Episodes

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 ...

I hear from so many nonprofit leaders who want to establish themselves as thought leaders in their niche. But the whole process around how you do that tends to be shrouded in mystery. It’s time to demystify! There are 7 basic ingredients, and today we break them down and give you a roadmap to becoming a thought leader. In this episode, we’ll reveal: What thought leadership can do for you Organization as thought leader vs Individual as thought leader How thought leaders think and operate The...

If you’ve been struggling to keep your advocacy efforts focused and on track long enough to produce the significant results you want, it’s time to take a look at your advocacy plan. Or to create one. Creating an advocacy plan that keeps your team focused and on track, pursuing the priorities you’ve identified together, is essential to getting the big advocacy results you want. But we all know there are plenty of plans that just wind up gathering dust. What you want is a dynamic plan that your ad...

If you don’t have the advocacy results you want, and you don’t have an advocacy team, there may be a cause and effect relationship there. Strategic relationship building touches everything you do, and without a well-functioning team working on those relationships in coordinated fashion, things fall through the cracks, balls get dropped, and progress slows or stalls. Having a solid advocacy team in place makes your strategic relationship and influence building work progress faster, more efficient...

We all know the importance of building strategic relationships with money and policy decisionmakers. But there’s one set of relationships that stands out as essential. These relationships can yield huge benefits, now and for many years to come. And, they can make all your other advocacy work so much easier. But, they require a little different approach... In this episode, we’ll reveal: The four foundational strategic relationships that can yield benefits for a lifetime Proven strategies for c...

How would it feel to be in a conversation with money and policy decisionmakers, where they’re fully engaged and excited to be talking with you? What would change if you could make that happen on a regular basis? If that sounds like a pipe dream, I have good news. In this episode, we’ll reveal the simple, 3-part story formula you can use to create breakthrough messaging that gets decisionmakers leaning in and asking you to tell them more. In this episode, we’ll reveal: The simple and versatile ...

If you’ve ever felt like money and policy decisionmakers weren’t really listening to you, and fully understanding the value of what you do, you may have a messaging problem. What you may not realize, is that there are some specific things that will prevent decisionmakers from truly hearing your message and fully engaging with it. In this episode, we uncover those barriers, and show you how to get past them. In this episode, we’ll reveal: What causes decisionmakers to filter out your message T...