← Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell
Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell
Community, Collaboration & Collective Care with Johanna Moya Fábregas
00:44:04
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- [00:00]
Julia Campbell
Does cybersecurity seem like a terrifying topic? Don't worry. We're here to make it a smash hit. This episode is brought to you by Roundtable Technology, the nonprofit IT partner. And for the 10th year in a row, they're back with their free annual webinar. And this time, it's bigger and bolder, with a 2025 twist. Cyber Karaoke Roundtable Technology is turning up the volume to teach you and your team exactly how to make your nonprofit more secure in the new year, all while keeping things fun and engaging with over 200 nonprofit clients. They know how to help organizations like yours hit all the right notes when it comes to cybersecurity. So make it your New Year's resolution to give your entire staff free cybersecurity awareness training. Do not miss this. Head over to nonprofit it.combest ever to save your free seat. Now that's nonprofit it.combest-ever. Here's to a secure and harmonious 2025. Hello and welcome to Nonprofit Nation. I'm your host, Julia Campbell, and I'm going to sit down with nonprofit industry experts, fundraisers, marketers, and everyone in between to get real and discuss what it takes to build that movement that you've been dreaming of. I created the Nonprofit Nation podcast to share practical wisdom and strategies to help you confidently find your voice, definitively grow your audience, and effectively build your movement. If you're a nonprofit newbie or an experienced professional who's looking to get more visibility, reach more people, and create even more impact, then you're in the right place. Let's get started. Hello. Welcome. Welcome back to Nonprofit Nation. I'm your host, Julia Campbell. Today, I'm thrilled to be talking about the Art of scaling nonprofit impact with Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas, executive director of Kon Mi Madre. This is a Central Texas nonprofit that empowers Latina girls and their mothers, combining social emotional learning with college readiness. But the strategies we're going to talk about today extend far beyond just one mission, because Joanna's expertise is in storytelling, partnership building, and inclusive leadership. And it's going to offer some really actionable insights for nonprofit professionals of all kinds. So, Joanna, welcome to the podcast.
- [02:49]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
Thank you. Thank you for having me here.
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Julia Campbell
I'm so thrilled. Can you start by sharing your journey to nonprofit leadership and really kind of what drives your passion for this mission?
- [03:01]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
Yes. So my journey into nonprofit leadership started with starts. The root of it is in my passion for education. Another career, lifetime. Before I did this work, I've always been connected to education as a researcher, as a professor, as a mentor, as a mentee. So there's a connection of the professional interest in serving others and guiding students and investing in education as the best way to really transform our society in a positive way. And also my own upbringing, the values that my parents instill in me towards education. We came to this country when I was 14 years old, and I had to figure out how to learn the language, how to navigate a different culture. We settled in the Midwest, in Wisconsin. It was different from. We had moved from South America. Very different experience, and all guided by the educational opportunities that existed in that state. That's one of the main reasons my parents settled there, and they supported my journey. But it takes a village. So seeing how many people stepped up to help them and help me navigate this process has always been inspiring and has always driven me to want to do that for others. So since I've been in this country, I've mentored students as a peer when I was in high school, and then continued that journey throughout my educational years and throughout my career. So it's that personal connection to the values of education, but also the experience of seeing how transformative it's been for me and for those who I've worked with over the years.
- [04:44]
Julia Campbell
Now, I have always believed that trust is sort of the most important currency that we have in the nonprofit sector. And I know that your organization really focuses on building this trust with families. So sort of, what advice do you have for other nonprofits, maybe in other sectors, to build this sort of deep trust with their target audience?
