Audience Building for Nonprofits

[Music] The Small Nonprofit podcast is brought to you by Further Together Fundraising, which is actually my company, where fractional fundraisers work with social justice nonprofits in Canada and the States. Typically organizations who have tried hiring wins or twice, but it hasn't worked out. We use community-centric fundraising to build sustainable revenue systems, and here's the key. We don't just strategize. We roll up our sleeves and do the work with you. Donor meetings, campaign execution, grant rating, all of it. If you're ready to stop doing fundraising alone, visit GoFrtherTogether.ca. We are generally thinking about technology through the lens of driving revenue and not being a cost center. I think it's probably the most critical difference for me is instead of saying technology as cost and your line items and your budget and something you just have to stomach, it's instead seen as an opportunity to actually drive more revenue. Hi, friends. Ever wondered how you could turn your big ideas into results? Together, let's reimagine a better sector. Tackle systemic issues. And yes, raise some serious cash. Welcome back to The Small Nonprofit, the podcast where your passion meets action. Hello, everyone. Welcome to or welcome back to another episode of The Small Nonprofit podcast. It's your host, Maria and today I'm with Krista. Hi, Krista. How are you? Tell us about yourself. Tell the audience all the amazing things that you do. Oh, sure. So I'm Krista Stoltzmiller, and I am the Chief Technology Officer at Charity Water. I've been here just under about two years. And working in the space of bringing clean water to communities that don't have clean water today, which there are over 700 million people in the world that are lacking access to clean water today. And so we are using technology and our fundraising to help address our mission. I feel like for a lot of nonprofits, especially our listeners, like Small Nonprofits, they might not know what a cheap technology officer is. What do you do day to day? So a cheek technology officer were focused on building products for our donors, building products for our internal staff, building products for our partners. Whatever that may be, we're building digital products. I should be very clear about that. So we build a digital project. Whether it might be an app or whether it might be a website or something along those lines, we're focused on building that out. And generally, a chief technology officer's focused on product and design and engineering and data. So all the facets of what it means to bring something like that up. And we are generally thinking about technology through the lens of driving revenue and not being a cost center. I think it's probably the most critical difference for me is instead of seeing technology as cost and your line items and your budget and something you just have to stomach. It's instead seen as an opportunity to actually drive more revenue. And so there's a real difference in terms of how the chief technology officer role gets applied. I love that you're talking a little bit about using technology to generate revenue because an app is a really cool and innovative way to do that. But I feel like nonprofits usually miss even the lower-having opportunities. So like understanding who your audience is, speaking to them on platforms that they are currently on, not just starting a TikTok for no reason. I wonder if you can tell me what you're seeing in the sector when it comes to nonprofits. Are they using tech appropriately? Are there opportunities they could be jumping on? Where I do see a lot of nonprofits putting effort is in trying to understand their audiences and the fantastic place to spend your time is really thinking about your data and your data architecture and how you understand who your supporters are and how all of those donations come in might relate back to the programmatic effort that you're making. So there should always be a huge technology investment. And some may be doing it more than others but I do think it's a place everybody should be spending their time where I see technology used less often is how we still tell stories and how we try to build empathy with donors who may be living in a geographic region that's very different and a very different lived experience than the communities that we're actually trying to serve. And sometimes I can feel very far away and if there's one thing we know about technology it's made the world smaller. Over the years and how we continue to use technology to try to bring someone's lived experience maybe in a smaller country in Africa with someone who might be living here in the United States who has 17 water taps in their house and figure out how to bring those experiences closer together. To one another we do use technology to try to make that happen as well. And so when I think about innovative ways that nonprofits can be using technology it's really about how are you using it to build empathy and how are you using it to build the connections. I recently had someone on the podcast who's talking about a report that outlined the less connected you feel to your community the less likely you're willing to give. And especially with younger people when there's a great increase in apathy how can you actually get them to take action. And I think that it's also really important to think about because we see philanthropy changing so much we see nonprofits changing so much the way that we talk to our donors the tools that we use how to really transform. It's true and I do think what you're saying here about like when you're less connected to a community you're less likely to give. I do think we see that across the board, right? I think in general folks are looking