Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership

235: When Should You Consider Nonprofit Leadership? (David Goldman)SUMMARYAre you pondering your career path and want to find more intrinsic value and purpose through a mission-driven organization? How will you know if you’re ready to transition to leadership in the philanthropic sector?  In episode #235 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, David Goldman shares what it took for him to move from a career with some of the world’s largest and most loved brands to his current role as a nonprofit leader. He shares how he prepared for this transition and offers thoughtful observations when comparing the two sectors. Learn how to maintain your case for support, even in times of crisis, as David discusses his successful marketing and fundraising techniques that serves his work across Australia.  ABOUT DAVIDWith over 20 years’ experience as a strategic consumer marketer, David Goldman has a proven track record and a passion for doing things differently and challenging the norm. David has worked for some of the world’s largest consumer organizations, including Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Canon and NewsCorp. During his time in these organizations, he launched Coca-Cola to the Palestinian Authority, developed the New Tastes Menu at McDonald’s and led a team with editorial support to reposition and relaunch The Daily and Sunday Telegraphs. One of his proudest accomplishments was to lead a strategic marketing and creative team that developed Canon’s “World of EOS”. The work was recognized globally, winning 8 Cannes Lions, including 1 Media Grand Prix, not to mention resulting in a significant uplift in underlying earnings for Canon Australia. Over the past 6 years, David has diverted his own interests to the For Purpose sector, having taken up executive roles at Relationships Australia NSW (NFP), RASE Pty Ltd (social enterprise) and his current role at the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. David’s philosophy: it’s time to give back and there’s fulfilment beyond material possession. In his spare time, David is committed to his community, a volunteer lifesaver at North Bondi SLSC for the past 11 years, 8 of which he was a patrol captain. He is also a volunteer mentor for Youth Off The Streets.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCESThe Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor by Eddie JakuLearn more about David and Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife hereReady for a mastermind?  Learn more here!Check out Patton’s book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector

234: Building Financial Leadership Within Your Nonprofit (Jessica McClain)SUMMARYAs a nonprofit leader, how do you assess and ensure your organization has the financial tools, talents and resources to best advance your mission? Jessica McClain, a nonprofit leader and CPA recently named one of the Most Powerful Women in Accounting in 2023, advocates in episode #234 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership how building a culture of open communication between your accounting department and other organizational leaders can better integrate your organization’s financial picture, especially when engaging new prospects and stewarding existing donors. Learn how business acumen is playing an integral part of financial leadership within nonprofits as she shares her advice for attracting, retaining, and advancing women in finance leadership positions.  ABOUT JESSICAJessica E. McClain serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital. In this role, she has strategic responsibility for finance and accounting, property, product program, retail merchandise, and business operations. Prior to transitioning to the not-for-profit industry, she spent 11 years in public accounting. Jessica represents Maryland as an AICPA Council At-Large Member. She is a Board member of the Maryland Association of CPAs Foundation, the Greater Washington Society of CPAs, and the Towson University Accounting Advisory Board, and gives back to the community as the National Treasurer for ODK Honor Society. She previously served on the AICPA Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee, the AICPA Foundation Board of Trustees, and the AICPA Student Recruitment Committee. Jessica's accomplishments include being named a 2023 CPA Practice Advisor Most Powerful Women in Accounting, a 2022 Washington Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree, the 2022 NABA DC Chapter Outstanding Accounting Leader of the Year, a Maryland Association of CPAs 2021 Women to Watch- Emerging Leader, a Black CPA Centennial's 40 Under 40 Black CPA Award honoree, a 2021 AICPA Outstanding Young CPA Award recipient, and a 3x CPA Practice Advisor 40 Under 40 Professional. Jessica is a graduate of the highly competitive AICPA Leadership Academy and earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Towson University and her master’s degree in accounting from George Washington University. Jessica is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Virginia.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCESWhat Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall GoldsmithLearn more about Jessica and Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital hereReady for a Mastermind? Learn more here!Have you picked up Patton’s book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector?Watch for the companion workbook and the audio version of Patton’s best seller, Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, coming soon!