- [05:10]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
I think it starts from the philosophy of how you see your target audience and how do you see your role with them. And by that, I mean, historically, there has been this sometimes a nonprofit mentality with, you know, rooted in good intentions, but framed and constructed in a narrative that we're here to save people, you know, to save them, to do what's best for them, that we know that what's best for them. And that doesn't really serve our community. It doesn't build strong relationships. So I think, starting from a philosophy that we are here to work with a community who knows what they want, who knows what's best for them and their families, who's empowered by their own experience. And when you start from that angle, you really are able to build strong ties with that community you're serving, and you show up ready to listen and to understand what their needs are and how you can come in as a connector to connect them with resources, processes, opportunities to address those needs in a way that's meaningful to them. And also showing up with a great deal of respect to, to acknowledge. And we do a lot of this with our students. We have a curriculum that we implement in school 6th through 12th grade where we show up assuming and communicating to them that who they are, that their experiences, that the struggles that their families have faced, they're all sources of growth, learning and empowerment that have already prepared them and equipped them to navigate the road towards success or whatever success means for them. Right. So showing up in that way, we're able to build really strong relationships with our community to listen and to continuously tweak change, adapt our programs, our services to their needs, to how they best receive information and to what they want to accomplish.
- [07:19]
Julia Campbell
I think that's so important because the sector in general, I do think has that kind of cloud over it where a lot, I wouldn't say a lot of organizations, but some organizations do have that savior complex, the sort of top down model. We know what's right and we have the solution and we're going to impose it on the community without working with the community to co create these solutions. So I know that what really struck me actually about your work is that it highlights the importance of involving multiple generations in a mission. So this might seem challenging for some executive directors and some program directors out there, but what advice do you have? How can nonprofits sort of leverage this kind of unique strength to really create more impact?
- [08:08]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
And I want to just say something here because the approach of multi, multiple, dual generation for us started through a cultural lens. And that not only applies to Latino families, I mean, that's where our focus has been historically, even though we serve anyone who wants to join the program. But I also see apply to many other families where in order to support a student that comes from maybe an underrepresented background, a low income background, who is the first in their family, who's going to be the first in their family to go to college. If you really want to support that student to the best of your capacity, you have to take into account the family. Culturally, within a lot of the Latino cultures, when a student graduates from college, from high school, the whole family is there. The whole family shows up. It's seen as a family win, as a collective effort. If that's how education pans out, then we have to take a step back. And if we're going to support their student, we have to support the family. We have to support them and how to best show up for their kid, but also how to best show up for themselves. And moms are the biggest influencers, to use language of our kids today, we are the biggest influencers of our kids. Whether the kids recognize it or not, when they grow up, we all look back and say, oh my gosh, all these lessons and all this, when things get tough, who pushed me through? And so for us, involving the moms brings this element of accountability and bringing the daughters leads, innovation and a new perspective on how to do things. And when you're investing time and resources in strengthening that mother daughter bond, there is so much, I mean, the sky's the limit to what, what that girl would be able to accomplish. And the mom. We bring together a community of mothers that support each other, that are going through similar processes with their daughters. I mean, kids don't come with a manual, right? So it's so important to have others who are going through similar experiences that we can talk through what being a mom, especially to a teenage girl, looks like, what making decisions of going off to school somewhere else and how we're processing that. And for many of our moms who are an immigrant to this country or they've been here for generations, but their daughters will be the first ones to go to college. They're learning that process with them. And along the way they realize, oh, maybe I can further my own education, maybe I can do this thing. So it's a co learning opportunity that happens within this network of moms. It happens between the moms and the daughters, where the daughters challenge the moms, the moms challenge the daughters. And from those challenges, a lot of learning occurs and a beautiful, strong bond solidifies that. When our students go off far away from the nest, they remain connected. I always share the story that we've had moms, because of protection or fear that their daughters would be alone, might have opposed them going off to a farther state or away from the nest ecology in a different location. And after they, they're okay with it, they agree, even hesitantly. When those girls are in school and they're freshmen and that, you know, novelty wears off and they get homesick and they're like, what am I doing here? Maybe, maybe I should just quit and go back home. It's usually those same moms who go back and say, hey, nope, you can do this, because you said you could, and I know you can. And those are the moms that, you know, show up for them emotionally. So I don't think we recognize enough as a society the importance of those emotional bonds at any age for both academic success and just success. In life, we need that. We need that validation. We need that support. So working with two generations ensures that we can meet our goals to ensure that our students graduate, persist, and then they're ready to enter life as a working adult and be successful based on their own goals.
