The Joy of Membership Podcast

Abhay Khurana is a marketing professional, podcast host, and father of five. As the Chief Marketing Officer of Feathr – a marketing technology company that specializes in working with associations – he leads the content, creative, partnerships, and demand generation functions of Feathr's business.

I started seeing Feathr pop up more over the past year in the discussion forums for the American Society of Association Executives, then one day an email popped into my inbox that sparked this collaboration.

This week’s conversation will be with Abhay, but then next week, you’ll hear the story of one of Feathr’s customers, the California Pharmacists Association and what they’ve been able to do to enhance their outreach with this digital marketing platform.

I hope you enjoy this quick introduction to Abhay and the work that he’s doing to help associations at Feathr.


Connect with Abhay:
LinkedIn
feathr.co

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INTERESTED IN DELIVERING *MAXIMUM* VALUE FOR YOUR MEMBERS?

Download a FREE Scorecard here and get ACTIONABLE insights in less than 10 minutes:  https://joyofmembership.com/scorecard

****

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership.

Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associations, trade groups and nonprofits since 2005.

She has also walked the same journey, serving for nearly 10 years as the Executive Director of a membership-based nonprofit which she helped launch from scratch and led to annual revenues of more than $1M exclusively from membership contributions.

Joy has been widely recognized as a speaker, an online educator and a trusted advisor, twice winning the “Unsung Hero Award” from the National Association of Women Business Owners' Central Illinois Chapter. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work with Specialization in Policy, Planning and Administration. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, team facilitation, change management, and association operations.

But beyond industry experience and education…

Joy Duling is the calm voice you want to have in the room when you, your team, or your board is overwhelmed by ideas and options.

She's a trusted resource at the other end of an email or phone call who knows the answer, or can find the answer, when it's not clear what to do next in your approach.

She's a planner of systems and driver of progress that helps your organization achieve stretch goals.

She's a gifted facilitator of conversation, collaboration and constructive growth. 

And she's approachable and results-oriented,  which makes it easy to shake loose of the old and start fresh on the new.

This week’s guest is one of my long-time clients, Samantha Olds Frey from the Illinois Association of Medicaid Health Plans.  As CEO of IAMHP, Samantha is a staunch advocate for her members. She is responsible for coordinating legislative strategies, testifying before legislative committees, and working closely with state agency administrators to formulate and implement policies that positively impact members.

With all of that on her plate, Samantha has to intersect with a wide variety of stakeholders and she is constantly trying to find the best ways to connect the dots between everyone who needs to be abreast of the latest issues and understand the diversity of perspectives that are always present when you’re talking about healthcare policy.

One of the newest strategies that Samantha is using is a podcast, which she sees as an important part of the association’s communication strategy, but also as a tool to enhance the association’s membership experience.

Connect with Samantha:
https://iamhp.net/

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INTERESTED IN DELIVERING *MAXIMUM* VALUE FOR YOUR MEMBERS?

Download a FREE Scorecard here and get ACTIONABLE insights in less than 10 minutes:  https://joyofmembership.com/scorecard

****

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership.

Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associations, trade groups and nonprofits since 2005.

She has also walked the same journey, serving for nearly 10 years as the Executive Director of a membership-based nonprofit which she helped launch from scratch and led to annual revenues of more than $1M exclusively from membership contributions.

Joy has been widely recognized as a speaker, an online educator and a trusted advisor, twice winning the “Unsung Hero Award” from the National Association of Women Business Owners' Central Illinois Chapter. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work with Specialization in Policy, Planning and Administration. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, team facilitation, change management, and association operations.

But beyond industry experience and education…

Joy Duling is the calm voice you want to have in the room when you, your team, or your board is overwhelmed by ideas and options.

She's a trusted resource at the other end of an email or phone call who knows the answer, or can find the answer, when it's not clear what to do next in your approach.

She's a planner of systems and driver of progress that helps your organization achieve stretch goals.

She's a gifted facilitator of conversation, collaboration and constructive growth. 

And she's approachable and results-oriented,  which makes it easy to shake loose of the old and start fresh on the new.

I’m excited today to be able to share the third piece of our three-part series focusing on Board Development. If you’ve joined us for the previous episodes, you’ll know that this is a special collaboration that I’m producing with Sean Kosofsky who is commonly known as “The Nonprofit Fixer.”

