Building Relationships & Amazing Events w/ Lynda Keaton - Profitable Nonprofit Podcast Ep. 001
How Director of Resource Development, Lynda Keaton, views the power of relationships in the nonprofit industry & her insights on successful event planning.
Director of Resource Development at Connections to Success, Lynda Keaton, sits down with Miles Minnaar to discuss her two-decades worth of nonprofit experience. Lynda explains how she runs successful nonprofit events like luncheons and galas, and the importance of relationship building in the nonprofit space.
The Profitable Nonprofit Podcast
The Profitable Nonprofit Podcast's goal is to educate nonprofit leaders on strategic and tactical marketing advice to increase donations, acquire new donors and tell their mission's story.
TRANSCRIPT:
My key word for today I guess is balance, is really having that balance of volunteers and then kind of having that strategy of how to connect with them, how to recruit with volunteers, how to really demonstrate what your mission is so that they can feel attached to the mission and want to keep coming back, whether that be weekly, monthly, once a year, just really understanding how all of those different types fit in to really help you run effectively, smoothly, and to have the biggest impact on the individual, which is seven.(...) Welcome to the Profitable Nonprofit Podcast, where our goal is to give nonprofit leaders strategic and tactical marketing advice to acquire new donors and increase their donations and tell their story just in general. Today we have the wonderful Linda Keaton from Connections to Success.(...) Thank you so much for being on the show. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm excited. Yeah, and the reason I chose you, we've worked together in the past and it's been such an honor and a learning experience too to see how you operate in the nonprofit landscape. You run, I would say, some of the best events that I've been lucky enough to be a part of. So I think there's a plethora of information that we could dive into today about your nonprofit experience, how you run these events, but maybe just to start us off, how did you get to where you are today? What was your journey? Yeah, absolutely. I think for most nonprofit individuals, there's two paths. One, maybe you experienced something growing up and that was really what evoked that passion for working in the nonprofit field.
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There's so many great opportunities in colleges, universities that really steer you towards a nonprofit management specific degree. For me, it was neither of those.(...) I was just really looking at some jobs that spoke to me and no matter what I was looking at, I always kept steering towards those that had a nonprofit focus. So my education is not a nonprofit, but we talk a lot about those transferable skills and I feel like I had a lot of those growing up and through my education that when I was really job searching, that's just kept where I was falling and then I was just fortunate enough to get a position at Connections to Success when I moved to St. Louis and I've been able to grow over the past 12 years within the organization.(...) Yeah, and even more than the 12 years, I mean, you have almost two decades of experience just in a nonprofit space, right? Yeah, absolutely.(...) My current nonprofit Connections to Success is very different to my first experience in nonprofit, but again, it really is all leading towards the individuals you're serving, the impact you're trying to have on the community. So yeah, total about 23 years nonprofit experience.(...) So I'm aging myself a little bit here, but I was 12 when I started.(...) The young female. Yes, yes.
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You say when you kind of fell into your job almost, you had transferable skills. I feel like in the nonprofit space, there are people who are given a position, they're given a role within an organization and then all of a sudden they're given maybe some different expectations and they signed up for.
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How do you, if you felt that way? Yeah, I mean, I think it's be a hard for any nonprofit worker to say they've never been in a position where they're doing some things that they don't necessarily enjoy as part of their specific position. I think for me, what I love about the nonprofit is the fact that day in, day out, you're not doing the same repetitive thing. I like to say active, I'm very busy. I like to multitask and do a lot of different things. And so for me, the nonprofit sector has really allowed me to do that. It's pretty standard that you're not going to do just one specific role. I think the higher up in leadership you go, it may get a little bit more specific on what your role is within the organization. Obviously, if you work for a large organization, you may only be doing one thing. So really just finding what works for you as an individual. For me, I wanted to be in an organization that I could have impact, that I could be involved in a lot of different things.
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So I think it's just a matter of getting that balance and really having that culture within the organization that allows folks to thrive where their school sets direct them to, but then also know that as a team player, you're going to have to sometimes do those tasks, those jobs that may not necessarily fuel and excite you, but you know that they're important pieces. So it really is about balance and then really the culture of the organization to allow you to kind of fill that space. Yeah. And you said it perfectly. I think that the low, not necessarily the lowest, but in the lower levels where you're not in the highest levels of leadership, you're wearing a lot of hats. I think that's just the industry standard, unfortunately.
