The Nonprofit Lab

What if you could raise money for a nonprofit by listening to Spotify, going for a walk, or even playing Fortnite? In today's episode, we delve into some really cutting-edge technology in the world of social impact with our guests Mario and Maurizio Hernandez, brothers and founders of Knobl.

My guest today is Lucia Kanter St. Amour is the VP for UN Women USA, attorney of 25 years, international negotiation superhero, and bestselling author of For the Forces of Good: The Superpower of Everyday Negotiation.In this episode we go to a lot of places. We’ll learn about Lucia’s journey into the nonprofit sector as a founder, explore the inspiration and lessons learned in her grassroots nonprofit, successes and challenges of building impactful programming as a small nonprofit, similarities, differences, and connections in her leadership roles outside of the nonprofit sector.

Listen in and learn from Randy Long, CEO at ThePixSquad, as he shares his unique perspective on what makes and breaks nonprofit fundraising events given his experience as a leading photographer supporting hundreds of nonprofit fundraising events and galas.

John Bromley is the founder and CEO of Charitable Giving, one of the world's largest democratized online Donor Advised Fund (DAF) platforms that has returned over $1B to nonprofits globally. Listen to learn about generational giving and how nonprofit leaders can best engage all generations of donors.

Shannon McCracken is the CEO and founder of The Nonprofit Alliance, a leading organization dedicated to advancing the nonprofit sector. With Shannon at the helm, the Nonprofit Alliance has become a driving force in shaping the discourse around nonprofit sustainability and effectiveness. Her extensive background in nonprofit management, fundraising, and donor relations has positioned her as a trailblazer in the industry.

We interview Jenny Mitchell, CEO - an executive coach and fundraising professional who helps nonprofits leaders change the world, one mission at a time; and author of Embracing Ambition: Empowering Women to Step Out, Be Seen, & Lead. Following suit, this episode is being hosted by none other than Madeline Hendry, MatchNice Co-founder and COO.

Howard Pearl is the innovative CEO of Charitable Adult Rides & Services (CARS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has been transforming the philanthropic landscape in the U.S. and Canada since 2003. They may just be the biggest nonprofit that you've never heard of. They run the largest vehicle and real estate donation program in North America. They process over 100K vehicles a year and have raised over $500M for more than 3,500 nonprofits. Listen to learn more about their value proposition to donors, nonprofits, and partners.

Learn how Rebecca went from being a community champion, to founding her nonprofit Stable Moments, to replicating and scaling her organization across more than 40 locations across the United States.

In this interview we get to know and discuss how Trevor and Erin approach nonprofit consulting and the ways in which they meet their clients where they are to take them where they want to go. Listen for an: 🧠 An inside-glimpse into nonprofit consulting mindsets 🎯 Foundational strategies to achieve fundraising goals 💬 Questions to ask when working towards a big vision 📝 Realistic approaches to achieve ambitious results 🎙️ Conversations we need to have in the nonprofit sector

In this episode we interview Pamela Davis, CEO of Nonprofits Insurance Alliance and we discuss the technicalities of insurance while spending time discussing the heart of socially conscious leadership. Listen for: 1) A brief history of insurance in the nonprofit sector 2) Recent shifts in coverage availability for nonprofits 3) Policies that all grassroots nonprofits should consider 4) The importance of challenging status quo systems 5) Conscious leadership in a capitalist market economy ABOUT OUR GUEST Pamela Davis, CEO of a group of cooperative nonprofit insurers known as the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance (NIA). Pamela was featured in a PBS documentary and sequel, part of the Visionaries series, she received the first ever Award for Policy Innovation from The Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley. She was named one of the nation’s 15 BEST BOSSES by Fortune Small Business and Winning Workplaces, named by Business Insurance as one of the 80 “Women to Watch” and an “Elite Women” by Insurance Business America, and was twice listed as a Nonprofit Times Power & Influence Top 50. She holds a BA with highest honors in Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.  Link to Nonprofits Insurance Alliance website: https://insurancefornonprofits.org/

