Podcast appearances and mentions of joel kessel

Joel Kessel of Kessel Strategies visits the SnapCast. Joel is a strategic advisor who helps nonprofits increase their impact through strategic planning and advising. For more than 25 years Joel has been advising, training, and guiding growth- minded nonprofit organizations as well as for-profit leaders and entrepreneurial-minded business owners to think more strategically and communicate more effectively so they can impact the people they lead. This collaboration was arranged through a listing on Nexus Marketing's HAPO (Help a Partner Out) page. HAPO is a free service that connects members of the social good sector for cross-marketing and educational opportunities, such as webinars, podcasts, and conferences. For more information on HAPO or Nexus Marketing's other offerings check out their website, nexusmarketing.com.  We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

Katie talks to Joel Kessel, the CEO of Kessel Strategies, about how strategic planning be reframed in order to maximize the impact for the board, team, and overall operation. Joel is a strategic advisor who helps nonprofits increase their impact through strategic planning and advising. For more than 25 years Joel has been advising, training, and guiding growth-minded nonprofit organizations as well as for-profit leaders and entrepreneurial-minded business owners to think more strategically and communicate more effectively so they can impact the people they lead. Joel has worked with industry leaders ranging from national nonprofits, manufacturing, and healthcare, to technology and book publishing companies. As a trusted advisor, he serves as a private sounding board, expert strategist, someone with a fresh perspective, and a few have even called him, “The calm in the center of our storm.” This episode was sponsored by DipJar! DipJar is changing the game of fundraising with a cashless donation jar and an integrated payments platform that enable joyful, engaging, and frictionless giving. With DipJar, organizations of any size can collect donations anywhere and Create More Giving Moments.

Joel Kessel was the punter for Ohio State in 1992. While teamates like Joey Galloway, Robert Smith and Dan Wilkinson went on the the NFL, Joel pursued a career in PR & communication. An entreprenuer at heart, Joel operates Kessel Strategies and has become a coach and peer group leader for Vistage. Joel is the master mind behind my social media and podcast efforts. Listen to this episode and learn from one of my most trusted advisors.

We aren't going to let COVID-19 get us down and claim our biggest event of the year. Announcing Igniting Souls Conference Experiential, October 22-25. It is NOT a virtual conference. It is an experiential conference. Listen in to find out what that means/ It's a world-class conference for world changers with speakers like Dan Sullivan, Paul Carrick Brunson, Jill Young, Shannon Waller, Dan Miller, Kathryn Jones, Tom Ryan, Chet Scott, Skip Prichard, Niccie Kliegl, Daphne Smith, Jim Edwards, David Branderhorst, Dexter Godfrey, Joel Kessel, Lisa Moser, Barbara M. Littles, Linda Outka, and Chris McClure. Find out more, including how to get the exclusive new video training bonus at https://www.ignitingsoulsconference.com (https://www.ignitingsoulsconference.com/) .

After completing steps 1-6 of the Strategic Planning process, you should have tactics all over the place.  At this point, you are ready to formulate and pull together your one-page strategy.  You already have your strategic objectives finished, now all you have to do is gather the tactics you and your planning team have put together.  And that’s step 7. If you’ve been following the process and capturing all the notes, now it’s time to start plugging in the information into your one-page strategy.  It starts with your vision and mission, next is core values, then the four areas of focus (satisfaction, financial stewardship, internal process, capacity) and where your strategic objectives fall into those areas.  After that, are the strategic initiatives of how you are going to execute your plan.  Once you plug everything in and have your one-page strategy in place, it’s time to go back to your core planning team for final approval.  After that, it’s time to present your one-pager to the board for their approval.  A note about the presentation, please do NOT just shoot off an email to the board members with the one-pager attached and a note saying you’ll discuss it at the next meeting.  This is a huge mistake because the board members have no context.  They have no idea how much energy, time, and work went into pulling together the plan.  Instead, schedule the meeting and plan to take them through the journey of the core planning team.  Hopefully, you’ve had either the board chair or a board member on the core planning team and we encourage you to have that person take the board through the presentation as opposed to you, the executive director.  After the presentation, then you can hand out the one-pager you’ve created because the board members should now understand everything that went into it and why you’ve chosen the strategic objectives and initiatives.  Once you’ve gotten board approval, it’s time to go back to the planning team and decide what needs to happen in year one, year two, and so on.  You can’t do everything in year one, so you must prioritize those objectives and initiatives.  What matters?  What’s urgent now?  What needs to get done in the next 90 days?  Six months?  This is where you start implementing the work plans as well as tracking your progress so that you keep you and your team accountable for what you’ve set out to do.  It doesn’t do you any good to go through this entire process if this last step doesn’t happen.  Consider forming a group of volunteers who will help execute the work plan for year one.  Put together a one-page priorities document that outlines the details of the work that needs to happen so this group knows exactly what they need to do on a quarterly, monthly, and daily basis.  Make it manageable for the team. We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom. Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity.      

On today’s episode, we are discussing step six of the Strategic Planning process, Establish Your Measurement.  How are you measuring the progress of the objectives and initiatives of the organization?  Starting with the end in mind and setting quantifiable goals is great, but you must also create targets and get those numbers on paper.  One way to measure your progress is, did you do it or not?  For example, if your objective is to increase the awareness and education of your audience, an initiative might be to create a marketing/communications plan that provides direction to achieve that objective.  The simplest measurement is whether or not you developed a plan.  But what about the metrics?  The second way to measure your progress is to use key performance indicators (KPIs) to show if your activities made an impact and whether or not you produced the outcomes you set out to accomplish.  It’s easy to fall into the trap of overanalyzing every piece of data.  You do have to measure, but measure what matters.  Be realistic about what you’re measuring and don’t get so far into the weeds that you are no longer progressing toward your objectives. Once you have a one-page strategy in place, it’s time to develop the work plans.  A great tool to develop KPIs is called Klipfolio.  This tool starts with a list of questions that will help you start to track your progress throughout the year.  Here are the questions: What is your desired outcome and where do you want to be at the end of the campaign/year? Why does this matter? How are you going to measure progress? How can you influence the outcome? Who is responsible for this outcome? How will you know if you achieved that outcome? How often will you review progress toward the end goal? Don’t get analysis paralysis!  It’s easy to become overwhelmed by all of the data so make sure you are measuring what matters.  To do this, your entire team must be aligned on the overall objectives and initiatives you determined in step five (Tighten Your Focus).  We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom. Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity.  

