Episode 124: Who's Holding You Down? And, Who's Holding You Down?
Every Executive Director needs a person who will hold them down - encourage, support, listen tell them the truth. Then there are people who Hold you Down. Literally, never have a positive thing to say. Always pointing out your short falls. Learn how to create a strong support system by increasing one and decreasing the other.
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🔦 NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT 🙌🏿
The California Community Foundation Pt. 4
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The Nonprofit Mastery Academy
https://fusion.amberwynn.net/nonprofit-mastery-academy/
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Podcast Transcript
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, 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 2 (00:21):
Hello there fam. It's your girl, Amber Wynn. You're on air. Today's topic is really a question, and I'm going to be a little facetious with my question because I'm going to use a play on words, and when I say it, you'll know what I'm talking about. My question for you is who's holding you down, right? And the play on words is who's holding you down and then who's holding you down, right? So in the African-American community, we have our own vernacular. So when we say who's holding you down, we're asking who's got your back? Who is going to be there for you? Who can you turn to? Who's holding you down? But then on the flip side, if you just ask the question straight, who's holding you down? Meaning who's holding you back? Who's creating obstacles in your world? Who are your haters? So my question for you today is both of those who's holding you down, when we come back, we're going to dive in.
(01:24):
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.
(02:11):
Order your copy today. Welcome back. You're on air with Amber Wynn, and I am asking you the question, who's holding you down? Listen, having been an executive director, I can tell you it's important that you have a confident that you have a person who when times are rough and things, they're looking pretty rough. You can call and say, I can't do this anymore, or I don't know what to do. Somebody who is going to encourage you, somebody who's going to say, well, have you tried this? Somebody who's going to bring you a resource, somebody who's going to bring you a glass of wine and say, we are going to stop thinking about this for about two hours. Yes, we are. Every executive director needs someone who holds them down. For some people, it might be your spouse. For other people, it may be your BFF. For some people who just don't even have that level of person in the world, it could be a mentor.
(03:16):
It could be somebody that you pay. It could be a coach, it could be a therapist. The point is, every executive director needs someone who's going to hold them down. The nonprofit sector has a burnout rate of 54%. It's the highest of any sector out there. You know why? Because we shoulder a lot. Not only do you shoulder the work, but you shoulder the responsibility of running a business. You shoulder all of the mental weight of your clients, right? That's a lot to try and work through. You shoulder the responsibility of paying your staff. It is a lot. It is a lot. So I am saying to you, you need to have a person in your life who's going to hold you down, who you can call up and be the realest of the real and just be like, this person going to get hurt.
(04:20):
You got my bail money? And they're going to be like, yeah, and I'm on my way. Or Yeah, let's talk it through. Make sure you're not going to do anything rash, right? But you need that person that you can be authentically you with because as an executive director, you are constantly on, right? You're on for your client facing individuals, you're on for the funders, you're on for your staff, and you just need to be, just unload that stuff because if you internalize it, it's going to make you sick, and that's not what we want. If you hold that burden all to yourself, you're going to be a part of that 54% statistic, and we don't want that. So I am encouraging you today to find someone who's going to hold you down. Okay? And then on the flip side, I want you to think about the people who are in your space.
(05:18):
Think about those people who when you have a problem, they seem just a little too happy about you having a problem. Or if you are trying really hard and you're saying, oh my God, I'm trying so hard, and all they give you is negative energy. Well, I told you not to start that nonprofit in the first place. Or, you know what? I don't even like them anyway. When it's always negative, you don't need that. You have the world bringing you negative energy. If you have people who are on staff or who are on your board, and all they do is give you negative feedback or point out what's going wrong, those people are holding you down and you need to get rid of them. You need to pluck them out of your space because the work that you do is hard work, and you don't need that extra energy, that extra negative energy to pull you down.
(06:14):
What you need in your space is positive energy. People bring in solutions, not problems. So I want you just to sit down and just do an assessment of the people in your space, and if they are not holding you down, meaning not having your back, not bringing you resources, not encouraging you and supporting you, then you know that they are holding you down, meaning that they are a weight, that they are a negative energy, and you don't need them in your space, and you lovingly release them. Either you say you've got 30 days to shift your energy because it's wearing me down, and if you don't shift it within 30 days, then we're going to part ways. Or you say, you know what? You've been this way for quite some time and I believe in my heart and soul that you're not going to change, and so I'm going to bless you and send you on the way and wish you your best because I have work to do and I don't need to have this extra negative energy.
