverted people are better at public speaking, finding your own voice and projecting your voice is not related to introversion or extroversion.

Lucia’s tips on preparing the body and mind for presenting

1. Do some breathing exercises to find your own voice modulation. We often subconsciously model our voice after our role models or what society projects as our role models, without realizing that we have a tonal range and voice modulation that we can explore and leverage according to different situations. Tune into the breathing exercises that Lucia shares on the podcast to explore the different possibilities of your own voice. 
2. Stretch to take up more space. When you stretch, you will find that your body naturally sits up a little straighter and taller. When you take up more space, your voice will project with more confidence and the receiver of your voice will feel your presence. 
3. Take time before responding. Whether you are making a big speech, or responding to comments in an intense meeting, make sure you take pauses. Take a second to bring back awareness to your body and breathing. Take a second to feel your grounding, whether you’re sitting or standing. 

Favourite Quotes from Today’s Episode

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“When our brain, mostly incorrectly, perceives a high pressure situation as a threat, adrenaline rises, certain chemicals are released. What we need to do is to learn to reroute that process, and that requires body awareness, vocal awareness and mental focus, mindful preparedness, and coping strategies.”

“When we are confronted with a challenging situation, we have to focus on body first and brain second.”

Resources from this Episode

 The Good Partnership

Find Lucia at Cesaroni Consulting

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How have donors been giving this past year? And what’s the outlook for the future of giving? On today’s podcast episode, Jacob O’Connor, Vice President of Engagement at CanadaHelps, comes to share with us the latest giving trends published in CanadaHelps’ 2021 Giving Report. 

Jacob’s highlights of 2021 giving trends 

1. Charities are adopting digital giving rapidly. During the pandemic, online giving grew 86% while overall giving decreased by 10%. While many charities needed to put a stop to their in-person fundraising efforts, they are seeing significant growth to their online giving. There is huge potential for charities that have not yet adopted online giving to make that shift. 
2. Young donors are giving to causes they deeply care about. Young donors who don’t necessarily have a very high income have stepped up in major ways during this pandemic. Not only are they giving to individual charities, they are also donating to cause based funds that will benefit a larger number of charities. 
3. Because of the diversification of donors, important issues and sectors are being supported in more significant ways. For instance, we’re seeing an increase for individual donation to Indigenous charities and arts and cultural sector

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Favourite Quotes from Today’s Episode

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“Young people are really engaged with the issues that are top of mind right now, and that's playing out across the board in all the given trends.”

“From a financial perspective, the shift from big checks to community-based giving is much more sustainable and less volatile, when you have 1000 donors versus one funder as your source of funding.”

Resources from this Episode

The Good Partnership

Connect with Jacob on LinkedIn

Read The 2021 Giving Report by CanadaHelps

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How can we actively create the future we want to see beyond the COVID-19 pandemic? On today’s podcast, André Pawan Vashist, ecosystem facilitator, system solution designer, and seasoned nonprofit leader, shares with us his insights on how to move from a transactional way of thinking and doing to bringing about transformational changes in our sector and in our society as a whole. 

André’s insights on how we move beyond the COVID-19 pandemic 

1. Move beyond transactional based processes. Recognize the limit of the transactional processes (like a grant application for funding) in our system and assess how they can better reflect relationships and perspectives from different communities. 
2. Actively learn different ways of knowing and thinking. To bring about transformational changes, We must learn not only the different ways of doing but also the different ways of knowing. In the episode, Audre gives the example of learning from Indigenous communities and how they view ways of knowing.
3. Hold space to heal our intersectional identities. We see through experiences from our different lived experiences and identify. It is important to not only recognize the different identities and perspectives that co-exist, but also celebrate that identities are intrinsically intersectional. 
4. Increase transparency and openness. Say goodbye to job postings that don’t disclose salary range. Question the lack of transparency and what kind of structure and value they try to uphold that no longer fit into the equitable world we want to see. 