Today we are diving into step 5 of the strategic planning process, Tighten Your Focus.  This is where you start to drill down deeper and get your arms wrapped around your strategic objectives and initiatives.  There are four key areas that move from internal to external – capacity, internal process, financial stewardship, client and stakeholder satisfaction – and these four areas will show up on your 1-pager (strategic plan). Capacity: If you’re a 2-3-person organization, you simply don’t have a lot of capacity to engage in many initiatives compared to an organization with 15-20. What training do you already have and what do you need to gain to give you more mental capacity to engage in some of these activities?  Internal Process: This area focuses on what you already have in place, how efficient you are as an organization, and how you do work. Are there opportunities to improve upon these processes? Financial Stewardship: AKA your financial and fundraising performance. How are you raising money?  Are you diversifying your money?  How are you managing your money?  Client and stakeholder satisfaction: Who are the people who are ultimately benefitting from the great work you’re doing? If you’re doing the first three really well, then it’s going to be much easier to satisfy the people who are benefitting from your work. This is the messy stuff that scares a lot of people and why a lot of people don’t like strategic planning.  This step is the “make your brain hurt” type of work.  Embrace it.  It’s going to feel messy and that’s ok.  The first thing you need to do is frame this step into two overarching categories; what you need to do vs. how you need to do it.  Once you’ve separated the strategies from the tactics, you will then determine where they each fall within the four key areas.  For example, let’s say you’ve decided to enhance training internally among staff.  That objective would fall under the capacity bucket.  Or, maybe want to start an endowment.  This would fall into the financial stewardship area.  Essentially, you are identifying what is important to your organization and then splitting each objective into a specific category so you can immediately start to put together your one-page strategic plan.  Remember, you are planning for the future, so take the time you need to make sure you have covered each area to the fullest.  The point of this step is to come out with a balanced scorecard.  At the end of the day, you want 1-4 strategic objectives in each category.  If you find that you have an area that is unbalanced, you need to start making some tough decisions.  Go back to your core values and your vision and take capacity into consideration.  This will help you identify the priorities of the organization and determine what objectives you can realistically achieve based on the number of staff you have.  At the end of the day, you want to make sure you have the right objectives within the right area of focus and at a high level, you understand which strategic initiatives will support those objectives. We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom. Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity.  

On today’s show, we are talking about Step 4 of the strategic planning process, Assessing Your Organization.  This step is important because it allows us to hit the pause button and really talk about ourselves and the organization as a whole.  This allows to get all the players in the same room and discuss what they’re good at as well as areas that need improved.  It forces you to have critical conversations and determine how your organization can grow. What is a SWOT analysis? A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis is a tool that anyone can apply to any part of their organization – fundraising, marketing efforts, past events, as well as programs and services.  A SWOT analysis is NOT a strategic plan.  Here are some questions to get you thinking about each area: Strengths What are some advantages of your programs and services? What do you do better than anyone else out there? What are some unique resources you can draw upon that others can’t? What does your community see as your strengths? What factors mean you actually get the funding, donations, or support? What is your unique selling proposition? Weaknesses (these can be turned into opportunities) What could we improve upon? What should be eliminated? What does your community see as your weaknesses? What’s missing or not working properly? Opportunities What are some opportunities out there that exist for your organization? What would allow you to get more funding and have a greater impact? What areas of leverage could you exploit? What interesting trends did you find in your environmental scan? Threats What obstacles do you face? What are your competitors doing? Are your quality standards changing for your programs and services? What outside factors could make your organization vulnerable? What risks do you need to prepare for? How do you protect your data from security breaches? Is there a linchpin that could potentially bring down the entire organization? Who should be at the table when performing a SWOT analysis? Core planning team, other stakeholders (volunteers, donors, staff members, board members) How often should an organization do a SWOT analysis? This is such a helpful tool that it should be used liberally throughout your organization because you can SWOT anything. What happens after the SWOT analysis is complete? A lot of organizations get through this exercise and then stop.  I encourage you to go back to your strengths listed and determine how you can enlist the strengths.  This is also a great opportunity to brainstorm around your weaknesses and find solutions that you may decide to incorporate into your strategic plan.  And, now that you have a list of threats, you can talk about how the organization can either deal with or overcome those threats.  This is the time to put a plan into action in order to make improvements. We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom. Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity.    

On today’s episode we are talking about the second half of step 3, Realize Your Future, which relates to your Mission and Core Values.  Last week we talked about the first half of step 3, which is focused on your vision.  The difference between your vision statement and your mission statement is the vision is the end result and the mission is what you’re going to do to get there.  Mission is our purpose and why we exist as an organization.  It’s about the people we serve through our programs and services.  When you’re thinking about your mission statement, you want to be specific with who you’re helping and where you’re helping (as in geographically).  One of the mistakes a lot of organizations make is they feel like they only have one chance to tell people what they do, which leads to cramming all of this information into a mission statement.  There are too many messages, it’s too long, it’s confusing, and people still don’t know what it is you do.  Remember, simple is always better.  If you can’t easily repeat your mission statement to someone while standing in the grocery line, chances are it’s just too much.  The object is to keep the statement short and concise; not filled with jargon and fluff. When you sit down to come up with your mission statement, there are 3 questions you should ask: Why do we exist? Whom do we serve? What do we produce as outcome benefits? The first question addresses what makes your organization special or unique and how are you different from your competition.  Think of this as the basis for building a reputation among those you serve.  Why should they look to you instead of similar service providers?  The second question relates to the primary beneficiaries of your organization.  These are the people who are receiving direct, frequent services from your organization.  Finally, once you know who you are and who the primary demographic is, the third question is about expectations.  What do they (the beneficiaries) expect from us (the organization)?  It could be service, solutions, education, information, etc.  Once you’ve answered those 3 questions, it’s time to write out a statement.  A typical mission statement should look something like this: Our mission is to serve (client/people) with the (programs and services) in order to achieve (why we exist). Keep in mind that mission statements can change and evolve over time.  If your organization was founded 50 years ago, is the mission statement from then still relevant to the mission of today?  If not, then it’s time to develop a new statement that better reflects the current organization.  Remember, donors are interested in your relevance and keeping an outdated mission statement will affect the buy-in to your organization.  After you’ve gotten your statement down on paper, it’s time to focus on core values.  Core values are simply what you believe in.  If you’re clear on your core values, they become critically important in how you’re recruiting people.  Knowing what’s important to you opens communication with potential volunteers and donors alike.  It’s easy to spot red flags if there’s a misalignment in what you value and what your volunteers value; especially if this person is a candidate for your board.  Just as your mission statement, you should keep your core values simple by having no more than 3 words that have the most meaning to the organization.  The reason for using 3 words to represent your beliefs is because it’s very easy to remember.  A good exercise is to come up with a list of 50 values.  Then, each participant on your team chooses their top 5.  The key is for them to pick what’s important to them, not the organization.  This is an awesome exercise because there is a level of vulnerability that will help build trust within that group.  Once everyone has picked their top 5, then each person then shares with the group why these values are important to them.  The facilitator collects all the answers and comes up with the most common, could be a list of 15 at this point.  Then the group picks the top 5 from that list.  From there, those top 3 that have the most votes become the core values of the organization.  This is an easy process to walk through with your group and gets everyone to participate. We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom. Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity.  

