Agents of Nonprofit

In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I talk to Michelle Flores Vryn, the Chief Development Officer of OneStar. She has worked in almost every area of development: major gifts, institutional giving, membership, capital campaigns, consulting, special events, and annual giving. Before joining OneStar as the Chief Development Officer, she worked in international fundraising, led the communications and development team at a nature center in Houston and, as a board member,  helped launch Exploration Green—a 200-acre green space for conservation, recreation, and flood detention in Greater Houston.Michelle is passionate about mentoring Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) nonprofit professionals and creating better workplace cultures where they can thrive. She helped form the inaugural Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee for EarthShare of Texas and is active on committees with the Association of Fundraising Professionals Global and the Donor Participation Project. The topics we cover:What innovation means in the nonprofit spaceIdeas are cheap; execution is costly. The need for emphasis on idea execution, not just idea generation, and how to encourage nonprofits to implement ideas.How gamification, badges, and incentives could promote friendly competition and impact of nonprofitsBetter to try and fail than not try at all. How to get nonprofits more comfortable around risk and recognize that failure is part of success.Creating psychologically safe teams in the nonprofit world.How to measure success of an idea and the indicators that tell whether an idea is a success or failureWhen to seek external advice and why nonprofits need to listen more to internal staff over external advisors and consultantsTo learn more and connect with Michele Flores Vryn:Michelle Flores Vryn LinkedInResources mentioned:How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business, by Douglas W. Hubbard - https://www.amazon.ca/How-Measure-Anything-Intangibles-Business/dp/1118539273If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast player. Thank you kindly!Support the show

In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I talk with Marco Campana, a Digital Strategy and Communications Consultant for Immigrant & Refugee serving organizations. Marco works to help staff in these agencies build their digital capacity by harnessing the communications & network potential of web and social media in their work.Topics we cover include:Starting with the technology knowledge users already have rather than trying to educate from scratchThe wide range of tools that work best for serving the settlement of newcomersTaking accessibility and language into account when creating forms and how technology can help with thatUsing Salesforce (or other CRMs) for Client Journey Tracking, Intelligence Gathering and more, beyond simple reporting The BabyCenter.com approach to guiding a client along a journey from start to finishTo learn more and connect with Marco Campana:Marco Campana on LinkedInMarco’s Website - Marcopolis.orgKnowledge Mobilization for Settlement WebsiteIf you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast player. Thank you kindly!Support the show

In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I talk with Tasha Van Vlack, Sales and Marketing Specialist at cloudStack Services. cloudStack Services is a fundraising CRM built to transform the way nonprofits organize donor information and daily work to create a greater impact. Topics we cover include:When to start talking about training and investing in trainingThe best ways to prepare a nonprofit for training so they are in the best position to engage with and absorb the informationManaging feedback and questions from training groups that you might not have an answer forMeasuring the success of training once it’s been completed Adopting and preparing Salesforce language that will work with nonprofit organizations where they might not speak in technical termsTo learn more and connect with Tasha Van Vlack:CloudStack Services WebsiteTasha Van Vlack on LinkedIn If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast player. Thank you kindly!Support the show

In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I talk with Kirk Schmidt, Director of Fundraising Optimization at Frontier Marketing. Kirk is an experienced fundraiser and non-profit operations expert with a background in mathematics and IT, who runs a team of data scientists who work to help charities raise more money for their missions.Topics we cover include:What the differences are between metrics & analytics and why they are importantCreating data warehouses or data lakes to have data be communicated between different systemsThe effects from perceiving or presenting data with different scales, inputs and outputsHaving a baseline of data and what KPIs a nonprofit might want to have when moving toward a new projectThe reason it is almost always difficult to have data when starting outTo learn more and connect with Kirk Schmidt:Frontier Marketing WebsiteFrontier Marketing on LinkedInKirk Schmidt on LinkedInIf you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast player. Thank you kindly!Support the show

