Missions to Movements
Missions to Movements is the nonprofit marketing and fundraising podcast that helps you grow recurring donors, scale monthly giving programs, and build digital campaigns that convert.
Hosted by Dana Snyder—speaker, strategist, and founder of Positive Equation—this show is packed with actionable nonprofit growth strategies, social media tips, and fundraising best practices.
Each week, you’ll hear how organizations are increasing donor retention, building thought leadership, and using digital fundraising to drive real impact. If you want to learn how to attract monthly donors, master nonprofit marketing, and transform your mission into a movement, this podcast is for you.
Missions to Movements
How Simplified Tech & Messaging is Growing Monthly Donors with the Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood
It is Black Philanthropy Month, and I couldn't think of a better conversation to spotlight this than with two incredible women behind the Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood, Dr. Leslie Farrington and Khadejah Stegall. When it comes to giving birth while Black in America, having advocacy skills can literally save lives.
BCFSM’s ACTT framework of “ask questions, claim your space, trust your body, tell your story”, equips birthing people and supporters to speak up in medical settings, reduce communication breakdowns, and secure dignified, safer care.
You’ll hear how a Mother’s Day email push brought in their first recurring donor, why you should integrate a monthly ask into everything, and how they offer tangible value to supporters with free monthly workshops.
If you’re a small team looking to diversify beyond grants, streamline tools, and grow recurring revenue with focused storytelling, this conversation is a playbook you can borrow today.
Resources & Links
Learn more about Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood on their website, join a free ACTT workshop, and check out their monthly giving program, The Advocates.
Connect with Leslie: leslie@bcfsm.org
Connect with Khadija: info@blackcoalitionforsafemotherhood.org.
The Recurring Giving Workshop: A Working Session to Increase Online Donations - 9/24 @ 2 pm ET - RSVP HERE!
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This episode is a pretty special one. It is Black Philanthropy Month, and I couldn't think of a better conversation to spotlight this than one with two incredible women behind the Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood. That's Dr Leslie Farrington and Khadija Stegall. Leslie is a retired OBGYN who started this work after seeing firsthand how racism in medicine harms Black birthing people. She created the ACT curriculum, which is a powerful tool that equips families and their supporters to really advocate for care with dignity. And Khadija, who is a wife, mom of four and a doula, is the brilliant operations manager that worked with me, hand in hand, to build out their monthly giving program just a few months ago in the Monthly mastermind. Now we talk in this episode about how they launched their monthly giving program my favorite topic, of course what's shifted since they started, how they're using I donate to make it easy for supporters to show up consistently. And, as a fellow mom, this conversation really hits home. If you care about safe births, health, equity and supporting Black-led organizations doing the work, this one's for you.
Speaker 2:You hear the usual get a doula, make sure your provider is on the same page. But we don't really talk about advocacy much, and we don't really equip Black women on how to have these hard conversations. When you are disagreeing with your doctor, how do you navigate that? White coat syndrome is definitely a real thing, and so sometimes we feel disempowered to speak up because we're told to listen to our doctor and that our doctor has our best interest in mind, and so I've always educated mothers in my circle on prepping for the hospital. So many people don't know that you can deny interventions that your doctor suggests, and so advocacy is just so essential.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm so giddy to have both of you here, since it has been months since we've been back together. And for those that are new to the Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood, leslie, I'll direct this first question to you. Can you tell us a little bit about the mission and really what inspired it, and especially the creation of the ACT-ACTT curriculum?
Speaker 3:I'm so happy to be here with you, dana. So Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of birthing families. Our ACT curriculum offers the tools and support to more confidently navigate perinatal care. We use the ACT steps as a self-affirming and potentially life-saving reminder to ask questions until you understand the answers. Claim your space, that's, your bodily autonomy and your dignity. So, physically and mentally, claim your space. Trust your body is the one T and tell your story is the other T is the one T and tell your story is the other T.
Speaker 3:Now, my inspiration came from learning about medical errors as the third leading cause of death due to preventable infections, medication errors, misdiagnosis.
Speaker 3:And so it happened because back in 2006, I was a volunteer with an organization in New York called Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education, and it was with working with them that I helped to develop an intervention that community members, patients and families could use to improve both their experiences and their outcomes in medical encounters.
