New Powerhouse Team Member
Nicole Lauer is ecstatic to join Powerhouse Planning as a freelance social media manager. Over the course of the last decade, Nicole has gone from an active-duty military member to a full-time military spouse.
Navigating five moves in ten years, Nicole has learned to overcome all obstacles thrown her way.
In her professional life, Nicole strives to be an adaptable team member up for any challenge. She has over five years’ experience as a social media manager, communications manager, content curator, marketer, and marketing assistant.
Nicole is a graduate of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where she earned her B.A. and M.A. in multimedia communications with a focus in social media advertisement. During her course of study, Nicole remained engaged with her military community by volunteering as an ombudsman and holding several board positions on spouses’ clubs and ball planning committees.
Nicole currently resides in Cape Canaveral, Florida with her husband, Clark; eight-year-old son, CJ; and four-year-old daughter, Zoe-Rae. In her free time, Nicole loves exploring every inch of Disney World and tasting new food offerings around the world in Epcot.
CEO SPOTLIGHT
Bringing a Big-City Amenity to a Small Town
By: Heatherlynn Akins
When Tim and Courtney Madden met, they were young students at Penn State who dated but then went their separate ways. Little did they know their story was only just beginning and would, eventually, lead to Courtney starting her own business with Tim acting in many advisory and support roles for that business. In the eight years between Penn State and reconnecting in 1998, Tim joined the Navy and served as a diving officer on the USS Salvor in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii before starting an IT career first in Denver and then for Colorado Mountain College in the small, mountain town of Glenwood Springs. Courtney spent nine months in Madrid after graduation before returning to the States via Dallas, TX where she settled into a career as a fifth-grade bilingual teacher as well as a middle school Spanish teacher. When they married in 1999, the couple decided to make Glenwood Springs their home, where they could be near the world-class skiing resorts of Vail and Aspen. Four children later and the Maddens have become well-known fixtures in their community.
In early 2019, Courtney decided she was ready for a career change and started looking into various opportunities. A family friend, entrepreneur Johnathan Gorst, was looking to start a new restaurant delivery venture and the two began talking about the possibilities of teaming up. Before they could start operations, however, life happened, and Johnathan and his family moved to New York. Courtney was left with a concept and a desire to open KraveKar, a restaurant delivery company that contracts with locally owned restaurants to deliver meals to both hometown residents and the many tourists who flock to the town annually. It was a service not previously available to the town, but one many out-of-town visitors from the big cities expected and many residents longed for.
The idea is simple: A customer uses the KraveKar app or website to select a restaurant and places an order. Then Courtney and her team of dedicated drivers pick up the food and deliver it wherever the customer chooses, whether that’s home, a hotel, a park, or the world’s largest hot springs pool, which just so happens to be a major tourist attraction in town. While it works similarly to many of the national companies who offer this service, KraveKar comes with that small-business attention to detail. If part of your order is missing when it’s delivered, Courtney and her team will go back, pick up the missing items, and deliver them as part of their service. They’re also actively involved in the entire process, from cultivating relationships with local restaurants to driving the car that delivers your food. Courtney doesn’t believe in a hands-off leadership approach. (more…)
Did You Know?
According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, nonprofits contribute around 5.6% of the nation’s GDP (gross domestic product). This isn’t an insignificant number, and nonprofit growth is on the rise. While most nonprofits in the United States have operating budgets under $500,000 (only 5% operate at $10,000,000 or more per year), this doesn’t mean nonprofits don’t have room to grow and expand. Just remember to be true to your mission and build on the trust of your communities and partners.
Powerhouse Planning can certainly help. Whether you outsource various projects to us to keep your operating costs down (which means more revenue for your target populations) or you want some self-guided ways to grow, check out our resources and services we offer. Powerhouse is committed to helping nonprofits grow to meet their full potential.
Don’t Miss It!
Powerhouse Planning is so excited to share that Jessica Bertsch will be speaking alongside Dr. Gary Chapman during PILLAR—the digital retreat for deployment countdowns!
Best-selling author of “The Five Love Languages” and “The Five Love Languages: Military Edition” Gary Chapman will discuss the unique challenges and opportunities deployment presents for military couples.
During his session, Dr. Chapman will answer viewers’ questions about how military couples can show love and support over a distance.
Jessica is looking forward to talking about Finding Joy (Even When You Count Down!) and sharing her favorite tips for finding joy with your spouse, your littles, and yourself.
If you’re a military spouse wondering how you can speak your spouse’s love language more intentionally during deployments AND aiming to find joy during deployments then grab your FREE ticket using the link below!
Four Tips for Growing Your Nonprofit
By: Meghan Traynor
We understand that starting and maintaining a nonprofit can have its challenges. We’re here to help! Here are four ways you can grow your nonprofit into a successful organization.
1. Build trust.
Building a strong community with your supporters is vital to your organization’s growth. Here are a few ways you can build trust and foster community with your fans:
- Provide donors with firsthand experiences so they can see your organization in action. Even if they don’t all take you up on your offer, you are still opening the door of trust with them.
- Provide relevant data about the need in your community and what your organization is doing to meet that need.
- Be honest and transparent with donors, volunteers, staff, and followers for a meaningful and sustainable impact.
- Express gratitude. Thank your donors for every gift. Personalize a thank-you letter for each donation and include how it will make an impact in and for your organization. You can even go the extra mile and send a follow-up thank-you note after the donor’s gift has been used that showcases the impact their donation made and, if possible, a testimonial from someone their donation helped.
The more often you communicate and build trust with donors and followers, the more inspired they will be to continue supporting your organizations mission. (more…)
Manners Matter When Growing Your Nonprofit
By: Randi Cairns
When you think of etiquette, you likely think of things like keeping your elbows off the table or not talking with your mouth full. As a society, we have certain rules or conventions we’ve agreed to regarding the proper way to behave in certain settings.
Well, business etiquette is the same thing: It’s about how we behave or interact with others in our work environment. And while most of the personal rules we tend to agree on apply in a work setting as well (nobody needs to see your lunch while you’re talking about your fundraising goals for next quarter), here are three tips specific to business etiquette and growing your nonprofit. (And yes, like your mama told you, manners DO matter.)
1. Be responsive. Whether it’s with the people you serve, your volunteers, your funders, or your critics, show them you’re listening. It’s great to be passionate about your mission. It’s better still to make sure what you’re offering aligns with the needs of your stakeholders. Are you paying attention when your clients tell you what they need? Are you delivering on promised deliverables to grant funders? Are you communicating—both when things are going well and when you hit an inevitable obstacle or challenge?
You want buy-in from others if you’re looking to grow your nonprofit. An easy way to get that? Let them know their feedback matters. (more…)
