The Groupfinity Podcast

#026 - Today I am speaking with Vicki Burkhart, Founder and CEO of The More Than Giving Company.  The company supports nonprofits with Virtual Assistants who allow nonprofit leaders to focus more on their mission and less on tasks.  Vicki says:

”In most cases, they will come to us and say, I don't know where to tell you to start so things have gotten so out of hand that they are already in a chaotic state” ….. “once you have a VA, you will start to see the time come back in your day”.

The company takes a different approach because it ONLY hires VAs with nonprofit experience.  In addition, their VAs typically have 3 - 5 years of experience as a VA and they are put through a certification program. 

The key takeaways from my discussion with Vicki are:

#1 Four Major Obstacles to Nonprofit Success - lack of a plan; wrong board make-up; fundraising capacity; and lack of action.

#2 Once you hire a VA, you will start to see time come back into your day.

#3 Volunteer boards are finding they are spending way too much time doing the detail work and not enough time cultivating donors.

#4 There is a direct correlation between time spent on the stuff you need to do and the minutia.

Check out Groupfinity.com for the show notes and links for this episode.   

#025 - Today I am speaking with Teresa Huff.  Teresa is a special ed teacher, turned stay at home mom, then turned grant writing guru.  She began her grant writing career working with a team of grant writers, writing big federal grants. She later branched out on her own, working with clients 1 on 1. When she realized she could help more people, she developed online courses.

“I really liked teaching others because I can only write so many grants and I can only be an expert in so many areas, but I can teach other people to do it. And then they can go out and create a much bigger ripple effect together. That's why I love doing this  - supporting other nonprofits so they can maximize their impact and teaching grant writers how to do this as well, and to be much more successful to shorten the distance from point A to point B.”

She has worked with over 2,100 students, helping many nonprofits triple their funding. Specifically, she:

• Works with nonprofits to strategically lay the groundwork for grant readiness;
• Trains and equips grant writers with the skills they need to be successful; and
• Connect the dots between the two so we can all maximize our impact.

She has a ton of free resources on her website - https://teresahuff.com/

The key takeaways from my discussion with Teresa are:

#1 BUILD RELATIONSHIP - You're not talking to dollar signs, you're not talking to money. You're talking to people and working with people.

#2 Funders want to see an established nonprofit and typically an established program that they can fund - they don’t want to be your first or last dollar.

#3 Be PATIENT - Grants can take a long time to write and it could take a long time to hear back.

#4 Start small with local foundations.

Check out Groupfinity.com for the show notes and links for this episode. 

#024 - Today I am speaking with Brock Warner.  Brock is an experienced and skilled fundraising executive.  He has over a decade of experience fundraising for social causes at senior levels in a variety of sectors.

Brock is a best-selling author, coach, and digital fundraising professor.  He is a sought-after conference speaker, at conferences throughout North America.  He is actively shaping the next generation of professional fundraisers by bringing practical experience to life with engaging, honest advice.

He shares some great nuggets, but one that really resonated with me was:
“Ask for what you need, not just what you think you’ll get”.

He has a ton of free resources on his website - www.brockwarner.ca.

The key takeaways from my discussion with Brock are:

#1 You need to remain PERSISTENT with your social media strategy;

#2 People give to people so you need to develop relationships with your donors;

#3 Understand why people are giving to your cause; AND

#4 You CANNOT say thank you enough.

Check out Groupfinity.com for the show notes and links for this episode.  

#023 - Today I am speaking with Sandy Pfau Englund.  Sandy is a skilled nonprofit and tax law attorney.  When parents at her kids’ elementary school recognized her articles, she was recruited to join the PTO.

The PTO did not have its own EIN - it was using the schools.  It did not have tax-exempt status.  If you named the list of errors, it was making all of them.

“It was overwhelming for the other volunteers. That's why I got recruited. You don't have someone that does tax-exempt and non-profit law that's the mom of the kids in your elementary school.  It's not just an everyday thing.”

That led her to start Parent Booster USA - to help PTAs, PTOs, booster clubs, and chapters remain in compliance with the IRS and state regulators.  She wanted to make it easy - at least more accessible for groups to keep up with these regulations.

She has a ton of free resources - her policy is that "for every paid service, we have to have a do-it-yourself guide" so that if someone wants to be a weekend warrior, they can.

The key takeaways from my discussion with Sandy are:

#1 Don’t decide who can give and who can’t - let them decide for themselves if they can give or not;

#2 To be eligible for grants, you need to make sure your registration is up to date;

#3 There is no such thing as a tax-deductible, Christmas Tree or anything else - if the buyer is getting something of value, you need to identify that value for them; AND

#4 Fundraising benefits need to be for the WHOLE group, not for only one individual.

Check out Groupfinity.com for the show notes and links for this episode.   

#022 - Kivi Leroux Miller is a communication and marketing guru.  She lends her superpower to nonprofits - helping them craft clear, effective, and timely communication to their communities, donors, volunteers, and partners.  

