A pulse points, Grant writing. Development for the board, of course, and also, excuse me, also building relationships. So, you know, I feel like we've, we're touching on 4 of the most important pulse points for nonprofits over the the next 2 months that we're together. So my professional background has kind of been tailored moving in that direction. So DEI, fundraising, grant writing is all connected. That's another thing I noticed. So the more successful you are at diversity, equity, inclusion,
and in board development, the more successful you are in attracting funds and attracting partners to do your work. So I hope to see you August eighth. I want to also thank the members of my illustrious sorority, Suffolk County Alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Data Sorority is is on the line as well. Great to see my so wars and thank you everyone for being here today. So this is the first of 4 session sessions for this year's summer camp. Today is all about grant writing on the eighth we're gonna m
ove right into fundraising September is when we start talking about diversity, equity and inclusion for nonprofits specifically because DE and I has a very different flow for nonprofit organizations and then finally later in September on the nineteenth we'll have a very, very casual informal coffee and connect where we can talk about all of these ideas and concepts and just have a free-flowing. What I call learning share. I don't even call it networking anymore since the pandemic we have all bec
ome I feel closer in the community than we ever did before. We share more where boundary lists. The competition, the competitive mindset has even diminished. So I'm looking forward to that. And I'm very excited to be here, you know, with you all today, Elizabeth. Nicole, can I add that that last that coffee and connect session is a great place for Nicole and I to come up with new ideas for programs because here what you guys pain points are what you're most interested in then gives us ideas on w
hat we can do for the future. Incorporating programs specifically for nonprofits in, you know, every month or more frequently. So that's going to be a really great session to be a part of and really get your voice heard. Thank you. Absolutely, absolutely. And that's, really important Miller business and Elizabeth specifically has been really effective with creating programs that actually address an issue that we're dealing with in the nonprofit industries. Presently. The whole idea behind this i
s to get you tooled up and to build strength for you to go into your program here. So tonight, today, our overview, the purpose is to 0 in on grant writing success. The takeaway is to get greater clarity on your overall grant strategy and the takeaway is for you to understand how to write a compelling case statement. How to develop attractive goals and objectives and not just attractive goals and objectives, but attractive goal. And in objectives that are feasible and achievable. And building st
rong relationships. So before we begin, just wanted to give you a quick. Percentage point. A statistic that I just read from the nonprofit center that 43% of all the COVID related relief funds for nonprofits was unrestricted. That is only happened 2 times. In the history of America by the federal government. So are repeat that the pandemic. All of the funding that was earmarked for nonprofits was unrestricted, meaning that if you could prove you were a nonprofit and that you suffered, you got fu
nded. So I detect a shift. And how the federal government views the nonprofit industry. I think finally they see the nonprofit industry as sector. As a critical component of how they do their work. Because in talking with my friends in the federal government because I worked in a federal government for a decade, what they tell me is during the pandemic they realized they couldn't get their work done or the missions accomplished without the nonprofit industry. It became starkly evident that they
needed the nonprofit industry. So what that tells me is what I'm going to share with you today is your grant strategy really has to be tailored to be attractive for every level of government. The state. The federal, your town, your village because the viewpoint of nonprofits is now getting to a place where it was like back in the sixties and seventies where we saw all these nonprofits, you know, spurring up, getting started and entering into the social justice and everyday life of Americans. I t
hink we see that again. So, 43% of the funding that came through the federal government for nonprofits was unrestricted. The second element is in New York State alone. There has been a 25% increase. In the creation of nonprofits since the pandemic. So this is a very fertile and fruitful era. I'm my friends are calling it the year of money for nonprofits and for. State agencies as well that we may not see an era like this in a while. So I would take what you learned from today, tailor your grant
strategy. And then apply it moving on. Next slide, please. So just something very fun and easy, a quick chat drop. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream and how many years has it been your favorite? This is interesting and I'll tell you why. So I'm gonna put mine in here. Coffee, yeah, I was like, just a butter pee kid or coffee. Yeah, chocolate. A long time, yes. Salted caramel is a number 2 for me. Minchocolate chip, yes. Yes, lot of mint chocolate chips here. A lot of chocolate, lot of ch
ocolate chips. Yeah, so we have a lot more in common than we think. And if we were together, I would have you group by your flavor. And you would be very, it would be, you would have so much fun. It was so interesting to see how people can talk and laugh. About ice cream and how that connects us and then we tackle you know, more compelling issues. I do that a lot in my diversity equity inclusion. Your favorite ice cream, your favorite movie, where did you go on your first date? These are like al