(07:11):
This is what I'm asking you today to look in your space and see what's going on in your space. Are they holding you down? Are they holding you down? Either way, you've got work to do. And if you're not sure, well Amber, I'm not really sure. Then I've got the solution for you in my course, The Nonprofit Mastery Academy. I talk about the people in your space. I talk about who you need to be in your space, whether that's a board member. You're like, well, I don't really know how to recruit a board member. I have a whole module and a whole toolkit on how to recruit seasoned board members. Powerhouse board members, not people who's just going to sit there and complain and say, well, you should be paying me. I don't know what to do. Your board members should be holding you down, and if you're not sure how to get them The Nonprofit Mastery Academy is going to help you get there.
(08:10):
Let's take a look. Are you struggling to fund your programs? Can't get a grant to save your life. Most consultants will share the what of how to start a nonprofit or how to fundraise. They may even share the why, but they don't share the how because that's where they make their money. Now, I'm not hating. I'm a businesswoman too, but I've been where you are trying to make the world a better place, struggling to keep the doors open up to the wee hours of the night writing grants and doing whatever needed to be done. And because I've walked in your shoes, I'm not here to make you spin. Your will waste your time or your hard earned money. We ain't got time for that. The world needs you. I'm here to show you how to transform that pit. You keep dumping your hard earned money into a profitable nonprofit.
(09:02):
I take my 30 years of nonprofit experience as a founder, executive director, program developer, grant writer in funder, giving out over $7 million annually in grants, and I save you literally thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours. I walk you through setting up your nonprofit organization so that you can be generating enough revenue to cover your monthly expenses in just 90 days. How would that feel? Not paying bills from your personal bank account. I share my insider secrets, tips, tricks of the trade, and provide you with a step-by-step roadmap on how to turn your bootstrap organization into a profitable nonprofit. Within six months, you could be generating enough revenue to pay your salary or fully funds your program. The choice is yours, but you have to get the blueprint, and it took me three years to develop it, but it's here and it's going to change your life.
(09:59):
Join my other successful clients who are just like you, full of passion and determination, but they had no idea all that it takes to run and fund a successful nonprofit. Now they're winning grants and drawing a salary, and they know what it is that they're supposed to be doing to run a successful nonprofit. They're no longer making it up as they go. They have the roadmap and they're clear about next steps, and I want that for you too. So what are you get in this course? You'll walk away with knowledge, products, processes, and systems, not just a bunch of promises, but exactly what you need to turn your organization into a profitable nonprofit. I promise you don't need grants. What you need is a solid infrastructure, and this course is going to give you all of that and more. And what's more, it comes with the money back guarantee.
(10:52):
So go ahead, click the link below to register for this course. Welcome back. You're on air with Amber Wynn, and now it's time in the episode for me to answer your questions. It's called Ask Amber. Today's question comes from Ranisha from Los Angeles. She hit me up on Instagram, and this is her question. My staff asked me for a raise and I said, no. Then she asked me for more hours and I said, no, I can't afford it. I don't even get paid. I get a small stipend. How are all of these nonprofits getting grants and paying staff? Wow. First of all, Ranisha, I'd like to just thank you very much for your vulnerability in being transparent. I'd like to say that you're the only one in this situation, but the is, if you visit the IRS website, you'll see that over 60% of the nonprofits there report an annual budget of $50,000 or less, and with the budget of $50,000 or less, they're not paying their staff either, but that's called poverty pimping y'all.
(12:13):
When you have people who are committed to your mission and they want to work in an environment where they know they're making a difference, we have got to create an environment whereby you can pay, number one, your staff. That would be you, Ranisha you living off of a stipend is not enough, and then two, where you can pay your staff livable wages. Your question was a good one. How are all of these nonprofits getting grants and paying staff? First of all, as I've just mentioned, it's not a large percent, but for those who do, I'll tell you what they have. They have a solid infrastructure, they have an accurate budget, they have a seasoned board, and they have systems in place. This is the basic foundation for those nonprofits who are consistently being funded. Why? Because in order for an organization to qualify for grants and other funding, you need to have a diversified funding stream.
(13:19):
Every nonprofit should have 10 streams of revenue. That's number one Ranisha. They're not surviving solely off of grants. They have multiple streams of revenue. They have unrestricted funds, meaning you can use the money for anything that supports your organization. So they're having galas and golf tournaments, but they're also doing other things like individual donors. They're doing, giving Tuesday campaigns, and they're reaching out to individuals who support their mission. They are writing grants, yes, but grants should only be 35% of the organization's revenue. So all of the rest of that 65% is coming from other strings of revenue. So when your staff asks you for a raise, you can say to your board, listen, my staff has been working for three years and we haven't given them a raise. They barely got a cost of living increase. Then the board can say, all right, so this is what we're going to do.
