Thomas Moviel is the CEO of 50 USA Markets headquartered in Orlando, Florida and has a background in economic research and business consulting. His company has strategic alliances with trade consultants, international trade offices, economic development commissions, marketing channels, manufacturers and researchers throughout the USA, which gives clients a full-breadth of market entry services. Here's their website: http://www.50usamarkets.com
The Interview Transcript
Nonprofit Chat with Thomas Moviel
Russell Dennis: This is Russ Dennis with the Nonprofit Chat for Tuesday, May 2. We have Thomas Moviel, CEO of 50 USA Markets, headquartered in Orlando, Florida. How is the weather down there, Thomas?
Thomas Moviel: We are finally getting some rain today. We have been in a drought for the past month, which is very unlike Florida. For once, we are happy to see some rain.
Russell: A drought is a way some nonprofits actually describe their funding. A big piece of that revolves around the fact that people don’t know they are there or what it is they are trying to do. When we talk about marketing in a business sense, a lot of people cringe. But communicating what you’re doing is pretty important. I know that you do a lot with all sorts of market research and helping people position themselves. Why would it be important for a nonprofit or people who are thinking about starting a nonprofit to do market research?
Thomas: Know if there is a real need out there for their nonprofit and services and mission. There are tens of thousands of nonprofits out there already. Often people have a good idea and see a need and think it would be a great idea for a nonprofit. But maybe there are nonprofits out there doing that already. Maybe they are not serving your community or your school system or whatever it may be that you are focusing on. There might be that nonprofit out there doing very similar things to what you want to do who are already getting funding from somewhere. As all nonprofits know, funding is a scarce resource. I think when you are going to get up and get a nonprofit going, as the saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun, but there are many ways of doing things. New strategies. But I think it’s important to do your market research because you want to know is funding even viable? If there are dozens of nonprofits out there who you haven’t heard of, or one huge mammoth of a nonprofit that has a monopoly on an entire area, maybe your chances of getting funding are going to be slim, or maybe instead your opportunity instead is going—I don’t know how often they do this—to them and working as a subcontractor or talking to them about partnering. What are the areas they are focusing on and not focusing on? Market research is not just secondary research of pulling data. There will be a fair amount of data out there. But also doing primary research and not just on the Internet, but picking up the phone and making a lot of calls. That was a very long-winded answer, but I can talk about this for days. That is a start.
Russell: There are lots of reasons to do that. When you came up with your concept of 50 USA Markets, when you were putting your business together, you did a lot of research. Talk about what that looked like and how your background played into that, how you built your team to fill in those areas you needed a bit of extra support in and so forth.
Thomas: I hate to disappoint, but my business started overnight, and work fell into my lap. Once I got started, because I worked for more and more domestic companies and organizations nowadays, but I focus solely on the U.S. I started off working for foreign companies who were looking to enter the U.S. market. I have a strong international background that goes back to working in international development. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Carpathian Mountains for a couple years doing economic development work. Very grassroots stuff and working with a lot of nonprofits over there and local city councils and churches and city halls.
Basically, once I started getting going, I knew I needed to expand my business. I was working for one trade office. How I started getting going was finding out- There are a ton of lists and information, so I found out who the other trade offices were, how they operated. I talked to more diplomats and people who I know who are working in the international field. I realized a lot of big countries that are big into trade like France or the UK have huge departments with people doing what I do. But it’s a lot of the smaller companies, like Latvia, for example. I have been talking to them lately. They had a trading office until 2008, and then they closed it down, so their companies had no representation in the U.S. I talked to my friends and got an in with one of my Latvian friends from grad school who had contacts in the government.
Because I live in Orlando, I tapped into- There is not a huge international community, but I looked at what is happening in Miami. I thought logically about where trade happens. Well, it happens in Miami. What trade offices are located in Miami? Then I looked at the websites, finding out who runs them. Literally sending out emails and follow-ups. Picking up the phone and cold-calling. Sharing with them, “This is what I do. This is how I can help you. What are your current needs? What are your current challenges?” Talking more and more and getting through the vetting process to become a vendor for them. That is a big way that I have done things. Word of mouth. I don’t use a lot of social media. For a lot of people, it’s a big thing. Maybe I am old-school, but I just find who those people are, and I pick up the phone and call or email. That is how I do things.