l things that we all have in common and it kind of helps us learn about challenging issues together. I love coconut mango. I love sorbet. Don't be upset if you can't choose. Thank you for participating. Next slide, please. No butter pee can. I can't believe I'm alone in all of this. So our agenda today, we're gonna talk about the case study. Then we're gonna move right into goals and objectives. And finally, ending on building relationships. Important note, goals and objectives are very differen
t in the grant world than how we use those terms in our day to day life. When we talk about goals and objectives in our day to day life, we talk about something very different than what I'm going to share with you today. In the grant writing world. A goal and an objective are very different and we're gonna share I'm gonna share with you today how they're different. If you've taken workshops with me before, you will note that I cover some of the same material we add some things, we have more time
to talk, we're gonna practice a little bit, but the main the elements of a really effective award-winning grant. Application are these elements. You're a compelling case statement. Articulated goal. And achievable objectives, which we will talk about. We're going to talk about those differences today. Next slide, please. So what do we struggle with the most? This is a chat drop. We're gonna take 2 min here. What are some of the things that we, we struggle with the most as nonprofits. What do no
nprofits struggle with? One or 2 word answers. You could just drop it in the chat. Funding that's one. Anybody else. Trying to reach your audience keeping staff. That's another thing person power your time All of these. Anything else. What about the board? Consistency of volunteers. Volunteer management, you know, nowadays I do a whole training now on intergenerational. Development because the younger generation is not motivated by the same things that we were. We meaning Generation X and beyond
. The younger or advancing generation, they have a different modus operandi. Members and PR, yes, your public relations, drawing membership, attracting volunteers. So yeah, that's right, you guessed it. The number one struggle is money. Consisted funding. And then what are the next 3 or 4 what you just listed? Recruitment, retention, volunteer management, staff. Another one is technology. If you notice my virtual background, I'm working with someone 25 years younger than me because she told me t
hat I was spending too much time. On technology and I needed to get more comfortable. So I've cheat taught me how to change my virtual background. She's helping me. As you see, you're gonna see tonight my slides are getting less and less. Verb with words. I'm using less and less print on the screen. And I'm doing more that interacts and engages you. I'm learning all of this from her. Her name is Chelsea Di. Let me give her props. She's the owner of solely her. She is millennial, owns her own bus
iness, and she, tech tech consultant. So these are all elements of things that we share in the nonprofit industry that we have challenges around decision making. So understanding how to balance the needs. Versus your restrictions. Because a lot of times nonprofits make decisions based on their circumstances. It's really hard to take a moment. You know, and actually take a step back. And make decisions in a in a compelling and clear way. Very good. Next slide, please. So how can we get others? To
give. So we talked about some of the main issues, funding, timing, staff. Volunteers, technology. How do we, with all of these issues, how do we compel people to give? Just put that in the chat. What are some ways that we can encourage or how do we get other people to give. The mission statement. I put something in there. Asking. Anyone else wanna add? How do we get people to give to our organization? Or how have you in the past making it easy? A personal connection. A success story. Or what I
call a grateful participant. Grateful donor. Value. Value, that's right, acknowledging their contributions. That's another one. Very good. Personal connection. Absolutely. So there are some things that we can do. That I have discovered through some of my research and experience with the National Philanthropic Trust. They do a study every year of giving trends. One of the number one ways to compel folks to give, and this is important, it connects to grants. Grant H's because grant agencies are ru
n by people. So the review team is gonna be motivated just like anybody else. Number one, expressing gratitude. And appreciation every step of the way. So making sure that we acknowledge the contributions of folks, that give to our organization. Inspiration. I like that networking motivational speech as you have to be able to be put ourselves on a platform. That's something that Chelsea is working with me on are these shorts. She wants me to start doing inspirational shorts that I, you know, 30
s, 1 min or less that I post on YouTube every week. And she's like, you gotta be able to get to your, you know, get to your point. Provide folks value in a minute or less. So we're practicing that. So look for that in the next month or so, you'll see the NJC consulting shorts. But that's an example of how we can encourage people to give us inspiring them. Acknowledging them using a variety of channels to reach people. People learn differently. Neuro-diversity is real. Some people like to read, s
ome people like to see, some people like to hear. So we have to touch people. In a variety of ways. Maybe a brochure is good for some people. Maybe a video link with a 2 min, you know, video montage is better for some others. So think about the different ways that you can reach people. Telling a story. And we'll talk about that in this in the. Case statement but giving the opportunity or the space for you to tell the story of your organization to other people. Again, you can use YouTube, you can
use Canvas. There are all these tech support modules that you can use to very quickly. Share your message with folks in a minute or 2 or less that you can do on your own with a laptop and a telephone. Yeah. Appealing to a donor's personal values and finally always asking. Oh no, finally is making it easy. So when we talk about fundraising next time, we're gonna talk about structured giving allowing donors to give automatically. So. Or in chunks in some way and campaigns making it easy for peopl