Speaker 3:So this grew out of the grassroots patient safety movement, and I knew then that patient safety is dependent on optimal communication among all involved, including the patient and the family. So this is important for everyone to know, everyone who hears this if you are facing a medical challenge, bring a support person, your advocate, your support person, to help improve your understanding and your knowledge and to prevent mistreatment, misdiagnosis, et cetera. So, and for the Black community as a Black physician, I knew that this was triply important to understand these principles, and I learned about disparities and equities in maternal health in 2014, and I realized that the communication between medical professionals and Black consumers of medical care was woefully deficient, often leading to traumatic and even deadly outcomes. Then, as I also came to realize that racism in medicine and society was causing so much harm, I wanted to focus my guidance on the power that patients and families have to take charge of their care.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it can be often one of the most intimidating circumstances when you're in a doctor's office and think they are just the powers that be right and have all the answers. We're following that kind of like templated, that framework you shared, can put you in the power seat to make sure that you're confident in receiving the care that you deserve. Khadijah, how did you find Black Coalition of Safe on their Head?
Speaker 2:That's a great question. Leslie actually found me. She reached out because I had a course at that time. I was teaching others how to become virtual assistants and one of my students, I believe, was supposed to do work with Leslie in the organization, but she wasn't able to. And so Leslie reached out to me and this was actually during a time where I had just had my fourth child and I was taking a break.
Speaker 2:But I have a huge love and passion for Black maternal health, and so when she reached out to me and she told me everything that she needed help with, I was like, oh, it's not even going to feel like work, because it's what I live and I breathe, and so the organization has been such a blessing and it really truly doesn't feel like work sometimes, because just going out and educating mothers and the mission and what we share is so needed.
Speaker 2:Even when we go out to expos and different conferences, I hear so many people say I didn't know that this was creative. This is so useful because you hear the usual get a doula, make sure your provider is on the same page. But we don't really talk about advocacy much and we don't really equip Black women on how to have these hard conversations when you are disagreeing with your doctor, how do you navigate that? White coat syndrome is definitely a real thing, and so sometimes we feel disempowered to speak up because we're told to listen to our doctor and that our doctor has our best interests in mind, and so I've always educated mothers in my circle on prepping for the hospital. So many people don't know that you can deny interventions that your doctor suggests, and so advocacy is just so essential.
Speaker 1:Yes, thank you for that. I love how we connected. It is Black Philanthropy Month and Back Black was in partnership with I Donate and myself to provide the monthly giving mastermind experience to an organization and you all were the selected winners of that application that you went through for the experience and the hard work that you were doing. Takes systems to spread a grassroots movement. It takes support, it takes funding and what I remember loving, what Floyd from Back Black loved and what I Donate loved, was that it's such a perfect organization for a grassroots initiative trying to spread, trying to go, creating a movement fueled by monthly supporters that can give at any level.
Speaker 1:And my goal is always right for anyone to feel like a philanthropist and be able to give same thing, and the everybody should feel empowered to be able to walk into a room and feel like they understand what's being spoken to them medically and to be in power of that. You ended up launching a monthly giving program for the first time at this point just a few months ago. What was really the spark that made you say it's time for this and what's been the biggest shift since launching just a couple of months ago? Khadija, I'll toss that one to you.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. I think the biggest shift for us was definitely seeing people who decided to give their hard earned money, give testimonies behind why they decided to become a donor. And so our first donor, she, is actually a nurse and she said I've seen firsthand how important advocacy is and so I want to be a part of this mission, everything that you all are doing, and so we know. You know that the work is important, but, of course, sometimes you are in the nonprofit space and you're marketing, you're asking for donors, your marketing, you're asking for donors. Sometimes you don't always see the results immediately, but it just felt really good to see that people really believed in our mission and people really wanted to support us. So I would say again like one of the biggest shifts is just seeing the importance of like the mission and other people.
Speaker 1:The feedback from people.
Speaker 2:Exactly the great feedback, and I'll let Leslie share more Well.
Speaker 3:I would say that we knew at that point that we needed to make big changes if we were going to tap into the potential of individual donors instead of depending mainly on grant funding.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of organizations are going through that right now, for sure, Right right.