Russell: I have an economic development background working with the tribal nation myself. Economic development is broad. It’s about lifting all boats up, and you stepped in and filled a need that was there. That was critical. That has proven to be lucrative. There is so much international trade. But you turned your attention to domestic markets. To me, that you are focused on being at home and doing work that helps support nonprofits to educate them on some of the things they need to do to become more marketable. If you were talking to someone at a new nonprofit or a social entrepreneur that was thinking about starting a social enterprise as far as finding out what he needs to know, what would be some of the first steps you would give him/her to take in order to find out if their idea is viable?
Thomas: I think a few things that I would do is obviously start with very basic research on nonprofits. It’s going to depend on what your focus is. Are you national or local? If you are only local, focus on your local market. I know what nonprofits are out there. I used to live in Colorado, and there are a lot of nonprofits there. There was the Colorado Nonprofit Association or something, and they had lists of all the nonprofits and what they do. You can usually find a local resource. If you are in a remote area and can’t find something, maybe call your local city hall or city councilman. Their office can often be helpful and let you know what nonprofits are out there. Especially if you are going to go more regional or national, there is a trade association for everything. I know I can find within a couple minutes some databases that are big proponents, and their job is propagating the general nonprofit industry and doing lobbying on a state level or national level. They will have databases and resources and find out who is doing this out there. You can find out who else is doing something similar to what you are doing. Or you might find they are doing the same thing, but then research the website and reach out to them. Talk to them. Hopefully they are not very controlling or competitive and will share what they do. Maybe you will find what they do is helpful but still doesn’t fulfill needs you see.
Another thing I would do is talk to people in the industry and find out what the trends are. One way you can find out what the trends are is who is funding the nonprofits who are similar to you, the start-ups? What types of projects or nonprofits are they funding? You might have something great for capacity building. You want to do capacity building for businesses, but that is not what is being funded right now. You might then need to find: If there is no funding for capacity building or my idea, what are other nonprofits that have that kind of interest and latch on to and do some volunteer work, maybe learn more about the industry or maybe you will see how you can take your vision and adapt it. Maybe there is funding going on for female teenage empowerment, something along those lines. I don’t know how you can combine those two, but doing research on another topic that really interests you or what is being funded, you might begin to see the initial vision is not exactly what you thought it was going to be, and you might have to modify it where you can do some capacity building but in an area that is getting funded, which might increase your chances of getting funded. Does that make sense?
Russell: It does. A lot of people *audio cut* important to look into there. I am in Colorado, and I am a member of the Colorado Nonprofit Association. They are members of the National Council of Nonprofits, which is where you can plug in and fan out and see other places. I am a firm believer in what you are talking about as far as finding other people who are doing the same thing. A big piece of market research is the competitive analysis, seeing the competition. Unfortunately, it can be a barrier to collaboration. Looking at that landscape, more than half the charities that are started fail. Why is understanding the competition important? What are some of the things you look for as far as somebody that might be a potential collaborator, as it were?
Thomas: I think the biggest thing I look for in someone who might be a potential collaborator is someone who genuinely expresses interest in collaborating or just throwing it out there: Hey, do you see any collaborative opportunities or is there something you need help with? If you were in my position, what would you recommend I do? Don’t rely on just necessarily one person’s advice. Sometimes a person’s advice could be golden, or it could just be rubbish and very biased and they might have their own agenda for why they tell you what they do. Getting on why to research competitors is saving time, effort, and money. If you think you have a great idea and spend all this time getting your 501(c)3 up and running, you try to convince your friends to join your board, then you find out you can’t get any funding or you don’t have time to write the grants or you don’t know how to write the grants or you can’t hire someone to write the grants for you. It goes a lot into strategic planning of course. You need to know again who else is out there, where are they getting their funding from?