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How did you kind of go about saying, "Okay, I don't necessarily have all the skills that are expected of me." How do you kind of fight maybe some of those frustrations or some of the emotions you're feeling trying to take on some challenges that you've never really faced before? Yeah. I think you just have to go into each day kind of with open eyes, understanding the bigger picture,(...) that some things that need to be accomplished, and then really building the team around you, really leaning on each other's strengths and using them on maybe areas that you don't feel as strong in. And then in the nonprofit sector specifically with what we do, the roles of volunteers are huge and really leaning on some of those volunteer skill sets to help in areas that, again, maybe you don't feel as strong or some of those tasks that really take you away from the mission that you're working towards. So again, balance is really key when you talk about a lot of the nonprofit, balance of the work balance of kind of your social and your work life balance of just making sure you take time for yourself when it comes to burnout. Yeah. I've known one too many who have kind of suffered the burnout. And it's tough, but it's something that you bring up that I don't think people maybe utilize enough is really leaning on some of the volunteers because they're volunteers who have years and years of experience in a specific whatever their industry was. Yeah. How do you go about kind of fostering those relationships with volunteers? Yeah. I think the first thing when looking at kind of the impact volunteers have is one, understanding
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the type of volunteer you need, what are the things that need to happen within your organization that volunteers can do, and then just getting to know that community.(...) You've got volunteers of all levels as far as those that want to come in and just do more manual labor, knowing that that can be very time consuming so that it frees up time for you to do other things. And then you've got your real high level individuals that are wanting to take their career expertise and then feed it into your company. And those can look a lot different, whether it be direct service to work with individuals that are trying to better themselves or even providing knowledge in finance or marketing, social media, all those areas that again are extremely important within the nonprofit but can sometimes take you away from the mission of what you're trying to do on a day-to-day basis. So really again, my key word for today I guess is balance, is really having that balance of volunteers and then kind of having that strategy of how to connect with them, how to recruit with volunteers, how to really demonstrate what your mission is so that they can feel attached to the mission and want to keep coming back, whether that be weekly, monthly, once a year, just really understanding how all of those different types fit in to really help you run effectively, smoothly, and to have the biggest impact on the individual which is serving.
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That is amazing. I'm like taking all these mental notes because you're coming in with these value bombs. I think people will love what you're having to say. So we're talking about volunteers and how you're forming relationships with them.
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We talked a little bit previously about what your goals are for fundraising events and I think a big part of that might be relationships but maybe just to open it up, what are your goals? You're a fundraising machine. You put on these events that are spectacular, successful, amazing, other good adjectives.
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What are your goals going into some of these events? Yeah, there's probably three or four goals, big picture. Obviously, primary goal for any fundraising event is to raise funds. The great thing with events specifically is it provides general operating support unrestricted dollars which in the nonprofit world are those that keep the lights on,(...) help pay rent, put gas in the vehicle, some of those pieces. Even these funds, always primary goal is to raise money obviously.
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Second goal would be to bring awareness to the mission and really connect with new individuals whether they are potential volunteers, potential donors. They may know someone that needs our services. So really it kind of expanding that network.
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Events bring people back to you on a yearly basis or monthly basis depending on the frequency of events also brings brand new folks to the table to learn about what you do. Then the third I would say is to really advocate for the individuals we serve. It's a great opportunity again depending on the type of event, specifically a gala or luncheon to really share those success stories which really then speaks to the audience. We want to put our participants, those that we serve at the forefront of everything we do regardless of whether that's a podcast, whether that's an event, whether that be a community outreach group. The participants are what drives what we do on a day to day basis. So there are your three biggest goals with just about any event,(...) raising money,(...) building friendships and connections and really putting our participants on the forefront to share their success.(...) Yeah, it really sounds like across everything the overarching theme is relationships. Yeah. Like relationships is almost everything in the nonprofit world.(...) If individuals both in the community, companies,(...) civic relationships, if people don't enjoy what you do, they don't like you as humans or they don't see the impact, they're not going to feel any connection. That's really kind of how our name came about, connections to success. It really is about those relationships in that community that you're a part of. Even if I meet you and you're not able to bring anything directly, you may know someone to connect us. It really is about those connections, both as an organization and for them, again, those that we serve.
