How Smarter Systems, Clear Stories, And Engaged Boards Transform Nonprofits

Want a nonprofit that runs like a mission-driven powerhouse instead of a tired hustle? We sit down with fundraising consultant Nick Sollog to unpack the real levers that move revenue and impact: clean systems, aligned teams, strong boards, and consistent visibility. From the inside workings of the Virginia Fundraising Institute to gritty stories from the field, we pull back the curtain on what works—and what quietly derails growth.

Nick explains why the “first CRM you find” becomes a silent tax on your future, and how clear processes, staff training, and data hygiene make fundraising more predictable. We dive into five practical development tracks, shifting grant landscapes, and the culture shift leaders need to make: paying fundraisers competitively and treating development as strategy, not a cost center. The results are tangible—better pipelines, clearer reporting, and donors who actually stay.

We also explore the moments that define an organization’s trajectory. A near-closure board vote that flips to a turnaround. A junior board that transforms volunteers into advocates and lifelong givers. Corporate volunteer days that help rather than distract. Even the unglamorous but vital gift acceptance policy that protects staff time and keeps programs focused. Along the way, we highlight how collaboration beats duplication and why many would-be founders should partner with existing orgs before adding another logo to the landscape.

You’ll leave with a grounded playbook: pick the right tools and implement them well, align your story across every team member, recruit boards for accountability and access, design volunteering that creates value, and communicate often so your work is seen and supported. If you care about building a resilient nonprofit that can scale its mission with integrity, this conversation is your next step. Subscribe, share with a board member or ED who needs it, and leave a review to help more leaders find these insights.

Transcript

Meet Nick And VFRI

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Welcome to the You Can't Afford Me podcast of Gif the Fluff and that's great to buy real entrepreneur, real profit, and the unfiltered drug. Hey guys, thanks for joining us on another episode of the You Can't Afford Me podcast. We're back highlighting great nonprofits in the local Richmond area. This organization, I'm I don't even think I know all the information on your nonprofit folks. So you guys have brought me in uh to speak at your conference for the last two years. Uh extremely grateful, amazing audiences that that you guys have had. Um and this is something I've been wanting to get you on the podcast for for a little bit now. But uh today we have Nick on the podcast. How you doing today, buddy?

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Doing quite well. How about yourself?

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Awesome, awesome. Uh we're just talking off camera, like you probably had a much better Thanksgiving than I did. Yours sounded amazing. Mine was a lot of driving, driving and traveling.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Sometimes you just gotta take a day for self-care, even if it falls on a holiday.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

That's it. I love it. I love it. Uh, real quick, if you can give everybody a quick rundown of who you are and your organization.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Yeah, so my name is Nick Solog. I'm the founder and CEO of the Solog Group. We are a fundraising consulting firm based in Richmond, Virginia, um, and we partner with nonprofits and faith communities throughout the Mid-Atlantic region primarily, but we do work anywhere within the United States. Uh, and then we've been a lot of our connection recently has been through VFRI, which is the Virginia Fundraising Institute, which is an annual conference that happens in July, that is um put on by the six AFP chapters in Virginia, so the AFP caucus. So that's the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Nice, and this is just to kind of paint a picture for people. This ain't a rinky dink event. Like you guys go all out, like it's a massive conference. I'm a little pissed off because when I went to the one this past year, you guys were in Williamsburg. Uh I did not realize how great the golfing was in Williamsburg, and I didn't bring my golf club. So, like after my.

Inside A Three-Day Fundraising Conference

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Um, we've been doing it for over 30 years. Um wow. And so it was started in 1992 by a group of volunteers, and um, you know, we have keynote sessions, it's done over three days. So it is a uh, you know, a half day on day one. So this year it'll be Wednesday through Friday. Um, and then it's uh half day on Wednesday, full day Thursday, and a half day on Friday. Um, we have about 40 breakout sessions. Uh this past year um we had three like keynote plenary plenary sessions that word always gets me trouble. Um and so uh with two different keynote speakers that we brought in, um, and then we did a panel um to sort of close it out on Friday. Uh and it's just a really good time. I've been involved since 2018. Um I have been a sponsor, so I, you know, I have a booth uh to talk about the work that we do with nonprofits. Um we have spoken at the conference, we have been on the committee. Uh the past three years we were co-chair, chair of the conference. Uh, and this year we are very excited to say that we are not in that role. Uh, while we enjoyed it and love the conference, it's nice to pass that baton on to some new folks. Um and so Abby Wepper uh with the Curtis Group and Sean Puller with Paramount uh Theater up in Charlottesville are the co-chairs this year. So Abby co-chaired it with me this past year, well, last year. Um and so just excited to still be a part of it, but also not running it.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