Speaker 3:So that's why we committed to going through the process of setting it up.
Speaker 1:And the website. Everything just looks so good and something to be so proud of and to go out and it's clean and easy to get the information that people need. And a lot of small teams might be really hesitant to launch a recurring giving program because it's like, oh, it's one more thing that we have to do. For somebody that might be in that mindset right now, now that you're on the other side of it, it's launched. You're always going to be working on cultivating people and bringing them in, but what would you say to somebody who might be like, on that teetering of, should I do it, should I, should I not? Is it worth it? Leslie, I'll go back to you.
Speaker 3:Honestly, it is one more thing on top of all you have on your to-do list, and it does require nurturing if you want monthly giving to grow. Dana and her team and your group if you do this with a group will show the way. So that's the good news You'll learn ways of accomplishing your goals, and if you don't do it, you're neglecting a funding source and a community of support that you could be building. So it is a commitment, but it's a necessary commitment, I would say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, obviously I'll jump on the mountain to talk about it all day, but I think it's integrated into everything. It doesn't have to be end of year appeal or monthly giving. It doesn't have to be event we're doing or monthly giving. It doesn't have to be like're doing or monthly giving. It doesn't have to be like I think sometimes we think about it as or but.
Speaker 1:It should be integrated as a and included into everything we do to give people the option of how they want to be a part of our mission, how they want to contribute, just like Khadija you were saying earlier with that supporter, it was a great way for them to maybe be an entry-level donor and they understand that advocacy takes time and that they're willing to be part of that community to make that mission happen over time. Now switching over to the impact side of things, the work you're doing is incredibly powerful. How did you really work in bringing the mission and how are you continuing to bring the mission and the story into growing the monthly giving program consistently? Like what messaging, what storytelling? What do you think is really resonating with people?
Speaker 3:Well, I would say the team the I Donate team that built our advocates page on our website did a fantastic job taking my description of how ACT learning and practice can equip families to mitigate discrimination and mistreatment, and how it can save lives by families partnering with their healthcare team. They did a great job of putting that together. They really turned it into a great storytelling page. It's very convincing.
Speaker 1:What I want to say about that, too, is some of what you do might and this might be for listeners too you might feel this way. What we do is complicated, it's complex, it can be full of, maybe, jargon words, and what we really look to do is to how do we communicate it so that it's clear and succinct and it creates what I always say is mind movies. How do we bring somebody into it so that they feel like they're a part of the mission and that it doesn't sound confusing but clear when you read it and that you immediately are like, yes, I want to be part of something like that. Khadija, did you want to add something to that?
Speaker 2:I think another thing too is the power of storytelling. I remember you all recommended that we do a Mother's Day campaign.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I believe that is how we received our first daughter. We sent out a newsletter, a few newsletters, I believe, during Mother's Day and that's when we received our first donor. But inside of our newsletter we really just told the why, the story of why we have our organization, what the Advocates is all about, what your donation can do for you know the world and for Black families. And I think storytelling and just really just laying out your why can be very powerful for people.
Speaker 1:Yes, I remember in the I forget if it was the Welcome series where you tell your story. Yeah, because it's coming from you and like literally showing a photo of you doing one of the entrainings, and it's like, oh, I'm going to connect with the person. It's not just a random name on an email, this person is also very immersed in the work.
Speaker 1:And I think we forget that sometimes is like it's just, oh, another name on an email, but no, connecting the actual story can be extremely beneficial. Leslie, you mentioned we're using iDonate as the giving platform, Really excited to get the new iDonate pop-up embedded and up on the site. What's been from before? I think it was just individual Stripe or PayPal forms that were on there. What's been helpful or surprising, or really just talking about the tech overall of consolidating things to help with monthly giving growth and sustaining it?
Speaker 3:Well, khadija can speak more to the tech, but I like the idea that the communication with the monthly donors happens automatically. There's a series of emails that they're getting which are just amazing, and that's part of the whole thing. It's not just a website or webpage, it's got all this, the bells and whistles. So, but Khadija can speak more to that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, to explain that real quick, what we did is we're able to integrate iDonate into Flowdesk, the email platform you're using, so as soon as a new monthly donor comes on board, then they receive this automated four-part email welcome series that we created in Flowdesk and Khadija helped to draft and to write.