e. If I could just click a link and give you $25. You'll get me quicker than me having to show up to an event, buy a ticket and go back. A lot of people now will buy tickets and not even go to an event. How many of you have ran into that? Just put in the chat why. You know the letter Y yes have any of you ran into that people will buy a ticket and not even show up yeah people don't even come to events they'll pay it's easier for them to pay than to show up which is why you should always have ble
nded as a feature. No matter what you do, always have blended as an option. Because half of the people gonna buy tickets and I even show up. So now when I do events with nonprofits, I tell them cut the numbers they have for fool. You sold a hundred tickets, just have enough food for 70 people. Everybody ain't gonna show up and sure enough, 25 people don't show up. They bought the ticket, but they don't show up. And guess what? That's your profit. Next slide, please. Very good. So how do we attra
ct funding? Through grant writing, right? How do we attract funding through grant writing? There are a number of ways to attract funding through grant writing. We are going to talk about the 3 most important, the case statement. The goal objectives and outcomes that that's for, but I combine objectives and outcomes when we share it. So the way we attract grant funding is very simple. My compelling case statement. Then our goal. And then our objectives. That's how we attract. Grant funding. Next
slide, please. So less 0 in like a drone. We've hovered over 30,000 feet. Let's drop it down and go to 15,000 feet. So what are the building blocks for me as a nonprofit to really start thinking in this way? Compelling case statement. My goal objectives. You should be able to tell the story of your nonprofit. In a very succinct and easy way and your volunteers too. Number one, being able to tell a story. So there's 3 main elements. First, you tell a story. You give the reader a compelling reason
why your program works. This includes hard, quantifiable facts. And I go over this with, I read these applications, draft applications from folks and there's nothing there that I can measure. It's all great. Very aspirational, but there's no facts. I have no background context about the issue. I don't understand why what you're doing is gonna address that problem. So start with hard, quantifiable facts about your particular problem or issue that you're a nonprofit is solving. It includes succes
s stories. And documented program outcomes. So when you tell a story You're talking about success. You're talking about success. So one thing, for those of you that are familiar with the black church experience. So I grew up Baptist Pentecostal and testifying is a big part of the culture. God does something for you. You stand up and you share with the church what happened, right? And I remember growing up and the church mothers would tell people, all right, now. Inspire, you know, make it about
God. Don't just tell your problems. Keep something to yourself. And I used to say, oh, that's so mean. The person's talking. Why are they doing that, Mom? As she said, because you can't get off track. You got to stay focused. Why are you standing up talking to us in church? It's to inspire, right? So I keep that in mind when I am helping someone write a case statement. What's the testimony here? Why are you telling me this, right? So it's the same idea and the same concept. The success story sho
uld tie to an outcome. Your story should tie to a success and outcome. I don't just want to hear all about the problem. I want to hear about the problem and how your program solved it and why this person is happily ever after. Really important because people get really hung up. On their program activities. All this work that they do and it's not connected to the actual outcomes for a person. And are you building on greatness? So have you identified a weakness? And have determined that you need t
o improve in that area. And have you decided to or have you decide to build or do you have the opportunity to build our success. So case statements can go in 2 directions. Like there are some nonprofits like I'm working with a group right now that's dealing with the opioid epidemic. And so one of the things that they noted, you know, they support the Narcan movement, you know, putting life saving tools in the hands of people. So their statement is about all of what went wrong before people had N
arcan available and now how these tools in people's hands has changed and shifted the survival rate. So you can focus on the past, right? But as long as the end result. Is tied to your program outcome in your case statement. So the case statement I think most of you have heard from me before and we'll I'll show you the little diagram when we get to it. We'll talk about that is mainly 4 sentences or you could do 4 paragraphs, but it's a 4 piece, you know, who you are, what you're gonna do, why it
ties to the why it solves the problem and how you are a success. So it's an opportunity. We'll talk more about it in a minute. Satisfying a need. So fitting a need, identify statistics around your issue and how your program is addressing. That statistic. Find out. What the literature and the community of practice says about this issue. And then how your program fits the need. And that's gonna go right into your grad application. Measuring success. And outcomes, developing an evaluated shin crit
eria early on and measure against it. So I'd like you to take a look at your mission. And the activities that you do and for each activity say, okay, how would I measure this? What's the evaluation criteria? Is it number of people? Is it a percentage rate increase in knowledge? Is it skill ability that they don't know how to do something and then they take my program and they can do it. So let's think about how I will measure, we will measure success from the beginning and I've had folks ask me
