Greetings from the Responsive Nonprofit Summit!

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Build Better Boards.

 Creating active boards comprised of diverse voices, lived experiences, and representing the population of people served by the organization. Double bonus: we’re getting board members excited and focused while awakening their passion to pour into the mission in a way that works for them. 

We Are For Good Podcast - Boards Playlist 🎧

BOARD MAPS - AN ASSESSMENT OF YOUR CURRENT BOARD (Christal Cherry, Episode 13)

1. Who is on your board?

2. Do you have women on your board?

3. Do you have diversity within your board?

4. Is there someone on your board that can personally speak into your mission? (ex. if you are a homeless shelter, is there someone on your board who used to be homeless?)

5. What are your needs as an organizations? Are they being met by your current board?

6. Who has been on the board for 15 years? Look at utilizing advisory councils to open up room for new energy

KEY TIPS TO HELP TAKE YOUR BOARD TO THE NEXT LEVEL

1. Build an engagement and communication calendar for the year

2. Weekly stewardship ask - write an email, make a call, send a thank you note, etc.

3. Monthly or quarterly board-specific communication (include a story and cause-related articles educating them about your mission/industry!)

4. Share organization thank you notes, staff accomplishments or other team-related wins with board, so they’re able to pour into the good news and good people. This can be done via email, in-person or in a board packet.

5. Include prospecting as a portion of every board meeting.

6. Whenever possible, bring board member on call/solicitation. Allows you to steward both the prospect and board members afterward.

7. Sit down with each board member socially and hear their story of connection to the org, background on their business and family, and understand their passion for your cause.

8. Remember their birthdays or special events, and add those to your calendar to send a quick email or text. 

Build Better Culture.

 Building the right culture to become a magnetic organization. 

We Are For Good Podcast - Culture Playlist 🎧

4 PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR LEADERS TO ASK THEMSELVES TODAY 👇 (Aila Malik, 218)

1. What is my core belief?

2. How strongly do I believe in this mission?

3. What needs to be true in my workplace model to evangelize this?

4. How are you lifting others that you can pass the torch to?

Build Better Storytelling.

Shifting the lens on the storylines we share, the words we use, and leaning into authentic and ethical storytelling.

We Are For Good Podcast - Storytelling Playlist 🎧

EMPATHY MANIFESTO BY CHERYL MILLER-HOUSER, CREATIVE BREED (Episode 136)

1. Make it human - People are moved by other people. But not just anyone. People whom they can identify with and root for. It starts with finding subjects who are genuine and then accessing their vulnerability to capture the full range of universal human emotions. That is how we tap into our shared humanity.

2. Show struggle - Audiences also identify with and root for people who have a goal with big stakes, clearly stated or implied. The bigger the goal, the larger the obstacles they have to overcome, and the harder they struggle, the more an audience will root for them, feel empathy and be emotionally transported by them. We bring this struggle to life in an engaging, relatable way organic to that story.

3. Inspire through uplift - Once you have moved your audience deeply through the emotional journey of others, leave them empowered, with the sense that they can make a positive difference in their lives and the lives of others. We achieve that by ending on uplift and a call to action which inspires people to take action.

The 5 Essential Building Blocks of Compelling Stories (John Trybus, Episode 186)

Georgetown University Center for Social Impact Communication - Stories Worth Telling Report

1. Character

2. Trajectory

3. Authenticity

4. Emotions

5. Hook

6. Bonus: The Storyteller

The Power of Collectives: Fundraising Circles and Giving Circles

Introducing giving circles as a topic, discuss community-based, people-centered philanthropy, and share success stories. 

👇 THE 5 STEPS TO THE GIVING CIRCLE MODEL

1. Gather your people

2. Discuss values

3. Decide where to give your money

4. Give - pool funding, talents, and resources

5. Engage

The Impact Arc

Staging. Storytelling. Syndication

Ethical Storytelling Playlist 🎧

• 207. Creative Ways to Grow Revenue for Your Nonprofit + Building Inclusive Narratives - Kimberly O'Neil

• 97. Shifting our Perspective: How Storytelling Exposes Inequalities, Challenges Systemic Racism and Builds Community For Good - Niven McCall-Mazza

• 235. How to Storytell Your Mission Through the Power of Video - Jonathan McCoy, CFRE, Becky Endicott, CFRE and Derek Watson

• 142. Breaking the Hero-Victim Narrative in Philanthropy - Travis Ning

• 231. Defining Your Nonprofit's Brand Purpose + How to Bring It to Life - Rob Feakins

• 136. A Filmmaker's Guide to Storytelling + Empathy to Advance Social Good - Cheryl Miller Houser

• 220. Ending Global Poverty with Dignity + Entrepreneurship: The Mission of The Adventure Project - Becky Straw

• 186. Storytelling for Social Impact + Building Narrative Intelligence - John Trybus

FREE Workshop! Write less and engage more, today!

WRITE LESS. ENGAGE MORE. LEVERAGING A SYNDICATION MINDSET

CONNECT WITH JON

LinkedIn / Email / Instagram

CONNECT WITH BECKY

LinkedIn / Email / Instagram