Yeah, people don't understand, like I've had people approach me all the time, man, you need to put on the conference, you need to do this, you need to do that. People don't understand how much work is involved in putting on something like that. And it's like as soon as you're done with the first one, you're already in the planning room for the next year.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Yeah, before we even, typically before we are even at the conference, we are already starting to confirm who is gonna serve as you know, sponsorship chair, co-chairs, all the steering committee roles are typically decided or ideal in a perfect world. Yeah. Uh they're finalized before the conference even happens, and then they get to work. So we meet, you know, the 2025 conference steering committee met in August to recap, debrief. Uh we invited the 2026 team to come up, and there is a lot of overlap. Um, our sponsorship chair, Kate Kramer, um, has been involved for many, many years, longer than I have. Um, and so, you know, there is some of that institutional knowledge that we have, yeah, but we're really trying to build it. And while it is a lot of work, I try to encourage folks to take it, to explore it, because it will open doors in various ways. And it's also just a really good way to give back. And I feel that as much time as I've put in, I've gotten more back from the conference, uh, both as the community uh and just learning. You know, you get to meet different people. I mean, I'm in an interesting role, I don't work for a nonprofit. Yeah, um, I have many clients throughout the you know, mid-Atlantic area. Um, and so I'm working on a lot of similar projects, but each client is in a different stage. Uh, but I get to meet new people who may not. And we while the focus or the host of the conference are all based in Virginia in terms of the AFP chapters, yeah. Uh we pull in people from DC, from Philadelphia, from North Carolina, West Virginia. Um, so it it you don't have to live in Virginia, you don't have to be a member of an AFP chapter to come to the event. Um, anybody who's in a nonprofit, or we do uh have a lot of board members that will come uh with their staff at organizations, and we try to make it as affordable as possible, and that's thanks to the generosity of the sponsors and exhibitors.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

And the goal here is for these are nonprofit leaders that are coming to this conference to learn how they can further grow the organization.

Why Conference Leadership Matters

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Yes, and so we try to do it, it is all in a sense, um each of the five breakout areas tend to be related to development in some shape or fashion. So we have, you know, if you are focusing on individual giving, that is in a sense a track. Uh we've got career growth because we want to make sure like that there's something for those individuals who are looking to move up in their career. So go from maybe it's a development coordinator to a manager or to a director of development, or maybe even for those that are amazing, wonderful, caring souls who want to be executive directors, that is not me. Uh, I love those folks. Uh they do great, hard work. Yes. Um, I'd much rather, if I were behind the desk, be someone who was running a development shop or doing something in development, but not running the whole organization, which some people find a little weird because I run my own business.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Uh as you know, it has its pluses and minuses. Definitely. Um but then, you know, we also have um development operations. Uh that's uh an area that's near and dear to our heart. It's a lot of the work that we do with our clients, uh, focusing on the database side, um, whether that's, you know, you know, gift entry or prospect research, that type of thing. Um, and then so we've done three. Uh, and then we do foundations and grants, because that's also important. A lot of organizations um receive a lot of grant funding. Um, and so that's a space that's been changing, both in the government aspect with what's going on in the current political climate.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Um, but um, and then also with how foundations are shifting, how they dole out or give out money and you know, the requirements for reporting. So want to make sure that organizations can learn to improve because it is not easy. That is also not our experience. We are not grant writers. We tell people, yes, we went to the grant writing institute at the University of Richmond Institute on Philanthropy, but through that we found out we are not grant writers. Uh, that is not our area. Um, that is also good, hard work. That is far in. And so I want to let those folks who are passionate and good at it do that work, and there are enough of those. So I say, if you need help with grants, here's some folks you can chat with. Um, so we do that. Um, and then um we've got um, and now of course that we're chatting, I'm blanking and I'm embarrassed to say what the fifth group is. It will come to me hopefully before we wrap up.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

Let me ask you this why what caused you because how long ago did you start your business?