for different ways and easier ways to make positive impact than finding the cause. And so they're looking for easier ways to make that impact and we have to be thinking about easier ways to get in front of folks who may be wanting to make a positive impact overall. You really need to search for those ways to make folks feel like they are part of a bigger community and sometimes it's a worldwide community. I've seen some organizations do this really well through partnering with influencers. So like the influencer will bring your nonprofit's brand to their whole audience. One of them that I watch is a true crime channel in what she does as she partners with this organization that supports murdered and missing people and they're loved to end. So is that kind of what you mean when we're talking about nonprofits getting in front of audiences in different ways or can you give us another example? Yeah, I can like in terms of getting in front of people in different ways. We can think about what charity water is done is try to create a retail experience in a retail space. So it's part of your everyday experience, right? And so you may be walking into a location where there's restaurant and where there's shoes, essentially stores and your neighborhood coffee shop is there. And then having charity water be a part of that overall experience. And so it has a storefront like anything else. And then you can come in and experience and learn in that space. Maybe like a little mini educational center or a mini museum, if you will. Like something along those lines where we have exhibits and you can really learn about the clean water crisis. And so it's integrating it more directly into what someone's going to be doing every single day. And so that's something that we've recently launched. But that's an example of what I'm talking about. How to make it easier to be part of your everyday thinking around how you're thinking about doing good in the same space that you might be grabbing your morning coffee. Oh my god, speaking of mornings, I triggered this memory of my friend who used to work in corporate fundraising for a really large organization in Canada. And like she was talking about how do I build this partnership with this like serial company to get my brand that supports children and youth development in front of a whole bunch of different families. So there's some different ways of partnership that you can do like with the influencers or with corporate. That's right. I think brand partnerships are clearly key. Like where we can have a brand partnership where there's a natural fit between a brand and what your mission might be. I think those are always opportunities that we should be looking for. And this sort of leads us into how do we make it easier again, right? This gets into the whole social capitalism piece that I know you and I have chatted a little bit about before. And this piece is really making it easier and easier for people to make a positive impact. And I do think nonprofits need to be thinking about this, right? We need to be thinking about the fact that the for-profit world isn't just about making a dollar anymore. It's also about making a positive impact. And we've long differentiated ourselves as we're here for making a positive impact. And for-profit organizations are there for making a dollar. And these two worlds are getting closer and closer together. And so nonprofits really need to be thinking about that. And as folks are moving into a space where they're getting more comfortable with sending their dollars to different retailers that might be making a positive impact how we fit into that equation overall. There was another study. I think it was next after that set 68% of customers find it very important to buy products from a brand that they believe shares our values. I think nonprofits end up bringing a lot more value to the table than we think. And it's just such a good opportunity for partnership to you capitalize on their need to be seen as socially responsible. It's true because new organizations can structure themselves in this way up front, right? Like we see a lot of public benefit corporations starting to set themselves up early on, and nonprofits who have been around for a while. This is a place where the two can come together and really start to innovate around this social capitalism idea. So there's opportunities for nonprofits out there to actually make that difference overall. Not everyone is going to follow the Patagonia model. That's an incredible model that we saw unfold. But I think there are simpler opportunities that we can go after. It's just in the way that you're describing around brand partnerships and figuring out how you can not just have that one moment or that one campaign with that brand partner, but how do you establish that ongoing relationship where for profit organization can start transforming themselves to also be operating in the social goods space while also elevating our nonprofit. And you mentioned Patagonia. Do you mind just telling us a little bit about that? I think some people in the audience will know about it, but just in case. So what Patagonia did is they transformed their organization in a way where they direct all of their profits into a climate change, nonprofit. I wish I could tell you the technical details of how they manage that a little bit better. But really what they set themselves up for is instead of saying that they're going to be using their profits to be elevating stock prices or things of that nature, they're directing them all into a for good endeavor focused on climate change in particular. And it's set up that way and perpetuity is my understanding. Yeah, there's a bunch of brands setting up their own nonprofits too. I was just thinking