- [12:37]
Julia Campbell
Yeah. And, you know, before we hit record, we. We talked about our own families. And I know as the mother of a daughter who's 15, there is no manual, there is no guidebook. And I lean on the community of other women my age that have similar age daughters because it's such a different generation. Like, I can ask my mother and I value her advice, but she did not raise children with social media and phones and all of the different obstacles that I have to deal with. So it is great to have that community to pull from when you're feeling isolated or you have those questions and you want to lean on others that are really experiencing similar things in a similar way that you are. Because you always think you're doing it wrong and it's never enough. You're doing it wrong, you're going to screw up your kid. And it's just so good to get validation a lot of the time or, or even just get advice. So you talk about storytelling a lot and you say it's the heart of how you engage your supporters. Now, storytelling is a huge challenge for a lot of my listeners, so I would love to hear how Khan uses storytelling to engage donors and partners and sort of, what tips do you have for other nonprofits?
- [13:55]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
Yes, storytelling is key for engagement, for donors, for participants, partnerships for everything. I think one of the first things I'd like to mention is that bringing people into the organization that represent the community that you're serving is key for storytelling, because the storytelling is not just coming from the person. If our organization has a communications department for them, or the development and director or the ED is coming from everybody. So the more voices you have that represent the community that you serve, to share what it means for them to do this work, how they see their own experience represented, the more impactful it is. Also bringing graduates of the program or past participants into the organization like we have right now on our board. Two Comimadri alums that they're. They're already moms themselves. They're young adults, and they went through the program from 6th grade all the way through college graduation, so they can bring that perspective and share their own story. That's really important. And having people inside of our organization, it's mostly Latina women who can connect with the community. That we serve in. It's really important for the storytelling because the storytelling doesn't just happen to social media through photos and stories. That's really important. But. But. Or to reports that are more official in nature. But it's happening out in the community all the time. I get a lot of comments or feedback or people that I run into, and they said, oh, my gosh, I talked to so and so that works. You know, that's a program coordinator, and I was impressed in what she told me and the impact. So everyone who's part of a nonprofit is doing the storytelling, whether they realize it or not. As an executive director or as a leadership team member. If you're very intentional about who you bring into the program, you're already contributing to that storytelling. And now for the more traditional or storytelling as we know it, like the stories that go out on social media, having the voice of our participants represented, it's important. Having students who can share their own stories. Or when we have an opportunity for a TV interview or a news piece, we always try to bring a mom and a daughter. So we are not speaking for them so that they can share their story. And usually, not only are they going to be excited to share their story, they are also because today we have social media, and every news piece, there's a link for it. They will share it broadly. You have these, if you will, volunteers that are also helping you share the impact of your mission in other networks that you might not be a part of. And that's really important, too.
- [16:49]
Julia Campbell
I love that. Storytelling is just. It's so important. And I think that the trend I'm seeing, especially in 2025, is that authenticity is so much more important than polish. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be perfectly edited or perfectly shot. It just has to be authentic.
- [17:08]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
That's true. I mean, we've had moments where we've asked a student or a mom to, you know, we've talked to and said something that captivated us about the program and gave really good feedback. Can you make like a quick video on your phone?
- [17:22]
Julia Campbell
Just on your phone?
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Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
We'll share it. Yeah, we'll share it. Because you're just. No script. Just answer one question to what you just said so that we can share with others. That generates a lot of interest and a lot of attention. And I think that's how we've gotten people reach out to comimadre from different states, from other organizations who've heard us on social media or in the media, and they Want to know more because they've heard our participants share their experience.
- [17:49]
Julia Campbell
I think that's great advice. Now, another key pillar of your success is collaboration, which I talk about a lot. I constantly am cheerleading. I think collaboration is critical to all nonprofit work. So what are some things that you have learned about building these effective partnerships with school districts, with funders, with other nonprofits that other leaders can learn from the collaboration?