If you think there is room for you and your nonprofit in that segment, getting to know your competitors is very much what it is that you find that they do well and that they don’t do well. Maybe you can see what they don’t do well or at all, and that is your in. You can start with a mission. It may be a little different than what you originally wanted to do, but that doesn’t mean you have to stick with that forever. It’s just an in. I think many times people are too rigid. It’s not just nonprofits, but it’s in business. The universe can point you in a direction that may be different than your initial vision. Again, maybe you start off wanting to work with young girls, but the funding is for young boys or pre-teens. Then you get going and over time you get to learn the business, you get a good reputation, you learn who the funders are, and then you can get into the area you are most passionate about.
Getting back to the competition: What is their operating efficiency? You see there are nonprofits out there that don’t use the money that is donated to them very efficiently. That is something that when I am making a charitable donation, I don’t care if it is $10, but I want to know how much of my $10 is actually going to good use. Maybe 95% of it is going to good use, but what are the results? Are people getting what they are supposed to be getting, or whatever the mission of your nonprofit is? Where you can learn about it is through talking to people, going to meetings, research, reading reviews, finding out your competitors can be a big part of when you are writing your grants, you can say, “Our operating efficiency is going to be high because we have such low overhead. We feel we have done the research, and this area has been neglected. It’s an underserved population.” Your job of analyzing your competitors is not to put them down but to learn who they are and what their pros and cons are. That can only help you with positioning yourself, which will greatly increase the chances of your nonprofit being successful. A lot of being successful is getting the funding.
Russell: Understanding the market. A nonprofit has a look and feel of a business. You are operating an organization that is there to deliver value. I don’t think the people are worried about how much you spend as long as it’s being spent in the way that is delivering impact that has been promised. I think that you have different people that define that value differently. It’s going to be different for individual donors versus private foundations versus the government or any other number of people that you interact with. How many nonprofits, when you are sitting down talking with them about this research and the different audiences that are out there that interface with that nonprofit, how do you walk them through that and have that conversation around value and understanding all of the different people they come into contact with?
Thomas: It depends on the flow of that conversation. Getting into what makes you unique or your idea unique. Who else out there is doing that? Have you done research on people or funds? These large grant funding agencies, are they funding these types of projects? Have you talked to them? Have you made phone calls? Why not call and ask about trends? They make the decisions on what the trends are going to be based on what they feel the needs are. I don’t see anything wrong with that. Also getting down into funding. If you have a full-time job, do you have the time? If you don’t have the time, how are you going to make the time? That may be hiring a team. That may be spending every weekend for the next year or two working real hard to get it up and running. I have been part of the grassroots nonprofits that I got involved with before as a 501(c)3, and then I was a board member and on the finance committee, so I got to see a lot of the tough dealings that it went through.
It comes back again to what separates you from the pack. How do you know there will be funding for you? When you talk about impact, that’s great, but what does impact mean? When I say you, I am speaking generically. Why do people care about what you do? You might think they need it, but do they think they need it? Is there a real clamoring in your community for this service? That can be a big tell-tale sign if this is something to pursue or to shut it down altogether. One of the danger points is getting so excited about your idea that seems amazing to you, and it’s not to knock it, but you have to run it through the mill and let people give you feedback in the industry and through your secondary research, too, to find out if the world is ready for your great idea. Take your time. Do your due diligence. Don’t rush things. You can file a 501(c)3 any day of the year. I think too often people get too far down the road before they find out it’s not sustainable, even if the community needs it. There is no guarantee with doing competitive analysis and research that you will have success. But you can help to increase your odds and chances. I am a big proponent of being efficient. What is the most efficient way to build it and be successful and not waste our time or money?
Russell: That is sage advice. It is thorough. Looking at that as we are talking about that, what are some of the most common mistakes you see people make in their analysis? When you pointed out that they get excited about an idea, everybody needs my idea, a lot of times they just run with it without analysis. Some people do some research and run off and get stuck. What are some of the most common oversights and errors that you see them make in the process?
Thomas: Not researching their competition enough. You really got to know them. Don’t be afraid to talk to them. With integrity, too. Maybe spy on them or go to one of their events or fundraisers. Find out how to do things because you can learn a ton.