233: Navigating Frustrating Scenarios with Your Nonprofit Board (Michael Corley)SUMMARYHow well do you get along with your board members? The complexity of the board/staff relationship can create challenges for any nonprofit leader. In episode #233 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, nonprofit board expert Michael Corley illustrates many of the frustrating scenarios executive directors encounter with their board of directors, and how they can better navigate them. Michael clarifies the core roles and responsibilities among all parties that will enable success for the entire organization.    ABOUT MICHAELMichael Corley founded The Corley Company in 2010 to focus on providing support to CEOs and other organizational leaders. This directly resulted from his experience being a President & COO of a mid-sized company and a nonprofit Board Chair. In those roles there were many times he wished he had a trusted resource to give advice, an experienced person to facilitate/lead critical projects when the team didn’t have the bandwidth, and someone who was genuinely interested in professional growth.  As a leader, as “the” leader, he learned it can truly be “lonely at the top.” He built The Corley Company on his strengths, competencies, and areas of interest in order to grow and support organizational leaders. Over the past 12 years, he has worked with hundreds of nonprofit funders and agencies to provide strategic support to CEOs and boards. He now works only with nonprofit organizations as a confirmation of his belief in mission-focused work.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCESHow to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: Building Lasting Relationships and Achieving Success by Dale CarnegieLearn more about Michael hereReady for a Mastermind?  Learn more here!Have you gotten Patton’s book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic SectorWatch for the companion workbook and the audio version of Patton’s best seller, Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, coming soon!

232: How Do You Manage a Small Nonprofit with Limited Resources? (Michael Schneider)SUMMARYAs a nonprofit leader, do you struggle with limited resources that must be carefully managed in order to maximize the impact of your organization’s work? Learn from Michael Schneider, founder of a successful small nonprofit finding huge success, in episode #232 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership. Michael shares how to be efficient with a small team and how strategic outsourcing allows nonprofit leaders be more directly involved with their mission. He also shares ways to better communicate your message through productive and creative uses of social media. Michael also talks effective fundraising for a small organization. How do you identify, steward, and even create legacy giving among your donors when your resources are in short supply?  ABOUT MICHAELMichael Schneider started Pilots To The Rescue back in 2015 to combine his love of aviation and saving animals. Michael is a commercial, instrument-rated pilot with more than 1,200 hours. When Michael isn’t flying, he enjoys spending time with his wife, 4 boys under 7 years of age, and his 90 lb. rescue dog. Michael currently resides in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and flies out of Essex County Airport (KCDW) in Caldwell, NJ.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCESGame Changers: What Leaders, Innovators, and Mavericks Do to Win at Life by Dave Asprey et al.Learn more about Michael and Pilots To The Rescue hereReady for a Mastermind? Learn more here!Check out book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic SectorWatch for Patton’s companion workbook to Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership and the audiobook coming soon!

231: Leadership Reimagined: Letting Your Community Take the Lead (Vichi Jagannathan)SUMMARYAre you a mission-driven leader in the nonprofit sector with more passion than answers? Vichi Jagannathan was one such leader, and in episode #231 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, she shares what it means to let your community take the lead and provide the answers you need as the nonprofit leader. Vichi explains how building on design thinking ideas from across the country brought clarity to the challenges she faced in a rural and under-resourced community. She discusses the biggest challenges she had to overcome in running a small nonprofit, and the solutions she found when building staff, volunteers, and a board of directors. ABOUT VICHIEntrepreneur, strategist and social change leader who applies innovative ideas in unlikely settings to catalyze impact and community transformation. Vichi began her career as a high school science teacher in Northampton County, NC through Teach For America. She then spent two years on the West Coast leading the expansion of Microsoft’s TEALS computer science education program into California. In 2016, Vichi participated in the Innovation Next accelerator, where she received coaching from IDEO in human-centered design to develop a mobile sex education app called Real Talk, which has been downloaded over 10,000 times in over 100 countries. She also interned with SelfHelp Credit Union in Durham, NC where she created the strategy for Self-Help’s branch expansion into Eastern North Carolina. In 2017, Vichi co-founded Rural Opportunity Institute (ROI). ROI builds the capacity of rural communities to support people’s healing from generational trauma to achieve health, safety, connection, and self-determination. Based in rural Eastern North Carolina, ROI has grown from a small, grassroots effort to an influential organization that affects over 20,000 people in 15 states. ROI’s innovative approach has captured the interest of national state funders including New Profit and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. Vichi holds a Master of Business Administration from Yale University School of Management, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCESWinners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand GiridharadaTake My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem, MSWLearn more about Vichi hereReady for a Mastermind? Learn more here!Check out Patton’s book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector

230: Why Your Nonprofit is Doing Strategic Planning All Wrong (Sarah Olivieri)SUMMARYWhat exactly is strategic planning for a nonprofit organization? Does your plan truly align with your mission, and do you know how to actually get the plan in motion? Sarah Olivieri shares her unique approach to strategic planning and board engagement that every nonprofit leader will want to consider in episode #230 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership. She explains her 5 keys to better strategic planning and the role your board should play in building an effective strategic framework.   ABOUT SARAH Sarah Olivieri has been called a “Business Alchemist” in the nonprofit space; others have called her “The Money”. She’s the wizard behind the curtain who has orchestrated the transformation of nonprofit organizations, from failing to thriving, which never fails to make the jaws drop of for-profit business experts. As the former director of three nonprofits and founder of five for-profit businesses, she understands, deeply, the challenges and complexities facing organizations. She’s brought nonprofits back from the brink of insolvency. She’s averted major cash-flow crises, solved funding droughts, resolved board conflicts, and everything in. Sarah, who is also an international best-selling author and globally renowned speaker, is the creator of the Impact Method™ - a framework she designed and built from the ground up, to help organizations simplify their operations, build aligned teams, and make a bigger impact without getting overwhelmed or burning out. Her company, PivotGround, supports nonprofits to become financially sustainable world-changers, and she has an incredible 100% success rate. EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCES Hiring for Attitude by Mark MurphyLearn more about Sarah and her Impact Method hereReady for a Mastermind?  Learn more here!Have you gotten Patton’s book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector Watch for the companion workbook and the audio version of Patton’s best seller, Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, coming soon!

229: What Should You Outsource at Your Nonprofit? (Eric Thomas)SUMMARYAs a nonprofit leader, are you short-handed or unable to scale your team to keep up with growth, especially in more technical areas like technology and finance? In episode #229 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, Eric Thomas shares how outsourcing may be a practical solution for your organization. Learn exactly what outsourcing in the nonprofit sector is and how it can help address your needs. Eric discusses the talent shortage, particularly in specialized roles like finance and accounting that currently exist in our sector. He provides specific keys to integrate an outsourced position into your nonprofit, and which roles and functions are most effectively outsourced. Eric also provides examples of automation that nonprofit leaders should consider to streamline operations.   ABOUT ERICEric Thomas is a consulting partner with over 20 years of experience serving nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Since joining Armanino, he has focused on helping nonprofits with their finance and accounting needs, so they can concentrate on developing their organization and delivering on their mission. He works with a diverse group of clients on their digital transformation and believes that regardless of size and age, organizations can benefit from incorporating enterprise best accounting practices through a solution that uses cloud technology and paperless processes. Prior to joining Armanino, Eric led accounting and finance functions at Robert Half, Analytic Services, and Serco NA. He received a B.S. in business administration from West Virginia University.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCESThe Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben HorowitzLearn more about Eric and Armanino hereReady for a Mastermind? Learn more here!Take our Podcast Survey and let us know what you want to hear!Check out Patton’s book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector

228: Strategic Planning Doesn’t Need to be Painful (Carol Hamilton)SUMMARYIs your nonprofit on a clear path, grounded with specific goals, to achieve its mission? Can you articulate organizational priorities that reflect a shared board and staff vision? In episode #228 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, strategic collaborator Carol Hamilton shares key components of an effective strategic plan, the timeline necessary to build one and why more organizations struggle without one. You’ll learn who should be involved in the framework process and questions to consider as you envision your organization’s next 3-5 years. Carol also describes impact mapping and how it can help nonprofit organizations become more effective at realizing their mission.   ABOUT CAROLCarol Hamilton, Principal, Grace Social Sector Consulting, LLC, and host of Mission: Impact podcast, facilitates whole-brain strategic planning, impact mapping, service audits and organizational assessments for nonprofits and associations. She combines left-brain strategy and analysis with right-brain wisdom about human complexities for a proven, whole-brain, whole-organization process through which every stakeholder thrives. She is also part of a consultant collective focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion that has a particular focus on racial equity, All In Consulting.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCESInclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work by Ruchika TulshyanLearn more about Carol hereReady for a Mastermind? Learn more here!Take our Podcast Survey and let us know what you want to hear!Check out Patton’s book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector

227: 3 Keys to Effective Nonprofit Leadership: (Christina Edwards)SUMMARYWhere are you on your path to nonprofit leadership? Are you effectively serving your mission, your donors, and your board of directors with integrity, consistency, and clarity? In episode #227 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, acclaimed purpose and profit coach Christina Edwards discusses vital qualities effective leaders share within the philanthropic sector and how you can effectively grow and enhance your skills. Do you struggle with calendar management? Christina explains how and why it’s essential to seize control and manage your time. Learn how she advises nonprofit leaders to increase their organization’s visibility with donors and hear how Christina addresses a lack of time and funding, two challenges nonprofit leaders often face.  ABOUT CHRISTINA Christina Edwards is the Founder of Splendid Consulting and host of the Purpose and Profit Club Podcast, a lifelong entrepreneur, marketing and business coach who works with ambitious nonprofit leaders. Her popular courses, Easy Emails and Amplify Social Impact, teach organizations how to get noticed and funded, create a magnetic voice, and make lead generation simple and painless!EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCES Cues: Master the Secret Language of Charismatic Communication by Vanessa Van EdwardsLearn more about Christina hereReady for a Mastermind? Learn more here!Take our Podcast Survey and let us know what you want to hear!Check out Patton’s new book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector

226: Why Do People Give to Your Nonprofit? (Tim Kachuriak)SUMMARYDo you know how to write your nonprofit value proposition to increase donations? Do you know why people give? In episode #226 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, Tim Kachuriak, founder of NextAfter, a fundraising research lab and consultancy, explains why he’s obsessed with discovering what inspires people to give and how his organization is helping nonprofit leaders answer those questions and more. He shares key takeaways learned through their research and how it compares with the latest Giving USA results. Is there a true generosity crisis among mid-level donors happening now? Learn how and why nonprofit leaders should sharpen their value proposition and what that can mean for their key volunteers and board members.  ABOUT TIMTim Kachuriak is the founder and Chief Innovation and Optimization Officer for NextAfter, a fundraising research lab and consulting firm that works with businesses, nonprofits, and NGOs to help them grow their resource capacity. A nonprofit thought leader, Kachuriak is the author of the book Optimize Your Fundraising, lead researcher and co-author of the Online Fundraising Scorecard, Why Should I Give to You? (The Nonprofit Value Proposition Index Study), and The Midlevel Donor Crisis. Kachuriak has trained organizations in fundraising optimization around the world and is a frequent speaker at international nonprofit conferences. Kachuriak is also the co-founder and board member for the Human Coalition, a member of the board of directors for Open Doors USA, an Advisory Board Member for the SMU Digital Accelerator, Advisory Board Member for Kids Prosper Kids, and an Advisory Board Member for the Blackbaud Institute for Philanthropic Impact. Kachuriak lives in Prosper, TX with his wife Rebecca, and their four children.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCES The Marketer as Philosopher by Flint McGlaughlinLearn more about NextAfter and find helpful value proposition resources hereReady for a Mastermind? Learn more here!Check out Patton’s book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector