S2 Ep 12 - How Nonprofits Can Thrive: Cathy Brown on Collaboration & Growth - Visual Eyes - The Community & Collaboration Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Chris Baker (00:08):
Chris Baker, and each week we'll explore
incredible connections betweennonprofits, businesses and the
community.
This is a space where wehighlight inspiring partnerships
, uncover strategies forcreating meaningful impact and
share stories that show howworking together can make all
the difference.
Whether you're a nonprofitleader, a business owner or

(00:28):
someone just passionate aboutbuilding connections, this
podcast is for you.
Welcome back to Visual Eyes.
Today, I have the pleasure ofhaving Cathy Brown from the
Community Foundation of Broward.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Can you tell us a little bitabout the journey and what

(00:48):
inspired you to join CommunityFoundation of Broward and
helping the Broward community?

Cathy Brown (00:54):
Oh, thanks, chris, I am so happy to be here with
you.
I know we have talked atvarious places about the passion
we both share in supportingnonprofits and that really is
what brought me to the CommunityFoundation.
I started my career as anelementary school teacher and
then kind of moved intononprofit, did some nonprofit

(01:15):
program work, then ran a coupleof nonprofits, then had the
pleasure of getting to join thefundraising school in working
and teaching nonprofits aroundthe country, and so it sort of
all of those experiences.
My career has always been insort of the education and
nonprofit space, almost that Iwas.

(01:36):
If I was being paid to do, say,the education side, then I was
volunteering on the nonprofitside and vice versa.
So I've always been in thisspace.
But I happened to come down toFort Lauderdale to teach a class
and they were telling me aboutthis cool new startup program.
They had to build the nonprofitcenter and kind of how that was

(01:59):
set up to work and at the sametime, conveniently, my husband
was taking a job in Hialeah, sowe were moving to the area.
And it's so rarely doeseverything line up so right.
But as I put it together andstarted really thinking about it
, it marries everything that I'mpassionate about Teaching,

(02:22):
learning, education, nonprofitsupport, building people up,
strengthening capacity.
It just sort of does all ofthose things in one place.
So when they said, do you wantto do this, I said yes, before I
even really knew what this was.
So that's a little of thejourney here.

Oh, that's fantastic.
I didn't actually know thatthere was so much backstory that
you had on coming down herejust in the nonprofit sector.
I knew you were big in thenonprofit just because of
conversations that I've heardfrom other people and you being
here.
We met at Dollars and Cents.
We did Over two years ago.

Yeah, yeah.
That was the first formalprogram that the nonprofit
center collaborated with otherpartners to put on.
That's fantastic, yeah, yeah.

Talk a little bit about that, like how did that um
space come together?
How did you be able to pull allof these nonprofits together to
really do dollars and cents?

Sure, um, as I said , that was our kind of our first
big event, um, and and it cameout of the whole desire, as we
were launching the center, to beseen as a collaborative partner
and someone who was workingwith all of the people in parts
and activities that were goingon in the community, as opposed

(03:36):
to being a competitor or anotherthing.
And so I reached outintentionally in the first
couple of months of my time hereand met with the folks at the
Association of FundraisingProfessionals Broward chapter.
I met with the nonprofitexecutive alliance.
At that time they were stillfocused in Broward.
Now they've expanded as well.

(03:58):
I met with the United Way.
I met with the Children'sServices Council.
I met with the Children'sServices Council.
So I met and learned a littlebit about what everybody was
doing and also, at the same time, was listening to nonprofits,
as I met with them, about whatthe biggest questions were and

(04:19):
concerns were, and it really wasto understand how do we
continue to raise funds?
Even two years ago in theenvironment.
Then, yeah, you know, even intwo years ago in the environment
.
Then, um, and coming out of thepandemic, you know where's the
strengths, where are the?

where are?

the benefits, where are the challenges and how can
we start to work together?
So you know, it was it kind ofwe launched under that whole um,
let's do this collaboratively,let's do this together.

Yeah, I remember it was an amazing panel Like um.
I remember Vanessa Seltzer wason it yes.
And Tiffany and Eric from.

Children's Harbor were both there.

Yes, I'm probably missing a couple more people
from the panel, but those arethe ones that I'm still in
contact with today and Idefinitely have connected with.
So it was amazing to hear like,even as me coming in as a
for-profit, I got so much valueLike in just understanding what
the nonprofits are going through.

(05:09):
You know they're having tochange out people.
How do you get people to stayin your organization?
How?

are you?

you know, retaining these talent without you know
them taking the leave to go to afor-profit or whatever the
situation is Exactly yeah.
And so I thought it wasextremely valuable.
And I really hope that you knowwe have more of those
opportunities, because that wasan amazing event.

Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, we're excited about thatand we still.
Yeah, we've worked on severaldifferent things.
We do a funders panel annuallyin partnership with the AFP.

Good.

And that brings funders from around the
community and the regiontogether for gosh.
I think there are over 100nonprofits that typically attend
and just to hear what are thefunders looking for right now.
We worked alongside a lot ofthe business development
organizations the Small BusinessDevelopment Center and others
to help organizations understandthe business side of the work

(06:07):
that we're doing.
So we're working againalongside a lot of these
partners to make sure that ournonprofit professionals know and
have access to you know thegreat resources that they need
to continue to be able to focuson their missions.

