A Recession Proof Marketing Plan with Karla Greenway, Executive Director of Interfaith Emergency Services

In this week's episode of our CEO series, host Lee Murray had a really interesting conversation with Carla Greenway, Chief Executive Officer of Interfaith Emergency Services. She shared insights into nonprofit management, fundraising strategies, community involvement and the power of personal connections in donor engagement

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Go here: https://www.harvardmurray.com/exploring-growth-podcast

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Lee - https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehmurray/

Karla-https://www.linkedin.com/in/karla-grimsley-greenway-23581234/

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And it was a recession.

So they when I, when I was brought

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in, I was handed a budget my

first year and, said, well,

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we're projecting $125,000 deficit.

Wow. But, you know, good luck. Okay.

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Welcome back to Exploring Growth.

Today we have, I think,

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an interesting story of a local

Central Florida nonprofit.

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the leader executive director.

The executive director in the

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nonprofit world is like a CEO.

And the real, you know,

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the the other world, at Interfaith Emergency Services

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over in Ocala in Marion County.

Welcome, Carla. Hi. Thank you.

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It's good to be here. Yeah.

So, you know, when I came

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across your organization,

I immediately thought, okay, well,

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you've got to have some interesting

stories to tell about growth.

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And, you know, when you talk about

the nonprofit world, it's,

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it's a different it's a different

breed, you know, it's it's it's

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not it's it's got a lot of the

makings of the for profit world,

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but there's a lot of additional

layers that go go on as well.

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I would say, in addition to the

things you have to deal with in

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the typical for profit world,

I've worked with a number of,

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kind of coming up through the years.

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My wife was actually, for her

career before kids, she did

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event planning and fundraising for, a couple nonprofits, small

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nonprofits up in Birmingham, Alabama.

And so, of course,

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I was her number one volunteer.

You know, anytime there was

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an event or something happening,

I had to be there, you know,

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doing the helping her with a

silent auction or, you know,

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doing some kind of thing that

has to do with fundraising.

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And, you know,

I did it mostly willingly.

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It was it was it was good for

the most part.

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But then there was a late nights of

tear down that I didn't didn't enjoy.

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But I've seen that side of it

and I've also worked.

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I've had a couple clients that

have been nonprofits and,

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helped them with some strategy and

seeing, you know, the business side

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of things. And, you know, I.

I think that there's a lot to be

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said for people who,

run nonprofits because it is a

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can can be a thankless world, so, you know, I'm excited to

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have you on and, and talk about some

of those things that you've done

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behind the scenes to, to grow,

interfaith and, just kind of

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learn a little bit more of that

about your organization. Thank you.

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Well, first, I would say I appreciate

you even acknowledging as a business,

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a lot of people don't think of

nonprofits as businesses, but we do

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have to operate as a business. Yes, we just instead of employees,

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we have to deal with volunteers,

right? That's right.

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You know, and, and again, our

clients get what they get for free.

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They're not your patrons that are

purchasing something. So it's.

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That's right. It is. It is.

There are some nuances that make it

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a little more challenging, but we

definitely have to follow a lot of

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business practices and principles.

And yeah, a lot of people

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don't appreciate that.

So thank you for acknowledging.

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Yeah. Yeah.

Well, you know, and for the people

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who have not worked with volunteers

directly or lead volunteers,

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they're basically employees who

are working for free and they're

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just basically working on passion.

So if you think about your employees

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and how much passion they have,

but they really show up because

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they get paid,

just take away the money part.

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And that's about how challenging

more challenging it gets.

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Yeah, that's true, that's true.

And they and you know and a lot

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here we have a lot of our

volunteers are retirees.

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So you know we have to deal with

their schedules and their travel

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plans and all that. But right.

It somehow always works. Yeah.

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You know,

so we were talking just a minute

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ago before we jumped on here,

about some of the the early days of

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you getting started in your role, give us a quick, like,

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succinct story about,

how you got started and a little

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bit about the organization.

So we have some context to the

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work that you're doing. Okay.

Well, to start with the history of

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the organization, it was started

in 1983 by a group of local pastors

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that were in a networking meeting, and the topic that kept

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coming to light was, you know,

we had these people coming to

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our churches and they're not

coming for spiritual needs.

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They're coming for food and they're

coming for clothing and shelter.

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And so all the churches were

scrambling to create clothing

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closets and soup kitchens.

And, somebody finally had

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this idea and said, you know,

why don't we just pull all of our

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resources together and create

one place to do it efficiently,

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and then we can refer people

there when they come to us.

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And that's how interfaith was

started.

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So it was, it was kind of it's a

really cool, connecting point for

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all of the faith based community

here in Marion County. Of course.

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is that so many different faiths

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come together to serve, and it's

like all those lines are erased.

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At interfaith.

We're just all people who love

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people and want to want to help.

So that part's really cool.

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But it was you know,

Ocala historically has kind of been

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considered a small rural area and, with kind of a good old boys

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network here. Yeah.

And, and so I came in after the,

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the man who was,

who had had built it to what the

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point it was when I took over,

I had been there 23 years.

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He was well loved by the community, but, you know,

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and I and I get it because it's.

This is such hard work.

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I think he had just the last couple

of years he was here probably

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struggling with some burnout.

And, and it was a recession.

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So they when I, when I was brought

in, I was handed a budget my

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first year and, said, well,

we're projecting $125,000 deficit.

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Wow. But, you know, good luck. Yeah.

Good luck. There you go. You can.

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And and to be honest,

my background was not in fundraising,

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I had worked for a government,

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a state government agency. Okay.

And was always just handed my budget.

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Yeah. Here's Ben.

So, so this was a new challenge

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for me. And, but you know what?

