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On Scaling Impact we’ll interview leaders in strategy and impact at mission driven organizations that have dramatically increased the level of impact at their organizations.
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From sketching animals as a teenager to founding Harvest107, Gracie shares the journey that turned creativity, family influence, and a little righteous anger into a mission-driven nonprofit fighting hunger through urban gardens, sustainability, and community impact. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact Podcast. How a children’s book inspired Gracie to fight hunger at age 12 The birth of Harvest107 and its first community projects Navigating challenges as a young, foreign female leader in Haiti The role of education and organic farming in battling malnutrition Harvest107’s resilience after adversity and its future global goals Resources: Harvest107 DevNoodle NxtStep Connect with Gracie Pfaff: LinkedIn Connect with our hosts: Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn Quotables: 07:59 - I have an entire pantry and fridge full of food, yet there are kids just like me down the street and across the country who don't have that. And I was like, that's just unacceptable. Everyone deserves access to healthy and nutritious food, and food in general. 27:54 - And it also taught me to kind of like have a backbone and be a leader and you know, stand up for myself in those spaces. And then I think, especially as we started transitioning to work with primarily women and children, that a lot of that went away. 35:42 - We are, we are healthy, so let's just keep going. I wasn't gonna let it truly set us back. And so we raised enough money to get a plot for a test farm. 'Cause that's always been really important to us to make sure that we have space where we also do a lot of projects with trees. 45:07 - I've always loved, I mean, my dad was an entertainer, so it's like I've always kind of loved that creative side and being able to use that is really fun. Plus, being a nonprofit founder, there were many times in my life where I felt like I was always giving, and I love to give, but at some point, I was like, I need to also like take care of me and do something that fills me up, and creating content was that for me. 46:54 - I think I've never really believed in the whole niche down thing. I, I'm multihyphenate, and I fully embrace that. I love being a nonprofit founder and sharing about giving back. I love being a content creator and a model. I love, you know, just being creative in general. So, as my personal brand, I think the number one thing I go for is just being a good person and being authentic and sharing the things that I love and trying to make the world a better, brighter place. If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
In this episode, we sit down with Christian LeFer, founder of Instant Nonprofit, to explore the intersection of culture, festivals, and customer love, and how these elements shape a brand that truly connects. Christian shares the highs, challenges, and unexpected turns of launching and scaling a purpose-driven company, offering a candid look at what works (and what doesn’t) along the way. Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast. Creating a company culture rooted in love and self-understanding Lessons from festivals and psychedelics applied to building teams Simplifying nonprofit formation and avoiding legal pitfalls Turning customer complaints into “refunds to raving fans” Innovative approaches to cash flow and personal growth Resources: Instant Nonprofit DevNoodle Podcast Chef NxtStep Connect with Christian LeFer: LinkedIn Connecting with our hosts Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn Sean Boyce - LinkedIn Quotables: 13:20 - If you've ever read Simon Sinek, for example, you know, we believe that the world is not lacking for information. People are not broke because they can't do simple addition and subtraction. People aren't ineffective in what they want to do. Or maybe in switching careers to doing something more meaningful or they don't have the lack, they might not lack the relationship that they desire because of a lack of information. It's really a lack of understanding oneself. And really, to me that starts with self-love because 10 years ago, almost to the day, I lost absolutely everything. My entire life was in a conflagration. And the harder I worked, the worse things got. And I was literally brought down to my knees to where I, nothing that I could do with all my cleverness and ideas and information that I had at that time could help me, and I let go in a way that allowed me to relearn how to be a human. 15:58 - And I believe everyone has something inside this divine spark inside them that makes them great, beau beautiful, and unique. And so if you can create a space of safety for that thing to be able to blossom a little bit, you'll get a hundred or a thousand X out of that person, whether it's the guy on the street, your lover, your employee, team member, whatever. And so I started to play with that idea, and that's really how I've built a culture of love at this company, is first and foremost to really try to help everybody have an opportunity to understand everyone else and feel safe in that space in the company. 18:07 - I have this thing called refunds to raving fans. And that's something that everybody in on the team has embraced. And it's about just listening to that person. That person might be having a really tough time. They might have a tough board, they might have a tough home life, they might just find it really difficult to start their nonprofit and get through all the stuff, even though we make it so easy. And so listening to them first to diffuse that emotional balloon and create some understanding, appreciation, and just acceptance of that person does at least half the job. And then we go over and above to satisfy whatever it is that, you know, that they might be worked up about. 35:03 - My light bulb came on because I had that free space of being disengaged with all these things that had just been taken over my life, and made life just look very impossible. And I said, you know, if we start with process and just do these few simple things, I think we can pull this out and turn this into a juggernaut. And so we threw away the custom software we spent a lot of money on, and I had to let go of that, and I had a lot of letting go to do at that time. 52:22 - And I was able to tie that to the specific challenges that we were dealing with at that time. And that concept never left me. And that's just how I look at cash flow now, and it helps me so much on the tough months, right? Or the months where we have a dip or we broke something on the website, and it caused issues. We launched a huge new site, funnels, brand customer portal last year, and our little upward trajectory got knocked off a little bit. And this was really helpful for to me to say, look, it's okay because we just did spent a whole bunch of time beautifying and making this river flow more beautifully. And so when that rain comes, boy is it just gonna flow so nicely through there, and now we're getting the results of that.
Don’t miss out on this episode where non-profit expertise meets entrepreneurial spirit as Catalina Parker unravels her journey from burnout to brilliance. Learn how non-profit professionals are transforming their passion into profitable consulting businesses, combatting common industry challenges, and leveraging AI for operational efficiency. Whether you're in the non-profit sector Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast. Non-profit burnout triggers consulting pivot Strength training as a mental health tool AI fills in busy work, opens strategic room Fractional work is a growing non-profit trend Structuring services for non-profit consulting Resources: Relatable Nonprofit DevNoodle Podcast Chef NxtStep Connect with Catalina Parker: LinkedIn Connecting with our hosts Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn Sean Boyce - LinkedIn Quotables: 09:30: I had found myself having panic attacks in my office every day. I was not a good mother, not a present wife, not a great friend. My whole life was really consumed by work and trying to make a situation that wasn't right for me work. And eventually, I couldn't stop ignoring the signs that my body was sending me, which were these panic attacks. I would have a lot of anger outbursts because I was just so overwhelmed with the emotions. I didn't know how to process emotions. So that's really what made me realize that there was a problem and something needed to change. 13:04 - I think because I was doing what I thought other people wanted me to do growing up, I was always told that, you know, you have to achieve a lot. So there was a lot of pressure put on me at an early age to just push yourself, do better, do better. You're never enough was always the message I was given. So when I did all the things you're supposed to do, you know, I was a straight-A student, graduated college early, did my master's in an Ivy League school, I got my dream job, this was all before I was 30. And it was just because I realized kind, I was just doing what everybody told me to do. Others, what society tells you to do. And I never really asked myself like, what do you wanna do? What makes you happy? 19:38 - I started reading a book by Keith Cunningham, and he mentioned this concept of thinking time, which he took from someone else. But essentially, scheduling time for yourself to just stop and think and going into that meeting with yourself with the right question in mind, like a very specific, narrow question that's an important one for you to answer. I haven't yet worked it into a ritual, but the couple of times that I've done it, I mean it's been, it's had a profound change on my business. 34:32 - I really do believe that the future of the nonprofit sector, because the system really is not built in a sustainable way to support the people working inside nonprofits, right? Like donors believe that people are overhead and we need all of the funding to go just to the mission, but donors sometimes forget, well, who's gonna actually implement that mission work, right? So there are just a lot of issues with the nonprofit, just the system, the sector as a whole, systemic issues that are just going to take a while to be addressed. And that's why we see a lot of people choose consulting or fractional work as an option because it's like, what else do you do? Right? And again, I mean, the nonprofit sector pays people not well, just all of these various issues. 38:04 - Catalina: I have a sales bot trained on our script and everything. It's just incredible how much time you can save if you're using it correctly. I've seen it used incorrectly a lot as well. Josh: Yeah, I think just to kinda repeat that, I think it does a good job filling in the busy work that we were just sitting there typing a brief or something like that. And it leaves more time for strategy, which I think is where we get the human involved and let the AI do what it does best, and then we do what we do best.
