Nonprofit Jenni Show

Nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic, we still have no idea when it will be safe to host events in person again. Some nonprofits were able to pivot quickly to virtual events, but many nonprofit leaders still feel unsure how to get started in planning their organization’s first virtual event. This week, Jenni interviews Melissa Norden, the Executive Director of Bottomless Closet in New York, about how she planned and hosted her nonprofit’s first ever virtual event. We also play another round of nonprofit trivia! This time, our trivia questions are all about how to make your fundraising events earn more revenue. Our podcast guests this week are: --Melissa Norden from Bottomless Closet (bottomlesscloset.org) --Michelle Gustafson from Caritas of Austin This episode is sponsored by the podcast “Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership”, hosted by Dr. Patton McDowell. Find “Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership” wherever you listen to podcasts, or visit pattonmcdowell.com/podcasts to listen. Nonprofit Jenni provides consult

Can you believe we’re approaching the end of 2020 already? It’s been a heck of a year! As nonprofit leaders search for creative new ways to generate sustainable revenue for their organizations, Jenni wants to provide some food for thought. In this episode, we’ll play a quick trivia game about the most successful types of creative revenue ideas! We’ll also revisit an interview from the archives with Brad Kimbler, CEO of the social enterprise Staff 360, which is owned by the nonprofit Safe Haven Family Shelter.   Jenni also shares an update about a free way to spread the word about your nonprofit or social enterprise’s products and services during the holiday shopping season. We’re compiling a “Gifts That Give Back” ecatalog for people who want to support good causes this winter, and you can apply to have your items included for free! Visit tinyurl.com/nonprofitjennigifts to submit your items for consideration.   Our podcast guests this week are: --Michelle Gustafson from Caritas of Austin --Brad Kimbler from S

To help kickstart year-end giving, many communities host Local Giving Days, also known as Days of Giving. For example, upcoming giving days include Colorado Gives Day in Colorado, GAgives Day in Georgia, and Give to the Max Day in Minnesota. Even if you don’t have a local giving day coming up in your community, Giving Tuesday is coming up on December 1 as the International Day of Giving, celebrated all over the world to support nonprofits. This week on the Nonprofit Jenni Show, we’ll share an example of a local giving day fundraising campaign, and talk about four reasons nonprofit leaders shy away from Giving Tuesday. Jenni also shares an update about a free way to spread the word about your nonprofit or social enterprise’s products and services during the holiday shopping season. We’re compiling a “Gifts That Give Back” ecatalog for people who want to support good causes this winter, and you can apply to have your items included for free! Visit tinyurl.com/nonprofitjennigifts to submit your items for conside

If you haven’t listened to the Nonprofit Jenni Show episode about “Nonprofit PR: How to Work With Media to Attract New Supporters”, we recommend you listen to that episode first! This week, we’re following up on some extra FAQs about nonprofit Public Relations (PR). We also chat with two nonprofit leaders who are responsible for their nonprofit organizations’ PR initiatives. Nonprofit Jenni Show listeners can get an exclusive discount on Jenni’s “Build a PR Plan” Mini-Course! Go online to bit.ly/buildaprplan and use discount code “PR10” to get 10% off the mini-course. The mini-course includes:--A manageable half-hour webinar about how to build your PR plan--A worksheet to start building your PR plan as you watch the webinar--BONUS GIFT: A free copy of Jenni’s PR Contact Log Template to help you learn to research and track communications with media partners Our podcast guests this week are:--Meredith Schweitzer from the School for Advanced Research--Staci Davis and Alli Beth from Waves Nonprofit Jenni provides

In small and medium nonprofits, marketing duties often fall to the Executive Director or Development Director who don’t know the ins and outs of tactics like Public Relations (PR). Recently, Jenni has received a lot of questions about press releases, social media influencers, and other PR topics. This week, we want to demystify nonprofit PR and help your organization build a stronger PR plan. Nonprofit Jenni Show listeners can get an exclusive discount on Jenni’s “Build a PR Plan” Mini-Course! Go online to bit.ly/buildaprplan and use discount code “PR10” to get 10% off the mini-course. The mini-course includes:--A manageable half-hour webinar about how to build your PR plan--A worksheet to start building your PR plan as you watch the webinar--BONUS GIFT: A free copy of Jenni’s PR Contact Log Template to help you learn to research and track communications with media partners Our podcast guests this week are:--Joanna Mazo from Park Center--Samantha Taitano from Mañe'lu Nonprofit Jenni provides consulting servic

