Chelsea Lamego is the Co-Founder and CEO of FundMiner. She was previously the Assistant Vice President for Advancement Operations at The University of Texas at El Paso. Before joining UTEP, Chelsea was Executive Director of El Paso Opera and previously worked in real estate property management and restaurant management. Chelsea received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Business Administration at UTEP. Alejandro Stevenson-Duran is Co-Founder and Chief Product and Technology Officer at FundMine...
Sep 21, 2023•30 min•Ep. 118
After leading a health-tech company, Owen joined DonorSee to head up growth and product. Owen is passionate about designing products for the greater good. He loves witnessing every day the life-changing effect of DonorSee. He lectures part-time in technology and loves the sea. Key Takeaways: Authenticity is so much more important than technical production quality. It might seem counter-intuitive, but lower-quality videos are often able to convey authenticity in a much clearer way. An important a...
Sep 14, 2023•29 min•Ep. 117
Mary Hiland, PhD, is a nonprofit board and leadership development consultant dedicated to assisting nonprofit executives and board members in unleashing their organizational and community impact potential. She has over 40 years of experience in the nonprofit sector — 26 as an executive. Mary works with nonprofit leaders to strengthen the executive/board partnership and develop the board as a powerful force for organizational and mission results. She is a coach and mentor for boards, individual b...
Sep 07, 2023•36 min•Ep. 116
Life Is Better With Influence! Real Stories! Christina Danese, Development & Communications Manager at Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech. Clarke’s mission is to teach children who are deaf or hard of hearing to listen and talk. Kylie Herbert, director of development for Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County in Anderson, SC. We provide a pathway to affordable homeownership for low-income individuals and families living in cost-burdened and substandard housing. Colleen Hafner, the CDFI D...
Aug 31, 2023•31 min•Ep. 115
Key Takeaways: A lot of times we stumble between the first gift and the second gift because we're not paying attention to what people really want. Ask for what you want. Speak your truth. Advocate for your own needs. We are constantly training people how to treat us whether we are conscious of it or not. There is nothing wrong with asking for what you want, whoever it is that you’re asking it from. If you respond to feedback by deflecting, dismissing, and denying, you won’t get anywhere. You don...
Aug 24, 2023•19 min•Ep. 114
Tom Ruwitch is the Founder and President of Story Power Marketing. He helps clients transform content from ignored to adored, turn marketing from frustrating to fun, and convert results from subpar to superb. Tom is a master storyteller and helps coaches, consultants, and thought leaders power up their stories so they can captivate prospects and inspire them to buy. Key Takeaways: Email marketing has stayed relevant even throughout the emergence of many new social media networks. Young people ma...
Aug 17, 2023•47 min•Ep. 113
Miriam Dicks is an operations leader with proven experience in transforming organizations to achieve optimal operational performance. Over the past 20+ years, she has held several positions in operations management and operations consulting as well as serving as adjunct faculty teaching operations courses on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Miriam’s passion for operations is fueled by her belief that any organization can operate in excellence with the right tools for change. Prior to ...
Aug 10, 2023•39 min•Ep. 112
Carol Hamilton is the Principal of Grace Social Sector. She dedicates her career to closing the gap between a nonprofit’s external mission and its internal capacity to realize those missions. She’s also the podcast host of Mission: Impact. Key Takeaways: Balance bold vision with attainable and actionable steps. Think about what success is going to look like for you and how you can know that you are moving in the right direction. Use the acronym SOAR when making your strategic plan. It stands for...
Aug 03, 2023•39 min•Ep. 111
Sara Hoshooley’s passion for fundraising began in 2009 at a small grassroots community development organization in Belize, Central America. While volunteering there, it became clear that the organization was in urgent need of funds to keep its doors open, and all the programs operational. Sara quickly developed a crowdfunding campaign (which was fairly new at that time!) and reached out to all of the past volunteers who had given their time to the organization. She leveraged these connections an...
Jul 27, 2023•42 min•Ep. 110
Rob is a nonprofit executive professional with over 29 years of experience in leading and building nonprofit organizations. He is a sought-after speaker and seminar facilitator, and he founded and hosts the “Nonprofit Leadership Podcast.” He is a member of and contributor for the Forbes Nonprofit Council and was invited to join Harvard Business School’s “Young American Leaders Program” in 2021. He also serves on the Utah Advisory Committee for the US Global Leadership Coalition. Key Takeaways: A...
