Episodes

Anyone who's been part of the coalition knows that it can be a complicated set of relationships. Some coalition experiences are fantastic. Others not so much. The best thing is when you and your coalition partners are fully aligned and everyone is pulling their weight and working together to get the results you've all agreed you want. The worst is when you get involved in a coalition and it becomes a huge headache without any of the results you wanted. To keep your coalition experiences in that ...

If you’ve ever said to yourself, “If only I had a paid advocacy person/team, everything would be great,” you’re in good company. But you might be surprised by the path you need to take to get there. It’s not as intuitive as it might seem, and there are some common mistakes that often block that path. In this episode, we share: The three things you must already have in order for paid advocacy staff to succeed What funders look for when deciding whether to invest in your advocacy work The bigg...

I frequently hear from nonprofit leaders that they feel overwhelmed by the amount of strategic relationships they're trying to build. And they get both frustrated and exhausted trying to move them all forward at once. And it just feels like an endless hamster wheel. It doesn't ever feel like there's an end in sight. You don't have to live there, and I want to help you get out of that. In this episode, we share: The first thing to get clear about with each of your competing advocacy priorities ...

Whenever you have the opportunity to meet with your US Representative and Senators in Washington DC, you want to make sure that you get the greatest possible impact for your efforts. A lot of time and expense goes into that trip, and too often folks come away disappointed in the results. There’s a handful of things that can make or break your visit with congressional offices. Let’s make sure you get them right, so you can get the results you’re looking for. In this episode, we share: The two t...

If I told you that up to 85% of your overall messaging may be undermining your goals for engaging key decisionmakers, you might be alarmed, or you might be skeptical. But many nonprofits are in this situation and don’t realize it. The good news is, there are some simple things you can do to identify and rework any counterproductive messaging, and ensure that all of your messaging and communications are supporting your effort to engage decisionmakers and get them to take action on your behalf. I...

To achieve your advocacy goals, you need decision makers to work with you to get that done. They're not going to do that if they don't know you, don't like you and don't trust you. So our number one job in strategic relationship building is to build that know, like and trust factor with decision makers. There's no way around the fundamental work of building a strategic relationship. But there are plenty of things you can do to reach a higher level of know, like and trust, faster and more effici...

A key driver of advocacy success is the effectiveness of your messaging. If your messaging isn't landing, the decision-maker won't engage. It's that simple. But when your messaging is dialed in to that decision maker, they're leaning in, they want to know more and they're excited to work with you. There are five major tests of messaging effectiveness. Today we take a look at each of those, and get into how you can adjust your messaging to address any areas of underperformance. And take your mes...

Whenever you're engaging a decision maker to get them to agree to do something, usually something around money or policy, you're likely to encounter some resistance or objections along the way. You can't make this not happen. But you can plan your messaging to anticipate objections, and address them quickly, sometimes even before they've been spoken. So that you reduce any potential friction on your pathway to getting that decision maker to yes. In this episode, we share: The three most commo...

I had the opportunity to interview Dorella Walters, who is the Chief Business Development Officer for God’s Love We Deliver in New York. Her job is basically to prospect for, and develop revenue-generating partnerships that do two main things: they diversify the organization’s funding portfolio, and bring in the dollars that allow them to serve a substantially greater number of people who desperately need their services. She’s facilitated well over $10 million in revenue-generating partnerships...

Whether you love it or hate it, negotiating with decisionmakers is part of the job of a nonprofit leader. You have to negotiate with funders, contracting partners, policymakers, and more. Like most things, negotiation is a lot more enjoyable when you get good at it. The secret of those who love negotiating is they’ve learned the keys to success, and developed the skills to use them well. In this episode, we share those keys, and show you how you can rapidly improve your negotiation skills and s...

If you've ever invited policymakers and other decisionmakers to visit your program, and then been disappointed that it didn't lead to any tangible results, it may be that your design for those visits needs an upgrade. In today’s episode, we do a deep dive on how you can strategically design a decisionmaker’s visit to your program to have a powerful impact on that decisionmaker, and move them closer to becoming a champion for your organization. In this episode, we share: The critical first ste...

I had the opportunity to interview Gilda Nardone, who shared how she built a leadership and advocacy training and support system that helped her organization’s program graduates become powerful advocates on issues they care about. A few of them even went on to run for and win local elected office, where they now influence policy as decisionmakers themselves. Gilda recently retired from her role as the long-standing Executive Director of New Ventures Maine, and she was kind enough to share the ma...

