Next in Nonprofits

Salesforce is a customer relationship management platform which offers donated licenses to nonprofits under Salesforce.org. Salesforce holds an annual conference on their platform each year called Dreamforce, and this year emphasized the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a part of that conference. Naomi Morenzoni is Vice President of Philanthropy Strategy at Salesforce. Sunya Norman is Director, Sustainability at Salesforce. They join host Steve Boland to talk about the SDGs in relation to Salesforce, how charities can see themselves contributing to that picture, and how to learn more from tools such as as the Trailmix (online training) from Salesforce on the SDGs. https://NextInNonprofits.com/podcast

William Browning is Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer of United Way Worldwide, which “improves lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities around the world to advance the common good.” Stephanie Slingerland is Director of Philanthropy/Social Impact for Kellogg Company. William and Stephanie joined host Steve Boland live at the Dreamforce Conference 2019 to talk about Philanthropy Cloud, an integrated tool for companies using the Salesforce platform to engage employees in giving back in communities. That giving can be financial, or volunteer time, or combinations of those things, but also can involve fellow employees, matching gifts, and more. The conversation discusses United Way as a key philanthropic partner, emerging tools such as mobile apps and skill-based volunteering, and the evolution of the platform and uses in companies such as Kellogg. https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Judith Escribano is the Head of Communications for Islamic Relief UK, a partner organization of Islamic Relief World Wide. Islamic Relief UK’s mission is to “inspire and enable people to respond rapidly to disasters and fight poverty through our Islamic values, expertise and global reach.” They’ve just released a new communications effort to engage audiences in their work via a mobile game, Virtue Reality. The game uses real-world projects as the basis for a game to engage users in learn, dispelling negative stereotypes, and helping audiences engage and have fun. Judith joins host Steve Boland to talk about the strategy to create a game as a part of their work, decisions about representation and images in the game, measurements for this iteration of the game, and next steps in promoting this game as part of promoting the mission work of Islamic Relief. Special thanks to AlphaGeekRadio for hosting our show! https://NextInNonprofits.com/podcast

Amanda LaGrange is the chief executive officer of Tech Dump, “providing seamless electronics recycling services for businesses and organizations of all sizes (and) a social enterprise that provides jobs and training for persons facing barriers to employment.” Tech Dump has operated largely on earned revenue, but has been broken into it’s first “event” fundraising opportunity with the “Thanks for Not Coming” gala. The zero-waste event asked supporters to buy a ticket to not show up in person. The event was emceed by Tane Danger of the Theater of Public Policy in space donated by the Midpointe Event Center, but guests were asked to stay home and enjoy the short program remotely. Host Steve Boland talks with Amanda about the genesis of this idea, the challenge of event-based fundraising, mission alignment in fundraising, and much more. More info at https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Justin Steele is the Head of Americas for Google.org, which “bring(s) the best of Google to innovative nonprofits that are committed to creating a world that works for everyone.” The philanthropic work of Google brings cash grants to charities, but also commits staff time and partnerships to create solutions to issues in communities world-wide. Justin joins host Steve Boland to talk about how Google.org makes decisions in funding, launching open challenges, the unique challenges in areas such as data management, and learning where Google teams can offer specific insight, and much more. More info at https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Kari Aanestad is the Director of Advancement for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) and Co-Director of Grant Advisor. Jon Pratt is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. Kari recently published a blog post, Why Donor Advised Funds Aren’t Really for Grantwriters (But Can Be…) at GrantAdvisor.org. An increasing amount of philanthropic giving is moving through Donor Advised Funds (DAFs), and this raises more questions about the nature of DAFs, transparency in giving, and supporting charitable work in communities. Kari and Jon join host Steve Boland to talk about a special working group around DAFs convened at MCN, how nonprofits can use tools like NOZAsearch and DAFdirect links to improve their success with DAF donors, and efforts around legislation on how DAFs may change in the future. More information at https://NextInNonprofits.com/podcast

Michael Spinosa is the Chief Executive Officer of Unleashed Technologies, which “combine(s) technology, creativity, and strategy to transform your audience from visitors into evangelists.” Michael joins host Steve Boland to talk about Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), which are web-based tools that have all the benefits of installed apps on mobile phones, but without the downside of multiple development for different operating systems and app stores. Michael describes how a PWA can add an icon to a home-screen just like a traditional app, function offline like a traditional app, speed up processing, and save money over managing outreach to new clients and donors in installed app development. Unleashed Technologies also has a recorded webinar on this topic.  https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Kris Kewitsch is the executive director of the Charities Review Council, and was one of the very first guests on the Next in Nonprofits podcast back in 2015! The Charities Review Council’s mission is “building donor and nonprofit relationships for strong, vibrant and just communities.” Kris joins host Steve Boland to talk about the recently announced merger creating Candid, a new organization from the Foundation Center and Guidestar. There is no projected immediate change in operations of the two large-scale nonprofit support organizations, but the merger will bring changes over time to how these types of services are provided to the nonprofit sector. Kris talks about how the work of the Charities Review Council impacts her thinking about these different organizations, how charities may consider the impact of this news, and whether we may get a range of yet-unknown services from these two large data sets and histories. https://nextinnonprofits.org/podcast

