485. Saving Time + Engaging Your Rabid Fans: Automation Tips from SODA - Nicole Nidea

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Overview

Meet Nicole. Her passion for educating others about organ donation started in 2015💚 That passion has continued to grow as she helped lead the original Student Organ Donation Advocates (SODA) chapter at Washington University in St. Louis 🎓 She then Nicole joined the SODA National Team in 2020 as the volunteer Director of Development and the next year their first full-time employee. This small but mighty team leans into automation to support more than 50 chapters and 20 community partnerships across the country 🤖 She’s sharing lessons learned along the way about how automation can transform an organization with everything from donor engagement to internal processes.

💡 Learn

Overview of Student Organ Donation Advocates (SODA)
Case Study: automation to scale impact
Tips for young professionals entering the nonprofit sector

Today’s Guest

Nicole Nidea, Program Director, Student Organ Donation Advocates (SODA)

“It’s quick, it’s customizable, and it makes burnout happen less.”

— Nicole Nidea, Program Director, Student Organ Donation Advocates (SODA)

Episode Transcript

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Episode Highlights

Nicole’s story and journey to where she is today (3:10)

Overview of mission of SODA (7:00)
Where SODA started with automation (9:30)
Using Zapier (10:00)
How nonprofit organizations can utilize automation (12:20)
Using automation to transform donor engagement (15:00)
Tips for nonprofit leaders considering automation (18:45)
Advice for early career professionals in the nonprofit sector (21:15)

A powerful moment of philanthropy in Nicole’s life (22:50)
Nicole’s One Good Thing: Always write thank you notes. (26:35)

Impactful Quotes

"I became an organ donation advocate and I helped lead that chapter at Wash U. That was so formative to me because it really prepared me for a career in nonprofits." - Nicole

“Our mission is to inspire and support student-led education and registration initiatives on high school, college, and graduate school campuses." - Nicole

“We want to have 100 chapters by the end of 2025.” -Nicole

“I'm ready to send them off as soon as we get a donation letter, which is great because everybody says you should be thanking donors within 24 hours and automation helps us do that” -Nicole

“It's quick, it's customizable, and it makes burnout happen less.” -Nicole

“I think a good handwritten thank you note really stands out with today's technology.” -Nicole