The Nonprofit Journey Made Simple
If you’ve ever wondered, “What comes next?” after forming your nonprofit—this episode is for you. I’ll walk you through the full nonprofit journey from idea to sustainability so you know what to expect, what to prioritize, and how to stay grant-ready at every stage.
Episode 159 | The Nonprofit Journey Made Simple
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🔦 NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT 🙌🏿
In Due Time Coalition Pt 3
👉🏿 https://www.induetimeco.org
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🚀 RESOURCES TO HELP YOU RUN A SUCCESSFUL NONPROFIT 🚀
The Nonprofit Mastery Academy
https://thenonprofitmasteryacademy.com/get-funding/
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Learn more about my success with helping nonprofits
Visit My Website👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿
https://thenonprofitmasteryacademy.com
CONNECT WITH AMBER:
Follow me on Facebook 👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿
https://www.facebook.com/amberwynnphilanthrepreneur
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Listen to my Podcast! 👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4G9QNaVAYz8eXTmz48gagl
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
If you've ever been overwhelmed by all of the information out there about how to run a successful nonprofit, this episode is for you. I'm going to walk you through everything from concept to infrastructure, to scaling your nonprofit all in one easy roadmap. When we come back, let's dive into the nonprofit journey made simple.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome to OnAirWithAmberWynn, where nonprofit leaders learn to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding, impact and sustainability. And now here's your host and resident Philanthrepreneur, Amber Wynn.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Hey, fam, it's your girl, Amber Wynn, Philanthrepreneur. One of the biggest challenges I think of starting a nonprofit is what to do and when to do it. A lot of my new founders, heck, a lot of my seasoned founders, are constantly trying to do things that are either too late in the game, are too far in the game. What do I mean by that? Prime example, a person will start their nonprofit and the very first thing they'll try to do is apply for a grant. And the reality is that organization is probably not even eligible. Yes, they filed their 501(c)(3), but they don't have the track record. They don't have the systems in place that will allow them to provide a funder with financial statements. There's so many things to do, but if you haven't done your research or if you don't have a system that teaches you what to do, when to do it, then you're liable to be spending a lot of time doing things that won't serve you, but you don't know what you don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And so what ends up happening is my nonprofit leaders spend a lot of time in a stage that's way, way, way, way down the road, and they end up spending money that they shouldn't. Today, I want to talk to you about the nonprofit journey, and I say that it's made simple. The explanation of the journey is simple, but when you are running a nonprofit, it is a lot of work. I'm never going to be a person who's going to lie to you and say, running a nonprofit is easy. There's a reason why your girl don't have a nonprofit. It's because it is a lot of work. I would say that it takes three times the amount of effort to run a nonprofit than it does to run a for profit, right? But if you are in it and you are committed and all you need is the roadmap, then I got you.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Because the journey can be made simpler if you understand what it is you're supposed to be doing and how you're supposed to be doing it right. It's always easier if you have a roadmap. If you are running around in the dark, making stuff up, doing things before, it's going to be a challenging journey. So we don't want that for you. So when we come back from a break, I'm going to talk to you. I'm going to explain to you what the seven stages of nonprofit development are and why they matter when we come back. If your grants aren't getting funded, it could be because the funder can't see how your programs are making an impact in your community. Get the How to Demonstrate Impact Workbook to quantify the work you're doing in your community in a way that a funder can see a potential return on their investment.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Funders need proof that your organization will use their grant dollars to improve your community. That proof is called impact, and impact is quantified through measurable outcomes. Leverage my 30 years of program development experience to help increase your chance of securing funding. Order your copy today. Welcome back. Today we're talking about the nonprofit journey, and there are seven stages in the nonprofit journey, and the reason why they're broken down into seven stages is because there's certain things you need to do before you advance. For example, most of my nonprofit leaders start their nonprofits and think that they qualify for grants when they don't. So let's talk about some of the stages. Stage zero. Stage zero is when you're thinking about starting a nonprofit, right? And in this stage, you're passionate about a cause. You want to make a difference in your community, but you probably don't know how to actually go about starting a nonprofit and how to set it up.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
You may not even know who your target audience is. You may be like, we're going to serve everyone because there's so many meets. No, no, no. You don't want to do that. You may not even know how you're going to deliver the services. You just have this passion and the desire to fill a need, and all you know is that you want to make a difference. That's stage one that's thinking about starting a nonprofit. I mean, that's stage zero. Stage one is actually starting the nonprofit, and if you're in this stage, you may determine the organization's name. You may have developed your mission statement, created an organizational purpose or philosophy statement, and you may be wondering, besides being the founder, if you should serve as the organization's president, the executive director, or should your title even be a CEO or both? And what that means in stage one, when you start your nonprofit, it's not just, oh, I'm starting a nonprofit.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
