 Welcome to the nonprofit show. We are so glad you're here. It is Friday, my favorite day of the week. And today we have LaShonda with us. Thank you to Fundraising Academy at National University for sponsoring every single Friday of these episodes. LaShonda Williams is here, MPA, CFRE and trainer at Fundraising Academy. So glad to have you with us LaShonda. I'm Jarrett Ransom, your nonprofit nerd CEO of the Raven Group. And again, you know, LaShonda, you've done this before. You are very familiar with how the questions I go throughout today's conversation. But for those of you watching and listening, I'd love for you to hear a little bit before I move forward about LaShonda. So LaShonda, would you share with us a little bit about yourself and a little bit about your role at Fundraising Academy? Well, I'm very excited once again to join you all. Thank you so much, Jarrett, for having me today. I have been working with the Fundraising Academy as a trainer, almost a year now. And it has been a phenomenal experience. The opportunity that he's afforded has been absolutely priceless as I've been able to work with development professionals across the country over the past year, and very excited and elated to share not only have we put together a phenomenal web series that's available on the Fundraising Academy's portal, but we recently hosted our first conference, Cultivate, in which we had Jarrett to be one of our wonderful presenters talking about matrix and how matrix matter and how you can use your data to definitely elevate your organization and its philanthropic support. We have wrapped up Cultivate. We've received lots of positive feedback, and we are already hitting the ground running, preparing for year two, and we're looking forward to continuing to provide quality, complimentary training for those development professionals who are seeking additional help in elevating their organization and increasing philanthropic support. Thank you, LaShonda, and it was so good to see you there at Cultivate in San Diego. And then also the day after the three of us, me, you as well as Muhy, we did the Friday ask and answer right there on the National University campus so it was fantastic. Well, we want to thank our sponsors that allow us these opportunities that we get to have day in and day out with thought leaders like LaShonda. So a huge shout out to our besties over at Bloomerang, American nonprofit Academy, your part time controller, nonprofit fundraising Academy at National University. Again, where LaShonda is joining us from, staffing boutique, nonprofit nerd as well as nonprofit tech talk. These companies, many of them have been with us through the entirety of our tenure here which we have produced over 800 episodes. And thank you to our amazing presenting sponsors that allow us these conversations. If you missed any of those 800 plus plus plus episodes, don't worry. Just like LaShonda, she's going to be binge watching some TV this weekend. You could potentially toss in some nonprofit shows in there, LaShonda. So you can find us on streaming broadcast as well as podcast, the latest and greatest if you haven't seen it yet. Go ahead and take out your smart phones, scan that QR, and you will be able to download the app. And then just a couple of hours after a conversation, it will give you a notification that today's episode is launched and loaded on the app so you can check that out. So LaShonda, no pressure but if you get a little bored of watching, you know, some Netflix shows and you think, you know, I want to go back and listen to do something on the nonprofit show, you can of course do that, but you know that. Absolutely. And you have a plethora and a wealth of information. I'm so excited like you all shared a couple of months back that over 800 episodes. That is a tremendous accomplishment. Right? Yeah. Yeah, it's been amazing. I truly miss the episodes when I'm not on. I just took yesterday and the day before off for a little bit of birthday festivity, which is a lot of fun. And I missed it. Yeah, I missed the show while I was on. But yes, you can go back and watch any of them. But for today, as we'll go through today's conversation, we have four questions. And for those of you that have joined us live, if you have a question that you want to ask us right here right now off the cuff, feel free to use the Q&A on the platform today. And you can send us in your question. I will moderate that if we're able to get to your question today. So LaShonda, we're going to start off with our friend Jerry in Detroit. And Jerry wants to know, do you have any low cost and easily to do strategies that will help our nonprofit improve our public image? We don't need bad press. It's more that nobody knows who we are in our community and region. That's a really good question. Take it away. That is an excellent question because the way in order for you to increase philanthropic support is by individuals knowing about your organization. So great question. There are a variety of different strategies that you can use. First and foremost, I would look within my organization. Who are your top prominent donors, your influencers, and begin to collect stories about the various areas that they funded with your organization and make them personal interest stories. So also include why they selected your organization and feature those particular donors along with those programs that they've supported and provide information on the impact in subsequent ways that if anyone else is interested, how