If you’re ready to have a breakthrough advocacy year, 2024 can be that year. To make it happen, you need to apply four main keys with your advocacy team. Today we dig into each of those keys and lay out how you can set yourself up to have that breakthrough year. In this episode, we share: Four key moves that will set you up for your breakthrough advocacy year How to identify the most impactful goals for your 2024 advocacy work How to make sure you don’t get blindsided, either by problems or ...

As the end of the year approaches, it's time to take stock of many things. One of the most valuable year-end reviews can be your advocacy review – if you focus on the right things. In this episode, we share: The five most valuable things to review for maximum impact The one item to review if you don’t do anything else The most important questions to ask to assess progress on your strategic relationships and messaging Getting to the heart of team success The three areas of personal growth t...

When our strategic relationship building work isn’t yielding the results we’d hoped for, it’s often because we’re inadvertently doing one or more things that actually undermine the goal of building powerful influence with those decisionmakers. The good news is, once you identify those unhelpful actions, they’re simple to correct. In this episode, we share: The five main culprits that undermine strategic relationship building How to create consistent, meaningful engagement with your key decisi...

We all have at least one skill we’d like to get better at. And there are all sorts of people offering to teach you just about anything. But so much of skill development is an inside job, and that’s what will make or break your efforts to master a skill. Over many years as both a teacher and a learner, I’ve discovered that there are a few universal keys to mastering any skill. In today’s episode, we share those keys, along with how to avoid the most common things that can sabotage your skill deve...

You know advocacy is important. And you’ve got some key strategic relationships you want to develop. But it’s so much work! Adding that to an already full plate can feel impossible and overwhelming. But if we don’t do it, we’re cutting off opportunities. Are we doomed to choose between overload and lost opportunity? Thankfully no. But we have to take on the overload monster and tame it. In this episode, we share: The five main causes of advocacy overload and how to fix them The first and most...

I’ve been inspired by the leaders of many movements from the past and present, but I think I’m the most excited about the youngest leaders who are stepping up to make real change in the world. While it would be easy to be demoralized by the current political environment, there is great inspiration to be found in the leaders who are standing up, creating change and claiming their power. In this episode, we share: The one leadership trait that I find most inspiring The key parallel between prog...

If you’ve ever been in a high-stakes encounter with a decisionmaker, and found yourself stressing out and struggling to engage them effectively while they lob challenging questions at you, you’re not alone. The good news is it doesn’t have to be that way. There are some valuable strategies that will help put you in the driver’s seat, and turn that stress into confidence and certainty. In this episode, we share: The single most important action you can take before and during the meeting How to...

When you have to generate a strategic relationship from nothing, it can feel like an impossible task. Where do you even start? I’m happy to report there are proven methods that you can use to build a strategic relationship from scratch. You just need the roadmap. In this episode, we’ll reveal: The essential first step that will ground the entire project The most important action that most people forget or skip What information you need about your prospect, and how to find it How to find the...

If your advocacy work has stalled, or just isn’t moving at the pace you want or need, it’s time to intervene and get things back on track. But to do that, you first need to know what has caused the slow-down. The good news is, it’s probably one or more of a set of common problems that have fairly simple solutions. Today we examine each of those causes, and we share how to fix them so you can get your advocacy work back on track. In this episode, we share: How to identify what’s causing your ad...

If you’re ready for next-level results from your advocacy work – more influence, better results, bigger impact – then it’s time to move to the next level of advocacy skills. No matter where you are on your advocacy journey, from beginner to seasoned advocate, there’s always a next level. In this episode, we share: The six keys to taking your advocacy skills to the next level How your brain tricks you into staying at your current level The one skill that often trips up even the most experienc...

If you’ve ever thought about hiring a lobbyist to help support your advocacy work, you’re onto a potentially very good idea. Working with a lobbyist at the state level can be incredibly helpful, but only if you do the necessary things to set yourself up for success. In this episode, we’ll reveal: What lobbyists do and what they’re best at The two most valuable things lobbyists bring to the table The most important ingredient for success in working with a lobbyist Two models for working with...

If you want to make faster progress when you’re advocating with elected officials, one of the most effective things you can do is engage their staff as well. But the trick is, the approach to engaging those two creatures needs to be very different if you want to succeed. Today we break down those differences and show you how to engage each of them for maximum impact. In this episode, we’ll reveal: The unique relationship between electeds and staff, and how that impacts your advocacy work The ...