One of the things I learned right

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out of the gate was you can't be

afraid to try things. That's right.

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If I wouldn't have,

you know, tried different.

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I tried so many different things,

to try to start building momentum and

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and and increasing our donor base, and if I had been afraid to

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try things or afraid what people

would say or think, I.

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There's no way I wouldn't have

made it.

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about two years, and our faith

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would have been no more. Yeah.

So, so it it's been a it's been a

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really fun journey for me to learn, how to market, kind of,

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you know, from scratch. Right.

And, I mean, I had a really

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good base to build on because we

had a really good reputation in

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the community. The problem with.

Yeah,

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the vast majority of the community

didn't know about interfaith.

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interfaith a household name.

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I wanted I wanted the residents

of interfaith to think of us as

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their charity.

Like,

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this is our community's charity.

And we're here to take care of

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our neighbors.

And I want everyone to feel a part

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of this. I like that. It was.

That's a great initial vision.

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You know,

I like how you articulated that.

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Was it that clear to you in

those early days that that's

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what you needed to do?

Because to me, when you say it,

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you know, hindsight, it sounds great.

But in the early days when you're,

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you know, for lack of a better word,

scrambling to, to make this

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thing get off the ground and,

and get to where it needs to be,

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even coming from a deficit,

I think that that thought is a

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very advanced way of thinking,

like, that's a that's very much

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a vision for the organization.

Did it come about over time or

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did you did you come in and say,

no, this is what we needed?

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No, I mean, it's pretty immediate.

I mean, my immediate thought was

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and then what's funny is I'm I'm

struggling with the fact that

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I'm about I need to raise money.

And, and people are

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struggling right now, you know, and so where I did struggle was

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coming up with a recession proof

fundraising theme or campaign. Okay.

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And so, and I, you know,

in my head, I'm going, okay, there's

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300,000 people in Marion County, if, if I can even get a

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third of them to give me $5. Yeah.

Our our total budget at that time

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was a little over $500,000. Okay.

I thought I'd have almost my

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whole budget. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And, you know, and I'm thinking,

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okay, if I can get a third and it

sounds like much a third of Marion

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County people to just give me $5.

How hard is that? Right.

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again, people probably when I

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shared that thought, okay,

you're you're crazy but.

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But you can try and,

and I created this idea of,

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of giving interfaith a high five

because people that didn't know

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interfaith loved interfaith,

and love what we did.

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So I, I turned it into this high

five campaign where it was give

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interfaith a high five if you like

what we do or if you support us.

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And the high five was a $5 bill.

Okay.

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We also made big,

foam red hands, right smack people.

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But and it was really kind of

grassroots.

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I started, I recruited some

volunteers and we would set up in

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front of the local grocery stores.

We would go to every public event,

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every fair, every festival, anything, set up a table and just say,

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hey, give us a high five and,

you know, and collect $5 bills.

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And then I started getting into

businesses.

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you know,

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I'd ask employers if I could just hit

their employees up for a $5 bill,

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and and so many of them just loved

the the shtick that they. Well, I.

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Mean, let me tell you, that is

that's a great marketing campaign.

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Like, I couldn't think of one

better myself.

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I think that's such a great,

very simple. It's very clear.

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It's very approachable.

You know, we're talking about $5.

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And again, even though you're kind of

coming out of a recession period of

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time, it's still very approachable.

If people have any inkling to give,

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they can just do that one thing

and feel connected.

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But it's not about the $5.

It's about starting those

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conversations and doing all the

things that you're probably about

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to explain is it's all the things

that come along with it. Exactly.

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And that the simplicity of it, it's funny, we I'm we're actually

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working this week on a piece of

content for something else we do

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in Signal Media, for an email.

And I'm talking about exactly.

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That is,

if you want to get awareness,

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you have to think about your target

audience. What does they care about?

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How do you get their attention?

Keep it simple, keep it clear.

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And I couldn't think of a better

example than that.

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I mean, that's such a great,

you know, tagline.

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It's easy for you to remember. Yeah, yeah. So congrats on that.

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I mean, that's that's awesome.

Coming right out of the gate.

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What was fun was,

I don't know where this came from,

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but, my thought was, I, you know,

I wanted to to create this sense

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of inclusivity, you know, when

people feel like they were included.

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So, we called it the High five

club, actually. Oh, cool. Yeah.

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And before I even started the

campaign, I got some college kids

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to help me plaster these signs

all over town. That's awesome.

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Just they all they said were,

are you in the club? That's it.

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It didn't say anything about

interfaith, just.

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Are you in the club?

I even got a couple of local

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magazines. You just do a whole page.

Are you in the club?

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And my thought was if you could

get people asking the question,

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you know, what club. What's the club?

When I come back and go,

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it's the high five club.

They go, oh you know,

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then they already they have a

quick connection right.

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And so and then that's what we did.

We launched it as a high five club.

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You know give us a high five and

be in the club when we got

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the high fives.

We even had a sticker that we

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gave everybody to wear on their

shirt that says, I'm in the club.

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Hoping to that people would go,

what club? Well, it's a club.

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Give them a high five you can get.

Yeah, it's sort of almost like a

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social contagion type of. Yeah.

You type of,

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you're tapping into the human

piece of a human spirit. There is.

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It makes me think of, you know, when

you go vote and it says, I voted.

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Yeah, you want to you want people to

know if you put that sticker on,

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you won't be able to know I voted,

right. It's mean. Something.

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Everybody wants to be in the club,

you know. So that's right.

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If somebody else has,

it's just stickers.

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As I'm in the club, they're going

to go, what club I want to be.

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Yeah. Right. So it's at least.

Piques their curiosity which is step.

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One. It worked and it worked, somehow, someway.

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But, so fast forward, we,

we ended that year, in a surplus,

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not a deficit, not a big business.

