Marcia Beckner
Welcome back to Nonprofit CEO SPARK Podcast. I’m Marcia Beckner, your host. I am especially excited about today’s guest because this isn’t just someone I admire professionally.
He’s someone I’ve known for at least 10 years, Bradley Hein and I actually met through my own nonprofit, My Lifeline Cancer Foundation, a long time ago, and he’s been a trusted friend and respected colleague ever since.
Professionally, Bradley is a strategic communications leader with over 25 years of experience helping highly regulated, science-driven, and innovation-focused companies clarify their message, align their teams, and communicate with real impact.
He has a gift for taking the brilliance of experts and turning it into communication that actually lands through his firm, Spectacles Communications, and as a senior in-house leadership roles, Bradley has shaped brand strategy, executive messaging, PR, digital marketing, and internal communications for organizations you’ve absolutely heard of: Airbnb, Samsung, MoneyGram, Aero Electronics, who also happen used to work for, and Tarumo among them, and alongside mission-driven work like with my Lifeline Cancer Foundation and other nonprofits, he’s prepared CEOs and CMOs for their biggest media and investor moments.
And he’s the person brands call when they need to protect their reputation through regulatory scrutiny or straight-up misinformation. He’s got the credentials to match an MBA from Regis University and a Bachelor’s of Communications from the University of Denver.
And here’s what I love most: outside of all that high stakes branding and communications work, Bradley volunteers every week as a kitchen assistant for Project Angel Heart, a nonprofit that delivers medically tailored meals to people facing serious illness, and so he’s got the biggest heart.
I’ve always known that about him. He lives in Colorado with his husband and two, and I quote, feisty little dogs.
So whether we’re talking crisis communications or Chihuahua chaos. I already know this is going to be a great conversation. Bradley, welcome to the podcast.
Bradley
Thank you. And yes, one is part Chihuahua. So okay,
Marcia Beckner
That was a good guess.
Bradley
Yeah, good guess.
Marcia Beckner
Good guess. It was like good alliteration, right? Chihuahua. Yeah, totally.
Marcia Beckner
Half Chihuahua.
Bradley
He is at my feet right now. We affectionately call it Zaja’s musk because it’s like this little cocoon that he can self blanket in.
Really, you’ve got to understand empathy. You know, communication is all about empathy.
Okay, very clear with the dog. You have to understand where they’re coming from and meet their needs in their place and time.
I mean, that’s the goal of communications is you know you can learn a lot from caring for a Chihuahua.
Marcia Beckner
That’s right. Well, that’s a good segue into learning about communications and what people really want. I want to start by asking you about your leadership and communications journey.
The Power of Leadership and Potential
Bradley
Yeah, so I set out to be a broadcaster, which is kind of ironic because I never really did that.
I went to the University of Denver for my undergrad, and in high school I did a radio program, and I thought I was going to be a radio guy.
I thought that I was not going to be a DJ spinning tunes, but like a news radio person. And at the University of Denver, I worked in the office of communication, and I met the first leader that I kind of put on a pedestal.
Her name is Danielle Zig, and she’s also something in me, and I learned from her the power of how a leader can transform someone’s life.
She took my ability to write and communicate, and she handed me the reins to this public relations program called Hometown News, and it was basically students that were excelling on campus doing something interesting.
He was writing up a story and pitching that story to their local hometown newspaper, so it was good press for the university.
It also kept a critical audience, who was mostly writing the checks, the parents, excited to say, “Look, our son was in our local paper about the work they’re doing at DU.
And so it was, you know, that was my entry to PR and communications, and it was because I had this job, but because I had a leader who saw.
My potential, and let me just rise and run with it. And I think that the most incredible part about leaders is seeing the potential in people, and harnessing it and giving them the the foundation and and seeing how it fits with the comp you know with your organization.
But to me, that’s magic. That’s the special sauce
Marcia Beckner
of leadership is seeing the potential in others and and helping them
Bradley
giving a platform. You know,
Marcia Beckner
yeah. And so you started there. I mean, what a cool program, right? That’s a win-win for everybody. It was a
Bradley
cool program.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah,
Bradley
and I did it as a. I was a freshman at DU, and I ran the program.
