Episode 65: Monetizing Your Assets - Train the Trainer
If you or your organization delivers a program in a unique way or produces exceptional results most in your field do not, you can monetize that to generate additional income for both your organization and your staff using the Train the Trainer model. Learn how inside this episode.
LINKS:
NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT: ORAM- Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration
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Podcast Transcript
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learned 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 (00:26):
Good
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Morning fam. It's your girl, Amber Wynn, and we're going to start a new series called Monetizing Your Assets. I talk a lot about diversifying your funding streams and sometimes people get overwhelmed thinking about one more thing that they have to do. Funding is a necessity in the nonprofit sector. I wish they would change it from nonprofit to for purpose. I think that would alleviate some of the misconception in our sector, but we're going to roll with what we have. A nonprofit is a business. It's just a business with a philanthropic purpose and you have to generate revenue in order to cover the costs for your business. So for the next couple of episodes, we're going to talk about monetizing your assets. An asset is something that you have. You have it already. You may be brand new and still have assets in your organization. Today we're going to talk about how to monetize your intellectual property. It's called Train the Trainer. So basically what you're going to do is sort of like a franchise, is how I like to look at it. People want what you have and you're going to charge them to do it. But first, we're going to pause for a minute. When we come back, we're going to jump into monetizing your assets. Train the Trainer model.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
This is you and this is your business. From invoicing your first client to your 10th club to your hundredth client, you'll need to get paid quickly. Pretty soon you'll be ready to hire some help you'll, and you'll need to pay them. As your business grows, wave is there to grow with you.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Welcome back to On Air with Amber. Today we are starting our series on monetizing your assets and we're talking about train the trainer. Listen, if your organization delivers a program in a unique way or you have amazing results that other folks in the sector don't have, you can capitalize on that. You can monetize that. You can charge people money to learn how to do what it is that you do so that they can go back to their communities and replicate it. It's called the Train the Trainer model. It was very, very popular back in the nineties. People still do it, still capitalize on it. How does that work? Well, you're the subject matter expert. Let's just say you are in the field of geriatrics. You work with seniors and you have figured out a way to get seniors to have better health outcomes. Whatever you do, however you do it, and other deliverers, other people doing the same type of services that you're doing, want to know how are you so successful?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
You have a secret formula. What you do is you're like, fine, send people from your organization and I will teach them how to do what we do, and then they can go back to your organization and then teach the rest of your staff. Sometimes these things happen in conferences, sometimes just straight up collaborations. You can say, all right, I'm going to rent out a hotel and I'm going to deliver this curriculum. I'm going to teach you how to do it. When you train someone how to do it, it's important to understand that you are giving them the formula. This is not a teaser, it's they are training you to learn what it is that you're doing. So what you want to do is make sure that you have your systems in place. If I'm going to rent out a hotel and tell you, come here and in four hours or in three days, you're going to learn the secret sauce for how to improve the health outcomes of seniors.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
So now you've got to package that, right? You've got to make sure that you have the curriculum, but you are doing the training. You're actually doing the training. Now, what I want you to also consider, especially if you're not able to pay your staff at the rate that they deserve, it is also an opportunity to get them extra revenue. At Girls Inc. For example, and we're going to talk about licensing in another episode, but at Girls Inc, we had individuals who were specially trained in the curriculum, how to deliver media literacy, how to deliver whatever the topic was. They were specifically trained in Girls Inc's curriculum. And so what would happen is we'd have other girl based organizations ask us, Hey, can we learn how to do? Yes. So I'd have one or two people on staff that were specifically trained. So when someone would say, Hey, we need it over here in this region, then I'd send one of my staff out.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Well, they would pay for her to come. They would pay for her to come. She'd make that extra money, and she was the subject matter expert. She was certified in whatever topic it was. So she would go to their organization, they would pay for it, pay for her hotel and flights and all that stuff, and she would train them on how to deliver our program. So there's ways for you to capitalize on something that you do specifically, something that you do well. You can also see it as an opportunity to share your wealth and knowledge with other communities because that's what you're doing when you send someone or when someone comes to your place and they learn what you're doing, they're learning how to do things better. So that means they're going to go back to their community and do it better. It's a win-win for everyone.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
