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In The News
A helping hand: Pilot program aims to help with unexpected expenses
Funding from the MassMutual Foundation will backstop up to eight emergency needs per month for each of three local organizations, up to $400 per need. But now three Springfield social-service organizations — New North Citizens’ Council, Way Finders and United Way of Pioneer Valley...
06/20/23
Innovative Charity Platform, NeighborShare, Hires First Executive Director
NeighborShare, an innovative platform that connects individual donors to other families during pivotal moments of need, announced today that Kelli Kreps has joined the organization as Executive Director. Kreps will succeed Diana Zhang, who along with Brian Kreiter, co-founded NeighborShare in 2020 with an entrepreneurial team of volunteers from a variety of industries. Zhang has led the organization since inception and will continue to serve on its Board of Directors. NeighborShare works to get resources directly to families during pivotal moments when they have nowhere else to turn. The organization partners with the frontline staff at local nonprofits - case managers, social workers, teachers - across the country to identify critical needs of $400 or less that then get amplified by NeighborShare for funding. "To say I'm excited to be joining the NeighborShare journey would be an understatement," Kreps said. "Diana, Brian, and the team have built an incredible concept and foundation that puts NeighborShare in a position for explosive growth. Not only are we getting critical help directly into the hands of those who need it, but we are innovating on the traditional nonprofit model itself and hopefully creating a more equitable, accessible path for others to follow as well." Kreps comes to NeighborShare with nearly 15 years of experience in the nonprofit industry. Most notably, she led the U.S. network team at United Way Worldwide, the world's largest privately-funded nonprofit, supporting the national footprint of 1,100 affiliates. "We could not be more thrilled to have someone of Kelli's caliber coming in to lead NeighborShare through its next phase of impact," said Zhang. "It is also unbelievably validating to our model that someone with Kelli's traditional and institutional experience recognizes that we are onto something big here." To date, NeighborShare has helped over 4,000 neighbors in need through 60 partner organizations across 26 states. Neighbors helped include Jessica from Las Vegas, who became homeless during the pandemic and started working with the local nonprofit Unshakeable to get back on her feet. Her glasses broke days before promising job interviews. Neither Jessica or Unshakeable had the means to buy replacement glasses, but the team at Unshakeable knew they had NeighborShare to turn to. Within days, Jessica was able to get new glasses and ace her interview. She's now been securely employed for months. "Our overarching goal is to get direct help to the people who need it the most, when they need it. By partnering with frontline heroes – on-the-ground experts who know their communities best – we have unlocked a powerful way for individual donors to make a real impact in their community," said Kreiter, who serves as Chair of the Board. "The model works and we’re excited to bring in powerful new resources to continue building on the success of NeighborShare."
04/26/22
Getting The Most Out of Your Nonprofit Volunteers. Nonprofit MBA 4.8
Summary: In today’s podcast, Diana Zhang from NeighborsShare and Stephen Halasnik from Financing Solutions discuss how to get the most out of nonprofits volunteers. There’s no better approach to solving the challenges of staffing in nonprofits than the use of volunteers. From performing bureaucratic functions to helping in nonprofits fundraising campaigns, harnessing the strengths and the abilities of volunteers is key for the optimal operations of nonprofits. Owners of nonprofits need to look for ways to leverage the volunteers’ skill sets in the best possible ways. Volunteers are the critical ingredient for the growth and progress of nonprofits. Today, the importance of volunteering to nonprofit cannot be downplayed even as nonprofits’ works are becoming more complex and complicated. The management of volunteers has become a fundamental issue in nonprofits operations. Every nonprofit owner should learn how to build, retain and motivate their volunteers to get the most out of them. Moreso, volunteers help in identifying and bootstrapping promising creative endeavors within nonprofits. With their varying skill set, you would have access to a selection of experts that are the perfect fit for specific duties. For instance, roles like marketing, product management, IT, and more are what volunteers can perform within nonprofit organizations. It’s essential that nonprofits pull in passionate people that are energized to help in reaching their objectives. Nonprofits should make the structure and dependency of the volunteer team more purposeful and intentional for a better volunteering experience. Volunteering is strategic for the success of nonprofits. Hence, the management of nonprofit organizations should gear efforts towards recruiting, managing, and retaining volunteers for efficient service delivery. Having passionately engaged and dedicated volunteers ensure nonprofit deliver vital programs and services effectively. Nonprofits volunteers perform various duties and can become relevant in several departments within nonprofits. For instance, they can lend their support on the board of directors to fundraising campaigns and work in direct customer service roles. Adequate training is essential for high-level employees’ productivity. Nonprofits should train their volunteers to make them more relevant within the organizations. Many nonprofits have complicated tasks that demand specialized knowledge to be done properly. Training the volunteers ensures that their inherent skill sets are harnessed to align with the nonprofit’s core vision and mission. Plus, education and training programs for volunteers help them become well-integrated into nonprofits’ core values. There’s no denying that the more talented volunteers you have, the more efficient and effective your service delivery. Nonprofits should focus more on quality