(14:16):
We're going to do this one particular fundraiser to generate X amount of dollars so that we can give the staff a bonus or an increase. So Ranisha, to answer your question, I'm going to tell you, take my course The Nonprofit Mastery Academy gives you the roadmap for how to create a solid infrastructure, how to recruit board members who are going to help you generate revenue, and how to diversify your funding stream so that number one, beloved, you can get paid. And then number two, you can pay your staff wages. All right? So check it out. It's going to give you all of the answers that you need, and it's going to do it in a way that you can clearly understand it and you can easily implement it. All right? If you have any questions for me, I want you to hit me up on my socials.
(15:09):
I'm on Instagram, I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on Facebook, I'm on all of the socials. So hit me up and let me know what it is I can do to support you. And now we are wrapping up our four part series, talking to Brittany Daniel. I'd like to thank Brittany for just being transparent and having just a real conversation with the sister about some of the questions that nonprofit leaders have. If you haven't had the opportunity to listen to the first three, I'm going to encourage you because she dropped some nuggets on us and she gives you some insight to how a program officer thinks. And I do. I give my little 2 cents as well know. I used to be a program officer as well, so she wasn't always coming in hard. I was, but I think I may have gotten her a little bit riled up on this last part when I asked about her pet peeves. So be sure to check it out. We're going to wrap up this conversation. So let's hear the last episode of our conversation with Brittany Daniel of the California Community Foundation.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
So I will say I've been with the foundation a little over three years, so I would say that I bring a different perspective to how you can meet me for one along with a lot of my colleagues at the foundation are, like I said, we really go to a lot of these events, and I know some people are really scared when it comes to networking and things like that. I think the biggest thing is just being approachable. I believe that I am approachable and really like to get out there and meet people. So these funder events, Fran Jamon has been really awesome in cultivating these Meet the funders events. So I think as we see those pop up a little more, I think it's been easier to access funders in some types of spaces. So I love to attend those, even if you're not on the panel, but just going, because a lot of nonprofit organizations really share their work and their achievements, and it's really good to be in the room as funders share, but also as the nonprofits are able to share. Let's see. Also, I will say California Community Foundation is one of the few orgs. They have my name, phone number, and email on the website.
(17:46):
So if you see me out in these streets or at these events and in the community, please feel free to come up and speak and say something as I'm also networking in the community. So I think, yeah, there's no kind of one way, but I think too, like I said, I love a cold call, a cold email. I always love to give people and schedule some time, even if they are not a fit, they may be a fit at another time or for another department or for another funder, then I may know funding their work. So I think that's also really important too. So even if you aren't, let's say, a perfect, perfect fit, it's good to just have the call and start the relationship in the first place because you never know where that could lead you. I've definitely passed a few folks along to other funders, and they've had opportunities open there,
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And you're back and you're on air with Amber Wynn. I told y'all I got her a little riled up. I It's all good. I tend to have that type of influence. I want you guys to hear the real, right, and she's representing her organization, and so she's not going to say anything that was me, golden her or whatever. But program officers are human beings, and that was what I wanted you to understand. They're human beings, and when there's specific guidelines that says, do this, or don't do this, and you do it or you don't do it, it's just irritating. You know what I mean? It's like real simple. Read the directions. I know the things that just used to just tick me off.
(19:52):
I'd like to thank Brittany Daniel for coming in and having a conversation with me. If you want to hear the full interview, go check it out on my YouTube channel, but I'm just going to encourage you right now to reach out to your program officer, establish that relationship, because as she mentioned, when she has a relationship, if she has money that doesn't fit with your mission, she knows other funders, she can make the recommendation. It's always helpful to have a healthy relationship with your program officers. All right, well, that's it for this week's episode. I want you just to really sit with the topic and think about who's in your space, who's holding you down, as in who's got your back, and then who's holding you down, as in who is a barrier? Who's this negative energy in your space? And I want you to purge. That's what I'm encouraging you to do, because I care for you and I love you, and I want the absolute best for you. I do not want you to be a part of that 54% of the nonprofit sector that's burnt out. That is not what I want for you. All right? So until next week, I'm going to tell you what I tell you Every week. Take care of yourself, like you take care of your community. We'll see you next time, guys. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwynn.next/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.
