There is nothing more timely than the issue of saving Medicaid. We are in a moment of both extreme threat but also extreme opportunity. I know it would be very easy to think that there’s nothing we can do. That massive cuts to Medicaid are a done deal.

The fact is nothing could be further from the truth. And the role that nonprofit leaders can play in turning the tide and saving Medicaid for the people we serve, and for everyone who depends on it, is tremendous right now.

But here's the thing. Our standard advocacy strategies and messaging probably aren't going to work for this particular project. We have to become aware of what's needed, and then be committed to taking action and doing the things that will actually work.

In this episode, we share:

• The key elements we need to understand about the Republican strategy to pass their big, ugly bill
• The two big flaws in that strategy that show us how to focus our advocacy
• The biggest mistake we’re likely to make, and what to do instead
• Why arguing the facts and merits of the issue with Members of Congress won’t work
• The essential tactics that will have the greatest chance of success in this fight
• The three most effective ways to engage your clients, volunteers and supporters and help them make their voices heard on saving Medicaid
• How to time your advocacy action for greatest impact

Links:

Here are two great resources for clear and helpful information on Medicaid, work reporting requirements, and other background to help you explain the issue to others:

KFF.org

Families USA

If you found value in this episode, please let others know! I’d be grateful if you would leave a review on iTunes or wherever you listen. Your reviews help other nonprofit leaders find the podcast. Thanks!!

How do we all be okay when so much is not okay in the world?

There's so much bad, scary, overwhelming stuff going on constantly that it’s really hard sometimes to just get out of bed in the morning. Nevermind show up as our best selves, as our best empowered nonprofit leaders fighting for what's right, fighting for the people we serve, and to protect our communities.

We can't do that without some help. So the conversation is increasingly turning to a search for information, a search for ideas, as we ask each other: What are you doing to cope? How are you managing? Have you figured something out? Can you share it with me?

I think it's incredibly important that we talk with one another about this on a regular basis, and that we keep our emotional and physical wellbeing at the forefront of our attention in this time. And I know that’s a lot easier said than done, which is why I want us to talk about it.

I don't have THE ANSWER. Nobody does. But I have some thoughts and observations about what I'm finding is working for me, and what I'm hearing from others is working for them. And some patterns, some consistencies I’m seeing that I think are worth calling out and sharing with you.

There are also a couple of cautionary notes for us as nonprofit leaders to flag and be super aware of with our teams, because they're looking to us for help.

In this episode, we share:

• How stress manifests itself in the body, and how to use that knowledge to reduce those damaging effects
• Three physical stress management techniques that work in under three minutes
• The two aspects of self-awareness that are key to all emotional/mental/spiritual self-care
• How to catch signs of martyrdom in yourself and your team, and how to counter that
• How we can both model behavior and create an environment of policy and practice that supports our team in their own self-care work

If you found value in this episode, please let others know! I’d be grateful if you would leave a review on iTunes or wherever you listen. Your reviews help other nonprofit leaders find the podcast. Thanks!!

If you’ve got great messaging and it’s still not causing decisionmakers to engage with you, chances are you’re dealing with one of the most common advocacy pitfalls that happens to a lot of nonprofit leaders: We worry so much about what we're going to tell a decision maker, and we don't spend nearly enough time thinking about what we want to ask them.

Questions are incredibly powerful tools, and they can really work magic in a conversation with a decisionmaker. They can create engagement. They can create an opportunity to go deep, to get information that the decisionmaker wouldn't volunteer otherwise. You can get advice. You can get all kinds of valuable intel, and at the same time build a connection with that decision maker, and have them leaning in and engaging more with you.

The magic of questions is that they engage other people's brains. We can't help it. When we're asked a question we have to engage. We have to stop and think about that question. If someone's just telling us stuff, it’s easy to lose focus, and not really hear what’s being said. But as soon as a question shows up in the conversation, our subconscious makes us pay attention. We get engaged. Decisionmakers get engaged.

But here's the thing. Not all questions are created equal. The fact is, the smarter your questions, the better your results are going to be. The trick is to come up with really smart questions that are going to yield high-level results for you.

In this episode, we share:

• How low-value questions work against you, and how to avoid them
• The essential advance work that sets you up to ask higher-value questions of decisionmakers
• The two most important questions to ask yourself before you ever meet with a decisionmaker
• Key characteristics of high-value questions that trigger engagement
• How to turn a request for advice into an even higher-value question
• How to use AI to do advance research and craft higher-value questions
• An easy hack to boost your effectiveness as you develop this skill

Link: Episode 67 – Three Keys to Finding the Right Decisionmaker in Any System

I'm preparing to launch a group coaching program that will focus specifically on helping you craft messaging that will shift decisionmakers’ perspectives and get them on board with sustaining and even expanding your funding. This will be a coaching opportunity for a limited number of people to come in and be part of a group. There'll be some training, but most of it will be coaching and helping you to get your messaging dialed in so that you can address this pressing need.

What I'm seeing right now is there's nothing more important than this. If that sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, message me through the podcast website or on LinkedIn.