Marcia Beckner
That’s cool. I have an
Bradley
accumulations office
Marcia Beckner
to have someone see your potential that young is really really fortunate, and probably gave you some confidence to keep walking down the path where you already had talents and gifts.
Bradley
Well, and it changed my entire thinking about what, and it changed my entire life of what I’ve done.
I mean, clearly I’m not a radio broadcaster. In fact, it’s kind of funny because in my intro you talked about how I prepare CEOs and CMOs for their big interviews.
I’ve actually never done a podcast before. I’m the guy. I’m the guy behind the scenes getting the other people ready and helping them with their messaging and their through points and their stories.
I’m not in front of the camera guy normally or behind the microphone. So it’s it’s you know your your life can really change because of a leader,
Marcia Beckner
absolutely, absolutely, and a good leader
Bradley
or a bad leader.
Marcia Beckner
Oh yeah, I mostly feel like I had bad leaders all the way, like kind of through my late 20s, and then my late 20s, I worked for a company that became Aero Electronics.
That that you also I.
Bradley
didn’t know that. That’s weird. Yeah, I did.
So I didn’t work at the company. I worked at Crash Hagen, which is a local Denver advertising agency, and I worked to help them with their communications.
So one of the big things I did for Arrow was they had an acquisition of different cyber secure different security offerings.
They had physical security, like locks and doors and digital keys, and cybersecurity. And they didn’t think the two could live together in a cohesive story.
And I, through my work at Karch, was like, no, security is security. Absolutely, this is part of the story.
It’s a you know a full-rounded security offering, and this is how we tell that story. And here’s this architecture for how we do that.
And so I didn’t officially work at Arrow. I worked at Carshagen, which was a client. The client was Arrow.
Marcia Beckner Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
Well, it wasn’t until I worked with them for this company that was acquired by Arrow that I had my best leader who’s ever seen potential in me, and helped mentor me, and I really like being able to really feel like successful, really successful in a career faster.
I was doing you know better work with his mentoring, and really, I mean, it just changes the trajectory of your life.
So, any leader out there watching or listening to this right now, just think if you feel like you’re kind of spinning out in the daily demands of running a nonprofit, you know, maybe you know you have to think about this.
Think about how you could have even more leverage when you find the potential in others and give them more responsibilities.
Not to take my work off my plate, but to really find the talents and gifts that people already have inside and expand on those, and then that could change that person’s life.
And that’s just part of the impact you’re making beyond the mission work, and like and like, I really wanted to have you on here, Bradley, because I really love the way you think.
You’re very strategic. You kind of just already tease how you think about when you look at something from a different angle, from the outside, and look at another company or organization.
You can see these disconnects that are really kind of working against themselves.
So, what do you think about communication and connection? And those are very very ambiguous terms.
I mean, I talk about culture all the time, and mostly it’s like, well, how do you define culture? It’s so ambiguous.
Is the word ambiguous? How do you define connection and communication for an organizational perspective?
Connection, Empathy, and Authentic Leadership
Bradley
So let’s think about whether it’s a dinner party, or let’s say you’re going to an industry event, or it’s a fundraising event.
And you naturally make connections with people. Some yes, some no. Right? That’s you know that’s a normal human experience.
Like there’s some people you click with, and some people you don’t. And to me, you can consciously make that click of a connection if you’re being if the way you’re viewing it and the way you treat that experience.
So, for example, if you view networking as a task and something you need to do, it’s important for our business.
It’s important for the foundation to know how to connect with these donors. If you view it as that, it’s going to feel like a chore, and you’re going to treat it like that.
And it’s not going to be organic, and it’s not going to be natural. If you shift your perspective and think, I get to connect with people who are interested in what we do, and you change your just your backstory of how you’re thinking about the experience.
It’ll impact the way you interact with those people, and it’ll be a palpable difference. I mean, you can tell when someone is actually curious, or they are performing a task to connect.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah,
Bradley
You know, it makes a difference, and it’s the same with your culture.
You know, it’s the same with your staff. If you genuinely are looking to connect with your staff, not just ugh, Marcia said culture is important and we need to connect.