Yeah.
So one of the biggest thingsthat I love about your
organization specifically isyou're so focused on
collaboration.
You're really trying to makesure that there's an opportunity
, and one of the things Iremember having a conversation
with you is before somebodystarts a new nonprofit, is there
a way for you to collaboratewith a current nonprofit?
It's so important becauseyou're already going after the

(06:47):
same donor dollars and if youcan find a way to merge together
or do something collaboratively, you're actually building a
different audience.
So do you have any successstories or collaboration stories
that you could share that maybethey didn't go down the
nonprofit realm and theyactually partnered with a

(07:08):
current nonprofit?

We've actually had that situation often.
I probably get an email or acall almost weekly from someone,
and what I love about the folksthat start nonprofits is it
comes out of a place of passion.
There is never a is never a.
You know a plan to go in andmake the money doing this, that
and the other.

(07:29):
It's more.
You know there always comes froma passion, but because of that,
a lot of times that researchisn't necessarily the first
thing that they do, or the youknow the understanding of what
it means to run a business,because at the end of the day, a
nonprofit is a business.
It just does somethingdifferent with the profits.
That's really the only bigdifference.

(07:49):
Right, and so so we do.
I do get that question prettyregularly and I always start out
with the same answer is youknow?
Is you know amazing Love thatyou've found this, this need?
Let's first start with lookingat who in the community is doing
it, because Broward has over10,000 organizations registered
as nonprofits just in BrowardCounty and you know, and of

(08:13):
those, 80% of them are small,grassroots, you know, sort of
single, focused, regional oreven, you know, zip code based
kind of organizations.

Oh yeah.

Very valuable but also not always as connected as
they could be.
So one of the things we didinitially is really
intentionally reached out tohelp organizations learn and
understand who's working in thespace.
So the website that we havecfbrowerorg one of the spaces on
the nonprofit center is anonprofit directory so that

(08:47):
anyone that's either doing workin the space, looking to fund
work in the space or just wantsto know who else is out there,
can get in and understand whothat list.
You know who's in that space,so you can sort that list by
who's doing work with animalcare or who's doing work with
AIDS and HIV support or whateverthe topic is, and you know you

(09:11):
can find the groups that arealready doing that work.
So routinely again, I get thosemessages and I have those
conversations with organizationsand point them to that resource
.
Uh, we also have some some umtemplates and additional
resources online that pointpeople to um particular, there's
a Candid resource.

(09:31):
Candid is a national websitebut they've got some great
training resources, um, and it'show to start a nonprofit and
how to know if that's right foryou and it's a nice little
checklist that says do you havethese things in place?
Do you know these people.
You know, do you have funds foryour first three years secured
so that you can grow theorganization?
Because you know many, manyfunders and even donors want to

(09:54):
wait and see you get startedbeforehand, so so we're able to
provide a lot of those resourcesand and help organizations.
You know, I can think of acouple of folks that are in that
process that are doing thatresearch now, some that have.
I can think of a couple thathave really found a niche that
others aren't serving and aremoving forward and getting

(10:18):
started, and then others thathave found food delivery, food
service, for example.
I mean hunger is a huge issue.
It is and there are so manyaspects to it.
And that's not to say that wecan't support all the food
pantries that we have in thecommunity.
We certainly can, but before weopen new ones, let's get in to

(10:38):
see where those organizationsare working and help them see
where those gaps are, versus,you know, just opening up yet
another space that we've now gotto figure out how we're going
to get the food to.
So and that's just you know,just just as an example.

So yeah, no, that's very.
It's very insightful because,honestly, when we're looking at
trying to help, you knowsometimes, like you said, we're
all nonprofits are alwayslooking at the passion first and
if they step back, take a lookat those resources that are out
there and see, oh, thisorganization is not serving this
area, but they could.

Right.

And now, if I just added this onto the program,
through their organization, I'mstill doing the passion, I'm
still doing the work.

Absolutely.

But you're not having to focus on all those
extra pieces of going out andfundraising.

Yeah.

Yeah, you know having to try to build a
business structure Exactly.
You know, sometimes you mayactually get an assistant just
by having the program throughanother organization.
So not everything's falling onyou, yeah, so I think that's
very valuable, going back tothat resource and that website
where they can connect.
I mean, obviously you probablydon't have all 10,000 nonprofits

(11:50):
listed there.
We actually do.
You have all 10,000.

We do.
If they are registered with theIRS, they are listed on the
directory.
It is a partnership with Candidagain that national entity that
tracks all of that information.
So any nonprofit that isregistered in Broward will be
featured there.
Now the caveat is theinformation that's featured
there is pulled from their 990documentation and right now

(12:15):
that's about three years old inwhat the IRS has updated.
So nonprofits can go in andclaim their profiles and get
that straight through ourwebsite and then put in updated
information so that your currentboard, your current budget, you
know all that kind ofinformation is there and that's

(12:36):
really really helpful for donorsand funders who are looking and
checking out organizations asthey learn about them to see,
okay, their information is hereand it's current.
This looks like an organizationthat I can trust and I want to
work with, so it's a greatresource for any organization to
be able to go in and claimtheir profile, and there's even

(12:58):
an opportunity to earn badgesthat you can earn a bronze, a
silver, a gold or even aplatinum badge.
And it just comes from beingtransparent on the information
that you can earn a bronze, asilver, a gold or even a
platinum badge, and it justcomes from being transparent on
the information that you'resharing so that funders and
donors can get in and see allthat information easily.
So it's an easy way to buildtrust, to build comfort, to

(13:20):
build confidence and to be surethat the information that is
portrayed there is accurate.
That your address is correct,that your executive director or
board chair or whoever isleading the work is accurate, so
that people know who to contact.