On today’s episode we have the privilege of interviewing Nisha Anand, an Indian-American activist, mom of two teenagers, and a boundary-busting national leader for social and racial justice. Once a grassroots activist arrested in Burma for pro-democracy demonstrations, Nisha is known today as a leader in cultivating unlikely and unconventional partnerships to create change. As Dream.Org’s CEO, Nisha guides a team of storytellers, organizers, and policy experts working on some of society’s toughest problems to create a better future for all. In this episode we discuss: ✊🏽 Why political action and policy change is so important for all causes 🏗️ Ways that leaders can build common ground to advance their social missions 💚 How nonprofits can embody inclusivity for their causes inside and out 🙌 What it looks like to truly partner with the people and communities you serve 🏦 Ways nonprofits can challenge the development and fundraising status quo Visit Dream.org's website: https://www.Dream.org/ Watch Nisha's TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZfKdlIRqYk

Our episode today is all about values and my guest is Brenda Boyle.Brenda is all about helping leaders and teams translate their values into specific, simple actions! She spent years in the non-profit and social impact sector. We discuss: 1) Why values are important for organizational culture 2) How to define simple, powerful, actionable values 3) What it means to truly live out values inside and out 4) When clear values can protect your team’s health 5) The ROI of defining values and the cost of not Link to Fireaheart Coaching: https://www.fireheartcoaching.com/

We cover a wide variety of topics in this episode, but there’s one recurring theme: generosity is not a commodity. Tim Sarrantonio, a generosity experience designer and Director of Corporate Brand at NeonOne, a nonprofit CRM solution. Listen to this episode as we discuss: 💸 Personal stories painting the reality of fundraising 🤖 The role of AI and tech in digital giving strategies 💥 Why contextual friction can help with online donations 💌 Ways nonprofits can improve their email campaigns  ⌛️ When to upgrade from spreadsheets to a CRM Tim is an internationally renowned speaker on generosity, technology, and the trends in the social good sector. After helping various causes raise over $3 million, he then moved into providing support for thousands of nonprofits through his work at Neon One. He has spoken at AFPICON, NTC, TEDx, and holds a Certificate in Philanthropic Psychology from the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy.  Link to The Nonprofit Email Report: https://neonone.com/resources/nonprofit-email-report/

What makes people give? It's a question that my next guest has obsessed over for more than a decade. Tim Kachuriak is the founder and Chief Innovation and Optimization Officer for NextAfter, a fundraising research lab consultancy and training institute that works with charities, nonprofits and NGOs to help them grow their resource capacity. Tim and his team at NextAfter and have conducted 5,000+ experiments spanning 600+ million donor interactions and first-hand research analyzing 1,000+ nonprofits across 12 countries to understand why people give.

In this episode we speak with Omondi Peter and cover a broad spectrum of lessons that nonprofits leaders and aspiring change makers can learn from based on stories for how anyone can: 🌍 Translate local nonprofit efforts to global impact 🏃🏽‍♂️ Organically evolve and scale your programming 📱 Use social media to gain support across borders 💚 Connect with authenticity and a growth mindset 🎯 Turn vision into reality through belief and action Omondi Peter is a Community Change Maker from Kenya, he is the Founder & CEO of Global Youth Forum, a Community Based Organization based in Kenya working to end youth unemployment in Africa by empowering youth with relevant skills to enable them create or secure jobs through the use of Sports as a vehicle for personal and professional growth and development. He is an alumnus of Young Africa Leadership Initiative, a program launched by President Barack Obama in 2010 to produce committed young leaders to transform Africa. He has served in a number of roles in various organizations from across the world namely the United Nations SDG Action Campaign. Peter holds a degree in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Nairobi and his vision is to build a Self-Sustaining Community Sports Centre in Kenya to help nurture talents of the less fortunate in his Community, prepare them for work and engage them to eradicate Poverty in their homes through sports.

In this episode we speak with Stephen Kump, CEO of Charityvest about how they're democratizing Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) and cover: 🏦 What DAFs are and how they work 💙 Why you might consider starting one 💚 How nonprofits can win more DAF grants 🤔 The ethics and misconceptions around DAFs 🙌 The future of collaborative giving through DAFs Charityvest is a donor-advised fund technology company making purposeful generosity more accessible and frictionless for all. Stephen Kump is the CEO and worked for over ten years as a consultant to nonprofit organizations, philanthropists, corporate leaders, and private equity investors, most recently with Bain & Company. Stephen received his B.S. in both Management and Economics from Georgia Institute of Technology (my alma mater) and his MBA from Yale. Previously, he has worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, Calvin Edwards & Company, Bain & Company and was a Cavalry Officer with the U.S. Army. To learn more about Charityvest check out their website at: https://www.charityvest.org/