You know, we need to have a better connection with the staff. If you view it as a task as opposed to a challenge and an opportunity, you know it really changes how that how you approach that and how they how it comes across.
Another good leadership story, David Perez. When I worked at Tarumo many years ago, Tarumo.
For those who don’t know, there’s a campus here in Lakewood, Colorado, and it’s a big company, and the campus has like five or six buildings.
There’s you know like the corporate officey type of folks and desks, and then there’s manufacturing and people assuring safety and quality.
And there’s you know it’s a big campus, probably I don’t know three miles around. I mean, it’s a big place.
David, something I really respected. Sometimes it would get annoying because I was doing a video shoot for some project.
He would come around interrupting it, but he would do walkthroughs, and he would just walk campus and go and connect with people.
And what struck me was it wasn’t phony. It wasn’t him just you know I’m going to be present amongst the people and come out of my ivory tower and come no like he had genuine connections with these people.
He knew their names. He knew there I mean they were, you know, hundreds and hundreds of employees, and he knew things about them, genuine things.
And he would ask, “How’s your daughter doing at CU? You know, like didn’t she just start last semester? And like, he just had a great ability to remember all those details.
But why he was so good at it is because he cared, and he listened, and he really, you know, his heart was in it, and you could tell the difference.
And to me, that’s the power of connection, and you can use that power in a lot of ways.
Whether it’s your staff in connecting with them, or if it’s a potential donor or an investor, a journalist who’s interviewing you before you talk to them, making a personal connection with the person.
Your interview is going to be so much better because you’re connecting with the person, and they act. They have a vested interest in helping you be your best.
You know, it just connections are powerful tools for driving business in nonprofit missions,
Marcia Beckner
right? And someone might be listening. Go, you know what? I am too busy.
That sounds really nice. I’m too busy. I have too much on my plate. I don’t have time to stop and ask how someone’s, you know, child is going into college, or I’m introverted and I’m very uncomfortable with that.
I’m just a get shit done kind of person, and that’s just not my personality. And I don’t want to be inauthentic to my personality.
What would you say to that person?
Bradley
Fair. I’m a total introvert. I excel working from home, and I have for many years.
I. I, I’m a functioning extrovert because it’s how you move the world. Like you can you can be the smartest, best person, and it’s not in your in your in your you know it’s not in your DNA to do this.
But you kind of have to get past that if you’re going to be truly successful, and you don’t have to do it, you know, like you don’t have to be David Perez and do it on the, you know, on the regular.
You could do it, you know, just just stop it and start small. Start maybe if it’s not comfortable, try it out like once a quarter, or you know, or even if it’s not for work, test drive it in your personal life.
I’m sure you’re probably interfacing with someone, hopefully someone external of you and your family, you know, somewhere.
And we tried it out at the grocery store line. You could do it when you’re checking out with your groceries if you still go to the grocery store and don’t have them delivered, connect with your house cleaner.
You know, like whatever that person is. Like it doesn’t have to be a conscious business thing.
You can do it anywhere in your life, and the more you do it, the more comfortable it becomes. And I think the richer your life becomes.
One of my favorite parts of traveling is connecting with people outside of my usual sphere and learning from other people about who they are and what makes them tick, and you know that’s that’s what we’re especially now with AI and automation and communication is becoming so automated, and like people like, well, an AI can just write this email and I’ll send it off.
Sure, it can, but it’s not you. It’s not a person.
So when you have the opportunity to make a connection with a human being, face to face or even screen to screen, use that opportunity because it’s fleeting and we’re losing that ability, and you know it’s important for your success.
It will be, I promise.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah, and I believe that’s the single best leadership trait that you can have, because like what you said about David, who like roamed, you know, the campus and was genuinely interested in people that describes the first boss I had that showed me what real leadership was.
He was the president of our company. I was a new hire, like 29 years old. I didn’t know anything about anything about this new business I just joined.
I mean, a total rookie in a cubicle with lots of other people around. He walked around to every cubicle, and he would just check in.
Hey, how are you doing? Like me, he would say, “I’ve got a new one. My wife made a salmon recipe. It was so good.
I’m. Do you? I think you like salmon. Do you want me to print it out for you? Just like something really silly.