Okay, that's amazing.
Yeah, that's extremelyimportant, especially for donors
that are looking where do Iwant to spend my donor money,
how do I want to sponsor things?
So having that accurateinformation is crucial.

It really is.

Especially if you're trying to do something at
a micro level.

Yeah, absolutely Absolutely.
And even our grant applicationsask for the same information
that's found in Candid, and ifyour profile is up to date, that
information will feed ourapplications so that you don't
even have to worry about puttingit in there because it just
automatically comes over.
So it's just another.
It can be a time saver, butthat also shows the importance

(14:17):
and the value of that beingaccurate and up to date.

Right.
So I know that you guys areable to assist in multiple
different areas and so likeeducation, like an action plan
format, meaning the nonprofitparticipants will work through a

(14:50):
program.

Most recently we had a partnership with a company
called Resilia and we had acohort of nonprofits who spent a
year with the content on theirplatform and doing some
one-on-one coaching and doingsome um, some peer networking,
and really just strengthening.
They all would pick a few umkey goals and work through that

(15:12):
for throughout the year.
Um, and we not only sponsortheir participation at that at
no cost to them, but we alsothen at the end, if they've met
a very simple metric, thenthey're uh, we provide action,
action grants so they can takewhat they've learned and
actually put that into play.

(15:37):
So that's a model we'recontinuing to grow and making
them available to our nonprofitswho then can attend you know,
the more expensive workshops ora conference, or join an
affiliated group or you know, anassociation for a year, so that
they can learn and strengthenthemselves Again, taking

(15:59):
advantage of the organizationsand the opportunities that are
already out there.
So that's a little bit of astay tuned.
We're just getting thatlaunched and we've already had a
couple of donors who are reallyexcited about that as a funding
stream.
So we're excited to be able togrow that as time goes on and as

(16:20):
the need continues.

Well, I think the need is definitely there.

For sure.

So 100% Do you know if that's going to be,
hopefully, at the end of 2025and the future years?

That's our hope is to be able to at least launch
the process by the fall.

Perfect.

And then ideally award the first professional
development grants in the earlyspring of next year.

Okay.

So that's why I said it's stay tuned.
Yeah, that's a very stay tuned.

But honestly I mean that's very hopeful that a year
from now there's going to havethis more opportunity to get
leadership development dollarsout there.

Oh, that's awesome.
Yeah, yeah, excited about that.

That's very cool.
Can you talk about any othercollaborations that you've had
built or seen over the last,since you've been here with the
community foundation, sure?

You know, several different things come to mind at
once.
We did as an initialpartnership with the fundraising
school which is part of theLilly Family School of
Philanthropy based out ofIndiana University.
They're nationally known andrecognized and they have a
credentialing program and theyoffer classes in six locations

(17:32):
around the country and FortLauderdale is one of them and
the only one in the southeast.
So we have continued to growthat partnership and when they
first started the goal was justto have a couple of classes in
Fort Lauderdale but fortunately,because I had been working with
them and am now here at thefoundation, we were able to grow

(17:53):
that partnership.
So now there are actually twofundraising credentials that you
can take part in andparticipate and gain, and all of
the classes are offered here inBroward at the Community
Foundation offices.
So that is one of thecollaborations, that is really
powerful because, other than acertified fundraising executive

(18:17):
credential, there's not a lot ofother credentials out there for
nonprofit professionals.
It's a growing field out therefor nonprofit professionals.
It's a growing field, but thecredentials they call it the
Certified Fundraising Manager ora CFRM that is the initial

(18:37):
credential the fundraisingschool has been giving for years
and you can now fully get thatby participating in the classes
at the Community Foundation.
And then they just launched acertificate in fundraising
leadership.
So that is a new launch and weare the first location outside
of Indiana that will be offeringthose classes.
Oh, awesome.
So that's an excitingcollaboration.
At a bigger level, we alsocollaborate with an organization

(18:59):
called BoardSource to bringknow reputable national training
on working with your boards ofdirectors.
We work with SpectrumNonprofits, which is an
organization out of Milwaukeethat does nonprofit finance,
education and support.
So we just had some classesthere with them recently.

(19:21):
So there's some of those typesof collaborations that are
happening with them recently.
So there's some of those typesof collaborations that are
happening.
But then the beauty of pullingour nonprofits together, whether
it's virtually in a Zoom spaceor in person, you know, at the
foundation office or offsite, isthat the nonprofit
collaborations just start tohappen naturally as soon as

(19:41):
they're sitting around.
And I always take the time atthe beginning of a class to have
everyone introduce themselvesand what they do and a little
bit of their why, why they'redoing the work that they're
doing for organizations offeranything from tours of the
Museum of Science and Discoveryto just to experiential

(20:13):
opportunities.
Just again this morning, at anevent, I was standing next to an
organization who said oh, mykids are looking for service
hours as part of their afterschool program.

Yeah.

Speaking to an animal rescue that said we're
looking for people to care withand work with our dogs, and so
immediately that happened and so, like I said, I could probably
talk all day about you know thetypes of collaborations that
happen in that space, but itjust we've got to get people the
space and the comfort to dothat and then, on the funding

(20:50):
side, we've got to be able tosupport those collaborations
happening and making thatpossible and, you know, helping
them understand and usunderstand what that you know
what collaborative works looklike.
You know in the, when it comesto the, you know who's paying
the bills and who does the checkgo to, and those kinds of
things.
So so it's, it's a space we'reall continuing to to learn and

(21:13):
grow and strengthen the overallsector and, in particular, the
funders sector as we're, asthose collaborations are
happening.