Join us in the dynamic world of nonprofit leadership with a seasoned expert who shares the ins and outs of organizational growth, retention challenges, and collaborative solutions. From scaling operations to forming strategic partnerships, get actionable insights that empower mission-driven executives to amplify their impact. Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast. Retention and recruiting in modern nonprofits Automation's role in nonprofit evolution Corporate partnerships bolster nonprofit missions Strategies to address nonprofit funding decreases The importance of mission-driven leadership Resources: Rob Harter Coaching and Consulting DevNoodle Podcast Chef NxtStep Connect with Rob Harter: LinkedIn Connecting with our hosts Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn Sean Boyce - LinkedIn Quotables: 31:44 - I'm a big believer that every organization, it either rises or falls based on their leadership. So if you want an organization to improve, and this could be a company, a business, a nonprofit, deal with that to improve you, improve the leadership. So if you improve the leader, you're gonna improve the entire organization. So that's kind of my, what drives me and what gets me excited too is that if I have some time to meet with that leader and or the leadership team or the board who has the really can move the needle for an organization, that organization gets healthier. When that leader gets healthier, that organization gets better when that leader gets better. And so that's a lot of what drives me in my consulting business 16:05 - We didn't have this in our budget to provide all this rent assistance. And so really it was a community thing. So it was mostly individual gifts, but the more people got excited about, Hey, I could do something, I'll send a check. And, and it literally just came in and we just sent it right back out. So it was an in-and-out gift. And so the more we were able to report back on that, on who we were helping, who we were serving, and Park City's not that big of a community, even though we have a two county region, the word spread pretty quickly, I guess is what I'm saying. And so people found out real examples of, oh, that's my friend, or that's my people that normally I employ. Those are the people I just, I can't employ anymore. We had to let 'em go or temporarily furlough them because we, there's no work to be had. So they knew that we were helping their, you know, helpers and their employees and whatnot. So the money was not hard to ask for, I guess, long story short. 39:07 - I've had some people on the show that actually are part of these corporate foundations, right? And they, I've actually asked that exact question, and what they tell me, and so I'll pass that on. 'Cause I think it's really good advice is when it comes to corporate donors, and let alone, this is the same for state, you know, government, federal government, and local government. It's all about relationships. It's really building an honest and like a positive relationship with folks that are decision makers when it comes to potential funding, potential collaboration, getting in front of the right people to ask, Hey, would you think about collaborating on this project or supporting this project through your finances? You know, so I think that relationship starts the whole process. So if you just only go to corporate partners or if corporate foundations just go to nonprofits and it's just a money transaction, it's not gonna go very far. 24:08 - And I know it sounds so simple, we all know that. But if you don't put that literally into how you make decisions, it needs to become a funnel. So when things come at you, you run it through your, okay, does this match your mission? Yes. Does 'cause it matches your vision? Yeah. Is it according to of values? That's where I think sometimes people miss or organizations miss. When you make decisions, you start realizing and don't, not thinking through, well this is really not the values of our culture. This is not our DNA, this is not what we do. 40:52 - So now you're coming with more. Hey, this is an issue we all share in this community. How can we come together and actually address the issue as opposed to, Hey, I know you've got a little extra money in your budget, could you gimme some money for a food pantry? You know, it's just that the approach and really coming at it with much more of a broader perspective than just, I need money for my nonprofit, right? Or the corporate coming and saying, I just need a partner, 'cause I've gotta check that box on my foundation list. You know, it's like, let's really come together and look at these issues and what can we do together collaboratively. Because overall, when that has happened, and I've had multiple cases of people on my show, they've had some real success of bringing together government, for-profit, and nonprofits together to deal with really big issues in their city or their community or their country internationally, and have had great results. But it really starts with that relationship and that collaboration building. If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
Join us as Chika Nwaogu shares his revolutionary journey, infusing comic books and tech into menstrual health education. Discover how this coder turned advocate is championing young African girls' lives, one period at a time. Tune in for laughs, insights, and an uplifting saga of empathy and innovation. Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast. Chika Nwaogu path from coder to advocate Combatting period poverty with creativity Empowering girls with comic books and tech Creating a sticky learning experience Bridging gaps with the Pather e-learning platform Resources: PadHer DevNoodle Podcast Chef NxtStep Connect with Chika Nwaogu: LinkedIn Connecting with our hosts Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn Sean Boyce - LinkedIn Quotables: 09:32 - I'm not a parent yet, but I think there is such a value in getting, when you're a kid or your kid getting as many skills as possible. One, you just don't know what their future's gonna look like. And it's just good to have. But a lot of times success is found when you pull a skill from, and this is exactly what you did, right? You pull skill from something else, whether it's another job, another industry, another project, and you pull it into what you're currently working on. And it's having those skills, whether you realize that at the time or not, that says, oh, like I'm actually doing something a little bit different here, and these skills work really well in this field. So I think it's, it's really cool that kind of, whether it's an accident or not, 17:21 - We are always looking for innovative ways. You know, we first started with comic books. We, we, we are scaled to animations. We are, most recently trying to scale into digital games and then to e-learning platforms. So it basically, we are going to be always looking for more innovative ways and mediums to present menstrual and sexual health education to young African slogans. I always want to listen. I want to know how best can I do this? And I feel like it has also changed my entire outlook on life. It has allowed me to be someone who listens more, who gives people opportunities, like to, okay, can I hear what you have to say? And this is not this, this is never, never my style of leadership in the past. My style of leadership in the past was always like a top down planning. I just have something, I just say that's what is gonna happen. But with Partha, it just taught me to listen to every person, every matter, no matter how little the person is in the group, in the team, their voice matters. I feel like. And I feel that's not only changed me as a person, but it has changed my leadership style. So yeah. 33:00 - They're like pointing at her, they're making fun of her, they're insulting her. And this is as a result of this is the period of stigma we are talking about is a result of society that does not build boys to show empathy towards their female counterparts. They are thought that periods are are something to shy about, to be embarrassed about. So we are trying to make sure that we change that narrative. One comic book at a time for boys. One of the thing we are also trying to do is wherever we go to a school, we always want to have that ongoing relearning. 49:32 - I had the passion, I have the passion for it, and I still have the passion for it. I just wanna see a future where period education is an essential part of a girl's education. It's not just something on the side, it's something being taught in schools like mathematics, physics, chemistry, where the girls are being taught about this, where also boys, these things are also boys, is also introduced to boys in a way that it can foster empathy and reduces period stigma.