People only doing secondary research or only doing primary research. I talked to a friend and they said they don’t know anybody else who does this so I think it’s a good idea. Or people in my community are saying they want it. If you don’t know what your competitors are up to next, they may be targeting that need. Or nobody may be targeting that need because the funding isn’t there. Unless you have deep pockets yourself or have great relations with people with deep pockets, then that should be a concern of yours.
If you are in a segment with a lot of players, only researching the two or three competitors, but there are a lot of other players there, too. If there are 100 different nonprofits, you don’t need to spend days on each one, but you better pick some of the main frontrunners, more than two, and find out what they’re doing. I build spreadsheets for my clients. Here is the organization, here is where their main location, any offshoots, who runs it, who is on their board, pros and cons, what are people saying, different programs they offer, funding, and funding sources. That is something people can be doing for themselves as well. Taking the time to build that database. Learning what your competitors’ offerings are is one good way of learning what their pros and cons are. That is an upside of talking to people, too. I think that answers your question.
Russell: I also think that people are afraid of data. Before, it was hard to know where to look, and now there is data everywhere, some of it free and some of it requiring an investment. How do you work with someone when they are very much intimidated by the data? How do you walk them through that? if they got enough fear, they won’t bother to do it.
Thomas: Data can be very intimidating. I even get intimidated by data sometimes, but you have to persist. One of the biggest ways that I work with data is being able to explain it in layman’s terms, as much as understanding what it means. Sometimes data doesn’t mean a whole lot. People think because I do market research that I am a marketing guy. I’m not. I am an economist by trade. That makes it different and gives me a different perspective in how I approach things. In economics, if at first the data doesn’t produce the results you want, you massage the data. If massaging the data doesn’t give it the results you want, you beat it into submission until it does what you want. You can get numbers to tell you anything you want.
My point being make sure you are getting your data from a reputable source. It’s usually best to get it from multiple sources. Try to verify it by talking to other experts in the industry. Often it’s not hard to find someone on LinkedIn or through the trade associations or other people in the industry. Call the company and ask them how they come to the conclusions with the data because so much matters in terms of population size, where the data was extracted (if it was only the Northeast because if you follow any elections, you extract data from different parts of the country and get different results). None of it is right or wrong. It is what it is. Getting back to the point: I think there are a lot of paid services out there. I subscribe to a few. Some are incredibly expensive, so I don’t bother with that, and I can usually get what I need through other methods.
Another thing that people don’t think about is there is a ton of databases out there that are free to the public through the library system. The data is mandated by law to be available for the public. The government gets it out through the public library system. Go talk to a librarian if you are looking for certain data.
Another way is if you are by a local university, or call them if you’re not near any, find out the department. If you are focusing on youth, you can talk to their education department or their mental health counselor. They can share or help you out with getting the data for free because universities have access to it as well.
Those are a couple ways to get around the system.
Russell: I love the public library. When I was growing up way back when, that was what we had. That was before the information age. The research librarians are good friends, and that is an excellent use of tax dollars. Now there is a flood of information. People can have all sorts of data. They get it from other sources. They have it, but they don’t necessarily know how reliable each of the sources are. How do you help folks navigate some of the better places to look for data? When they come to you, how to interpret it and make sense of it?
Thomas: I end up doing it for them often. The times that someone has come to me, depending on the situation, I dig through the data and figure out what it means. Sometimes some of the data is best left to experts in that industry. I might find a trade association and ask them to explain it to me.
I used to work for an environmental economics firm before I started my own company. We were working on a very large project for the entire state of Florida. Universities were some of the best resources. I used to call all around the country. We were researching crops and pricing on crops, chemicals, all this other stuff. But some of these universities, especially at the university extension programs, collect the most abstract data. The department heads are right on the Internet. In seconds you can find it. I would call and talk to professors in the industry and ask them to explain the data to me.
