Missions to Movements
This isn't just another nonprofit podcast - it's your weekly invitation to think bigger, take bold risks, and create lasting change in an ever-evolving social impact landscape. Meet Dana Snyder, your guide through the evolving landscape of nonprofit innovation. She's on a mission to help change-makers like you push the boundaries of what's possible in nonprofit marketing and fundraising. Each week, Missions to Movements serves as your personal mastermind session, delivering actionable insights and bold strategies that challenge traditional nonprofit thinking. Dive into revolutionary approaches to digital fundraising, discover how to build magnetic monthly giving programs that create lasting donor relationships, and learn to amplify your voice as a thought leader in the social good space. Whether you're reimagining your organization's impact or forging game-changing partnerships, you'll find the ideas, insights, and inspiration to take your mission further than you've ever imagined. Ready to turn your mission into a movement?
Missions to Movements
12 Must-Have Tools for Nonprofit Professionals aka My Favorite Things for 2025
In honor of the 12 Days of Christmas, I thought it would be fun to share 12 of my FAVORITE tools, services, personal treasures, and subscriptions that make my life easier, more productive, and more enjoyable.
Shop Dana’s Favorite Things
The Monthly Giving Mastermind Book (For a limited time, get the first two chapters for FREE!)
Flodesk
Nonprofit Automation Agency
Monthly Giving Summit Replays (Binge the replays for 50% off through 12/31/24!)
Buzzsprout
Podcasting for Creatives
Butter
Nuuly
LettrLabs
More Than Giving - Virtual Assistants for Nonprofits
Mission-Minded Merch
Pura Scent Diffusers
For a detailed description of each of my favorite things, click here.
Resources & Links
My book, The Monthly Giving Mastermind, is here! Grab a copy here and learn my framework to build, grow, and sustain subscriptions for good.
Join The Sustainers, my Slack community for nonprofit professionals growing and scaling a recurring giving program.
Want to make Missions to Movements even better? Take a screenshot of this episode and share it on Instagram. Be sure to tag @posit
This show is presented by LinkedIn for Nonprofits. We’re so grateful for their partnership. Explore their incredible suite of resources and discounts for nonprofit teams here.
Monthly Giving Awareness Week is May 12-16! Join me, RKD Group, and GivingTuesday for 5 days of FREE resources to help you launch and grow recurring gifts.
Are you still dreaming about building your monthly giving program or refreshing your current one? Applications are now open for my “done with you” Monthly Giving Mastermind. 4 spots are open and we start in July. Click here to apply.
My book, The Monthly Giving Mastermind, is here! Grab a copy here and learn my framework to build, grow, and sustain subscriptions for good.
Let's Connect!
If you were listening, two years ago I did an episode and I shared a blog post on my favorite things and, in honor of kind of the 12 days of Christmas, I like to pick my 12 favorite things that are tools, services, personal treasures or subscriptions that I have found that make my life easier, more productive and, honestly, sometimes just more enjoyable, and I like to share them with you.
Speaker 1:Hey, there, you're listening to the Missions to Movements podcast and I'm your host, dana Snyder, digital strategist for nonprofits and founder and CEO of Positive Equations. This show highlights the digital strategies of organizations making a positive impact in the world. Ready to learn the latest trends, actionable tips and the real stories from behind the feed, let's transform your mission into a movement. Ho ho ho. Welcome to a special holiday episode of Missions to Movements.
Speaker 1:The holidays are often a time for reflection and for giving. I was so excited if you saw the Giving Tuesday report that came out. Giving was up 16% on Giving Tuesday Incredible. I hope you felt that momentum and love in your own community and organization and as years come to an end, I also do a lot of reflecting on the different tools and systems I use in business and life. And if you were listening. Two years ago I did an episode and I shared a blog post on my favorite things, and in honor of the 12 days of Christmas, I like to pick my 12 favorite things that are tools, services, personal treasures or subscriptions that I have found that make my life easier, more productive and, honestly, sometimes just more enjoyable, and I like to share them with you. And, of course, I have some discounts and offers to share with you. So if any of these sound perfect for you, all of the links are down below in the show notes, so I will not read links as I go through each one of them, but you can go down in the show notes to grab your discount.