SPEAKER_01 8:50

So I started consulting in 2009. Um, and we've been doing it ever since. At the time when we started it, we were still full-time behind the desk. We worked at the University of Richmond. Um, and so we got started because a c a friend of ours from another professional association, I'll give a shout out to Aper Virginia, um, you know, needed some help. They were going into a campaign and they had a small uh prospect research department, a team of one, um, and they needed some help with some donor profiles. So I started doing some, I got into it doing like contract work.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Yeah.

Tracks That Grow Development Careers

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Um, and then uh when I left the University of Richmond in 2012, um I wasn't married, didn't have kids, so I was like, who needs health insurance? Um if Oh, what a time to be alive. Yeah, I was saying I don't know if I'd recommend doing that again. Um but um I went out and you know, through connections, you know, through other professional associations, Vafrey, which is based here in Richmond, Virginia, um, connected with some other consultants and you know was doing a lot of work, but then got into a period of where I was like, huh, there is no money coming in the door. So, you know, made that rookie mistake of focusing just on the clients that I had and not building that book of business, as folks will say. Yep. Uh so learned from that mistake. Um, and thankfully, you know, my wife at that time, you know, still said yes when I asked her to to get married, um, because that was in that time period of six months with no income. Um, and you know, I haven't really looked back. So really enjoy the work. Uh, because I are we try to focus of we come in, we're partners, we'll roll up our sleeves, do the work with you. Uh, but we really believe in giving our clients the tools for success so that they can do it themselves. And then, you know, we do have a lot of repeat clients that come back and bring us for different projects, but that's where it is. It's like, let's help identify um, you know, this need that you have, we can help move you to that next level. And then when you're ready, we'll help you go to that next level. So a good friend of ours who's also a consultant, Lisa Freeman, um, you know, likes to say it's like she likes to meet people where they are and help them get to where they want to go. Yep. Uh, and we've just always kept that in the back of our head. Uh, so we really like to subscribe to that philosophy as well. That we didn't come up with it. And she might not have come up with it either, but we attribute it to Lisa.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Love that. Talk talk to us about because I've I've served on several different nonprofit boards. Um and it's people don't realize the struggle it is to run a nonprofit. Like, and I I want to get this caveat out there. Nonprofit does not mean you don't have any money.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

There they're organized. Yeah. Like the YMCA is a nonprofit. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

And churches are nonprofits.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

Yeah, exactly. What are some of the biggest struggles you see for nonprofits and ways that you guys help out? Is it primarily and kind of give me like a top three? Is it is it really just the funding? Like a lot of nonprofits are crashing and burning because they can't get access to the capital they need. Is it an organizational standpoint, they don't know how to hire and identify the right people? What are those things you see?

SPEAKER_01 12:03

So I this is potentially gonna get me in a whole lot of trouble, but we're gonna go with it because we do believe it. Um one I would say is they select because they don't know what they don't know. And so the it could be that they selected their CRM because it was the first CRM vendor that called them or the first one they found in Google, or maybe um, you know, they've been on that CRM forever and a day and they don't know, like, oh, maybe we should switch. And they didn't take the time to set it up so that it would work for them. Yeah. And then with that staff turnover, uh, even if you set it up correctly, if you don't have documented policies and procedures and workflows of how we operate as a business, because nonprofits are a business, um, and uh then you're gonna quickly have a very messy database and you won't be able to know um, you know, who gave what, how much they've given. A lot of small organizations, because I I say this all the time, it is easier to start a nonprofit than it is to have a baby. Um because you go online, fell out of form. Now it does take some time, um, but it is and all too often organizations or well-meaning individuals like, oh, I want to meet this need, and I I will say it's a two-way street of organizations who've been around forever not wanting to play nice in the sandbox, yeah, or seeing it as this competition, or we can't take on a new program to provide a service, and so that's why we have so many nonprofits. And I mean, in Richmond, we have a lot of nonprofits that do a lot of similar work, it's a big nonprofit. And we see we have seen more partnership and that a grant funder organizations have helped with that because they like to see that cooperation um, you know, between organizations to meet a need. Um, so we've seen and we've seen it within our own clients.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

Um but it's talk talk on that a little bit more because I I've I've sat and chatted with someone and they come to me and they say, Hey, I'm looking to start this nonprofit, and they tell me what the mission is, and I'm like, Well, there are five other nonprofits here already doing that. Like, why don't you approach them about potentially partnering or joining their staff or whatever it is? What do you say to someone when they're like, hey, I want to start a nonprofit?