One thing we were looking at was the prices of sod. It doesn’t sound very interesting, but it is to me, because I am a nerdy data guy. The prices on sod were flat for decades. All of a sudden, one year like five years ago, the price of sod doubled or tripled, and then it went flat again for the next year. When you are an economist and trying to make sense of trends and see a huge blip for no apparent reason, I am on the phone talking to professors and interviewing them as to what is going on, and what they told me was that after decades of the same flat price, the growers decided they deserved more. Within the year, they doubled the prices to reflect how they should be now. I asked him if this was going to happen again in the next year. His answer was, “No, that was a major one-time adjustment.”
I know the prices of sod probably don’t interest any nonprofit at all, but the point is that sometimes when you are looking at the data and something doesn’t make sense, you can find out from the universities and professors who spend 80 hours a week researching and writing academic papers and have brilliant minds who can give you a ton of information that any expert working for a nonprofit might not know. Don’t limit your options just to people in the industry on the street.
Russell: Do you find that there is a great reluctance on the part of people coming to see you to actually go out and talk to people? They may rely on the Internet or other research. When you find that people are trying to put these ideas together that they are somewhat reluctant to talk to other people.
Thomas: Sure. Or they don’t know what questions to ask, which is another reason they hire me to do it. But I will work with clients to develop questions. I do a lot of structured interviews, where I have a set list of questions and will call that industry expert and ask for 5-10 minutes to run through specifically what we need. That way, we can look at the data and say we interviewed 20 people with all the same questions. Even if the answers aren’t consistent, the questions were. That is what I do. I make sure that I’m getting the questions answered that matter to my clients. We brainstorm together.
For people on their own who I give advice to, there is some reluctance to pick up the phone and talk to these people. It’s not for everyone. But cold calling takes some time to get used to.
Russell: A lot of people won’t cold call. They don’t always know. I had a consultation with a gentleman that was referred to me today who wanted to do some programs. Some questions I was asking he didn’t quite have answers to. A lot of times people approach you and don’t know what questions to ask. It’s a huge advantage to work with you and 50 USA Markets. When you and your partners get that information. If they are not asking the right questions, they can come away with something that is completely off-center. It may be feasible when they are asking the wrong questions, but if they are asking the right questions, their idea might not be feasible.
Thomas: Right. The wording on the questions that you ask matters. If you ask it in a certain way that will give you the intended result you want, or you can spend all this time asking all the wrong questions. That is more about thinking ahead and being smart and taking the time. Don’t rush it. There is nothing wrong with taking baby steps. That doesn’t mean you have to move slowly. That just means they are small, structured, disciplined, strategic steps and you are moving forward. I think people don’t take the time to think through what you really want. When you take someone else’s time and your own time, you have to be clear about what you want and what answers you want and why you want them.
Russell: That is the value of having a trusted advisor like yourself. You get people to step back and take a breath. Social entrepreneurs are difference makers. They see a problem and want to get in there immediately and do something. They are excited about a large vision they have. They don’t always think about that sequencing or who else is doing that, which is something we talked about at great length. When you talk about some of those problems that society has that are pretty broad-based like homelessness, when you have someone who has a nonprofit out there to combat that, how do they go about differentiating themselves by using that research?
Thomas: Speaking in vague terms, it depends on what data you’re getting. You might see a real need for it. People in your community are saying you need to start a nonprofit that will address this issue because this is big in our community, and I think it’s a national problem. Then you find that nation-wide—you are creating this nonprofit that you want to be nationwide and you have this grand strategy and maybe you are researching your competitors in Oregon and Maine and wherever else—but then you look at the data and talk to people and realize that it’s not an issue nationwide. But it is an issue to certain areas of the country. Or maybe it’s something very unique to your community in itself.