- [18:18]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
Starting from a philosophy that we're all here to support the same community, we just do it in a lot of different ways. It serves everyone well. It's important because when we show up to form a collaborative, it's not just because right now, at this moment, we need this tool or this support from this particular partner at this particular organization. So we reach out. It's more about building a relationship where we understand what other nonprofits or businesses are doing in the community and to see opportunities for how to leverage each other's work and each other's impact through different partnerships. I mean, in this part, we have probably over 20 partners, a lot more than that in the community, that support our families in different ways. And it helps when you. I'll give you an example. We have a partner that does a lot of work within the housing space and wraparound services. Our focus is education, but it's really hard for a family to focus on education if they're struggling with a roof over their heads or paying the rent, or if they're struggling with having nutritious food on the table. And with this other partner, we're able to ensure that we can connect our families with resources that they have in a large number so that they know that they can come to us. Our families know that they can come to us when they need support beyond our program because we have multiple relationships and partnerships within the community. So those partnerships are not just key collaborating with others and making the most of the funding that we all receive, but they're key in building trust within the families that we serve, because they know that we're looking out for them beyond the services that we provide. And if you think about it, it's just how humans work in any community, in any network with the neighbors. Think about, like, even when we go through tough times, like a weather catastrophe or a pandemic that we went through, we have to lean on each other, to connect each other with resources and opportunities and to look out for each other. We can't all do it all for one person can do it all for themselves and their family. They need a community, and it's the Same. The same applies for the nonprofit world. We need a community to carry those that we support through multiple areas of their lives and to show up for them in a respectful manner, to support them with various needs. So those partnerships have been very useful for that relationship building piece, but they've also been very useful for funding. And that's a trend I'm seeing a lot of. When the pandemic happened, I was relatively new to this job, and I remember just talking to other community leaders and saying, we're seeing the issues that are going to come for the communities, that we're already at a disadvantage for kids that didn't have access to Internet, to laptops, or that they were multiple in one small space. And now everybody's stuck together. And how. How are we going to support those. That issue is going to come up. We saw it coming. We came together, a group of three or four nonprofit leaders and approached the funder and say, hey, we really need support so we can address this need that it's about to happen. And we were able to leverage support at the time, because I was relatively new to this space, I didn't know that that wasn't kind of the operandi that everyone followed. I just did it because it made sense.
- [22:07]
Julia Campbell
Yes.
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Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
And in the day, the year after the pandemic, I started getting a lot of questions and interviews and speaking opportunities to talk about these collaborations and partnerships for funding that were so innovative. And I was shocked because to me, they were not innovative. They were. It's how we need to operate. So I'm seeing a lot more of that happening and a lot more collaborative groups and cohorts around different subjects, around different, different communities. And I think we're able to move the needle a lot farther by working together.
- [22:40]
Julia Campbell
I always think a rising tide lifts all ships. Love that. So we're talking about sort of all the aspects of nonprofit leadership. One huge piece of the puzzle is measuring program success. So how does Khanmi Madre measure program success? And how do you communicate your outcomes to your community?
- [23:04]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
Yes. So we are very fortunate to have a staff member, a leadership member that focuses on data and evaluation and impact, and whose main job is to think about what data we collect, how we collected, to create reports, and to not share those externally, but also to look at those constantly, internally, so that we can tweak our programs or how we deliver our programs based on the results that we're seeing right now. We're measuring some tangible outcomes, like high school graduation rates, which are at 97% of our participants, college enrollment, which is 75%, and timely college graduation, which is at 70%. With those numbers, we're able to contrast them with the trends that we're seeing at the state, at the national level, at the national level, and show the impact of our program. We use technology also. We use a database to collect all this information. And we're also constantly collecting qualitative feedback from participants that our coordinators, who are working directly with them, are collecting quote, and sometimes little videos about their experience and qualitative information, too, about issues that they may be facing. We do surveys with our participants, but also a lot of conversations. And for each person, we're able to keep notes in our database as part of a family group. So if a student said, for instance, faces an issue with, they're struggling in a class because they can't concentrate, and the mom reaches out to us and says, we need support, I don't know, for the student to talk to a therapist and see what the issue is. We can make notes there. And then later, we can see all of those notes from different students and say, okay, what are some of the issues that have come up from the qualitative aspect? How did they feel? How have we helped? If we see there's too much of this one question or issue coming up, then how can we then tweak our program? So we're addressing that for everybody. So the data that we're collecting is very useful to improve our program constantly. And I say we are lucky to have a person on staff who does that, because I know many organizations don't. And we were fortunate because we partner with a nonprofit, a foundation, sorry, out of the east coast, the Annie Casey foundation years ago. And we're part of this cohort of organizations of nonprofit organizations in the country that serve youth of color at organizations led by people of color. And we've been working with them for years. And thanks to that support, we're able to have a robust data infrastructure. One of the issues that they tackled was that less than 3% of fundraising dollars in the country go to organizations that serve people of color and led by people of color. And one of the major roadblocks of accessing funds, there's many. But one of the major ones is not having the data to show the impact of your work. Even if you know it's impactful, even if people see it anecdotally, hear it, and you have many examples, not having that data infrastructure can really hurt a nonprofit in. In its funding journey or in its expansion or growth journey. For us, being Part of that group of that cohort has really helped develop our infrastructure and create these reports and know how to collect data and interrogate that data on an ongoing basis to ensure that we're down the right track.