Step three of strategic planning is one of the most critical steps in the process because it can make or break your fundraising efforts and your organization as a whole.  Clarity attracts and confusion repels.  Everyone has people in their lives who communicate so clearly and effectively that you will follow them wherever they go.  Likewise, you also know those who say good words, but you have no idea what they actually said and what’s going on.  Today, we are talking about realizing your future.  What does this mean? This step is all about vision, mission, and core values of your organization.  You have to have a clear vision so when you’re sitting in front of potential donors, they’re clear and can see how they can fit into where your organization is going.  Habit number two of Steven Covey’s book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says to begin with the end in mind.  And that’s what we’re talking about here.  Where do you want to be?  What impact do you want to have in the world?  If you have a clear vision of three years down the road for your organization and your others have a different vision, this can be a real problem when you’re trying to gain traction and move forward.  As you look at your vision, it needs to be aspirational.  It needs to push you and almost make you feel like it’s impossible to achieve.  This is not something you’ll be able to get done in a year.  Oftentimes, we overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in ten.  It’s time to dream big.  Here are four questions the planning team should ask itself: What major accomplishments has our organization achieved by the year fill-in-the-blank? Based on question 1, how does our organization operate differently in 3-5 years than it does today? What will the people we serve, as well as our stakeholders, say about working with us? What will our staff or volunteers say about working for our organization?  As you’re having this great conversation and capturing your ideas, you then start to develop you vision statement within this framework:  we will do                     by this date                .  Then you can begin honing your vision statement to incorporate these goals and the dreams you have for the future.  Remember, your vision can and should change and you continue to grow.  Once your vision statement is complete, everyone starts to feel the sense of urgency to accomplish that vision by getting to work.  We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom.   Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity.    

On today's show I am featuring an episode from a new podcast I am co-hosting with my friend, Joel Kessel.  The Nonprofit Executive Podcast is for growth-minded executives who are looking to take their nonprofits to the next level through strategic planning and fundraising.  On this podcast, Joel discusses his steps to create a successful strategic plan as well as my steps to fundraising freedom.  Here are the notes from episode 3 of the Nonprofit Executive Podcast.  Enjoy! We are talking about fundraising, on which Mary has literally written the book.  We tend to raise our money by taking whatever we can get, however, there is a strategy behind fundraising.  But first, a little background from Mary. When I first took my position with the American Cancer Society, the town I worked in had a population around 150,000 with the surrounding area numbering near 250,000.  Rather than solely focusing on my community, I latched on to what my counterparts were doing in their markets.  One of those locations was Chicago.  My friends in Chicago raised $1.8 million on a first-year event.  No one raises that kind of money without a clear strategy!  Another friend in the Tyler, Texas market raised $1 million in their most recent event and I modeled my event after an event in Dallas.  I had access to all of my peers where I could call on them and ask for advice or materials.  This is part of why we created the Nonprofit Executive Club.  We created a community where executives aren't competing against each other but can be there for one another to bounce ideas off of and find out what is working in other markets. When I wrote the book, Fundraising Freedom, I was really focused on freedom.  I want every nonprofit to have freedom, meaning to act, think, and speak without holding back.  I want you to be so bold about your cause that you're not negotiating or belittling your cause and just taking whatever money you can get because you're so desperate.  The FREEDOM process is a system that works for large-scale organizations as well as those organizations just getting started.  Step 1:  Focus Your Vision. The first step I teach is the “F” of the word freedom.  Joel will talk to you more about vision as it pertains to your vision statement and I will talk to you about vision as you look at how much money you want to raise.  By having a clear mission and vision statement in your strategic plan, by the time you get to me to talk fundraising, you already know what you stand for and how much money it's going to take to fulfill that vision and mission.  Step 2: Run Your Research.  Once you know what you to, it's time to start researching what your counterparts are doing, or what successes are happening in your community, and figuring out what our people want.  Step 3:  Enlist Your Team.  This is a process of inviting people in.  When it comes to fundraising, you just need one volunteer who is going to be the face of the fundraiser or campaign.  Fundraising should not be the sole responsibility of the staff person.  There's an old African proverb that says, “if you want to go quickly, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.”  You can go fast if you want, but you are not going to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars if you go it alone. Step 4:  Enhance Your Brand.  This is when you build out your print materials, get your logo and website designed; turn your fundraiser into something visual. The reason you need to enlist your team before building your brand is so your team can take part in the process.  If your team has a say in this process, they will be more likely to sell the event because they have skin in the game.  Just like Dale Carnegie said, “people support a world they helped create.” Step 5: Deploy Your Team.  Your volunteers and your staff go out and advocate on your behalf by scheduling meetings and getting out in front of people.  Step 6:  Organize Your Ask.  This is the reason why we fundraise.  Go ask for your money.  This the number one most difficult thing for boards to do.  But this task is made so much easier if you've done all the previous work.  You've already done your research, you have a great team, you feel really empowered, your print materials look great, this is what makes it easy to invite others to be a part of what you're working toward.  Remember, people love giving their money away. Step 7:  Make Your Difference. Let's go make a difference and celebrate.  So often when we raise money we immediately jump into the next act.  What I want to see is for you to take a step back and you recognize all the people who made it possible.  You're thanking your donors; you're acknowledging the impact you're making on the world.  This is where you start telling stories and talking about the success of the event because if you're going to replicate this again next year, you have to make sure to acknowledge the incredible influence your cause is making. We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Subscribe to the Nonprofit Executive Podcast here. If you are raising $50,000 or more and would like to know more about the Academy, you can apply at http://bit.ly/applyforFRFA.  From there, my assistant will set up a 20-minute conversation with me to see if you're a good fit and you'll get the rest of the details on how to sign up.  For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap.  Get a copy of Mary's book, Fundraising Freedom.  

