New Case Study Podcast: Using your 5X revenue goals to attract major donors
On this month’s podcast, you’re hearing straight from my client, Yamilée Toussaint Beach, Founder and CEO of STEM From Dance, a national organization headquartered in New York City. As a Mechanical Engineer and Dancer, Yamilée is a perfectly balanced right brain and left brain individual. Those types of people make the best leaders AND the best fundraisers in my book!
The first time I met with Yamilée she said “I need to grow from $2M in annual revenue to $10M.” That’s my kind of client! And that’s just what we’re doing together.
You can listen on Apple Podcasts HERE.
“I had built the organization from foundation and corporate giving. I’d identified the desire and opportunity to raise money from individuals. I’d attended the workshops, I’d read the books and the articles, I'd listened to the peers, but it wasn’t happening for me or the organization. Being a ten-year ED, I’ve realized that there are people who do things really well, so why waste days, weeks, months, years of my life and my career trying to figure something out that others already know how to do really well. So, I reached out to partner with someone like Sherry who could come alongside me and show me how to raise 6-figure gifts.”
- Yamilée Toussaint Beach, Executive Director of the STEM From Dance
Here’s a snapshot of what you’re going to hear on today's case study style podcast:
[3:45] Yamilée walked into her first class at MIT…Despite all her confidence, when she came into the classroom with she still questioned whether or not she belonged in the room as a Black woman.
[5:20] How dance entered the picture when she was teaching math.
[7:45] Yamilée’s new Strategic Plan calls for a 10X growth. “When it [my organization] was just a seed, I always thought it could be a forest.” How her planning process provided external validation to grow even more.
[12:00] Yamilée’s mindset shift to budgeting with aspiration.
[12:30] Why Yamilée reached out to grow her individual giving and her approach to investing in herself as a leader.
[16:20] How she's learning the funding landscape in different cities as her organization moves from regional to national.
[18:30] How she's using speaking opportunities, PR, marketing, and thought leadership to attract donors. She didn't realize her story would resonate so much with people.
[21:40] How Yamilée has shifted into relational fundraising.
[25:30] How Yamilée is getting donors to respond to her emails. Meet the first Chief Email Officer.
[27:45] Why she's heading into meetings WAY more confident!
[29:20] Our work has been all about getting UNSTUCK. What surprised Yamilée about our work together?
[32:30] The big mindset shift and the ah-ha moment of when she realized SHE DOES have lunch with billionaires!
🔗Connect with Yamilée here
👂To listen to the episode on Apple podcasts in its entirety,go here.
Whenever you’re ready, here are THREE things you can do next:
👣 Follow me on LinkedIn here where I share the same lessons I teach my clients about attracting larger gen-ops dollars and adding 7-figures + to their bottom line.
🍎 Read my GUIDE! THE TRUTH ABOUT GIVE/GETS :: Top 5 Reasons Your Board’s Give/Get Is Leaving Thousands (Sometimes Millions) on the Table. See how limiting board members to the Give/Get model restricts gifts and keeps your staff from reaching their full fundraising potential. Here to get it.
📈 Work with me to scale your org's revenue by 2-5X and fund your organization’s Strategic Plan // If you’re a business-minded CEO already raising MILLIONS but need to diversify revenue and secure more general-operating dollars to invest in growth, you can apply to work with me here.