- [26:58]
Julia Campbell
I think that is going to be a huge trend in 2025. I'm really hoping, being data driven, centering around data and collecting more data on program effectiveness, on outcomes and reporting it out. I really hope that I see more organizations do that in the coming year because I do think that it is so impactful for funders, but it's also impactful for the community to see those numbers as well. So Khan mi Madre really seems to be kind of on the cutting edge of a lot of the trends and innovations. So what are some, what are some trends and innovations coming up that excite you? How are you preparing for the future?
- [27:43]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
One of the trends that since I kind of became and started like, you know, learning about it myself and reading about it and enjoying this cohort to learn more, was this idea of futurism. And I've read a few books about it, but I found it very interesting because it encourages us to see what communities and missions will look like in 5, 10, 20 years. It's a forward thinking approach that helps as part of a nonprofit leadership team, it helps us think that if we're focusing on addressing an issue that's happening right now and put all of our energies there and look at what are people around us doing, we're not fully preparing for the future. But if we really want to set up a program and this is this trend or theory, you can also see it through the development of different industries and businesses or services. So we take the trends, not the trends, the facts, the hard facts of what we know it's probably going to happen and try to create solutions and programming based on that. For instance, we don't know where the economy is going to go in 10, 20 years. But we do know that women of color are the fastest growing demographic group. We know that specifically Latinas will continue to be one of the largest consumer groups in the country because of the age that in the population, like numbers. We knew 20 years ago that at about this time or five years down the line, there's going to be a lot of elderly people in our community who were baby boomers who don't have enough services to address that. So if we were going to create a program, we would have to project and say, okay, what is our population going to look like and how do we envision and set up our program now to meet those needs down the line, because when you get to the point where the problem is in front of you, it's a lot harder to plan for a problem of yesterday. So I think that has helped us plan and change things. Like, for instance, we modified our curriculum for students post pandemic, and we realized that it was outdated, that our world had changed a lot. How students process because of their access to technology, how they process information, how long they interact with information, it's very, very different. And then we also had to think, what are these trends going to look like further on in the future? And we worked with a consultant to adapt our curriculum to engage our students in a more effective way based on those trends and what we're seeing on the ground. So having that focus to where the future is very important. And then the other trends, which I talked about a little bit, is the collaboration, working together with other nonprofits and moving away from that mentality that there's limited funding, there's limited resources, and that we have to compete for it or fight for scarcity. Mindset that never helped anyone. The way I go about it personally in my role is if I engage with any funder that can not just help us, but that can help one of the people I know in the community or the other organizations, I will advocate for that funder to connect with that organization and bring them on. Or if I meet somebody whose interests align with any other nonprofit that I'm aware of in the community, I will go out of my way to tell them about that nonprofit and then to tell the person in that nonprofit, hey, I just talked to so and so, and I think they align with what you do, because when we do that, you know, we're serving the same people. At the end of the day, it's the same community. So the more that we can do for them, you know, the better.