should that change over time? Yeah. You should have more measures of success. So you're at you should be increasing the number of activities that you do to address this problem year to year. So maybe in year one and 2 year. So maybe in year one and 2 year. So maybe in year one and 2, you only can do 2 or 3 activities that satisfy or take care of or address this problem. Next year you should have 4. Add one begin to be more creative. So I want to be able to say to yourself, I want to be able to m
easure the outcome of this program at the end. How can I do that? Anybody want to put it can raising awareness be to go? I will get to that. That's a tough one. Raising awareness is not necessarily a goal. It all depends on what the call to action is. Is there a call to action or is it only knowledge? Because that's okay. Suffolk literacy, their whole goal. Is addressing adult literacy. So that's what they do. They, their whole mission is laser focused on training volunteers to work one-on-one w
ith adults to give them conversational English skill. Very important. They've got a mission and they focus on it 100%. They don't go too far afield. That's why they're so successful for so long. So do we want to just raise awareness about subject literacy, not really. We want to get to telling people that because of what we do, people increase their English proficiency at a conversational level so they can get a job. They can be a functioning member of society, they can advocate in a health care
environment or for their school, whatever that might be. So don't stop at raising awareness. Okay, go beyond that. Providing information is another amorphous goal. What does that mean? Providing information for what? What is the call to action? The call to action is what you're doing to address the problem. So that's the first step. So let me share with you 3 ways that you can measure outcome is success, which will help you create a goal. Excuse me, objectives that are measurable. So a pre and
a post survey. For your participants. They take a survey or quiz before. Right? A knowledge assessment and then after. And then you translate the results. Pointing to your program. So if at the beginning, say you're working with self-esteem for teenage girls. You give them an assessment at the beginning that measures their level of self-esteem. We know that self-esteem is based on a few things body image. Right? Locusts of control. And they're thinking and processing about their physical appeara
nce. So those are questions you can ask at the beginning before your program starts. Then 6 weeks later. You do it again and you see that their self-esteem levels in those areas has increased. You can attribute that to your program. You're not a scientist. You know, you're not saying this is fact. You're saying that this is a possible. Right? So the idea is to document and evaluate. So a pre and a post survey is real easy. I tell everybody to do that on knowledge and skill assessment. So give th
em a test if there's English or math or maybe it's about coping. You know, you could be a mental health organization. So what's the stress reducer. So what's the stress reducer? You know, meditation, how many minutes did you meditate this week? How many miles did you take? So those are some things you can think about. And then finally, completion of a project. Have your participants complete a studio or capstone project? That's an idea. Have them do something in the in the community that will po
int to the conclusion of the program. Participants love to present. They love to present their knowledge. So think about that. I saw there was one more question in the chat. Elizabeth, can you read that one? My screen cut off. I saw one in there. It was good. It was in time. Well, it was, can raising awareness be the goal which you address and then Roberta said our goal is providing information but I kind of responded because Roberta's company Destination Accessible. Provides information on plac
es throughout Long Island and how accessible they are for people with mobility issues. So to me it's not providing information. She's helping people with mobility issues have a better experience. Okay. Thank you, Elizabeth. See, Elizabeth, that thought partner. Thank you. You are correct. Thank you. Roberta, good point and Elizabeth. You, Roberta, you are limiting yourself. You do more than provide information. Youth supporting accessibility. You are supporting folks that have accessibility expe
rience. Really important. Thank you so much. That's excellent. Next slide. So the case statement, what is it? Case statement is a concise document that clearly explains what needs your organization seeks to meet. How you have and plan to meet that need and what you could achieve with additional resources. So that's it. What needs are you gonna meet? How do you plan to meet it and what you could do with these additional resources. So the need, the solution and a call to action. I'm just gonna dro
p it in the chat right now. The hyperlink and if we have time at the end we can go to the hyperlink but I'm just gonna drop in a chat right now. Those hyperlinks so you can save them. These are really, really good samples. That you can take a look at. And hopefully youize them. You could just type this into Google, how to write a great case statement for fundraising. And then, why. Y 2, Y. Yellowstone to Yukon conservation they did a fantastic a really really good case statement that I use a lot
So those are just a few. So the idea is. You clearly explain what your organization, the problem that your organization seeks to meet. How you plan to meet that need. And what you could achieve with additional results. A lot of folks asked me after the last session. About how to write how they could achieve more and I didn't cover that and I really wanna spend time on that for a moment. So it's not just about, in the grant application asking for the $25,000. It's about quantifying how each of t
hose dollars is going to equal an outcome. So for 25,000 additional dollars. My or you know whatever XYZ organization. Ken. Council, 380 additional families on healthy eating. So, quantify by dollar. And that's what you gotta do. Quantify by dollar. Where this money is going to go. Don't just write an application that you need $25,000 to $25,000. For an additional $25,000. XYZ, our organization can counsel 380 families on healthy eating in the Suffolk County or, middle country. School district.