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Yeah. Because it really is the relationships. I wonder too,(...) how do you continue to foster these relationships? So the gala or the event or the luncheon ends,(...) how do you...it can be as tactical or strategic as you like. How do you kind of keep fostering these relationships? Yeah. I think those relationships, following up from events, is probably one of the most challenging pieces because in the world of nonprofit, as soon as you get done with one thing, you're on to the next. But you definitely want to still tie up loose ends as far as specifics to the event, that follow up piece. It is challenging when you've got a small team of two or three people and you have 500 people in attendance. It's like, how do you make connections with all 500?(...) So I think it's one of those things you go into understanding that you may not necessarily reach all 500 at the event.(...) Some may have just been part of it because their company had a table.(...) They may support other things outside of our nonprofit and that's completely A-OK.(...) But it's really like, okay, so let's follow up with social media posts just to show the excitement of the event and hope these folks start following us on Facebook or Twitter, whichever platform you may use. Again, that's one way to really throw out that net and hope people catch on. Obviously, you've got your email marketing campaigns that can follow up again, similar to Facebook, to wrap up the event, do a debrief, let people know the impact that the event had. So your attendance mattered. Because of you, we were able to raise X amount of dollars. We were able to do X, Y and Z. So really making sure that they understand the impact. They're not just a person in the audience. The next is then really reaching out individually, capturing things at the event. So are they interested in volunteer activities? Are they wanting to be a part of our newsletter?
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So having those platforms on the table for folks to fill out their interest level so that we're not just reaching out to people that maybe don't want us to reach out to them.
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That way is a little bit more intentional. If they've already expressed their interest, then we likely ignited something during the event. So that return on investment to reach out to them, follow up with them, may have a better outcome than someone that was just, oh, it's a great event to go to. Maybe I'll see you again next year, but, you know, I'm involved in other things or I don't have the time commitment right now. So really it's just very a little bit sporadic, but there's also a science to it. So it's kind of hard to explain a little bit, but you really have to then rely on your team to help with some of those outreaches. The goal with a team is to bring people to the event. So maybe they already have a little bit of a relationship with a specific person. So allowing them to continue to that relationship.
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I think sometimes understanding that even though my primary goal is fundraising, I may not necessarily be the only one out there fundraising. So one of the things with nonprofit, we're all recruiters, we're all volunteer managers, we're all fundraisers, we're all coaches. So regardless of what our title is, we're all kind of taking on all these pieces in addition to our main role. So just understanding what pieces you need to take care of, what you can lean on others to do. So you're giving some really great answers, both at like a very high level and also very strategic. I think the big takeaway for me was all these different styles of what's the word when you reach back out to them engagement. Yeah. When you're, when you're saying, Hey, here's what happened. There are so many different methodologies. And for me, this is just where my like data nerd mind goes, but it's like the importance of understanding your list in general. So how do you really segment, okay, here are the people who came to the event and they donated here. People came to the event, we're really interested. Maybe not the time that donate, but they looked pretty interested. You know, you can go all the way down into, I just, they didn't even want to be emailed. How dare you reach out to them? Do not disturb on the spam.
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That's kind of where my mind goes immediately. So how do you take those different segmented lists and reach back out to them? I think it could still dramatically increase relationships out of bare minimum,(...) but maybe even get some last minute donations, you know, and say, Hey, you know,(...) just, we're so close to our goal, whether you hit your goal and you just inflated it a little bit,(...) maybe a $50 is all we need could be the difference. You know? Yeah. No. And I think it's some of that messaging is you need to make that individual feel like you're only talking to them. So if we're $50 from our goal, like this person, you could make that impact. You, you could be the person that gets us to the finish line.(...) And yeah, we definitely do look at data. I think with, with fundraising, there's a blend of totally organic, but then backing up with the data. So with events, we do look at the past couple of years, see how many individuals are repeat attendees.(...) How many people may be donated last year, but didn't this year,(...) maybe did we have more certain auction items that were exciting compared to this year. And so we do analyze those things and those help drive decisions moving forward. It may drive the, the level of engagement we have with an individual. If they're showing commitment to our mission, we may spend a little bit more time getting to know them compared to someone that this may be they may attended five years ago, but then they decided to attend again and just like, okay,(...) figuring out why didn't you attend the three years in between? And I'm sure there's probably great reasons, but it really is just a matter of, it really does become again, that relationship piece that very personal of understanding where individuals are. And then again, understanding how they want to be engaged.(...) Do you want to get our newsletter? Do you not? Do you want us to call you? Do you not? And so it really is building those relationships the same way you would with friendships and really understanding like you can laugh and joke with this friend, but this friend's a little bit more serious. Building those relationships with the nonprofit is exactly the same process.