And I would wonder in my 29 year old brain, and he was 30 years older than me. Like, how does he?
I feel like I have no time right now because I’m learning this new business. How does he have time to do this?
Well, it’s not like he had time as a president. He made time, and the culture at that place, our division was 50 people, was so exceptional.
I’ve been chasing that ever since, like if we can make it happen in a tech company that sells conductors, we can.
That’s why I know it’s got to be possible in the nonprofit world to build cultures that are that exceptional that everyone is just like helping each other and working and loving their job and referring friends to come work here if there’s an open position, and just at trusting each other.
I mean, there is nothing. The collaboration we had, and I don’t know if it’s just because a leader, you know, asked if I wanted, you know, his wife’s salmon recipe, but it, I, it was that like he stood out as a leader.
Bradley
Well, and it’s and it’s the good times and the bad times too, you know.
When you have, and you know, you go kind of back to your question of like, well, what if someone says I don’t have the time and I’m an introvert and I don’t?
It’s just not something I’m comfortable with, and is it really that important? Yes, when the chips are down, and things are going bad, and there’s a change, and you have to communicate that change to your staff.
If you have the kind of relationship that David had with those employees, when there’s a big company announcement, and there’s things that are going to be uncertain and uncomfortable, when it’s coming from someone you trust and have a genuine connection with, and they say this is in our best interest, and this is what we’re going to do, and this is how we’re going to take care of you, and how we’re going to make this right.
You’re going to believe that person, and you’re going to get through the change, and get to the other side of it, and it’ll, and even if it’s.
Even when you’re laying someone off in a one-on-one conversation, if you have some kind of a connection, and even this is maybe out to HR people, you know, you’re talking to a human being, and you need to make a connection with that person in a really personal, really challenging way.
Making a connection makes that interaction human and real, and it makes the communication more effective because you you’ve made a connection with that person, and you’re empathizing with who they are, and understanding what they’re thinking, and you know thinking through like what what are they going to think, like what you know?
What’s tomorrow going to look like? You know, this is a huge shock.
If you make that connection and are empathetic to that person and understand, you know, put yourself in their place and think about what they’re going through, your communication is going to be so much more effective, and the exchange is going to be a lot better for you personally.
You know, you’re gonna, it’s gonna be a better experience for you.
I’ve had some people that have had to lay off in my career, and we’re still friends.
And I think that’s to me, that’s like one of my biggest, like, you know, like what are your accomplishments?
And it’s you know, I reduced this, and I did this, and I did that, and I launched this brand, and I did that, but to me, it’s the connections that really matter to me.
It’s the employees that I saw with potential that I now see doing this. It’s the person I had to lay off because things changed in the business and it was an unfortunate situation.
But we still talk to each other, and we’re you know it’s it’s it it was a hard conversation, and it was terrible.
But we got through it because we had a connection.
Marcia Beckner
That’s huge. I mean, what leaders are struggling with out there that I’m talking to is how to have a difficult conversation.
So I think the point here is that before you need to have a difficult conversation, you’ve built the trust, you’ve built that personal connection with them, and then the difficult conversation just feels like it comes from a better place rather than now I need you to respond, you know, in a certain way from this difficult conversation, or I’m afraid how you’re going to respond or what the backlash is going to be.
So it’s just this proactive approach of communicating to build that connection and trust that you need before you need to make an announcement of layoffs or an announcement of funds or funding drops.
We’re going to have some changes, right? Is that kind of what you’re saying? Like this is the key to difficult conversations to healthy conversations.
Bradley Yeah, and it doesn’t. I don’t think you have to have a, you know, like a three-year track record connection with someone to have that difficult conversation in a meaningful way.
I think if it’s a, I think you can have a one-off conversation with someone you don’t have a relationship with or connection with.
But when you’re having that conversation at that moment, take the time to think through and empathize with that person, and put yourself in their shoes before you have the conversation.
You’re gonna. It’s gonna be like that. Even if you don’t have a relationship or a connection with that person, if you put yourself in their shoes and think about what they’re going to be going through in this moment, and what are they?
What questions are they going to have, and how can I make it easier for them, not for me? Then those difficult conversations are easier.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah, and you don’t have to script it out.