On today’s show I am featuring an episode from a new podcast I am co-hosting with my friend, Joel Kessel.  The Nonprofit Executive Podcast is for growth-minded executives who are looking to take their nonprofits to the next level through strategic planning and fundraising.  On this podcast, Joel discusses his steps to create a successful strategic plan as well as my steps to fundraising freedom.  Here are the notes from episode 3 of the Nonprofit Executive Podcast.  Enjoy! We are talking about fundraising, on which Mary has literally written the book.  We tend to raise our money by taking whatever we can get, however, there is a strategy behind fundraising.  But first, a little background from Mary. When I first took my position with the American Cancer Society, the town I worked in had a population around 150,000 with the surrounding area numbering near 250,000.  Rather than solely focusing on my community, I latched on to what my counterparts were doing in their markets.  One of those locations was Chicago.  My friends in Chicago raised $1.8 million on a first-year event.  No one raises that kind of money without a clear strategy!  Another friend in the Tyler, Texas market raised $1 million in their most recent event and I modeled my event after an event in Dallas.  I had access to all of my peers where I could call on them and ask for advice or materials.  This is part of why we created the Nonprofit Executive Club.  We created a community where executives aren’t competing against each other but can be there for one another to bounce ideas off of and find out what is working in other markets. When I wrote the book, Fundraising Freedom, I was really focused on freedom.  I want every nonprofit to have freedom, meaning to act, think, and speak without holding back.  I want you to be so bold about your cause that you’re not negotiating or belittling your cause and just taking whatever money you can get because you’re so desperate.  The FREEDOM process is a system that works for large-scale organizations as well as those organizations just getting started.  Step 1:  Focus Your Vision. The first step I teach is the “F” of the word freedom.  Joel will talk to you more about vision as it pertains to your vision statement and I will talk to you about vision as you look at how much money you want to raise.  By having a clear mission and vision statement in your strategic plan, by the time you get to me to talk fundraising, you already know what you stand for and how much money it’s going to take to fulfill that vision and mission.  Step 2: Run Your Research.  Once you know what you to, it’s time to start researching what your counterparts are doing, or what successes are happening in your community, and figuring out what our people want.  Step 3:  Enlist Your Team.  This is a process of inviting people in.  When it comes to fundraising, you just need one volunteer who is going to be the face of the fundraiser or campaign.  Fundraising should not be the sole responsibility of the staff person.  There’s an old African proverb that says, “if you want to go quickly, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.”  You can go fast if you want, but you are not going to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars if you go it alone. Step 4:  Enhance Your Brand.  This is when you build out your print materials, get your logo and website designed; turn your fundraiser into something visual. The reason you need to enlist your team before building your brand is so your team can take part in the process.  If your team has a say in this process, they will be more likely to sell the event because they have skin in the game.  Just like Dale Carnegie said, “people support a world they helped create.” Step 5: Deploy Your Team.  Your volunteers and your staff go out and advocate on your behalf by scheduling meetings and getting out in front of people.  Step 6:  Organize Your Ask.  This is the reason why we fundraise.  Go ask for your money.  This the number one most difficult thing for boards to do.  But this task is made so much easier if you’ve done all the previous work.  You’ve already done your research, you have a great team, you feel really empowered, your print materials look great, this is what makes it easy to invite others to be a part of what you’re working toward.  Remember, people love giving their money away. Step 7:  Make Your Difference. Let’s go make a difference and celebrate.  So often when we raise money we immediately jump into the next act.  What I want to see is for you to take a step back and you recognize all the people who made it possible.  You’re thanking your donors; you’re acknowledging the impact you’re making on the world.  This is where you start telling stories and talking about the success of the event because if you’re going to replicate this again next year, you have to make sure to acknowledge the incredible influence your cause is making. We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Subscribe to the Nonprofit Executive Podcast here. If you are raising $50,000 or more and would like to know more about the Academy, you can apply at http://bit.ly/applyforFRFA.  From there, my assistant will set up a 20-minute conversation with me to see if you’re a good fit and you’ll get the rest of the details on how to sign up.  For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap.  Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom.  

On today’s show I am featuring an episode from a new podcast I am co-hosting with my friend, Joel Kessel.  The Nonprofit Executive Podcast is for growth-minded executives who are looking to take their nonprofits to the next level through strategic planning and fundraising.  On this podcast, Joel discusses his steps to create a successful…Continue reading Episode 137 | Nonprofit Executive Podcast

In strategic planning terminology, take a look at your world means to do an environmental scan.  What’s happening out there has an impact on your organization.  This is not to come up with a list of excuses of why you can’t get something done, but rather to help you make better decisions for the future of your organization. You’ve gotten your foundation set, so taking a look at the world around you is going to include articles, research and data trends, conversations you’ve had with your key stakeholders, and other ways you can get information.  What you need to be mindful of when you’re doing your environmental scan are socio-demographics; what is happening in society may affect the work your organization is doing in and for the community.  Another area to focus on is what’s happening with your competition.  Competition doesn’t have to be a negative term, rather, it’s an honest look at what similar organizations are doing and what’s working for them.  What’s going to be new or different in how your organization provides services and programs?   Sometimes you determine that you should collaborate in order to serve more people in your community.  Next, it’s important to look at the economy and the effect it may have on your organization in the next few years.  For example, if there is a downturn predicted, how will your organization weather that storm?  Or better yet, how will it thrive?  Knowing what’s happening economically is going to help you have that conversation when you get into the conference room to discuss strategy.  What’s happening politically?  Are there new regulations that will impact your organization? Keeping your finger on this pulse is especially critical if you are in the advocacy realm and trying to get laws changed.  It’s crucial to understand that there is a difference between observing what’s happening and getting sucked down the rabbit hole.  The way you handle this is to surround yourself with good people who will help you keep your focus.  Understanding what’s going on with technology is absolutely vital.  Technology is moving and changing so quickly that you can easily become paralyzed.  Understanding the overall strategy – what you are doing and how are you doing it – will give you insights when determining what technology to deploy.  Then you can find ways to leverage technology to help your organization become more efficient.  Keep in mind that technology doesn’t just mean social media and marketing.  It also includes how you are communicating internally with your team, keeping connected to one another, and project management systems.  Don’t let technology work you, you need to work technology. Finally, you need to take a look at your own clients and the people you’re looking to serve.  What change in demands might put pressure on your organization to perform at a higher level?  Your constituents may come to you asking for more support in a particular area.  You have to listen to your audience so you can better serve their needs. We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom. Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity.  