That is why I say there is nothing wrong with starting out with baby steps. Maybe there is nothing wrong with just targeting your community, your school, your neighborhood, whatever it may be. Start there. Get some systems and processes down. There will be learning. Then you will build some systems. See what works and what doesn’t work. Then move on from there. When you start smaller, you don’t need as much funding so it’s a lot easier to get the funding you need to get going. Then when you want to look for those bigger investors, the donors, you will have a proven track record and references. You will have accomplishments. It depends on what you want to do, but it will be a smarter way to move. There is nothing wrong with starting small. No one gets into the nonprofit industry to make millions anyway. You’re not in it for the money. You want to get into it to create some type of positive impact on the nation, the world, but just get up and get moving. There is nothing wrong with that. Maybe it’s a year or five years down the road. You never know how fast you’re going to grow. Just starting and moving. You look at companies like Uber or smaller mom and pop stores or Walmart. They just started. Walmart has its own location that wasn’t big for many years, and then they hit a point where they were ready to expand. There is nothing wrong with that.
Russell: *audio issue*Where you build on these successes by building step by step and having small successes and creating that track record. That is a cumulative impact. You become known for building *audio issue* Noble City Chamber of Commerce said, “We #thinknoble and we #takerisks.” That is what they do. They probably have a process for that. When you are working with someone who is not sure how to differentiate themselves, how do you guide them through that process?
Thomas: It depends on a few things. First one being what are your competitors doing? Let’s brainstorm some different ways of doing things. Then talk to the other people in your industry and ask them about your ideas. That seems to be an underserved area. Why is no one targeting that area? You might find a real good reason that no one is targeting it again, so you don’t want to differentiate yourself that way. It’s a lot of back and forth.
A mentor of mine once told me many years ago, “Follow your heart and you will never go wrong.” I think that a lot of people who are in the nonprofit industry get into it because they are driven by their heart. I think that a lot of times your heart will tell you how you really feel you want to differentiate yourself because you are unique. Maybe it’s best not to talk to other people and see what other people are saying you need to do, but you really need to know deep down. It depends on the situation, but those are a couple ways.
Russell: We brought up the question of how competitors are getting funded. As an example, when you were looking at starting yours, how were your competitors getting funded? What were some of the steps you took to find out how your competitors were getting funded?
Thomas: I found some of the companies who were competing with me were small person shops like myself. Now they are a company that I have a strategic partnership with and we are working on a big deal together right now, they do things with very low efficiency. They have offices all over the world, but they just keep one or two people in each country and everyone works remotely from home. They also have people that if they are working on a project and have someone whose office is in Shanghai, while they are sleeping, the person in Shanghai can take over. I have learned more about how they work and how they are more efficient just by talking to them and eventually getting in a deal with them. We jibed quite well, so we ended up going into business together, as far as strategic partners.
I also researched people online and polled them, asked them questions. Pretend to be a potential client, or be honest about what you’re doing. Some of these guys do what I do but they have their main focus of their company. When I was getting started, I was focusing on international. A lot of small low-cost operations. I want to build my company even more. I have a lot of connections. I used to live in New York and Colorado. Then I have been partnering with people in Chicago, too. That is how I knew I wanted to do it. I am on the business end, not the nonprofit end. As far as my company is structured.
Just find other organizations that are similar to yours and start asking them questions. Call them or email them. See if you can set up a time. Even calling some of these nonprofit associations and ask them about the best way to get started.
I remember from living in Colorado there is the YNP, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network. If you are below 35 or 40, they have events every month, I think. Go to those events. Go where people like you are or where people you want to emulate are. They will give you amazing, invaluable advice. You will find out how they built their businesses. Find out what they do. Find out ways that will work for you.
I knew I didn’t want to rent office space and start capital. That is not my style. For some people, it is. Seeing how other people operate in different business or nonprofit models is how you learn you want to run yours. Talk to people in your industry.
Russell: That is pretty important. That is that first step to building a high-performance nonprofit is to build that solid foundation. It’s being sure what it is you want to do, who you are trying to help, and what that looks like. What you have on hand and what you don’t. Moving forward and finding out who is in your space. A lot of the market research also goes into board members, servant leaders, and volunteers, as well as donors. Your message has to resonate with all of the people who potentially impact it as well as the people who will be using the service. It’s amazing to me how little time some folks spend talking to people that will actually use the service. This is notoriously true for the government. They build it and can’t figure out why no one shows up.