Like last week, you’re getting TWO interviews in this episode. Both organizations are clients of Sean’s that have been doing some terrific work in the area of board development.

First up is Adam Odsess-Rubin. Adam is the Founder and Artistic Director of National Queer Theater. Originally from Berkeley, CA, he has worked as a director, actor, and teaching artist nationally with American Conservatory Theater, The Guthrie Theater, and New York Theatre Workshop. Adam graduated from New York University with a master's degree in Educational Theatre in 2018 and started National Queer Theater to advance liberation for queer communities through the arts.

Then, you’ll hear from Martina Cucullu Lim.  Martina is the Executive Director of the Eviction Defense Collaborative where she leads anti-displacement and homelessness prevention initiatives in the City and County of San Francisco. In fact, EDC has served as the lead agency for the design, implementation, and oversight of San Francisco's Tenant Right to Counsel System. In her role, Martina oversees the collaboration of nine legal services organizations providing full-scope legal representation to tenants at risk of eviction. Martina also advocates for the expansion of tenant rights and the preservation of housing equity and access to justice across San Francisco.

Connect with Sean:
http://nonprofitfixer.com/best-resources

Connect with Adam:
www.nationalqueertheater.org
Facebook and Instagram: @nationalqueertheater

Connect with Martina:
www.evictiondefense.org

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INTERESTED IN DELIVERING *MAXIMUM* VALUE FOR YOUR MEMBERS?

Download a FREE Scorecard here and get ACTIONABLE insights in less than 10 minutes:  https://joyofmembership.com/scorecard

****

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership.

Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associations, trade groups and nonprofits since 2005.

She has also walked the same journey, serving for nearly 10 years as the Executive Director of a membership-based nonprofit which she helped launch from scratch and led to annual revenues of more than $1M exclusively from membership contributions.

Joy has been widely recognized as a speaker, an online educator and a trusted advisor, twice winning the “Unsung Hero Award” from the National Association of Women Business Owners' Central Illinois Chapter. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work with Specialization in Policy, Planning and Administration. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, team facilitation, change management, and association operations.

But beyond industry experience and education…

Joy Duling is the calm voice you want to have in the room when you, your team, or your board is overwhelmed by ideas and options.

She's a trusted resource at the other end of an email or phone call who knows the answer, or can find the answer, when it's not clear what to do next in your approach.

She's a planner of systems and driver of progress that helps your organization achieve stretch goals.

She's a gifted facilitator of conversation, collaboration and constructive growth. 

And she's approachable and resu

This episode is the second in a collaborative series that I’m doing with Sean Kosofsky, known as the Nonprofit Fixer.  We’re focused in on Board Development in preparation for a webinar that we’ll be co-hosting on the 29th of January.

This week, you’re going to hear from two nonprofit leaders who have deliberately invested time into board development. Both are clients of Sean and they agreed to share their experiences here so that we can learn from their work.

First up is Jack Beck. When he was just 16 years old, Jack was struggling with serious challenges as a queer young person and it was an LGBTQ+ nonprofit that stepped in with help, which made all the difference.  Since then, he has dedicated his career to supporting organizations like the one that helped him.  He began by working with community-based HIV organizations, and over the past 15 years, he has worked with grassroots queer groups all over the world.  In 2015, he left his full-time job to start TurnOut, a nonprofit organization that focuses on connecting Bay Area volunteers with LGBTQ+ causes that can use their help.

Our second interview for this episode is with Irene van der Zande.  Irene has been dedicated to protecting children, teens, and adults, including those with special needs from abuse, bullying, assault, exploitation and other emotional and physical violence by empowering them with knowledge and skills.  She is the Executive Director and Founder of Kidpower Teenpower Fullpower International, a global nonprofit that has served over 6 million people of different ages, abilities, cultures, beliefs, and identities since 1989.

Connect with Sean:
http://nonprofitfixer.com/best-resources

Connect with Jack:
www.turnout.org

Connect with Irene:
https://www.kidpower.org/

****
INTERESTED IN DELIVERING *MAXIMUM* VALUE FOR YOUR MEMBERS?

Download a FREE Scorecard here and get ACTIONABLE insights in less than 10 minutes:  https://joyofmembership.com/scorecard

****

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership.

Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associations, trade groups and nonprofits since 2005.

She has also walked the same journey, serving for nearly 10 years as the Executive Director of a membership-based nonprofit which she helped launch from scratch and led to annual revenues of more than $1M exclusively from membership contributions.

Joy has been widely recognized as a speaker, an online educator and a trusted advisor, twice winning the “Unsung Hero Award” from the National Association of Women Business Owners' Central Illinois Chapter. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work with Specialization in Policy, Planning and Administration. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, team facilitation, change management, and association operations.

But beyond industry experience and education…

Joy Duling is the calm voice you want to have in the room when you, your team, or your board is overwhelmed by ideas and options.

She's a trusted resource at the other end of an email or phone call who knows the answer, or can find the answer, when it's not clear what to do next in your approach.

She's a planner of systems and driver of progress that helps your organization achieve stretch goals.

She's a gifted facilitator of conversation, collaboration and constructive growth. 

And she's approachable and results-oriented,  which makes it easy to

Sean Kosofsky is the NonProfit Fixer! He has worked in nonprofits for 28 years, including as executive director for five organizations. He has worked in policy, communications, grassroots advocacy, direct service, development, management and served on numerous boards. He has raised millions of dollars for causes, candidates and campaigns. His work has appeared in news stories around the world, and he has offered webinars or blog posts through AFP, Candid, Idealware, Bloomerang, TechSoup, Wild Apricot, and Pamela Grow’s Motivate Mondays, and more.

He has worked on a wide range of issues including LGBTQ equality, reproductive justice, voting access, bullying prevention, climate change, and more. He offers coaching, consulting, training, and free tools at his website Nonprofitfixer.com and courses at http://Learn.MindTheGapConsulting.org.

Connect with Sean:
http://nonprofitfixer.com/best-resources

****
INTERESTED IN DELIVERING *MAXIMUM* VALUE FOR YOUR MEMBERS?

Download a FREE Scorecard here and get ACTIONABLE insights in less than 10 minutes:  https://joyofmembership.com/scorecard

****

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership.

Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associations, trade groups and nonprofits since 2005.

She has also walked the same journey, serving for nearly 10 years as the Executive Director of a membership-based nonprofit which she helped launch from scratch and led to annual revenues of more than $1M exclusively from membership contributions.

Joy has been widely recognized as a speaker, an online educator and a trusted advisor, twice winning the “Unsung Hero Award” from the National Association of Women Business Owners' Central Illinois Chapter. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work with Specialization in Policy, Planning and Administration. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, team facilitation, change management, and association operations.

But beyond industry experience and education…

Joy Duling is the calm voice you want to have in the room when you, your team, or your board is overwhelmed by ideas and options.

She's a trusted resource at the other end of an email or phone call who knows the answer, or can find the answer, when it's not clear what to do next in your approach.

She's a planner of systems and driver of progress that helps your organization achieve stretch goals.

She's a gifted facilitator of conversation, collaboration and constructive growth. 

And she's approachable and results-oriented,  which makes it easy to shake loose of the old and start fresh on the new.

This week, I’m taking a quick pause in the information-packed interviews for a New Year’s wish and some exciting happenings coming soon to the podcast as well as The Joy of Membership resources! Take a listen if you’re excited about impactful free training and new software specifically designed for membership organizations. Happy New Year, and here’s to a less surprising 2021!

Connect with Joy:
joyofmembership.com

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INTERESTED IN DELIVERING *MAXIMUM* VALUE FOR YOUR MEMBERS?

Download a FREE Scorecard here and get ACTIONABLE insights in less than 10 minutes:  https://joyofmembership.com/scorecard

****

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership.

Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associations, trade groups and nonprofits since 2005.

She has also walked the same journey, serving for nearly 10 years as the Executive Director of a membership-based nonprofit which she helped launch from scratch and led to annual revenues of more than $1M exclusively from membership contributions.

Joy has been widely recognized as a speaker, an online educator and a trusted advisor, twice winning the “Unsung Hero Award” from the National Association of Women Business Owners' Central Illinois Chapter. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work with Specialization in Policy, Planning and Administration. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, team facilitation, change management, and association operations.

But beyond industry experience and education…

Joy Duling is the calm voice you want to have in the room when you, your team, or your board is overwhelmed by ideas and options.