Really important. I wanted to talk about that. Next slide, please. Oh, very quickly, just go back one more second. Ask yourself the following questions when you're drafting your case statement. What is your mission? What problem does your organization address or seek to address? What have you done well? How have you done it well and what's so unique about your organization? I'm gonna put in the chat drop for you to save for you to think about because one of the things that folks told me last tim
e is that they just didn't have enough time. To listen to me and then to practice writing the case statement. They really wish that I had given them something to take away and I heard that. So I'm putting it here. These are the questions to ask. Yourself when you are starting to draft your case statement. What have we done well? What's unique about this organization? What is a challenge or 2 that we faced? How have you increased support since then? I'm telling everybody to talk about how resilie
nt you are have been since the pandemic. That's a wonderful launching point. Next slide, please. Goal objective outcome. So let's rewire and reframe our thinking around the word goal. So goal. Is not an intended end. And that's how we look at it day to day is that my goal, you know, my affirmations, I have them written as goals. You know, I am. A good steward. I am wealthy. I am helpful. I am loving. You know, we look at it as an intended end. But in the grant writing world, the goal is an ideal
end, not just intended. It's ideal. It's the solution. To the problem. So the goal is the solution to the problem and you are able to describe it, characterize it and measure it. So XYZ Organization addresses Team self-esteem. By targeting counseling. After school programming and mentoring for 50, 12 to 13 year old girls. In the middle country school district every year. So you've told me what the issue is is self-esteem. And how you're going to solve it. Right. I would add a sentence that low
self esteem leads to truancy. Low self-esteem leads to poor choices in hygiene and sexual. Activity. Our program provides one on one counseling. Teams peer support. And mentoring to 50 12 to 13 year old girls in the middle country school district boom you're done So that's your goal, that's your objective, that's your outcome. Well, the outcome would be an increase. We didn't really get to that outcome would be the increase in self-esteem. But the goal describes the problem and that Objectives a
re your activities, what helps you get there. So for the team self-esteem, it's the counseling. Peer-to-peer support and mentoring. Those are your 3 activities. You need to be able to do all this in a sentence. So I'm gonna drop in the chat. Those 3. So these are just examples. Of activities, mentoring, peer-to-peer support counseling. You can use this in almost anything. That's just one example. So objectives are the activities to get you there. The goal is a solution to the problem. Your progr
am, your after school team challenge or team create program is the solution by providing mentoring peer-to-peer support groups and counseling. Increasing self-esteem in girls. Bye. By the 8 week. Program end. So let's talk about objectives. Objectives are activities. What will your part participants do? How will they think? And how will they behave after you program? Think about activities that your population will do. And think about these activities in a way that you can measure them. So at th
e end, we wanna be able to measure our objectives. How do we measure mentoring? How do we measure peer to peer support? How do we measure counseling? Someone put in the chat, how would we measure any of these things? What would you do? How do we measure mentoring? How would we measure or report back on number of attendees? That's a good one. Anyone else want to share? I'll drop something in there. I was gonna say repeat customers. Testimonies. I was just about to say, yep. I was just about to sa
y test personal testimonies. Excellent. Hours long how many hours you know does do the students log in these in these activities of yours. So it's critical that goals are not aspiration. Right? Goals are a solution to a problem. And they can be measured. So for example, I go back to Suffolk Literacy, let's say that their goal was 30% English proficiency. Allowing folks the ability to apply for jobs, interview, and converse comfortably with school officials in English. Maybe that might be a goal.