But, you know, we we made it for

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the $125,000 deficit, and then in a surplus.

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And but the thing is,

it built this momentum that

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people were talking about.

Interfaith people were thinking

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of interfaith, you know,

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we were growing by volunteers.

And it opened so many doors for

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me to get in front of,

church groups and civic groups.

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And, I spent the first 2 or

3 years literally just day in

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and day out, speaking to groups.

I mean, I just yeah,

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I remember there was a 15 month

span that I didn't attend my own

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church because I was in a

different church every week. Yeah.

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Speaking about interfaith, but, but again, that,

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that that campaign is what

opened the door for that, right?

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When I could tell a pastor,

I'm not asking for a lot of money,

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I'm just asking for $5 bills.

Yeah, they were a lot more much more.

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Open to it. Yeah.

I just stand at the back of the

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church when church was over and,

you know, and people would walk

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by and, give me the $5.

So it really did just get my foot

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in the door for the donations I'm

getting now where I can pick up a

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phone, call a bank president and say,

hey, I need sponsorship money,

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or yeah, and it's and of course,

back then even, you know,

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people a lot, most people gave $5,

but the people that could afford

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50 gave 50, people could afford

25 gave 25. That's right.

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You know, we got some $500.

They're naturally going.

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To give, give to their,

you know, comfortability. Yeah.

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So, and that was like I said, that

was that was right out of the gate.

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And then, we but but you know,

once I started getting into the,

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the arenas that I wanted to get in,

that's when I could really start

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doing more education about going

in depth about what we do.

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Because at that point,

most people just thought we were

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a food pantry. Okay.

I went into a room and said,

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how many of you know what

interfaith do everyone wants?

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Oh yeah, you're a food pantry.

They didn't know that.

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We had a prescription medication

program and a homeless shelter

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and did all these other,

you know, services.

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And, so that was, you know,

like I said, anything you can come

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up with, it'll just get your foot

in the door, no matter how simple.

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And and and sometimes. Even now, I will start out with with not

249

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an ask with a, you know, just a

I just want to come talk to you.

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I just I want to come say thank you.

Yeah.

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Maybe not even for what you do for

for, you know, interfaith, but what

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you do in the community. Right.

And, and that goes a long way,

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caring and caring about what

they care about too. Yes. Yeah.

254

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I think that's that's number one.

You know,

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when you when you understand what it

is that your donors, your, your,

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your primary audience, their, for fundraising cares about,

257

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then you can tap into that and

align yourself with it.

258

00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,290, so you said you went from,

you know, kind of,

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en masse to these other arenas.

What kind of other arenas are

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you talking about?

Local civic groups or business

261

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like commercial.

Businesses, civic groups.

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And then I, you know,

then I got invited to, you know,

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to be on some local radio stations,

interviewed with the local

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newspapers, yeah, I was interviewed

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several times by our local,

some of our local news outlets and,

266

00:15:36,660 --> 00:15:40,050, and then, you know,

even TV 20 would come down,

267

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out of Gainesville and,

they started keeping up with us,

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like, you know. That's on the.

Holidays or whatever.

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It's great exposure.

And and, you know, the,

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the local newspapers here just really

wrap their arms around us and,

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00:15:54,450 --> 00:15:58,680, and, and really, you know,

any anything that I wanted to get

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out there, they would help me get

out there. Yeah. That's amazing.

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So it was, you know,

it's it's been a it's been a fun run,

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but yeah. That's. Yeah. Go ahead.

We also though what people don't

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realize is we also are in the

business of competition,

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which I hate to use that word in

nonprofits because in Marion

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County anyway, we're all friends.

We all support each other.

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We donate to each other's charities.

If I have something that can

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bless another charity,

we give it and vice versa.

280

00:16:28,110 --> 00:16:33,810, but the reality is we are all

competing for the same dollars.

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That's right.

You know, because so again,

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that's the, going back to

tapping into what matters to people.

283

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If I know there's a local

business that's already,

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supporting the Humane Society.

And I know, I know that's what

285

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matters to them. Yeah.

I'm not even going to go there.

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I'm not going to spend my time going

after somebody who I know that their

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their passion is animals. Right?

You know, so, you know, it's paying

288

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attention to those kind of things,

to not just going after everybody

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because they're there. Yeah.

And it's good to be aware of that

290

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because, you know, it's true.

It's a it's a marketplace.

291

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And you know, you have to, to,

to acknowledge that.

292

00:17:11,940 --> 00:17:13,770, curious though,

it makes me think.

293

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Have you ever gotten together in the

same room, like around the table

294

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with these other organizations

and had sort of like a consortium

295

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of sorts where, you know,

you just have these conversations

296

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transparently and say, you know,

not that you would necessarily say,

297

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hey, we're all competing for the

same dollar,

298

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but but how can we align ourselves, to more benefit each other?

299

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Have you ever done that or is

that kind of faux pas?

300

00:17:38,190 --> 00:17:41,190

Actually, we have a local

nonprofit business council that

301

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pulls us together and we have

those conversations frequently.

302

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That's awesome.

And so like I said,

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it's we talk about ethics.

We talk about, you know,

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you know, not stepping on each

other's toes when somebody's spent

305

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a lot of time establishing a

relationship with a donor and just

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kind of out of out of, yeah,

we don't we don't go after them.

307

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And and I've even had people call

me when they know one of my donors

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has approached them and say, I just

want you to know they approached us.

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I don't, you know, so I'm like,

that's amazing.

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So it's,

it's a great relationship. We're.

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Yeah, we're very fortunate to

have our nonprofit business

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council here in Marion County.

And the way, the way that we work

313

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together and support each other.

And we do share a lot of the

314

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same donors.