Let’s dig into the critical world of nonprofit event planning with industry expert Amanda Nover. From crafting engaging fundraisers to optimizing donor journeys, get the lowdown on making every event count. Tune in for a blend of inspirational stories, practical strategies, and insider tips that can transform your nonprofit's next gathering into a resounding success. Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast. Crafting engaging nonprofit events Integrating events with fundraising strategy Empowering organizations with event goals Enhancing donor relations post-event Navigating financial planning for events Resources: Amanda Nover Event Strategies DevNoodle Podcast Chef NxtStep Connect with Amanda Nover: LinkedIn Connecting with our hosts: Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn Sean Boyce - LinkedIn Quotables: 14:44 - Honestly, I have not seen an organization yet say, we have a solid plan. I think everyone is just kind of waiting to see what happens, doing the best they can, and taking it day by day. Because a lot of the organizations I work with are direct service organizations, helping people with a variety of challenges who really need the help. And especially now with everything going on in our government, aren't getting it any other way. 27:23 - A lot of people say like, oh, we work all year to have this great gala. People love it. But then sometimes the people who are there don't hear from you again until you're hosting that event again the next year. That's fine, maybe they love your event, and they come every year. But is that bringing them closer to your mission at all? Is that deepening the relationship at all? Not really. So I think what a lot of organizations need to do is not just say what's gonna happen at this event, but what's gonna happen after this event? What is that follow-up gonna look like? Where are they on their journey with our organization, and where do we want them to be? And once you say where we want them to be, and that may be different for different attendees, once you say where you want them to be, how are we gonna get them there? And not just forget about them until the next year, but really think about what that journey looks like. 24:13 - There's organizations who have maybe an older donor population who have been committed for years who love the organization, but they're not getting new donors in the door. They might have an event where the goal is not necessarily raising money, but building their list, finding new supporters to kind of build the base of future supporters for the organization. Or you know, the kind of event, one kind of event I love to plan is sort of a cultivation event is like a jargony term in the fundraising world, but something that's used to bring your donors or supporters closer to your mission. 45:32 - I think the biggest thing is to think about how your event fits into your larger fundraising strategy. It is a single moment in time, it's a very special moment in time. It's a really important moment in time, but it's not your whole fundraising strategy. You have your individual, your corporate, your foundation, your communications, there's all those pieces working together, and there's again, the journey that org that your supporters are on throughout the entire year, throughout their entire time with your organization. And the event is there to enhance that, whether it's a fundraising event or whether it's, you know, a feel-good community event to introduce new supporters to your mission, that is part of the strategy and can't live by itself on one side. 29:53 - I think that ends up being a big pain point because people are pulled into planning events who really don't have time to do it. And then the final, I would say the final, like really big problem I see with events is some events, like a 5K, you can expect to kind of go have a great time and walk away maybe not knowing that much about the organization. And that's okay sometimes for that sort of event, but for other kinds of events, you really need to focus on how you're communicating your mission at many, many points throughout the event because you want people to not just have a great time, but be inspired, feel motivated to give, feel motivated to engage more deeply.
Decoding into the world of nonprofit finances with expert Sean Hale! Discover essential strategies for financial resilience and the pitfalls of the overhead myth, as Sean unpacks decades of wisdom. Plus, learn how embracing financial literacy can empower your organization's success. Tune in for revelations that can reshape your nonprofit's fiscal approach. Here are a few topics we’ll discuss on this episode of the Scaling Impact Podcast. Overcoming the overhead myth Importance of financial literacy Embracing strategic investments Nonprofit audit preparation tips Recognizing the value of tech upgrades Resources: Nonprofit CFOs DevNoodle Podcast Chef NxtStep Connect with Sean Hale: LinkedIn Connecting with our hosts: Josh Hoffman - LinkedIn Alex Garashchenko - LinkedIn Sean Boyce - LinkedIn Quotables: 39:29 - They're absolutely gonna be looking out for the organization's best health as if they were the full-time CFO, right? And so if they see that something's not quite right, at minimum they're gonna raise it with the executive director, right? Like I'm concerned that you have a lot of turnover, and I see that you're paying well under market rates. You know, should we have a conversation about that? Or I'm concerned that you're, we have kind of all of saying, you know, I looked at inventory, and the computers that you're using are all like five and six years old. Can we have a conversation about that? Or, I see that your basic back-office accounting-type processes haven't been documented. This is a real risk and a vulnerability for the organization because you have just one person that knows how to run payroll. 42:42 - I would add is financial literacy for every leader in the organization is really important. There are myths around that. There are myths that like, oh, I'm no good at math and I'm no good with numbers, and they've always bothered me, and besides our CPA has that or whatever. And that's baloney. And your organization, if you are a leader, you're setting yourself up for risk and possibly a world of hurt if you are not engaged at a certain level with the finances. 25:47 - Certainly, one challenge that I see over and over again is when organizations have bought into the overhead myth. The overhead myth is a zombie idea that the less, if an organization spend, the less an organization spends on administration, the more impactful it must be and vice versa. And nothing could be further from the truth. And in actuality, the more you cut your back office expenses, the more likely that organization's gonna have really poor health overall and to have low impact. 27:52 - One thing I've found and you know, over and over again is that there's this penny wise pound foolish mentality in too many organizations. And so the more nonprofits that learn that, you know, sometimes you have to spend money to save money is such a valuable lesson that I wish more would come around on that. Sometimes yes, it might feel extravagant and crazy to go and spend 700 bucks to get a new laptop for any of your staff who feel like they need a new computer. But you know what? That investment is probably gonna pay for itself pretty quickly in terms of higher productivity and also improved morale. 32:17 - The organizations that they saw come out of the recession the strongest were the ones that took a different approach that instead they made some strategic cuts, right? They, and so just surgically kind of looking at what's gonna be most mission oriented, what's gonna be, what are, what's giving us the best ROI, we're gonna protect the things that are most mission oriented, most ROI, but we're gonna strategically cut some of these other areas.