It's measurable. We have the percentage that we want to measure against. Outcome is the result. So start with the end in mind. Be sure that the solution ties to the measurable outcome. So the measurable result of mentoring is what we said. Number of students completing the program. I like that. Thank you, Karen. I also see here. Let me go up. A survey to students 2 quarters after they leave to see if their employed. Wonderful. You know, that's enough. That's another, that folks that I think at
Suffolk literacy that they do. They they they go back and survey their participants. They do longitudinal surveys where they go back and measure the lasting effectiveness of their program. This is how you make your organization attractive. So measurable activities should be designed to solve a problem. The result should be measurable. And the participants should be able to know, behave, or think differently at the end. Next slide, please. And then we're gonna go right into QA. We're right on tim
e. I said 1042 in my notes. We're here building relationships. So how do we build relationships as a nonprofit and why should we do it in a post-pandemic reality? There are 4 main reasons to build relationships now. I left one off and will add a fifth and that is speed of information. Number one, speed of information since the pandemic folks are much more comfortable getting information from people they don't know. People will go online and listen to a podcast before they call you. I have collea
gues I've known for 20 years that called me and say I watched this podcast about Grant writing and the guy said I said let me stop you right there is his name so so he just started during the pandemic and you asking me you know me 25 years because people are comfortable getting information from people they don't know the speed of information is now requiring you as a nonprofit to have relationships with people that you used to see as a competitor because they'll pitch you against each other. So
that's number one. Number 2, leverage number 3, filling a needs gap number 4, expanding a base and targeting a wider audience. Leveraging resources provides access for you to more skills. Support and possible funding. Filling a needs gap. Building a relationship with an organization that is a leader in a field where you have weakness. Coverage yourself by partnering in that space of your need. Expanding a base. Building relationships with organizations in your same industry. When it is a recipro
cal goal will help each of you reach more people. Finally, targeting a wider audience. Due to the pandemic era. Folks are now more interested than ever in doing things that they haven't done before. Statistics are showing that Americans that will once risk averse are now taking an opportunity to learn. Share and do things that they put off. Before the pandemic. So post-pandemic thinking has allowed for you an opportunity to widen your audience so you can do that by partnering with others. Finall
y, I wanna share with you. The idea of the donor staying with you forever. Has now evolved. So what I'm sharing with nonprofits is that this is a seasonal This is a seasonal experience. You may have people in your organization for 3 years and then they move on. You may have somebody in your organization for a year and then they move on. Again, because of where we are in society, folks are moving quicker. We are in a more porous boundary list environment. So the idea of you getting a donor or som
eone in your organization that's gonna stay forever, you have to release that thinking. And think about this as evolutionary. So you're gonna have different people at different points along your progression. I'll see you August eighth for real fundraising realistic expansive Action oriented and leveraged. Create a strategy that works last and as far as others share with us and you'll share with us as we break down the fundraising strategy into 4 dimensions being realistic in planning and deploym
ent. Expansive through brand identity and awareness. Action oriented so that it catalyzes your board, membership and volunteers to participate actively. All while leveraging the power of relationships. That's what we will tackle all this eighth. So now we've got 15 whole minutes just to talk a little bit about, because that was one of the comments that came back to me. There was not enough time for QA. It was too many examples. People wrote me and said, you could have just provided that to Eliza
beth to give us later. I said, oh, excuse me, no problem. So you'll get the PowerPoint, you'll get the resources, all of that Elizabeth will send to you. I'll turn it back over to Elizabeth. Thank you. I'll actually post all of this on our program website, which I have put in the chat. Absolutely. And please feel free to turn on your cameras or just unmute yourself and, ask any questions that you would like. We have an expert here, so now's the time. And feel free to put your question in or to a
sk. Verbally there are definitely some things that I can cover Sure. I have a question. Thank you. Very interesting presentation. Good morning, Rosemary. Good to meet you. You're welcome. So I sit on a number of boards. My problem is saying no. How do you go about seeking and in the organizations that I'm involved with. It's all about membership. So we're all volunteers. Seeking to, you know, have a specific goal. And for example, blue star moms. Those are mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers of t
hose serving or have served in the military. And we're trying to raise awareness on the issues that are unique to those who have served. And also, Try to prevent suicide, help the families dealing with those who have unfortunately taken their lives. We do have an epidemic. There are more soldiers killing themselves. While they're fighting for our country, not by the enemy by self-inflicted moons, you know, so 22 suicides a day that is so rampant we don't really. Understand how severe it is. So w
e're trying to raise awareness and work with other organizations, but it all starts with a membership. So what is your besides doing the shorts? Our biggest problem is nobody knows that blue star moms exist. So we're, you know, separate chapter and we have the second highest population. Veterans in the country and I can't say how many times people go oh I didn't know there was such a thing as both our moms. What else can we do with limited funds and volunteers? And what's the name of your organi