Thomas: Right. This brings me back to one of the very first nonprofits I was involved with. We created a nonprofit arts community. It was called Art House. I am originally from Cleveland. It was over by the Cleveland Zoo. It was very working-class to some borderline or below poverty people. Not the best schools in that area. We got funding from one of the councilwomen. Each ward got some funding to do what they wanted in the community. The director of the arts nonprofit convinced her this would be great for the community. They took that money and bought a foreclosed house, an old three-story house. How are you going to renovate it? They got together people from the community to volunteer. We were there on Saturdays spending time ripping up floors, ripping out walls. Everyone put their time in. That was a great way to do things and to save money. Then they renovated it.
They brought local artists there to teach classes. They made a cut on what teachers charged to help the nonprofit, and they gave them the space as well. But also they developed a relationship with the local school where they would go to the students. I don’t know if they didn’t have an art studio or if there was an after-school program, but they would bring the students from the school to the arts community, which is a block or two away. The students there could do sculpting and bronzing and painting and jewelry making. Then they had an art show every few months where local artists could sell their art stuff. They could raise money, get the community involved, and target several segments at once for just the start-up money for buying that foreclosed house. In Cleveland, that’s not a whole lot of money.
Russell: I grew up there, too. They used to call it the best location in the nation. We are hometown boys. That is pretty important. With that group, they brought a lot of people together. I have seen some nonprofit leaders who don’t necessarily have a lot of money but are great at mobilizing people. They have started to raise money over time because they are great and they do things with all volunteer staff. They don’t take the check out of it but they are not pulling money out of their pockets to make it run. They have some powerful, sustainable stuff going. That is because they knew how to talk to different people. Travis Smith who runs Impact here in Denver, Colorado is one that comes to mind.
We are coming to the top of the hour. Every week it’s like this. We could go on for hours and I would be fascinated and learn to love more. But we have a limited time for our audience. What are some closing thoughts that you want to leave people with? Tell us how we can get in contact with you and work with you.
Thomas: I guess a few parting thoughts: It certainly depends where you are in your development of your organization. I hate to beat a dead horse, but if you are in the beginning stages and have an idea, or if you have an idea and already have a 501(c)3 but haven’t done your research on your competition and are having a hard time finding funding, do that market research. Go out and talk to people. Talk to your local places, state agencies. Talk to the national trade associations. Go to the local nonprofit networking events. Find people that you want to emulate. Don’t be afraid to ask people for some of their time and be prepared at what you want to get out of a meeting. More often than not, I find people are more than happy to talk about themselves and their successes and help you out at the same time. If you haven’t done the secondary data, start looking for it. If you can’t find it, then find out where the people you are connecting with are getting their data. Start marking trends. Don’t be afraid to call some of the donors and find out where they see the trends. Would they ever fund your project? Who would fund your project? Donor organizations know other donor organizations, and you may find it’s a small world after all. If you are just starting with your idea, really try to think and start small. Don’t be afraid to start small, and talk to people who are doing similar work to what you are doing. That is what I could say.
You can go to my website, which is 50usamarkets.com. You can also email me at tmoviel@50usamarkets.com. Or pick up the phone and give me a call. I still have a Colorado number from a long time ago. Call me at 303-819-9847. I am more than happy to talk to you, listen to your idea, learn more about what you have going on, learn more about your challenges. If I can’t help you out, I may very well know someone who can. Don’t be afraid to reach out. There are a lot of exciting ideas and projects out there, but you have to be relentless and unwilling to compromise. If there is something you want, go get it. It takes a lot of time and effort and some good, rational thinking.
Russell: Very good. Very sage advice. That is wonderful. We have lots of connections. Colorado and Cleveland.
Thomas: I know. it’s crazy.
Russell: It’s just crazy. Wonderful work you’re doing out there. It’s very useful. My best friend’s dad was an agricultural economist. He taught at Oklahoma State. He retired about five years ago. When an economist approaches things, it’s different, but it’s thorough. Thomas, thank you very much for your hard work and all the great things you are doing out there. I look forward to talking to you again soon, Thomas.
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Does the World Need Your Nonprofit? | The Nonprofit Exchange: Leadership Tools & Strategies podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
