Season 5 | Episode 5
“Try your best not to be emotional or panic when things go wrong, or they don't go as planned and try to think of it as a business, as ‘I have a service. I have a product, or I have a resource that is valuable. I'm going to figure out the best way to price and value that service so that the people that are interested in providing that service are willing to work with me.’ And view that the same way when it comes to philanthropy, too, because ultimately they're looking for the best potential candidate to invest in even with philanthropic dollars, even though it is a grant it's still an investment in the best potential candidate to deliver that service.”
Matt talks to Samia Lemfadli, Founder and CEO of Change Food for Good, a New York City-based nonprofit organization dedicated to making sustainable agricultural technology more accessible to areas affected by food insecurity.
The pair discuss both the necessary mindset and practical steps one needs in order to start a nonprofit; how sustainable agriculture addresses food insecurity; how to make big impact, even on a small budget. And climbing mountains, both figurative and literal!
CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHT:
Matt: What advice would you give to aspiring nonprofit leaders who want to embark on the same journey of founding a nonprofit?
Sam: A couple things. One, obviously just Go for it. Don't let anybody stop you. Don't let anybody kind of may say you away from doing it, but definitely listen to the feedback and see if and where it is applicable, because even if it's not necessarily applicable to you in this moment.
There may be times where it'll become relevant or necessary to sort of respond to that feedback or pivot. So, always be listening, always be observing, but definitely tune out noise when it's necessary and just go full stream ahead. The other thing I would say is when it comes to nonprofits, a lot of times, at least for me, I can't speak for everybody else, but I feel like it operates almost like a two pronged business.
Like you are going to go out and secure contracts for the work that you do. You are providing a service that is valuable just like a for profit might do. And so if you're a revenue generating nonprofit, that is something that can be a little bit easier, at least for someone like me. Like you mentioned, raising funds and philanthropy can be very difficult to navigate sometimes.
So having earned revenue is really important especially if you're getting started from zero like I was. Getting those contracts will at least be able to sustain you when you're in that process, figure out what your bottom line is going to be, figure out what your costs are going to look like, and then price your programs or price your services twice the amount that you think your bottom line is going to be so that you have some breathing room between your contracts or.
You know, between the grants that you might get know that if you're doing contract work, especially with, like, any government agencies or even getting grants from government agencies, like, you will have delays with getting paid, sometimes significant delays, so you're going to need to build up cash reserves and your credit to be able to weather that.
And then just don't panic. You will get paid. Just don't panic. That's probably like the biggest lesson overall when it comes to non profit work period. Whatever happens try not to panic it's usually something that you can recover from you can figure out a solution for if you're patient and just don't respond to things emotionally.
It's very difficult to do especially in non profit work Because sometimes the work is so personally tied, especially if you have first first hand experience with these issues it'll be Sometimes very personal for you, but try your best not to be emotional or panic when things go wrong, or they don't go as planned and try to think of it as a business.
Try to think of it as I have a service. I have a product or I have a resource that is valuable. I'm going to figure out the best way to price and value that service so that the people that are interested in providing that service. Are willing to work with me and view that the same way when it comes to philanthropy, too, because ultimately they're looking for the best potential candidate to invest in even with philanthropic dollars, even though it is a grant it's still an investment in the best potential candidate to deliver that service.
If you think of it that way, and know that your service is valuable and. Really ground yourself in that principle I think you're going to be fine and just manager the hurdles that come with it.