In this conversation, they dive into: 

• Corporate priorities of creating social good and how they are aligned with skilled volunteering
• Talent retention and skill building benefits of skilled volunteering - including building of confidence, leadership, speaking and soft interpersonal skills
• The "feel good effect" of using everyday skills for creating social good in a small amount of time
• Ability to build "purpose at scale" by applying skills efficiently to help many nonprofits and those they serve

In this conversation, they dive into:

• The Crittendon mission and their 122 years of impact. Their mission is to empower women and children through education, health, residential care, and supportive services. They envision ending the generational cycle of poverty and trauma, creating better tomorrows.
• Impact of trauma on the women they serve and the nonprofit's staff
• Running a nonprofit like a business without the resources of a for-profit business
• Challenges of successful implementation and optimization of use of new technology
• Nonprofit HR considerations, such as keyman risk
• Apparo and Crittendon's work together in the AI space

In this conversation, they dive into:

• Technology skilled volunteering experience: being a Microsoft Excel coach, working with a team of volunteers on a Community Impact Project
• Apparo's ability to match volunteers to the right project and handle all administrative details
• The enjoyment of volunteering together with his colleagues to support nonprofits
• Professional skills that are built from volunteering, especially collaboration and creative thinking
• Skilled volunteering with Apparo is an important part of Centric's talent retention strategy

In this conversation, they dive into:

• How the BlueLinx team assisted Streetwise with their technology needs, allowing the nonprofit more time to focus on their mission.
• The unique opportunity to see behind the scenes at a nonprofit and learn about the day-to-day operations
• The benefits of being a skilled-based volunteer, including the convenience of timing/virtual opportunities and collaboration
• The volunteer experience led to staff professional development, leadership opportunities and creative problem solving.

In this conversation, they dive into:

• AI is changing the game when it comes to nonprofit efficiency
• Habitat Charlotte has applied AI to save hours of time
• AI can be applied by nonprofits regardless of technical sophistication
  • David shares a great example from a recent Apparo's Nonprofit Bytes & Insights webinar, Microsoft Automate
• AI can be applied to process automation
• Nonprofits can protect their data when using AI
• Nonprofits (and anyone) can avoid ethical pitfalls when using AI

In this conversation, they dive into:

• Tips for ensuring authenticity, the importance, and challenge of authenticity when incorporating AI into nonprofit work
• Trends in nonprofit adoption of AI
• Updates from Next Stage, including:
  • Their 2025 initiative: Cultivate Impact
  • Next Stage's current work in Community Voice - Helping nonprofits understand and react to the needs of their communities

Kristen and Libby discuss the significance of skilled volunteering and corporate-nonprofit partnerships, including:

• The Lenovo Foundation's mission of advancing access to technology and STEM education
• Lenovo's 8th annual Love On month of service, which included skilled volunteer support of Apparo
• Libby's personal volunteer experience with Apparo conducting a nonprofit Website UX Assessment 

Learn more about Apparo's Website User Experience Service.

Kristen and Matt discuss the importance of data when it comes to nonprofit fundraising, they address topics such as:

• Matt's nonprofit background and personal data experience that inspired a business focused on nonprofit's data needs
• How ensuring data strategy supports fundraising strategy
• The need for nonprofits to have access to updated, clean data
• Trends in reporting, including the use of artificial intelligence to analyze data
• The importance of considering various audiences for motivation and storytelling

Read more about Matt's recent volunteer work with the Council for Children’s Rights.

• Trends of those age 65+
  • Increased numbers in the workforce
  • Pivoting to follow their passion to work at nonprofits
• Lack of knowledge of the "win-win" benefits of Medicare
  • Decreased expenses for employers
  • Tailored benefits and cost savings for those 65+

Following their insightful conversation, Leary shared the results of The Kaiser Family Foundation's annual Employer Health Benefits Survey, revealing that nonprofits are paying almost $1,180 more than for-profits for single coverage and $2,358 more than for-profits for family coverage. 

John refers to the following quote from the Kaiser Family Foundation's President and CEO, Drew Altman, as eye-opening: “Employers are shelling out the equivalent of buying an economy car for every worker every year to pay for family coverage. In the tight labor market in recent years, they have not been able to continue offloading costs onto workers who are already struggling with health care bills.” Read more about the survey results.

Caroline also shares fundraising advice, including the importance of good communication and relationship building to grow individual giving.

In this episode of The Apparo Effect, Kim and Rick delve into:

• Rick's role as Charlotte's security leaders' "cruise director" and the importance of building community
• How "security through obscurity" is no longer relevant and will not keep nonprofits safe
• Kim's recent email hack
• Cybersecurity tech - from MFA best practices to the role of AI in security risk to the evolution of password protection
• The changing role of CISOs
• Rick's support of Apparo and what motivates the time he dedicates 

In this episode of The Apparo Effect, Bleema and Todd discuss:

• Using artificial intelligence to save time including: "How do I.." questions, summarizing content, and generating graphics, ideas, and more
• Understanding the differences between Copilot, ChatGPT, and Google Genesis
• Protecting your nonprofit from the risks of using AI in the areas of intellectual property, accuracy of results, and data security

Karen reflects on:

• The significance of her high school youth group experiences
• Challenges she faced and overcame
• Past nonprofit successes
• Motivators to weave social good in corporate roles
• How she came into her role on Apparo's Development team

These diverse leaders discuss the:

• Importance of nonprofit collaboration
• Realities of nonprofit staff burnout 
• Precious, limited resource of time in the nonprofit world
• Need to maximize nonprofit efficiency
• Demand for expanded nonprofit access to event space

