Next in Nonprofits

Ample Earth is a cloud-based video production service focused on social good organizations, including charities, social enterprise and cause-marketing organizations. They use a distributed team of professionals to create video messaging, and are transparent about their models and pricing in ways that invite nonprofits to learn more about using video to enhance their messaging. Harry McAlister, co-founder of Ample Earth, joins host Steve Boland to discuss how Ample Earth works, the power of video messaging, the assumption that there is one perfect video length, and more. https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Jenna Christensen is a digital strategist with ArcStone, “a full-service digital agency. Marketing, design, and technology professionals sharing a common vision of service, craftsmanship, evolution and happiness since 1997.” ArcStone has published some guidance on “Should you buy or build a custom WordPress theme?” The article provides some key questions, some ideas on potential costs, and opens a bigger conversation about using WordPress as a web publishing platform for nonprofits. Jenna joins host Steve Boland to talk about the issues many charities run into using WordPress as their web framework, using plug-ins in that environment, measuring success and planning for longevity in a dynamic world. ArcStone also has blogs available about the updating privacy policies for 2018, using Divi in Wordpress, and more. https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Mike Stephenson is the Marketing Director of the ALS Association of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. The chapter “operates under a shared mission. The MN/ND/SD Chapter focuses primarily on providing services to assist people with ALS and their families live with ALS. The National ALS Association focuses primarily on research and advocacy. “ The ALS Association made history with the Ice Bucket Challenge, which changed many charties’ perspective on peer-based fundraising. Mike joins the podcast to talk about the impact of the Challenge, and how ALS Association and other charities are moving forward with peer-supported fundraising initiatives. Mike talks about the likelihood of catching lightning in a bottle a second time (spoiler – not great odds) and how to move forward with what individual donors are teaching us when we listen. Mike ends the conversation with the advice about working with individuals: “Stop pushing and start equipping.” https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Russell James is a professor at Texas Tech University, where he teaches charitable planning and behavioral economics. Professor James produced a short YouTube presentation explaining the impact of the changes in the tax code, and how in some case the value of the charitable deduction has increased for filers, and in many cases the changes have no impact at all for the many filers who did not itemize under the old code or the new one. Read more at Planned Giving Design Center. Russell joins host Steve Boland to first dispel the idea that the changes in tax code means the end of charitable giving, but to go on to talk about the how other changes – such as the loss of deduction for state taxes such as property taxes and state capital gains taxes – can impact the value of charitable giving of such things as appreciated stock. https://NextinNonprofits.com/podcast

Al Onkka is a Principal at Aurora Consulting. Their mission is to “boost the ability of nonprofits to fulfill their missions through a carefully crafted mix of thoughtful evaluation, strategic planning and organizational leadership development.” Al recently shared a blog post about Bennett’s Hierarchy, “a type of logic model tailored for programs that provide information or education.” The tool brings a unique focus on KASA – Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Aspirations – as measurable components of change in evaluating the work for charities in community. Al talks about evaluation in the charitable sector, methods nonprofits use to change based on evaluation outcomes, and more.  https://NextInNonprofits.com/podcast

Henry Timms is the CEO of the 92nd Street Y, which “promotes individual and family development and participation in civic life within the context of Jewish values and American pluralism.” Henry founded #GivingTuesday in 2012, a growing global day of giving, and has continued to evolve the ideas and values of #GivingTuesday through a new book co-authored with Jeremy Heimans, New Power. The book – and much of the values behind #GivingTuesday – emphasize a new paradigm of decentralized, shared power, and how movement building can supplant old ideas of centralized control. Henry talks about the intentional “open sourcing” of #GivingTuesday, how the New Power values add to donor/supporter agency – changing a perhaps more passive role to a more active one. Charities and movements which show a willingness to evolve business models based on a shared (and therefore improved) power dynamic have new opportunities with new tools. Take the New Power Quiz and share your thoughts in your favorite New Power space (Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere else). https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Kate Hayes is director of Direct Impact, a board leadership program transforming rising stars of the private sector into highly-effective board leaders of the world’s most innovative social enterprises. Direct Impact is a program of Echoing Green. Kate joins host Steve Boland to talk about the process of creating diverse and inclusive boards for nonprofits organizations and other social good movements. Read her article on this topic at the Stanford Social Innovation Review and share the conversation! More info at https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Lori L. Jacobwith is a nationally-recognized master storyteller and fundraising culture change expert who was named one of America’s Top 25 Fundraising Experts. She is the founder of Ignited Fundraising. Lori joins host Steve Boland to talk about the role of Boards of Directors in fundraising work for charities, and specifically the challenges and opportunities of board development committees. Lori shares resources available on her website to help think about how creating a fundraising plan and budgeting are critical for any successful board role, and how charities can leverage the strengths of board members to succeed. More information is available at https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

The 2018 Digital Outlook Report is a trends and strategy research report, which includes a “walk you through three areas that may be uncharted terrain for your organization: mobile optimization, tracking web conversion, and email deliverability.“  Ryann Miller of Care2 and Michael Johnston of hjc are part of the team which created the report, and join host Steve Boland to discuss the findings. The conversation includes email delivery rates, improving on email with list segmentation, mobile-first strategies in site creation, measuring “conversion” rates once a visitor comes to a charity web site, and much more! More information at https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Jason Lewis is the Managing Partner at BetterSchools, and author of the book The War for Fundraising Talent. The book “is an honest yet hopeful critique of professional fundraising, intended especially for small shops that find it difficult to consistently achieve their fundraising goals.” Jason talks with host Steve Boland about the changes and challenges in nonprofit fundraising, including a shift in focus from initial gift to more meaningful donations, how staff supports these growth gifts, relinquishing control in some circumstances, and why staff turnover in development has been such a challenge – especially in smaller charities. More information at https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Cause Way “is a boutique consultancy providing advisory services to business, non-profit and institutional clients with an emphasis on corporate social responsibility, nonprofit capacity building, community revitalization, and social innovation.” Angela Titus is the Founder & Chief Strategist for Cause Way. She joins host Steve Boland for a focused conversation on what makes a 21st Century nonprofit. New organizations starting today approach problems differently from organizations which had conceptions of how to do mission work with fewer tools and different expectations than are available today. Talent management v. human resources, engaging people on long-term outcomes v. outputs, collaborative engagement across charities and more are part of the conversation. https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast

Appolition is a service that “Automatically give(s) your spare change from everyday purchases to help prevent the detrimental impact (of millions of people incarcerated because they cannot afford bail).” Learn more about the issue of mass incarceration, discriminatory practices in bail, and more at National Bail Out. Tiffany Mikell and Dr. Kortney Ziegler are the co-founders of Appolition, and join host Steve Boland to talk about the creation of the platform, building on existing “spare change” ideas and technologies, how collective engagement can change people’s responses to issues like criminal justice reform and the problems with money bail, and more. Listen now by clicking the player above, download the file for later https://nexttinonprofits.com/podcast

Jon Loomer is the founder of JonLoomer.com, specializing in Facebook ads, marketing and digital reach. Jon provides information, training and consulting services to help organizations improve their Facebook marketing. Jon wrote a post in January 2018 about changes to the Facebook news feed, and how those changes may impact Facebook Pages. Jon’s fun, honest way of imploring all Pages to not “screw this up” by trying to game a system is the focus of this conversation. Honest engagement is important, and understanding the reasons Facebook is making changes can help charities do a better job of using Facebook along with other tools and outreach opportunities. https://nextinnonprofits.com/podcast