You are filing the legal documents to become a bonafide nonprofit, so you've got to file at the state level. Then you've got to file at the federal level to become a bonafide nonprofit. This is the very first step of forming your organization. Stage two is developing your purpose, and in this stage, you're getting closer to really refining who you are, so you're getting clearer on the need in your community and your organization's capability for addressing that need. You may or may not know what facts and evidence support the need for the solutions in your organization. Why is that important? Some nonprofits will start and they'll see the problem and they'll dive in and they'll create programs. But when you start submitting to funders for money and stage two, when you develop your purpose, you're also creating what's called a case for support. It's not enough to say, oh, we've got needs in the community.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Give us money. There are tons of organizations that are asking for the same pot of money, and what a funder's going to use to determine whether or not they're going to fund you is your case for support. So there's a problem now. You have to provide data. You have to provide statistics to prove that there's a need. It's not enough to say, well, look, we've got all of these young girls getting pregnant at 13, 14. We need to do something. You absolutely do, but in order to get that money in this stage, you want to build out a case for support. I'm pointing this out because I have organizations who've been in existence for five, 10 years. They don't have a case for support. What they do have is a track record. But when you're submitting to a funder, if you have a strong case for support, you can include your impact, your success, your track record, but you have to have a really solid case for support.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
That says, LA County says, in any given day, there are about 30% of youth who are unsupervised, and as a result, they're participating in all the things they shouldn't be participating between the hours of two and six. You need data to say it. Back in the day when life was good back in the nineties when I was just starting in the nonprofit sector, we could just do a narrative and we could get money. Things have changed. Funders now want documentation. They want proof. They want data, they want statistics, and so in this stage, when you're developing your purpose, that's what you want to do. You want to be able to prove that there is a need and have data that's going to back that up. When we come back, we're going to continue with the nonprofit journey and explaining all seven stages. So we'll finish with stages three through four because when you understand the stages, you save money, you save time, but more importantly, you follow the process by which you can build out a credible nonprofit organization.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
When we come back, we'll finish the nonprofit journey. Have you been duped by a grant writer promising you the moon and the stars, but after collecting your $2,000, you never win a grant? No. A grant writer can't guarantee you'll get funded, but if you don't know how to vet them, you could walk right into a scam. Check out my guide the Questions to Ask a Grant Writer before you hire them to help you determine if a grant writer is a bonafide professional or out to steal your hard earned money with no intentions of yielding results. This guide explains what to look for in a grant writer if they're novice or seasoned, if they're a fit for the type of proposal you need written, what questions they should ask you. Leverage my 25 years of grant writing experience securing over $10 million in grants for clients to help you find a qualified grant writer and reduce your chances of getting scammed.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Order your copy today. Welcome back. You're on air with Amber Wynn, and today we're talking about the nonprofit journey and we're talking about the journey because people jump into this space and they just start doing things, oh, I'm going to work on my board. If you just started, you don't want to have just anybody on your board. You don't want your cousin in your, but you don't want to start working on your board in stage zero. You don't want to start working on your board in stage one. You want to start working on your board in stage two because you want to build out your budget. You want to build out your program so that when you go to recruit a powerful board, they have an understanding of what it is that you're doing. There is an order in which you want to do things in your nonprofit that's going to facilitate growth in your organization, and you want to do things in order, right?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
You want to build your foundation. You want to create a program that a busy board member would be willing to sacrifice their time to sit on your board. If you are not clear about what your programs are, your measurable goals, your objectives, you won't be able to clearly articulate those to your board. And guess what? Your board is responsible for fundraising. So if you haven't clearly articulated what the measurable goals and objectives are, how are they going to bring in resources when they can't say to the people in their network? Here is the reason why you want to support the organization. I have executive directors say all the time, my board don't do anything. When I look at their foundation, I'm like, well, what is it that they're fundraising for? The founder or the executive director will say for the programs, but what are they saying?