So, you know,

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so it's really cool.

It's like we're having it we're

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having a beer fest coming up.

It's one of my favorite events

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to fundraise for because,

two of my other favorite charities,

318

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the Literacy Council and Kimberly

Center for Child Protection,

319

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that they, they do,

counseling for children of abuse

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and neglected. Okay, the three of us get to work

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together, and it's it's such an

easy sell to tell a business.

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Hey, you get to help three

charities with one sponsorship.

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Yeah, so it's a three for deal.

You know. You get to drink.

324

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Beer, which doesn't.

Usually hurt. You know? Yeah.

325

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So yeah, it's a it's a lot of fun.

A lot of fun to work with these

326

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two other charities.

And it's funny because people do,

327

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you know, are surprised when

they see us all coming together,

328

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you know, and working together

so hard on this event, not

329

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worrying about who gets what, just.

Yeah, that's really that's

330

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really cool to see.

Especially in a small town,

331

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you know, smaller town where you

can easily you could easily go

332

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the opposite way. Yeah, yeah.

So I'm, I'm curious now. Okay.

333

00:19:23,130 --> 00:19:25,890

So you, you, I mean,

from my perspective, you came out

334

00:19:25,890 --> 00:19:31,500

of the gate swinging like amazing

campaign, got a lot of exposure.

335

00:19:31,500 --> 00:19:34,470

You got the newspapers on your.

Radio stations like you.

336

00:19:34,470 --> 00:19:36,990

You know, if you have a clear

message, people are going to know

337

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who you are and know how to give.

Now where it is,

338

00:19:40,140 --> 00:19:41,160

where do you take that?

You know,

339

00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:46,650

and the more recent years or months, what have you done to continue

340

00:19:46,650 --> 00:19:52,170

that momentum of growth, you know,

to to get more donors and maybe

341

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talk about what types of donors, I'm curious about, you know,

342

00:19:56,250 --> 00:20:00,840

getting new people.

Well, of course, social media started

343

00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:05,100

to really explode around that time.

So I work that really hard for

344

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the next few years, and it's funny because the

345

00:20:08,250 --> 00:20:11,910

interfaith page isn't really, we don't we don't have as

346

00:20:11,910 --> 00:20:15,540

many connections on that as we

do my personal one.

347

00:20:15,540 --> 00:20:18,690

And I just friend anybody and

everybody because anything I

348

00:20:18,690 --> 00:20:21,360

share on that I would share on

my personal page. Yeah.

349

00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:25,710

And, it's so funny because when I

got married a couple of years ago and

350

00:20:25,710 --> 00:20:29,400

my husband was looking at me because

he assumed I knew all those 3000.

351

00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,660

Yeah, like, I don't know. So I yeah.

I just, you know, like them.

352

00:20:33,660 --> 00:20:35,310

So when I have something to

share for interfaith,

353

00:20:35,310 --> 00:20:39,000

it gets it gets the message out, so social media is,

354

00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:42,810

you know, it's a great tool, it's getting more and more again,

355

00:20:42,810 --> 00:20:46,800

competitive to, for, for people's

attention even, you know, now,

356

00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,530

we're trying to figure out how to do

the reels and the video, you know,

357

00:20:49,530 --> 00:20:53,820

all the trainings telling us that

you that this short and short,

358

00:20:53,820 --> 00:20:56,220

succinct videos are what's

getting people's attention.

359

00:20:56,430 --> 00:20:59,520

So, you know, and it's keeping

up with those things. Yeah.

360

00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:03,510, that's just so important to,

to keep up with those,

361

00:21:03,660 --> 00:21:09,630

trends for social media. That's sure.

That's a, but and also,

362

00:21:09,780 --> 00:21:13,770

I think just relationship building,

like I.

363

00:21:14,710 --> 00:21:18,880

I joined,

a few different groups and networks.

364

00:21:19,540 --> 00:21:24,190

To, partially for myself, but.

But they have turned out also to

365

00:21:24,190 --> 00:21:28,090

be great ways for me to meet new

people and just keep progressing.

366

00:21:28,420 --> 00:21:31,600, the,

the familiarity with interfaith.

367

00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,480

So I joined,

a local Rotary Club. Okay.

368

00:21:34,570 --> 00:21:37,780

Mainly because, you know, I work

and people, you know, it's funny,

369

00:21:37,780 --> 00:21:39,610

when you work for a nonprofit,

think people think you're just

370

00:21:39,610 --> 00:21:42,310

this wonderful person because.

Yeah, right. But that's. My job.

371

00:21:42,310 --> 00:21:44,410

And I do care about the people,

and I do it because I'm

372

00:21:44,410 --> 00:21:47,170

passionate about it.

But personally, for me,

373

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I get paid for that.

So yes, I need outlets where I

374

00:21:50,950 --> 00:21:53,740

can feel like I'm just giving.

I'm not, you know?

375

00:21:53,740 --> 00:21:58,600

So I, joined the.

And one of the things that is a nice

376

00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:02,920

diversion from the things I deal

with it at interfaith, at my job

377

00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:07,360

with poverty and all that is art.

I love art, so I joined the,

378

00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:12,670

the local, art association and, joined their board and got

379

00:22:12,670 --> 00:22:15,760

and got enmeshed in that really

for my own gratification.

380

00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:19,600

Yeah, but it connected me to new

donors. I can do that. Yeah.

381

00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,840, you know, and and I help

with their fundraisers without,

382

00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:27,190

you know, without, you know,

I avoided the conflict of going

383

00:22:27,190 --> 00:22:29,950

after my own donors, but.

Yeah, and, you know, of course,

384

00:22:29,950 --> 00:22:31,780

I didn't steal their donors,

but a lot of people,

385

00:22:31,780 --> 00:22:35,860

you find out that care about art also

care about homelessness. So. Yes.