The number one reason most nonprofits do not have a strategic plan is because they think it’s going to be a daunting task.  But all you’re really doing is gaining some clarity and focus in order to set the organization on the right path.  If you go on vacation, you have to plan out how you are going to get there.  Strategic planning is the same way; you’re mapping out the steps you need take to get to a desired future state.  There are 3 questions you need to ask yourself: Where do you want to be? What do you need to do? How are you going to get there? When you begin to think about strategic planning in the framework of those three questions, it is easy to put a plan in place.  Today we are going to focus on step one of your strategic plan, set the foundation. Setting the foundation should happen well before you ever set foot in the board room.  First, you need to gather a planning team.  You want a diverse group of 4-10 people, depending on the size of your organization, that includes a combination of the executive director, the board chair, major donors, other volunteers, etc.  Once the planning team is in place, it’s time to set up a meeting to discuss how you are going to run the organization for the next 3-5 years.  The first step in this process is to discuss the issues or challenges the organization is facing, which is what will set the tone for the 3-5 goals you will establish.  Keep in mind that some of the topics discussed may actually be symptoms of a deeper issue happening within the organization itself.  Next on the list to discuss with the planning team are the obstacles that could stand in the way of effective planning.  This could be how often you meet, the schedules of the team, or internal leadership support.  Remember, you can easily come up with a bunch of excuses that halt the planning process.  However, don’t let this stop you from building a strategy. Finally, you want to wrap up the initial meeting with some ground rules like consensus decision making because we want to do this as a team.  Actively support the group decision, even if it’s not the exact one you would personally make.  Make sure you prioritize what matters most.  Lastly, you need to take the time you need and not rush through the process and trust that this it does work.  It’s going to feel messy and that’s ok because it gives you permission come up with creative ideas on how you are going to take your organization to the next level. We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom. Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity.  

Welcome to the Nonprofit Executive Club podcast.  This podcast is for growth-minded executives who are looking to take their nonprofits to the next level through strategic planning and fundraising.  Meet your hosts: Joel Kessel has spent the last 25 years in communications and public relations.  He focuses on helping nonprofits get their message out into the world by casting a strong vision and creating a powerful strategy.  Mary Valloni has raised millions of dollars through her work as the development director for the American Cancer Society, the ALS Association and Special Olympics.  Now she teaches and trains organizations around the world on how to raise more funds and have more freedom. Currently, there are more than 568,000 nonprofits that are raising less than one million dollars.  The reason why these nonprofits are not taking their fundraising to the next level is because they are lacking a strategic plan.  You cannot raise money without a strategy and a clear vision.  Only 49% of nonprofits have a strategic plan. What you can expect from this weekly show: 30 minutes Joel’s STRATEGY Steps to create a successful strategic plan Mary’s FREEDOM guide to fundraising Q&A Sessions We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your impact through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. To submit your questions, please email mary@maryvalloni.com or joel@kesselstrategies.com

On this episode, Joel will take you through a high-level overview of his STRATEGY steps to build your strategic plan.  These 8 steps are built on industry best practices, books and courses, and real-life experiences in taking organizations through this process.  Step One:  Set the Foundation.  What are you planning for?  Who is your core planning team?  Step Two:  Take a Look at Your World.  What is happening in the world around us – politically, demographically, economically, etc.?  These issues are going to impact the decision-making for your organization.  However, this is not an opportunity to create excuses on why you can’t raise “x” amount of dollars, or why you can’t hold an event, or do a specific program.  It’s to arm you with the information you need to make the best decision possible for your organization in the mission. Step Three:  Realize Your Future.  What is your vision?  Where do you want to be in 3-5 years?  What does success look like?  Part of this step is drilling down into your mission and the things that are going to drive your day-to-day actions that will support your larger vision.  Determining the organization’s core values are a part of this process as well.  What do you believe in?  Once you have clarity and alignment within your organization, you can then go out and recruit the right people to become staff members, volunteers, and donors. Step Four:  Assess Your Organization.  Perform a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats).  Whereas step two is taking an external view, step four includes taking an internal look at your organization through the strengths and weaknesses.  There will be overlap with step two when you start to look at the opportunities and threats because these are external views as well.  However, this allows for some checks and balances between the two steps. Step Five:  Tighten Your Focus.  This step is where you create a balanced scorecard.  Healthy and smart organizations have a balanced scorecard, meaning they aren’t skewed in one direction or another.  The four areas of the scorecard are capacity, internal processes and systems, finance, and client stakeholder satisfaction.  Step Six:  Establish Your Measurement.  If you don’t know where you’re going, then how are you going to get there?  Did you do it or didn’t you do it?  Simple.  For example, if part of your plan includes to create a marketing plan for year one, what actions are you going to take to make that happen?  This is an action you can control.  Establishing the measurement then comes back to did you take this action or not because we know that taking action will lead to growth and impact. Step Seven:  Gather Your Tactics.  Tactics are new or continuing projects and actions designed to improve performance of one or more focus areas.  Tactics reduce performance gaps in the focus area and help achieve results. Step Eight:  Your Plan to Execute.  The worst thing you can do is go through this process and then put it away on a shelf.  This is where a lot of organizations fail in their strategy; they have a plan but then it doesn’t get executed.  Your plan to execute is how you are going to roll out your entire plan and put it into motion.  Remember, this plan does not have to be overcomplicated.  Start with a one-pager, then you can drill down from there into a quarterly, monthly, or weekly plan. As we move through the upcoming episodes, we are going to delve deeper into each step individually and answer any questions you may have.  To submit a question about strategic planning, email joel@kesselstrategies.com. We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity. For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. 

