On Air with Amber Podcast
The Real Talk on How to Run a Profitable Nonprofit
On Air with Amber is like having a conversation with your BFF. Difficult concepts are broken down into easy-to-understand explanations; get clear step-by-step instructions on how to build and strengthen your organization’s infrastructure; learn how to stop self-funding and start generating consistent outside funding, and get access to tons of useful resources.
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All Episodes:
Episode 129: How Are You Rewarding Loyalty? The Impact of 1099 Part Time Positions
1099 Part time employees are forced to live from paycheck to paycheck, no health benefits or opportunities for growth despite their dedication and loyalty to your organization. To keep them tethered to a spotty future is not rewarding their sacrfices to your organization and the community. Learn what every Executive Director should be doing to honor the hard work and commitment of their staff.
Episode 128: Who is Your Competition? What a Funder is Really Asking
Nonprofits these days are rarely unique. Funders ask "Who is your competitor?" to see if you've done your research and have explored opportunities to collaborate. They're looking for a return on their investment. Learn how to respond to this question and how to leverage your research to increase your organization's impact in this episode.
Episode 127: Are You Asking the Right Questions? Do They Lead to Growth?
If you're 2+ years in with your nonprofit and in the same place as you were last year (self-funding your organization), then you are asking the wrong questions. If you're still asking "How do I get grants?" or "How can I get this for free?" you're asking the wrong questions. A nonprofit is a business. You should be asking those who are where you want to be, "How did you get there?" Learn all the questions you should be asking to stop funding your organization and start scaling and making the impact you started your nonprofit to make.
Episode 126: Asking for (and Getting) Donations
It takes more than a 501(c)(3) to get donations. Donors are asked 25 times a day for donations. Learn how to make your requests stand out. Get the secret formula for securing donations for your program, event, and organization with this one thing that seals the deal!
Episode 125: What to Do When Things Go Wrong (with your Grant): Be Proactive!
Things go wrong in life. It's just the way it goes. The unexpected also happens when administering programs. Learn the appropriate way to respond to keep your organization from being suspended or ruining your relationship with funders.
Episode 124: Who's Holding You Down? And, Who's Holding You Down?
Every Executive Director needs a person who will hold them down - encourage, support, listen tell them the truth. Then there are people who Hold you Down. Literally, never have a positive thing to say. Always pointing out your short falls. Learn how to create a strong support system by increasing one and decreasing the other.
Episode 123: Networking in the Nonprofit Sector: Building Capacity by Being Strategic
Networking in the nonprofit sector is important. Visibility helps nonprofits get in front of Funders and potential collaborators. Networking is not about showing your face in every space. It's about being strategic. Learn how to network effectively to increase capacity and maximize your time in the community.
Episode 122: Are you Coachable? Are you a sponge or a brick wall?
Are you open to new information, receiving it in new ways, trying new strategies? Or do you push back. Do you find ways to Not Do what's being suggested. Do you find yourself saying, I've done that before. That's not being coachable. Being coachable is being open, trying new things. Learn how being coachable can help scale your organization.
Episode 121: How Philanthropy Perpetuates the Nonprofit Poverty Cycle: And How to Respond to Modified Awards
If you've ever been in the situation where you've submitted a grant requesting a specific amount, but the Funder responded offering your organization much less than your request, you might be at a quandry at how to respond. On the one hand, some money is better than none, so you want to accept the reduced amount, but at the same time you know you can't do the same amount of work for less than budgeted. What do you do? In this episode, learn exactly how to respond so that your organization doesn’t perpetuate the nonprofit poverty cycle (doing the most for less).
Episode 120: Artificial Intelligence and The Nonprofit: Everything Has It's Place
AI is everywhere. You can't hide from it. If leveraged the right way, AI can be used to increase efficiencies in the nonprofit. Learn how AI might be used in the nonprofit to help increase capacity and fill gaps that struggling budgets aren't able to fill.
