Relish THIS: The Nonprofit Marketing Podcast

Saam and his team are on a mission to promote global peace through music.
Though their revenues are down this year, they have managed to keep things rolling through pivots to virtual events and getting a bit creative with outreach and fundraising efforts.
We talked through ways to get kids involved with music and tools that can be used to reach audiences at scale, pay-what-you-can options to allow people to assign the value they received for an event or activity, and even how to leverage gaming platforms to host live events.
It was a great conversation and I hope you enjoy the show.
Show notes and links:
World Music Development
Teachable
Leftover Sermon
Action Ask:
Join World Music Development to help promote peace through music
Note: Both Saam and I were recording from remote, mountain locations so the audio on this episode is a little shaky at times.

Another fun episode of Relish This!
My conversation today is with Brad Appel, Executive Director of Wish for Wheels, a really great nonprofit that has a mission to provide every 2nd grader at Title 1 schools around the country a new bike and helmet to improve their mobility and health.
We chatted a lot about challenges Wish for Wheels is facing this year with supply chain problems (simply sourcing bikes and helmets to give out), running a nonprofit during a global pandemic, and the greatness of riding bikes and the importance of bikes to kids.
Hope you enjoy the show!
Show notes and links:
Wish for Wheels
Action Ask:
Offer grace to someone else on a bicycle.

Particularly when one is a solopreneur, there’s a tendency to think of expenses as money coming out of one’s pocket instead of as an investment into one’s organization. It stems from adopting a scarcity mindset (rather than framing one’s experience from abundance) and also is seen quite a lot when one attaches oneself very closely to one’s occupation. (But that’s a whole other conversation.)
The problem is compounded when framing every investment opportunity against the direct revenue this allocation is likely to create.
So before introducing this week’s guest here on Relish THIS, I’ll relate a quick tale.
When I first started my life as an entrepreneur, I had a tendency to fall into this “cost trap”. I viewed every expense through the lens of “how does this make us money” and neglected the other benefits investing in support, resources, tools, etc. could bring to an organization. I know now that there are many intangible benefits to investment, including boosts in morale, comfort, and the like, as well as time savings (both direct and indirect saving accrued simply by no longer having to think about an activity needing to be accomplished).
For me, one of the first places this type of investment attitude paid off was in bookkeeping.
Every month I dreaded doing our books. I didn’t enjoy it and knew I wasn’t great at it. I tended to put it off until the last minute and then fret about it after I was done. Neither, any good bookkeeper will tell you, are good for the health of one’s books.
So I overcame the “this cost won’t make me money” demon in my head and hired a bookkeeper. Mischa has been helping us ever since and I don’t think I have once questioned the “cost” of her engagement. It freed up a ton of noise in my own head and I know our books get done correctly and on time each month. Now THAT was a great investment!
So coming back to my guest today on Relish THIS. Alex Romero is one of the financial masterminds (her “real” title is Virtual CFO) at Chris Hervoshon CPA. They are a virtual CPA team that helps nonprofits get their financial house in order so that they can confidently serve their constituents most effectively.
Alex is just great. She has been working in the nonprofit space for years and shared a TON of valuable information during our conversation to help your nonprofit navigate bringing on a CPA to help you stay compliant with state and federal regulations and have a healthier understanding of your nonprofit’s financial status.
Of course, we talked about the cost vs. investment conundrum as well as what you need to know before bringing on a CPA, ways to bridge the gap between DIY and hiring an expert, and ways to get really proactive about your finances so that you can be able to run your organization most effectively. We dove into managing and tracking grants and donations as well, so there is a LOT of great information in this episode.
Whether you are just getting started with your organization or have been up and running for years, there’s something for you in this episode. I hope you have as much fun with it as I did.
Links:
Better Way CPA
Twitter
LinkedIn
Ask:
Start a spreadsheet to track any money that you get through your door at your nonprofit. Just start tracking and keeping records.

In the past, one’s “elevator pitch” lasted 30-60 seconds.

There was a reasonable expectation that one could hold someone’s attention for that period of time during which a longer conversation could be created.

These days, however, 30-60 seconds is an eternity. In the world of TikTok and SnapChat and Twitter, we now have roughly 7 seconds to capture your audience’s attention before they move on to something else.That’s why you have to answer these questions immediately on your site:

• What is this?
• Who is it for?
• How does it make their life better?
• How do they get it? Or what should they do next?

Today’s guests on Relish THIS, Maren Miller and Nikki Murillo from Building Bridges, are working to transform the world through DEI training. They see an opportunity to inspire both current and future leaders to embrace inclusivity in the workplace and beyond to shift perspectives and make the world a better place. They are doing amazing work in the space.
They are also doing a pretty good job of fleshing out their story on their site: demonstrating empathy and establishing authority, differentiating their services and processes, and leveraging social proof. But (at least on the date of our conversation) were missing an opportunity to nail the 7-second test to really throw the hook into those looking to improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices in their organizations.

Just the nature of their work, which requires individuals to take a pretty hard look at their own privilege, requires overcoming some interesting challenges. We chatted through some sales ideas, ways to create some sparks in their INSPIRE phase activities and more.

This was a really fun conversation and I hope you can check out the show.

Links:

https://buildingbridgesshift.org/

Building a Story Brand

Small Business Marketing Assessment

Ask:

Fill out the Building Bridges Survey

Go Slow To Go Fast! Pause take a breath, be aware of yourself, of your environment, your surroundings, your community, and, examine what is the next right step.

Volunteers are the fuel that keeps nonprofit organizations humming.

Not discounting volunteers' hard work to serve nonprofits’ missions, volunteers and how they talk about their experiences working with their favorite organizations provide the thrust that brings an abundance of donations, interest, and other volunteers into the system.

In short, when you treat your volunteers well and create an experience that a) positions them as the heroes in your mission story and b) treats their time as an invaluable resource not to be wasted, you’ll be on the path to real success.

See, many nonprofits position the organization as the hero of their story. In this narrative, the organization is cast as the creator of the majority of the thrust leading the charge to fulfill its mission.

Turning that framework on its head to position the volunteer as the hero is a fantastic way to encourage better engagement and attract more volunteers to your organization. It’s a subtle shift that can be challenging, but magic happens when you get it right. This shift in messaging helps bring volunteers into the system as they see themselves cast that the hero. Who wouldn’t want to work with an organization that views its volunteer force through that lens?

Once you have enticed your volunteers to take action to engage with your organization is the next area in which planning and process development works wonders.

Crafting an onboarding process and following that process each and every time a volunteer offers to engage with your organization is paramount. Have a plan, make the volunteers feel welcome and valuable, and ensure they don’t feel that their time was wasted.

When you nail these two elements of your organization, you will see an uptick in your repeat volunteerism, your helpers will start recruiting for you, and you will see referral-based donations start rolling in.

That’s a long introduction to this week’s guest on Relish THIS, Karen Knight. Karen has worked in the nonprofit space since first volunteering at age 11 and has been helping nonprofits improve their volunteer engagement ever since. Her consulting business helps nonprofit organizations knock their volunteer engagement out of the park by developing proven, repeatable processes and a better understanding of effective volunteer engagement and management.

If you leverage the talent and hard work of volunteers, this episode is tailor-made for you.

Dig in to see a different approach to volunteerism.

Links:

Karen Knight Consulting

Ask:

Show your appreciation

Thank your volunteers on every shift