Agents of Nonprofit – Details, episodes & analysis

 In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I speak with Puneet Luthra, a government relations expert with a deep commitment to the nonprofit sector. Puneet discusses the critical role these relationships play in influencing policy, securing funding, and driving change on social issues. Drawing from his wealth of experience, Puneet provides practical advice on building strategic partnerships with government bodies, aligning nonprofit goals with public priorities, and fostering long-term, collaborative efforts to create lasting societal impact.

Topics We Cover:

• Puneet’s journey into nonprofit-focused government relations and his early experiences with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada
• The importance of aligning nonprofit goals with government priorities
• How nonprofits can influence public policy and secure funding through strategic government relations
• Navigating the complex dynamics between nonprofits and government entities
• Understanding the motivations of high-net-worth individuals and government bodies to foster better relationships
• Real-world examples of nonprofit persistence in addressing long-standing societal issues
• The value of maintaining neutrality and avoiding partisan stances when engaging with the government
• Practical steps for nonprofits starting their government relations efforts, including identifying key stakeholders and reaching out to local representatives

To Learn More and Connect with Puneet:
GovernmentRelations.ca
Puneet.Luthra@gmail.com

Support the show

In this insightful episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I sit down with Jarrett Ransom, affectionately known as "The Nonprofit Nerd," to discuss her passion for nonprofit work, her unique journey, and her philosophy on fostering wellness and abundance within the sector. Together, we explore the importance of moving away from scarcity-driven mindsets, embracing wellness in nonprofit organizations, and creating sustainable systems to support employees and communities alike.

Topics We Cover:

• How Jarrett Ransom earned the title "The Nonprofit Nerd" and what it means to her
• The early life experiences that shaped Jarrett’s passion for philanthropy
• Why involving children in community service fosters lifelong habits of giving
• Understanding scarcity vs. abundance mindsets in nonprofit organizations
• How shifting to an abundance mindset impacts organizational culture and effectiveness
• The connection between giving and personal well-being for individuals and teams
• Practical ways to incorporate wellness initiatives into nonprofit workplaces
• Tackling financial challenges and ensuring fair compensation for nonprofit employees

To Learn More and Connect with Jarrett:
Jarrett Ransom on LinkedIn
@nonprofit_nerd on Instagram

Support the show

In this episode of Agents of Nonprofit, I speak with Camesha Cox, the founder of The Reading Partnership, a nonprofit transforming the literacy landscape for marginalized families in Canada. Camesha shares her journey from working in the UK to establishing The Reading Partnership in Toronto, emphasizing the power of community-driven solutions in tackling literacy challenges. Through inclusive, family-centered programs, Camesha discusses how her organization is disrupting systemic barriers to literacy and helping children thrive.

Topics We Cover:

• The origins of The Reading Partnership and its early success in Toronto
• How literacy disproportionately affects Black, racialized, and low-income children in Canada
• The impact of interactive, play-based learning in early childhood education
• Scaling "Kids Read" from a local to a national literacy initiative
• The development of a French version of the Reading Partnership for Parents program
• The vital role of community collaboration in overcoming literacy challenges
• Empowering parents and educators to build lasting literacy skills in children
• Heartwarming success stories from families transformed by the Kids Read program

To Learn More and Connect with Camesha:
The Reading Partnership Website
@TRPNow on X (Formerly Twitter)
@TRPNow on Instagram
Donate to The Reading Partnership

Support the show

What can you do to connect better with your audience? How do you hear what they are saying beyond what is spoken? What can you do to improve your connection and authenticity with them through more transparent engagement?

This episode will help you answer any of the questions above. We welcome Emily Taylor to talk about strategic listening for nonprofits. With teenyBIG, Emily helps nonprofits engage better with their audiences through strategic listening. 
 

