National Doctors' Day is observed on March 30th to honor physicians for their dedication and contributions to society and their community. This date can be a great opportunity to fundraise for your healthcare organization by sharing your successes and challenges with donors. Join Tracey Bozzelli, managing director for the healthcare vertical in customer success at Blackbaud, and Paul St. Onge, co-founder of Doing Good Digital, for ideas on donor outreach through digital strategy.

Topics discussed:

• Deciding on a fundraising strategy
• Focusing on donor stewardship
• Direct email messaging
• Engaging the patient file for donor acquisition
• Existing patient donors
• Honoring the caregiver

Resources:

Webinar: Online Fundraising Strategies for Doctors' Day

Taking Doctors’ Day Beyond the Direct Mail Appeal | The ENGAGE Blog

Doing Good Digital: Weighing the Pros and Cons of Doctors' Day

Quotes:

"The trick is to really engage that patient file throughout those twelve months and again when we get to one of those tentpole moments like Doctors' Day."

"I'd recommend if you have some non-solicitation and communication that's going out at the start of month start, tease out the fact that Doctors' Day is coming up, tease out some some nice stories about some of the doctors that are on your staff."

"When we think of some of the basics when it comes to a successful Doctors' Day campaign, warming up the audience is part of it."

Andrew Troup, Director of Giving & Engagement at Blackbaud, speaks with Brandolon Barnett, Head of Innovation & Philanthropy at Giving Compass, about the merging of artificial intelligence (AI) and social impact. What are the opportunities for AI and what are the potential pitfalls?

Topics covered in this episode:

• The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence

• Experimenting with user testing

• The donor’s journey using AI

• Leveraging AI tools for annual reports and donor outreach

• Creating consumable content for machines

• Importance of cyber security

• Risk of AI in job replacement

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or your preferred streaming service for future episodes!

Quotes:

“We really need to be cognizant of the risk of creating a kind of feedback loop. What happens when AI is learning from the data that’s online?”

“You would be surprised how many organizations of all sizes put out annual reports […] through their website or through pdfs that aren't easily machine readable and you really have to start thinking about, ‘Can ChatGPT or similar tools read our annual report?’”

“AI is really uniquely positioned to provide a lot of opportunity, especially for those that have not typically had that opportunity in the past to access or to leverage technology.”

How much impact does volunteerism have on our wellbeing? 

Hear from Jude O'Reilley, CEO of VolunteerMatch, as he talks with Blackbaud's social responsiblity manager Melissa Furr about how volunteerism is closely tied to personal health and wellbeing. Jude and Melissa share how you can incorporate volunteering in the workplace and acheive the feeling of being connected to something larger than oneself.

Topics covered in this episode:

• What is VolunteerMatch?
• A longing for community
• The four pillars of wellbeing
• Best practices
• Employee Input
• Physical, Financial, Emotional, Social, and Intellectual wellness
• VolunteerMatch's new campaign Get that Grin

Resources:

Get that Grin

VolunteerMatch

Edelman Trust Barometer

Quotes:

"One best practice is to think beyond the volunteer day."

"We shouldn't underestimate employees themselves being the key motivator for other employees."

"Most people rely on colleagures and their employer for information that they trust the most."

What does branding mean for nonprofit organizations, and how has it evolved to now require a comprehensive digital strategy?

Joining the podcast today is Farra Trompeter, chief growth officer of Big Duck and the co-author of an article about branding in the Blackbaud Institute’s new 2020 npEXPERTS eBook. Listen in to hear Farra talk to Steve MacLaughlin about the evolution of the marketing and branding tools that nonprofits need to think about using, understanding your why and who your why is for, and the importance of staff in upholding brand image.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• How nonprofit branding has evolved over the past seven years since Farra’s article in the original npEXPERTS book.
• How the ways that nonprofits use communications and digital marketing tools has changed
• Knowing why you’re using the tools the way that you are
• Understanding the why for your organization
• The intersection between branding and culture
• The importance of staff members upholding the brand image
• Combining speed and accuracy in communications to build trust and engagement
• How outreach and communication has shifted over the last few months
• How it helps to get feedback

Resources:

Farra Trompeter

npEXPERTS 2020 - published by the Blackbaud Institute

Quotes: 

“Thinking about your audiences and goals as it connects to your mission I think has been around for a while, and it’s still the right way to go about deciding what approach you should take, and then related to that approach, what tools you should use.”

“The staff are the people who are representing the organization day in and day out, and if my experience with that staff person is not one that in some way reinforces what I’m hoping for, then again that organization is not going to be able to uphold that desired perception.”

“What I hope to see is that momentum continue through the summer into the fall. I hope it’s not just a moment.”

Over the past months, racial equity and racial justice have come to the forefront of public consciousness and advocacy in the U.S. and around the world. And while this has also been a topic of discussion in philanthropy for some time, there is a real opportunity now for all social good organizations to really respond in a meaningful way that effects change.

In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Marcus Walton, President & CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO). Listen in to hear Marcus talk about the current movement, the steps that responsive philanthropy must take to advance racial equity, and how all social good organizations can approach their work through a racial equity lens.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Marcus’s background as a leader in philanthropy and in working on racial equity initiatives
• What GEO does and how it’s working with members
• Whether Marcus is hopeful that the current moment will move the needle on racial equity
• Steps that responsive philanthropy needs to take to advance racial equity
• What advice Marcus would give to funders right now
• Why it’s critical for all social good organizations to look at their work through a racial equity lens
• The importance of partnerships and data

Resources:

Marcus Walton

Article: "Hope is Not a Strategy for Change"

GEO's Vision for Smarter Grantmaking

Marcus Walton's Resource List on Leadership and Racial Equity

Quotes: 

“I can only be hopeful, because I’ve seen how quickly change can happen.”

“What I’m observing on one hand is an inclination to do something, to react.”

“Before we make a decision and head down a particular course of action, let’s ground ourselves in the current moment.”

How do leaders embrace their role in the new normal today? What does it mean to lead strategically and purposefully?  The experts in today’s webinar will answer these questions.