386

00:22:36,010 --> 00:22:38,050, and then I did the same thing.

You know, I got involved in a

387

00:22:38,050 --> 00:22:41,080

Rotary Club, really, just to

increase my little social network.

388

00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:45,700

And, and now I'm connected to

five local rotary clubs that will,

389

00:22:45,700 --> 00:22:48,760

you know, embrace interfaith.

They, you know, I'll,

390

00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:53,830

I'll donate to us in some way. Yeah.

So it's, you know, just my

391

00:22:53,830 --> 00:22:57,970

own personal giving back to the

community sure benefited interfaith.

392

00:22:58,210 --> 00:23:02,140

Yeah. That's that's so great.

I love to I mean, just to,

393

00:23:02,170 --> 00:23:05,560

you know, not miss the fact that

you're such a good person. Okay?

394

00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:09,100

You you are you are doing all these

good things as your job, and then

395

00:23:09,100 --> 00:23:11,620

you're like, no, that's not enough.

I'm going to go do other things

396

00:23:11,620 --> 00:23:15,520

on my free time, you know,

so, you know, thanks for being

397

00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,070

that that that person that we

need in the community, we need

398

00:23:18,070 --> 00:23:22,390

more people like you. Yeah, I.

Would say let's shift, you know,

399

00:23:22,390 --> 00:23:26,500

from awareness where you're going

out and getting new eyeballs and

400

00:23:26,500 --> 00:23:30,790

new people looking at what you're

doing and giving to, nurturing

401

00:23:30,790 --> 00:23:34,870

or retaining, current donors.

You know, what are some of the

402

00:23:34,870 --> 00:23:39,910

things that you do, maybe explicitly

or specifically, or maybe that

403

00:23:39,910 --> 00:23:44,170

sort of happened naturally,

organically to keep donors engaged.

404

00:23:44,620 --> 00:23:48,430

So it's funny, one of the other

first crazy things I tried to do,

405

00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:50,920, I think was probably my

second or third year.

406

00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:56,260

I started this, at at the

holidays with the we get almost two

407

00:23:56,260 --> 00:23:58,960

thirds of our donations come in

the last two months of the year.

408

00:23:59,290 --> 00:24:03,460

And I had this wild idea that I

was going to do a handwritten

409

00:24:03,460 --> 00:24:07,270

Christmas card to every donor that

gave a donation. I love that, yeah.

410

00:24:08,170 --> 00:24:11,680

And it was a challenge.

But I did it. Hired hand.

411

00:24:12,550 --> 00:24:15,910

You know, and but but I, you know,

I just made that part of my that

412

00:24:15,910 --> 00:24:18,490

was a priority every day.

You know, when the mail came in,

413

00:24:18,490 --> 00:24:23,200

I got that list and I,

and I wrote those cards and now I,

414

00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,500

you know, I'm happy to say I've

built my donor base to the point I.

415

00:24:26,500 --> 00:24:30,550

There's no way I could possibly do

that. I still do it to some degree.

416

00:24:30,940 --> 00:24:32,830, you know,

it's kind of hit or miss,

417

00:24:32,830 --> 00:24:36,220

but a couple things that I have that

I have incorporated because there's

418

00:24:36,220 --> 00:24:41,050

no way for me to do a personal, contact with every donor.

419

00:24:41,050 --> 00:24:46,710

Yeah, but, I get a report every week of

420

00:24:46,710 --> 00:24:49,020

all the brand new donors,

first time donors.

421

00:24:49,020 --> 00:24:52,110

Every first time donor gets us,

they're going to get their

422

00:24:52,110 --> 00:24:55,920

acknowledgement letter for taxes,

but they're also going to get a

423

00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,700

handwritten note from me that says,

you know, thank you for being

424

00:24:59,700 --> 00:25:02,700

one of the people that make us,

make us happen, you know,

425

00:25:02,700 --> 00:25:06,840

that make this ministry possible.

And, and it's funny because

426

00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:11,370

I've never traveled to see how many

of those become repeat donors.

427

00:25:11,370 --> 00:25:14,280

I was I was telling my staff,

I really need to do that. Yeah.

428

00:25:14,490 --> 00:25:19,530, but but I do believe a lot of

them do continue to be donors because

429

00:25:19,530 --> 00:25:23,970

now, you know, every so often

I'll get a report for repeat donors.

430

00:25:23,970 --> 00:25:27,270

And that list keeps growing. Yeah.

And a lot of those names I

431

00:25:27,270 --> 00:25:29,160

recognize because they're people

I sent notes to.

432

00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,210

So randomly, I'll send a note to

somebody who's just been,

433

00:25:33,210 --> 00:25:39,660

you know, a consistent donor, and then also, I started

434

00:25:39,660 --> 00:25:42,450

this past year because the other

thing that's happened is the level

435

00:25:42,450 --> 00:25:45,630

of our donations have gone up,

the, the dollar amounts.

436

00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:50,250

And so I get,

a report every week or every.

437

00:25:50,490 --> 00:25:55,590

Yeah, every week for,

any donations that came in over $500.

438

00:25:55,590 --> 00:25:57,360

Okay.

And they're going to get a

439

00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:00,720

handwritten note from me, if it's someone that I've

440

00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:02,820

written a bunch of handwritten

notes to already,

441

00:26:02,820 --> 00:26:05,310

then they might get a phone call

from me just to say thanks. Right.

442

00:26:05,370 --> 00:26:09,660, so it's really about,

you know, making them know that

443

00:26:09,660 --> 00:26:13,860

you're you're seeing. Yeah.

Keeping it personal number. Yeah.

