Give Better Get Better

Welcome back to Give Better Get Better, the show for community foundation professionals. We've returned from our summer vacation and look forward to a new season of conversations with community foundation leaders from across the country. This year we are asking about One Big Thing they are working on and what others can learn from their experience with that issue.To launch our next season, Josh talked with David Cicilline, President & CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation. David was a state legislator and mayor of Providence before being elected to Congress in 2011. In 2023, he took the helm of the Rhode Island Foundation, which celebrates its 110th Anniversary in 2026. David explained the four things that community foundations do and then dives into his work to promote civic health at the local level. He describes the frontline tactics that ensure a nonpartisan approach and the nationwide network of partners who are collaborating on the effort. Finally, he shared the book he's reading that can help redefine the role of philanthropy in our communities.We want to hear from you at GiveBetterGetBetter@gmail.com.Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Welcome to the last session of Summer School on professional advisor engagement. Thanks for checking out our conversations with participants from Embolden's Intensive Advisor Cohort program about what they learned and how they are applying it to their work. Attorneys, accountants and financial planners are valuable partners for community foundations, so we all need to think about how we can contribute to building trusted relationships with these community members.NOTE: The registration deadline for the Intensive Advisor Cohort starting in September was August 14, but you can reserve your spot for the January and April 2027 cohorts now. Learn more here: https://embolden.com/cohort-programs/2026/4/23/professional-advisor-intensive-cohortTo wrap up, Josh invited Kim Alvarez from the Foundation for Enhancing Communities and Matt Failor from the Arlington Community Foundation to share a few things they learned from the cohort program. They mentioned knowing how much we know and understanding how valuable that is, as well as the power of charitable planning to help advisors retain clients. They also highlighted the importance of "playing the long game" with legacy gifts and staying patient.We want to hear from you! Share how your organization connects with advisors at GiveBetterGetBetter@gmail.com.Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Welcome back to Summer School, our seasonal series focused on professional advisor engagement. We will spend August talking with participants from Embolden's Intensive Advisor Cohort program about what they learned and how they are applying it to their work. Advisor partners are essential to the growth of community foundations, so whether you work directly on advisor engagement or not you'll find useful insights from these conversations.NOTE: The registration deadline for the Intensive Advisor Cohort starting in September is August 14. Learn more here: https://embolden.com/cohort-programs/2026/4/23/professional-advisor-intensive-cohortThis week Josh welcomed Rachel Bailey from Wyoming Community Foundation and Michelle Gleason from Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin. They shared a few things they learned from the cohort sessions, like casting a wide net, actively maintaining your lists and making regular contact. They also share how working across a large, largely-rural service area shapes their approach to finding and engaging advisors, and offer tips on advisor outreach to community foundation professionals.We want to hear from you! Share how your organization benefits the advisors you work with at GiveBetterGetBetter@gmail.com.Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Welcome to our first Summer School focused on professional advisor engagement. For the next few weeks, we will talk with participants from Embolden's Intensive Advisor Cohort program about their work with advisors and what they learned from the program and their peers. Advisor partners are essential to the growth of community foundations, so whether you work directly on advisor engagement or not you'll find useful insights from these conversations.NOTE: The registration deadline for the Intensive Advisor Cohort starting in September is August 14. Learn more here: https://embolden.com/cohort-programs/2026/4/23/professional-advisor-intensive-cohortJosh begins the series by welcoming Elizabeth Welch from Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Nici Lewis from Community Foundation Tampa Bay. They share some takeaways from the cohort sessions, like slowing down, making fewer assumptions and the "message sandwich" technique. They also share how having a law degree shapes their approach to working with estate planning attorneys, and offer advice to community foundation professionals who want to boost their advisor outreach efforts.To keep the conversation going, share your organization's successes or challenges with advisor engagement efforts at GiveBetterGetBetter@gmail.com.Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Community foundations have a unique nonprofit mission: to generate more support for the missions of the other nonprofits in our community. However, our ability to pursue this mission is built on our internal operations, just like most other kinds of organizations. The connection between internal ops and external effectiveness is the focus of our Inside & Out series.To wrap up the Inside & Out series, Josh welcomes Laura McKnight from Embolden back to the show. She shares some of the most common hurdles faced by community foundations, the temptation to make things more complex, the power of choosing to focus on one thing at a time and the benefits of balancing strategic planning with day-to-day execution and getting things done. Make sure to stay tuned to learn what's coming next!Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Community foundations are a different kind of animal in the nonprofit world. Our mission is to generate more support for the missions of the other nonprofits in our community, and our ability to do so is built on our internal operations. The connection between operations and effectiveness is the focus of our Inside & Out series.This week Josh welcomes Kristin Todd, President and CEO of the NoCo Foundation in Fort Collins, Colorado. She discusses her path from private foundations to the community foundation, how her belief that "relationships drive results" motivated a staffing update that doubled annual grantmaking, and the way that talking about our work can actually enhance our ability to do the work. Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Community foundations are unique organizations that can be hard to explain. However, like most nonprofits, we spend money on people and tools to pursue our mission in the community. The Inside & Out series explores the connection between those investments and the change we can make in our service area.This week's episode is double-barreled! Josh talks with Brie Griset Smith, Chief Development Officer for Inland Empire Community Foundation, and Will Schrepferman, CEO and co-founder of Donor Atlas. They explain how a bigger, better donor research tool helps fundraisers work smarter, the way AI-enabled donor research can amplify your accuracy and effectiveness, and what the future holds for a powerful tool like this. This isn't a commercial; it's a case study in how investing in staff and tools can boost your mission in the community.Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.

Community foundations work to build and grow nonprofits that improve life in our service area. Our success relies heavily on our internal capacity to pursue that mission in the community. The connection between operations and effectiveness is the focus of our Inside & Out series.This week Josh talks with Shelly Prichard, President and CEO of The Wichita Foundation. Shelly discusses her career in nonprofits, plans to mark the 40th Anniversary of her foundation with a campaign to "Reimagine Giving," and how upward mobility unites their work to grow capacity internally and for other local nonprofits. Give Better Get Better is presented by Embolden, serving community foundations of all sizes across the country since 1998. Learn more about their content and consulting services at embolden.com.