Grants, Operations, And Real Constraints

SPEAKER_01 14:30

I I you know, I I've spoken at VCU. They have a and I'm gonna feel bad because I'm I can't remember if it's undergraduate or graduate, it might be both at this point. Um, and I've had people say, 'Oh, I want to start a nonprofit.' Do you recommend I go get a graduate degree? Or, you know, just start it. And I said, uh, neither. Go work at a nonprofit. Um, and it while it can be hard to change an organization from within, um, it's much harder to operate a nonprofit and do it well.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

Um, so I see a lot of these small organizations by well-meaning folks who want to do good work, who are burnt out and exhausted and frustrated, and they're not raising money. Um, and you know, so they're not paying themselves. And I'm like, not everyone has the ability uh to work for free. Um, and so by going to organizations and seeing if you can either volunteer or get a job uh to learn the ropes to me is gonna help someone who may want to start a nonprofit, um, but also to do your research.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Yeah. And you may also learn working for the nonprofit, hey, this may not be what I want to do.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

No. Um, you know, and you know, I'm also a big believer that just because you work at a nonprofit, and this is where I see from the community at large of like, oh, you know, you you're working in the nonprofit world because you're passionate about the cause and you don't need money, or you shouldn't get paid what you're worth because you work at a nonprofit. And that uh really pisses me off. Yeah. I'll just say it. Uh, because you know, we don't uh in a uh in America, we've at least I feel as a generalization, don't feel an issue with the CEO of a major corporation uh making a ton of money. Now, there are people like you know, when the top salaries of CEOs in Richmond come out, there's always comments on that article, like blah blah blah. I can't believe they make that. That's ridiculous. But generally most people don't care, in my opinion, I should say. Uh um, when you find out that a CEO of a nonprofit is making a hundred grand or what, they're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that's and I'm like, Yeah, I was like that it it you've got to spend money to make money. Um so if you're not investing in development or the fundraising function, um, then you're not gonna be successful. So it's not, you know, bootstrap fundraising is can can help move the needle, but for a period of time, and it over time fundraising has I mean, I've always seen it. I didn't fall into fundraising, a lot of folks did. Um, but I've done it. I I started in college, I was a phonethon caller for my alma mater, then I worked at the University of Richmond. So I've never not been in fundraising. Yeah. Um, it was a choice for me.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

Um that is a specific skill set.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

It is very hard to do. And um, you know, I, you know, when I called home to tell my dad I got the job in college, he was like, that's the perfect job for you because you love to talk on the phone. You have no issue asking me for money. Uh and he and he wasn't wrong, uh still to this day. Like, you know, I'll talk to anybody on the telephone. I don't want to text you, I want to talk. Um, and I I've never had an issue asking someone to support an organization that I believe in. Uh and you know, so I think um investing in development, um, and even in your regardless, because I do believe that every member of a nonprofit, every team member is part of the fundraising program, whether they are directly fundraising themselves or they are delivering service.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Um, or if you're at a really large organization and you meet, I was just at a meeting yesterday, um, and one of the panelists was talking about how um, you know, they would meet with, they worked for a very large nonprofit, and so they had um custodians, uh, and so they would talk with the custodian staff, the nursing staff, to say, like, your work is allowing us or helping us to be successful in our work as fundraisers.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Um, so I do believe that it is fundraising is a team sport. Um, and you know, the more people know about what you're doing in fundraising at your organization and can tell your organization's story. So that's the other thing I would say is a big issue is that um, you know, development or marketing may know the story and programming has a different story. And so depending on who you talk to or how you interact out in the community, people may or may not know of the good work that you're doing. And so making sure that everyone on your team, regardless uh whether they are the entry-level employee or the newest hire to the longest serving employee or the CEO executive, um, that we are all speaking from the same playbook or script, whatever word choice you want to use there.