Well, this is amazing, like my brain was just
spinning in all these amazinggood, different ways.
There's so many differentthings that nonprofits are
needing and sometimes, when weactually are working with
for-profits, they don't alwaysunderstand.
Can you enlighten you know ourlisteners are our viewers today

(21:43):
specifically more on some of thechallenges or lessons that
you've learned or seen othernonprofits learn, so that they
could actually work with thefor-profit or other nonprofits
to make it a little bit morestronger?

Yeah, yeah, that is something I mean.
My brain is spinning a millionways too, but the idea of really
thinking about what is it thatnonprofits need the support to
do and then, yeah, what kind offun lessons have we learned
along the way I'm going to gotwo directions on that, as far

(22:22):
as you know in particular,thinking about how can
for-profits and even donorsreally help and support and
strengthen the nonprofits toreally be able to do the mission
work that is so critical forour communities, you know, to be
successful and to be amazingplaces to live, like Broward, is
the development of the capacityto do the work, which is the

(22:48):
term we use in the nonprofitsector, for it takes money to
pay the people to do the workand to buy the computers and to
support the vans, and buy thegas and pay the light bill and
all of the things that it takesto run a for-profit business.
It takes that same, all thosesame resources to run a
nonprofit business.
Correct, right, and but thereis such, there's still, although
it's getting better, there'sstill such a um, a concern about

(23:10):
oh, we shouldn't supportoverhead.
Um, you know, and you hear thatterm a lot, and really, if I
could leave anybody with any, uhany education left.
Um, I it would be that you knowthat we absolutely should
support overhead, that that youknow that that is supporting the
people that do the work and youwant you know if someone's

(23:31):
doing an after school child careprogram.
We want well qualified,talented, passionate people to
be working with our kids.

Oh, yeah, right.

And it's going to take some resources to make that
happen.
Correct?
We hear a lot about theturnover in the sector, and you
know, and the wages in thesector and how hard those things
are and those are.
You know those are realchallenges that nonprofits face
when they can't get the supportyou know for some of those core
operations.
So you know, as far as you know, how can we, you know, as a

(24:08):
community, as a collective sortof continue to support
nonprofits?
I'd say that's a big area.
But the other thing that Ithink is really interesting is
how you know just maybemisunderstood or assumed it is
that you know today'senvironment, for example, is new
for nonprofits.
You know I've been in thisspace for 37 years.

(24:29):
I did the math the other day,yikes.
But you know a really long timeand you know you see a lot of
things happen, and my colleaguesdo as well.
You know we talk about justmany of the ebbs and flows, but
at the end of the day, there'sso many of the core competencies
, core pieces of work thatnonprofits are doing and working
toward.
They stay the same and in factI was just in a class within the

(25:06):
last couple of days and thepresenter actually quoted Ruth
McCambridge, who is now theeditor emeritus of Nonprofit
Quarterly, and the quote thatshe shared that is certainly
relevant today is thatnonprofits must now function at
the edge of the present and thefuture and that strategies must
be fast-moving, flexible andcontinuously experimental.
And the most interesting pieceabout that is that that was
written in 2006.
And yet it sounds like you knowit's today.

(25:31):
And someone listening to thispodcast a year from now is going
to have a situation that makesit sound like today as well.
So for all of us, I think oneof the key lessons to learn and
remember is that that issomewhat the nature of the work
that we do, that things arechanging, and resiliency and
flexibility and a true eye forsustainability through and

(25:56):
navigating through whatever thenext thing is going to be
pandemic, you know whateverthat's so important to make sure
that the organization ispositioned well and positioned
so that they can be flexible andnimble.
We all had to do it in thepandemic that was probably the
biggest, broadest example thatmost of us, at least recently,

(26:19):
can think about, althoughcertainly many, many
organizations are facing similar, you know structure challenges
and mission challenges todaythat you know the lesson there
is really that positioning yourorganization well is always
going to be important, no matterwhat we're facing.

So really, kind of what I'm hearing, and quote me
if I'm wrong, but you know it'sreally niching down specifically
in your mission.
Yeah, absolutely, because ifyou can be different enough from
the other organizations thatare doing similar work, that's
when you can have morecollaboration with those other
organizations and it's going tohelp you find those specific

(27:03):
donors and sponsors that arelike oh, I love this niche
approach that they're going togive you that money, versus if
you're just kind of broadlydoing it.
Well, they're like well, Icould give it to this one or
this one or this one, yeah, andhow do I choose?

that's always a big question.

We get yeah and honestly, they're going to come
to you as a resource to help.
Where should I choose to putthis money right?
And so really niching down tothe point where it's like this
is our mission, this is ourvision, this is what we're
trying to accomplish, absolutely.
It makes it so much morepowerful and it gives them the

(27:39):
ability to, like you said, findthat donor dollar and that grant
money absolutely, and even tobuild.

You know, kind of back to your area of expertise,
but to build, build the storyright.
That is so important.
It is in the storytelling, whenthey really understand their
mission and they reallyunderstand the work that they're
doing and the impact thatthey're making.
You know that is such animportant component to building
those stories and I mean that'sthe work that you all know and

(28:05):
do so well, but that's whatthey've got to be able to share.
That does help a donor trulyunderstand.
You know where the right matchis and where that true
connection can be.