You’ve got to also just trust yourself enough that you’ve had a lot of difficult conversations in your life, and you’ve gotten through them.
And if you start with a place of empathy, the result of the conversation will be more productive in the long run.
Bradley And in my world, let’s talk about it a little bit in terms of what that means to your brand.
Marcia Beckner
Hey, before we get back to it, if this conversation is hitting close to home.
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Your Culture Is Your Brand
Bradley
So I’m a brand guy. So to help you kind of understand what that means, a brand is the entity and the reputation that you have.
Do they? And so if you’re a nonprofit, mission driven organization. And you do great things for this, whatever the cause is.
It doesn’t, you know, no matter what your cause is. I’m sure it’s great, but if you’re having these difficult conversations in an ineffective way, you’re damaging your brand.
You’re damaging it with that one person who probably is like, ugh, I’m never gonna go work for that person again.
They may be turned off from working for nonprofits forever, you know. So you may be damaging the brand of nonprofit work, but also that person may share their experience with prospective other employers.
They may do it casually at a dinner party. If you know, oh oh you know. Let’s say they’re talking about the nonprofit, and the topic comes up, and the former employees there, and it was a bad let go situation.
Your brand is tarnished because of your connection. The brand is not just your logo and your corporate colors and the, you know, the what you put on your, you know, email signature.
It’s how you treat that employee when you’re letting them go. Do they? Because that’s part of your brand.
That’s the experience and the reputation of your organization. And if you have a negative culture, do they? You have a bad brand.
Marcia Beckner
I think that connection is missed a lot. Like, oh well, we have this great, polished, pretty brand, and on the inside, though, we’re like all working ourselves down to the ground, and people are at each other, and there’s conflict and drama and high turnover, and they don’t think about that sometimes, as this is impacting the overall reputation and brand of the company.
So it’s really important that your culture is your brand.
Bradley
Absolutely, absolutely. You know, if we if we propose, if we say that we’re changing lives and impacting lives for the better, well, the first person you make better make sure you’re doing that for is your staff, because if your own people don’t feel that way about what you say you’re doing, you’ve got a real problem?
Do they? You’re you’re not you’re not living up to your full potential.
Your culture is absolutely integrated into what your brand is. You know, in in my world, you know, people in marketing were like, oh, could you just you know we have this new thing we want to get out.
Can you just make this pretty? That is like a dagger to us. It’s like, yes, I can make it look more appealing and make it a more effective piece of communication.
But we do more than that. You know, we think about the big picture.
And the other thing, you know, we talked a little bit about crisis communications. If you have a good reputation with your people, with your community, with your founders, with your you know your donors, if you have those connections as a part of your brand that are solid, when something bad happens, and something always bad happens, no matter how wonderful of an organization you are, something bad is going to happen if you have bad news or a crisis comes up.
If you have those connections in that positive culture, people are going to give you the benefit of the doubt.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah,
Bradley
and stand up and say, “Ooh, they messed up. Let’s let’s we’ve this we’ve fixed this we fixed this problem.
This is how we’re addressing it. This is how we’re preventing it from happening again.
If you have those connections, people are going to let that go really quick. If you don’t, you’re going to be dragged through the mud, and everything that’s ever happened.
Oh, it doesn’t surprise you that that happened. Do you know that they laid me off, and this is how they did it? You know, it just goes on and on and on.
It just gets worse and worse and worse. So it’s you know, you get that cred and that you get that pass a little bit if you have made those connections and you have a solid brand.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah, and so tell us a little bit more.
Like I want to share that you and I had lunch like six weeks ago, and our conversation kind of started like we got into like connection and relationships and how in this remote world that people aren’t getting together enough in person, and then you wrote an article following our conversation.
Can you tell everyone what that article was and
Bradley
yeah
Marcia Beckner
Why was it important to you to write it?
Bradley Yeah, well, thank you for inspiring me. But it made me think of a guy.
He was a sales guy. He was a printer rep, and it’s where I worked. The company’s name has changed name six times now, so it’s not important the name of the company.