444

00:26:13,860 --> 00:26:18,510

You matter. And you matter to us.

And. And it's fun.

445

00:26:18,510 --> 00:26:22,410

You know, some of I've got one donor

that I've never met in person,

446

00:26:22,410 --> 00:26:25,800

but, I've talked to him a

couple of times on the phone.

447

00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,620

We get on the phone, we can't.

It's like we could talk all day.

448

00:26:28,620 --> 00:26:29,580

Yeah.

There's just such a great

449

00:26:29,580 --> 00:26:32,880

connection there, and again, I've never met him.

450

00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,860

We just connect on the the passion

for what interfaith does and. Great.

451

00:26:38,100 --> 00:26:39,810

And again,

it started with me just writing

452

00:26:39,810 --> 00:26:44,220

him notes saying thank you. Right.

So I'm curious, you know,

453

00:26:44,220 --> 00:26:46,890

if we were to say, I know you

probably do a lot of the same,

454

00:26:46,980 --> 00:26:49,650, type of things with,

corporate donors.

455

00:26:49,650 --> 00:26:53,790

But if you were to kind of categorize

everything you're talking about is,

456

00:26:53,790 --> 00:26:56,670

you know, individual donors,

is there anything different you

457

00:26:56,670 --> 00:26:59,670

do for corporate or how do you

approach corporate?

458

00:26:59,670 --> 00:27:02,490

How do you you know,

what's that ask look like?

459

00:27:02,490 --> 00:27:05,910

And maybe, you know,

once they do come on board, what does

460

00:27:05,910 --> 00:27:10,830

that relationship look like? Yeah.

So they ask for corporate typically,

461

00:27:10,950 --> 00:27:13,470,

I try to involve my board with that.

462

00:27:13,470 --> 00:27:16,230

So, you know,

I just feel like it's important

463

00:27:16,230 --> 00:27:20,130

to have them on board for those.

And it's especially nice if some

464

00:27:20,130 --> 00:27:24,300

of them know, you know,

that that's like the, the that's the

465

00:27:24,300 --> 00:27:27,690

bomb when they can when someone on

my board knows someone in a and a

466

00:27:27,690 --> 00:27:33,030

business at that top level. Yeah.

And, and again I don't,

467

00:27:33,270 --> 00:27:36,150

I don't typically go in first

time with my hand out.

468

00:27:36,150 --> 00:27:39,480

I go in saying, I just want you

to know what interfaith does.

469

00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,060

I want you to know, you know,

what we do for this community.

470

00:27:42,060 --> 00:27:46,290

And usually I'll acknowledge what

they've done for our community.

471

00:27:46,290 --> 00:27:49,710

You know, what what impact they've

had, whether, you know,

472

00:27:49,710 --> 00:27:53,520

they're a great employer.

Some, some businesses employ,

473

00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:57,030, the people that we serve.

And I'll point that out to them.

474

00:27:57,420 --> 00:28:01,470, so, you know, I try like again,

I try to connect on a level that

475

00:28:01,470 --> 00:28:05,640

it's not just about Jimmy,

you know, and then.

476

00:28:06,430 --> 00:28:10,240

And then typically, you know,

when I do have to go back around and

477

00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:14,410

ask for something, then it's a yes.

So I don't like calling and

478

00:28:14,410 --> 00:28:17,710

asking for for money.

And that being my first connection.

479

00:28:17,710 --> 00:28:19,570

Yeah.

I just I'm not comfortable with that.

480

00:28:19,570 --> 00:28:22,570

I know a lot of people are and I

guess as a, you know, have a

481

00:28:22,570 --> 00:28:24,940

nonprofit you're supposed to be.

But I'm not good with those kind

482

00:28:24,940 --> 00:28:28,000

of cold calls. Because.

To me it's the relationship

483

00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,570

aspects to important.

And then, you know, the ongoing.

484

00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,800, so and one like one of the

examples is we get a lot of

485

00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:38,530

church support. Okay.

And, so one of the things

486

00:28:38,530 --> 00:28:42,460

we're doing right now,

for the churches that support us

487

00:28:42,460 --> 00:28:46,510

is they're getting a letter A, not

not the regular, you know, letter.

488

00:28:46,510 --> 00:28:50,320

Thank you for your gift, but just a

random letter to the church saying

489

00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,860

how much it means to us, how what

the impact their donation makes.

490

00:28:53,860 --> 00:28:56,650

But it's going to be signed by

everybody on my board. Okay.

491

00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,320, so, I mean, you know,

that might not seem like much,

492

00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:04,720

but I know when I get a handwritten

note, it catches my attention.

493

00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,330

That's right.

When I get, you know,

494

00:29:07,330 --> 00:29:12,040

a letter that's got more than one

signature on it, you know, it does.

495

00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:13,330

Things like that do catch my

attention.

496

00:29:13,330 --> 00:29:15,790

So you got to figure a way.

Small ways like that,

497

00:29:15,790 --> 00:29:19,150

that don't cost you anything. Yeah.

That help you stand out? Yeah.

498

00:29:19,150 --> 00:29:23,200

I think in today's world of

everything being so quick and

499

00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,890

impersonal, I think those types

of things have an element of

500

00:29:26,890 --> 00:29:31,540

surprise that anybody would would

be caught off guard to say, oh,

501

00:29:31,540 --> 00:29:34,270

that's kind of cool.

I didn't then expect that,

502

00:29:34,270 --> 00:29:37,450

you know, and that helps to make

that connection, either make it

503

00:29:37,450 --> 00:29:42,160

initially or make it stronger.

And, and I think that's really,

504

00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,870, I know that's what's kept

some of my, my corporate

505

00:29:46,870 --> 00:29:51,340

donors in the churches that we,

that we, have on our team

506

00:29:51,340 --> 00:29:54,670

coming back every year. Yeah.