She shares some easy and straightforward steps that we can apply to our own organizations.

Kivi has several “Rules of 3” that help simplify all of this.  Be sure to stick around until the end to hear them all. 

The key takeaways from my discussion with Kivi are: 

#1 Be sure you are clear on 1) who you are talking to; 2) what you’re saying to them; and 3) how you plan to deliver that message;

#2 Your community is NOT the entire world - you need to fine-tune your target market;

#3 Consistency is more important than frequency; AND

#4 Create a 4-6 editorial calendar.

#021 - Kristine Ensor is an experienced and successful fundraiser and freelance writer.  

She has figured out the power of community partnerships to drive long-term support.  The great news is YOU can do what Kristine has done!  Anyone can.  You just have to put in the work of finding the right partners and then cultivate those relationships.

Kristine gives some great insight on just how to do that.  Collaborating with a few good partners can free you from the stress of dialing for new dollars every year.

Be sure to stick around until the end to hear Kristine’s first-hand account about how one volunteer day unexpectedly turned into years of financial and board support from the local office of a national cable tv provider. 

The key takeaways from my discussion with Kristine are: 

#1 Companies look for partners who actually do the work for the causes they believe in;

#2 Networking is ESSENTIAL - relationship building is at the core of building strong partnerships; 

#3 Participating with your local chamber of commerce is a GREAT way to meet potential partners; AND

#4 Don’t stop after you’ve received a check - sit down with your partners periodically and find out what is working for them and figure out how you can provide more value to them.

#020 - Dave Evans, founder of Impact SEO. Dave got his Search Engine Optimization foundation by working for an SEO guru and then several startups. He now shares his deep knowledge of SEO with mission driven organizations making a positive impact in their communities.  

His mission is to help impact organizations reach more people and communicate their mission more effectively.  He shows them how to get found on the crowded internet.

Dave does a great job of laying out why it's so important for organization’s to have a thoughtful SEO strategy.  AND it does not have to be hard.  Most of us can do this.

The key takeaways from my discussion with Dave are:  

#1 Focus on 3 pillars: Trajectory, Foundation, and Compound Interest;

#2 You have to be clear on what your organization does and who you serve before you can make sure that message is clear on your website; 

#3 Produce relevant content so people searching for what you do will find you; AND

#4 Non-profits can apply for a Google Ad Grant - $10,000 per month in ad spend.

#019 - Cindy is the Founder, President, and CEO of The Good Partnership.  Her specialty is working with small organizations.  In fact, her personal mission is “to help smaller organizations learn how to fundraise and better their systems and be more impactful”.

Cindy shows us how effective fundraising starts with mindset and habits.  Instead of viewing fundraising as a necessary evil, something you dread doing, turn it into something you feel good about.  By changing your mindset and then repeating the right habits, you can be much more effective.

The key takeaways from my discussion with Cindy are:  

#1 Don't throw an event if you don't have a committee that can sell tickets and do sponsorships, because it's not worth your time;

#2 Automating some things or even improving your systems incrementally, can have a HUGE impact on your organization's time; 

#3 the best fundraisers are deeply curious; AND

#4 Best source of information about your donors is directly from them.

In this episode, Cindy shares her secret around the “Yellow Brick Road of Yesses”!

Cindy offers her Flipside Fundraising course a couple of times per year.  Click on the link in the show notes to learn more.

#018 - Dwight works at Swaim Strategies where he helps nonprofits maximize fundraising.  His superpower is relationship building.  He has been building and cultivating relationships his entire life.  Dwight believes “relationships are the key to life and the more you invest in relationships, the more enriched life will be.”

2021 is NOT a time to relax. Spend the year investing in your donor relationships. Reach out to donors and figure out how you can add value to them.  Even if people or companies can’t give this year, cultivating relationships now will set you up for future giving when they are in a position to give again.  

Dwight walks us through 1) why this is important AND 2) how to do it.  He gives us some great tips on how to develop authentic, deep, and mutually beneficial relationships.  You need to commit to it, but the good news is, these are skills most of us already use in our personal lives.

The key takeaways from my discussion with Dwight are:  

#1 The fundamentals of development are the same as those in relationship building, listen to the donor and ask genuine questions;

#2 Treat them the same way you want to be treated; listen to their priorities; 

#3 It’s easier to cultivate and steward an existing donor relationship than to go out & get a new donor; AND

#4 The most reliable and recession-proof types of gifts are from individual donors, not corporations.

Be sure to check out swaimstrategies.com

#017 - Ashleigh and Cristina work with nonprofits to make sure they get their compliance matters right.  Today, they share their expertise on little known state fundraising rules when you are in one state, but you solicit funds in another state.  

A lot of groups don’t know these rules.  Others assume they are exempt, but that may not be the case.  Exemptions depend on type of organization and type of activity.  Each case is different and you need to know the rules and how they apply to your organization.  You need to check on your individual situation.  

Some organizations can handle this on their own, but it can get tricky fast.  It is good to know professionals who can help us when we need it.