How is that different than consulting? Well, as a consultant, I am a subject matter subject matter expert, and when I come in and consult, I apply my knowledge, right? So I'll teach you how to run a nonprofit, I'll teach you, but it's really technical assistance. I'm not teaching you how to become a consultant. I'm teaching you how to deliver your programs better. Whereas with the Train the Trainer, they are teaching you how to deliver a program. They're teaching you how to do something in your organization that you can then use so that they can then use and then replicate in their organization. So train the Trainer model an optimal way to monetize your assets. So you say, how do I set my pricing? Well, the best way to set your pricing is to go on Google and just look at other people who are doing things similar.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
They don't have to have the same topics, right? Just Google, train the trainer and put in a topic or train the trainer, and then things will come up. Usually I do it based off of my hourly rates. So you would take your salary divided by 12 months, then divided by four weeks, then divided by eight hours, and that's how you get your hourly rate. And how many hours were you going to be there? Four hours, three days, and then tack on four hours to set up or for prep or whatever. But yeah, monetizing your assets, train the trainer is one way for you to generate additional resources for your organization, not only for your organization, but also for your staff. When we come back, we're going to jump into the question of the day, which is Ask Amber. So we're going to take a break and then we'll be back.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
Introducing Donor Box events, a new seamless ticketing solution to fire up your nonprofit fundraising efforts, golfing or glitter and gala. Now you can create effective event pages with unlimited ticket levels, determine fair market and tax-deductible ticket values for every new fundraising function in a matter of minutes. Maximize and simplify your ticket management with donor box events helping you help others.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Welcome back to On Air with Amber. This is the part of the episode where you get to ask your pressing questions. Listen, I can talk all day. I've been in this space for 30 years, so I have a lot of things to say, but if there's a specific question you have for me, you can hit me up on my social media. You can email me, DM me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, I'm on LinkedIn. Ask me your question. You can even email me. This question from Tina in San Diego was an email at Amber@Amberwynn.net. Tina from San Diego says, Hey, Amber, this is Tina from San Diego. My question is, how do I turn my business into a nonprofit? I do workforce development for X gang members, and I'm looking to turn it into a nonprofit so that I can get grants to cover the tuition.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Thanks, Tina. Hey, Tina. I get this question all the time. You cannot turn a for-profit into a nonprofit. Likewise, you cannot turn a nonprofit into a for-profit in the state. Any state that you're in, you establish your business entity. You say, Hey, I'm forming a business, and you get your articles of incorporation. The article says, I have formed a business. I'm going to function as a nonprofit, and now it goes into history. It goes into the annals of that state entity. And so when they look you up, this is how you're formed. You cannot then go back in and do amendments and say, you have to form a brand new company.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
And the reason why is they need to keep things separate. And when you get your articles of incorporation, you are assigned a tax ID number. So you can't switch that over. You just have to form a whole new organization. And here's what I'm going to encourage you to not do, or they won't let you do it. It's to have the same name. When you do a name search to start an organization, if you try and put in the same name, they'll say it's not available. Because what they don't want to do is to have people get confused or have, I don't know, people use the same name and they're doing different things. So you'll have to do a name search and it'll have to be a different name, but you cannot turn a nonprofit into a for-profit, and you cannot turn a for-profit into a nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
But that was a great question. I get it all the time. Oh, I'm going to turn my business into a nonprofit and I say, you cannot turn it. You'll have to establish an entire new one. Okay. Alright. Well, I am excited because you guys know my favorite time of the episode. It's when I get to highlight a nonprofit. Nonprofits are out there doing the work. They are heads in the sand, grinding, changing lives, and I get the opportunity to shine a light on them. Today, we will be covering ORAM the organization for Refuge, asylum and Migration. ORAM’s mission since 2008, is to protect and empower L-G-B-T-Q, asylum seekers and refugees globally. Let's take a look at ORAM.
Speaker 6 (12:31):
Hi everyone, I'm Dominique Jackson, and this is my fiancé, Edwin Torres.