On this episode we are talking about fundraising, on which Mary has literally written the book.  We tend to raise our money by taking whatever we can get, however, there is a strategy behind fundraising.  But first, a little background from Mary. When I first took my position with the American Cancer Society, the town I worked in had a population around 150,000 with the surrounding area numbering near 250,000.  Rather than solely focusing on my community, I latched on to what my counterparts were doing in their markets.  One of those locations was Chicago.  My friends in Chicago raised $1.8 million on a first-year event.  No one raises that kind of money without a clear strategy!  Another friend in the Tyler, Texas market raised $1 million in their most recent event and I modeled my event after an event in Dallas.  I had access to all of my peers where I could call on them and ask for advice or materials.  This is part of why we created the Nonprofit Executive Club.  We created a community where executives aren’t competing against each other but can be there for one another to bounce ideas off of and find out what is working in other markets. When I wrote the book, Fundraising Freedom, I was really focused on freedom.  I want every nonprofit to have freedom, meaning to act, think, and speak without holding back.  I want you to be so bold about your cause that you’re not negotiating or belittling your cause and just taking whatever money you can get because you’re so desperate.  The FREEDOM process is a system that works for large-scale organizations as well as those organizations just getting started.  Step 1:  Focus Your Vision. The first step I teach is the “F” of the word freedom.  Joel will talk to you more about vision as it pertains to your vision statement and I will talk to you about vision as you look at how much money you want to raise.  By having a clear mission and vision statement in your strategic plan, by the time you get to me to talk fundraising, you already know what you stand for and how much money it’s going to take to fulfill that vision and mission.  Step 2: Run Your Research.  Once you know what you to, it’s time to start researching what your counterparts are doing, or what successes are happening in your community, and figuring out what our people want.  Step 3:  Enlist Your Team.  This is a process of inviting people in.  When it comes to fundraising, you just need one volunteer who is going to be the face of the fundraiser or campaign.  Fundraising should not be the sole responsibility of the staff person.  There’s an old African proverb that says, “if you want to go quickly, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.”  You can go fast if you want, but you are not going to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars if you go it alone. Step 4:  Enhance Your Brand.  This is when you build out your print materials, get your logo and website designed; turn your fundraiser into something visual. The reason you need to enlist your team before building your brand is so your team can take part in the process.  If your team has a say in this process, they will be more likely to sell the event because they have skin in the game.  Just like Dale Carnegie said, “people support a world they helped create.” Step 5: Deploy Your Team.  Your volunteers and your staff go out and advocate on your behalf by scheduling meetings and getting out in front of people.  Step 6:  Organize Your Ask.  This is the reason why we fundraise.  Go ask for your money.  This the number one most difficult thing for boards to do.  But this task is made so much easier if you’ve done all the previous work.  You’ve already done your research, you have a great team, you feel really empowered, your print materials look great, this is what makes it easy to invite others to be a part of what you’re working toward.  Remember, people love giving their money away. Step 7:  Make Your Difference. Let’s go make a difference and celebrate.  So often when we raise money we immediately jump into the next act.  What I want to see is for you to take a step back and you recognize all the people who made it possible.  You’re thanking your donors; you’re acknowledging the impact you’re making on the world.  This is where you start telling stories and talking about the success of the event because if you’re going to replicate this again next year, you have to make sure to acknowledge the incredible influence your cause is making. As we move through the upcoming episodes, we are going to delve deeper into each step individually and answer any questions you may have.  To submit a question about fundraising, email mary@maryvalloni.com. We know being a nonprofit executive is a lonely job and we want you to know that you are not alone as you work toward your mission.  If you like the content of the podcast, as well as the work we do, we invite you to join the Nonprofit Executive Club.  The Executive Club is a monthly training program that gives you the ability to increase your influence through strategic planning and fundraising support.  For more information and to join the Club, go to nonprofitexecutiveclub.com. Download the Strategic Plan Toolkit For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap. Get a copy of Mary’s book, Fundraising Freedom. Interested in learning more about Joel Kessel?  Visit kesselstrategies.com to find out how Joel helps growth-minded leaders gain clarity.

These last few weeks have been quite the whirlwind for me.  I went out of town for 10 days that kicked off with a workshop I did with my friend Joel for nonprofit executives, then to the Igniting Souls author conference, and concluded with taking on a brand new client. What is gratitude?  It's a feeling of appreciation and showing an appreciation of kindness and being thankful.  Being grateful is being thankful – thankful to others for what they've done for us, volunteers willing to spend their time with us, gratitude for people who give generously.  Gratitude is contagious.  Gratitude creates positive thinking.  Our brains cannot think positively and negatively at the same time.  This means we can't have the glass half full and half empty at the same time.  As someone who works with fundraisers, it's my job as the encourager to get you thinking about who you can call on and what opportunities you can take to help you achieve your goals.  When you have peace about what you're doing, you have less fear.  Gratitude creates resilience.  Resilience to life's challenges.  When you are able to bounce back quicker from what life throws at you, you are able to raise more funds and create greater impact.  We have all been through traumatic experiences; how often do we find ourselves in a position where someone gave to our organization and then all of a sudden, they're gone?  If you wallow in the sadness of them leaving, you can easily create a downward spiral of negative thinking.  We have to be able to be resilient and understand that not every donor is going to come back, we should never have an expectation that donors are going to give every year.  Gratitude creates joy.  Practicing gratitude everyday brings joy in your life.  I have mentioned this before, but in the back of my journal, I have a joy list.  It's a bulleted list of all the things that bring me joy.  I try and spend most of my time doing the things on my list that bring me joy because I have a choice every single day to do things I enjoy.  One of the things on my list is deep conversations so I work really hard to incorporate these types of conversations into my daily life and into the work I do.   Gratitude can change everything including our mental state and can help us turn things around.  My challenge to you today is to create your own joy list.  As we gear up for this holiday season and the season of giving, think through those little things that bring you joy and how just by changing your thought process can change how people feel about your cause.  People give to people; they don't give to causes.  People are giving to you and the life change you are making through your organization.  It's way easier to give to someone who is positive and shows gratitude toward your generosity.  If you're feeling really stressed right now, I need you to push that to the side and be thinking positive thoughts because those negative thoughts are not doing you any favors, they aren't helping your fundraising, and your desperation is repelling people away from you and your cause. Last week we talked about podcasting and I wanted to let you all know that I am launching a new podcast with my friend Joel Kessel called the Nonprofit Executive Podcast.  The first three episodes are dropping later this week.  This is THE podcast for nonprofit executives who are working through strategic plans, board development, administrative support and all of those different roles that come with an executive title.  Joel and I will specifically talk about strategic planning and fundraising.  Visit http://nonprofitexecutivepodcast.com/  Interested in joining the Nonprofit Executive Club?  Check out nonprofitexecutiveclub.com  For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap.  Interested in joining the Nonprofit Executive Club?  Check out nonprofitexecutiveclub.com   

These last few weeks have been quite the whirlwind for me.  I went out of town for 10 days that kicked off with a workshop I did with my friend Joel for nonprofit executives, then to the Igniting Souls author conference, and concluded with taking on a brand new client. What is gratitude?  It’s a feeling of appreciation and showing an appreciation of kindness and being thankful.  Being grateful is being thankful – thankful to others for what they’ve done for us, volunteers willing to spend their time with us, gratitude for people who give generously.  Gratitude is contagious.  Gratitude creates positive thinking.  Our brains cannot think positively and negatively at the same time.  This means we can’t have the glass half full and half empty at the same time.  As someone who works with fundraisers, it’s my job as the encourager to get you thinking about who you can call on and what opportunities you can take to help you achieve your goals.  When you have peace about what you’re doing, you have less fear.  Gratitude creates resilience.  Resilience to life’s challenges.  When you are able to bounce back quicker from what life throws at you, you are able to raise more funds and create greater impact.  We have all been through traumatic experiences; how often do we find ourselves in a position where someone gave to our organization and then all of a sudden, they’re gone?  If you wallow in the sadness of them leaving, you can easily create a downward spiral of negative thinking.  We have to be able to be resilient and understand that not every donor is going to come back, we should never have an expectation that donors are going to give every year.  Gratitude creates joy.  Practicing gratitude everyday brings joy in your life.  I have mentioned this before, but in the back of my journal, I have a joy list.  It’s a bulleted list of all the things that bring me joy.  I try and spend most of my time doing the things on my list that bring me joy because I have a choice every single day to do things I enjoy.  One of the things on my list is deep conversations so I work really hard to incorporate these types of conversations into my daily life and into the work I do.   Gratitude can change everything including our mental state and can help us turn things around.  My challenge to you today is to create your own joy list.  As we gear up for this holiday season and the season of giving, think through those little things that bring you joy and how just by changing your thought process can change how people feel about your cause.  People give to people; they don’t give to causes.  People are giving to you and the life change you are making through your organization.  It’s way easier to give to someone who is positive and shows gratitude toward your generosity.  If you’re feeling really stressed right now, I need you to push that to the side and be thinking positive thoughts because those negative thoughts are not doing you any favors, they aren’t helping your fundraising, and your desperation is repelling people away from you and your cause. Last week we talked about podcasting and I wanted to let you all know that I am launching a new podcast with my friend Joel Kessel called the Nonprofit Executive Podcast.  The first three episodes are dropping later this week.  This is THE podcast for nonprofit executives who are working through strategic plans, board development, administrative support and all of those different roles that come with an executive title.  Joel and I will specifically talk about strategic planning and fundraising.  Visit http://nonprofitexecutivepodcast.com/  Interested in joining the Nonprofit Executive Club?  Check out nonprofitexecutiveclub.com  For more information about Mary Valloni, visit maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to maryvalloni.com/roadmap.  Interested in joining the Nonprofit Executive Club?  Check out nonprofitexecutiveclub.com   