Well, and especially in this time right
now, where we don't know wheregrants and funding is going to
come from, and it's very alittle bit of chaos, because
we're all thinking like, oh, isthis going to still be here?
Is this going to be still here?
And I put on an article onLinkedIn specifically about how
important storytelling is, nowmore than ever.

(28:41):
Because of that, theuncertainty that we are all
facing is where are those donordollars going to come from?
Because if it can't come fromgrants, where is it going to
come from?
It has to come from thecommunity.
Exactly, and the community isonly going to respond to you if
you're telling the right story,and so that storytelling is so
critical.
So one of the things that Iactually had mentioned in

(29:05):
previous episodes is,specifically, we do a lot of
different ways.
We'll teach you just how tostorytell on your own.
Go out and do it, because themore that you can put your story
out into the community and havea strategy behind it, exactly,
it's more invaluable.
So I know what we're partneringright now at the community

(29:25):
foundation of Browardspecifically, we're going to be
specifically, we're going to beteaching storytelling.
We're going to be teaching howto actually capture your own
material.
You need to create this contentlibrary that's going to help
you constantly be able to tellyour story through years to come
, through years to come, yeah,and so if you capture the

(29:49):
content of an event or you knowcapturing that testimonial or
interview, success story,whatever it is, you can reuse it
.
You can repurpose it absolutelyand it saves more money by just
having a space to store all thismaterial and then come back to
it yeah oh yep, I need this, Ineed this, I need to this, um,
and so that's extremelyimportant and I can't wait to
actually, you know, share someof this knowledge when we

(30:09):
actually get to talk with thepeople that are going to be
there.

Oh yeah, we're really excited about that
partnership as well and beingable to provide those resources
and those tools to againstrengthen the toolbox that are
our nonprofit professionals.
I always talk in my grantwriting classes about building a
pantry and having all thepieces and parts to build the
recipes for your success, andthat's what we're building our

(30:34):
stories on.
So helping people have thosepieces in the pantry that they
can pull out, I think is goingto be really, really a great
value, so we're excited aboutthat coming up.

Yeah, I do have a question and it's a little off
topic from my normal list, butit's actually kind of
interesting.
How many nonprofits do you knowthat are actually, you know,
have videos to tell their story?

Not as many as we would would like, but I.
There is some growth in that atleast, at least from what we
would like.
Yeah, but there is some growthin that, at least from what
we're seeing, and in fact weeven provide the opportunity as
a funder in your grant reportingto provide some video
opportunities for that.

So invaluable yeah.

So, again, and as that trend grows, understanding
how to build that story is goingto be even that much more
important in how to highlightwhat impact is and looks like,
because impact may not just bethe number of people that came
to a workshop.
It's going to be what changedbecause of that, and so we want

(31:45):
to be sure that people arecapturing you know all of that
kind of information and buildingthat into their stories.
That's going to be so important.
But yeah, I mean it is such aneed to be able to do that and
do that well and to be able todo that concisely.
I think that, as we look at theattention for you know, videos.

(32:06):
While I can remember when theysaid, oh, your video should be
under 30 minutes, you know nowwe laugh at that concept.

We kind of do yeah right.
So you know, just knowing whatsome of those parameters are how
to best get that story out isgoing to be so important biggest
impact that a video can make isif you can actually pull in the
right emotion that you'retrying to convey to the
community and you're trying toconvey to your target audience,
which are donors, supporters,the general community as a whole

(32:36):
and sometimes even the grantfunders oh, for sure because now
, I mean, even video is soimportant with your grant
application, like it'sshowcasing the impact, it's
showcasing the stories and thechanges you're doing.
Yes, they need the numbers, butwhen you connect on a more
emotional level, it works somuch faster in your favor.

(32:58):
So, yeah, it's having thatstrategy, telling the right
story and really kind of lookingat it from an outside
perspective.
I recommend find someone elseto take a look, give them all
the information and have themlook at what your story should
be.

Oh, for sure yeah.

Because if you are constantly living it day to day
and in and out, you're going tohave a different perspective.
But if you have someone else,look at it from an outside lens,
you can see something morepossible.
And oh, if we took it from thisangle and we did it this way or
we said you know what, let'sjust follow this one person and

(33:39):
talk about their journey throughall of the services that you
offer and the what they havecome out at the end, and having
that up and down like here isthe challenge yeah, the whole
story arc, the whole storyexactly and a lot of us just
want to say, well, here's whatthe facts are, here's what that
is.
If you're playing those type ofvideos over and over again, a

(34:01):
lot of the times the peopleyou're trying to convince to
give you money, they kind ofjust tune it out.
It's like, well, I've alreadyheard this multiple times, yeah,
but, oh my God, this could havebeen my neighbor and they went
through this and I didn'tunderstand it.
And then you saw thisorganization step in as the hero
of the story.

(34:23):
And showcased step by step whatthey've done and it's not even
about the organization as awhole for the story and
showcased step by step whatthey've done.
And it's not even about theorganization as a whole for the
story.
It's about this person, theirjourney, right, but it gives
them the best light, right, andit can hopefully get them that
extra dollar.