Favourite Quotes from Today’s Episode

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“To go from transactional to transformation - in the middle of that is our relationships”

“Revisit what it means to be an actor in society and not having to always be structured within a hierarchical organizational structure, it's okay to have those structures because they’re foundational in terms of holding space and resources, but they also interact in terms of transformation that requires actors moving in between those spaces"

Resources from this Episode

The Good Partnership

Connect with André 

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Despite all the research that shows the untapped talent and capabilities of neurodiverse population, neurodiverse individuals are still facing significant barriers when seeking employment and adapting to workplace culture and practice that is not made accessible to them. How can employers proactively design a healthy workplace to support neurodiverse individuals to shine with their incredible talents? On today’s podcast, Isabella He and Isabelle Hsu, two young leaders of advocacy for neurodiversity, join us to share their insight and experience. 

Isabelle and Isabella’s tips on making workplace accessible for neurodiverse individuals: 

1. Adopt a strength-based approach. Neurodiverse individuals might need specific accommodations to equip them to work in the style they feel comfortable with and show their amazing strengths. Focus on their strengths when you communicate and work with neurodiverse individuals. Adopt the mindset of how you can design the workplace to unleash the amazing strengths of your neurodiverse teammates. 
2. Raise general awareness and literacy about neurodiversity. The literacy around neurodiversity is still relatively low in our society. Seek resources that raise awareness at your workplace to learn more about neurodiversity so that you and your team know how to
3. Seek help to design the accessibility policy and practice at your workplace. There are professional accessibility specialists that can help you design your workplace practice and support your workplace to be certified neurodiverse workplace. 

Favourite Quotes from Today’s Episode

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“I founded SN Inclusion after realizing that some people I knew that I had no idea were neurodiverse were actually neurodiverse and they had such struggles getting into the workplace and face so many adversities due to a lot of the stigmas that still perpetuate yeah in our world today. Unemployment rates among individuals with autism spectrum disorder is at 85%. I was shocked by that statistics.” - Isabella

“One thing to keep in mind is that so many of us with neurodiverse conditions have unfortunately learned to keep our conditions private and try not to bother others or to advocate for our specific needs. Of course, there are also people who are the complete opposite of that. But in general, if an employer wants to make a workplace more friendly, I suggest they approach it in a more proactive way to ask what needs to be done instead of waiting for employees to approach you and tell you what they need.” - Isabelle

Resources from this Episode

The Good Partnership

SN Inclusion

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Is your organization starting to plan for going back to the office? Or is your team going to continue working from home as we slowly transition to post-pandemic reality? Whichever option you’re thinking about, there are considerations for how to ensure your staff has a safe and healthy working environment. On today’s podcast, Alice D’Abreu, an HR expert and founder of Monday Morning, shares with us what employers should be thinking about, planning for, and starting to roll out now. 

Alice’s tips on going back to the office

1. Develop plans and strategies to ensure workplace health and safety at the office. Consider strategies such as installing plexiglass and implementing a shift system and pay attention to details that people might get exposed to health hazards.
2. Have a work-from-home policy. It’s likely that for every organization, working from home will play a part in the post-pandemic reality. So if you don’t already have a work-from-home policy in place at your organization, start planning and implementing one. 
3. Make sure that you also consider how to ensure staff working from home have a safe and accommodating work environment. Just because staff are working from home, it doesn’t mean that you don’t need to consider their working conditions. Check in on if they have the right equipment and resources to work with and if there is the accommodation that they need at home. 
4. Provide targeted support to address the main challenges your employees have faced. Understanding that people have different levels of experiences and challenges during the pandemic, first get a pulse check on what are the specific challenges that your staff have faced, and then look into providing targeted resources, training, or workshops to support them. 

Favourite Quotes from Today’s Episode

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“Before COVID, there were a lot of businesses that didn't even consider work from home and it's just become a fundamental reality for people that this is not going anywhere and this change might be here to stay.”

“Think about how this whole pandemic experience has had an impact on people during these very trying times. Get a pulse of what are the main challenges that people have faced and might face going forward and then look into providing targeted support.”

Resources from this Episode

The Good Partnership

Find Alice at Monday Morning

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