And you mentioned, you know,

507

00:29:55,060 --> 00:29:59,170

relating back to the churches,

the impact that they're having.

508

00:29:59,170 --> 00:30:02,050

I know through our church when when,

you know, if I'm just a congregant,

509

00:30:02,050 --> 00:30:05,200

I'm hearing about,

a nonprofit that we support,

510

00:30:05,410 --> 00:30:10,060

it can seem very surface.

But if they talk about specific

511

00:30:10,060 --> 00:30:14,260

stories that have happened inside

of that organization and how our

512

00:30:14,260 --> 00:30:19,690

funds helped to to make that impact,

and the more compelling the better,

513

00:30:19,690 --> 00:30:22,630

the more palpable,

like where where you're you,

514

00:30:22,630 --> 00:30:27,250

you can feel the hurt of that

situation that was mended. Yeah.

515

00:30:27,250 --> 00:30:32,800, it makes me feel like, hey, we

are we we we're doing a good thing.

516

00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,350

We should continue to do this,

and we should maybe even do more.

517

00:30:35,530 --> 00:30:38,470

Yeah, and. You know it.

We're all prone to want to tell.

518

00:30:38,470 --> 00:30:42,640

Like, you know, we we help 14,000

families, right? Every year.

519

00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:44,110

And you went because it's such a

big number.

520

00:30:44,110 --> 00:30:46,510

It's so hard to get my head

around that we can actually

521

00:30:46,510 --> 00:30:48,580

impact that many people.

But quite honestly,

522

00:30:48,580 --> 00:30:53,110

when I go into groups and start

touting off those numbers, yeah,

523

00:30:53,110 --> 00:30:57,880

they glaze over. Yeah.

But when I start talking about red,

524

00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,400

you know, I was homeless.

And now now he works at

525

00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:02,380

interfaith and he drives a

forklift in his house.

526

00:31:02,380 --> 00:31:05,140

And yeah, he's come back to life.

That's it.

527

00:31:05,140 --> 00:31:09,340

I mean, one like you said,

one good story that about a real

528

00:31:09,340 --> 00:31:13,180

human, a real person. Yes.

Is, is really what makes the

529

00:31:13,180 --> 00:31:18,160

impact. And yes, I agree 100%.

I and and to you know, it's I want

530

00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:22,990

people to see who they're helping, when we were launching,

531

00:31:22,990 --> 00:31:26,380

a campaign for,

an engagement center,

532

00:31:26,380 --> 00:31:28,600

we're actually finally building.

I actually know this was this

533

00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:30,430

wasn't the engagement.

This was a we bought an

534

00:31:30,430 --> 00:31:33,910

apartment complex to house some

chronically homeless.

535

00:31:34,030 --> 00:31:38,620

And when I was going around and we

didn't need monetary support to

536

00:31:38,620 --> 00:31:42,820

buy it, I needed I needed support

to help furnish it and, you know,

537

00:31:42,820 --> 00:31:45,370

and get people to partner and

just support it that way. Yeah.

538

00:31:45,370 --> 00:31:49,990

So when I went to churches, I, really, really any group,

539

00:31:49,990 --> 00:31:55,120

I made these poster size pictures of

just the faces of the people that we

540

00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:59,500

had targeted to put in there. Yeah.

And, and, and just, you know,

541

00:31:59,500 --> 00:32:03,190

just two seconds on each one to tell

their background, their story and

542

00:32:03,190 --> 00:32:07,090

how this is going to help them.

And that was one of the easiest ask.

543

00:32:07,630 --> 00:32:10,870

Oh my. Gosh.

Yeah, I can totally see people

544

00:32:10,870 --> 00:32:13,510

connecting with that because it

is not surface level.

545

00:32:13,510 --> 00:32:17,890

You're looking at these 1 to 20

people that right in front of you

546

00:32:17,890 --> 00:32:20,050

that these are the actually people

that are going to live in this

547

00:32:20,050 --> 00:32:25,360

apartment. And then the church is it.

The church is rallied when when we

548

00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,880

posted a picture of them moving

into Facebook, they're in the

549

00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:31,840

picture with this same person.

You know, I love it. So I love it.

550

00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:36,160

There's so much about just the human,

the humanness of everything.

551

00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:40,000

It's so true. It's so true.

Okay, so for this last little bit,

552

00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:44,440

what I want to know now is, you know,

you come so far, it seems like

553

00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:48,250

everything is just rocking along.

I know it doesn't look like that

554

00:32:48,250 --> 00:32:50,980

under the surface. It never does.

But, you know, from our perspective,

555

00:32:50,980 --> 00:32:53,320

everything's great.

What does a future look like for

556

00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:57,630

interfaith, you know that.

That's the hard. Part.

557

00:32:57,690 --> 00:33:02,820, we never dreamed that we would

be doing housing, or be doing,

558

00:33:02,820 --> 00:33:08,550

you know, really taking on this, initiative to end homelessness

559

00:33:08,550 --> 00:33:12,630

in our community, but it's it's something that

560

00:33:12,630 --> 00:33:17,010

we're as a or as an organization,

we just can't ignore it anymore.

561

00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,460

You know, we we're just we just

have this burden,

562

00:33:20,460 --> 00:33:23,820

for these people that we see day

in and day out that we've gone,

563

00:33:23,820 --> 00:33:27,720

you know, that we've come into

relationship with and.

564

00:33:28,970 --> 00:33:35,390

Our challenge is trying to

continue to grow and expand in a

565

00:33:35,390 --> 00:33:38,990

meaningful way to help people in

their homelessness.

566

00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:43,700

When a lot of people don't understand

homelessness, that it's a real hard

567

00:33:43,700 --> 00:33:48,680

piece to educate the community on.