Speaker 1 (11:21):
As a funder, I can tell you, well, what's your impact? How many have you served? What's the difference in your community as a result of you being there five years? If you don't have that for your board, your board is not going to be able to successfully fundraise for your organization. So that's why today we're talking about the nonprofit journey. What stage is your organization in? You want to complete each stage completely and then move on to the next. If you successfully complete stages one through zero through two, now you can move on to stage three, which is develop your programs, right? If you're in this stage, you're developing innovative programs and projects that'll make a difference as a result of your organization's efforts in the community.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
When I tell you we don't need another tutoring program, I have people say, we're going to do afterschool tutoring. We don't need another tutoring program. What we need is something innovative. Maybe you create a nonprofit organization that supports other tutoring programs. What would that look like? I don't know. Maybe it's you identify people who are in the industry who can come in and support the tutoring programs, right? Maybe you have some engineers that are going in and work with math programs or STEM programs, I don't know, something different, something innovative. As a funder, we see the same proposal over and over. We're going to create an afterschool tutoring program that's going to help increase the grades of the kids. It's boring, right? So when you are jumping into an ocean, you're in a pool right now, right? When you're jumping into an ocean competing for money, your programs have to be innovative.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
They have to be different. They have to stand out from the crowd. So it's important that when you do that, you have measurable goals and objectives. Something that's going to say to a funder, if you give me money, this is what you're going to get in return. You're going to get an increase in this community who typically never goes to college. You're going to get an increase in youth enrolling in college, or if this community, there's a high dropout rate in high school, you're going to see a 20% increase in high school graduations. It has to be that specific. You can't say, we're going to improve the community as a whole. We're going to create independent thinkers. That's not tangible, but I have individuals who will start their nonprofits. They don't even think about measurable outcomes. They don't even think about quantifying their success, and then when it comes time for them to try and secure funds, it's going to be a challenge because a funder is not clear about what it is that you're delivering.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Your board is not clear about what it is that you're delivering. In stage three, developing your programs, you're also building out your budget. If you have a program, you also have a budget. That's what your board is going to use to go secure funding. I can't tell you how many people come to me saying that they need a grant, but they don't have a budget. Well, then what are you putting down? What are you putting down on the application? Your budget should not be how much you can run the organization on. Oh, we can run it off for 25,000. We can do it for 10,000. Your budget. When funder asks you for your budget, there are two budgets. One is your organizational budget. How much does it cost to run your organization? They're asking you for that because they have no intention of providing the monies that you need to run your organization.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
That's your responsibility as the founder. That's your board's responsibility. Your funder is interested in funding the program, so you're going to submit the organizational budget and you're going to submit the program budget. The program budget is how much does it cost to run this program? That's what I'm going to give you. I'm not going to give you the money to run your organization because it's your responsibility to run your business. So if you are submitting grants for $10,000, $5,000, you may be excited. You're like, oh my goodness, there's some money coming in. Remember, our goal is not for you to get money. Our goal is for you to be sustainable. That means you're going to fully fund your programs. That means you're going to have diverse funding streams so that you can fund your organization. So in this stage, it's important that you have a budget that shows how much it costs to run your organization fully funded.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
That means having your salaries in there. Most of my founders don't include their salaries. They're like, oh, no, I don't need, you do need that so that you're not working your nine to five and then working your nonprofit. Put your salary in there. The sooner you get funded, the sooner you can leave that job that you hate anyway, and you can fully work at your nonprofit. But if you don't know that, you're not including that, and what that means is now it's going to be longer and longer and longer until you get your salary. We want your salary in there right away. We want your board fundraising for your salary right away. We want your board fundraising for staff right away, but if it's not in the budget, then they're not going to do it. So that's why it's important to understand at what stage you're doing what thing.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Let's move on to stage four. Stage four is when you build your leadership team, that's your board. Now you're recruiting your board because now you have a budget. You have measurable goals and objectives. You have program description. Now your board is clear about what it is they're going to be fundraising for. Yes. Stage five is building your systems. I tell my team all the time, you want to build your systems before you start even hiring staff. Your systems are what allow you to give your funders data, right? If you have a CRM when you're enrolling people, all of that's going into your database. When you're fundraising, all of that data is going into your database. When a funder asks you for your financial statements, it's because you have an accounting system. So you want to be able to give your funder all of that data.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
So you build out your systems, your accounting systems, your marketing, your fundraising, all of the things that's going to allow you to produce reports, right? If a funder gives you a grant trust and believe either in the middle, the quarter, the end, you're going to have to do what's called a compliance report. If you don't have systems in place, it's going to be very challenging for you to create those reports. So systems are like the backbone of your organization, and that happens in stage five. In stage six. You want to start building your credibility. I say it all the time. A seen nonprofit is a funded nonprofit. If your funders don't know that you exist, then you can't get funded. If your constituents don't know that you exist, then they're not going to come and get your services, which then is your impact. So stage six is building out your credibility.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