Starting A Consultancy And Early Lessons

SPEAKER_02 19:50

And on that marketing tip, like I've there are organizations that I've been familiar with for like 10 years, and I actually started talking to someone within the organization. I'm like, I had no idea you guys were also doing X, Y, and Z. Like that marketing component is a big piece I think a lot of people miss out on because you know, you're out there in the community, you're doing good work, but like I I made a post on this yesterday with about people being afraid to post content. And I'm just like, you can't get recognized, you can't get business, you can't get funding if people don't know you exist.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:20

You have to constantly be pushing that out. And like, I'll give a shout out to one in particular, um, Chris Beach with uh Fatherhood Foundation of Virginia. Like, he to me is that executive director, I served on that board for like five years. He was always out in the community, he was always on local news, he's like always finding new partnerships and things like that. And the organization has grown exponentially because of those efforts. Like, he's he's been obviously the board and volunteers and things like that, but he's been the face and the one out there shaking hands and kissing babies for so long. Like it's hard to deny someone, you know, that spotlight when out there working for it so right.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

And that is a great example. They have a CRM in place. Um and if you look at the organization um, because it operated under a different name, and then under his leadership, they changed the name. Um, because I even took part at, you know, I'm a dad, I have three boys. My oldest Charlie is 10. And so when my wife was pregnant with him, I took part in, I took the dad boot camp class.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

Which is amazing. There was so much I didn't know about being a first-time dad. If I hadn't gone through that class, I don't know what I would have done.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Yeah, and then I went and sort of like paid it forward. So uh two years later, my wife we had twins, um, or I shouldn't say we, my wife did. I uh, you know. Um, but uh I had I took all three with me to the class because my wife was working that weekend and I said, Hey, could you come in and do I was like, Yeah, sure. Um and I did, I was like, I will have all three, but my parents are gonna pick up my oldest. So they came and got him from the hospital where we were doing the class. And Um, you know, I was feeding the kids, passing the twins around, changing the diapers, and I was someone as a kid who that was my biggest fear of being a dad. Is like the smell uh seeing watching someone vomit or the smell of a diaper just like repulsed me as a child.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

But it's crazy how quick you get used to it and it doesn't think.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

And it doesn't. So I'm sitting there changing and I it was just like sort of my daily life.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

Um and you just become second nature. Um, but to see that, like I think that was helpful for me when I was going through the class because I was like, oh, I can do this. Yeah. Um, and then to then show others, because then I had two, and I'm just like grabbing James and then George's moving. So, you know, like, and then pass them around and one time the I forget which one it was at this point, but you know, had some spit up from his bottle, and I was just like, eh, it happens. He brush it off. Thankfully it was on me, not on one of the uh perspectives. I was like, but it's gonna happen to you. Yeah, there's certain things that we won't go into that have never happened to me as a dad of boys. Um, so I count my lucky stars.

SPEAKER_02 23:08

Um someone told me when I first became a dad, there are two different types of dads. Dads who have been peed on or dads who are going to get peed on. I I escaped it some.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

I have yet to be peed on. Um actually, no, I take I take that back.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

One time I did have one of my kids just like chilling on my lap, and then I felt my leg get a little wet one day.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

I have not, thankfully have not had that issue. Um, but you know, back to you know, um Chris Beech on the Fatherhood Foundation, you know, they have the CRM and he's done hard work. Like if you look at where the organization was when he took over um to uh where it is now, and I will say this is you know, we have never worked with them. Yeah, we've had conversations over the years, but I from the sidelines have seen the transformation of that organization.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Um and you know, having not been involved in it, but I can say that like I I feel as an outsider that he's a big part of that success.

SPEAKER_02 24:05

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

Um but you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

We almost shut down the organization. I'll never forget that this is the first board that I ever joined, and I've said this publicly, so Chris isn't gonna have any problem with this. Um we uh it was the first board I'd ever been a part of. Um I got a text in the group chat with the board, just like, hey guys, like uh we're basically out of money. We need to all jump on a call, and or they were all like, somebody was just like, let's just shut down the organization. Like this was all through text message. And then somebody had the wherewithal to say, hey guys, can we at least all jump on a quick conference call? Is everybody available now? So we jump on the call. Uh half the board is like, yeah, let's just shut it down. The other half is like, no, man, we can't allow this to end. And then I get a text from one of the guys on the board, like a sidebar, and he's like, dude, you're the deciding vote. He's like, vote to keep the organization in play. He's like, I'll be board chair next year if you agree to be uh vice chair, and then we'll reverse roles. And I say, All right, let's do it. And we went from literally having no money in the bank, and I'm not gonna give the exact figures, but I mean six-figure nonprofit, like, and it was just that quick of a turn. And to me, that showed me it's all like when you have a board, it is so important to make sure you have the right people on the seat. Yeah, because I felt at that period when I first joined, because I'm coming in all young and gusto, like, man, I'm on a board, like you know, this is awesome type thing. And there are I felt there are some people on the board that were just there for as a resume filler, just to be able to say, like, hey, I've served.