they can assist with helping advance the organization. A second option that comes to mind immediately is also thinking about your volunteers. Who are your board members and what are some of their areas of expertise? In many instances, you may have individuals that may have communications backgrounds and journalism backgrounds. They can help you with developing a communication plan, which is very important. And every nonprofit should have a communication plan, which includes the various areas of communication. Social media, direct mail, making sure that you have a newsletter, and also including some social media. So identifying individuals with those skill sets. And then last but definitely not least, you can always count on your local AFP Association and other organizations in the nonprofit sector that can provide you with some sample toolkits on getting started. So those are just a few things that are come to top of mind, but they are really easy to do and accessible to you, set realistic goals, start small, and making sure that you're consistent and persistent with sharing your stories. Great insight, LaShonda. I love that. Thanks for dropping AFP as well, the Association of Fundraising Professionals. You know, I love that you mentioned communications and the communication plan. And I feel like my entire life I've really focused on fundraising and fundraising marketing communications. They all go hand in hand, right? And so really getting our name out is so important. We talk often here on the episodes that there are currently 1.8 million, million nonprofits registered in the US. So as our guest asked that question, you know, there's people that don't even know who we are in our own community and region. And I will tell you when I first started Jerry, I was doing a 45th anniversary gala. And there were so many people that still had no idea who this organization was that I was, you know, providing this gala for. Everything that you just shared, great insight, great tips and techniques that we can do to really elevate our public image. And Jerry, I'm so glad to know that you don't have any bad press, right? Like that's a really good thing as well. They're really how do we get ahead of that and really get to, you know, expand the awareness and the brand recognition of who we are and what we do to serve our community. So we wish you the best. I think you got some some good feedback there. So thank you, LaShonda. All right, now we're heading up to New Jersey to Newark. And Nate wants to know, what steps can we take to be more transparent with regards to our nonprofit? We keep hearing how important transparency is, and you're right, it definitely is. However, I don't think we have a process to achieve this. What do you say, LaShonda? I know you've got some great tips. Right. And it really, it reminds me of one of the presentations that we've done with Fundraising Academy about building donor loyalty and trust through transparency. So check out the portal. But with that in mind, the first and foremost is you want to ensure that you have some type of annual impact report, which is standard, which indicates how the funding is handled, disbursement of said funds, and then also how they are used. But most importantly, you want to keep in mind that having donor information readily available and stories comparable to what we shared before, as it relates to a communication plan, will help you with beginning to transform the organization which traditionally may keep information and putting it out there in the universe. Depending on the type of nonprofit, you may want to also provide individual donor reports and donor messages. So for example, if you have an organization where you're providing scholarships, obviously you want to provide a donor report on how those scholarship dollars are raised, how they're awarded, and who those said recipients are. But also updating your website with that information in terms of creating transparency, you also want to make sure that you're adhering to all of the local guidelines that are required by your state and government. And last but definitely not least, ask your constituents, you know, holding a nice focus group and asking them what are some things that they'd like to have from you as far as transparency as an organization and bring them into that process and create that opportunity for them to help you shape what transparency is like to your organization. And of course you always want to ask your board on what are some of the things that they'd like to see done more and what they're comfortable with doing, but as a collective by getting feedback from those that you service, those that are your constituents and help you provide services, and with your internal stakeholders between the three of you can collectively develop a comprehensive plan for transparency what it looks like for your organization moving forward. And I want to ask a question to what you just shared is how would this, how would we go about creating this focus group, you know, do we do we select these individuals, you know, individually, or do we kind of send out a call for request to a certain segment of donors, how do you advise we do this. There are two different methods for research, you know, there is the mixed mixology and then there's those that you're actually segmenting for this particular purpose, I would definitely identify a segment of donors, and specifically those that are your loyal donors, thinking about those that have given to your organization with