Episode 119: The Difference Between Volunteer-Based and Volunteer-Led Organizations and Why It Makes a Difference
How do Funders view volunteer-based and volunteer-led nonprofits? It may not be what you think? Funders are concerned with accountability, continuity, and consistency. Learn how to make your funder feel comfortable with funding your organization if it is volunteer-driven.
Episode 118: The Truth About Government Grants: So That You Can Make an Informed Decision About Whether or Nor to Apply for Them
Government grants tend to be large, multi-year grants. To the untrained eye, a government grant may seem like a great solution to your funding woes. While large multi-year grants are great there are a lot of compliance issues surrounding government grants that nonprofit leaders should be aware of before they pursue and land one. Learn what they are and if your organization is at the place where it makes sense to pursue them.
Episode 117: The Advisory Board: How to Use it for Your Advantage
The Nonprofit Board of Directors has its Fiduciary responsibilities to govern the organization. But what about the Advisory Board? Does it have role? It can. Learn the two ways to strategically leverage an Advisory board to help strengthen your nonprofit.
Episode 116: Let's Create the Community We Want to See: Sharing Resources within the Nonprofit Community
We all have something to offer, because we all have tried and failed, tried and won. With resources so limited in the nonprofit sector, we win by sharing knowledge and resources--not by competing. Let's pool our shared wealth of knowledge and insider secrets with those struggling to make this world a better place and fill the gaps that prevents our sector from accomplishing the mission we are here to accomplish.
Episode 115: Meet Your Donors Where They Are: Nonprofit Marketing & Fundraising Strategies
Are you posting on IG like crazy, but not seeing any return on your efforts? It could be that your donors aren't on IG. Learn how to research and identify which platforms your potential donors are on and how to reach them for more effective fundraising outcomes. Meet your donors where they are. Nonprofit marketing and fundraising requires strategy and intention. Learn what that looks like so you can increase your donations.
Episode 114: When You Know Better, Do Better: Correcting Errors Stemming from a Lack of Knowledge
When you start a nonprofit, there is a huge learning curve. Many nonprofit leaders do things that don't align with industry practices and norms. Instead of addressing these missteps, they keep them in place, not knowling that they serve as red flags to Funders and nonprofit leaders in the sector. When you know better, do better. If you don't know how, listen for the steps so that you can improve your organization's reputation and prospects for funding.
Episode 113: Friend or Foe: Putting Perspective on Competition vs Collaboration in the Nonprofit Sector
There are times when nonprofits need to collaborate and times when they are in competition. It's important to understand when, how, and how best to cultivate collaborations, and when, how, and how best to set your organization a part from your competitors to win grants. Learn the in's and outs to powerfully set your organization up for success.
Episode 112: Running a Nonprofit Business Ain't for the Faint of Heart: Running a Business is Hard
If you got into this thinking grant money was waiting for you. If you thought it would be easy (not a Real business). If you thought you could just make stuff up and get funded. You picked the wrong business! Running a PROFITABLE nonprofit takes more work than running a for-profit business. Learn all it takes to be successful as a nonprofit organization. Save time, money, and get the real deal about running a nonprofit.
Episode 111: Funders Follow Street Signs: What are your Coordinates?
Funders don't know you from eve. All they know is what you show them. Words have meaning to the IRS. What are your coordinates? What street will your sign lead funders to? Stop making stuff up. It hurts you in the end. Learn what your lack of knowledge could be doing to your ability to generate revenue and how to change directions so that you lead funders to an organization ready to receive funding.
Episode 110: Stop Moving: Busyness vs. Being in Action
Are you at every community meeting? Do you sit on multiple committees? Join every rally? If so, ask yourself if those efforts are moving your organization forward? Chances are they are not. What they are doing is keeping you Busy. Learn how to develop a strategy that maximized your time and effort. Learn how to Stop Moving and start Being in Action -- doing things that moves your organization forward instead of burning you out.