Speaker 1:So let's dive in Number one. Let's kick off with something I am really incredibly proud of and sometimes I just need to sit with, which is my book, the Monthly Giving Mastermind. I am offering two free chapters of an ebook download if you kind of want to get a sneak peek into it. It is a roadmap for nonprofits If you're really looking to grow your monthly giving programs. It's my gift to you this holiday season. Whether you're new to monthly giving or looking to take your program to the next level. These two chapters will kind of give you a taste of the actionable strategies and the very real world examples that will help you build, grow and sustain your program. So grab your free download of the. It's an intro and two free chapters actually, and if you want to get the real thing, you can go to my website for that. There is a free book club discussion guide on my site available for that as well. So favorite thing number one is two free chapters. Download of my book, the Monthly Giving Mastermind.
Speaker 1:Number two Flowdesk. This is an email marketing tool I swear by. It's something I use. Well, if you're on my email list, I use it all the time. If you've ever received any of my emails, you've experienced the magic of Flowdesk. It's user-friendly, it's beautifully designed, it saves me so much time, it's so easy to set up workflows and forms and countdowns. And my favorite part is Flowdesk does not charge based on how many subscribers you have. It is a flat $35 a month. That's it. It has literally been a game changer as my business has grown and I love it so much, and so if you are interested in switching email marketing tools, it has everything that you need and more. It has analytics, the workflows forms, and it's so simple to use. If you want to test it out, you can get 50% off your first year if you use my link, so trust me, it's worth it Check it out.
Speaker 1:Number three so running a business, especially as a solopreneur, means managing a million little details, and I met Rachel Baerbauer. She is the founder of the nonprofit automation agency. I met her years ago now, but I recently hired her for basically produce the backend of the monthly giving summit registration process. So I basically had connections firing on the backend between RingCentral, which was the platform that, if you joined, was like the front end where you entered and you experienced the summit, thrivecart, where registration was, flowdesk, my email platform, google Sheets, where we poured information into, and LetterLabs, which was our direct mail platform where you received direct mail from me. So all of those things had to be connected and automated to seamlessly run, and my brain does not work that way. So I hired Rachel. That's what she is. She's an automation expert and so if there are things in your organization that you know could be streamlined and automated and just taken off your plate, but you just need someone who understands how the finesse of all that works. She's amazing and will make life so much easier for you. So, again, there's a link in the show notes. She has a free quiz on her site, there's an e-course and then hire her. I swear it's going to make a game-changing difference to go into the new year, taking some things off your plate and streamlining operations that you have.
Speaker 1:Number four so, piggybacking off of the work that Rachel did at the Monthly Giving Summit, it was truly the highlight of my year producing this event and creating this event that it's coming back, which you've heard throughout this episode already probably. But if you missed any of the incredible sessions of the Monthly Giving Summit or just want to relive the magic, you can get 50% off access to all of the on-demand sessions with a special code. The link already has it in it, but the code is MGS50. That means you can watch and rewatch any of the talks and the workshops and the breakout sessions and the keynotes anytime, at your own pace. 50% off before December 31st. So trust me, you will want to take full advantage of this. Get access to all of the sessions before our event comes up in February.
Speaker 1:Number five is Buzzsprout. So Buzzsprout is the platform that I use to distribute this podcast and podcasting. I can't believe the show next year will be three years old and it's been such a powerful platform for me to share insights and stories and bring voices that I trust and want to amplify to the platform. And Buzzsprout is super user-friendly. So if you are thinking about launching a podcast, it is what sends the show off to Apple and to Spotify and to any platform basically that you want to have your show distributed. It does it all automatically. It's where the show notes go in. It's where any of my dynamic ad placement goes. So Buzzsprout's amazing. It has all the analytics in there and you get $20 in Buzzsprout credits if you sign up through my link.
Speaker 1:So I invite you, even if it's like a private podcast that you want to share with people, think about podcasting in the new year. What could that look like for you and your organization? In my 2025 Trends episode, which is going to come out on Christmas teaser, I'm going to share a lot about audio and the power of audio and what's happening in the surge. So something to definitely consider, and I'll talk more about that brainstorm for you in the following episode, number six.