consistency, because again, the whole purpose and premise of creating a donor relationship is sustainability, you want a long term relationship. And this is one way that you can not only get secure adequate information for your organization and building transparency, but it's an opportunity to cultivate and steward those loyal donors and demonstrate to them that what they believe is important to them is equally as important to you so it's an opportunity for them to share. So I'd start with the base of those that have given with frequency as those to invite into the focus group and invitation by invitation definitely invitation. Yeah, thank you so much for that. And Nate, I would add, you know, guide star now can candid is a great place to make sure that your information is up to date. It will pull information on its own through the IRS, but you can go in and add to this. I mentioned specifically this platform LaShonda because earlier in my career, I sat down with a major donor, and they point blank told me you know like what's on your guide star which yes is what it was done. It is not what I want to see, right and so I said well tell me a little bit more about that what are some of the things that you would like to see on now candid, and they were very generous and their information and so you better believe I took copious notes I went back to my office I made sure that the site is up to date. And Nate that is a practice that I coach with my clients to again is getting ahead of this information, updating it on these sites, and then also linking your website, perhaps to that site, so that you're sharing additional transparency on your website. There's many financial requirements, you know that needs to be posted like your 990s maybe your annual report things like that that LaShonda mentioned. And so you could just have even a section on your website. So it's pretty, pretty simple to really increase I think that level of transparency and you've got some really good insight to move forward so yeah good stuff. Nate well thank you for your question. We're now going to Memphis, Tennessee and Jackson. Jackson sends in this question we need some help in determining a better way to be up to date on our state's policies. We have never been tied into what is going on at the legislative level, like we should be any ideas that we can implement. It's a really fascinating question LaShonda. It really is it's it's it's multifaceted, and it can be potentially complex, depending on how you look at things. So I first and foremost start off with AFP in your local chapter and identifying what those rules and regulations are as it relates to the state in which you're in Tennessee. And then you want to take it one step further and ensuring that as Julia's, I'm sorry, I'm used to Julia, as Jared said, making sure that your organization is in compliance with those fundamentals and what your overall rating is and ensuring that you've got necessary documentation to ensure the integrity of your organization, as it relates to fiscal responsibility, but most and foremost, you definitely also want to cross check and identify what are those state regulations. If you've not had a chance to go to your AFP chapters website but I'd start with AFP, then cross check everything with your internal audits and ensuring that your documentation is current and then following up with other state regulations that have been brought to your community. And another method to think about is also having an external auditor come and check out your record someone that specialty is with fundraising in nonprofit sector, so that you can ensure that you have all of those necessary documentations but hiring a professional if you don't necessarily have the skill set is something that you also want to consider. Absolutely, I echo all of that. And the other thing Jackson that I would add is to go to your local alliance of nonprofits. The alliance in my community is very versed in advocacy they're very active in advocacy, not only for nonprofits but also for specific topics within the nonprofit sector. And so, again, you know, AFP great resource alliance great resource. So really plug into those places I always also like to say LaShonda, look for the organizations that are very advocacy focused very forward in their advocacy. What is it they're doing right like what are some of the activities the tasks the communication the marketing that they're modeling. What is it that you might want to also consider doing that you like that they're doing for your mission. Pick up the phone have a conversation I'm all about collaboration right and sharing absolutely. Yeah, so give them a call, you know, let them know that what they're doing is great it strikes a chord with you in a positive manner and you'd like, like to know some more information and I would like to hope Jackson that they would be amenable to this and open to meeting with you so I love that you're looking at doing more of this so again really good way to stay front and center for your community so thank you for that. Right, good answers here and good questions. You know we talked about LaShonda Julie and I talked about since you know we started these asking answer episodes three plus years ago and how the questions continue to change. I know wow, as they continue to change so I love the questions we get. All right, now we're up in Connecticut so we've traveled all over the nation already today in just a short amount of time, but the entire development team as organization