In this episode, Community Engagement Officers from DreamSpring, Shaundra, and Meghan, share insights on the importance and impact of community engagement in small business growth. They discuss strategies for effective outreach, trust-building, and partner stewardship. The hosts also highlight the benefits of partnerships and the significance of investing in relationships for long-lasting success. Additionally, they touch on measuring impact and taking care of oneself and their ecosystem while growing a business. Join Shaundra Jacobs and Meghan Rauker on this episode as they share their remarkable career journeys. Shaundra's experience spans roles at AT&T, Lyft, and BakerRipley, leading to her current position as a Community Engagement Officer at DreamSpring, where she fosters relationships to support entrepreneurs. Meghan's expertise lies in strategic communications, program management, and business development, showcased through her roles at PeopleFund and as a Business Development Lead at TÁPI Story. Together, they offer invaluable insights into community engagement, nonprofit organizations, and business growth strategies. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: Community engagement is about long-term and sustainable outcomes, building relationships, and meeting the needs of priority populations such as minority entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, and veterans. Engaging effectively with communities involves asking why and offering services of value, being location-based, and using technology effectively. Consistency and genuineness are also essential. Building sustainable partnerships involves asking directly, “What do you need?” Regular touchpoints and checking in with partners can pay off down the line. Partnerships can help solve similar challenges and complement each other's roles. Community engagement is a vital part of small business growth. The company is rapidly expanding and offers a monthly entrepreneurial resource newsletter called Springboard. Resources: DreamSpring DreamSpring News Spring Board Newsletters Business Resource Blog NxtStep Podcast Chef Connecting with Shaundra Jacobs and Meghan Rauker: Shaundra Jacobs Meghan Rauker Connecting with Sean Boyce: LinkedIn Email Quotables: 03:33 - “Money is not always the answer. It is more to educate and empower people to be able to start a small business, be entrepreneurs and sustain themselves and their family, create generational wealth. That is our goal with this engagement role.” 17:36 - “I just love to see it in a chart form and say, oh look at all these people I've connected with and let me see exactly where my, you know, how I've interacted and engaged with people. So that's how HubSpot does help us. That's our little way. And then we do have other things like Domo that'll show exactly the impact, and it pulls it into charting and shows you how many people you've impacted and all of that.” 08:28 - “That's the other trick I'd also add to organizations, if you can find other people who have titles like community engagement or community manager in their role, they're much more likely to respond to you. And it's also really great to have like a peer in that space if that's your job. And you're just kind of starting to navigate that space.” 24:12 - “So kindness goes a really long way in connecting with people even after they've left the organization. Especially if you get along, and you're passionate about the same things goes a super long way. Again, it's a long game, a super, super long game, it's a marathon for sure. You have to make sure you take care of yourself and the people in your ecosystem while you're doing it.” 24:36 - “You want to invest in these relationships and the more you invest in them, the more likely you're to get out of it as well too. As such, the community benefits as well. So I love the partnership angle for a whole bunch of reasons. Just great to be able to kind of grow together, find folks who are trying to solve also similar challenges, and maybe they play a complimentary role to what it is that you may be doing as such. You can grow together, right? Rising tide raises all ships kind of thing” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
In this episode of Scaling Impact, Sean Boyce hosts Anne Haynes and Marisa Barrera from DreamSpring to discuss their mission of supporting entrepreneurs and driving economic and social change. They explore the meaning of impact and the importance of equitable access to capital. Additionally, they delve into the role of nonprofit boards in fundraising, building a partnership with CEOs, and maximizing positive change. Marisa Barrera is the Chief Impact Officer at DreamSpring, bringing over 27 years of experience to her role. With a background in public and international affairs, Marisa is dedicated to driving economic equity and inclusion through her work. Anne Haines, the CEO and President of DreamSpring, is a recognized leader known for her commitment to ethics and excellence. Under her guidance, DreamSpring has become one of the top-performing nonprofit microfinance institutions in the United States, providing funding and support to small businesses across 27 states. Anne's vision and impact have earned her numerous awards and accolades, making her a respected figure in the industry. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: Equitable access to capital is essential in empowering entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. Regular communication, exposure to the organization's work, and in-person meetings keep the board engaged. Dream Springing transitioned from a larger board of directors to a smaller one to enhance governance and leadership excellence. The composition of the board is carefully developed to best support the organization's short term and long term strategic goals. Technology expertise has been brought onto the board to support the development of Dream Springing's in-house software. The board's role is to align its membership with the organization's strategic goals and ensure impactful outcomes. The episode provides valuable advice and insights for other organizations looking to achieve similar success. Resources: DreamSpring NxtStep Podcast Chef Connecting with Marisa Barrera: LinkedIn Connecting with Anne Haines: DreamSpring Connecting with Sean Boyce: LinkedIn Email Quotables: 05:08 - “So as a nonprofit community development organization, we're very committed to putting capital into the hands of underserved entrepreneurs and historically underserved communities. For us to make the broadest space economic and social impact, we believe that combining passion and heart and technology to support the scaling of impact are all critical inputs into some of the desired outcomes.” 13:52 - “Nonprofit boards are also responsible for being advocates for the organization for ensuring sufficient financial resources for an organization, which means nonprofit board of directors mostly do need to get involved in fundraising. I think there are very few nonprofit boards where there isn't, you know, some kind of fundraising responsibility that is actually a core part of a nonprofit board role.” 25:57 - “And so we do find that it is important to cultivate through the board's nominating and governance process, really mindful identification of board members who bring the experience, the networks, the background that are needed for a nonprofit's mission fulfillment.” 06:32 - “And when we are working with small businesses, it's so important that every entrepreneur around the country, no matter what their background is, men, women, entrepreneurs of color, individuals with a disability, whoever that person is, if they're dreaming of starting a business and have the tenacity and grit to launch it, we wanna make sure that they're championed and have access to capital to start that business or to grow the business.” 16:19 Sean: “So how do you keep the board engaged in the work that's ongoing so that they can also maximize their impact and track progress?” .. Anne: “Certainly it begins before somebody becomes a board member with a series of really thoughtful conversations. There should be a committee of the board of directors or if it's a very small board to start with, it could be the full board that evaluate who might be potential candidates that would be great for the organization, where the organization would be great for who they are and the passion they have.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