No matter how good of a strategic thinker you are, you need someone with you. Take a peek as Joel Kessel goes through the Igniting Souls Conference with me. Joel's tips for a great strategy session like this: show up ready and start with the end in mind. Joel and I do this for the Author Academy Awards, Igniting Souls Conference, book launches and more. He helps me fill in the gaps and deliver an amazing experience. Find out more ab https://www.kesselstrategies.com

Digital Nomad Mastery - Podcast Interview about HOW TO CHANGE YOUR OUTCOME with Joel Kessel from Kessel Communications https://www.JoelKessel.com https://www.KesselCommunications.comThank you for watching our video. We post videos DAILY videos about fatherhood & family, online business, and world travel. Currently, we have been to over 80 countries on 6 continents and our goal is to be the FIRST FAMILY to visit every country in the word. GET EMAIL UPDATES on our website: http://www.DaddyBlogger.com LIKE us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DaddyBlogger SUBSCRIBE to us on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/tokyoricky FOLLOW us on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest: http://www.twitter.com/tokyoricky http://www.instagram.com/tokyoricky http://www.pinterest.com/tokyoricky Also, check out our Digital Nomad Mastery business at: http://www.DigitalNomadMastery.com #DaddyBloggerWorldTour #DigitalNomadMastery

Mastermind groups are a powerful thing.  They can take you out of your own head space and into someone else's.  Helping someone with their struggles can sometimes help you deal with your own.  Mary Valloni & Joel Kessel really do this right. They've put together a type of mastermind group specifically for growth-minded nonprofit Directors, Presidents, CEOs or Founders, called The Nonprofit Executive Club.  My original blog post about this is here. Masterminds have been a huge help to me. I really think they can help you too!

Today's guest is my dear friend and new business partner, Joel Kessel.   I love talking strategy and in this episode Joel shares his 8-Steps to a successful strategic plan including:   Step 1 ==> Plan-To-Plan Step 2 ==> Environmental Scan Step 3 ==> Ideal Future Vision Step 4 ==> Current State Assessment Step 5 ==> Areas of Focus Step 6 ==> Performance Measures and Targets Step 7 ==> Tactics Step 8 ==> Plan-To-Implement   We also share all the details to our brand NEW program, the Nonprofit Executive Club!   To find out more about Joel, visit https://www.kesselstrategies.com/nonprofit/ and to join the Nonprofit Executive Club, visit https://www.nonprofitexecutiveclub.com.   For more information about Mary Valloni, visit http://maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to http://maryvalloni.com/roadmap

Today’s guest is my dear friend and new business partner, Joel Kessel. I love talking strategy and in this episode Joel shares his 8-Steps to a successful strategic plan including: Step 1 ==> Plan-To-Plan Step 2 ==> Environmental Scan Step 3 ==> Ideal Future Vision Step 4 ==> Current State Assessment Step 5 ==> Areas…Continue reading Episode 120 | Strategic Planning with Joel Kessel

Today’s guest is my dear friend and new business partner, Joel Kessel.   I love talking strategy and in this episode Joel shares his 8-Steps to a successful strategic plan including:   Step 1 ==> Plan-To-Plan Step 2 ==> Environmental Scan Step 3 ==> Ideal Future Vision Step 4 ==> Current State Assessment Step 5 ==> Areas of Focus Step 6 ==> Performance Measures and Targets Step 7 ==> Tactics Step 8 ==> Plan-To-Implement   We also share all the details to our brand NEW program, the Nonprofit Executive Club!   To find out more about Joel, visit https://www.kesselstrategies.com/nonprofit/ and to join the Nonprofit Executive Club, visit https://www.nonprofitexecutiveclub.com.   For more information about Mary Valloni, visit http://maryvalloni.com and to download our free Fundraising Freedom Roadmap, go to http://maryvalloni.com/roadmap

Today's guest is wealth advisor, Laura Waller, with P3 Life Builders where she focuses on helping for profit and nonprofit leaders to live a life of Purpose, Power, and Prosperity.   Listen in as Laura shares the 3 S's to fund and fuel your growth in 2019 including: 1. State of Mind 2. Story 3. Strategy   To hear more about Laura and to enter in to the Giving Tuesday Giveaway, visit http://www.p3lifeabundance.com   Mark your calendar for Wednesday, December 5th at 1pm and join Mary and nonprofit strategic advisor, Joel Kessel, for the FREE Online Training on the “7 Year-End Fundraising Secrets Every Nonprofit Should Know”. To register, go to https://www.maryvalloni.com/7secrets.     For more information about Mary Valloni, visit http://maryvalloni.com and to join our fundraising community on Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/groups/fundraisingfreedomtribe/

Today’s guest is wealth advisor, Laura Waller, with P3 Life Builders where she focuses on helping for profit and nonprofit leaders to live a life of Purpose, Power, and Prosperity.   Listen in as Laura shares the 3 S’s to fund and fuel your growth in 2019 including: 1. State of Mind 2. Story 3. Strategy   To hear more about Laura and to enter in to the Giving Tuesday Giveaway, visit http://www.p3lifeabundance.com   Mark your calendar for Wednesday, December 5th at 1pm and join Mary and nonprofit strategic advisor, Joel Kessel, for the FREE Online Training on the “7 Year-End Fundraising Secrets Every Nonprofit Should Know”. To register, go to https://www.maryvalloni.com/7secrets.     For more information about Mary Valloni, visit http://maryvalloni.com and to join our fundraising community on Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/groups/fundraisingfreedomtribe/

This is YOUR spiritual life coaching show. It highlights some of my most sought-after coaching tools and tips based on my book 'Awaking the Living Legacy'. I teach you techniques for finding and living out your God-given life purpose. In segment one of the show I share key points from chapter 22, 'The WORD is the Living Legacy'', where we take a deep look at what the Word tells us about living out the legacy of Jesus. In segment two I bring in expert guest, Joel Kessel, who shares insight on how to define and deliver your message. We look closely at how Jesus communicated and delivered his messages. How we should be continuing on with the same forms of communication the Trinity does. The third segment is where I take call-ins for live life coaching in any area that has you stuck.