Speaker 3:I think I was the first person that joined.
Speaker 2:I think yeah, well, if you run a nonprofit, it's just easier to just streamline things and get everything on one platform. Sometimes that is possible, sometimes not, but it's just much easier that we have everything in one platform and inside of iDonate, you can even click inside your dashboard to see everyone that is giving. See everyone that is giving, and so it simplifies things definitely a lot versus keeping track of oh, who donated in everyorg, which is a platform we use before I donate. Who donated here, there, look in all of these different places, and so it's creating more work. And what you were saying earlier about people may be taken aback by launching their giving program because it requires you to do more work. Well, you just have to streamline it and work smarter. You're already going to send out a newsletter, so just add a little section about giving. You're already going to post on social media, so just add one more post about giving, and so I love how things have just been streamlined a lot more now and it definitely makes things easier on the back end.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes. How can we make better use of our time, since bandwidth is always something that is difficult with all of our different schedules? So, for anyone that's listening, that really cares about health equity, maternal care, safe births, what is one thing and I'll let each of you answer this that they wish they knew about? How to truly support this work. Leslie, I'll go to you first.
Speaker 3:Well, to ensure that we can continue to offer ACT workshops and trainings to birthing individuals and their partners and supporters, we need consistent support from those who care about helping families.
Speaker 1:Am I hearing a monthly giving ask there, Leslie? Okay.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so we need the monthly donors to ensure continuous support of our programs.
Speaker 1:No more shyness around it. This goes for all of the listeners. To be bold on that ask. Their monthly giving program is the advocates. You get to join the advocates and you get incredible emails from this team. They just launched a new. Leslie was just telling me about ACT ambassadors going out and spreading the word about what they're doing in trainings. This could, as a mom and as somebody who also struggled with needing to advocate for myself in a situation where I was improperly told something by a medical professional, it's so, so important to be able to have this and to know to have the team behind you, like you guys are. Khadijah, what about for you?
Speaker 2:Yes, we need supporters. So we need monthly donors and also just sharing our workshops. We offer free monthly workshops to our community and it's always great to have people on and to have people share, because we want to get these workshops out to people that need it the most. So they're free and it's always a safe space and great conversation and people always just walk away with a lot of great information and they feel empowered. Another thing is, if you become a monthly donor, we do give you access to our ACT facilitator training program, which will actually empower and equip you on how to advocate for yourself, and so, even if you are not pregnant, you will just learn advocacy skills that you can use for yourself to deal with your own healthy journey.
Speaker 1:Or friends, family.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can help a friend, family, maybe another mom that you know. You'll definitely learn another skill, so that's one of the benefits of becoming an advocate with us as well.
Speaker 1:Love it. Amazing. Where can they sign up for those, for the trainings and to be a part of the advocates?
Speaker 2:Yes, so everything goes on our website blackcoalitionforsafemotherhoodorg and you'll see a button to donate. And as soon as you sign up for the advocates, you receive a series of emails and we'll get you enrolled in our ACT facilitator training. Also, you can follow our social media channels on our website through our website as well.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Where can they connect? Where can listeners? The peers are on here listening and they're like, ooh, I'd really like to ask her about this or this. Leslie, where can people find you?
Speaker 3:Well, they can reach out to me, Leslie, at bcfsmorg.
Speaker 1:Perfect, and Khadijah, where's the best place to reach out to you?
Speaker 2:They can reach out to info at blackcoalitionforsafemotherhoodorg.
Speaker 1:Awesome, Beautiful. Thank you both so much for being here today for working on your program. It does take so much time to nurture and grow, but then it's powerful to see those responses like Khadija you were talking about. Thank you both for being here and for everything that you do.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Missions to Movements. If you enjoyed our conversation and found it helpful, I would love for you to take a moment to leave a review. Wherever you're listening, your feedback helps us reach more change makers like you and continue bringing impactful stories and strategies to the show. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button, too, so you'll never miss an episode. And until next time, keep turning your mission into a movement.