So you have to have proof that your programs work. If you say, we're going to make sure that 500 of our program participants graduate, where's the proof? That's how you're going to get funded. You're going to say to a funders, we've already graduated 500 youth, give us more money so we can graduate a thousand or 2000. So building your credibility is important, and that's stage six. And then the last stage is stage seven, building a sustainable nonprofit. And if you're in this stage, now, you're ready to create a funding strategy. You've got your systems in place, you've got your leadership team, you've got your budget, you've got proof that you're making an impact. Now, you're going to grow your organization by diversifying your funding streams, right? You're going to help your board to help bring in more resources, not be solely dependent on grants, not be solely dependent on galas.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
You're going to have at least 10 streams of revenue, and this is how your organization gets to sustainability. Listen, bam, I'm sharing with you these stages because if you start off in stage one and you're trying to do the work in stage seven, you're going to burn yourself out. There's too many gaps in between. You're missing essential pieces. What you want to do is build out your organization in a way that makes sense and that saves money, and that saves time. So if you're not sure what stage you're in, you can go to my website, nonprofit Mastery Academy, and there's a quiz that you can take and it will show you what stages you're probably in. And if you think that you're in stage five and you're ready for funding, but it says you're actually in stage two, that means that you've got some foundational work to do.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
And what I say is, don't you want to know that? Don't you want to know that instead of putting all of this energy and trying to get these grants and things, and you'll never qualify for it because you're missing essential pieces of your organization. So go to my website, the Nonprofit Mastery Academy, take the quiz, see which stage you're in, and if you're still pumped up about getting your organization to that place where it's fundable, check out the Nonprofit Mastery Academy. That's where I'll walk you through each one of these stages. I help you to develop your organization. I give you templates. I share with you in depth what you need in each stage, and I give you the resources you need to build out your organization. I am here to help you create a successful nonprofit. It's not about checking off boxes. It's about doing the work to create a very solid nonprofit organization. All right. We're going to shift reels right now, and we're going to move into Ask Amber. Jamie from Hermosa Beach has a question for me. Go ahead, Jamie. What's your question?
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Hi, Amber. This is Jamie calling from Hermosa Beach, California. I really want to make a difference in my community. I'm thinking about doing beach cleanups once a month up and down the coast. I'm still in college, so I don't have any dispensable cash or a savings to start a nonprofit. I was wondering, can I get a grant to start a nonprofit, and if so, where would I look? Thanks, and I hope you read my question on your podcast.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
So the short answer is no. You cannot get a grant to start a nonprofit. Let me explain to you why a nonprofit is a business, and funders are not going to give you a grant to start a business because it is your responsibility to run your business, yours and your boards. So if I'm giving you a grant to start a business that says to me, you're not ready to run one, you should really start your nonprofit with about 25, $50,000 because a business has business expenses. If you can't afford your business expenses, then you should not be starting a business. And I'm not saying that to be mean. I'm saying that because a funder is looking to fund organizations who are viable. If I give you money to start a nonprofit, then you need money to run the nonprofit. If I give you money to run a nonprofit, like come on, right?
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Funders aren't here. It is not the funder's purpose to fund nonprofits. Did you guys know that? The funder's purpose is to meet their funding goals. If my goal is to end cancer, I'm going to partner with nonprofits who have programs that's going to help me end cancer. My purpose is not to pay to run your organization. That's your responsibility. It's yours as the founder and your boards. It's really your board's responsibility to make sure that the nonprofit is viable, but it's not the funders. So if you start off asking for a grant to start a nonprofit, then as a funder, what I know is you're going to keep coming back to ask me for money, and that's not my responsibility. I'm giving money to different nonprofits so that I can meet my funding goals, whatever that is. So know Jamie, you cannot get a grant to start a nonprofit, but thank you for asking.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
That's one of the top keyword searches in Google, how to get a grant to start a nonprofit. Don't do it. Don't do it. Okay, let's move on to episode three of the nonprofit Spotlight. It's when I shine a light on the most amazing people in the universe, my nonprofit leaders, we are in conversation with Mercedes from In Due Time Coalition in the Antelope Valley. She's supporting birthing moms so that they can have amazing birthing experiences, healthy babies, so that they can bounce back and be the best. Moms and dads can have the support, and siblings can have the support. It's an amazing organization, and I'm so excited for this episode. So let's jump back in. What's the difference between a doula and a midwife?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Yeah, so how I like to explain it, doulas are everything waist up and midwives are everything waist down.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Yeah, that's very clear.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Alright. That's very clear.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Midwives are catching the babies. Doulas are there to provide support, soul support. So whether it's emotional support, getting information, resources to take back to the families, providing the hands-on like a light massage,
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Things
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Like that, and midwives do the blood pressure. They catch the babies. Babies like I previously mentioned, and all of the providers.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So when would be the best time for someone to request a doula? Is it like soon as you found out you're pregnant?