Yeah, it's easy to say, yeah,

568

00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,380

we've got these single moms or

single parent households that

569

00:33:51,380 --> 00:33:54,020

are struggling.

They need food for, you know,

570

00:33:54,020 --> 00:33:56,660

somebody had a financial crisis

and now they're in our shelter.

571

00:33:56,660 --> 00:34:00,170

But the chronically homeless,

most people think they're lazy

572

00:34:00,170 --> 00:34:03,410

or they chose it.

I hear that so often that, you know,

573

00:34:03,410 --> 00:34:06,620

they want to be out there, and it's so,

574

00:34:07,310 --> 00:34:11,840

so the challenge for, for us is just

trying to do the education piece

575

00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:15,080

with the community that, you know,

that, that so many of these people

576

00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,980

are intellectually disabled.

They're, have they suffer from

577

00:34:18,980 --> 00:34:22,940

mental illness and other things that

most people can't even imagine.

578

00:34:23,450 --> 00:34:26,330

And, and that's, you know,

that's the challenge.

579

00:34:26,330 --> 00:34:30,050

We are building an engagement center,

right now for the whole purpose of

580

00:34:30,050 --> 00:34:35,000

trying to engage them in services, help them overcome the barriers

581

00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,460

they can't overcome on their own

and then, you know, ultimately

582

00:34:37,460 --> 00:34:41,720

want to see them housed. Yeah, I don't I my my board's kind of,

583

00:34:41,720 --> 00:34:44,030

like, pump the brakes.

Carla, we're not going to do any

584

00:34:44,030 --> 00:34:47,780

more housing because.

So we we have a, we have a duplex and

585

00:34:47,780 --> 00:34:50,450

then we own an apartment complex.

And that's kind of where they

586

00:34:50,450 --> 00:34:53,120

want me to stop that.

But the good news is that I

587

00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,930

think some other organizations

have watched us venture into.

588

00:34:56,930 --> 00:35:01,460

That. And and not collapse.

And so I just actually just made a

589

00:35:01,460 --> 00:35:04,520

donation before I got on here to

one of my partner agencies that.

590

00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:06,470

That's awesome.

I just bought a house so they

591

00:35:06,470 --> 00:35:12,800

can house some women.

So, you know, and not trying

592

00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:17,510

to be in this alone is important.

In the nonprofit world, you are so

593

00:35:17,510 --> 00:35:23,030

much more impactful if you link arms

with the other agencies and try not

594

00:35:23,030 --> 00:35:26,300

to duplicate what they're doing, but compliment each other.

595

00:35:26,300 --> 00:35:29,690

It's such a waste of time and

resources to try to do the same

596

00:35:29,690 --> 00:35:33,200

thing somebody's doing up the road.

Yes, but, but yeah,

597

00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:35,930

our challenge is going to be just

trying to keep up with that demand

598

00:35:35,930 --> 00:35:41,360

and meet that, that need, and of course, you know as

599

00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:44,990

more nonprofits come on the scene,

there's always that, you know,

600

00:35:44,990 --> 00:35:47,270

challenge of,

of keeping your funds going.

601

00:35:47,300 --> 00:35:51,230

A lot of our donors,

our senior citizens that are,

602

00:35:51,230 --> 00:35:54,980

passing on, we lost a lot of our

donors during the the pandemic years,

603

00:35:54,980 --> 00:35:57,890

not not all of the pandemic,

but we just lost a lot of them

604

00:35:57,890 --> 00:36:02,690

to age and other things.

And so, you know, trying to,

605

00:36:02,690 --> 00:36:07,190

connect with the up and coming

professionals that's going to be,

606

00:36:07,250 --> 00:36:10,250, that's going to be a challenge,

I think.

607

00:36:10,340 --> 00:36:14,840, and how you get to them

because they,

608

00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:17,660

a lot of the senior citizens and

the people that I reach out to,

609

00:36:17,690 --> 00:36:21,200

they're in civic groups or they're

in churches that they I get these

610

00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:23,840

groups of people that are collective

together, and I can just do one

611

00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:28,790

presentation and hit 300 people.

It's hard to find that with,

612

00:36:28,790 --> 00:36:33,110

the younger generations. Yes, where they're, you know,

613

00:36:33,110 --> 00:36:36,410

in one room like that together.

So we're going to have to get

614

00:36:36,410 --> 00:36:41,330

creative and, and come up with some,

some new ways of reaching the

615

00:36:41,330 --> 00:36:43,880

next generation. Yeah.

It sounds like you have your work cut

616

00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:47,600

out for you a little bit there, but, not and it could be too much

617

00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:51,170

harder, maybe different, but not

harder than starting in a recession.

618

00:36:51,470 --> 00:36:57,080

So, you know,

I wish you guys all all all the best.

619

00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:59,450

And. Thank you.

I'm sure everything will. We'll go.

620

00:36:59,450 --> 00:37:02,480

Great. Thanks again for being on.

Is there any, you know, people want

621

00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:05,030

to reach out to you and get in touch

with you? Where can I send them?

622

00:37:05,510 --> 00:37:08,390, you can just give them my email

address. It's Carla with a K.

623

00:37:08,390 --> 00:37:13,640

Carla and I for interfaith,

E for emergency. S for services.

624

00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:19,670

Is Marion the county we live in.org. So it's Carla at IHS Marion.

625

00:37:19,850 --> 00:37:23,930

Org feel free to to email me

there and I'll get back to you.

626

00:37:24,500 --> 00:37:27,560

Yeah that's great.

Well thanks again for being on and.

627

00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:29,450

Thank you for.

Wishing you all the best.

628

00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:31,190

Thank you so much.