The Beacon

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Pat Duffy, co-founder of The Giving Block, joins host Margaret Gardner for a discussion on cryptocurrency.

Pat provides a primer on the subject and answers questions including:

• What is cryptocurrency is and how does it work?

• How does cryptocurrency fit into the philanthropic landscape?

• Why should nonprofits be accepting cryptocurrency?

• How would a nonprofit start accepting cryptocurrency?

• What roadblocks might organizations encounter?

• How should nonprofits communicate with donors about it?

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel President Jeff Jowdy talks with Jennifer Turner, president and chief executive officer at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, about keeping donors engaged and giving during a crisis – when your mission isn’t crisis-related.

Jennifer shared her experience in leading an arts organization during the pandemic and answers questions including:

• What has been the game plan for keeping the performing arts center donors and other supporters engaged and giving, especially at the height of the pandemic.

• What lessons can be learned for other organizations in that position, when their mission isn’t necessarily top of mind?

• What is the role of leadership in cases like this? How can leaders support the communications, marketing and fundraising teams to keep donors engaged?

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel Senior Consultant Karen Baldwin speaks with Lisa Chmiola, founder and chief fablanthropist at Fablanthropy, about legacy giving.

Lisa shares successful strategies and discusses:

• What legacy giving is and why it’s important to both the organization and to the donor.

• The biggest obstacles an organization faces when it comes to starting or making the most of a legacy giving program.

• What a successful legacy giving program looks like and best practices.

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, host Margaret Gardner speaks with fundraising strategist and mentor Tammy Zonker about transforming fundraising.

Tammy explains how sometimes just changing isn’t enough and discusses:

• What fundraising that needs transforming look like

• How an organization would know when it’s time to make a change

• The biggest change nonprofits need to make right now in terms of fundraising

• What the overall process of transformation looks like

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel President Jeff Jowdy speaks with Glenn Cranfield, president and CEO at the Nashville Rescue Mission, about how nonprofit leaders can get out of their comfort zone and embrace risk – and why they should.

Glenn covers topics such as:

• Why comfort zones are detrimental to nonprofit leaders and their organizations

• The myths that keep nonprofits and their leaders risk averse

• How leaders can leave their comfort zone behind, overcome fear and learn to embrace risk – and what that will mean to their organization and mission

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel President Jeff Jowdy speaks with Jennifer Filla, president and founder of Aspire Research Group, about the magic that makes for successful major gift fundraising.

Jeff and Jenn discuss what Jennifer calls the magic of major gift fundraising and talk about issues including:

• What major gift fairy dust is and why it’s something any organization or major gift officer can conjure

• How to define and find best prospects

• The difference between net worth and capacity and why it matters

In this episode of The Beacon, Margaret Gardner talks with charity and nonprofit lawyer Jess Birken about the poverty mindset and how it and the Overhead Myth are hurting nonprofits.

Jess discusses:

• What the poverty mindset is and some of the common symptoms

• What the Overhead Myth is

• How together they hinder the important work of a nonprofit and, importantly, how nonprofits can get beyond them to thrive

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel Senior Consultant Harry Chapman talks with Dr. Bob Fisher, president emeritus of Belmont University in Nashville.

Bob shares about his visionary leadership at Belmont, where he earned the affectionate nickname “Bob the Builder” by driving more than $1 billion in new construction, renovations and property acquisitions and a fundraising campaign that exceeded its $326 million goal for student scholarships, faculty support, missions, athletics and more.

Bob talks about:

• What Belmont was like when he first became president in 2000

• How his vision was received as it unfolded over decades

• What organizations need to know about being bold and getting buy-in from necessary stakeholders

• His connection to iconic musician Steve Winwood and how Winwood’s song, “While You See a Chance” informed his tenure at Belmont.

In this episode of The Beacon, Margaret Gardner speaks with Celeste Flores, US Communities Lead for Giving Tuesday, about making the most of the annual day of giving, which this year falls on November 29.

Celeste explains exactly what Giving Tuesday is and addresses topics including:

• How Giving Tuesday originated

• A timeline for an effective campaign - from initial planning to the day of and beyond

• The biggest mistakes organizations make in regard to Giving Tuesday and opportunities for improvement

In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel President Jeff Jowdy speaks with Glenn Cranfied, president and CEO at the Nashville Rescue Mission. Their discussion is about why and how nonprofits must stop competing with one another and work together to increase the impact for the people they serve.

Glenn discusses topics including:

• The scarcity mindset and how it hurts the ultimate goals of nonprofit organizations

• What it looks like when organizations are in collaboration rather than competition

• What makes it hard for organizations to grasp the idea of collaboration – what stands in the way and how those obstacles can be overcome