during recruitment exercises by ensuring that the recruitment process permits only competent people to be onboarded. Working with brilliant minds ensures that everyone works on a level playing field, reducing burnout, frustration, and boredom. In addition, recruiting talents makes it easier for volunteers to get plugged into the organization seamlessly. Experience has shown that volunteers become more engaged when they have a sense of belonging. The collaborative and strategic partnership is the jewel in the crown in nonprofit volunteering, so to speak. In other words, leveraging the strengths and abilities of others through a partnership is a strategic way of building nonprofits. The management of your volunteers should be an utmost priority. There should be a clear line of communication to ensure that your nonprofit is always in sync with your volunteers. Put differently, you should have a leadership structure that manages the affairs of your volunteers in a way that aligns with your nonprofits’ set goals. Plus, you should be able to delegate functions to volunteers that have proven track of leadership ability to help in maximizing the efforts of others toward the attainment of your organizational objectives. Nonprofit volunteers have provided immense benefits to the success of nonprofits. Still, some organizations are resistant to working with volunteers leading to increased overhead costs and a shortage of personnel. However, in today’s face-paced world, the ‘do-it-alone’ approach is not the best approach to growth. Nonprofits should look for ways to draw passionate and talented people into their fold for effective and rapid service delivery. In addition, deepening ties with your nonprofit volunteers foster collaboration, motivation, and retention. Diana Zhang is the CEO and Co-Founder of NeighborShare, a nonprofit on a mission to empower our communities’ frontline heroes to help families through pivotal moments of the need of $400 or less. Prior to that, she spent 15 years in strategy and operations as an executive at Bridgewater Associates, a premier asset management firm. Outside of work, Diana is passionate about food and advocating on behalf of those who lack access to it. She serves on the Board of Connecticut Foodshare. Diana is a Presidential Leadership Scholar, and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Economics and Government from Dartmouth College. Stephen Halasnik is the host of the popular, The Nonprofit MBA Podcast. The Nonprofit MBA podcast’s purpose is to help nonprofit leaders. Stephen is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Financing Solutions, a leading provider of loans for nonprofits in the form of Lines of Credit to nonprofits. Stephen is a best-selling Amazon author and is considered a leading authority on building great, purpose-driven businesses. Stephen lives in New Jersey with his wife, Gina. Mr. Halasnik’s number one purpose is raising his two boys, Michael and Maxwell, to be good men. 10% of profits from Financing Solutions is donated to charity.
03/26/22
FORBES: What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Innovative Nonprofits
Much attention has been paid to the agility of private sector businesses as they pivoted their operations practically overnight throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Businesses, especially small and mid-sized companies, demonstrated tremendous resilience, rethinking traditional ways of doing business and rapidly evolving to meet the changing needs of their customers: From establishing new ecommerce channels to accelerating their digital transformation by several years to transitioning to a remote or hybrid workforce overnight.
02/28/22
Help Your Neighbors in Minutes with NeighborShare’s Diana Zhang
In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with the co-founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization NeighborShare, Diana Zhang. NeighborShare’s mission is to help our neighbors through moments of pivotal need with 400 dollars or less. NeighborShare helps our community by empowering community frontline heroes – teachers, social workers, and more. They spotlight these major needs in communities and provide help through this empowerment. This type of platform allows you to know exactly where your help is going. It’s a little difficult to know how to help your neighbors in your local community, Diana shares. NeighborShare’s platform tells you who in your area needs help, what they need help for, and it’s all laid out in small, affordable incremental donations. The success of a society is the strength of its safety net, and helping others is not something most of us would say no to, sometimes we just don’t know the best ways to help as donors. NeighborShare addresses this need and vets everything in the process. You know exactly where things are needed and who has need in your immediate community. Diana shares that NeighborShare strives to fill in the gaps and provide that extra safety net so that people aren’t being forgotten or neglected. Any neighbor that has a desire to help someone can benefit from using NeighborShare’s platform. Diana shares that helping others doesn’t need to be as complicated or difficult as it has become – you can browse NeighborShare’s network based on need and location. You can help in a way that resonates with you in just a few minutes. According to NeighborShare’s website, 1 in 3 American families can’t afford a $400 emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionally affects lower-income Americans who were already struggling to make ends meet. Facing low wage growth, high unemployment, and expensive healthcare and housing, millions of Americans don’t have the resources to withstand the economic and public health impacts of an extended pandemic. Local nonprofit and government assistance programs do great work, but they often can’t help everyone who needs it. That's where you, and NeighborShare, come in. This is why NeighborShare’s threshold is 400 dollars – this symbolically and literally shows this statistic and how close any given family (1 in 3 of them) is to a make or break incidental or emergency. NeighborShare has become the additional resource – they’re a non-profit looking to be the extra safety net for struggling individuals and families across the nation.
12/14/21