But he was the printer rep for the. The company I worked for, and we affectionately called him Vinny Bag of Donuts, and he got that name because he would usually be one of the vendors who brought in donuts when he came in to visit.
But when he came into the office, the room changed, the energy of the room changed. Everyone just sparked and lit up because he knew those employees he knew us better than we knew each other in the office and it wasn’t the shallow stuff it was, it was genuine like real stuff he knew it and he cared about it.
He was the kind of guy I remember. One of our colleagues came down with MS, and she had to go into assisted living, and she didn’t have a local family, and so we all kind of rallied around and cleaned up her house, and shut down her house to get her ready.
It was us, the coworkers, and Vince, Vinny Bag of Donuts. He was the kind of guy that would do that.
He was just such a good person, and so the reason I kind of was inspired by him was he taught me the importance of making genuine, real connections and really caring about people and meeting them where they are and being a stand-up person for other people.
And so that was kind of the inspiration of the article, and it talks about how you can use this power of connection for lots of things.
One of the things that the article has is I’ve got a list of five practical ways to build better connections in the article.
So I publish what I would like to say routinely every other week, but it’s not quite that consistent. But I publish articles on communications for various topics.
But this is one of the ones I published recently because of my lunch with you.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah, I love that. Well, we’ll put a link to that article in the show notes so that people can access it and maybe subscribe to all the articles that you’re writing because this topic is relevant for every single person.
It’s connection, it’s empathy, and it’s community, it’s culture, and those are things that AI will never take over.
I mean, they may take over like communicating a social media post, or a you know those kinds of things, but the true like human to human connection is where our superpowers are, and where we can really lean into more heavily, so that the robots don’t take over.
Bradley
Well, and also so that we so that we we can keep humanity moving forward, and you know, in you know, like just looking out for your fellow human being, and you know, like I said earlier, like if it’s whether it’s the whether it’s your the person cleaning your house or the person checking you out of the grocery store or someone you’re encountering on a business trip or whatever it is, we got to be nicer to each other, and we’ve got to we’ve got to be more empathetic.
My husband is so good at empathy. Like when we’re driving, he’s like, “Oh, like someone cut you off.
He’s like, “I’m sure that they have a really important meeting, and they have to get there sooner than us. It’s okay.
Like he’s so he can like
Marcia Beckner
evolved.
Bradley
I know he is very evolved. He always makes me. I’m like, I need to be better
Marcia Beckner
then you’re the communications guy. I
Bradley
knows, but I do get cranky when someone cuts me off when I’m driving.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah, yeah.
But I just have to say I loved working with you when you stepped in to help our nonprofit figure out what we were doing with regards to brand communication messaging.
I mean, if you’re not an expert in it, and you have all these other things on your plate as an executive director, I mean, it’s so beneficial to get someone from the outside to say, “I, you know, what are you really trying to communicate?
and really helping you put those pieces together that you couldn’t see because you’re swimming in the water, your fish swimming in the water.
I need someone from the outside, kind of looking in at all the branding and messaging.
Tell us a little bit about spectacle communications and how you help organizations.
Bradley
Yeah, so whether you’re an established brand or a new a new nonprofit kind of getting started, I really can help in either of those aspects.
One of the things I like to do is called a brand tune-up, and it’s kind of like an entry-level, easy way for people to just do a quick audit of their brand.
What are you saying? Do you really know? Because you know you may think you know what your brand’s saying, but it’s not really what’s out there.
So I do things like checking Indeed and Glassdoor, and checking what people are saying about you and what your former employees are saying.
I check LinkedIn. I check. I do all that kind of social listening, but I also talk to people behind the scenes, and I, you know, I learned from your staff and your people working with you, and understanding who you really are, and what’s the mojo behind the brand.
And is what you think you’re saying really what you’re saying, or are you communicating something else unintentionally, and then work to help fix those things.
Sometimes we need more help. Sometimes we need people like Marcia too. I don’t do culture workshops, and I don’t.
I’m not going to fix your organization, but I can tell you what’s. I can tell you when your organization is not doing well, and your organization needs some help, and then let’s work on the brand because it’s the public perception, but also what the perception you have with your employees and your stakeholders and all those people.
So I work to help affect those changes, and I do things like helping leaders get ready for presentations.