Links: Entrepreneur Hot Seat Hot Seat Connect with Andy on LinkedIn! For questions, comments and guest suggestions, contact the host, Andy Storch, at andy@andystorch.com

Links: http://www.entrepreneurhotseat.com (Entrepreneur Hot Seat Hot Seat) https://www.linkedin.com/in/andystorch/ (Connect with Andy on LinkedIn!) For questions, comments and guest suggestions, contact the host, Andy Storch, at andy@andystorch.com

Today's featured guest is Joel Kessel. The topic is Meaningful. Let the show begin. Guest Bio & Links Joel Kessel is an advisor, content creator and speaker of strategic communications and working with media. He helps authors, entrepreneurs, and leaders of small businesses and organizations understand how to leverage publicity so they can step onto a bigger stage, amplify their message and further fuel their marketing communication and lead generation efforts. He serves his clients through speaking engagements, personal advising and coaching, trainings and workshops, and online programs. He also provides thoughts and insights through his blog site at www.JoelKessel.com.

Joel Kessel is an advisor, content creator and speaker on the topics of strategic communications and working with the media.  He helps authors, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, side hustlers, and small businesses understand how to leverage publicity so they can step onto a bigger stage, amplify their message and further fuel their marketing communication and lead-generation efforts. Professional Background A native of Ohio, Joel started his career in Chicago where he worked with professionals such as Chris Ruys Communications, Durk Rion Public Relations, and Golin Harris.  He has worked with large and small organizations, such as National Runaway Safeline, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Weber Grills, and Master Lock.  Joel also managed the marketing communications efforts for the Northern Illinois chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Over time, Joel developed a specialization in PR strategy and media relations, which he has leveraged to garner attention for his clients through media outlets such as USA Today, New York Times, Associated Press, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News and Columbus Business First, among others. Joel's Maturepreneurial Endeavors Today, Joel speaks, advises and writes about public relations and communications for the purpose of helping leaders of organizations that are doing meaningful work share their story in a meaningful way. His company, Kessel Communications, is a strategic communications agency that helps businesses strengthen their credibility, build positive reputations and increase brand awareness through better communications. His blog, JoelKessel.com, provide ideas, tips and advice on how businesses can get their stories in front of those who matter to them, with a focus on working with media reporters to gain consistent coverage and awareness about a product, service or organization.  The blog also reports how others are sharing their stories, how they’re being successful, how social media, advertising, and marketing all play together to increase influence and impact on the people a business serves. His podcast, Conversations on Communications provides listeners with thoughts and insight on how they can strategically and authentically communicate and deliver their message and story with clarity and confidence. Fun Facts About Joel Joel worked for five years in radio While living in Chicago, he was a lead singer in a two-man band He was a member of an improv group He's done commercial voice-over work He was a punter at Ohio State Joel is a member of The Ohio State University’s Varsity “O” Men’s Alumni Association and the Public Relations Society of America.  He is a founding member of the Ohio chapter of the Association for Strategic Planning.  He graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a concentration in public relations. Joel currently lives outside Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Cathy, and their two children.

Hello and welcome to another episdoe of Fatherhood for the Rest of Us where I am honored to be able to have this conversation with Joel Kessel as well as so glad that I am also able to share it […]

Mary interviews communications advisor, Joel Kessel, who has been working with the media for nearly 25 years. He shares not only his expertise in the field of communications, but also his experience as a nonprofit volunteer and donor.   For more information or to connect with Joel, visit joelkessel.com.

Mary interviews communications advisor, Joel Kessel, who has been working with the media for nearly 25 years. He shares not only his expertise in the field of communications, but also his experience as a nonprofit volunteer and donor.   For more information or to connect with Joel, visit joelkessel.com.

Joel Kessel is the founder of Kessel Communications, a strategic communications agency that helps businesses communicate better. Joel specializes in media relations and PR Strategy for business owners and thought leaders. During his sophomore year in college, Joel got into a small talk with a news reporter while waiting for his shift. The news reporter gave him […] The post 126: Public Relations Strategy and Building Better Relationships with Media and Influencers appeared first on TCK Publishing.

Joel Kessel reveals why he moved his office home, talks about his current business and how he is growing opportunities through new products, and why conference are important to his future. Listen to Message Clarity Is Your Best Strategy For Breakthrough Success For inspirational quotes and links to resources mentioned, visit http://rickcoplin.com/sts005  

Today's Guest is Joel Kessel, of Kessel Communication and he is a public relations professional. "I am the founder of Kessel Communications (http://kesselcommunications.com/), a strategic communications agency that simply helps businesses communicate better. By doing this, we help companies strengthen their credibility, build positive reputations and increase brand awareness. I’m blessed with an incredible team of consulting partners that is dedicated to every client we are fortunate to partner with and serve. I provide thoughts, ideas, tips and advice on how you can get your story in front of those who matter to your organization. A main focus of my content is on working with media reporters so you can get consistent coverage and awareness about your product, service or organization." - Joel Kessel Key Takeaways Go through a basic marketing/communications assessment. Don't let the project fall on one person's shoulders. Include everyone. "People support what they help create." It's best to share information, be helpful, and then find a solution. Take a step back and focus on everything that is on your plate. "If I like you I'll listen to you, if I trust you I'll do business with you."  “A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.” ~ L.P. Jacks Tweetable Quotes [Tweet ""People support what they help create." @JoelKessel"] [Tweet ""It's best to share information, be helpful, and then find a solution." @JoelKessel"] [Tweet ""If I like you I'll listen to you, if I trust you I'll do business with you." @JoelKessel"] Resources Joel Kessel's Site Kessel Communications SBR Meet up The Solomon Effect- Virtual Workshop Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty (J-B Lencioni Series) by Patrick M. Lencioni For complete show notes and clickable links go to www.BrianMininger.com/SBR20 The post 20: Tell Your Story for Maximum Impact w/ Joel Kessel appeared first on .