SPEAKER_01 25:33

I've served on a board, yeah. And and board work is extremely important, and I think a lot of folks on both sides, as board potential board members, like individuals out in the community, don't understand the important work of being on the board, yes, and what being on a board actually means. You are finance, you are responsible for that organization.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

Umce every six months and that's all you do. Correct.

Nonprofit Myths And CRM Mistakes

SPEAKER_01 25:58

And you are responsible for hiring and firing the executive director. And that is like that's not it, yeah. But that is where, in terms of staffing, that is where it should stop. Yep. Far too often we see uh uh boards where they're getting into the day-to-day of I'm gonna say lower level staff, it's probably not the right word, but like non-executive director staff in related situations, and that's not helpful. Like the executive director needs to handle that. Um and the board, you know, is responsible for helping to inform and it fulfill the strategy and think about the strategic direction of the organization, but they are not um, you know, they they are gonna help, you know, they should be an advocate uh for the organization. Um and um, you know, they can be one, maybe they're out there ask helping to make the ask on behalf of the organization. Um, and then, you know, kind of that worker be, like we're gonna do some of that like stuff, like volunteer work that needs to get done.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

Um, and you know, very rarely will you have someone who's all three. Um, but you really should have someone who um is at least two of the three.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Um, and so um, you know, you know, that they're gonna help open doors. Um, I just recently, um, you know, this past year have been serving on Shalom Farms Climbing Vines, which is in a sense like a junior board. Uh, and I just posted about it the other, you know, because we're welcoming new people to apply for the next year. Um, you know, there's a group of us that's coming back. And what I've really enjoyed about it is, A, I've learned um new things about the organization, and I have been a donor um for many, many years. Um there um back when the executive director was Dominic Barrett. Um, and um why I stayed was because of one of their very first crowdfunding campaigns. He was so excited with the success at like two or three in the morning, he sent out this email and it was not formatted, it was not done in constant contact or a mail chimper through the CRM. It was straight from his inbox, yeah. All one paragraph. But you just could sense the passion and the true, genuine, like thankfulness of what he had to say about the excitement for how well that campaign went. Yeah. And, you know, so that was part of it. I know one of their early director developments, um, and you know, I've just stayed as a donor. And so when this opportunity came up, I was like, I think this is what I want to do. And it each meeting has been very attentional. We've met once a month, um, you know, and we've met with different members of the staff. Like going into it, I will admit, like, I did not know that I, as uh just a random, you know, person on the street could buy vegetables from Shalem Farms. I thought it was that, you know, I mean it's their main one of their main goals, but was, you know, to provide access to fresh food um to um uh economically um you know challenged individuals.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

And so I was like, I can't buy that, but I would love to buy, like that produce looks amazing. And you know, um, and then I like one of the second meetings, they're like, oh yeah, anybody can buy. We have a pricing model. So like, you know, if you want to pay the full price or you know, the discounted price, but everybody, you know, pays something. Yeah. I was like, oh. So like I just, you know, I purchased, I was there at a uh the fall harvest festival, um, and they had the market open, and so I bought, you know, some collards uh and and went home later that week and made uh uh like a collard hop and john type soup, uh, which was so good. Um and uh but it was just really I I have felt like I've become a better advocate and and a better donor because I know more about what the organization is doing.

SPEAKER_02 30:09

Absolutely.