Like if you’re going to pitch to a big donor that’s really important, and you’re not sure your story isn’t landing quite right, or do we need a video here, or you know those kinds of how are we going to present ourselves to this really important client?
I can help finesse that and make it stronger and better and more impactful.
Those are the kind of things I get to do right now.
My client I’m really excited I’m work with is a company that freeze dried breast milk, and they do it for individuals at their homes.
And there’s an interest in the hospital market, so I’m helping them get ready to launch in the hospital market for their brand.
And the instinct that came to me was, “Oh, we’re just gonna we’re gonna do a different, completely different brand because it’s a different market.
And I was like, “No, no, no, no, no! Your brand is so strong in the consumer field; it’s gonna translate to the healthcare field.
We can make adjustments to make it clear this is the healthcare offering.
But I gave that counsel to this company to help them see that differently, and that’s the direction we’re going forward.
And hopefully, we’ll be hugely successful. You never, you know, you never know until it all launches and is official.
But that’s the kind of work that I do, I
Marcia Beckner
I love that. What do you think nonprofits or organizations in the social impact sector are doing wrong when it comes to branding or communications?
Bradley
I think there’s an easy one I would say and a good takeaway is what are you putting your name on and giving away to people, and is it really making a difference?
You know, chachkis are nice and all, but do they really advance your cause? And do they really make a difference?
Are you just wasting money? And you think people might want that, but they really don’t.
People have enough stuff. Stop putting your name on stuff that doesn’t matter.
Marcia Beckner
That probably saves organizations a lot of money. Hearing that, like, oh yeah, we’ve been doing it all these years.
Bradley
Make people aware of who you are and what you’re doing, what your impact is.
You know, that’s why people are supporting your organization because they believe in your cause.
So tell those stories and make sure people know what those stories are and help them understand the impact that they’re having by supporting your organization, not asking them.
You know, not making sure that you’re. You know, oh, their name is on a you know a key tag that we had at an event, and now they’re going to use that keychain.
No, they’re not. It’s going to sit on their desk and get lost in the clutter. And the next time they go to clean out their closet, it’s going to go to a chair.
You know, go be donated into the bag to the you know to the those things just clutter up.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah,
Bradley
spend your time and energy on communicating with people and letting them know what the impact of, and make it really personal.
You know, if someone gave because of this, and you know that, make sure when that impact happens, they know it and recognize them for it.
Give them the recognition that they deserve, and it doesn’t have to be public. It could just be a quick text message or a quick note that just says, “Wow, that donation you gave directly impacted this person’s life.
Here’s a little recap of what they’re doing now. Thank you.
You know, make those genuine connections.
My other big pet peeve the nonprofits do ask when it’s very obvious to me because I know how much stuff costs in producing materials and things.
I know very clearly when you have spent where the barometer is, and when you pass the point of spending more money marketing to me to get another donation, then you’ve spent my money for your cause.
I can tell, and I will never donate to you again. That’s my big, big pet peeve.
You know, if you know you make a contribution to this organization, and then you’re on the you know you’re on the hot list.
I understand you have to keep those donors engaged, and you know it’s important to do that.
But you can, you can, you can connect with them in ways that aren’t costing money. You know, not especially not visibly costing money, and making it a more meaningful connection.
And they’re going to trust you, and they’re going to donate to you again because you’re doing such a good job with the money you gave them.
Make sure they know what they did, what you did with those resources.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah, I made that mistake early on when people would make a donation to my Lifeline.
I would like to buy them something, or, and they’re like, oh no, no, no! Don’t give me a thank you.
You’re part of the club bag with your name on it. You know, I want the money to go to the cause and the and the patients that we were serving.
So that was a lesson early on because sometimes we’re like, with best intentions, I want to give gifts to our major donors, but those major donors are like, don’t waste your money on a gift to me.
I want to do a quick story that follows what you were just saying.
Charity Water, a good friend of mine, works for them. The culture is amazing at Charity Water, and she.
It’s just like the reputation for me from the outside, that charity water is great.
Well, they send a few of their people to Africa sometimes to really go to where the water pumps are being put in, based on because they’ve gotten donations.