and New Haven Connecticut wants to know how many impact stats are points should we have for donors. Optimum number to present. We know this is an odd question. Actually, I don't think there's any odd questions development team, but it seems like we have too many data points and all this data confuses the issue. Oh, this is a wonderful question LaShonda what do you advise. First, you want to think about what are the essential data points because thinking about your constituents. Everything that we do as it is it is in respect to sharing information is based on our constituents. What about your constituents first and foremost, what are the simplest data points and the most essential data points prioritizing those data points will help you with being able to streamline some of the information and determining what information is internal versus external. What do you want to continue with the spirit of transparency, however, when sharing with the broader community you want to provide summaries because if you go to detailed, it can be overwhelming it can be very cumbersome, and it can be very confusing, and you want to ensure that you putting out quality data versus putting out a lot of quantity of data and having everyone confused about what it is that you're sharing. If you're developing your various data points you want to be sure that when you're providing descriptors that they are written in the simplest format to ensure that no matter what the individuals educational background is that they're able to understand it. I love demographics I simply love but you know what I love more than that is being able to read the qualitative explanation in a way that is that I can translate that image into the words and visualize it because you have a variety of different types of constituents, but you want to create a package that is homogeneous in the way that it's generic that everyone, no matter what their background will be could comprehend that information. Yes, yes, and yes, I love all of that and I too was going to mention the info graphics, I am a huge fan of them as well. I myself am a visual learner so when I can see the visual graphic of that and then yes see the narrative that goes along with it. The other thing I'll share is there is so much out there when it comes to data visualization. And I know our friends over at your part time controller they have a whole database team for financial so as we're talking about, you know, what is it that we want to share what are these data points I love LaShonda that you said, you know, pick a set, and be consistent and that is that is my best advice as well as to be consistent year over year quarter over quarter month over month right like really show how they're comparing to one another. I think that's really, really wonderful. LaShonda, I'm going to, I'm going to toss out a question for you here. Would it be appropriate for us to ask our donors maybe in this focus group right. What are some of the data points that are that most resonate with you like should we also be asking the stakeholder groups, what it is that they want to, to hear. I propose, Jared, I definitely agree, any opportunity that you have to engage your stakeholders and secure their opinions on helping shape your organization as it relates to sharing with the broader community with your messaging. You want to ask as much as possible because, again, you don't want it to be taxing, but you want to make sure that it's meaningful. So identifying and prioritizing key things that are really essential to your organization's mission to your organization's communication plan and then also to your strategic plan. So the conversation should be guided by those three overarching areas of focus. And most importantly, you can never go wrong by asking your constituency. What is it that works most, you know, for them, it's an opportunity to share some of your sample data points with them and have them give you feedback in real time about what their perception of the data is and to be able to analyze whether or not, they were able to make an accurate assessment based on the information in the way that it was presented. And if there's any ambiguity in their response or if they're confused, then that's an opportunity for you to dive in deeper to have a conversation about, well, what is it that would make it more pleasing to you or more understandable? What are the areas that you were most confused about and share with us some of the ways, as you mentioned, Jared, that you'd like to see the visualization, the language, the images that are used. It's really important and there are a variety of different types of infographics. Some individuals love the charts, some love the pie, some love the relationship models. So there's a gamut of different ways to demonstrate data points, but again, giving your constituency an opportunity to give you feedback on that and how you're conveying the message is always a winner because it draws them closer to your organization. And when you actually implement some of those suggestions from the focus group, it also demonstrates that you value your opinion. One of the things you also want to be mindful of when hosting focus groups is you want to be able to share the summary report with those that were presented, along with your next steps and action plans, because that again demonstrates to them. Not only did we hear what you said we ask you some questions. Here's a summary but this is how we'll be accountable to you in moving forward with the