Speaker 7 (12:36):
Hi everyone. We're here today to tell you about this organization that is very near and dear to our hearts. Orum
Speaker 6 (12:43):
ORAM, the organization for Refugee Asylum and Migration. ORAM is a nonprofit that helps L-G-B-T-Q refugees around the world who are escaping persecution and violence because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. They help them lead safe and empowered lives wherever they are along their journey. I feel a personal connection to Orams work and to the L-G-B-T-Q refugees. They serve because I identify with so many of their challenges, I faced incredibly horrific, traumatizing situations. As a young person in my home country of Trinidad and Tobago, I came to the US as an immigrant, and for a time was both undocumented and homeless, facing even more racism and transphobia. But I persisted and stayed true to myself, and eventually I built this life that I'm living today. I see that same authenticity and drive in the amazing refugees that Orum serves. So when the executive director, Steve Roth approached me last year about appearing at one of their virtual events, I had to say yes.
Speaker 7 (13:53):
We were so moved and inspired by these incredible individuals facing such tremendous odds that we wanted to do something special for the community.
Speaker 6 (14:03):
So last year, we made a donation to Orum to provide hot home-cooked dinners on Christmas Day to 200 members of the L-G-B-T-Q Refugee Community in Nairobi, Kenya. It was such a great experience that we came back and did it again this year. For how many babe?
Speaker 7 (14:21):
300.
Speaker 6 (14:22):
300 people.
Speaker 7 (14:24):
This is truly an amazing community of strong and resilient and inspiring individual, but they need our support now more than ever. We
Speaker 6 (14:34):
Hope that you'll check out ORAM at www.oramrefugee.org or on social media. Please get involved and support their work. It's a great cause.
Speaker 7 (14:45):
Thank you, thank
Speaker 6 (14:46):
You,
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Thank you, ORAM. And as they said, if you're interested, please go check them out at www.oramrefugee.org. So now as we wrap up this episode, I just wanted to pause for the section of the episode where I share my thoughts. It's called Mindset Minute, and I just take a minute to share with you something that's on my mind. There's always so many things to do. Every time you turn on the podcast is you need to do this and you need to do that, and you need to do this. And unfortunately, I'm going to tell you something else today that you need to do, because as a leader, there are just things that you have to do. Today, I'm going to encourage you to make time to network. Networking is a little buzzword that's tossed around in business. Oh, we're going to go to this network. We're going to go to this mixer.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
For a nonprofit leader, networking is crucial to the sustainability of your organization. Why? Because as an executive director, your role is to put your organization out there, put your organization out there so that potential new clients can see you, so that you can get to know potential new collaborators. So you can get to know your elected officials, which is really important because elected officials are the ones who decide where the money goes in the organization. So you want them to know you and you want to get to know them. And then you also have an opportunity to get the lay of the land. You can go to a town hall or a community meeting and find out what's coming up down the pike so that you can get your organization in position to receive grant funds. You don't want to learn about something 30 days before it comes out.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
You want to know that it's coming up the pike so that you can make sure that your organization is qualified to apply. They may be saying, oh, we're going to have this money. We've got this new arena coming in, and we're looking for nonprofit organizations to partner with. They're going to need this, this, this, and that. Well, if it's 30 days before, you're going to be scrambling, but if you know it's coming in six months, you can get those ducks in a row. So networking is a powerful tool for powerfully positioning your organization for more resources, more collaborators, just more everything. And you don't have to do it every single week. If you commit to just networking, start off with once a quarter and then every other month, and then once a month, that's enough to just keep yourself in the know. Maybe one month you're going to go to a networking event sponsored by an elected official.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Maybe the next month it'll be sponsored by an agency that is in your space. Just get out there, let people know about the wonderful work that you're doing, about your staff, about your needs. You may be looking to hire somebody and you're out there having conversations at this networking. Somebody, well, what do you need? We need quality staff. And they're like, oh, I know this agency that provides, that's how it happens being in the space. So I know you have a lot on your plate already, and this is one more thing that you are being told to do. But try and start small once a quarter, then every other month, and then once a month, start networking. Alright, so that's all we have for today's episode in the series of monetizing your Assets, train the Trainer, we're going to continue the series with other opportunities for generating more revenue in your organization. Make sure you hit me up on my social media. I want to hear from you. I want to engage with you because I'm here to support you. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwynn.net/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time