In this episode, Amber Kani, Head of Stakeholder Engagement at Dream Springing, talks about their approach to using technology to overcome challenges in scaling impact for underrepresented communities. She emphasizes the importance of analyzing donor journeys and addressing pain points through technology while staying open to changes. Dream Springing also adapts to pandemic challenges by providing self-paced options for donor engagement. Amber Kani is an experienced professional in the field of stakeholder engagement and philanthropy. She currently serves as the Head of Stakeholder Engagement at DreamSpring, where she has successfully implemented comprehensive business development and stewardship strategies to advance the organization's mission. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: Dream Springing is a nonprofit that provides small business owners and entrepreneurs underrepresented in traditional banking access to capital, education, and resources. Technology is key to scaling impact by reducing friction points for clients and donors alike, enabling Dream Springing to capture data to improve outreach for clients and fundraise more effectively beyond traditional networks. Map out the existing workflows to identify challenges and select appropriate technology Unstick stakeholders by adding a touchpoint into the process and identifying needs to hire appropriate staff Know your process and deploy your team intentionally. Crafting innovative solutions using the resources available. Technology enables stakeholder engagement to be more impactful. Resources: DreamSpring NxtStep Podcast Chef Connecting with Amber Kani: LinkedIn Email Connecting with Sean Boyce: LinkedIn Email Quotables: 09:12 - “And by leveraging technology we're able to take our digital assets, client features, videos, things that tell our story better than I ever could face-to-face or in a letter and get them in front of people that go beyond the networks of anyone on your fundraising staff. You know, capacity is always a challenge for nonprofits, and leveraging technology can let your fundraisers and your partnership builders and your executive teams do what they do best. And it also enables your clients to have a voice in the process.” 11:24 - “I mean, the great thing about technology is you're constantly getting data on what is working and what isn't, and it enables you to pivot and change as you need. And it would take a long time to figure that out with face-to-face and meetings, certainly at the scale that we're trying to do it.” 11:45 - “Because in terms of cost-effectiveness, I've seen a lot unfortunately of nonprofit organizations that have developed amazing local programs but then they kind of collapse, or they stall under the weight of the growth that they want to try to achieve as they're trying to scale because they haven't taken into account just how expensive time-consuming, how much effort is going to be involved and what it's going to be like trying to manage that at scale.” 19:36 - “Because you're expecting the process that worked yesterday to work for the process of tomorrow's world. That's unlikely to be the case, even if it does, it's going to be significantly less effective. So you're going to need processes to improve those as well too. It isn't like they're going to have to adapt, they're going to have to evolve, and your tools should evolve with you as well too.” 13:27 - “Sean: You'd alluded too as well to the data that you've used to kind of better understand where to apply technology, software, any of these other tools that can help you with scaling more efficiently. What does that look like? What is DreamSprings' process for that? Like how do you know where to apply it next that would also be good for, you know, other nonprofit leaders to learn from in terms of what you've done successfully? Amber: Yeah, I think the first thing is you need to put your head down before you can put your head out. And you know, we really looked internally at who are our donors and partners, and aspirationally who are we trying to attract? Because like you said, the folks who are supporting you in your backyard and your community are absolutely essential.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
In this episode, Senior Executive Director of GreenLight Fund, Melissa Luna, discusses the organization's mission to remove barriers to inclusive prosperity by launching and scaling proven programs that address community-identified needs, GreenLight Fund's approach of investing financial resources and providing long-term sustainability support to partner organizations, and the significance of community engagement and learning from past data and trends within the GreenLight Fund portfolio. Melissa Luna is an experienced Managing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the philanthropy and nonprofit industry, who is skilled in Nonprofit Management, Program Design, Politics, Policy Analysis, Event Planning, and Evaluation. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: The programs that the organization launches and scales that meet community-identified needs. The multi-year funds and on-ground support that Greenlight Fund invests and provides for portfolio organizations. The KPIs are outlined to determine reasonable and high growth for organizations over four years. How brand visibility, partnerships, and unlocking investments are important for growth and expansion. Why successful scaling requires a step-by-step approach and managing risk with the unexpected that may come along. How Greenlight Fund helps nonprofits to scale up in the Greater Boston region. Resources: GreenLight Fund NxtStep Podcast Chef Connecting with Melissa Luna: LinkedIn Connecting with Sean Boyce: LinkedIn Email Quotables: 15:20 – “I'd love to talk a little bit more about that too because obviously the theme of this show is figuring out how to help people that are making amazing change, but maybe it's just hyper-local at the moment, but it's something that, you know, the needs that you described, the mental health challenges, the disproportionate level of access for people of color, those types of things, those are not hyperlocal problems, right? Like they may be varying levels of degree of severity, but those are ubiquitous. These problems exist everywhere. So obviously we want to see what we can't do about taking those to programs that have been successful in local communities and making them as accessible as possible so that people that are experiencing them everywhere can get access to the same level of help. That was really the inspiration behind the creation of this podcast interviewing professionals like you who have done this successfully over and over again” 17:38 – “So from the very beginning it is about setting it up for success. Part of what we do also with the organizations when we do select them is we outline KPIs. So key performance indicators over those four years to determine what is reasonable growth and what is high growth. Because we want for there obviously to be reasonable growth, but we also want to shoot for the stars and make sure that we're going for high growth.” 19:54 – “And so our job at Greenlight is to ensure that they're learning the right lessons in those first two years that they're pivoting, that they're applying what we're learning and then helping them to figure out, now that we know what works in our market, how do we grow that? What are the partnerships, what are the public funding sources and what ways can we continue to elevate the local leader so that we are bringing in these opportunities to continue to grow the program.” 20:58 – “Building their solution to be sustainable is probably one of the biggest challenges facing the future success for nonprofits and impact-related organizations that have even some track record of success, a fact that their programs work. I've read countless stories in their, they're such a rollercoaster because they're amazing to learn about problem that they wanted to solve, the improvement they wanted to make in their community” 25:38 – “And I think that when we talk about our community, it's really centering on what they need and what they want. And I think those are two very different things. And so I think in particular as we think about the dignity of people who are using our programs, if we really center what they both need and want, we can deliver really infected programs with a transformative change.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
This episode, The GreenLight Fund’s Vice President Casey Johnson talks about the venture philanthropy space, why funding should be unrestricted, and the different types of personalities you need in an organization to scale successfully. Casey Johnson has over 20 years of program management experience for various non-profit organizations, including five years focusing on implementing and refining literacy programs in the United States and globally in 10 developing countries. Casey also has over 10 years of experience working in venture philanthropy doing strategic grantmaking, deep diligence on potential portfolio organizations, and local community landscape analysis work. She is currently the Vice President of The GreenLight Fund which helps transform the lives of children, youth, and families in high-poverty urban areas. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: The unique approach of GreenLight Fund. The venture philanthropy space. How to get funding to scale and grow. The benefits of unrestricted funding. The due diligence involved in acquiring funding. The different types of personalities you need in an organization to scale successfully. Resources: GreenLight Fund NxtStep Podcast Chef Connect with Casey Johnson: LinkedIn Email Connecting with the host: Sean Boyce on LinkedIn Sean Boyce by Email Quotables: 6:49 - “We raise dollars in each of our communities and then invest those dollars back into our communities through investments in nonprofit 5013C organizations who are doing work to move the needle on economic mobility for residents families individuals experiencing poverty in our communities.” 10:31 - “We’re investing in something that’s not there but could come in there and be really successful and putting a lot of momentum behind that really amazing thing and then you think all that takes 12 months just to get to that point of making that decision but our real work it’s almost like the tip of the iceberg is what you see when you’re making this selection but our real work is what you don’t see at that iceberg, it’s 4 plus years of portfolio management and partnership.” 