Speaker 1:So, continuing on podcasting podcasting for creatives I've talked about them before. They are the incredible team, my dream team, that makes this show possible. They edit it, they draft the show notes, they handle all the technical work so that I can really be here and focus on creating the content to truly serve you, and the amount of time that they save me is priceless. I cannot even imagine sitting down to edit my show. I'd probably be a hot mess, knowing me. I'd be tweaking every certain thing and then second guessing things because I don't really know what I'm doing. So this is one of those things where it is much better to pay the experts to do the thing that they are great at. And if you really are thinking about starting a podcast, they have a whole launch plan. That's what I used. They talked to me about microphones to use. They helped me with my trailer. They talked to me through cover work. We talked through everything, all the nitty gritty things. Or if you have an existing show and you really just want to take it to the next level, I highly recommend Podcasting for Creatives.
Speaker 1:Now, in my monthly giving Slack group, the Sustainers, there are more than 100 nonprofits that share tips and tools to scale their recurring giving programs and, as you might believe, the CRM and fundraising tool conversation comes up a lot, and one that always comes up in conversation is Bloomerang. So if you're in the market to be looking at a complete donor, volunteer and fundraising management solution, head to bloomerangco. They have a very intuitive platform that tracks engagement, provides powerful insights so that you can really focus on driving your mission forward. So join thousands of small and medium-sized nonprofits that are already thriving with Bloomerang and again you can visit bloomerangco to elevate your fundraising. Today. Drum roll please. In case you missed the announcement no FOMO allowed here. The Virtual Monthly Giving Summit is back February 26th and 27th, bringing together nonprofit leaders, experts and changemakers from around the world to help you create subscriptions for good. This past September, every speaker was compensated and that was made possible by our partners At the growth level Neon One, idonate, givebutter and DonorPerfect, and our sustainers, community Boost and Letter Labs. If you are in year-end research mode of some new tools, from CRMs to donation platforms, direct mail tools, please do me a favor. Click the links in the show notes below to learn more about these amazing partners. And if you are interested in presenting a case study at the next Monthly Giving Summit, please apply so you can see all of these links down below in the show notes or head to monthlygivingsummitcom to learn more and apply to speak.
Speaker 1:Number seven Okay, this one's pretty fun. Number seven Okay, this one's pretty fun. Number seven is butter, and I was analyzing all of my tech platforms and one of them, forever, has been Zoom and Zoom was feeling a bit Zoom. Right, I want my brand to be about innovative tools and bright and bold and fun and interactive and with my meetings, I want people to enter feeling energized and that it's a different feeling of their day than another Zoom meeting. And, especially due to my mastermind, I wanted to have a platform that could really pull in some more interactive elements. I could do a lot of post-it notes, virtual things and anyways. So I stumbled upon Butter and it is basically Zoom, but super awesome and I knew it was it. Everyone I've had it for probably a month now and everyone in the past month who has entered a meeting with me has said what is this? There's a waiting room that I get to play the music that people play and it has a photo and I think right now actually there like snow falling on the desktop. It's very cool. Highly recommend checking it out. It's like a surprise and delight for people that come on to meetings with you, and you could get 30% off your first three months if you use my link. So check out better.
Speaker 1:Number eight newly, Ah, newly. This brings me just personal joy in my life. I am a shopaholic, but I don't have the budget to be a shopaholic and I love having a wardrobe that's constantly refreshed. I also really believe in sustainable fashion and I don't like clutter of things and then I speak a lot. So I like to have a refreshed wardrobe. Clutter of things and then I speak a lot. So I like to have a refreshed wardrobe of different things and like throughout the seasons.
Speaker 1:Living Atlanta newly is a clothing rental service where you can swipe out items each month. I think I get seven, no commitment required, so every single month you could turn it on or off if you want, and it is basically my way of being able to feel stylish without the guilt of fast fashion, whether it's on stage or you have conferences going on. Oh, my goodness, during pregnancy they have a home maternity selection. I bought literally two leggings during maternity leave. Everything else I rented through New Lane. It was amazing and if anybody listening, if you have gone through pregnancy or bought pregnancy clothes. They are expensive. So this saved me also a lot of money and you can get $30 off your first month's subscription with my link. So curb that shopping habit and join me and you could start renting Number nine Letter Labs.