Melissa Johnson is a Payment Specialist with Merchant Maverick, “a comparison site that reviews and rates credit card processors, POS (Point of Sale) software companies, shopping carts, mobile payments services, and small business software.” Melissa has written extensively about mobile payment processing, including such topics as the Square Cash app, Venmo for Business, and much more. Melissa joins host Steve Boland to discuss the evolving state of accepting donations and payments, from traditional online credit card processing to contactless payments (such as Apple Pay or Google Pay with a phone), to app-based donations or payments. Melissa shares her insight on costs of processing (hint: there is going to be some), integrating data systems to processing, and new players trying to emerge in a crowded space. More info at https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Kari Aanestad is the Director of Advancement at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, whose mission is to “ inform, promote, connect and strengthen individual nonprofits and the nonprofit sector.” Part of Kari’s work is to understand trends in giving and how organizations communicate to supporters of their work. Changes in tax law last year means fewer people will itemize deductions, so while gifts to charities are still deductible, more people will not see a financial benefit from giving. Learn morea about those changes and tactics for nonprofits in our episode with Russell James. Kari joins host Steve Boland to discuss a recent report in the Star Tribune about early results from year-end giving campaigns in 2018, how these numbers don’t show a dramatic or pervasive decline in giving, what motivates donors to give beyond a tax deduction, and how to stay informed of trends in this area. M+R Labs has shared some thoughts, and some combined historic data is available from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. More information at NextInNonprofits.com/podcast.

Rebecca Masisak is the CEO of TechSoup, whose mission is to “ build a dynamic bridge that enables civil society organizations and changemakers around the world to gain effective access to the resources they need to design and implement technology solutions for a more equitable planet.” TechSoup has long facilitated donations and discounts on software for nonprofits and libraries, but in recent years has added hardware and services to its offerings. Rebecca joins host Steve Boland to talk about a growth plan for TechSoup to meet more of the needs in a broader range of areas by growing their access to capital. A recently partnership with the Nonprofit Finance Fund was one part of the path, and TechSoup is also asking for investment using a Direct Public Offering, which provides both individuals and organizations an opportunity to be part of the growth in their mission work. Rebecca talks about the growth and changes in their software donations and discount program, adding new programs over time, and engaging a larger conversation about using capital for mission growth. https://NextInNonprofits.com/podcast

Una O. Osili, Ph.D., is an economist with significant experience in research and policy in the fields of household behavior and economic policy. She is also associate dean for research and international programs at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Dr. Osili was featured in a Time magazine article about trends for philanthropy in 2019, where she explained the idea of adding the idea of “testimony” to the traditional thinking of giving “time, treasure and talent” as ways to support nonprofit missions. Dr. Osili talks with host Steve Boland about listening and engaging to leverage social capital of supporters, transparency in nonprofit work and outcomes supporting a mission more than an organization, and much more. https://NextInNonprofits.com/podcast

Corrie Zoll is in the Executive Director of In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater (HOTB), whose mission is “to bring people together for the common good through the power of puppet and mask performance.” HOTB produces a range of programming, including an annual May Day parade and celebration with tens of thousands of attendees. The May Day events and other costs over time have led to some organizational challenges for HOTB, and the staff and board decided to have a public conversation about those difficult issues. Corrie talks with host Steve Boland about how HOTB decided to make a public announcement, how to provide layers and depths of information to different audiences, predicting the results of transparency in difficulty, and more. https://NextInNonprofits.com/podcast

Katie McClosky is a product manager at Sage Intacct, a cloud-based financial management software package for nonprofits (and others) to understand and communicate their financial position. A recent update to accounting standards for nonprofit organizations (ASC Topic 958) changes how nonprofit organizations recognize revenue, talk about restrictions of gifts, and more. Katie talks about updates to Sage Intacct to help clients understand the changes, and prepare them to engage their staff and supporters in telling the full story of their sustainability, liquidity and more. Sage has additional resources available, including upcoming and recorded webinars from Sage to learn more.  https://NextInNonprofits.com/podcast

Dan Schoenfeld is Vice President of Strategic Development at Fluxx Labs, “a network that powers giving in the world by connecting givers and changemakers to build capacity, increase visibility and improve collaboration.” Fluxx is a Pledge 1% company, and has chosen to give back with the creation of Grantseeker, “a free online grants management tool that helps you create and manage tasks, track all of your grant applications and keep your whole team on the same page.” Dan joins host Steve Boland to talk about the origins of Grantseeker, how the tool leverages the development of Grantmaker, key functions like task assignments and views, and much more. Dan is also hosting a December 18 webinar for those wishing to learn more about measuring and telling your story.