Topics covered:

• What is strategic listening?
• How Emily came up with the name ‘teenyBIG’
• Challenges that teenyBIG solves for nonprofits
• Qualifying questions with clients to evaluate their needs
• How teenyBIG measures their work success
• How to deliver ‘feelings’ such as connectedness, power or togetherness
• Demystifying biases to better engage with audiences
• The value of transparency in audience engagement

To learn more and get in touch with Emily Taylor
Website: https://www.teenybig.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-taylor-teenybig/

Support the show

In this week’s episode, I host Zak Pines. Zak has been in the SaaS industry for many years and has diverse experience in sales, marketing, and partnerships. Marketo, HubSpot, and Salesforce are among the software ecosystems he has worked with throughout his career. Currently, Zak is at Formstack where he has been building and managing a partner program and a community of product experts who provide excellent solutions for customers and technology partners with whom Formstack has integrations. 

In this week’s episode, Zak Pines explains how nonprofits can solve problems and create better processes around data collection, workflow, automating document generation, and collecting digital signatures through Formstack.

Topics Covered;

• Why Zak joined Formstack
• What Formstack does
• How forms work on Formstack
• Imbedding Formstack in emails
• How documents, signatures, platforms, and workflows work on Formstack
• How to build your own features on Formstack
• Difference between the electronic and digital signatures
• The platforms that Formstack integrates with besides Salesforce
• Personal branding of Formstack forms
• Data security on Formstack
• Pricing of Formstack apps
• Guidance offered to Formstack partners
• How to become a Formstack partner
• What to expect from Formstack in the future

To learn more and connect with Zak Pines:
Zak Pines LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/zakpines/
Formstack Website https://www.formstack.com/

Support the show

In this episode, I talk to my 13-year-old nephew Samuel about nonprofits, customer relationship management (CRM), and how they work. 

I help Samuel understand what nonprofits and CRMs are and how they work using gaming references.

Listen in and giggle away while I explain the following to my young nephew in a language he understands:

• What is a non-profit organization?
• What is a CRM and how does it work?
• What does it mean to be in the cloud?
• On Cloud vs On-premise
• Salesforce, the first CRM to be in the cloud
• Is a CRM a good thing? Why?
• What happens if a team player doesn’t want to use the CRM?

Support the show

Running a nonprofit requires a lot of planning, tracking and client management, reaching out to donors, staff coordination, task management, and many other tasks. This can be daunting.

With new challenges at hand such as great resignations, global economic challenges, there is more nonprofits have to handle, and this requires more seamless technology to run operations, marketing, and communication. 

Erik Tomalis, the Director of Business Development at Virtuous, joins me on the podcast today to talk about Virtuous, a technology company that supports nonprofits in setting up CRMs, fundraising, volunteering and marketing tools needed to create more responsive donor experience and increase generosity.

Topics we cover 

●  Erik’s background and what Virtuous does
●  The ideal client  Virtuous
●  Exploring the different features of Virtuous
●  Wealth screening
●  How Virtuous supports marketing
●  Payment options and payment processors on Virtuous
●  Mobile app and volunteer opportunities at Virtuous
●  Integrations that are possible in Virtuous
●  Professional after-sale services offered by Virtuous to clients
●  Partnerships and outsourcing at Virtuous
●  How pricing works at Virtuous
●  Where Virtuous is on the nonprofit CRM landscape
●  Dealing with change management
●  What’s in the future for Virtuous

Learn More and Connect with Erik:
Virtuous Website: https://virtuous.org/
Virtuous Academy: https://academy.virtuous.org/
Erik Tomalis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eriktomalis/

Support the show

Many non-profits face difficulties in acquiring and keeping up with the right technology solutions. Finding and setting up the right CRM, software, and other services is essential for the survival of any business in the modern era.

One solution that makes this process easier is TechSoup, a nonprofit that exists to help other nonprofits acquire and use the right technology at a subsidized cost. TechSoup has served 1.4 million nonprofits and saved the sector about $19 billion in software and service fees.

