PODCAST · business
Nonprofit YEAH!
by Craig Howard
Nonprofit work can be a mystery to many, whether you're staff, board, or volunteer. Because of the fantastic opportunity we all have to make our organization in any image we choose, how we act, how we raise money, how we hold meetings, how we get things done, can all be different. I have worked in and around nonprofit for 20 years, preferring a light and fast approach - not too much process or dogma. This podcast sheds light on unconventional thinking around conventional nonprofit challenges. Check it out!
Episodes
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This Crazy Economic Shift
What's happening in the economy? It's really hard to say. And it's hard to make decisive moves when you really don't know what's up. What we do know is that things are shifting, and we need to make a Plan A, B... and C. This episode addresses the need for planning, and how to engage your board's...
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Authenticity in Your Organization
You can't fake authenticity. In our nonprofit work it's the backbone of our storytelling and our ongoing relations with the world we serve. This episode talks about authenticity and signs of when that may be waning. Keep it real to stay engaged.
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Get Grants!
I've been working with an organization on their grant-getting, and it reminded me of some things that may be helpful for you and your organization. Check it!
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A Communication Strategy
In many smaller nonprofits the people involved are too busy to make communicating to the public a consistent priority. Yet by simply outlining a plan for an entire year, it all gets much easier. This episode is about the 'how' to talk about the 'why' of your organization.
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Give Big Sucks
Give Big is a statewide effort in Washington to get alll the nonprofits involved in a short sprint for gifts. It has morphed into something that I believe is destructive for healthy nonprofits. It's creating a dependence on a big organization and making the Scarcity Mindset the paradigm. We need…
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Jim Mueller episode
Jim Mueller of JMuellerandassociates.com is a consultant in Florida who has published a book all about defining the roles you need on your board, finding the right people, then assuring they have a good experience on the board. It's a great read, and Jim tells us a few gems in this interview.
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Risk and Opportunity
There is risk of all kinds that we must prepare for. Risk can be not only bad, but also good. We should be prepared for anything that may come the way of our organization. Let's plan ahead!
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NPY Don't Build it While You Fly it
For fun, I hammer out a few annoying clichés in this episode, and then focus on the real reason we do strategic planning: because we can't afford not to.
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Your Mind of the Future
How do you do strategic planning with your nonprofit board, staff, and stakeholders when the future is so unpredictable? Plan for a lot of different possibilities - both the bad ones and the good ones!
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Relational Stewardship
How are you relating to your donors? Are you doing it on their terms or on yours? You'll have a lot more success if you listen to donors... and then tell their story to the rest of the community. Donors need to be engaged on their own terms, and it really helps when we listen to what they have to...
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Risk Management in Your Strategic Plan
Risk management is a really important part of what a board should be doing. We need to think of what CAN go wrong, not what might go wrong that we're pretty sure we can manage. The pandemic has shown that we need to think about the worst, and build it into our future plans.
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What Now?
This is the Covid-19 episode. How to you move ahead now? What can your organization - staff, board, and funders do to get to the other side of this unimaginable chasm? This episode will give you a few ideas to get people unstuck and start moving. Bonus content: soothing creek soundtrack in the...
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Sin of Complacency
I tend to err on the side of kindness - I presume everything is going okay. What I know, however, is that we have to be on the lookout all the time for problems on the horizon. In this episode I investigate what it means to be a board member skeptic. A guardian of the mission and protector of the...
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Are You Doing it Right
Are you building your board with an eye to the next 2 - 7 years? What programs do you have coming up? What growth? A capital campaign maybe? This is a story about an organization that started with a vision on the back of a napkin eight years ago, that is now proactively building their board for...
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You're the Board Chair!
The first time you become the chair of an organization can be daunting. You've watched someone else manage the nonprofit, so should you just do it that way? This episode talks about the wide range of chair styles, and how you can make a difference. You were chosen to lead, so do it the way that...
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NPY Speaking
We are involved in nonprofit work usually because we're passionate about a cause. Because of that, one might think we'd speak passionately. With verve and style, not with terror and sweat. But public speaking is still... speaking in front of large groups. In this episode I'll help with a few tips...
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Progress and Process
Nonprofits are usually filled with all kinds of excitement, because we do it from passion. Action without some kinds of procedural overlay, however, can lead to messy or even disastrous unintended consequences. We need both process and procedure thinkers and action figures to get it all done. How...
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Seasons of Your Nonprofit
This episode is a mix of good things. Partly it's about when to get stuff done - don't fundraise when people aren't in a giving mood, but do throw parties when people can attend! It's also about the Big Ask - timing, remembering past promises, and making sure you have another person from your…
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Time to GO?
Tough question: have you outlived your usefulness on a board? Have you lost the passion as a staff member? Nonprofit is different from for-profit in yet another way: if you've lost the thrill, it's time to step aside and make room for new blood, for others excited to carry the organization to the...
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Giving, Getting, and Your Board
Two Scoops! This is two topics in one episode, both dealing with your board and money. First is the issue of the old term Give, Get, or Get OFF! Your board should be involved in not just getting gifts, but giving every year as well. We dive into the nuance. Second is setting a gift policy for…
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Board Term Limits
Your board seats have terms. I presume. But do you have term limits? Should you have term limits? This podcast is a look at why term limits may or may not be a good thing for your board. Believe it or not, there are really good reasons not to have term limits... for some organizations.
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Corporate Culture
The only thing that's "the same" about every nonprofit is that we all must adhere to IRS requirements, and rules laid down by the Secretary of State. Every organization branches out from there because people - you, me - get involved. We bring our own personalities to the organization. Can this...
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Nuance of No
When you make the "Ask" for a nonprofit, there are two responses. There's "yes!" and it means your donor has moved from prospect to donor. Yes means yes. If your prospect says "no" it usually is a nuanced answer. It's either "no," or it's "no... I need to think about it." There are a lot of...
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Strategic Planning YEAH!
Your nonprofit organization needs a strategic plan. It guides you for the year, or three, or five... it's your road map to the future. It holds your feet to the fire, assigns responsibilities, and helps you budget. Supporters love to hear you have a plan, too. How do you create one? This episode...
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Eat That Frog!
Mark Twain has a couple of good quotes about doing hard things. The essence of his guidance is that if you have to do something hard, do it first thing in the morning. The rest of your day will seem easy! We do lots of hard things in nonprofit, and often they're messy, and we don't exactly know...
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Audit Your Books For Everyone's Sake
It doesn't occur to many small and medium sized nonprofits to get their books audited. It didn't to me when I started one 20 years ago. But it turns out to be a great exercise to understand where your organization is under-performing, and even over-performing. It covers you if the IRS comes...
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Super Happy Fun Episode!
Sometimes we get lost in the urgency of the work, or we become to routine and staid. In this episode I urge you to shake it up a bit, reintroduce some fun, food, and a little French into your meetings and other work.
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Show Us Your Super Powers!
Boards and staffs are filled with all kinds of people. We all have Super Powers. Often, however, one or a few voices are heard again and again. Whether it's a founder (thank you for being a founder!), or an overly-assertive board member, the cost of them being heard a lot, is that others are…
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Beth Stipe CFNCW
I had the opportunity to sit down with Beth Stipe, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of North Central Washington. Don't worry if your organization isn't in one of the three counties her organization serves - CFNCW is one of 700 community foundations across the country. One of them...
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Year End Last Stab
The very last week of the year should be a time that you give donors a chance to make a gift. These are the ones that may say, "You know, I meant to give them a hundred bucks this year..." and it's an impulse gift imbued with the holiday spirit. (It's also imbued with the IRS if the donor...
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Do You Know What You're Doing?
We enter nonprofit work - frequently - with no training. Employees, volunteers, board... often we have passion but no education or training. This episode explores that deficit, and how to address it. (The answer is: passion will drive your will to fill the holes!)
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Know Thy Donor
In this episode I explore the tricky question of donor tracking. I want to learn as much about a donor as I possibly can before I have a conversation with them, and in this episode I give some examples of things I like to know. We also explore ways to get to know your donors, track them for the...
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Endowment Episode
One of the holy grails of nonprofit work is to establish an endowment. We frequently hear from boards and staff of small and medium sized nonprofit organizations that they would love to have an endowment. In this episode I explore some aspects of what this really means: how big does an endowment...
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Editorial Calendar: Plan Your Communications
Most of us have been in the situation where we know a fundraising letter or other big communication has to go out. We've kind of known it for a long time, and then suddenly the day is tomorrow. It has to go out! And you have no idea what you're going to write in this important letter, so you just...
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Grant Getting
The granting process is interesting - funders have very specific goals for the grants they provide, so they're looking for the best organizations to achieve these goals. Is yours the right organization? The grant application is the only way you have in to this opaque opportunity. You'll learn…
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The Party Episode
Big events your organization put on take a lot of work. It's taxing on staff and volunteers, but it should have a great payoff. Planning for the results is the key. This episode has thoughts on why you do parties, and ways to make them work for your organization.
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Board Growth and Change
Boards take a lot of care and feeding. And it's worth it! Paying attention to how you build your board, how you manage the board you have, and preparing for the future with new board members waiting in the wings all takes time. It'll make your organization perform way above others. Check this out...
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Making the Ask
Making "the ask" in nonprofit work seems to freak a lot of people out. But you don't ask someone to marry you without going on some dates. That's how the ask works - you need to meet, date, court, charm, and assure *both* you and the potential donor that it's a match made in heaven. Check out…
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Disappearing Task Force
Why do some people hate committee work? Meetings. Time wasting meetings. At least that's the perception. If you've got board members or others from whom you need expert advice and targeted effort, consider enlisting them in a disappearing task force. Check it out.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Nonprofit work can be a mystery to many, whether you're staff, board, or volunteer. Because of the fantastic opportunity we all have to make our organization in any image we choose, how we act, how we raise money, how we hold meetings, how we get things done, can all be different. I have worked in and around nonprofit for 20 years, preferring a light and fast approach - not too much process or dogma. This podcast sheds light on unconventional thinking around conventional nonprofit challenges. Check it out!
HOSTED BY
Craig Howard
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Nonprofit YEAH! have?
Nonprofit YEAH! currently has 39 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Nonprofit YEAH! about?
Nonprofit work can be a mystery to many, whether you're staff, board, or volunteer. Because of the fantastic opportunity we all have to make our organization in any image we choose, how we act, how we raise money, how we hold meetings, how we get things done, can all be different. I have worked in...
How often does Nonprofit YEAH! release new episodes?
Nonprofit YEAH! has 39 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Nonprofit YEAH!?
You can listen to Nonprofit YEAH! on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Nonprofit YEAH!?
Nonprofit YEAH! is created and hosted by Craig Howard.
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