- [32:00]
Julia Campbell
I completely agree with that. And I know you have. You've so much on your plate. You're doing so many things. It's such a tumultuous environment. Politically, economically, emotionally, physically, everything. How do you deal with burnout or just frustration when you feel like things are maybe not moving fast enough? Change is not fast enough.
- [32:24]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
And I think that's, you know, that's kind of the. That's the common denominator in a lot of nonprofit, you know, among a lot of nonprofit leaders and employees. Like, we see these solutions work, and look, we're doing it, and it works. And why can't we get more funding or more support or More hands or more of everything. And then when you see legislative changes that affect the work that you're doing, defunding of education, all of these things not only impact the work tangibly, but they impact you emotionally. And the work never stops. And you can work around the clock and there's still more to go around. So with the way that I deal with it, it's first recognizing that I can deal with it on my own, that we need, you know, telling somebody, go practice self care in this space.
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Julia Campbell
It does so much.
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Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
It doesn't do much unless. And somebody once came in and gave a talk to our employees and she coined this term or mentioned this thing, collective care. This was during the pandemic and it was a virtual workshops and a collaboration with another nonprofit. And they brought someone who talked a lot about mindfulness. And just basically it was given a space to our teams to come together and talk about how we are navigating this really weird space of a pandemic, locked up, feeling very alone and with a lot of uncertainty. And then this person sent us all these oils and aromatic things so that we could take that in and showed us some exercises. But she talked about what stuck with me to this day. She talked about the concept of collective care and how it's a lot more effective than telling people to go do self care. So as a community, as an organization, how do we own the well being? How do we create space so that people can take time off when they need it and they don't feel like they're going to come back to triple the work? How do we intentionally shut down an organization for two weeks over the holidays? Like, it's close, close, so no one feels like, oh my gosh, I'm missing out on this work and I'm going to log in here and try to catch up. So it doesn't add up because we're all out. So creating messaging externally to respect those boundaries, where people need their time, seeing the value of time for everyone in a team, for all of our employees, which sometimes is worth a lot more than say, we're going to do a happy hour or we're going to do an activity and come together, we do those too. But ensuring what is the biggest gift you can give an employee as a nonprofit, when you don't have a ton of money and resources to give them the benefits, all the benefits, and, you know, and pay them as much as you think that they should be getting paid. And there's. That's always a struggle because, you know, we have to Fundraise and all of that. So why do people value the most? And it's like their time, their time to do whatever with it, whatever they please. And so we are very intentional about talking internally and also gauging when we're feeling like we arrived at. Last year was an intense year. There was an election, there were lots of changes happening and our programming engagement shot through the roof. We had more people attending things that we've ever seen. And we have a team of coordinators that are so dedicated and they will show up to support each other, to support everyone. They would take on more things. And we all arrived at the end of the year pretty tired and had to have a conversation of, okay, how can we do this differently moving forward and let's take on less. Because this is a marathon and we want to be able to show up with energy for everyone. But if we don't have energy for ourselves, if we don't have health, we can't do that. So we made tweaks in the frequency of certain workshops, we made tweaks in our calendar or who's going to take on what so that there's not this sense of everybody carrying the burden of completing a task and it's being in constant conversation and communication because you're never going to get it right 100% because things around you continue to change and people change and situations change. But if you have that connection with a team and you're constantly in conversation, you can see when things are coming up and you can see when people need extra support. That has helped me help my team, but it's also helped me be vulnerable and allow them to step in and say, hey, Joanna, don't worry, I'm going to take this on because I see that you're wanting to do it all, but I can see that you're tired. And I don't take offense to that because they know me well and I'm like, you know, yeah, you're right. I was so in it. I didn't see it. So there's been a lot of learning this year on that. And we all showed up in January with a lot more energy and then optimism as to what we can accomplish.