of Ronald McDonald's as well. Yeah, and I think there are different organizations that have a public benefit arm of some kind, but they really run a separate organizations. I think what Patagonia did was very specific where it became the funding model for that particular organization rather than running side by side and being something that gets funded from the profits. It's not a committed for good profit in the same way that Patagonia is a committed for profits going into a for good capacity. Do you see like younger people reacting better to something like this or like everyone across the each spectrum? I think everyone across the age spectrum can certainly benefit from it, but what we see in general is younger people making these choices that you talked about a moment ago, the 68%. I think we see younger folks making those choices more actively, saying, "I'm going to buy my socks from this very specific place because I know that there's a benefit for it." And I think it's also just easier, right? It's so much easier to engage. And when you have an easier path, it's like walking downhill, right? Why wouldn't you do that? If you're faced with walking uphill or walking downhill, a lot of people will choose walking downhill. So, I think it just becomes a natural part of their buying experience. If that makes sense, and we see movement amongst younger people, for instance, and I came out of e-commerce prior to working at charity water, and we saw a move toward shopping, second hand clothing, and shopping in ways that sell more sustainable overall. And all of these things, I think, impact younger people behaving in ways like in patterns that are newer than the patterns that we may have observed historically. And you think that comes back to your store, which is much easier for people to know what you do, how you do it. When criticism, though, that comes to mind, is some fun reasons will think, like, well, if they buy socks at charity water, they're not going to donate. Like, they're going to feel like that's enough. That's right. And what do you think about that? And I think we should just grow the pie. I personally would not want to sit in judgment of anyone's choice of how they choose to engage in a for good context. In general, I would love to see more funds funnel to nonprofits, especially considering how strict the regulations on nonprofits really are. And like, knowing internally how much work goes into making sure that your dollars are being used in a way that you can trust. Aspect of it feels there's something that nonprofits have that social capitalism doesn't have today. But as a human, I would like to just grow the pie of giving and sharing what we have with those in need across the board. However, anyone chooses to go about it. I know I wouldn't sit in judgment of how they actually choose to do that. Let's take a quick break. Hi, friends. Have you heard of the What the Fundraising Podcast? It is hosted by the amazing Mallory Ericsson. Tell us about it Mallory. If you've ever thought fundraising shouldn't feel this hard. I want you to know you're not imagining it. What the fundraising is a podcast for fundraisers who are tired of burnout, scarcity, and being told to just try harder. Each week I sit down with scientists, fundraisers, and sector leaders to unpack what's actually happening in our brains and bodies, our systems, and our relationships with money. This show is about helping you raise more without hating your job and without abandoning your values. You don't have to choose between effective fundraising and feeling good. Come listen to What the Fundraising, wherever you get your podcasts. That sounds amazing. Friends, I really encourage you to go listen to the really interesting conversations on what the fundraising. Let me know what you think. And now back to the episode. Across the board with a lot of influencers who are seeing some of this issue, like I'm not sure if you know Mr. Beast, but he's really well known for giving funds out. And now he's spreading criticized for doing it for his own gain and how much are you actually giving out. So that was one example. And another one was like a Twitch streamer that their revenue was getting cut down significantly because the platform that was racing it, that was an intermediary between Twitch and the charity was seeking 40%. Yeah. I think there is really something there with the regulation side of nonprofit. Yeah. I do think we have very strict regulations on nonprofits overall. And so I do feel like there's a level of confidence that any donor can have when they know that they're giving to a nonprofit. We publish all of our financial statements online. And so that is something that I think nonprofits have today as a competitive advantage, if you will, and that we are held to a higher standard around all of these elements overall. And the other thing nonprofits have that I think gives us a real advantage in terms of if you want to direct your giving dollars in a particular way is the sustainability aspect of it. And since when we bring clean water to a new community through partnership with that community and partnership with a local implementation partner, we're doing it in a very specific way. We're working with local implementation partners who actually live and work inside of that community and the community has a voice in the solution that is coming to their community that will bring clean water overall. And we're also setting up through those systems, the long term maintenance of those water points because it's one thing to bring clean water one time and it's another thing to bring it for 10 years. And some of the environments are hard to operate in. It is an advantage, I think, that most nonprofits are playing the long game. They're not