16:12 - “I know we’ve heard a lot about trust-based philanthropy that’s definitly a buzz words these days in our spaces and in the social sector but this is truly leaning into partnership and leaning into trust and saying we trust that you are going to use our dollars well we’re going to hold you accountable in these ways but we’re also going to support you in these ways which means we’re going to help unlock some doors for you, we’re going to introduce you to our network, we’re going to do all those things that make it difficult to come into a new space and set up shop right out of the gate on your own, and I think it becomes so critical to remove barriers and hurdles wherever you can and one of those is absolutely removing restricting dollars, guess what paying the light bill is just as important.” 20:42 - “I think it’s so important for an organization to have the gas pedal maybe one maybe a couple of people within the organization, the leadership theme, the board that are the gas pedal that are let’s go we’ve got this we don’t have everything figured out who cares we’ll figure it out as we go, are willing to take risk and just move at the speed of lighting or would like to if they can.” 26:40 - “Scaling is not easy and I know you’ve covered this ground with some of the other amazing leaders you’ve had on Sean for this phenomenal podcast but it’s hard and I don’t think we truly acknowledge that of how hard it can be and I think it can also be hard to think about when is going to be the right time for my organization to do this, and also be ok with if there’s never that right time because you just want to focus on the area where you’ve started this amazing thing.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
This episode, Founder and CEO of Braven Aimee Eubanks Davis talks about the challenges underrepresented youth face in the labor market, what graduates need to be successful in the workplace, and the ways Braven measures its impact and plans to scale. Aimée Eubanks Davis is the founder and CEO of Braven, a national nonprofit focused on ensuring that underrepresented college students are able to put their education to work and land strong first jobs upon graduation. Since 2013, Aimée has led a talented team of regional executive directors as well as the heads of product, technology, development, external affairs, and staff to ensure the best possible experience for Fellows. In partnership with university and employer partners, Braven is providing a systemic, sustainable, diverse talent strategy for our nation and has served more than 3,295 college students in Chicago, the Bay Area, Newark, New Jersey, New York City, and Atlanta. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: How to get underrepresented young people into the labor market. How Braven helps underrepresented youth in higher education. How organizations can focus on the impact they have. How to measure the impact of an organization. The key metrics Braven uses to indicate their impact. What graduates need to be successful in the workplace. The technology challenges organizations face as they scale. Resources: Braven NxtStep Podcast Chef Connect with Aimee Eubanks Davis: LinkedIn Connecting with the host: Sean Boyce on LinkedIn Sean Boyce by Email Quotables: 7:24 - “We’re really looking for that full quality employment which means it is worthy of the bachelor's degree that there are health and wealth benefits so they get a 401K they get access to strong benefits that there’s learning and development in their role and finally that there’s a pathway to promotion in their role as well so we really want to make sure students have that kind of an economic opportunity because if they don’t there’s a scarring effect on the backend.” 11:04 - “Just as long as you’re in higher ed you’re going to come out strong, that is not the case you actually have to get ready to come out strong, and if you don’t have parents and friends at your living room table at your dining room table or at your living room armchair giving you this advice and getting you ready then you’re actually not getting ready and people don’t know that.” 24:51 - “People believe at moments to volunteer or to make a commitment to a young people is so significant like I just can’t find the time and I get it people are busy I really do and yet one person can do a mock interview for 2 hours during the semester at one of our campuses and make a real connection with the student that actually could help the student see where they might go next or where that volunteer is like oh my gosh this young person is completely great my cousin runs this other company or is in the Government and works on this issue that their interested in and I can just make a quick LinkedIn connection and so the power of one is really real in our world” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
This episode, Co-Founder and CEO of The GreenLight Fund Margaret Hall talks about what makes a non-profit successful, how non-profits can avoid restrictive funding, and how she prepares organizations to deliver their mission effectively. Margaret Hall is the CEO and Co-Founder of The GreenLight Fund which raises and invests funds to open opportunities for children, youth, and families facing barriers to prosperity through an innovative, locally-driven approach that targets social innovations where they are needed most The GreenLight Fund currently operates in ten cities and is expanding at a rate of one community per year. Across its sites, the GreenLight Fund’s portfolio now consists of 44 high-performing nonprofits reaching more than 565,000 low-income children, youth, and families annually. Before co-founding the GreenLight Fund, Margaret was a Fellow at the Center for Effective Philanthropy, and earlier served as Associate Director of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, where she launched the public policy program. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: How to prepare organizations to deliver their mission effectively. Ways to engage people in an enterprise. How to fund organizations to help them be impactful. The different ways of measuring impact. The importance of taking an evidence-based result-orientated approach. How non-profits can avoid restrictive funding. What makes a non-profit successful. Resources: The GreenLight Fund The Center for Effective Philanthropy Lean Impact NxtStep Podcast Chef Connect with Margaret Hall: LinkedIn Email Connecting with the host: Sean Boyce on LinkedIn Sean Boyce by Email Quotables: 8:15 - “What we want for our communities is impact, for residents who are navigating poverty and have identified ways they need support navigating out of poverty and so impact for us means measurable observable change. So if the issue that’s been identified is college persistence and graduation we don’t want to know just how many people are participating in a program, we want to know how many people are actually staying in college because of the program and graduating from college because of the program, so we do that in a couple of ways.” 13:31 - “We want to be as effective as we can with where the investments going so we should be able to leverage things that we see elsewhere even outside the non-profit sector in terms of what delivering those results ultimately looks like so I love the evidence-based approach because that can really boil it down into the numbers that say where have we really been able to drive impact drive impact and as such which have been the most effective that may also be warranted for additional investment into that to drive even greater results.” 17:44 - “Even the best non-profits with great leadership, great models, well executed, evidence that they’re working, don’t necessarily get where they’re needed they don’t spread and scale at the level that we need to have the kind of impact across the country and cities across the country at the level that we need them and a big part of that is you can build capacity at the national organization to scale out but when you hit a community all the dynamics at the community level are at play, you don’t know folks there this is a very relationship-oriented enterprise, funding is based on relationships partnerships are based on trust and relationships at the local level.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