- [37:44]
Julia Campbell
I love that idea of collective care because it is such an American mentality, the individual self care. We have to take care of ourself. But if we're working in a team environment and working in a community, then we do have to be concerned about the collective. I really love that idea. I'd love to learn more about that speaker and Learn more about collective care. Maybe I'll have them on the podcast as well. But this has just been so fantastic, Joanna, you're just so generous with your expertise and your stories and everything that you're sharing. How can people connect with you, learn more about your nonprofit and, you know, maybe get connected online.
- [38:28]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
Yes. So to get connected with Conmi Madre. And I shared the link. It's www.conmimadre.org. so very easy. And through our website, you can see it links to our social media. We're active on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. And that's where, especially in Instagram and Facebook, where we share a lot of updates. And if you want to see what our programming looks like, what different things we're doing in the community, what partnerships look like, we share a lot of that on our Instagram and Facebook. And to support our mission, really, there's ways to donate. And sometimes people think, and I know I want to make a shameless plug here, but people think that if I don't have a lot of money, I can't really make an impact.
- [39:16]
Julia Campbell
Yes.
- [39:17]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
And that's not true.
- [39:18]
Julia Campbell
Not true. $5 a month. It really helps.
- [39:21]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
It makes a difference. And I want to tell you a very quick story, but we like about a few years ago, yeah, I saw this small donation coming through of like $15 a month. And it was coming from, like, North Carolina. And I was curious because, you know, who is this person and why are they donating recurrently? And I reached out to her and had a really beautiful conversation. And it turns out it was a past program participant who had told me her story. She went through a program many, many years ago, was the first in her family to go to college. We even exposed her to the idea of studying abroad, did a study abroad program, came back, and now she worked at a university in development. And she said she was waiting for the moment where she had a little bit of a disposable income where she could give back. And I was really excited when I called her and heard her story. And it was very heartwarming to me and my team to learn about it, too. And the impact that money that comes in every month has, it not only when you have people donating, it shows, it adds up and it can help offset costs. We're very thrifty at nonprofits and make the most out of every dollar. And that impact can go a long way for a student, for an opportunity to just to give you an example, going on a college trip, we take moms and daughters on college trips every year, twice per year, with 50 bucks, we can cover their food. So it goes a long way. But when you're donating and supporting, you're not just supporting with your pocket, but you're also communicating to a person. You don't even know that there's people out there who believe in supporting their well being, in supporting their goals. And as a student, knowing that there are people beyond those that you know in your community, supporting you can be a great source of, you know, of inspiration and of motivation to continue moving forward and accomplishing your goals. Because it's not just you, it's not just your family, it's a whole community that values you for who you are. And so that's a really important way of, you know, expressing support. And when we're giving, we feel connected to others. So there's that. And for anyone who's in the Austin area, to just anyone that comes to come to one of our workshops or volunteer, we have a lot of volunteer opportunities.
- [41:55]
Julia Campbell
I hope all of the fundraisers listen to that and they are going to record it and play it again when they need a pep talk. It's more than money. I never thought about fundraising in that way, in that it actually could be inspiring for the clients who will see, oh, people are behind me and they believe in me and they believe in this mission and they want me to succeed. I honestly never thought about it in that way and I think that is incredibly powerful. So thank you for giving me a brand new perspective on fundraising. I love it. Thanks so much for being here for just sharing all of your expertise and I know that so many of our listeners are really going to benefit and I just wish you and your team the best of luck for 2025 and beyond.
- [42:41]
Dr. Joanna Moya Fabregas
Thank you so much, Elaine. Same to you. I hope you. Yeah. I'm excited to hear all the other speakers that you get and to listen more of your podcast. You have a lot of insightful information and just inspiring and we need to hear other stories. So I really appreciate the work that you're doing and thank you for having me here.
- [43:08]
Julia Campbell
Well, hey there. I wanted to say thank you for tuning into my show and for listening all the way to the end. If you really enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app and you'll get new episodes downloaded as soon as they come out. I would love if you left me a rating or a review because this tells other people that my podcast is worth listening to. And then me and my guests can reach even more earbuds and create even more impact. So that's pretty much it. I'll be back soon with a brand new episode, but until then you can find me on Instagram. Juliacampbell77 Keep changing the world, you non profit unicorn.