Listen in to hear Eddie Thompson, Founder and CEO of Thompson & Associates, Mark McCampbell, Senior Vice President of Advancement Resources, and Betsy Chapin Taylor, CEO of Accordant, talk about the challenges of leadership during times of change, why purpose and values are central to good leadership, and the importance of reconsidering strategy right now to lead your organization into a successful future.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• The role of leaders in today’s changing new normal
• Why who you are is more important than what you do
• How values lead to actions
• Leadership strategies
• Affirming your organization’s vision
• Thinking about areas that need to be pruned or changed going forward
• The importance of connecting meaningfully
• Considering strategic decisions
• Holding board members accountable
• Using board members as fundraisers
• Thinking about how to go after major gifts in the future

Resources:

Eddie Thompson

Mark McCampbell

Betsy Chapin Taylor

WEBINAR: Leadership During Times of Change

TIP SHEET: 8 Things Successful Healthcare Philanthropy Leaders are Doing Right Now

ARTICLE: 6 Tips for Managing a Virtual Workforce

Quotes: 

“When you’re authentic, you’re being yourself, and you’re leading from who you are, that’s really the place to be.” –Mark McCampbell

“I think that we are unfortunately entering a period in our hospitals of austerity.” –Betsy Chapin Taylor

“I want to encourage you to reconsider having perpetual naming rights.” –Eddie Thompson

Companies are increasingly recognizing the importance of purpose. But what does it really mean to have a purpose-led organization? And how can you help your organization more effectively put its purpose into practice?

That’s what today’s guest, Bobbi Silten, managing director of the Shared Value Initiative, is here to discuss. Bobbi explains the importance of leading with purpose, the role of shared value and why you need to understand your organization’s cultural dynamics to succeed in being purpose driven. She also discusses The Purpose Playbook, which was recently released by Shared Initiative as an actionable guide for practitioners looking to lead change in their organizations and society.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• What the Shared Value Initiative does and how it originated
• The definition of shared value
• Being a purpose led organization
• What the Purpose Playbook teaches practitioners about leading change
• Why it’s important to have a grounding in leading with purpose
• The importance of understanding an organization’s cultural dynamics

Resources:

Bobbi Silten

The Purpose Playbook from the Shared Value Initiative

CSR 2020: Experts Look Ahead

Quotes: 

“Our whole philosophy in building this playbook is that it’s not a cookie-cutter approach.”

“First you have to, as a company, get really clear about what your reason for being is, and your reason beyond profits alone.”

“The more a leader can understand the cultural dynamics of their organization, the more than can use it or start to dial down the things that are getting in the way.”

What do you need to know about talent management to make sure that you’re getting the most out of your team? Today’s episode features an excerpt from Part One of a three-part Blackbaud webinar about how better talent management can up your fundraising game. In the excerpt, you’ll hear from Eric Bowman, talent manager at Texas A&M Foundation. Listen in to hear what Eric has to say about what talent management is, the building blocks of talent management, and the importance of determining your organization’s mission, values, goals, and strategies.

After listening to the episode, click on the link to the webinar in the Resources section to watch the full recording, where you'll hear from Stacy Rooney, business consultant principal at Blackbaud, whose discussions will also include how to seamlessly integrate core fundraising systems into your talent management practices

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Eric’s background
• What talent management means
• Examples of function areas of talent management
• The building blocks to effective, aligned, coordinated talent management
• Determining mission, values, goals, and strategies
• Talking and thinking about competencies
• Building core processes
• The new-hire experience
• Making sure that people can grow in their role

Resources:

Eric Bowman

Webinar Series: How Better Talent Management Can Up Your Fundraising Game

White Paper: Blackbaud's Strategic Guide to Effective Talent Management

Quotes: 

“The ultimate driver to an organization’s success are its people.”

“Having a defined vision, mission or purpose, and values are critical to help the entire organization know why they exist, where they are going, how they will get there, and how they should act along the way.”

“You cannot expect CRM-level performance if you only have Excel-level resources.”

As part of our series on the Future of Nonprofit Finance, Blackbaud’s Sarah Curry sat down with George Werbacher, the Senior Manager for Information Security at Blackbaud, to discuss how nonprofit organizations can prioritize cyber security in 2023. George talks through how organizations can see data security as an investment and highlights how implementing controls helps the organization do more to drive impact. He explains how organizations can do a “threat model” to start an open dialog about where the risks are, including who is using data and how that’s being used.

Resources:

• Full Webinar: Speed-Round: Preparing for the Future of Nonprofit Accounting – Don't Get Left Behind!
• Compliance Risk Management for the Empowered Nonprofit 
• Internal Controls Toolkit

In this excerpt of a conversation with Satonya Fair, President and CEO of PEAK Grantmaking, she encourages grantmaking organizations to rethink their relationship with risk. Instead of focusing on being responsible for the foundation, she recommends looking to how organizations build deeper relationships with applicants and grantees and be poised to be responsive to the needs of the community.

• PEAK Grantmaking
• The Myth of Risk: Fear Not the Dragons, Funder
• Full Webinar

Alex Budak, UC Berkeley faculty member and author of Becoming a Changemaker, joins Blackbaud’s Rachel Hutchisson to discuss how to develop your mindset and leadership skills to make positive change as part of our CSR Book Club Series. 

Topics discussed in this episode:

• What is a changemaker?
• How to drive change
• Humility in Leadership
• Changemaker Index
• Leadership book recommendations

Resources:

Alex Budak

Becoming a Changemaker

Changemaker Index

Quotes:

"Leaders might be scarce, but leadership is abundant."

For the past 10 years, the Blackbaud Institute Index has tracked year-over-year trends in philanthropy and annual giving statistics—with the goal of empowering organizations to know their sector and raise more, faster. Over this time, the Index has grown to track over $40 billion from over 8,400 organizations in the United States! 

To celebrate we’ve invited some of our most trusted advisors, industry experts, and friendly faces to lead virtual fireside chats, podcast episodes, and more! Today’s episode of the sgENGAGE podcast features a conversation between Blackbaud Institute managing director, Ashley Thompson, and leadership expert and coach Marc Pitman. Marc helps high performers keep their edge, emerging leaders maintain their momentum, new leaders confront the demands of their position, and established leaders find fresh strategies. In this excerpt from their longer conversation, Marc and Ashley explore the concept of doubt and how it can be embraced as a framework for developing your skills and becoming an exceptional leader.

 Topics Covered in this episode:

• Leveraging your strengths and weaknesses to become an effective leader
• Storytelling as a tool for identifying your unique contributions

Resources:

Blackbaud Institute Index’s 10th Anniversary Celebration

More from sgENGAGE and the Blackbaud Institute

To receive quarterly updates on the Index straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Source newsletter.

Quotes:

“My premise in my working with leaders has proven that sometimes, ‘what am I missing?’ isn't the right question; that doubt can push us and can get so big that it pushes us to ask, ‘what if I'm the right person for this role?’ ‘What if I'm exactly what the team needs?’ ‘What if this organization is exactly the voice the sector needs?’” – Marc Pitman

For the past 10 years, the Blackbaud Institute Index has tracked year-over-year trends in philanthropy and annual giving statistics—with the goal of empowering organizations to know their sector and raise more, faster. Over this time, the Index has grown to track over $40 billion from over 8,400 organizations in the United States!