And we were out to dinner recently, and she shared a picture on her phone of her in Africa, in the poorest, most rural area that is full of crime, and they visited a school with like the tiniest like water, like mud kind of hole in the ground, and and other villagers would travel two hours on foot.
The women with baskets on their heads and take from that muddy water and go back to their families with this, and then they showed like here’s the project and how everything is better when you have clean water.
The kids can learn better. The women have like a very like can somehow like earn money.
It kind of becomes a self employment kind of thing so that they can make a living economically, and I mean, after I saw that picture, I’ll never forget that picture, and I became a monthly donor immediately.
I’m like, how have I not donated before? And she didn’t spend anything.
I mean, they had to, you know, go to Africa to actually see where you have to put yourself where the work is actually making it happen.
So that’s an important thing to do. But come back and you just share; they share their personal story, and it just generates so much support.
Human Connection in an AI World
Bradley Stories
are powerful, and you know people want to make a difference.
They want to be an extension of what you’re doing, and so invite them to be a part of your community in a meaningful way and not a superficial pen with your logo on it. Like
Marcia Beckner
yeah, yep. Those days should be over at this point.
I think we’ve done that long enough, and it’s not. And ironically,
Bradley
Vince does sell those pens. What does he do? Vince, the Vinny Bagadonas.
He sells pens and all those things, but there are printing things that are needed and important that are still valuable.
So everyone uses
Marcia Beckner
pens. Everyone uses pens. Pens are
Bradley
useful, but who
Marcia Beckner
knows?
Bradley
Be conscious about those things. Don’t be out or don’t be crazy.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah. Well, as we wrap up, Bradley, I just love talking to you about branding, communications, and culture being a part of your brand.
Think about how the whole 360 around your brand is the internal staff. It’s you as a leader. It’s the board.
It’s the volunteers. It’s the donors. It’s the community, and make sure everyone’s kind of being treated like the same in it.
You know, in a way that we care about not just our community but also our employees and our staff members and you will just get so much farther in the impact you’re trying to create in the world.
Bradley
Plus, you’ll just be a happier person.
Like if you know you’re you’re you’re doing good for the people who are who are alongside you. You know you’re gonna know that, and that’s gonna be in your heart.
You know, like think about your people just as much as you think about the external people, because you have to have both to make it work.
Yeah, totally. If they’re not connected and they’re not, you know, syncing up, it’s a problem.
You know, it’s just better for everyone to be in a good culture, and
Marcia Beckner
definitely,
Bradley
It’s obvious quickly.
Marcia Beckner
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, thank you so much, Bradley.
It was just so great to reconnect with you this summer and have you on the podcast and share your expertise. and if people wanted to reach out to you, where would they find you?
Bradley
Yeah, so. So if you want, if you’re looking for consulting services, my company’s name is Spectacles Communications, and it’s spectaclescommunications.com.
Just like my glasses, just like if you’re watching, you can put the neon sign above my head.
I’m kind of a big fan of glasses, so spectacles communications. Or if you want to just me directly, I also have BradleyHein.com.
Hein is like ketchup without the Z or the fortune, unfortunately.
So it’s H E I N
Bradley
Hein.com. So either way, perfect.
Marcia Beckner
Okay, that sounds great.
Well, we are going to sign off now, and I’ll say you are meant for great things, and you don’t have to burn out to prove it.
Before you go, I want to remind you that you don’t have to leave empty-handed today.
I created a free guide for nonprofit leaders like you, covering four things: how to stop spinning out, the number one behavior you can use to lead with more conviction, the secret to building a more inclusive culture starting this week, and a simple weekly ritual that unifies your team.
It’s free, it’s fast, and it’s built to help you lead with more confidence starting today.
Grab it now at culturecares.com/guide.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode of Nonprofit CEO SPARK, if you’re ready to turn burnout into boundaries and build a healthy, happy culture where everyone, including you, can thrive, visit culturecares.com to learn how I support nonprofit organizations like yours.
If this episode brought you value, share it with a fellow leader navigating stress and overwhelm, and remember, you are meant for great things, and you don’t have to burn out to prove it.
Until next time, keep leading with courage and confidence.