Jenni receives a LOT of questions about social media best practices for nonprofits, so we wanted to offer a few easy tips to improve your nonprofit’s social media presence, engagement, and overall success in earning support for your mission. In this episode of the Nonprofit Jenni Show, we cover seven social media tips that are super easy to implement right away! Jenni also shares a quick update about the new podcast release schedule, and some ways you can help support the podcast. If you feel like your nonprofit’s social media, website, or other marketing materials could use a quick audit, schedule a free half-hour call with Jenni at nonprofitjenni.com/contact You can also get Jenni’s “Nonprofit Social Media Cheat Sheet” for FREE when you sign up for email updates at nonprofitjenni.com! Finally, if you feel like you need help with your overall web presence (not just your social media), get Jenni’s “Website Marketing Mini-Course” at nonprofitjenni.com/coursesandmore for just $49. Nonprofit Jenni provides cons

This week, listen to the second part of Jenni’s interview with thought leader and advocate Jon Royal about how to bring up the topic of equity and race with your nonprofit’s leadership team. (Check out last week’s episode to hear Part 1!) We continue talking about how to be sensitive and respectful while still approaching the conversation with bold and inspirational courage. In this podcast episode, Jon and Jenni mention several resources, including: --Jenni’s Racial Justice Awareness Kit, available at nonprofitjenni.com/coursesandmore Our guest this week is: --Jon Royal (jonroyal@gmail.com) Nonprofit Jenni provides consulting services and coaching calls for nonprofits and social impact organizations seeking guidance in the areas of Marketing, Fundraising, Growth, and Starting Up. Visit nonprofitjenni.com to learn more. All information in the Nonprofit Jenni Show is very general in nature, and may not apply to your specific nonprofit organization. Please direct clarifying questions to Nonprofit Jenni by visit

Ongoing events like the spread of COVID-19 and #BlackLivesMatter have recently made inequities in our healthcare, educational, correctional, and other systems more obvious on a national level. Fortunately, we’ve seen many nonprofits revisit their Diversity / Equity / Inclusion (DEI) policies (or build completely new ones from scratch) as a result. This week, Jenni speaks again with thought leader and advocate Jon Royal to discuss an example of how your nonprofit can promote equity and racial justice in your community. This episode is Part 1 of 2 -- look for Part 2 next week! In this podcast episode, Jon and Jenni mention several resources, including: --Jenni’s Racial Justice Awareness Kit, available at nonprofitjenni.com/coursesandmore --Chenjerai Kumanyika, who you can find on Twitter at twitter.com/catchatweetdown --The podcast “Seeing White”, which you can find at sceneonradio.org/seeing-white --The book “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America” by Richard Rothstein

Many nonprofit leaders are (fortunately) revisiting or creating new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategies as a result of systemic inequities that have been revealed by COVID-19 and #BlackLivesMatter. A huge part of an effective DEI strategy is developing an inclusive, supportive culture among your staff and board. This week on the Nonprofit Jenni Show, nonprofit executive Brenda Jimenez joins us (for the second time!) to offer her advice for hiring and retaining awesome team members. We also talk about how to attract the right type of candidates so you don’t make a bad hire, and how to promote diversity within your team. We mentioned several resources in this episode, including:--The June 12 podcast episode featuring Brenda Jimenez called “Tips for Pro Bono Relationships”, which you can find on your podcast platform under the Nonprofit Jenni Show--The Nonprofit Leadership Alliance’s Cost-of-Turnover Calculator, which you can use for free at nonprofitleadershipalliance.org/calculator --Mentor New

Starting a nonprofit internship program is no joke. I’ve heard people flippantly tell nonprofit leaders, “Just get an intern for that!” in response to legitimate complaints about a lack of time to accomplish all the tasks on their plate… But hiring an intern is even more difficult than hiring a new employee because interns are often still figuring what type of career they want to pursue, and usually have little to no prior experience. This week on the Nonprofit Jenni Show, the founder and director of Learning Life shares his experiences developing an internship program, including the way he manages his Summer 2020 interns remotely in the wake of COVID-19. We also talk about how to make internships fair for both parties, especially if you want to open up your internship to candidates who don’t have the luxury of being able to afford to take a full-time unpaid position. Our guest this week is:--Paul Lachelier from Learning Life Nonprofit Jenni provides consulting services and coaching calls for nonprofits and s