To celebrate we’ve invited some of our most trusted advisors, industry experts, and friendly faces to lead virtual fireside chats, podcast episodes, and more! Today’s episode features a conversation between brand strategist Ben Smithee and the Blackbaud Institute’s Ashley Thompson. At The Smithee Group, Ben Smithee has been helping leaders and businesses dream bigger and achieve more. In this excerpt from their conversation, Ben shares his expert advice on how a powerful brand allows for organizations to drive higher value and cataclysmic demand. Unfortunately, as Ben points out, powerful branding like this is one of the biggest areas where organizations fall behind today. He and Ashley connect on current trends in philanthropy and the for-profit sector to outline how you can get ahead of the curve by creating a relevant, legacy-focused brand in today’s digital ecosystem.

Topics Covered in this episode:

• What is a brand and, more importantly, what isn’t?
• Building equity by delivering on your brand’s promise
• Growing your legacy alongside a new generation of donors

Resources:

Blackbaud Institute Index’s 10th Anniversary Celebration

More from sgENGAGE and the Blackbaud Institute

To receive quarterly updates on the Index straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Source newsletter.

Quotes:

“A brand is a promise that an organization has the opportunity to deliver upon.” – Ben Smithee

“How do we become relevant to the future of the organization and create a legacy? By focusing on the future stakeholders of the organization. We can't fall in love with how we've always done things.” – Ben Smithee

For the past 10 years, the Blackbaud Institute Index has tracked year-over-year trends in philanthropy and annual giving statistics—with the goal of empowering organizations to know their sector and raise more, faster. Over this time, the Index has grown to track over $40 billion from over 8,400 organizations in the United States! 

To celebrate we’ve invited some of our most trusted advisors, industry experts, and friendly faces to lead virtual fireside chats, podcast episodes, and more! We couldn’t have kicked off the series with a better guest than Chuck Longfield, renowned data scientist, philanthropy strategist, and the creator of the Blackbaud Institute Index! Now retired, Chuck allowed us to steal him from the golf course for a little while to sit down for a conversation with Steve MacLaughlin—lucky us!

In this excerpt for the sgENGAGE podcast, Chuck shares the inspiration behind the Blackbaud Institute Index and the value of such a significant and diverse data set when determining current trends and best practices in the sector. After the podcast, check out the full webinar, available on demand, where the two discuss the lessons Chuck has learned over his 40 year career, and put their heads together about how these lessons can help organizations navigate the road ahead.

Topics Covered in this episode:

• Origins of the Blackbaud Institute Index
• The Importance of benchmarking
• Applying academic rigor to the study of philanthropy

Resources:

Blackbaud Institute Index’s 10th Anniversary Celebration

More from sgENGAGE and the Blackbaud Institute

To receive quarterly updates on the Index straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Source newsletter.

Quotes:

“Because there really wasn’t any gold standard, different organizations can pick and choose their metrics can pick and choose the definitions of their metrics. And it causes organizations I think, too often, to come to the wrong conclusion about maybe what their next step should be. And so, for many of the years that I've been working in this area, I wanted to try to standardize these metrics.” – Chuck Longfield

Many foundations face hurdles in creating advocacy agendas whether it be convincing a board of directors, finding the time and resources, or seeking funds from grantmakers. Chynna A. Phillips, senior director of policy and research at Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, and Melissa Levesque, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Coastal Community Foundation, spoke with Blackbaud’s Sally Ehrenfreid, government relations lead about implementing advocacy in foundations and their respective journeys.

Topics covered:

• Introducing advocacy and policy to boards
• Building advocacy into your organizational infrastructure
• Creating an advocacy agenda rooted in core values
• The distinction of advocacy and policy versus politics
• Advice for nonprofit organizations seeking funding from grantmakers

Resources:

Chynna A. Phillips

Melissa Levesque

Sally Ehrenfried

Advocacy and Awareness: 4 Tips for Virtual Campaigning

Quotes:

“Boards decide how fast you’re going to move as an organization.”

“We had our grantmaking and community leadership committee really own sort of the nuts and bolts of developing our advocacy agenda.”

“A great grant proposal is really just exceptional storytelling that matches a need for financial support.”

“Stay connected to your ‘Why?’, build trust with your community leaders, and have honest conversation.”

The shift to remote work post-pandemic has caused many employees to feel stressed, burnt out, and out of control of their workplace dynamic. Meico Marquette Whitlock, founder of The Mindful Techie, shares tools and strategies on how to regain control and relieve the stressors that face us.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Major impacts of the pandemic on wellbeing
• How values have changed
• How nonprofit professionals can adjust to the new workplace
• What leaders can do to protect their employees
• Tools and strategies to enhance your wellbeing

Resources:

Meico Marquette Whitlock

The Hybrid Workplace Wellness Playbook for Grantmakers

6 Ways Nonprofit Professionals Can Conquer Post-Pandemic Workplace Stress

The sgENGAGE Podcast: Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Wellbeing for Grantmakers

5 Ways Grantmakers Create Work- and Tech-Life Balance

Quotes:

“A lot of organizations are making assumptions of what people want, and I think the first place to start is to actually ask the question.”

“You really have to just be human and be very vulnerable about what you're dealing with and to see them as a person versus an employee or a worker.”

“practicing social distancing with your technology can support you in having a healthier relationship with technology.”

Businesses emerged as the most trusted institutions in the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer, which also showed that people expect more from businesses in solving the world's problems. So, how can companies step up to lead the charge and maintain that position of trust?

Kendra Fogarty, corporate social responsibility manager at UScellular, spoked with Blackbaud's Rachel Hutchisson about the role of CSR and community engagement in building trust with consumers, employees, and community members. Listen in to hear Kendra share her key takeaways from the Edelman Trust Barometer data, how UScellular engages communities and employees, and how companies can make sure that their philanthropic programs truly meet the needs of the communities they are intended to help.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer
• The opportunity for companies to continue to build trust with employees, consumers, and communities
• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community connections
• How UScellular approaches CSR and community engagement
• How companies can help employees feel a sense of community and purpose
• Why CSR is important to institutional investors

Resources:

• Kendra Fogarty
• UScellular
• UScellular's Afterschool Access Project
• Podcast: Fixing the S in ESG
• Blackbaud's Corporate Social Responsibility Report

PEAK Grantmaking President and CEO Satonya Fair is back on the Blackbaud Grantmaking™ Thought Leadership Webinar Series to share how her organization is embracing learning and unlearning.