Speaker 4 (25:34):
I would say yes. Yes. I would say as soon as you find out that you're pregnant, start seeking a doula before you seek, make sure you have your, I mean, before you just go with the first person, have an interview. You want to be able to know that you mesh with this person. That'll be seeing all of your business for the full 40 weeks.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Okay. Okay. All right. So tell us a little bit about some of the challenges you've had as a nonprofit leader in trying to bring these types of support services to the Antelope Valley. What types of challenges have you had?
Speaker 4 (26:11):
So some of our challenges before ever win was funding. I would say that was a main challenge. We did the accelerated, what was it, 90 days?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Yeah. Yeah. Coaching program program.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
90 intense days. They were
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Kind of intense.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
They were very intense. Very intense, but it was definitely beneficial. So we were applying for grants previously, but to get fundable did a lot of partnering
Speaker 1 (26:44):
With
Speaker 4 (26:45):
Other organizations to
Speaker 1 (26:46):
So meaning they would get the funds and then sub award to you
Speaker 4 (26:51):
And even mini grants through different organizations. So we did that, and then we did, again, the intense 90 days. I think the hardest part of that was our budget and tell the people why. It's a lot of numbers, a lot of numbers.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
It's a lot of numbers, but what did you learn from that process?
Speaker 4 (27:12):
I learned that it's doable. You have to just sit with it and get it done, and we saw that a fully functional nonprofit to run it. It is a lot of money. It's a lot of money. We were asking for like 25,000 a year, 30,000, but then to see larger amounts of money, it's like, wow, we were able to do this. So
Speaker 1 (27:38):
I
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Right? And it's important for nonprofit leaders to understand that we're dealing with big problems and big problems require big solutions, and that's not a $25,000 solution, right? So Mercedes did the work. She has a funder ready budget. She has programs and descriptions that a funder understands, right? It's not these vague. It's like, okay, here are our goals and our objectives. What happened as a result of going through the program and refining and really being clear about your purpose? What did you experience after?
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Yes, so I experienced joy. I experienced so much joy, okay? The first grant opportunity after the 90 days, we were awarded $120,000.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
I'm just saying
Speaker 4 (28:31):
For 18 months by LA gain. So thank you guys for that, and we have trained 23 community members
Speaker 1 (28:40):
And
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Become doulas. In our next cohort, we're looking for 20. Our goal is to train a hundred, but I got something special for the dads coming up, so y'all dads be on the lookout.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Welcome back. That was episode three of our conversations with Mercedes. If you want to be spotlighted on my podcast, make sure you hit me up on any one of my socials. I'd be delighted to shine the light on you so that you can get more visibility. As I always say, a seen organization is a funded organization, or at least it powerfully positions you so that you can get funded. If you're doing all of this work and funders don't know you exist, then you're not going to get funded. It does not happen magically. It happens because you put yourself in a position where you can be funded. Listen, if you don't want to come on my podcast, that's fine. Get on somebody's, get in front of your potential funders so that they can see the amazing work that you're doing. We have one more episode left speaking with Mercedes, but if you want to go ahead and watch the whole interview, go on over to my YouTube channel.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
You can watch it in its entirety. Otherwise, you can watch me next week with the final conversation as we wrap up today. I just wanted to reiterate that today we've been talking about the nonprofit journey. It is a journey. It's not a sprint, and if you understand which stage you're in, it's going to powerfully position you to be successful in this space. I have people jumping into the nonprofit sector thinking that it's easy. It is not. You've got to build out a whole business marketing and accounting, and program development, networking, compliance. It is a whole business, and that's why I'm here to support you. You may not know what that entails. I got you. You don't have to figure it out. What you have to do is go to the nonprofit mastery academy.com and check out all the things that I have in place for you so you don't have to ever figure it out again, everything is mapped out, 12 modules.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
It walks you all the way through. You save time, you save energy. Listen, I've had people who started their nonprofits. They're at stage zero, move to stage one, and then in stage two, they try to hire a grant writer. You're not ready for a grant writer at stage two. You haven't even created your budget. That's in stage three. What is a grant writer going to write to? You're going to get scammed, right? I can't tell you how many people have lost $3,000 trying to get the right grant writer. It's not about the grant writer. It's about what stage is your organization in? Do you have a budget, an annual organization budget, and a program budget? That's what a grant writer is going to use to then complete the grant. So just do things in order because it's going to facilitate you saving time, most importantly, your hard earned money, trying to get your organization to that place where it's sustainable. All right. If you've enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe and share it with someone in your network, and I'm just going to encourage you, as I always do, to take care of yourself, like you take care of your community. We'll see you next week.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to https://thenonprofitmasteryacademy.com/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.