information that you shared and with your suggestions. Great advice. I love, love, love that. You know, it really takes me and I know yesterday we had Anne Feldman from Bloomering on talking about giving USA. So to the development team in Connecticut what I would recommend to is, you know, if you do have a plethora of data points, I think there's still a way that you can send, you know, all of these data points out. But summarize it to what LaShonda said like really summarize it maybe come down with like, here's the five key elements or here's the five, you know, highlights that we really want to draw your attention to. Maybe there's 10 right but really looking at okay from smorgasbord, if you will, of data points, we can share all of this but what are the ones that we really want to highlight we really want to put front and center maybe create that infographic to really highlight those. I think that's really good. Which LaShonda takes me to giving USA. I'm curious. Are you, did you read the report, maybe not. I saw the summary. It was a lot. Yeah, and tell me your take on it and what's going on. So in essence there are a lot of different things are changing with giving USA as it looks at the various constituencies and how we're accounting for fundraising as we know it the traditional space. So I would definitely advocate for everyone to read it because in the same vein of a lot of information and with our prior question. There was a lot to take away a plethora of information so much so that I will definitely be doing a reread because it was a deep and when I think about the comparison of the report from last year to this year. Quite different. Yeah, quite different is definitely what I will say. I definitely will say it's very different. And I'm right there with you I will need to read and reread and reread again because there's much information. And even from a complete nerd when it comes to nonprofits. There's still a time when my eyes glass over and it's like okay too much I'm full I need to take a break. I literally had the glaze like you know I was like this is a lot of information and their instances just you know like they said in the previous question. How do you identify what data points you want to share because you want to make sure that you're not overwhelming in that particular moment. Yes, my senses have been overwhelmed but it's a lot of good information as we're moving forward and developing our strategic plans and thinking about how we want to prioritize and looking at what the trends were so I would definitely employ everyone to take a look for themselves to be able to assess what are some of the their major takeaways. So just as you spoke of this, I have to say because this just connected the dots for me for this development team in this question, maybe you do report out some, some of the same elements from giving USA right you can say here's the national stats. Here's our specific stats. That might be a way to share your messaging, but there's so much information out there couldn't help but mention it as this, you know, amazing insightful team, ask a similar question because there's so much out there Lashonda, and I knew that if anyone had some insight, it would be you. So to our, our friends or viewers or listeners across the globe I want to remind you Lashonda Williams is here today joined me to thank you. She is also an NPA and CFRE she's a trainer at fundraising Academy at National University, really excited to have you on Lashonda thank you so very much for your insight and your time and all of your expertise. Thank you Jared it was absolutely amazing as per usual and great conversation. Yes, thank you so much we love saving these questions from our viewers and listeners and we save them up for this dedicated day, you know, every single week so thank you for that. And thank you also to our other presenting sponsors that allow us to keep moving and grooving here at the nonprofit shows so a shout out over to our friends. American nonprofit Academy, your part time controller nonprofit thought leader fundraising Academy at National University, staffing boutique nonprofit nerd and nonprofit tech talk. Do us a favor do yourself a favor do our sponsors favor check them out they really are good people, and they're here to help you do more good. I love I love to remind you that your mission is their mission and they really do want to help you. So Lashonda that wraps up our Friday it's always so fun to spend some time with you. I know you've got big plans this weekend to rest and recharge and maybe even pick up a giving USA or the nonprofit show recording. Definitely will be revisiting the giving USA report again and again as we're preparing, like you said, many nonprofits are closing out fiscal year and summer getting started with the new fiscal year and so now is the time to revisit how to be more impactful and how you compare overall against giving USA stats for certain. Yes, well thanks again for your time thanks for all of you that joined us for today's episode. If you missed it or you want to go back and listen to another question, don't worry, you absolutely can so you can find us on many different channels and platforms just go to your your closest smart tech tech techy gadget phone or your remote and just say the nonprofit show and we'll pull up but Lashonda I want to tell you and everyone listening as we end every episode we want to remind you of this mantra, and that is to please stay well, so you can do well. Thanks for joining me have a.