Paul Isenberg is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bringing Hope Home which helps families dealing with cancer through financial assistance and other resources. Bringing Hope Home is a recognized 501c3 organization that has helped more than 6,400 families in the mid-Atlantic region, provided over 7 million dollars, and is now expanding into other areas to help even more people. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: The ways Bringing Hope Home helps families with cancer. How Bringing Hope Home has scaled its operation. The values that go into building a good team. What the future plans are for Bringing Hope Home. How Paul uses data to win grants. How Bringing Hope Home’s fundraising works. How to track the impact your organization’s having. The importance of thanking your donors. Resources: Bringing Hope Home The American Cancer Society Entrepreneurs' Organization Philadelphia Bloomerang NxtStep Podcast Chef Connect with Paul Isenberg: LinkedIn Connecting with the host: Sean Boyce on LinkedIn Sean Boyce by Email Quotables 4:59 - “If you noticed I use the word family a lot, we don’t help patients, we help families and if you use the patient word in our offices it’s a dollar fine because they’re patients to everybody else they’re not patients to us they’re our family and we work really hard to try to remember that.” 8:07 “We raised 2.8 million and helped 1030 families and that is an amazing number to me for a lot of reasons I think number one we scaled from 10 families to 1000 plus families we scaled from raising 125 grand to raising 2.8 million but the most important thing is I think I hope I believe is that we did it the right way by having these families still feel cared for.” 22:07 - “I don’t think we do anything earth-shatteringly new, we’ve not discovered anything we just try to leverage what’s out there, our marketing is predominantly social media driven we have somebody in charge of that, our fundraising is relationship driven very event-driven very personally touched driven. Whenever we have an event at the end of the year our development team we just sit and make phone calls for a day that could be 2 400 phone calls not to mention writing letters, receipts all the personal stuff you should do I personally think it’s really important to say thank you directly to someone.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
Patience-Marime Ball is the Founder and CEO of Women of the World Endowment and is deeply experienced in capital markets, including debt and equity financing, large-scale infrastructure investments, distressed assets (restructuring and settlements), deal structuring and negotiation, interpretation of laws and regulation, as well as investment in early-stage companies. Ruth Shaber is the President and Founder of Tara Health Foundation where she promotes health, well-being, and opportunity for women and girls by strategically investing financial and human capital in innovative, evidence-informed programs. Ruth partners with nonprofit organizations and other like-minded foundations, choosing financial investments that have a social impact and advance their mission. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: The benefits of having a gender-diverse team. Investing through a gendered lens. Why women leaders make a difference to financial performance. How women leaders act differently than men. Why gender-diverse teams outperform gender-dominant teams. The rise of impact investing and how it’s scaling. How gender drives performance. The fintech component in leveraging impact investing. Resources: Women of the World Endowment Tara Health Foundation The XX edge unlocking higher returns and lower risk Diversity Matters: The Role of Gender Diversity on US Active Equity Fund Performance Telltale signs of higher returns? Gender mix could be one Ethos ESG NxtStep Podcast Chef Connect with Patience-Marime Ball: LinkedIn Connect with Ruth Shaber: LinkedIn Connecting with the host: Sean Boyce on LinkedIn Sean Boyce by Email Quotables 3:56 - “Gender diverse teams tend to bring about more resilient companies, companies with better risk infrastructure and over time companies that actually outperform was emerging, we notice that companies with gender diverse teams coming out of that crisis were able to emerge a little quicker relative to their peers, every company suffered but those with gender diverse teams on their boards and in the C-suite navigated that crisis a little bit better.” 8:14 - “When we decided that a book needed to be written about the value of gender diversity and investing we weren't sure what we were going to find we knew from our personal experience both Patience and I have had quite a bit of experience as investors and using what is called a gender lens in making our investment decisions and we knew that in certain markets and in certain types of capital there was definitely an advantage but we weren’t sure what we were going to find when we started our research.” 10:13 - “Women tend to be more collaborative, they tend to have a lower ego, they also tend to analysis risk differently and we pulled some of our research from the gambling data and we know that men are much more likely to take risks to be pressured by social influences to gamble to be more likely to be problem gamblers and if you think about the types of decisions that boards often make or particularly start-up companies there's a lot of risk involved and women are not adverse to risk they certainly take risks but they analysis risks differently and they also tend to be more interested in the long term outcomes of the decision they make and less influenced by short term gains.” 18:36 - “Who allocates capital determines its purpose and that money can do more a single dollar can do more than one thing at any given time. It can provide you incredible returns, Ruth just gave the example of the 47 base points that you can pick up just from picking the right team to manage assets but it can also do the right thing by the people on the planet what we invest in matters and what we invest in can give us profits but can also address some of the challenges that the world faces today whether its climate change, healthcare, these pandemics coming our way.” 23:01 - “All investments have an impact, it’s not just some niche over here it’s every single investment decision you make, every single consumer decision you make, every time you decide what company you’re going to work for those are all impact investing decisions.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
Vicki Burkhart has over 20 years in working for nonprofits rising to VP/Director level and gaining extensive experience with major gift cultivation, board development, strategic planning, organizational development, and volunteer management. Vicki founded the More Than Giving Co. with the goal of delivering innovative solutions to help more volunteer-driven nonprofits reach sustainability. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: The unique challenges nonprofits have. Why it’s hard for non-profits to get the expertise they need. How nonprofits can solve common hiring challenges. The benefits of running a nonprofit with a fractional, fully-remote team. Expanding and building fundraising programs. The difference between fractional staff and consultants. Resources: The More Than Giving Co. Kids' Chance of America How to Staff Your Nonprofit for Success Leveraging Fractional Staff To Confront Common Nonprofit Challenges NxtStep Podcast Chef Connect with Vicki Burkhart: LinkedIn Connecting with the host: Sean Boyce on LinkedIn Sean Boyce by Email Quotables 14:18 - “A good place to start is to begin to look at team as the expertise that you need to bring into your nonprofit to make it work, to make it successful, to help it reach it goals versus the individuals that you need to have on board and I think it’s certainly a mind shift for the nonprofit organizations, I believe for-profit businesses have started down that road a lot more.” 17:01 - “When you hire a team and you’re giving out annual contracts you’re sort of set with those people when you hire a fractional team as our model dictates you can sort of sub in and bring in and out the people that you need to accomplish that.” 18:05 - “You can hire one position for 80 thousand dollars plus benefits of you can take 80 thousand dollars and build teams with that 80 thousand you may have four or five or six people that are coming in with different skill sets and still be under what they may cost in a single individual who you’re anticipating is going to do everything that this team of people is going to be, it’s not a model for everyone but I think it’s worth thinking about.” 25:48 - “Look at a team approach and a model to what you’re doing and how you’re staffing your organization that’s going to work for you as an Executive Director, going to work for the organization and going to make the most sense going forward. We’re seeing so much transition in the workplace right now the competition for positions is growing, I think there is a lot of benefit to looking at fractional staffing knowing that these folks are coming out of other clients and other worlds where they bring real-time expertise to your organization, it gets really difficult to get stale when you’ve got people coming in and out of the group.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