Do We Need Another Nonprofit

SPEAKER_01 30:09

And it is done, we're presented with ways that we can help. So we've had volunteer days where we could go and volunteer on the Northside Farm, we've had opportunities to help with events, um, we've been invited to be donors, um, so just very different ways, and we have connected. So, like, I'm excited to go to those meetings each month. Um, even though most of them have been like outside, regardless of time of year, at the Northside Farm. Like, we just had a potluck where we were welcoming new prospective members, and the returning members all brought food. It was cold. Uh Harvest Festival, it was raining. I think it they said it's rained almost every year. And we had, I think, close to 300 community members come to the event. Oh, wow. Now we had, you know, uh various types of stew, uh, soup that they had made with ingredients from the farm. Uh we had a, and I feel bad, uh, we had a brewery that came on and um, you know, were was providing some beverages. There were also non-alcoholic beverages. Uh, we had schmores, um, you know, there were fire pits, there were farm tours, there was the market, so you could buy vegetables if you wanted to. Uh, it was just a really neat and fun time. Um so I like that when you can engage um your board, your volunteers in a way that's meaningful for both them and the organization. Because a lot of times, and this is where I see like the from the corporate side of, oh, we want to see as being doing good in the community. So they call up a nonprofit and say, Hey, we want to come by on Tuesday. What can we do? Um, and there are some nonprofits out there that have really well painted offices or well-organized supplies closets because they don't feel like they can say, Hey, we don't have anything that we need done right now. Or uh being an intentional. So it's like, you know, gift acceptance policies are another thing that I think are really important with organizations. Um because like just because you accept donated clothing doesn't mean you should accept it. Like I had a client one time where someone because people just don't for whatever reason don't want to throw something away. Um, and so like grandma or grandpa may have passed away, and so like they come and donate all the clothing. And I'm like, this is an organization serving kids. Yeah. What are they gonna need with a man's suit from 1950, 60, 70, whatever decade you want to pick? Um, or in this day and age, like I had another client uh receive as a donation an entire complete set of encyclopedotes for Tannica. I was like, we have this lovely thing called the internet, yeah. Um that's more up to date. We don't need those not always, you know, factual information, but like you gotta do your due diligence. But I was like, this is not something, you know, if you have a gift acceptance policy, you can say, hey, thank you so much. We can't we we don't have a need for this. Yeah. Um, and that doesn't mean just go drop it off at goodwill. Like, take the time um to really think through um where and and is it gonna be helpful?

SPEAKER_02 33:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

Um, because uh nonprofits are already strapped with employee bandwidth. Uh they need to be delivering services so they don't need to be going to the dump on your behalf.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

Um, and there is a uh I uh the House Finch. Um she does purging and organizing uh with clients and she partners with nonprofits, and so she helps individuals think through, and she I've used her many times. Um she was just at my house before Thanksgiving. Um and she's very intentional, so she's like, This is something that you should toss, this is something that you could sell, or um, you can donate this, and we partner, so you know, they take uh things to different organizations and it they have those relationships and conversations, so it's going to benefit a nonprofit.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

Yep. And I always try to, as we wrap up here, I always try to look at like the local areas because like eventually my wife finally got on the the point where you know, after your first kid, she didn't want to let anything go.

SPEAKER_03 34:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

I'm just like, there's we don't need this bassinet sitting in our garage anymore. Like, let's get it to somebody who can actually utilize this. Um and years ago, I probably would have just been like, all right, we'll just go to Goodwill and drop it off.

SPEAKER_03 34:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

But I intentionally looked and sat down and asked questions on social media. Hey, what organizations are specifically serving underprivileged moms that can't get access to these things but absolutely need it? Who can I get this to? Right. Um and even finding ones where like there are certain items where it's just like, like, I don't have a truck. We got SUVs, but I don't have a truck. There's certain stuff like I can't haul off, and some organizations like it's like, all right, well, if you want to donate this to us, it's gonna be a hundred bucks because we gotta send somebody out to get it.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

Right.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Or find another organization who does have a truck available and can go out and get those things. But yeah, I employ people that are listening, like when you're looking to donate, whether it's time, services, product, whatever it is, do your research. And then there's no dig on goodwill, but like we have a lot of great local nonprofits that can utilize that stuff. Um, so I employ people to look at that. Uh Nick, this has been awesome, man. I think you are a massive resource for nonprofits in this area.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Always happy to have conversations.

SPEAKER_02 35:33

Yeah. So shout out to your your company, give us your website, socials. Like, I want people to be able to find you. If there's a nonprofit out there that needs help growing, how can they reach you guys?

Fair Pay And Investing In Fundraising

SPEAKER_01 35:43

So uh we do have a website, it's uh www.thatesologgroup.com, and there is that double G uh between our last name um and the group. Uh, and then we are on social media, uh, probably not as active as we should be. Uh that's we can we can talk about that. Yeah, I was gonna say that could be a feature conversation. Um, but we are um on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Technically, we are on X, but we just that is not I was like, we we don't have that time to devote to being relevant. Uh and we're also too wordy. Um so anything that r gives me a character length gives me heart palpitations. So um technically we're there. Um, but you know, we spend a lot of of our time between um, you know, LinkedIn, Instagram, um, and then Facebook. Perfect. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

All right. You guys reach out, find them. Nick, appreciate you being on today, buddy.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

No, glad to do it. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 36:41

Absolutely. We'll see you guys on the next episode.