In this episode we speak with Lori Kross Zaska, Founder and Chief Principal of Growth Owl, LLC to understand: ♟️ The playbook to win more corporate sponsorships 📈 What the corporate fundraising landscape looks like 🏢 How nonprofits can navigate corporate sponsorships 💚 Ways to effectively engage corporate decision makers ⭐️ How to personalize and differentiate your nonprofit's ask Lori brings over 22 years expertise in revenue generation management, corporate sponsorship support, corporate cause marketing, fundraising, corporate social responsibility, non profit consulting, executive sales management, training, and marketing strategy roles earning her a reputation for establishing pathways quickly to exceeding revenue/fundraising goals, building high performance teams, developing relationships quickly, and outpacing expectations. ​  Lori is also the author of "The Boardroom Playbook: A Not So Ordinary Guide to Corporate Funding for Your Purpose Driven Organization" which we will dive into as part of this episode. She's held key leadership and corporate sponsorship positions within organizations like PBS, NPR (local station groups), and many other organizations.

Did you know volunteers are 2x likely to donate to your nonprofit? Listen to Episode 18 of The Nonprofit Lab where I speak with Geng Wang, CEO and Cofounder at Civic Champs to understand:📋 The capabilities of volunteer management platforms🦾 How the technology has evolved and is being innovated🙋🏻‍♀️ Ways nonprofits can convert volunteers into donors⭐️ What makes an outstanding volunteer experience📈 The ROI of investing in volunteer management tech My guest in this episode is Geng Wang CEO and Cofounder of Civic Champs, an innovative volunteer management platform that helps nonprofits triple volunteer and mentorship capacity and retention. Geng is a serial entrepreneur, and prior to Civic Champs he cofounded two other companies, Rent Jungle and Community Elf, both of which were acquired in 2014 and 2017 respectively. Geng has also worked as an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company and holds degrees from Michigan State University and Harvard Business School. In this episode we unpack the most important and innovative capabilities volunteering management platforms, we discuss ways to measure and address volunteer feedback, what makes an outstanding volunteer experience, why it’s important, strategic approaches for asking volunteers to donate (volunteers are 2x as likely to donate to your cause), the ROI of volunteer management platforms and overall considerations for how it fits into a nonprofit’s short and long term technology roadmap.

TLDR What, how, and why impact impact measurement is important to improve outcomes for nonprofits, donors, staff, and the communities we serve. GUEST My guest today is Sheri Chaney Jones, co-founder, President and CEO of SureImpact, a case management and impact measurement software company. For more than 20 years, Sheri has applied performance management, evaluation, and organization behavior best practices to non-profit organizations and government agencies to improve outcomes and efficiencies. An author, professor, and internationally recognized expert, Sheri believes in data, metrics, and accountability. Her foray into entrepreneurship began with Measurement Resources Company in 2010 which is now a national firm that increases the capacity of non-profit and government sector organizations through high-performance practices and data-driven insights. In 2018, Sheri launched SureImpact to automate and simplify the process of collecting and sharing outcomes and impact data. Sheri is a thought leader on public sector evaluation and applied organizational research. She is the author of Impact & Excellence: Data-Driven Strategies for Aligning Mission, Culture, and Performance in Nonprofit and Government Organizations. OVERVIEW In this episode we go deep into what impact measurement in the nonprofit sector means, how and what to measure, why it’s important for program evaluation and fundraising and the common challenges with getting measurement started.  We’ll talk about the importance of qualitative storytelling that gets to our hearts, and the facts and figures of quantitative measurement and how when paired together, both can can make donors want to give more and understand the impact of their donations, and your nonprofit staff better see and understand the impact of their work. We’ll go into how all of this impact data can help nonprofits be best positioned to win more grant opportunities, become better stewards for donors, focus on the why with staff, and ultimately increase the impact on the causes that nonprofits are tirelessly working towards.

Allison Cousins is an educator and entrepreneur living in St. Louis, Missouri. Recognizing a gap in the availability and access to sports and extracurriculars in her school, Allison dedicated to take action and launched St. Louis City League, a nonprofit on a mission to develop  the  next  generation  of  youth  through engagement in school sports. Founded in 2021, City League  partners  with  middle  schools  in  St.  Louis City  to  reduce  the  barriers  for  schools  to sustainably  develop  and  implement  school  sport programs like basketball, volleyball, soccer, and cross country.