Julie Sowash is the Executive Director for Disability Solutions, where she works with federal contractors to assess outreach, hiring, and retention systems and policies in a company that impacts the organization’s ability to successfully engage and retain qualified job seekers with disabilities. The Disability Solutions team, including Julie, works with corporate leaders to build and implement, national to local hiring initiatives. Julie’s current focus is working with the leadership of Pepsi Beverages Company in implementing the Pepsi ACT (Achieving Change Together), a national engagement to increase recruitment, hiring, and retention in the company’s workforce. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: The importance momentum has in scaling impact. How to make jobs more accessible for people with disabilities. Misconceptions people have about hiring people with disabilities. How to quantify the impact you’re having. Managing non-profits in a fiscally responsible way. How to leverage technology. The power of automation. Resources: Disability Solutions Crazy and the King Podcast HubSpot NxtStep Podcast Chef Connect with Julie Sowash: LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Connecting with the host: Sean Boyce on LinkedIn Sean Boyce by Email Quotables 9:19 - “About 31 million Americans are people with disabilities who are working age and about 20 percent of us also identify as professionals and as we see mental health crisis grow constantly in our country, especially in the post-pandemic world more people are recognizing that mental health and mental illness is a real part of the disability community.” 19:30 - “We also have a lot of automation around our invoicing systems, all of the pieces, anything that I can automate has really been automated including a lot of our sales process, we’ve been working on growing that portion of our business over the last couple of years and so getting a sales process in place through the use of technology has been a critical win and it’s one that’s been dear god so hard.” 20:18 - “Recognize when you need to be scrappy and recognize when you need an expert and so the big thing for us is we knew we needed to put technology into place and I wasted probably 2 years trying to get that technology and process in place without the expertise to save a few bucks and what I did was lose a lot of time and a lot of opportunity and eventually I had to stop and say you know what I’m not doing anyone a service by thinking that I have the expertise to do this I need to spend a little bit more money now to hire that sales leader that marketing automation person so that I can get a system that’s up and running in a functional way.” 21:15 - “Build what you can and recognize what you can’t build because there are pieces of our business structure that I don’t have the expertise to build and I need experts to do that and being willing to say that as a non-profit leader seems to be challenging when we need to ask for that help.” 23:25 - “Larger investments into technology earlier really pays off much more so over time so figuring out when to make those investments that’s a key observation that can really unlock leverage and scale at a level of efficiency that previously wouldn’t have been available to you.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
Markita Morris-Louis is an experienced Leader with a demonstrated history of working in various fields including the financial services industry, housing and community development, and the performing arts. Markita is now the CEO of Compass Working Capital, a nonprofit financial services organization whose mission is to support families with low incomes to build assets as a pathway out of poverty and toward financial stability. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: How to tackle poverty by providing access to assets. What an asset-building model looks like. How to create a culture focused on high standards. Different ways you can scale a business. How to fund a company's growth. How you can leverage technology to amplify your impact. Ways to expand bottleneck problems. Resources: Compass Working Capital Lean Impact NxtStep Podcast Chef Connect with Markita Morris-Louis: LinkedIn Connecting with the host: Sean Boyce on LinkedIn Sean Boyce by Email Quotables: 5:01 - “We all need assets in order to invest in our future and move our family forward but unfortunately many families with low incomes are living in asset poverty which basically means that they don’t have enough assets to cover even 3 months of basic living expenses without income so if you experience a disruption in income, you lose your job or your hours are reduced most families that kind of situation turns into a full-blown financial calamity.” 5:36 - “40 percent of Americans don’t have access to 400 dollars in case of an emergency and we’re definitely thinking about how can we change our society, change our economy, so that family with low incomes can have access to these assets that will allow them to move out of poverty, think long term, dream and set aspirations for their family.” 21:15 - “We were planning a launch of a remote service pilot and then the universe gave us the ideal laboratory to test all our remote service theories because we were trying to understand can we do our financial coaching work and service delivery work to family in a completely remote environment.” 25:14 - “One of the team members once they learned the work they were going to be doing at Compass the way they described it is like I can’t not do this work, I have to do this, this is so important and such a good fit for me and everything about what I want to do and I hear that stuff all the time from your team and I know that is a huge component of your leadership, the team that you built, all the amazing people at compass the way that you think about solving these problems on such a scale to drive amazing impact.” 33:15 - “There are traps to fall into which you describe so well, technology doesn’t make up for a broken or missing process, you have to have a process first and foremost that’s fundamental to everything that you’re doing, technology can help you do it faster, more cost-effectively, more efficiently to reach greater scale if you leverage it the right way you don’t need to go down those rabbit holes you don’t need to spend a lot, you can do a lot with a little so if you feel yourself spinning your wheels, getting stuck, budget overruns, it’s taking too long stuff like that if you’re experiencing any of that kind of stuff you’re doing it wrong.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
Brian Adamczyk has been an active performer throughout the east coast since 2005, doubling on all saxophones, clarinets, flute/piccolo, oboe, English horn, and ethnic woodwind flutes, and has performed with John Legend, The Who, Idina Menzel, Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, Lindsey Stirling, and many more. After initially being appointed as Director of Programming and Productions at the Brooklyn Music School in NYC, Brian became the Interim Executive Director, where he focuses on advancing the BMS mission of providing quality, accessible performing arts programming to all those who wish to receive it, regardless of economic or financial circumstances. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Scaling Impact: The mission of the Brooklyn Music School. How Brooklyn Music School was founded. Increasing the accessibility of performing arts programs. How to leverage music to drive impact. The difference between direct and indirect impact. The transformations students make going through Brooklyn Music School programs. How Brooklyn Music School extends access to people who have limited opportunities. Future plans for the Brooklyn Music School. Resources: Brooklyn Music School NxtStep Podcast Chef Connect with Brian Adamczyk: LinkedIn Connecting with the host: Sean Boyce on LinkedIn Sean Boyce by Email Quotables 4:09 - “It’s a very old organization, it’s 113 years old so that was something else that was very interesting to me, the history not only in the walls, the character, and the soul, the historic block that it sits on in Fort Green which is a section of Brooklyn just thinking about all the people that passed through the building and just having that history so the story goes that European immigrants came to Brooklyn specifically and I think it began as a small piano studio around 1909 we believe is the traditional founding year.” 8:08 - “Our programming, this is very important, ranges all the way from early childhood through senior citizens so we’re literally trying to hit every angle of one's life from start to finish and everything in between so we are now doing some work in foster care agency so as far as creating impact one big way is to generate what we believe is quality versatile programming that happens in our building and then we bring that programming through our outreach sector to many different types of partnering organization schools etc. so that creates a much larger impact.” 13:00 - “At BMS we’re not a conservatory mindset, we’re not trying to produce every single student to become the next Virtuoso or professional artist but what we want to do is we want to just create an introduction to all of these different performing arts and then, of course, we have very advanced students, we have talented students that do go into music or dance or some of these other disciplines and that’s great too.” 18:05 - “Many times not just once, I’ve got on the bus with a bunch of fifth graders they’re trying to figure out who this guy is, who coordinated the program because really they had a relationship with the teaching artist and they would just so openly say every once in a while yea Mr. Adamczyk I’m so excited to be going to this fancy club where the tall buildings are and what they were referring to is coming from the North-South areas of Phillidelphia maybe West they were talking about Center City where the highrises are and that’s where this club was and at least four or five different kids on five different occasion said I’m really excited too because I’ve never left my block before.” If you'd like to learn how to scale impact at your nonprofit organization by more than double in less than half the time, I'd encourage you to sign up for my free 5 day email course at https://nxtstep.io/impact/.
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