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Yeah, this is incredible. I'm loving this. For you, do you, what do you think are some of your biggest hurdles you have to overcome when you're creating an event and maybe some advice on how you overcome them for the people listening? Yeah. So, so events can be, you either love them or you don't.
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Some folks really thrive for others. It can be very time consuming and maybe not see those rewards. So I think the biggest piece of advice is really building a team around you when it comes to crafting an event. And that doesn't necessarily mean just staff. It could be volunteers, committee members that are willing to support individuals in the community that just love events and they want to participate at a different level. So that's definitely always the key is to really create a team because what I think might be a good event,(...) others may have experienced some of these ideas at previous events that they've attended and was like, Oh no, that's a terrible idea. We saw someone else do that and it did not go well. Let's think about something else. And so really just being able to kind of feed off each other and get those inputs. No event relies just on one person to come up with the entire vision. Obviously we've got certain benchmarks and specific things we want to include in the event and then using that input to create the excitement and the buzz from that team around you. So that's definitely a first piece there.
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And to be fair, I think for biggest challenges, it is time consuming. Event can be very time consuming, taking you away from other things. Especially if you don't have someone specifically on your staff that is event planner. I talked about the large organizations may have staff that they may just have a staff that just writes grants. They may have a staff that just does events or a staff that just does data management as far as your donor analysis.
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The smaller nonprofits can be a little bit more challenging because typically there's one or maybe two people that do all of that combined. And so how do you plan a great event but then not misgrant deadlines or not miss community meetings because you're type of... And that's where the team comes into play to help.
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So I think you have to be maybe a little bit more organized and planning ahead and really go with a project.
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I fortunately have been doing it enough that my project plan is a little bit more flexible.
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I like to push boundaries as far as deadlines. You know that, haven't worked with me for a few years. But if you're on the newer side of things, really having a structured plan, working, almost going to the event and working backwards with that timeline.(...) And that really helps keep you on track and helps you also then minimize the distraction it causes on other pieces of your job.
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But then also having the ability to analyze what was a return on investment.(...) Was this event worthwhile?(...) And you always hope that it is for a lot of reasons. There's three reasons I said earlier that you're raising money, you're building new friendships, relationships, and then you're promoting whether you're working with children or animals or whatever your population is you're working with that they are the ones leading the event as far as that awareness to the community. So you hope that you get those three pieces to then make it worthwhile and make you want to do it again the next year.
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Do you have any piece of advice or wisdom that you maybe have received or want to give out to some of the nonprofit leaders, maybe some people who are a little lower who are saying, "I want to do this." I'm trying to. Do you have any advice for them? Yeah, I think for me, especially because I wasn't necessarily involved in the nonprofit world growing up or my early career,(...) I think it's really just one, finding a nonprofit that speaks to your passions.(...) It's one thing, think about being a salesperson. If you don't like what you're selling, it's going to be harder to sell it. And you may be able to do it for a little bit because you have to pay bills, but you're going to lose excitement, passion, that's where the burnout comes in. So really identifying a nonprofit that speaks to your values, your passions, because it's going to make it feel less like work each day. So that's definitely the first piece of advice. Definitely be an advocate for something you actually believe in. Otherwise it becomes fake and unauthentic and people see that.(...) The second piece is really just finding a mentor, regardless of what your role is and what level you're at in your nonprofit career. Having people around you to coach you, to encourage you, to give you direction if you're steering the wrong way.
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For me, I've got a few folks in mind that have all taught me so many different things.
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I learned early on is I don't need to try and be that person because we all have different personalities, we've got different approaches.
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What pieces from each of these can I take to help stretch myself and stretch myself outside of my comfort zone?
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Because that's the only time good things happen is when you stretch. So there's my two biggest pieces of advice is one, make sure you're passionate about the mission that you're advocating for and to just find some strong people around you that can really help build you up so that you can be the best person you can be. And Linda's mentorship course is available. It's $3,000 a month. Absolutely, yes. There's no course yet. Maybe there's some in the future. But this really has been great. Thank you so much. Yeah, no, this is great. I think sometimes we don't take the time to sit down and actually talk about what we do because we are so caught up into, like I say, what's that next thing we have to accomplish.(...) So I think there's opportunity to really kind of help me remind myself why I do what I do
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and all the intricate pieces that go into it. So it's like a refresher to help refuel myself for what I do. So I appreciate you having me on as a guest on your podcast.