Throughout the conversation, she shares what it means to be an emergent learner and to put down tools that no longer serve you so you can pick up new ways of engaging. She also discusses how learning cannot be an extra task on your list of goals—it has to be engrained in the work you do.

Join us for the first part of our conversation with Satonya and watch the webinar to hear the full discussion.

Employee volunteerism has become an essential component of a company’s corporate social responsibility and employee engagement strategies. In this episode, Melissa Hackmeier, global head of employee & community engagement at MilliporeSigma, joins the podcast to discuss how she launched the company's first ever global volunteer program and the best practices and lessons she’s learned along the way.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How Melissa developed and implemented MilliporeSigma's first-ever SPARK™ global volunteer program, which has more than 9,700 employee participants engaging 235,000 students in 36 countries to date
• How Melissa secured buy-in for their program
• The key's to the program's successful launch and lessons learned along the way
• The role of technology in enabling a successful global volunteer program
• The SPARK program's biggest impacts, both internally and externally
• Melissa's advice for other CSR professionals looking to start or grow employee volunteer programs
• What nonprofits looking to engage with corporate volunteers should consider

Resources

• Melissa Hackmeier
• MilliporeSigma's CSR Program
• MilliporeSigma's SPARK Volunteer Program
• Blackbaud Institute Report: CSR Programs as an Employee Engagement Tool
• Employee Giving and Volunteering Made Easy

Research has shown that women are more prone to burnout than men for a variety of reasons, including societal expectations and  imbalances in responsibilities across work and home. This can be further intensified for women working at nonprofits and other social good organizations, which often have higher than average rates of burnout and turnover.

Today’s guest, Stacie Barber, is an integrative life coach and the founder of Stacie Barber Lifestyle. She joined host Rachel Hutchisson in a discussion about why it’s important for women leaders, and all women, to engage in self-care practices at work and at home so they are aren’t overburdened and feel healthy and productive.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Stacie’s professional journey
• Why women often burn out
• What it means to practice self-care
• How women can build support systems in the workplace
• Why it’s important to delegate
• Taking risks and seizing new opportunities

Resources:

• Stacie Barber
• Stacie Barber Lifestyle on YouTube
• The sgENGAGE Podcast Episode 187: Strategies for Avoiding Tech Burnout

Open, honest, and transparent communication with grantee partners can help minimize power imbalances and help foster a sense of mutual transparency and accountability that is critical to our success as grantmakers. Hear from Shaady Salehi, executive director, Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, Lisa Maloney-Vinz, director of global community relations, Ecolab Foundation, Drexel Owusu, chief impact officer, The Dallas Foundation, and Lauren Scott, executive director, Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund about how their organizations are embracing transparency.

Why is due diligence important in grantmaking organizations? The process of satisfying legal requirements impacts many areas within an organization— mission alignment, stewardship, duty of care, reputation, outcomes & impact, and overall effectiveness to name a few.

In this episode, learn from Elizabeth (Liz) Gousse Ballotte, principal at PKF O’Connor Davies, about what the staff at grantmaking organizations need to know to be compliant.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Due diligence models
• Grant applications and risk identification
• Governance
• Financial information, including budgets, financial statements, and IRS Form 990
• Information Technology and internal controls
• Streamlining operations and increasing productivity

Resources

• Webinar: Due Diligence Defined: What ‘Being Compliant’ Really Means for Grantmakers
• Blackbaud Grantmaking 2022 Thought Leadership Webinar Series
• Tip Sheet: 15 Questions Foundations Should Ask as Part of Their Grantee Due Diligence
• Internal Controls Resource Toolkit

ESG (environment, social, and governance) is a hot topic amongst for-profit companies and investors, but is it important for nonprofits and other social good organizations too? Today's guest thinks so. Tim McClimon, principal consultant for The Celeste Group, which specializes in corporate social responsibility and nonprofit management strategies and programs, and former head of corporate social responsibility at American Express, joined Rachel Hutchisson to discuss why social good organizations should view ESG as an operating strategy and as a way of being more transparent and accountable to their employees, donors, beneficiaries, communities, and the planet. Rachel and Tim also talked about what nonprofits can learn from companies, including Blackbaud, and how companies can help increase the focus on ESG in the nonprofit sector.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• What is ESG?
• Why ESG isn't just for companies
• Why nonprofits need to create strategies for climate and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
• Why higher education institutions have been paying more attention to sustainability
• How funders can help nonprofits adopt ESG practices
• The importance of transparency in social good organizations
• Expectations for transparency and impact from the newest generation of employees

Join Meico Marquette Whitlock, founder and CEO of Mindful Techie, for an interactive training that will inspire you with mindful approaches for creating sustained balance in your life. Prepare to lower your stress level, focus on getting the important things done, and be more present for yourself, your team, and your family. Click here to listen to the full webinar from the Grantmaking Thought Leadership webinar series.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Wellness Survey report findings
• Impact of the pandemic on wellbeing
• How grantmakers will need to adapt
• Setting boundaries

Resources:

Meico Marquette Whitlock

Wellness Survey

5 Ways Grantmakers Create Work- and Tech-Life Balance

Quotes:

"When it comes to preemption, we want to be focused on creating a culture of care (...) that we are building in strong work/life boundaries and not depending on the individual to create those boundaries."

"Addressing the organizational and institutional action of this is a longer term proposition."

"Many of us are making assumptions of what is required of us, but something that is actually not being expected of us."

Rachel Hutchisson is joined by Chris Jarvis, executive director of Realized Worth, to kick off our CSR Book Club Series with an article from Stanford Social Innovation Review called “Fixing the S in ESG.” Listen to learn more about quantifying social impact and what the future of S looks like.

• Adapting to changes in world beliefs
• What does S want to be?
• Redefining what S means to include room for interpretation
• Increased accountability puts words into actions
• How consumers change their behavior according to company values

Chantal Forster, executive director of the Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG), discusses the top areas where grantmakers can make the most impact in 2022 and how technology can help them achieve that impact. 

• Who are the members of TAG and how do they impact philanthropy?
• The rise in the voices of the people we serve post-pandemic
• TAG’s customer experience model
• Effectiveness and frequency of surveys
• Dependency of digital infrastructure
• Dashboard elements that drive success

Chantal Forster

Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG)

Webinar: The Rising Role of Technology—and the People Behind It—in Advancing Philanthropy's Mission

How to Fund Nonprofit Tech: A Guide for Funders and Nonprofits

Grant Advisor

“Imagine if the private sector only surveyed its customers every three years.”

