Name/Title: Juliana González-Crussi, Executive Director What is your organization and mission? Center for Changing Lives. CCL partners with participants to uncover possibilities, overcome barriers and realize their potential. Our work includes coaching on financial, employment and resource mobilization goals that enhance lives, training and skill enhancement opportunities, and advocacy and organizing on economic policy and practices that open opportunities and resources. Our vision is a community where everyone thrives. How many years do you have in the nonprofit industry? 35+ years Describe a time when as the leader of your nonprofit you had to overcome what seemed like an impossible...
By Shailushi Ritchie Founder & CEO of Sevah Consulting Recently, a colleague of mine shared with me that the CEO of her agency was leaving, and the Board had decided to appoint an internal staff person as the interim CEO. “Please tell me the Board decided to hire an interim CEO,” I began. “Nope,” she responded, “they are going to assign those responsibilities to a staff person until the hire is complete.” Nonprofit boards make decisions like this all the time because of the pervasive belief that an interim leader is basically a temp, a seat warmer who signs checks...
By Melissa Lagowski Big Buzz Idea Group Founder/CEO/Queen Bee Losing Control? Reclaim Your Time! According to the data available, “only 20% of people feel their work is under control daily.” As far back as I can remember, every nonprofit staffer I know has felt the stress of being buried by an enormous and never-ending workload. The industry is known for being notoriously understaffed while still needing to meet the deadlines of the association. Along came 2020 (when everything felt strange, uncertain and uncomfortable) and people remained just as busy, but it was a different kind of busy. The comfort of...
By Amanda Lovell Marketing Coordinator Big Buzz Idea Group If you are a nonprofit leader, social media can be an invaluable tool with vast reach and accessibility that you can take advantage of. Use it to promote your organization’s mission, amplify your messaging, reach out to volunteers, find partners and sponsors, drive donations and engage with your members. Maybe you are thinking, “So I know that our organization should be on social media, but how exactly do we do that? How do we utilize social media the correct way?” Here are some tips to consider: Define Your Audience And Messaging...
By Melissa Lagowski Founder/CEO/Queen Bee Big Buzz Idea Group Be it donors or dinners or annual bake sales, nonprofit organizations live and die by their budgets and funding streams. Finding a steady revenue stream may seem difficult but it also might just be hidden in plain sight: look around to discover that opportunities exist to develop a sponsorship program that can play mightily into your success. Established nonprofits already have an underlying support system in their board of directors, staff members, social media followers, donors, etc., who believe in the cause. This network brings obvious value to the organization and...
By: Devin Ball Director of Operations Do you spend parts of your week addressing issues that unexpectedly require immediate attention and will create a much bigger issue if left unaddressed? At Big Buzz Idea Group, we refer to this phenomenon as “putting out fires.” If you’re a living, breathing human, chances are you’ve had to “put out a fire” before. Putting out fires usually requires you to push other scheduled tasks further down on your to-do list, which could mean that today’s tasks become tomorrow’s tasks, this week’s tasks become next week’s tasks and so on. As day-to-day duties are...
By: Kayla Walke Nonprofit Account Coordinator Knowing how to present your organization online is key for not only conveying and sharing your message with those who are unaware of your organization but also for maintaining current members. When someone visits your website for the first time, the last thing you want is for them to struggle to find information or dig around for a donate button! Here are a few tips and tricks to remember when working on your organization’s website by focusing on the importance of making a good impression right off the bat. Homepage Perfection When visiting your...
Name/Title: Allison Herman (she/her), Director of Education What is your organization and mission? Hope For The Day is a nonprofit movement empowering the conversation on proactive suicide prevention and mental health education. How many years do you have in the nonprofit industry? 1.5 years / Before working at Hope For The Day, I spent 10+ years working in marketing and advertising. I’ve also been volunteering in nonprofit organizations since childhood. How do you develop and grow your desired culture within your organization? I’m a big fan of leading with empathy and creating psychological safety for the passionate people who work...
By Melissa Lagowski Big Buzz Idea Group Founder/CEO/Queen Bee With all the tasks that are on your to-do list, how often are you able to take a step back and think strategically about where the association is headed and what you hope to accomplish? Too often, nonprofit leaders are rushed for time, so to meet all the demands on their time, they wash, rinse and repeat yearend planning documents without much consideration. But if you keep doing what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten. According to the National Center on Charitable Statistics, more than...
By Melissa Lagowski CEO/Founder/Queen Bee Big Buzz Idea Group I was at a networking event and chatting with someone about post-COVID challenges, and he suggested that I should look into the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC). He gave me the name and number for an agency that had helped his large company receive hundreds of thousands of dollars back from the CARES Act. The next day, I called that company and learned they wanted to charge me a $10,000 fee just for a review. If I qualified for the program, they would charge a large fee per employee. My heart...
