New Podcast: Case Study with Veronika at the Emerald Necklace Conservancy — Fully Funding your New Strategic Plan
One of the most common questions I get is whether or not a combined Development and Mar/Comm role is a good or bad thing. Honestly, this is a big part of the advisory work I do…
👉👉 In this podcast, you'll learn how Nika’s fundraising time shifted when we took marketing/comm off her plate and shifted those hours into relational fundraising.
You see, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s President, Karen Mauney-Brodek, came to me with a post-Covid vision for next-level funding for her organization as it support’s Boston’s critical urban greenspace. As they developed a new strategic plan, we worked together to make sure the infrastructure was in place and the team was equipped to support the Conservancy’s future vision.
On today's podcast, ENC's Director of Development, Veronika (Nika) Trufanova, and I discuss the steps we took to get the fundraising engine strategic plan-ready.
Here's why I want you to listen to this episode…
One of our consistent themes when working together was slowing down. You must slow down if you’re going to reflect on your usage of hours and shift into building deeper relationships. Once your team’s hours are aligned with dollars, then you can speed up again.
Read below or WATCH the podcast episode on YouTube here.
[7:00] The ultimate compliment I can give Nika is that she knows the organization’s programs inside and out. Leaders should listen closely to how well she articulates the programs with deep ownership. That’s the level of commitment you want from your fundraising team.
[10:11] Nika reflects on why she and Karen (President) sought outside counsel knowing they’d need to grow to support the strategic plan and leadership’s vision for the Conservancy.
[14:10] Often donors don’t know why nonprofits need more money. We discuss the importance of educating donors who might not understand the financial need beyond taxpayer supported services.
[17:14] We reach the heart of our discussion: what does it take to actually fund the strategic plan?
[18:20] We discuss one of the pivotal changes made during our time together which was learning how the organization should “articulate the true need” and anchor investment-level discussions around that need.
[19:15] We discuss how her entire team now aligns their hours with dollars after a robust ROI analysis.
[21:04] Why celebrating wins and victories, both for the team and to share with donors, has been critical to their success.
[22:54] We discuss how counterintuitive it feels for fundraisers to slow down, even when we know this is how longer term relationships yield trust and greater investments.
[23:35] Savvy major-donors need more than just the mission-story. Nika talks about the importance of being “in the numbers” and how she’s now leading donors through investment-level conversations to 5-, 6-, and 7-figure gifts.
[24:56] A key shift we made during our work together was splitting her Development and External Relations role into two departments. Some weeks, Nika was spending 80% of her time on non-fundraising activities when she was Director of Development AND External Relations (Marketing and Communications). Now, there is real clarity to what is Development and what isn’t. She’s now able to drive her own portfolio and more fully support her president’s fundraising initiatives as well.
[28:32] Shifting from transactions to relationships. Now Nika shares how “the institution can benefit from their gift versus saying…buy a ticket or buy a table or…and check it off your list. So it may not translate into…more dollars in that instant, but it grows trust. It grows wanting to bring more people to the mission, get more board members involved.”
[34:45] Nika shares how working with Sherry could work for any organization because she focuses on the business behind the fundraising. Because she’s witnessed how revenue can be impacted by the organization's infrastructure changes.
[34:45] Lessons from a fundraiser with decades of experience: Always stay curious about your organization.
How about you? How do you stay curious?
Again, here's that YouTube link. And for you apple podcast listeners, here's that link too!
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.