“If philanthropy doesn’t invest in tech infrastructure, then you are enabling inequity.”

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

-Is a remote audit what your organization needs? -Plan for what an auditor will need to see -Create a strong audit trail with documentation, naming conventions, and accessible details -Gather what you’ll need and provide secure access to your auditor

Paul Preziotti, CPA

Webinar: Be Audit You Can Be, Remotely: Preparing and Running a Successful Remote Audit

Blog: The Final Step of the Nonprofit Audit: Presenting Financial Statements to your Board

"As the auditee, you have the ability to mold this relationship however you want it."

"I think [hybrid audits] are terrific and I think that could be a good solution for a lot of you that want the best of both worlds."

"If we have an audit that's beginning the first week of May, we want to be able to hit the ground running."

There are a lot of ways to think about how technology impacts things, as well as how different constituent types interact with it and the relationships that it helps them build. In today’s episode, we’ll be discussing recent research on how technology improves the relationship between schools and parents.

Joining the podcast today is Chuck English, of English Marketing Works, and Linda Lawrence, of Ransom Everglades. Listen to the episode to hear what they have to say about the key findings of the recent Blackbaud study show, the expectations that people have about the technology they interact with, and how the technology profile at Linda’s school came about.

Topics Discussed in This Episode

• Important and key findings of the study of how technology impacts the relationship between parents and schools
• Linda’s perspective of the daily experiences between parents and technology at schools
• Whether the current state of the world has made parents more willing to use this technology
• Chuck’s experience of people's expectations of the technology they use and whether that’s changing.
• How the technology portfolio at Linda’s school was developed
• The perspective that Linda is examining technology from
• The advice that Linda would give schools that have fewer technology resources, but are trying to move in that direction
• How Linda’s school leadership helped make needed technological changes during the pandemic
• A change that stands out in Linda’s mind that sticks out as something that’s here to stay
• Changes Chuck is seeing with the organizations he works with that are here to stay
• The extent to which parents drive technology offerings

Resources:

Chuck English

Linda Lawrence

Using Technology to Bridge the Value Gap in Private Schools

Moving Forward: Enriching the Parent Experience with a Focus on Technology

Infographic: K–12 Independent Schools Parent Survey

Quotes: 

“Technology has a huge impact on their experience as parents.” – Chuck English

“Parents have learned to become very nimble with what to expect, and we just find ways to ease into those situations at a moment’s notice.” –Linda Lawrence

“I think you develop alliances; you identify those super-users that can provide assistance.” –Linda Lawrence

Dan Keyworth, vice president of Customer Success Modernization at Blackbaud, sits down with Dan White, principal counsel on Blackbaud’s Privacy Team, to break down the complex but important topic of data privacy for nonprofits. Learn more about the five key principals across global privacy laws that can help you develop an adaptable data privacy program.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Why do nonprofits need privacy programs?

• What is personal data?

• New laws and legislation

• Identifying themes across the laws

• Individual rights to privacy and transparency

• Key takeaways from laws passed in Colorado specific to nonprofits

• The Universal Opt-Out Mechanism

• Steps you can take to put a privacy program in place

Resources:

Blackbaud’s Privacy Resource Center

Quotes:

“This whole concept of data privacy stems back from the historical view of privacy as a human right and in the digital age, that’s evolved into a focus on personal data.”

“It’s important to understand what data you’re collecting, how you’re using that data, and where you might be sharing that data. If you don’t know that, it makes complying with these laws impossible.”

“Colorado is a good place to look at for a model for privacy laws that are going to go into effect. Oregon and Delaware are following in the footsteps of Colorado’s [privacy] laws.”

What do you know about setting goals for yourself and your team and managing those goals? In today’s episode, you’ll hear an excerpt from the Skills UP webinar series. In it, you’ll hear Damaris Herron-Watkins discuss best practices for creating and managing your team’s goals. Listen in to hear what she has to say about the purpose of goal management, the different types of goals, and making goals SMART.

Topics Discussed in This Episode

• What A Better Chance does
• The purpose of goal management
• Why goals are important
• Creating goals for yourself and your direct reports
• Types of goals
  • Cascading goals
  • Agile goals
• What to do when you set goals for your team
• Making sure goals are motivating for your direct reports
• What SMART means
• How to make sure your goals are SMART
• Why you should create between three and five goals
• How to know if your goals are SMART
• Manager’s goals

Resources:

Damaris Herron-Watkins

Skills UP Webinar Series

5 Keys for Achieving your Organization’s Goals 

Quotes: 

“A couple of reasons why goals are important is one, they help to prioritize your work and the work of your team.”

“When we’re creating goals for our team, like I said, you have to make sure you know what your goals are for the year.”

“SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.”

International Women’s Day is on March 8th, 2022, and it’s a good time to think about the state of women and girls worldwide, how current events may make violence and abuse even worse than they were, and how to move forward by empowering each other.

Today’s guest is Vesna Jaric, the Interim Chief of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women. Listen to the episode to learn about Vesna’s role at the Trust Fund and how current events affect the state of women and girls around the world.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Vesna’s role at the UN Trust Fund to end Violence Against Women
• The state of women and girls around the world
• How the pandemic has exacerbated violence against women
• The universality of violence against women
• How the organizations the UN Trust Fund is supporting has stepped in for women and girls
• The lagging of representation and resources for organizations that address violence against women
• How to increase resources for organizations that help women and girls
• How listeners can follow the research that Vesna is involved in

Resources:

Vesna Jaric

Learning from Practice: The Impact of COVID-19 on Violence Against Women and Girls

UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women

SHINE

UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women on Twitter

UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women on Instagram

Quotes: 

“So far, the fund has supported more than 600 organizations in 140 countries and territories across the world.”

“I would argue that violence against women and girls is probably the oldest and most persistent problem the world is dealing with.”

“Women’s rights organizations have been the first responders.”