It does, because that's I mean.
You know, I'm not a brainscientist but brain science does
you know, in the simplified Isaid I started as a fourth grade
teacher, so in my fourth gradeteacher mode brain science, the
way that people remember storiesis problem solution, action,
correct.
I mean you know.
And so what we want people toleave you know from any story
that they're hearing, butcertainly you know, in the video

(34:59):
stories we've got the realability to make that impact Is
what was the problem?
You know that the client, theparticipant was facing, what
challenges were in the way, whowas the hero that helped solve
it?
Usually the organization or theexperience you know.
And then, and what was the endresult?
And then, what do we want thedonors to do?
Right, you know, and so we'vegot to always remember that

(35:19):
piece of it as well.

Yeah, yeah.

Excited about this?

Yeah, no, it's always great and always make
sure you have a call to action.

Excited about this, yeah, no, uh, it's always great
and always make sure you have acall to action.

What do you want them to do?
If it's just as simple as goingto your website, that's still a
call to action.
Yeah, but sometimes it's.
You know, volunteer.
What is the end result?
What do you need?
the most of, and so sometimesyou have to make several
different videos for each ofthose different calls to action.
Yes, it's not always going tobe fit into one video, and I
think that's what a lot of us dois like, oh, I just need one

(35:51):
video.
But in the truth, if youcaptured everything that we've
kind of discussed so far, youcould make 50 videos exactly,
yeah, and one video is not goingto be memorable if it's got all
of that information in it.
It's over it's overkill.

They're not going to be able?
Which?
Which group was it that had thethis and then that and then?
Yeah you want.
You want the simplified, um,clean stories, uh, and that that
is going to be so important,what continues to be, you know
well, and even on the spectrumof just kind of look looking at
what people are watching now.

People are watching more documentaries now than
movies and tv shows and if youthink about it, it's an
individual's story, right, andthey're talking about all the
different journeys.
Maybe they're pulling in thisyou know company or this
non-profit that helped them andgot them through this
challenging time, or maybe itwas just a change of you know,

(36:47):
mindset or whatever the case maybe, when we actually try to
create videos for the nonprofit,we want to go in at that angle
and we want to do it as a shortyou know, maybe three to five
minutes long, but in thatdocumentary setting like we want
to follow a story of you know,either it's an employee, Either

(37:09):
it's, you know, one of thepeople that got helped by the
nonprofit or whatever examplethat we need to kind of showcase
to really help them get theirstory across.

Yeah, yeah, and again, memorable.
You know, brief, that the donorand a funder, a board member,
can watch and know andunderstand.
You know, and we hear so muchabout people's concerns about,
oh, you know, I'm not sure myboard of directors is, you know,
is fundraising for us orthey're not sure what they're

(37:39):
supposed to be doing.
And, man, if you've got storieslike that and all they really
have to do is say you know,there's this really cool
organization I'm part of.
You know, we help cancervictims and patients and
families do amazing work.
And if you'd like to learn more, here's a quick video.
Any of us can have a simplestory like that to share and

(38:00):
that really empowers our board,our volunteers, our other staff
members and just people in thecommunity that love the work we
do to be able to truly begin toadvocate for us.
So again, the value of thatstory is so important.

You know, I didn't even think about this until just
now as we're talking, but thesekind of videos that we're
discussing right now is reallytruly how it's going to help
people stay in the nonprofitsector.

Absolutely.

Because, honestly, now you're connecting on an even
deeper level and if you'retrying to get that initial
person to apply or get them tochange a career path to come to
the nonprofit sector, it's thesetype of stories, if it's done
the right way, that are going tobe like oh my gosh, you
inspired me, you've changed mythought process on this, and one

(38:50):
of the other things that youmentioned specifically is a
nonprofit is a business, so weneed to add those resources to
the overhead so that we can hirethey can hire these individuals
to do better work and more work.
It can't like not allnonprofits can run just on
volunteers.

Right, right yeah.
And it's part of the growthpattern.
Correct, you know manyorganizations start that way.
But, yeah, there comes a pointwhen you're at capacity of what
volunteers can do and do well.
So you know, there'll be a timewhen staffing is something that
the organization's got toconsider.

Well, and if you're looking at a one-person
nonprofit, like they're runningthe whole entire ship, and Well,
and if you're looking at aone-person nonprofit like
they're running the whole entireship, and how many people can
they manage for volunteers RightBefore, it's like I need help
and that help is overhead.
Yeah.

Yeah.

And so they have to take it into consideration.

Yeah, it really is.
That's a key piece of it too,yeah, and and helping people
just understand that that meansthe work gets done and gets done
better or, more broadly, servesmore people, you know, deepens
the engagement, whatever it maybe correct yep, wow.

And so you mentioned a statistic.
Towards the beginning there waslike 8 000 are grass oh yeah,
80 percent.

Yeah, so probably 8 000 are grassroot non-profits
in broward community alone.
Yeah, just in broward county.

Yeah, with budgets under 50 000 and that's not a
huge amount of money, no likewhen you actually think about it
over a course of year likethat's gone yeah, yeah, like if
it was a volunteer base.

Yeah, that volunteer base.

Yeah, that's not paying anybody, yeah, you can't
pay anybody because it's going100% to programming, yeah, which
is very valuable, but how dothey expand?
Right, yeah, right.
So what can you tell or give asa suggestion for all of these
grassroots Because honestly, itsounds like I mean with 80% in
this sector?
How can they utilize theCommunity Foundation of Broward

(40:57):
and the Nonprofit ExcellentProgram to further get them to a
space where they can grow?