Back when it first became clear that in-person nonprofit events wouldn’t be possible during the COVID-19 pandemic, I recorded a coaching call I had with two nonprofit leaders (Emily and Sydni) to advise them on how to plan their very first virtual fundraising event. They gave me permission to release the recording on my podcast, so I published the call on May 1 in an episode called “Advice for Your First Virtual Fundraising Event”. After the call, Sydni downloaded my Silent and Online Auction Guide (available at nonprofitjenni.com/coursesandmore) to decide whether they could pull off an online auction at the event. This week, Sydni is back on the podcast to share her tips for YOUR next charitable online auction! She gives some advice that comes straight from my Silent and Online Auction Guide, plus she shares the behind-the-scenes story of how her nonprofit planned a successful auction that ended up bringing in an additional $8,700 of event revenue. Download Nonprofit Jenni’s Silent and Online Auction Guide

There are a million interconnected issues which have created our monstrous incarceration systems, and incarceration is just one more area where racial inequities become so glaringly obvious. This week on the Nonprofit Jenni Show, two Ameelio representatives come on the show to have a conversation with me about some of the specific failures of our incarceration systems. We discuss the solutions Ameelio offers to nonprofits, those who are incarcerated, and their loved ones. Some of the nonprofits Ameelio has partnered with so far include: --DreamKit (dreamkitapp.com)--Community Partners in Action (cpa-ct.org)--Perception Programs (perceptionprograms.org)--Inmates to Entrepreneurs (inmatestoentrepreneurs.org) If your organization is interested in partnering with Ameelio to serve inmates and/or their loved ones, please contact Emma Gray by emailing emma@ameelio.org If you want to help spread the word about Ameelio’s free communication services for inmates and their loved ones, please direct your constituents to a

In light of the recently revived Black Lives Matter movement, acts of police brutality, and following riots and protests, I thought it was important to look back at some conversations I had back in January with a couple experts in equity. Originally entitled “I’m Not Interested in Equality Because Equality Isn’t Good Enough”, this episode has become extremely relevant again as nonprofit leadership teams review their DEI policies and goals.  I also talk about some free and affordable communications tools your team can use to spread the word about systemic racism and how community members can help advocate for the rights of the Black community. You can find these tools at nonprofitjenni.com/coursesandmore Our guests this week include:--Jon Royal, who works as a theatre director and a social sector thought leader--Chandra Williams, the CEO of Center for Student Achievement Solutions Nonprofit Jenni provides consulting services and coaching calls for nonprofits and social impact organizations seeking guidance in

Nonprofit storytelling is hard… And it gets even harder when unexpected crises come up in the world, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and heartbreaking cases of racial injustice. This week, we’re getting advice from some storytelling experts so you can keep inspiring your donors, volunteers, and other supporters in the midst of crisis. We also talk about Jenni’s new Awareness Kits to help your nonprofit educate the community about COVID-19 and Racial Injustice. Get a free version of each kit at nonprofitjenni.com/coursesandmore Our first guest is Dan Reed, CEO of SEED Fundraisers. He offers tips for nonprofit leaders and fundraisers to keep soliciting donations, especially if you feel like it’s inappropriate for you to do so right now. For example, you may feel like it’s insensitive to ask for donations if your nonprofit isn’t directly contributing toward COVID-19 relief or advocacy efforts against police brutality. Dan mentions one of SEED Fundraisers’ most relevant resources right now: the “Scaling Through Cri

COVID-19 has caused budgets to shrink, not just for nonprofits, but for corporations too. Fortunately, there are still plenty of opportunities to partner with businesses and executives to get pro bono support for your organization! This week on the Nonprofit Jenni Show, we’re talking about best practices for navigating relationships as your nonprofit collaborates with corporations. Before we dig into tips for pro bono relationships, Jenni shares info about her new COVID-19 Awareness Kits which can help your nonprofit protect seniors, people living in long-term care facilities, and people with underlying health conditions that make them especially vulnerable to the virus. Go to nonprofitjenni.com/coursesandmore to find the free and full versions of this kit, which both include four tools to help you spread awareness about how to stop transmission of COVID-19. First, Danielle Holly (CEO of Common Impact) talks about how her nonprofit organization helps connect charitable corporations with small nonprofits in ne