We are highlighting an excerpt from the Skills UP Webinar Series where Deb Taft, CEO of Lindauer Global, will be talking about the dynamics of hiring and how you can achieve success in effective retention. Listen to what she has to say about the Great Resignation, the rise of freelancers and gig workers, and the remote/in-person hybrid.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Why talent is more complex than ever
• The Great Resignation
• Lack of loyalty
• Freelancers and gig workers making up more of the workforce
• 2020-21 Employee PTSD
• Reevaluation of life and work, work/life balance
• The remote/in-person hybrid recalibration
• Multiple interviews.
• Staying in communication with candidates
• Tax laws and wages for remote workers
• Pre-COVID norms have been profoundly changed
• Expect disruptions and plan interventions

Resources:

Deb Taft

Skills Up FREE Webinar Series for nonprofit managers

The Future of Executive Search

To Attract Talented Fundraisers of Color, Get Your House in Order

CASE xChange Podcast; President and CEO Sue Cunningham interviews Lindauer CEO Deb Taft

4 Keys for Attracting, Hiring and Retaining a Successful Major Gift Team

Quotes: 

“I think one of the dynamics to think about is that there is very little loyalty.”

“So, hiring is on steroids, and if you are struggling to retain and hire, you are not alone.”

“I just need people to understand, that employees will choose you, talent will choose you, or not, depending on what’s possible.”

Public policy impacts decisions made around charitable giving. These policies can influence how people give, when they give, and how much they give. So what are the likely effects for 2022?

In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Brian Flahaven to learn how policies have impacted giving over the past few years and what’s ahead for the coming year. Listen in to hear what Brian has to say about his role in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and what they do, what current legislation is on the table, and whether Brian believes it will gain traction this year.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• What CASE does
• How charitable giving has been impacted by change over the past couple of years
• How current legislation can encourage donation
• Whether Brian expects legislation that positively impacts giving to gain traction by the end of the year
• Trends that CASE is seeing in giving to education
• Call to action for listeners

Resources:

Brian Flahaven

Blackbaud’s Charitable Giving Report

Quotes: 

“Having an incentive there, sending that signal, will encourage more Americans hopefully to give even more to charitable organizations during these difficult times.”

“In the tax world, it’s pretty much been a partisan game over the past few years.”

“A lot of institutions are actually creating their own giving days.”

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• How Tiffany defines mentoring and what it means to her
• What sponsorship means
• The different kinds of mentors
• What to think about identifying a mentor
• How to get the most out of a mentor
• The importance of checking back in
• One of Tiffany’s experiences with a mentor relationship

Resources:

Tiffany Crumpton

Quotes: 

“When you’re identifying a mentor, be really upfront with them about why you’re asking them, why you thought of that person.”

“I also believe that the best mentors are always mentees themselves.”

“Look for the type of sponsor you want, the gender doesn’t matter.”

Giving doesn’t stay static. As things change and more innovations become available, giving changes with it, and that’s true for the upcoming year too. Today, you’ll be hearing about some of the changes and giving and how social good organizations and donors are affected.

Sonia Nigam, Co-founder and CEO of Change, and Amar Shah, Co-founder and President of Change, discuss changes in online shopping, how social good organizations are adjusting to cryptocurrencies and NFTs, and what’s going to happen going forward in 2022

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• How the online giving landscape is changing
• How the online shopping experience is changing
• What is crypto is and how it’s used
• The number of nonprofits accepting cryptocurrency
• How many donors are interested in giving via cryptocurrency
• What NFTs are and how it could be used in giving
• How NFTs can become a bigger part of online strategies
• What’s going to happen in giving in 2022
• Advice for social good organizations
• Convincing leaders and staffers to be willing to experiment
• How listeners can learn more about what’s happening at Change

Resources:

Sonia Nigam

Amar Shah

Change Blog

Quotes: 

“I feel like one of the most interesting evolutions around giving today is how it’s becoming more experience-based.” –Sonia Nigam

“Social good’s really at the foundation of this ecosystem.” –Sonia Nigam

“I think one of the biggest things that’s going to continue is the increase in online giving, either via e-commerce or even via cryptocurrency.” –Amir Shah

What do you know about cybersecurity? You’re probably aware that it’s a threat, but if you don’t know what cybersecurity threats entail or how to increase your own security, how can you really protect yourself or your organization? Listen in to this BBCon excerpt to learn about some of the basics of cybersecurity, including what the risks and threats are, steps you can take to protect yourself, and how to implement policies at the workplace that protect your company.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• What cybersecurity is and what it’s for
• The cybersecurity threat landscape
• Understanding what you’re up against
• Types of cyber threats
• Remote work threats
• Password security measures
• Multifactor identification
• Secure wifi
• Protecting your company
• Implementing security policies

Resources:

Cybersecurity Tip Sheet

Cybersecurity Industry Standards

Security at Blackbaud Overview

Quotes: 

“Additionally, 85% of the breaches that happen involve some sort of human element.”

“Bottom line, social engineering takes advantage of someone going about their usual day.”

“If you receive an email, phone call, or voicemail that feels odd, it probably is.”

Trends in giving and donor retention are an important topic in the fundraising landscape, and at this time of year, it’s a good idea to take a look at what’s been happening in the fundraising world. Looking closely at giving and donor retention now with help you get a handle on end-of-the-year giving and some clarity about what will be coming in the new year. Listen in to this episode to hear from Erica Wassdorp about current fundraising trends, how online giving has developed in different kinds of organizations, and how to handle benefits for recurring donors.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Standout trends in the overall fundraising landscape
• How picking up new donors, even at lower amounts, creates opportunities for recurring giving
• Where the focus on recurring giving has come from
• The history of recurring giving in certain kinds of organizations
• The proliferation of online giving
• Which groups to start with when it comes to moving to recurring gifting
• The benefits of recurring giving for donors
• Why you should keep monthly donation benefits simple
• Finding a driver for your goal

Resources:

Erica Waasdorp

Blackbaud Institute Retention Toolkit

Quotes: 

“We have to tell them that they can make a difference even when it’s with a smaller recurring gift.”

“I think the other piece that has really helped with that, of course, is the whole digital, online opportunities.”

“The only promise you want to make to your new monthly donor is that they’re going to get updates from you.”

Are you dealing with problems in your organizations and wondering why you can’t solve them, or why you can’t solve them in a lasting way? Listen in to this excerpt from bbcon 2021 Virtual, where Sarah Beauregard, Senior Process Engineer at Blackbaud, discusses root cause analysis.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Why some solutions to business problems don’t work
• The kinds of business problems your organization needs to solve
• Root cause analysis technique
• Definition of root cause
• Looking at the cause-and-effect chain
• Problem solving collaboratively
• Three steps to perform root cause analysis
  • Describe
  • Identify the Whys
  • Action
• Who can use this method

Resources:

Sarah Beauregard

Root Cause analysis document

Quotes: 

“If we pull up the weed by the root, it won’t come back.”

“Also as a part of this step, we identify who those subject matter experts are that could help determine why this problem might be happening.”