• Raja's technology, customer-focused career path
• Career-enhancing benefits of volunteering with Apparo
• Demystifying technology challenges to create solutions for mission-focused organizations
• Technology's connection to corporate and nonprofit business processes 

Apparo's CEO, Kim Lanphear hosts this episode of The Apparo Effect. For this conversation, Kim is joined by guest Donna Dunlap, Apparo Board Member and President & CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Carolinas. Kim and Donna discuss how their corporate backgrounds have informed their nonprofit careers, including:

• Commonalities between working in a corporation and in the nonprofit sector
• Corporate best practices that should be applied in nonprofits
• How nonprofits can move as efficiently as possible, given limited resources

They cover topics such as:

• Technology's role in sustainable nonprofit growth
• The importance of long-term focus on change management
• Remaining mission-oriented
• How Apparo supported CYC's growth

Learn more about Apparo's partnership with CYC here.

In this episode, Bleema, Vickie, and John delve into:

• The contrast between direct service to Apparo nonprofit partners and service directly to Apparo
• Benefits of volunteering with Apparo- how finding opportunities to match a volunteer's skills and availability makes a difference
• What motivates John to support Apparo as a skilled volunteer
• The "win-win-win" effect: Nonprofits, volunteers, and sponsors
• How listeners can get involved as skilled volunteers and/or as corporate sponsors

Inspired to volunteer or sponsor with Apparo? Learn more or reach out to Vickie Wixon.

In this episode, Bleema and Dr. Bridget Jones chat about:

• Unexpected benefits and ease of skilled volunteering with Apparo
• Bridget's career journey from education to tech and back to education
• How Apparo holistically applies volunteers' experiences and skillsets when pairing them with nonprofits in need

Read more about her volunteer work and community impact here.

Kim and Adam discuss key elements of successful growth relevant to both corporate and nonprofit organizations. They cover key topics such as:

• Fostering a robust corporate culture and maintaining it while growing–  emphasizing trust, transparency, and mission-alignment 
• The critical role of hiring during expansion
• Promoting candid communication and the ability to share difficult realities across the organization

Through Apparo's Tech Therapy program, Stephanie worked with Yasaman and Hospitality House to provide technology training, mentorship, and a valuable network of resources. The group gives special mention to Apparo's Expert Link Program, which connected Hospitality House to a service provider to address the challenges they were facing. Join us to hear more about how support they received through this engagement has already saved Yasaman and the organization time, energy, and has supported growth of the organization's mission to provide affordable lodging to families with a loved one undergoing medical care.

Yasaman opens up about the confidence that comes with having the technology tools and knowledge necessary to maintain a peace of mind about the wellbeing of a nonprofit. Additionally, Bleema, Yasaman, and Stephanie dig in about the importance of cybersecurity in the nonprofit world, and how Apparo can help nonprofits stay secure

Tune in to hear Bleema and Allison delve into:

• Benefits experienced from investing in change management efforts
• The importance of addressing the who, what, and why of change with your team
• Change ambassadors and the important role they play
• How investing both time and money in managing change is necessary for a nonprofit
• Potential risks of ignoring strategies for change

Aly and Adrienne discuss:

• Aly's "people first" career journey, her history with and current passion for Apparo
• The importance of "understanding the why" and other advice for fundraisers
• Advice for aspiring philanthropists

• Segmentation - Considering your difference audiences and how to communicate differently to them via social media 
• Analytics - Dedicating time to studying the results of your social media posts  
• Investment - Experimenting with paid social media advertising 

Michelle and Kim discuss:

• Technology career journeys
• Passion for Apparo's mission of nonprofit impact through technology
• The power of Apparo's corporate sponsorships and the committee that Michelle runs as a volunteer (learn more at apparo.org/connectivit-sponsorship-opportunities/)
• The transformative power of technology for nonprofits
• The unique role of skilled volunteering

And Kim breaks the exciting news that Apparo is expanding our support of nonprofits beyond Charlotte, NC! Learn more about our services at apparo.org/nonprofits. 

Angie chats with Kim about nonprofit realities before working with Apparo and the importance of our relationship, especially through the pandemic. Kim and Angie also share their insights on trends in nonprofit capacity building and where nonprofits seem to need the most support in order to fulfill their missions (spoiler alert: technology is involved!)

He shares links for getting started with multifactor authentication for your email.

• Microsoft Email: http://aka.ms/mfa
• Google Email: 2-Step Verification (google.com)

Send your nonprofit tech questions for Ross to marketing@apparo.org

• A detailed overview of the WINGS program
• Toni's educational journey and career aspirations
• Jean's journey of involvement with WINGS
• The value of their mentor-mentee relationship
• The importance of technology

• Creating custom job roles
• Bringing technology into CMS classrooms
• Taking career chances
• Following your passion and interests
• Learning from mentors

• The backgrounds and missions of both nonprofit organizations
• The shared passion of both of these leaders: collaboration!
• Why corporations are on board with supporting nonprofits - HR benefits and more and what sometimes hampers these relationships
• What they've learned and experienced related to nonprofit/corporate collaboration and the success of cohort programs
• Ups and downs of funding 

Christina provides an overview of all Library services for nonprofits and gives direction on how to access them. We also discuss the Library's work with Apparo on Microsoft Teams and goals for 2022. 

We chat about:

• United Way's Unite Charlotte cohort
• Apparo's G.A.I.N. cohort
• Why some nonprofits may hesitate before joining a cohort program
• The benefits of cohort based capacity building for nonprofits
• The new partnership between United Way and Apparo