She's a trusted resource at the other end of an email or phone call who knows the answer, or can find the answer, when it's not clear what to do next in your approach.

She's a planner of systems and driver of progress that helps your organization achieve stretch goals.

She's a gifted facilitator of conversation, collaboration and constructive growth. 

And she's approachable and results-oriented,  which makes it easy to shake loose of the old and start fresh on the new.

One of the things that I love about my job is the wide variety of organizations that I have the opportunity to work with and that I get to learn something new about their industries. This week, we’re hearing from Jo McCutcheon who is the Executive Director of the Association of Canadian Archivists. Jo has been with her association for a few years now, since 2017, and she was a perfect person to talk with as part of this special collaborative series that I’m doing with Alex Sirota, because the focus of her members in their jobs is all about how the right information is maintained, stored, protected, and easily accessed when necessary. So naturally, they’d probably expect that their professional association would prioritize the same. But doing so is sometimes easier said than done, but Jo has taken on that work, shifting the association into the digital age and positioning it not only for future growth, but also to serve members really well.

I hope you enjoy this week’s conversation with Jo McCutcheon.

Connect with ACA:

[email protected]

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INTERESTED IN DELIVERING *MAXIMUM* VALUE FOR YOUR MEMBERS?

Download a FREE Scorecard here and get ACTIONABLE insights in less than 10 minutes:  https://joyofmembership.com/scorecard

****

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership.

Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associations, trade groups and nonprofits since 2005.

She has also walked the same journey, serving for nearly 10 years as the Executive Director of a membership-based nonprofit which she helped launch from scratch and led to annual revenues of more than $1M exclusively from membership contributions.

Joy has been widely recognized as a speaker, an online educator and a trusted advisor, twice winning the “Unsung Hero Award” from the National Association of Women Business Owners' Central Illinois Chapter. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work with Specialization in Policy, Planning and Administration. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, team facilitation, change management, and association operations.

But beyond industry experience and education…

Joy Duling is the calm voice you want to have in the room when you, your team, or your board is overwhelmed by ideas and options.

She's a trusted resource at the other end of an email or phone call who knows the answer, or can find the answer, when it's not clear what to do next in your approach.

She's a planner of systems and driver of progress that helps your organization achieve stretch goals.

She's a gifted facilitator of conversation, collaboration and constructive growth. 

And she's approachable and results-oriented,  which makes it easy to shake loose of the old and start fresh on the new.

Michele Clancy is Marketing & Operations Manager at the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units.  What is an Association of Intermediate Units?  Michele will explain this week’s episode.  She’ll also share how the work that she’s done to upgrade the technology systems that PAIU uses has helped the association better serve members.

This episode is the second in the special 4-part content collaboration that I’m doing with Alex Sirota from NewPath Consulting. If you missed last week’s interview with Alex, be sure to hop back and take a listen as we talked all about what it takes to grow in the “Digital Age”.

While Michele came into her role with her association from a marketing perspective, technology has become a very big part of what she needs in order to do her job really well. I think you’ll enjoy hearing about her experience, so let’s hop on into the interview now.

Connect with PAIU:
www.paiu.org

****
INTERESTED IN DELIVERING *MAXIMUM* VALUE FOR YOUR MEMBERS?

Download a FREE Scorecard here and get ACTIONABLE insights in less than 10 minutes:  https://joyofmembership.com/scorecard

****

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership.

Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associations, trade groups and nonprofits since 2005.

She has also walked the same journey, serving for nearly 10 years as the Executive Director of a membership-based nonprofit which she helped launch from scratch and led to annual revenues of more than $1M exclusively from membership contributions.

Joy has been widely recognized as a speaker, an online educator and a trusted advisor, twice winning the “Unsung Hero Award” from the National Association of Women Business Owners' Central Illinois Chapter. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work with Specialization in Policy, Planning and Administration. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, team facilitation, change management, and association operations.

But beyond industry experience and education…

Joy Duling is the calm voice you want to have in the room when you, your team, or your board is overwhelmed by ideas and options.

She's a trusted resource at the other end of an email or phone call who knows the answer, or can find the answer, when it's not clear what to do next in your approach.

She's a planner of systems and driver of progress that helps your organization achieve stretch goals.

She's a gifted facilitator of conversation, collaboration and constructive growth. 