“The real value here comes from engaging those subject matter experts on a guided conversation to get to that root cause.”

What do social good organizations need to know about corporate philanthropy? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Julia Beltran, partnership specialist from Double the Donation, to learn more about corporate giving programs and how to promote them. Listen to the episode to hear what Julia has to say about common types of corporate philanthropy, data points on matching gift programs, and how to boost a companies’ matching gift percentage.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Who Julia is and what her role is at Double the Donation
• Common types of corporate philanthropy
• How companies enable their employees to do good things in the world
• Employee voices in who companies support
• How consumers can engage with products
• Data points on matching gift programs
• How people are engaging in matching gift programs
• How companies can boost their matching gift percentage
• Guidance about promoting matching gift programs
• Resources to learn more about matching gifts

Resources:

Julia Beltran

Double The Donation

Quotes: 

“Over 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs, so quite a lot.”

“I think that people do engage in matching gift programs, but they don’t nearly engage as much as they could.”

“Engaging donors during the giving process, or like right when they’re about to give, is a great way to encourage people to submit matching gift requests.”

As part of the series Future of Nonprofit Finance, Blackbaud’s Sarah Curry sits down with Alex Wilson, the Co-Founder of The Giving Block to discuss why the conversation around cryptocurrency matters for nonprofit finance teams. They touch on some of the cryptocurrency trends and why organizations should think about owners of cryptocurrency as a donor demographic as well as a way to diversify revenue streams. 

Topics covered:

• Is cryptocurrency safe?
• How does it work?
• How is it tracked?
• How do taxes work?

Resources:

• Infographic: What Technological Era Is Your Nonprofit Finance Office In?

Volunteering is changing. Many volunteer opportunities went virtual because of the pandemic, and like other types of work, it may never look exactly like it did in a pre-pandemic world. So what does volunteering look like now? What resources are there for professionals in this space who want to learn more about how volunteering has changed and how to rise to those changes? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Ben Sampson of WeHero. Listen to the conversation to learn more about what WeHero does, the latest trends and changes in the volunteering space, and how to provide new and different volunteer opportunities.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• About WeHero
• What trends and changes Ben is seeing in volunteering
• How the global landscape is shifting
• Volunteering as education
• Making sure there are new and different volunteer opportunities
• Resources for CSR professionals

Resources:

Ben Sampson

WeHero

Quotes: 

“Workers are going to come out of this really wanting agency in how and where they work, but also that ability to really connect meaningfully with people.”

“One of the big pros that we noticed is we saw people from different countries, different cultures, connecting over a common cause and volunteering.”

“Adobe does a really good job of building a portfolio of numerous different kinds of volunteer opportunities.”

Is donor retention different when the donor is acquired online? In this episode, you’ll learn more about ways to improve donor retention for online-acquired donors. Joining the podcast today is Rachel Clemens, Chief Marketing Officer of Mighty Citizen. Listen to today’s conversation to learn what Rachel thinks about building relationships between donors and organizations, the role of segmentation, and how language factors into donor retention.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• What organizations do to improve how they retain and engage online donors
• Building the relationship between the organization and the donor
• Preferences of people making online gifts
• How segmentation plays a role in driving the relationship
• The factor of language in donor retention
• What people want to see in brands
• The mindset to retaining different kinds of donors
• What organizations can do to focus on retaining online donors
• COVID-19 adaptations that might remain helpful going forward
• Advice for organizations to double down on retention of online donors

Resources:

Rachel Clemens

Quotes: 

“I always think about donor retention as part of the donation process.”

“It’s not a transaction. It’s a relationship.”

“The thing that comes to mind almost immediately is just getting their tech in check.”

The newest Blackbaud Luminate Online® Benchmark Report provides unique insight to online fundraising during its meteoric rise in 2020. Learn more about the shift to email engagement, how one-time online giving changed nonprofit revenue composition, and the steady march of sustainer donors. Joining the podcast today are report analysts Mike Snusz, Rachael Ahrens, and Deb Ashmore of Blackbaud’s Professional Services team as well as Erik Leaver, Principal Customer Success Manager. They also share their predictions for the next big online fundraising opportunity in this new guide.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Background on the Luminate Online Benchmark Report
• The difference between this year’s report and previous reports
• Increases in online one-time giving
• Growth in number of gifts, but not the amounts of the gifts
• Growth in first-time online donors
• When the biggest spikes occurred
• Lessons learned from 2020
• Growth of email fundraising and engagement
• Growing sustainer programs
• How data is segmented in the report
• Lessons learned from different sizes of organizations
• Takeaways from the metrics
• The reliability of open rates

Resources:

Blackbaud Luminate Online Benchmark Report

Quotes: 

“Ultimately, I always like to have nonprofits know that the best benchmarks are your own.”

“Be prepared for emergency giving.”

“Those that grow the fastest have the most robust direct acquisition strategies.”

We are now just a little more than a month from GivingTuesday is getting closer all the time, you don’t need to stress if your organization hasn’t yet developed its plan. Today, Blackbaud’s GivingTuesday experts Matt Connell and Jackie Zimmerman join the podcast to talk about the value of Giving Tuesday, how organizations can start planning now for a successful day, and the GivingTuesday campaigns have inspired them.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Why Matt and Jackie value Giving Tuesday
• What organizations should do if they don’t yet have a plan for Giving Tuesday
• Tips and tricks for GivingTuesday
• Content strategies for GivingTuesday
• Examples of successful GivingTuesday campaigns
• Resources that can help organizations with GivingTuesday

Resources:

Giving Tuesday Toolkit

Giving Tuesday Webinar Series

Quotes: 

“While we should be giving every day of the year, let’s make sure that we especially give on this particular day of the year.” –Jackie Zimmerman

“If this, again, is your first experiment with it, you’re not the first people experimenting with it.” –Matt Connell

“Giving Tuesday is the day I make sure that my matching gift is used up for the year.” –Matt Connell

Digital communications have become ever more important over the last year and a half, and visual storytelling is a critical part of an effective strategy. Visual images help supporters visualize and understand what the organizations are doing, and how their contributions make a difference.

That's why today we are bringing back an ever relevant episode originally recorded at bbcon 2018 featuring Ira Horowitz, the founder of Cornershop Creative. Listen in to hear what Ira has to say about why visuals matter in storytelling, how to demonstrate to donors that they can be the heroes of the story, and how to match copy with the right visuals for maximum impact. 