Speaker 1:So I mentioned this earlier, but they are handwritten notes and traditional direct mail that allow you to be automated. They're beautifully handwritten gifts cards. They have a ton of different handwriting options. You can customize all of your messages and it's just so easy to use. During the monthly giving summit, I was able to automate the entire process. So basically, once someone registered for the summit, they would automatically enter Letter Labs through Zap, through Zapier, and they would receive a welcome postcard. It was like constant. And then I was able to just like upload CSV files to send out, like the thank you card. So there's different. There's cards, there's postcards. There's a whole bunch of different options that they have in there. It's all trackable. You can upload the QR links. I designed everything in Canva. They have like a Canva integration. So if you're looking to have an automated handwritten like thank you note, birthday cards, anything to your supporters, I would highly check them out. And right now, if you use the link in the show notes, you can get 10% off any of their handwritten products, free double-sided printing and 600 handwritten characters, which is 20% more for free. So you could check out their link as well. So you could check out their link as well.
Speaker 1:Number 10, more Than Giving. So More Than Giving is a VA, a virtual assistant agency, and managing a nonprofit running a business. It's a lot of work and I really appreciate having an agency that, like curates a great group of virtual assistants where you don't have to individually go out and find somebody, and they're focused in the nonprofit space, which is cool, so they know the ins and the outs of nonprofit life. And if you are looking for a way to really lighten your workload, improve efficiency, bring somebody on your team, but not have to, like, spend a ton of money, go month by month, hiring a virtual assistant through More Than Giving is great because they basically match somebody to the skill sets that you're looking for and then if you ever need somebody new or have a different project, they can bring on somebody new that has that skill set. So it's really cool because they manage that for you and you can get 10% off your first three months with them. If you mention me, so again, link in the show notes for more than giving, number 11.
Speaker 1:Okay, so who says changing the world can't come with some fun swag? I decided to create my own mission-minded merch store on Bonfire, and it's all about wearing your love for recurring giving proudly. So for those of us that are deeply invested which I hope you are in the power of recurring giving and charitable living, it's a movement and, like sports gear that we wear I wear my UCF night stuff all the time we wear what we believe in right, and it signals to others the impact that we're building every single day and hopefully a lot of times starts a conversation. So, whether you're working from home, you're going to a conference, you're speaking on a stage, I invite you to pick out a piece of swag that speaks to this recurring movement that we're driving. So I've created some really fun pieces from everything that say like hashtag obsessed with monthly giving to monthly giving is my love language. Great minds give monthly. You can check out all the different pieces. There's kid sizes too, everything from tees to sweatshirts, to hoodies, to crew necks. So why not have some fun pieces that reflect what we love about our work and this is also a great gift item, like for the new year, if you have employees or a friend that works in the nonprofit sector that you want to share it with.
Speaker 1:And number 12, last but not least, let's talk about Pura. Pura is this is a personal one too my favorite scent diffuser. Now, I love candles I do love candles and sprays and all the things, but then they go away. And this diffuser has been a game changer because I love technology. Right, it is app controlled and it has these incredible fragrances and aromas that keep my workspace and my house smelling amazing. And I can switch them out like plug it into the wall. It has two sets at a time and on the app you could control like subtle, medium, heavy. I want switch them out Like plug it into the wall. It has two sets at a time and on the app you could control like subtle, medium heavy. I want it to run this time in the morning while I'm waking up. I want it to run all day while I'm working. I want it. You basically control and you could get $6 off your first order with my link right now.
Speaker 1:I have the Nest Holiday scent.
Speaker 1:It is lovely, it.
Speaker 1:I have the Nest Holiday scent.
Speaker 1:It is lovely.
Speaker 1:It smells like Christmas up in here. So try Pura. Let me know what you think. I think just having a lovely home office smell, or smell in general, just makes everyone feel cheery and uplifted. And so that's a wrap on my 12 favorite things this holiday season. So, listener, I hope if you're looking for just for a little joy in your day-to-day, I hope these recommendations can help you to be more efficient, make life a little brighter. Don't forget you can check the show notes for all of the special offers and the links and the discounts that I shared, and thank you for listening to this very special holiday edition of my Favorite Things. I cannot wait to continue growing together in the new year with you.
Speaker 1:Next Wednesday is Christmas, so happy holidays if you celebrate Christmas. I look forward to sharing with you my 2025 trends for the new year. They're pretty juicy. I will see you next week. Stay warm and healthy. Can you tell? I love talking? All things digital To make this show better. I'd be so grateful for your feedback. Leave a review, take a screenshot of this episode, share it on Instagram stories and tag positive equation with one E so I can reshare and connect with you.