TechSoup does that at scale with about 120 technology companies to help manage their discount and donation program. Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Zoom, all rely on TechSoup to administer their donation and discount programs to nonprofits.

Eli Vander Giessen from TechSoup joins us in this week’s episode to talk about TechSoup’s offerings, the signup process, and how it helps nonprofits get access to and use best-in-class software at a reduced cost. He also shares his experience working with TechSoup.

This episode is helpful if you work in a nonprofit seeking to save much more on software and service fees.

Topics we cover

• Eli’s superhero story
• How Eli met and worked with David Suzuki
• How TechSoup operates globally amidst multiple languages
• What attracted Eli to TechSoup  
• TechSoup’s ideal client profile
• TechSoup’s offerings
• TechSoup’s signup process
• TechSoup’s partnerships
• The TechSoup forum
• The cost of TechSoup
• How TechSoup is different from Pond
• Resources offered by TechSoup to assist nonprofits
• The future of TechSoup

To learn more and connect with Eli:

Eli’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elijahv/
TechSoup Website: https://www.techsoup.org/
TechSoup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techsoup/

Support the show

In this week’s episode, Alexander hosts Austin Hattox who shares about his experience creating websites for nonprofits.

Austin is the founder of Pixel Lighthouse, a company that he started with his wife to create websites for nonprofits to enable them to paint a clear picture of their vision and enable audiences to interact seamlessly with them online. 

Listen in to learn more about the strategies, tools and resources to use when setting up a website for nonprofits, learn more about the Pixel Lighthouse story and best practices to focus on when creating the right online presence for non-profit organizations.

Topics we cover: 

• Austin’s superhero origin story
• On hiring unskilled staff to create websites for nonprofits
• The origin of the name ‘Pixel Lighthouse’
• What services Pixel Lighthouse offers
• Using the website to tell a story
• The ideal nonprofit that Pixel Lighthouse works with
• What makes the website implementation process successful
• How is website success measured
• Technologies used to implement the websites
• ClickUp and other apps Pixel Lighthouse to implement websites
• The future of Pixel Lighthouse

To learn more and connect with Austin Hattox:

Austin Hattox LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-hattox/

Website https://pixellighthouse.com/agents

Support the show

Nonprofits should invest in technology. It can automate fundraising efforts and get in touch with more donors. It can also keep in touch with stakeholders through newsletters, mail, email, etc., and improve data management by keeping track of donor information and figuring out how well a program is working and how successful a charity is.

Frontier is a nonprofit marketing company with a unique fundraising culture and a focus on systems to help nonprofits get results.

In the previous decade, Frontier has partnered with Canadian charities to raise over $10 million annually. Frontier develops material, creates designs, segments, and delivers direct mail and internet campaigns. What makes Frontier unique is they analyze the companies' values, beliefs, and missions adapt their strategies and campaigns accordingly.

Joining me on the podcast is Frontier’s Champion of Growth, Benjamin Johnson. In this episode, he shares how to get nonprofits started with technology and the kind of tech stack nonprofits should adopt to drive fundraising efforts, improve communication, and data management.

Topics we cover:

• The thinking behind Frontier Marketing
• The core competencies of a nonprofit
• The solutions that Frontier provides
• Digital mail vs direct mail
• Frontier’s customer profile
• The Ben Diagram: marketing, measurement, and management 
• The technology Frontier uses for digital agency, print agency, newsletters, and direct mail.
• The pros and challenging of huddles
• What Loom offers that Slack doesn’t
• The technology nonprofits use to make life easier
• How to do messaging for growth
• How to adapt to your client’s needs
• Raising the bar of standards of tech in nonprofits
• Ben’s podcast and the value of podcasts
• The future of Frontier and Ben’s next title
• Honoring your culture

To learn more and connect with Benjamin Johnson: 

Ben’s Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/mrbenjohnson 

Frontier Website: frontier.io

Support the show