And she's approachable and results-oriented,  which makes it easy to shake loose of the old and start fresh on the new.

On this week’s podcast, I’m introducing you to Alex Sirota from NewPath Consulting. One of the reasons why I like Alex so much is that, while he’s definitely a techy guy, he clearly tries to understand the needs of an organization and its members in order to be intentional about how tech can support those needs. It’s never technology just for technology’s sake.

Alex has a BSc in computer science from the University of Michigan and has worked as a product manager at two Internet startups. He is a father of 2 and plays the trumpet for fun. In addition to his role as the founder of NewPath Consulting, he is also the founder and the president of the University of Michigan Alumni Club of Toronto, so he understands what it is like to have to grow an organization that serves members.

Alex is partnering with us on the next few episodes of this podcast, so you’ll be hearing several of his clients sharing their own stories over the next few weeks. For now, let’s dive into my conversation with Alex Sirota.

Connect with Alex:

www.newpathconsulting.com
waxm.newpathconsulting.com

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INTERESTED IN DELIVERING *MAXIMUM* VALUE FOR YOUR MEMBERS?

Download a FREE Scorecard here and get ACTIONABLE insights in less than 10 minutes:  https://joyofmembership.com/scorecard

****

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership.

Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associations, trade groups and nonprofits since 2005.

She has also walked the same journey, serving for nearly 10 years as the Executive Director of a membership-based nonprofit which she helped launch from scratch and led to annual revenues of more than $1M exclusively from membership contributions.

Joy has been widely recognized as a speaker, an online educator and a trusted advisor, twice winning the “Unsung Hero Award” from the National Association of Women Business Owners' Central Illinois Chapter. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work with Specialization in Policy, Planning and Administration. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, team facilitation, change management, and association operations.

But beyond industry experience and education…

Joy Duling is the calm voice you want to have in the room when you, your team, or your board is overwhelmed by ideas and options.

She's a trusted resource at the other end of an email or phone call who knows the answer, or can find the answer, when it's not clear what to do next in your approach.

She's a planner of systems and driver of progress that helps your organization achieve stretch goals.

She's a gifted facilitator of conversation, collaboration and constructive growth. 

And she's approachable and results-oriented,  which makes it easy to shake loose of the old and start fresh on the new.

You are going to love this week’s guest. Julia Campbell is a non-profit consultant and speaker who focuses on digital storytelling, social media marketing, and online fundraising. She is the author of two books, a mom of two kids, and a returned Peace Corps volunteer. You’ll hear the passion she holds around getting organizations and change-makers to stop spinning their wheels and instead get REAL results using digital tools. This interview comes at the perfect timing because she’s going to share with us the importance of an end-of-year fundraising blueprint.

Connect with Julia:

www.jcsocialmarketing.com/blog

Courses: https://online-success-for-nonprofits.teachable.com/

Mentioned Resources: Wild Apricot Membership Growth Report

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INTERESTED IN DELIVERING *MAXIMUM* VALUE FOR YOUR MEMBERS?

Download a FREE Scorecard here and get ACTIONABLE insights in less than 10 minutes:  https://joyofmembership.com/scorecard

****

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Yes, there is a “real” Joy in The Joy of Membership.

Founder & CEO Joy Duling has been working with leaders of associations, trade groups and nonprofits since 2005.

She has also walked the same journey, serving for nearly 10 years as the Executive Director of a membership-based nonprofit which she helped launch from scratch and led to annual revenues of more than $1M exclusively from membership contributions.

Joy has been widely recognized as a speaker, an online educator and a trusted advisor, twice winning the “Unsung Hero Award” from the National Association of Women Business Owners' Central Illinois Chapter. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Social Work with Specialization in Policy, Planning and Administration. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, team facilitation, change management, and association operations.

But beyond industry experience and education…

Joy Duling is the calm voice you want to have in the room when you, your team, or your board is overwhelmed by ideas and options.

She's a trusted resource at the other end of an email or phone call who knows the answer, or can find the answer, when it's not clear what to do next in your approach.

She's a planner of systems and driver of progress that helps your organization achieve stretch goals.

She's a gifted facilitator of conversation, collaboration and constructive growth. 

And she's approachable and results-oriented,  which makes it easy to shake loose of the old and start fresh on the new.