Jul 20, 2023•41 min•Ep. 109
Seeing the positive change digital communities can create, Brynne is passionate about using social media for good. After nearly a decade in DC working on campaigns at every level – from grassroots to global – she’s had a front-row seat to test and develop proven digital strategies that motivate audiences to take action. Brynne’s expertise in empathy-based marketing helps brands cut through the noise and connect with their audiences on a deeper level. Key Takeaways: Marketing campaigns that have ...
Jul 13, 2023•31 min•Ep. 108
Jami is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with more than 17 years of experience managing a portfolio of innovative projects and planning initiatives. She has a proven track record of leading diverse and collaborative teams and excels at facilitating consensus and keeping (even reluctant) teams on track. Jami also has extensive experience designing and delivering engaging face-to-face and online training sessions and facilitating meetings and programs. Over a diverse career spanni...
Jul 06, 2023•35 min•Ep. 107
About Cody Hayes: Marketing Mission. In his past seven years as a nonprofit marketing strategist, he has worked with 30+ nonprofits to streamline their marketing efforts and reclaim their team's time. He specializes in nonprofit marketing. The individuals he assists the most are nonprofit fundraisers, founders, and executive directors who typically face the challenges of being overworked and overwhelmed by marketing responsibilities. His most valuable solution for these challenges is the Maximiz...
Jun 29, 2023•39 min•Ep. 106
Key Takeaways: Praise and criticism are the same things. Those are just other people's opinions of you. A whole person doesn't need praise to make themselves feel good and doesn't let criticism derail them. The internal defines the external, not the other way around. Don’t wait for someone else to define who you are and what you are, stand in your value and embrace your own worth. People will connect with that or fall away, and those that leave are not your people. Criticism can expose what I ca...
Jun 22, 2023•31 min•Ep. 105
Kel Haney has over 17 years of experience as a fundraiser, coach, and consultant. She began her journey as a theater director, taking on fundraising calls as a means of supplementary income. Over time, she transitioned into becoming a full-time Outbound Fundraising Expert. Her expertise lies in assisting artists, creatives, administrators, and board members in discovering and harnessing their inherent talents. Her goal is to help individuals unlock their existing gifts, enabling them to become a...
Jun 15, 2023•43 min•Ep. 104
Evan Wildstein is a nonprofiteer with over 20 years of experience in fundraising and strategy. Throughout his career, Evan has worked with organizations like The Juilliard School, Asia Society, Rice University, and Houston Grand Opera to raise funds and develop innovative programs. He is passionate about the intersection of philanthropy, creativity, and learning, and has dedicated his career to supporting initiatives that build stronger communities. In addition to his work in social impact, Evan...
Jun 08, 2023•38 min•Ep. 103
Key Takeaways: Releasing the outcome means deciding that you’ll be okay before anything happens. It means letting go and not tying your happiness and your worth with the outcome of your goals. It’s important to release the outcome because people can feel your energy. When somebody sells from a place of desperation, you can feel it and it will make you feel uncomfortable. Attachment creates fear, and fear creates more fear. Releasing the outcome is different from giving up. When you release the o...
Jun 01, 2023•18 min•Ep. 102
Key Takeaways: Preparation is critical when it comes to having difficult conversations. Don’t think of what to say on the spot, instead, ask yourself these three questions: “What do you want to have happen?”, “What is not okay for me?”, and “What is the story I’m telling myself right now?” Release the outcome. Create a structure that’s going to further the conversation - don’t make people feel divided. Hold space for neutral energy, be conscious of what’s happening in your body, and look for som...
May 25, 2023•22 min•Ep. 100
Kelly Garrity is the owner of the company, the Savvy Generalist and she talks about three things: demystifying corporate relationships, outside-the-box program development, and teaching team members to manage to achieve their goals and organization goals. Key Takeaways: Look for your people, think of what kind of place the kind of people you want to be around gather in. Don’t pitch, don’t sell, don’t convince. Instead, showcase yourself. Give people enough information that they could discern qui...
May 18, 2023•38 min•Ep. 101
Key Takeaways: Focus on one thing: make people feel seen and heard. Your job isn’t to pitch, sell, or convince, your job is to make people feel seen and heard. Listen to the person and toss aside your agenda when you see that they are in struggle. Honor their struggle and witness it, remember that you don’t have to get involved in order to do that. When people are in slow mode, that means that they do want to make a decision eventually, once they’ve gotten all the information they need or when t...