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Why visual storytelling matters to fundraising
• Ways that organizations can make donors the heroes of the stories they’re telling
• Resources that organizations can use to get the visual images that they need
• Matching the right copy and content with the right visual images
• How to test and fine-tune a story over time
• How to make use of imagery even when an organization has limited staff or resources
• How visuals can help make data more comprehensible
• Examples of great visual storytelling

Resources:

• Ira Horowitz
• Cornershop Creative
• Blackbaud University: Multimedia Storytelling

How can finance and fundraising departments better work with each other? Why does it matter? Often, these disparate personalities find that working together feels chaotic, but it doesn’t need to be that way. In today’s episode, you’ll hear some ideas about how finance and development can build connections and better work together to support the mission.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Why collaboration between finance and development is important
• Key differences that pop up between these two groups
• The different types of jargon that the different departments use
• Brainstorming with no fear
• Starting a conversation with “I want to know more…”
• A few things that a typical person in a finance department is focused on
• The role of technology
• First steps toward making connections

Resources:

Financial Management Toolkit – Blackbaud Institute

Blackbaud University Curriculum For Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT

Quotes: 

“The idea of everybody working together as a team in order to support the mission is immense in a nonprofit.”

“Nobody that is in finance in a nonprofit organization wants to see us go over budget.”

“I would think that the first thing you want to do is open the line of communication.”

Today, improving ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance is no longer optional. People want to work for companies that are helping to change the world, consumers are making purchasing decisions based on how brands are solving social problems and addressing climate change and investors consider companies that are ESG laggards to be high-risk. Despite the imperative for corporations to be making social change a priority, many businesses continue the practice of "CSR lite," an approach that prioritizes communications and optics over meaningful and measurable change. 

Join Paul Klein for a conversation about why it's more important than ever for corporations to shift from a checkbox approach to corporate social responsibility to one that contributes to solving social problems. They will discuss what social change leadership looks like today and how businesses can help solve social problems and benefit from doing so.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Impakt’s role and background
• Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) and how a company balances these elements
• Why ESG can be hard to measure, especially the S
• Quantitative and qualitative data
• The practice of CSR lite
• What it takes to move a company that isn’t there yet
• Which organizations are getting it right
• Companies that you don’t hear as much about
• Keeping the small and mid-sized businesses in mind
• Amazing examples of how companies mobilized their resources
• How people can learn more

Resources:

Paul Klein

Impakt

Impakt Foundation

[book] Change for Good by Paul Klein (ECW press) - coming spring 2022

Quotes: 

“I think that the social dimension of business is the next frontier of what it means to be a business in society today.”

"There's a leadership vacuum at a social change level."

“So many companies don't take [being socially responsible] beyond the bare minimum and that's what CSR lite is. It's the optics, rather than the substance."

“To me, the essence of innovation is thinking about the fastest way to make the biggest difference at the lowest cost.”

What impact has COVID-19 and the racial justice movement had on corporate social responsibility (CSR)? The Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP) partnered with Rocket Social Impact to research just that. Join Carolyn Berkowitz, President and CEO of ACCP, on today’s episode to learn all about it and what motivated their research.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• What the ACCP does
• What motivated the research on the intersection of COVID-19 and racial justice
• What trends and data the research revealed on CSR budgets, importance to the C-suite, staffing needs
• Integration between CSR teams and other teams in companies (DEI, HR, ESG, Marketing)
• How to access the report: The Impact of Pandemic & Racial Justice Movement on CSR

Resources:

Carolyn Berkowitz

ACCP resources

The Impact of Pandemic & Racial Justice Movement on CSR

Quotes: 

“The expectations of CEOs and of senior leadership is significantly raising the game. They want to be reported to more frequently and want to have a greater hand in the [social responsibility] work.”

“There’s a heightened demand for measurement and there is not necessarily an increase in the internal resources to do that work… We’ve got to have the right people in the right places to do the volume of work that is expected and necessary to make change.”

“40% of companies in the survey said that they are making a long-term CSR focus-area shift. 64% of those are shifting or adding racial justice and racial equity as a priority.”

Federal grants complicate the budgeting process. You have to consider a lot of different scenarios, and you don’t have any room for error. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Stacy Fitzsimmons and learn more about budgeting for Community Health Centers when grants are part of the picture. Listen in to learn about where to start with your budget, why you need to break costs into buckets, and how to get yourself audit-ready.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• The biggest challenge of grant budgeting
• Creating a realistic, achievable budget
• Where to start with your budget
• Using budget categories for your expenses
• Breaking down cost buckets
• Knowing how much money you’ve spent and how much is left
• The joint responsibility for budgeting
• Planning the budgeting cycles for different scenarios
• Putting guardrails in place
• How to set yourself up to be audit-ready
• Documentation back-up
• Having policies and procedures that support how you use your system
• Using budgeting and expense tracking to tie into performance measures

Resources:

Stacy Fitzsimmons

eBook: Set up Your Community Health Center for Federal Grant Success: https://hello.blackbaud.com/budgeting-for-community-health.html  

Whitepaper: Data-Driven Decision Making for Community Health Centers https://hello.blackbaud.com/Datat-Driven-Decisions-eBook.html

Quotes: 

“With this type of budgeting, you’ll also be setting yourself up for success and making sure that all of your funds are traceable within the accounting system by your grant award.”

“Why I recommend this is that you will then be able to report against your budget by these categories when you’re asked to report against it.”

“If you have documentation that supports that expense entry, upload it with your entry so that documentation is right there.”

What is corporate purpose? What are the current rules for corporate purpose? And why do we need to redefine them? In today’s interview with Judy Samuelson, Founder and Executive Director of the Aspen Business and Society Program, you’ll learn about her new book, The Six New Rules of Business, and why she’s been on a mission to disrupt economist Milton Friedman’s narrative about corporate purpose.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Judy’s role at The Aspen Institute
• Judy’s campaign to disrupt Milton Friedman’s narrative about corporate purpose
• Why Judy’s proposed new rules are necessary
• How to start thinking about the rules
• Companies that are leading the way
• Advice for leaders who don’t understand yet that change is needed
• Where listeners can find Judy

Resources:

Judy Samuelson

The Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World by Judy Samuelson

The Aspen Institute

Quotes: 

“I like to say single objective functions, whether it’s about stock price or customers, rarely ends well.”

“In order to do very much, to last for very long, you simply have to be balancing the inputs that are critical to the health of the enterprise.”

“Sustainability is not an end game either, it’s a mindset.”

“Today the responsibility of companies is defined way outside the gate of the business.”

“To solve the most complex problems we need to bring people together, we need to bring these remarkably powerful institutions that we call business together to collaborate to go deeper into systems and change the norm.”