Recent events involving police violence, riots, and COVID-19 have forced nonprofit leaders to reevaluate their mission, programs, and operational structures, so this is the perfect time to refamiliarize yourself with the concept of advocacy. “Advocacy” is one of those words which has a bunch of different meanings, especially depending on the person you ask. This week on the Nonprofit Jenni Show, Jenni invites nonprofit advocacy expert Meredith Benton from the Healing Trust to explain the legal definition of advocacy and which nonprofits should engage in advocacy efforts. We also hear from Nicole Lynch, a nonprofit professional who coordinates the advocacy efforts of the Saint Louis-based nonprofit Voyce. As you listen to this week’s episode, you’ll hear Meredith Benton recommend several amazing advocacy resources for nonprofits. Here they are:--FSG webinar “Six Conditions of Systems Change”: https://www.fsg.org/publications/water_of_systems_change --SSIR article “Stop Raising Awareness Already”: https://ssir.

“Safer at Home” ordinances and social distancing guidelines have caused an increase in people searching online for ways to support the causes they care about most, so it’s super important for your nonprofit to show up in Google results. This week on the Nonprofit Jenni Show, we talk about two ways to ensure new supporters can find you: the Google Ad Grant and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). After talking about SEO on the podcast last week, Jenni wanted to address some questions about the differences between the Google Ad Grant and SEO. She invites Grant Hensel, Founder and CEO of Nonprofit Megaphone, to answer common questions about how the Google Ad Grant works for nonprofits, including: --How can nonprofits use the Google Ad Grant to get donations, volunteers, and other types of support?--What components does a nonprofit website need before it makes sense to get the Google Ad Grant?--Does the Google Ad Grant impact your SEO, or vice versa? Jenni also gives a personal life update that impacts her work. Non

In this time of social distancing and Stay at Home / Safer at Home protocol, it’s more important than ever to ensure that people are able to find your nonprofit online when they’re searching for ways to support the causes they care about...because let’s face it: Everyone is on their devices all hours of the day now! It’s time to improve your nonprofit’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so your donation needs, volunteer opportunities, and program offerings are easy to find. Jenni recently released a Nonprofit SEO Mini-Course on her website at nonprofitjenni.com/coursesandmore In this episode, Jenni’s sister joins us again to break down 9 tips from the mini-course to help improve your nonprofit’s website and SEO. Download the full mini-course on the Nonprofit Jenni website to learn how to fill in your SEO gaps, and for Jenni’s full checklist of nonprofit website essentials. Nonprofit Jenni provides consulting services and coaching calls for nonprofits and social impact organizations seeking guidance in the area

A few weeks ago, we chatted with some nonprofit leaders from Childspring International and Good Tidings Foundation to learn how their organizations have adapted their fundraising and programming in the face of COVID-19. This week, we’re talking to leaders from Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee and Reach Out and Read Colorado to hear even more examples and advice for how nonprofits can continue to thrive in the midst of the pandemic. First, Hayley Levy (Director of Development for Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee) talks about how she planned her very first virtual 5k fundraising event and raised over $6,000 with over 100 runners and walkers. She also describes the planning process for converting her organization’s signature fundraising event into an online live stream event. Then Anne Tengler (Executive Director of Reach Out and Read Colorado) shares how her organization has adapted its programming to continue reaching families who need reading and literacy resources, even if they have limited access to technology. S

As part of our ongoing series about how nonprofits can thrive in the face of COVID-19, we wanted to address questions we’ve received from leaders about how they should fill staff and volunteer time. Many Executive Directors have told us they would like to use this time during “Safer at Home” periods to offer virtual professional development opportunities to staff and volunteers who aren’t able to carry out their normal roles. In this week’s episode of the Nonprofit Jenni Show, Jenni highlights a few high-quality professional development activities which can all be completed online from Holly Rustick of Grant Writing & Funding and Jenni’s website. Professional Development activities featured in this episode:--Holly’s courses are available at grantwritingandfunding.com/jenni--Jenni’s courses and coaching opportunities are available at nonprofitjenni.com Nonprofit Jenni provides consulting services and coaching calls for nonprofits and social impact organizations seeking guidance in the areas of Marketing, F