May 11, 2023•23 min•Ep. 99
About Jordana Merkin: With an outsider’s perspective and an insider’s knowledge, she equips small nonprofits with the tools and knowledge to share their big stories — raising awareness and funds for their missions. She has worked with both local and national organizations with varied missions, budgets, and resources, developing and executing marketing plans for multichannel fundraising campaigns, public awareness projects, programmatic initiatives, and volunteer recruitment. She loves dreaming b...
May 04, 2023•36 min•Ep. 98
Key Takeaways: How we think and feel about money affects our ability to raise it. Words shape our reality which is why we’ve got to be aware of what are the beliefs that we hold around it that are related to our “money story”. We all have a different story about money. We bring the beliefs that we acquired in our childhood into our daily lives. The key to being able to make objective decisions is to acknowledge this in yourself and others Change your story around money. Money is abundant and ava...
Apr 27, 2023•19 min•Ep. 97
About Zach Thanasilangkul: He is a communications coach and founder of Mission Driven Impact a training company that helps nonprofits clarify their message + get the word out online so they can raise awareness, increase revenue, and make the impact they were called to make. Key Takeaways: Digital marketing isn’t different from human relationships. It’s fundamental to know who it is you’re speaking to and what is it that you want to say to them that will be worth their time. You also need to have...
Apr 20, 2023•33 min•Ep. 96
Key Takeaways: Mobilize your board and have them do connection conversations. Have them go out into the community and see who’s interested in furthering their connection and pass the lead along to the development team or executive director for follow-up. Keep your people in momentum, and encourage them to keep going. Don’t have just one meeting about it, keep it going. Let them each come up with a list of 25-30 prospects and have them identify an affinity or connection to the organization. Find ...
Apr 13, 2023•13 min•Ep. 95
Key Takeaways: In Newtonian physics, we all experience the same thing, and the possibilities are fixed. In quantum physics, all possibilities exist in every moment and time is not linear. A fixed mindset relies on what happened in the past to determine what’s possible in the future. A growth mindset considers all that can be and is open to all the possibilities for great things that the future holds. A Newtonian leader takes their function in more of a black-and-white, cause-and-effect, mechanic...
Apr 06, 2023•18 min•Ep. 94
She has a B.A. in English from the University of Michigan - Flint, and she has been a freelance writer for over 15 years. In that time she has written for nonprofits large and small, as well as healthcare, tech, and marketing companies. She has been the content marketing manager for Virtuous CRM, written a bunch of grants, covered local news for community newspapers and written for national trade journals. She focuses on nonprofits and social good clients because she cares more about causes than...
Mar 30, 2023•35 min•Ep. 93
Key Takeaways: We need to release the board from any pressure while also making sure that they have direction on how they could connect people to the organization. This would require consistency and building systems inside your organizations that make these things become a habit. Address your thoughts and feelings about fundraising. Correct any misconceptions that you have about it. Remember that the ask is just a tiny part of the overall fundraising process. Don’t forget to include an action po...
Mar 23, 2023•25 min•Ep. 92
Key Takeaways: Fundraising is more than just asking for money. The process goes as follows: awareness, interest, connection, and action. The action may be giving money or volunteering time. Each activity must fit into one of these categories. Awareness is indirect contact. It can be from social media, publicity, speaking, or any other event that generates broad-level awareness. Interest is when they know us and like us. It could be driving them to the website, or having them join a major event. ...
Mar 16, 2023•15 min•Ep. 91
Key Takeaways: The best way for organizations to grow their community is to aim to attract like-minded people, rather than convince people who are not necessarily aligned with what they do. The philanthropic heart is the ability to define who a person is, what their values are, and how the things you care about connect with what they care about. It’s centered on the intention that you’re not there to convince but to simply connect. Here are the six needs of a philanthropic heart: they want to se...
Mar 09, 2023•19 min•Ep. 90
Whitney Anderson is the principal for camping services at Fox advancement, a fundraising firm that provides capital campaign consulting, grant research and writing, and fractional Development Officer support. Key Takeaways: Capital campaigns involve a lot of change and tend to be very emotional. People absorb different levels of change at different rates. There's tons of transition and change management baked into any campaign because it’s never just about a physical move. Nonprofits must consid...
Mar 02, 2023•35 min•Ep. 89