In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I talk with Amy Eisenstein, CEO and Co-Founder of the Capital Campaign Toolkit. Capital Campaign Toolkit gives nonprofit leaders access to all the guidance and tools they need to implement successful campaigns — without breaking the bank. Amy is also the co-host of the All About Capital Campaigns Podcast, a weekly source for nonprofit fundraising advice.Topics we cover include:Comparing a capital campaign with a fundraising campaign and the difference in strategies that might be usedThings to look for and things to avoid when hiring a capital campaign consultantMeasuring outcomes versus input as a consultant from a billing perspective to improve client satisfactionHow the Capital Campaign Toolkit comprehensively helps nonprofits with advisors, resources, tools, templates, support groups and moreGiving organizations the tools and resources they need to empower themselves for the future in addition to direct supportTo learn more and connect with Amy Eisenstein:Capital Campaign Toolkit WebsiteAll About Capital Campaigns PodcastCapital Campaign Toolkit on LinkedInIf you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast player. Thank you kindly!Support the show

In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I talk with Dan Hanley, Principal and Founder of Altrui Consulting. Altrui leads development teams, creates strategies and budgets, and hires elite development professionals, all while providing key support organizations need to fulfill its mission. Dan is ecstatic to work with nonprofits to support their growth in relationship building and fundraising, especially those serving populations that include the unheard, forgotten and invisibleTopics we cover include:Making sure nonprofits have the capacity to take on products so they can take full advantage after purchaseMaking sure job descriptions are kept up to date, so they reflect the current needs, rather than being up to 15 years oldHelping nonprofits figure out what it takes to keep a team, from vacation to leadership to peopleDan’s Top Symptoms for locating a donor problem within a nonprofitThe pros and cons of thanking a donor personally with an email or phone call To learn more and connect with Dan Hanley:Altrui ConsultingDan Hanley on LinkedInAltrui Consulting on LinkedInIf you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast player. Thank you kindly!Support the show

In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I talk with Meena Das, the founder, data consultant, trainer, and an ethicist with her nonprofit consulting practice, NamasteData. She also runs a virtual school on data and equity, Data Is For Everyone. She specializes in designing and teaching equitable research tools and analyzing engagement. You can engage with her through her latest workshop Towards Human-Centric AI and her LinkedIn-based newsletter data uncollected.Topics we cover include:Learning from lived experience and applying it to data to develop Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and BelongingThe impact of language in copy to include or exclude diverse groups of peopleReflecting within your team to share and turn what’s found into actionWhat it means to start with data when starting to think about equity and diversity Meena’s recommendations and best practices for data governance, PII, and privacyTo learn more and connect with Meena Das:NamasteData Website Data Is For Everyone Towards Human-Centric AI Data Uncollected LinkedIn If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast player. Thank you kindly!Support the show

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In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I talk with Pei Mun Lim, Co-Founder of Zenhao, a leadership academy for consulting and project delivery excellence. Pei loves creating the chemistry that sparks high performing teams and can help Salesforce and Microsoft partners build and develop their internal talent into a group of outstanding consultants.Topics we cover include:The balance between being your authentic self while still being professionalThe importance of partners investing in and allowing new people to have access to trainingThe software-agnostic approach that Pei takes to allow the scaling up of consultants with many different specialtiesPei’s 6 points that make an excellent consultant, including a brief explanationOne way a consultant can give the best first impression possible to a potential client (Plus, where to find 14 additional ways to be sure to give the best first impression!)To learn more and connect with Pei Mun Lim:@On the Peiroll (All Links)If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast player. Thank you kindly!Support the show

In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I talk with Louis Diez, VP of Community at Almabase and Founder of Donor Participation Project. Louis advises nonprofits in annual fund development, digital fundraising, and engagement strategies.Topics we cover include:What the Donor Participation Project is, and what Louis’ motivation was behind starting itThe huge benefits of utilizing e-gaming, e-sports and streaming communities in fundraisingHow a nonprofit can manage to combat misinformation and decline in trust from potential donorsWhat the most important technologies a nonprofit should be utilizing for fundraisingWhere Louis would like to take the Donor Participation Project in the futurePredicting the future of nonprofit fundraising, including community-led growth, automation and no-codeTo learn more and connect with Louis Diez:Donor Participation ProjectLouis Diez on LinkedInIf you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast player. Thank you kindly!Support the show