playing a short game around trying to make positive social impact. So playing that long game and making sure that whatever we build lasts for 10 years or more to give that community time to build and reap the benefits of now having clean water, such as better health and better economic opportunity. All of those things we're looking to both drive those long term outcomes and measure those long term outcomes and show our donors what those long term outcomes really look like. Made me think of, can't remember, but it was like buy a shoe, give a shoe maybe, and how then people weren't getting robbed for their shoes. Because it wasn't a sustainable solution. It wasn't like asking people what they needed. It was, oh, this makes sense for our brand and we just assume it makes sense. But that local partnership meeting with people is something that a lot of corporations can't see that they do. We'll see this more and more. It's just like what exists in the nonprofit space today as you want to be very careful. It's like, everyone takes a lot of time to really decide where they're going to be giving their dollars and why they're going to be giving their dollars there and rightfully. So I think we'll see some of that permeate back into the social capitalism space a little bit more where people will start asking harder questions about, okay, when I am doing this, how do I actually see and how do I actually know that the buy one, give one model turned into the buy one, give one model I'm assuming it is, right? So we're going to hopefully start seeing some of those expectations landing in the same way. There's also like no reporting requirement. I assume you did it, but with nonprofits, there's such a high standard of huge stand that you did it. That's right. We're all held to a standard and then we're all trying to go go even further than the standard that we're even held to because we know donors really want to know and they want to be connected to the impact. And so I know charity water in particular worked very hard on its impact reporting and its impact experiences so that we can actually deliver back to a donor which community you helped bring clean water to and where that community is. Along the GPS coordinates of those projects that's not anything that is necessarily required from an auditing standpoint but it's something that we do because transparency is key I think when you want to reassure folks that their dollars are being used in responsible ways. Especially when you have organizations, so you're in the States on the Canada, I don't know if you heard about all that scandal in Canada. Oh, I didn't. Okay, basically two brothers started this organization, they've been doing it since they were 11 and 12. And just a lot of what they were doing was very shady. They got run out of Canada with this huge scandal that happened with the government. But one of the things that came up was like this family that had donated in memory of a child that had passed away and they had fun at this school and visited the school. What me to we was doing for the children was they were bringing a different family and just like removing the plaque and putting on another plaque. So they was like this kind of like representation of accountability but not actually true. So just like going above and beyond to report on it, you avoid that screening, the corporate gets and also some other treaties. Yeah. And it's those stories that are road trust and giving that always make me very sad when I hear stories like that because the idea is to build trust and to build transparency and to actually make a positive impact. And I do think there will always be bad actors and an environment and so staying informed. You know, it's the opposite of reducing friction, right? And reducing friction is trying to be in the spaces where everybody else is and making sure that there is awareness around your mission and the problem that you're trying to solve. But then the flip side is yeah, just making sure that you're always demonstrating trust and transparency. We have to work so hard just to counteract what I know is a very small percentage of what happens in the space today, but it just has outsized impact in terms of folks trust overall in terms of how they spend their giving dollars. Chris, so for someone who is looking at this as a possible news source of revenue or possible strategy, what do you think about the first few things that they should do to get more eyes on their brand, whether that's youth or just the general public? I think it really depends on your audience. So if you're very small and locally focused, I might be looking. And so I think that's a great thing to be able to do is to make sure that you're not being able to do something that you're not able to do. And so I think that's a great thing to do. And then ideally, otherwise, please go to charitywater.org and check out our page. We share tons about our mission and you can learn a ton about us there. And so we'd love for as many people to learn about clean water as possible. Such an important cause, honestly. Thank you so much for being here and thank everyone for listening to another episode of the Small Long Prophet Podcast. I hope that this inspired you to innovate and think about things a little bit differently. So go out there and try something new and let us know how it went. As always, if you want to see our lovely faces, you can check this out on YouTube. But that's it for today. We'll see you next time. Bye for now. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Small Long Prophet. If you want to continue the conversation, feel free to connect with our guests directly or find Yon LinkedIn. Let's keep moving money to mission and prioritizing our well-being. Bye for now. (upbeat music)