zation? Put it in the chat for me, Rosemary, please. Sure, it's looser or mom's perfect chapter and my sex and I'll put it in the chat. Thank you. So, first of all, thank you for the work that you do. Because I consider that God's work. I come from a military family. My grandmother was one of the chapter creators of the American War Mothers. Unfortunately, back in the fiftys, racism was still, kept us separate. So my grandmother and a few other black mothers in the community here in Whata Height
s Wine Dance Belport created the American War Mothers Association, which were the which were for mothers who lost their children in active battle, black mothers. And so that lasted until the 19 nineties and supportive supportive services and you know community creation is so important in this. So the question is, raising awareness, how do we boost membership and how do we get people more connected to our mission. And I think with most, just like any other nonprofit to our mission. And I think wi
th most, just like any other nonprofit that deals with most just like any other nonprofit that deals with a societal issue that is unknown. I think I think you have to have a strategy that spans maybe a year or 2. So your situation is different. That means that your mission would have to change like 2 or 3 times over a 2 or 3 year period because first you would have to inform. And then you would have to encourage and catalyze action. So I would say utilizing social media is gonna be paramount fo
r you. You gotta connect this to people from outside of Suffolk County. You're going to have to go. Around the world and across regions to connect with folks that deal with this issue all around and are and you're able to maybe raise the specter of a success story. Or maybe someone who had suicidal thoughts and because of your program was able to pivot their thinking. So I think for this situation with Blue Star Moms or organizations like that where you have a problem or an issue that's almost u
nknown. You have to have. A process where you're the mission is probably gonna change. Over maybe a year or 2 period because your first step is informing. And I like the idea of social media using shorts is good. Also using, you know, telephone banking, robo calls is good. Anything that's short is sweet. And that you can share quickly. So I would recommend a 2 year strategy. The first year is in forming the second year is trying to encourage membership through event planning. Thank you. That's w
hat I'm trying to do is bring in speakers. And encourage everyone to attend. Yeah, I think speakers are good. So that's just. Parents of those serving but also at the general population because most people are kind and good and care but don't know what the issues are. So thank you so much. I don't know. And I think last point you're welcome. I think Rosemary also. I think it's important to be action oriented. So whatever the idea is to solve this problem, let it be something action oriented. So
I always say. Do something tool based. So if you've got a person that you've identified that has survived. This dark period going through suicidal idealist ideation maybe even looking at planning an attempt and they changed, they shifted. That needs to be highlighted. In some sort of outreach effort, you know, a social media short or a PowerPoint and inspirational PowerPoint presentation. So something that's gonna make people act. Just think about that. Most part of the problem is they won't tal
k about it. So even if it's someone who is successful, for example, I was a volunteer and. Was one of the leads on a project where we gave away a mortgage free home to a purple heart recipient that was pretty suicidal. And he received a lot of exposure, it was on national news. So we got a lot of exposure and believe it or not a lot of the social response was negative. He was told that he didn't deserve the home. So here you have someone that we're trying to stop from committing suicide, giving
them a reason to live. And because his name was out there, he was targeted with hate. Social. That was really hard. Yeah, yeah, and I wouldn't Yeah, II wouldn't recommend success stories for things like that. What I'm talking about is skill building. So I recommend success stories for things like that. What I'm talking about is skill building. So a workshop on recognizing the signs of suicide, a workshop on how to celebrate and support US service. Your service. Member, your family service member
. We did a workshop on just preparing to celebrate and also support your returning service person and your family. We did it like 4 years ago and we got about 17 people to show up on Zoom. Half of them had their cameras off, which was interesting. They didn't even want people to see who they were, but they stayed on till the end and they were engaged. So thinking about how you can provide support without. Identifying people is going to be critical for your space. That's also anything related to
income. You know, this whole thing of giving away food and turkeys and you know dress for success. People are real funny now about what they want other people to know about them. So you have to find a way around that maybe by providing a service or support without acknowledging people. It's just the way that things are now. Right. Thank you, Rosemary. And I see Karen has her hand up. Is it, this is not really. Grant writing, but it goes along with the outreach that Rosemary was just talking abou
t and Susan jump in if I'm misrepresenting us but we have our program we've got you know identifiable goals as far as student achievement and whatnot but we also have it I feel another problem our board is not full to maximum you know we have empty seats on our board. We definitely need more volunteers. We need more involvement. So in addition to grant writing goals At the same time, simultaneously, I think we need outreach goals. Yeah, I think so, Rose, we're Karen, thank you for your question
and for the work that you're doing as well. Karen, thank you for your question and for the work that you're doing as well. Subject literacy is very close 2 issues, board development. And volunteer attraction and retention. One of the things that I'm working with some nonprofits right now is with the, community college. Their career center. So I'm drafting volunteer opportunities around jobs that are being advertised right now. Because these young people are not gonna give unless they get somethi