Yeah, and I mean they can jump on the website at
their own time, you know, and ifthat's, you know, midnight you
know the resources are there sothey can look at how do I run my
nonprofit.
You know, you can look at theirtemplates for how to strengthen
your board and you know how tobuild a budget and just all of

(41:22):
those kinds of things.
Those resources exist.
You can pull them whenever youhave the time to look.
We also again offer in-personand virtual classes, so there
are a lot of those, and thenin-person and virtual classes so
there are a lot of those andthen we even have some
asynchronous classes, in otherwords, classes that are all sort
of prerecorded and you canaccess them again at midnight,

(41:43):
if that's the time that worksfor you, or whatever time.
So there are some training, butthere's also a million things
that they could be focused onand that can be really
overwhelming, especially forthose really small shops.
So, picking one or two areasokay, this is what I need to
focus on now.
Growing my volunteer base,that's a really big piece.

(42:03):
Strengthening the board ofdirectors, you know that's a
really big piece because thatreally builds capacity, because
those are more people that canhelp you do the work to meet the
mission, to grow to a sizewhere you can start to bring
additional staff members in tocontinue.
So it is really helping.

(42:24):
The resources are there.
What so many of us don't and Iremember this in my days as well
is I just didn't know where tostart right, it just seemed so
is I just didn't know where tostart right.
It just seemed so overwhelmingthat I didn't know where to
start.
And so the creation of theBroward Center for Nonprofit
Excellence, in particular, onthe website there's a resource
hub that is a place to start andit's a place to see those

(42:47):
templates.
It's a place to read some ofthose articles.
It's a place to see what thoseclasses are.
It's also a place to see whatcan articles.
It's a place to see what thoseclasses are.
It's also a place to see whatcan you know?
What are the other entities inthe community that can help me?
How do I get in touch with theSmall Business Development
Center?
How can I find out what theChildren's Services Council is
funding right now?
You know what is.
How do you become a United Wayagency?
All of those connections arethere and I will warn you, you

(43:09):
know I mean it is it is a vastresource now and it's continuing
to grow almost by the day.
So you know.
But but know that thoseresources are there and we want
to see you be successful as anonprofit at any size, because
we know the needs of thecommunity are vast and you know
we lean on and rely on thenonprofit sector to meet.

(43:31):
Help us meet those needs on andrely on the nonprofit sector to
meet, help us meet those needs.
And so you know, the better wecan equip them and the better
equipped they can be to do thatwork, you know, the more success
we all see, and so that'sthat's the goal.
So so it's a starting place.
It will continue to grow, butit's it's hopefully, the place
to begin.

No, I think that's great.
So for anybody that's actuallya nonprofit that has not been
connected to the CommunityFoundation, is there any fees
that they have to worry about?
Is it completely free?
How does that structure looklike?

Yeah, as far as accessing our resources,
everything at this point hasbeen completely free and we
don't ever anticipate thosetools and templates and articles
and that kind of stuff.
That will always be freeresources.
Many of our classes andtrainings and programs are also
at no cost to the nonprofits,Thanks to you know, a lot of the

(44:24):
additional funding partnersthat we have.
The Nonprofit Center inparticular has a funding partner
with the Frederick A DeLucaFoundation, and so thank you to
them for being able to provideso many of these tools and
resources.
As we continue to grow andbring in additional trainings,
there may be some that will havesome fee associated with them.

(44:45):
The Fundraising Schools Programdoes have fees associated with
it and that's where we then tieback to those professional
development dollars that we'reworking to build and grow.
Excellent, so you know.
So it is.
Again, the goal is to be thatstarting point and we're not
membership based, so anybody canparticipate as long as you're

(45:07):
serving folks in Broward.
We, you know we welcome, themore the merrier that's
fantastic, yeah, how I know Ihave a thousand more questions.

We could go on for days I think this could be a
multi-episode, so I got likejust two more questions really
quick.
So how can specificallyfor-profit businesses connect or
collaborate with, you know, thecommunity foundation a little
bit further.

Yeah, Really, we're just sort of developing those
partnerships as well.
Traditionally, there have beenfunding opportunities, sponsor
opportunities, those kinds ofthings, as there are with a lot
of our nonprofits, but helpingto again connect to the
for-profit business withparticularly those very
entrepreneurial, veryphilanthropic wanting to support

(45:54):
the amazing social impact workthat's happening in the
community.
The best place to start reallyis that directory.
You know, what is it that yourbusiness wants to support?
You know, is it food security?
Is it food security in the topfive zip codes where your
employees live?

(46:14):
And if that's the case, theycan find those organizations
through the foundation.
We've got an amazing team.
There are 25 people on thecommunity foundation team, so
all you've got to do is call theoffice and somebody will be
glad to help out.
But a lot of those resources areavailable again to start to see
where is that impact going tobe the big difference.

(46:35):
And then, circling back to whatwe were talking about earlier,
don't be afraid, as a for-profitbusiness to support capacity or
core mission those are the twoterms that are often used in the
nonprofit sector to say this ishow we pay the people and the
light bills and those kinds ofthings.
Because at the end of the day,all of those impact the client

(46:56):
served Every last piece, so youknow, that all is part of
supporting their nonprofits andmaking sure that work is
happening.

So and sometimes I want to also throw this out to
all the for-profit businessesout there as well Sometimes you
know, if it's not money you cangive what?
If you donated half your dayfor your workers to go volunteer
?

Oh, fabulous yeah.

What if you were to offer a couple hours of your
service that you offer?

that could be very helpful for that nonprofit to
keep the lights on, to do this,whatever the case may be.