ng and I understand it's a different era. So that's one thing that I'm doing is looking at career center. Folks, you know, what's hot and what skills are being advertised now for pay and I'm writing these volunteer job descriptions as six-month project. So for the next 6 months, you can join our organization and help develop brand awareness through social media. You can grow your skill in facilitation by developing and deploying board training and outreach techniques. So I'm creating volunteer o
pportunities as a unpaid job. That's just for college. Then I'm talking to AARP. They have this senior hub now where they have this whole resume. Portal for a folks that want to work for pay after retirement. I'm crafting job descriptions for that too. So if you are recently retired and want to transfer your skills from corporate to this, you can come work with us for 8 months and achieve that following. It's an extra step, but it's very successful and a lot of people are doing this. LinkedIn. I
s on point. It is fire. If you're not on LinkedIn, you gotta get on LinkedIn. I get so much traction from putting out a call on LinkedIn. Like I need 5 volunteers to help with the 2,025 cleanup this Saturday. I get like 16 people that write me back. So LinkedIn is like the new Facebook. You gotta be on LinkedIn to do this stuff. Board development, you can put together an ad and say serve on a board for 2 years. And acquire these skills. You know, be able to articulate what are people getting out
of serving on your board. And can they put it on their resume? They sure can. They're reviewing, they're reviewing financials. They're voting on programs. They are deploying and developing resources. These are all resume builders. So I think we have to kind of shift and pivot. Our thinking around this and refrain. Thank you for the question Karen. Dawn's hand is up. Good morning, Nicole. I apologize. How are you? Good morning. Yeah, good morning. Good morning. I had a really basic question. Whe
n I form my nonprofit, I sort of used my initials, say DLD group ink and the nonprofit is aimed at working with young girls and building up this self-esteem, mentoring them and helping. Lead them towards self-sufficiency and independence. But I was thinking about whether the name was a barrier to. To people donating time resources because it doesn't immediately tell them what the organization does. It was just a question with regard to whether you would recommend. Changing the name of the nonpro
fit so that it's more consistent and aligned with the work that we're doing. Yeah, naming is important. And Don, that's an excellent question. I think you might have to consider. Getting some help and knowledge share around the idea of a different name so that when people search on Google or LinkedIn, it'll come up. So I think you're right. I think you're on the money. I think you're on the right. Use a DBA. Okay. Of thinking about, yeah, and Rosemary said use a DBA. Yeah, yeah, you know, keep i
t DL, Inc doing business as young girls rock. Okay. You know, these, these titles are good, you know, black girls run like all this stuff is good, you know, blue star moms, like that's that's something that people are gonna remember and they're not gonna forget it's gonna be in their mind if I type in Blue Star Ms I'm gonna get something I'm gonna it's gonna pop up so everything now is about search engine capability. Everything now. I mean, I've gone back and made sure every quarter I type in my
name and make sure that what comes up is accurate. I've had to remove things. I was, you know, What is it called? Oh, not I didn't, I think what they're calling is professional stealing. So there was somebody that created the NJC consulting, but they did end. J. Dot dot. . So it was it was slick So I reported them and that it got removed. So every quarter or so, I always check my name in Google to make sure that what comes up is accurate and I report it if it's not. But I think you definitely h
ave to check look at your name. Yep. Oh, of course. And thank you for coming. Okay, thank you so much. And thank you for the. Thank you. Email me if you all wanna receive my newsletter. I put my email in the chat. Nicole Eileen, I apologize if I'm saying it wrong. I did put a question in the chat and she said it wrong. I did put a question in the chat and she said our programs, I did put a question in the chat and she said our programs prepare people to enter the healthcare system for the best p
ossible outcomes as well as support. We would do great with partner organizations donors encourage that. What is the best way to find partners? And it looks like they're covering cancer and family support. So the best way Eileen is asking what's the best way to find supporters to partner with for their organization. And partners. Yes. Yeah, I think you have to look at who else is in that space. Start with whoever, start with whoever else is in that space doing the same work you are. Whoever's cl
osest to you is the best partner. This is what I'm telling everybody. That's this whole idea of being competitive. Is, not going to be sustainable. You have to look at everybody as close to you as a possible partner. As a potential partner. Look at who else is in this space, who's doing cancer support, who's doing cancer awareness, cancer outreach, and just reach out to them and have an informal information share. Have a board to board. Coffee Clench. You know, have their board meet your board o
r your executive director and their executive director. But I think you start with who's closest to you. And Nicole, I don't see your information in the chat. I apologize. Would you be able to? Oh, I'll write it again. It's no problem. I think cause we got some questions. Thank you. Thank you. We got so many questions that it there you go. Nicole, christian@gmail.com. Thank you. Email me if you want to receive my newsletter. But yeah, I think you have to start with your app. Whoever's closest to
you. And I hope to see you all August eighth. And I put my email in the, chat, please. If you have any questions for me? Let me know if you have any ideas for programs. I definitely wrote some ideas down just based on the questions we've had here. But please feel free to reach out in the meantime I hope we'll see you for the fundraising program on August eighth. 100'clock. Virtual. Thank you everybody.
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