It's not always about money.

Exactly.

Sometimes it's a volunteer, it's services that
you can offer, and I'm surethere's a multitude of other
different ideas out there thatreally you know could be
valuable, and I want to try tolike pull that into this
conversation yeah, becausesometimes we get so stuck and
like, oh, oh, okay, this charityjust needs money.

(47:56):
And then you kind of like let itgo.
But if you thought about it,like, okay, wait, let me open my
vision, let me open my like,pull these binoculars away from
me and just look.
Oh, I wonder if this could bevaluable to them, because I have
an abundant of it.

Right, right Products.
Yeah, you're right, Volunteertime and there's research on
employee retention that says forcompanies, that says if they
have an opportunity to volunteeron company time supported by
the company, that is a retentionstrategy.

It is.

That is a benefit that young professionals are
looking for before they are evenhired.
They want to know what is thatpolicy, what is the social
impact that the company ismaking, and they really want
those opportunities.
So that's a win-win that helpsthe nonprofits.
It helps the for-profits.

Correct.

It helps the employee retention and employee
satisfaction.
There's a ton that goes intojust that aspect of it, whether
it's one volunteer that gets twohours a week or a month, or if
it's a group of volunteers on agiving day, those you know in
your C-suite and your sort ofleadership levels to serve board

(49:14):
service and you know and tomatch their giving as part of
that organization.
There are a lot of different,really interesting ways to make
an impact in the sector and foryou know, at the end of the day,
for your employees and your youknow your customers, because
customers love to see that aswell.

So I have to give a shout out to my old employer,
Maslin in Minneapolis.
That was one thing that theydid.
They actually were working withHabitat for Humanity and a huge
group of us like went out andhelped build a home.
And that was just part of youknow their culture and their
giving back, and so for me, thatwas another step forward.

(49:55):
I was like, oh, I get to giveback and they recognize it and
they're giving.
You know, they're actuallyletting me be there and paying
for my day, and I thought thatwas super important because,
honestly, it changes someone'smindset when you're doing
something better for thecommunity, and so the companies

(50:16):
that do that and they can seethat, yeah, I came back the next
day with a whole differentmindset and by changing that
mindset, I probably did 10 timesbetter work.
Yeah, so it's not always aboutlike, oh, he's going to be gone
from the office for a full day,but it can be so much more
powerful, absolutely.

And giving in general.
Some of the really fun researchthat is coming out of the Lilly
School and elsewhere around thecountry is the health benefit
of giving not just money buttime, energy, you know all of
those things and it's showingthat there is a.
You know, it's dopamine release.

(50:59):
Yes, there you go, it's, youknow it's Science, yeah it
literally is changing the waypeople think and the way people
feel and the way people behave,and nonprofits are given the
opportunity to help people reachthose.
You know, those amazingexperiences, and so, yeah, any
way that we can connect peoplein those experiences benefits
everybody.

Oh, 100%, 100%.
All right.
So last question as we wrap up.
Thank you for being on with meso long already, but this is
great.
What is the legacy you, as anindividual, hope to leave
through your work to futuregenerations?

Oh, and I love that question.
It's such a beautiful way toleave through your work to
future generations.
Oh, and I love that question.
It's such a beautiful way tothink about the work that we do
in the nonprofit space and aspecial way for me to get to
think about it as well.
Yeah, the beauty of the way thatthe nonprofit center was
created in this gift from theFrederick A DeLuca Foundation in
partnership with foundation, isthat it was endowed, so the

(51:54):
center will be in existence inperpetuity, which is amazing
because that means you know,nonprofits 10, 15, 30, 100 years
from now, meeting needs wedon't even can't even fathom,
will still have a resource, aplace to go.
So for me, the personal legacypiece of that in getting to sort

(52:15):
of be the starting point forthis to help to get to found
this, is to lay that groundworkso that there will, in fact,
always be a place for nonprofitprofessionals who are near and
dear to my heart can go andlearn and strengthen and
collaborate and work togetherand be in the space and be

(52:37):
successful toward their missions.

That's amazing.
That's absolutely amazing.
Yeah, I love that you'relooking forward, you know, a
century not just five years downthe road.
It's like you know what this isfor future generations.
So absolutely beautiful,absolutely.
Cathy, thank you so much forbeing on the show today.
I hope that everybody hasgotten some.
This is for future generations.
So absolutely beautiful,absolutely beautiful.
Thank you, Cathy.
Thank you so much for being onthe show today.
I hope that everybody hasgotten some amazing tidbits of

(53:00):
knowledge and tips, and if youdo need some resources, go to
cfbroward.
org, get the information there,work with the Community
Foundation of Broward anddevelop your skills, so they
have amazing workshops.
So, yes, thank you again somuch for being on the show.

It was an honor to be with you.

Thank you so much thank you for joining me on this
episode of Visual Eyes.
We hope that the inspirationand practical insights can help
you foster stronger connectionsand meaningful change.
Don't forget to subscribe,share the episode and leave us a
review.
To learn more about Visuals byMomo and how we support
collaboration and storytelling,visit visualsbymomo.

(53:42):
com.
A huge thank you to everyoneout there listening.
Until next time, remember,collaboration fuels change and
your connections can inspire theworld.

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S2 Ep 12 - How Nonprofits Can Thrive: Cathy Brown on Collaboration & Growth

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}S2 Ep 12 - How Nonprofits Can Thrive: Cathy Brown on Collaboration & Growth