From Mission to Momentum: Why Nonprofits Should Think Like Corporations

Laura Bonnell, a seasoned journalist with 25 years of experience in Detroit, founded The Bonnell Foundation in 2010 after her daughters, Molly and Emily, were born with cystic fibrosis (CF). Despite having ten siblings between them, Laura and her husband, Joe, had no idea they were carriers of the disease, as no one else in either family had been diagnosed with CF. Driven by her personal experience and professional expertise, Laura used her platform as a reporter to raise awareness about CF. Before establishing The Bonnell Foundation, she actively raised funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, participating in the Great Strides Walk fundraisers and speaking at CFF events. Bonnell also organized events like the first Celebrity Softball game with the Detroit Tigers’ wives and launching the “Portraits of Cystic Fibrosis” calendars in 2003—both of which are integral to The Bonnell Foundation’s fundraising efforts today. Through her foundation, Laura continues to advocate tirelessly for those affected by CF, leveraging her journalistic skills to amplify the cause and support the CF community.

More information at – https://thebonnellfoundation.org 

 

The Interview Transcript

Hugh Ballou:
Welcome to the Nonprofit Exchange. This is Hugh Ballou. I’m the Founder and President of SynerVision Leadership Foundation. We work with nonprofit leaders transforming themselves to transform organizations. and transform lives. You can find the Nonprofit Exchange at http://thenonprofitexchange.org and you can find this episode and all the others. So I’ve got a special guest today, as always, but you know I’m excited each week because it gets better and better. My guest is Laura Bonell and her topic is going to be from Mission to Momentum. Why Nonprofits Should Think Like Corporations. Before we go there, Laura, welcome and tell people a little bit about your background and your passion for your work.

Laura Bonnell:
Thank you. Thanks for having me. I’m glad to be here. It’s very exciting. So I was a journalist my whole career in Detroit. And when my daughters were diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, it changed everything. So as soon as Molly was born and then Emily was born, I thought that being a journalist was my passion, but my purpose was to raise awareness and to do something about cystic fibrosis. I decided that I needed to start a foundation, but I didn’t have the time or the opportunity to do it until 2010. And then in 2019, just before the pandemic, great timing on my part, I left radio and TV and just decided to do my foundation full time. So I’m very happy with where I am right now in that process.

Hugh Ballou:
Great. So tell us a little bit about the foundation and why you, you said a little bit about why, but tell us a little bit more about it and what kind of work you do.

Laura Bonnell:
Well, I felt really that my parents needed some help. I had been to support groups that were horrible and depressing, and I wanted to jump from a high cliff after, and that wasn’t the answer. what we needed was support from each other. I could only see being positive. I wasn’t going to raise my girls to just be sad and feel sorry for themselves. They were going to be positive and live beautiful lives and not let cystic fibrosis define them. So when I started the foundation, I was, you know, All chronic diseases are very expensive diseases. You have co-pays. You have things that aren’t covered. Transplants still aren’t covered fully. So it’s very expensive, as people who deal with this know, to have a chronic illness. So now the foundation does financial assistance. We do lung transplant grants. We do college scholarships, trade school scholarships, community school scholarships, and now we have mentoring programs. It’s non-medical advice for parents who have kids with cystic fibrosis, and we have a CF Familia page because people of color are underdiagnosed in cystic fibrosis. So we do a lot of education about that because a late diagnosis usually impacts your health and can certainly impact your life expectancy. I also interviewed parents in the United States and we called it the CF masterclass parents could go on those sites at any time and listen to a dad talk about faith and cystic fibrosis, or listen to a mom talk about losing her child to cystic fibrosis. It was whatever topic impacted you, you could go listen to a parent talk about it. Then I interviewed parents around the world, in India, Thailand, Egypt, in Jordan, talking about lack of access to drugs and Where you live shouldn’t matter if you live, but the life expectancy for cystic fibrosis, which is a chronic genetic disease, is 56, but in these other countries, it was eight, or kids were, multiple kids not even diagnosed yet were dying at birth. It was just so disturbing and sad. So we raise a lot of awareness, we give away a lot of money, and we have a podcast also and newsletters. It’s just a lot of education we’re trying to provide.

Hugh Ballou:
Education. So talk about awareness in general. I’m not sure that there’s a high level of awareness about this disease.

Laura Bonnell:
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that causes chronic and fatal lung infections and it interferes with every organ, including digestion. Most people are pancreatic insufficient. They can’t digest their food. So except for candy or popsicles, really you have to take enzymes to digest everything. And so that’s a necessary part. And people who know about cystic fibrosis usually relate to the lung infection and the lung disease part of it, but you can also have cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, you can get colon cancer because you have a higher percentage of having colon cancer, and even carriers are more susceptible to colon cancer than to the average person. So 40,000 people in the United States have cystic fibrosis. And I’m sure the numbers are higher because, like I said, people of color are underdiagnosed. And you both have to be a carrier for your child to have the disease. So it was a one in four chance with each pregnancy that a child will be born with cystic fibrosis if you’re a carrier. anyone can have cystic fibrosis, but when my daughter, Molly, is now 30 and Emily’s 27, and when they were born, my husband’s Irish Catholic and I’m Ashkenazi Jewish, and at that time, they said, if people were gonna get CF, it was a lot in that population, but anybody can get cystic fibrosis. That’s the disease. And now more medications can help people with the underlying condition. CF modulators is what they’re called. They correct the underlying condition of the disease, even though it’s not a cure. But about 10% of the population don’t have any medications that can help them because there’s so much information to tell you, but there are more than 2000 cystic fibrosis mutations. And if you have a rare mutation, it’s harder to get a medication that will help you. So that’s the kind of the big push and the big challenge right now.

Hugh Ballou:
Wow. So talk about awareness. I’ve had several people who’ve had disabilities like blindness or some other invisible disabilities, but in And I had not been aware that that represents 26% of our population. And that had been invisible to me. So I’m guessing that there are a lot of people that aren’t even aware that cystic fibrosis has this many people. So how, as a journalist, you said you were in broadcast journalism?

Laura Bonnell:
Well, radio and TV, but yeah. I was at a Detroit TV and radio station here.

Hugh Ballou:
I need to be on my best behavior then. So, talk about ways now. Talk about some of the challenges you had starting up your nonprofit and getting traction. You now work full-time. That’s a big deal. Talk about how you started up for those people that are in the startup phase. What did you do right? What did you wish you hadn’t done? How did you get this to the place it is now? And then how did you, through that process, were you building awareness that there was a problem people needed to know about?

Laura Bonnell:
Yeah, I think that coming from the media was great because I already had, I was recognizable. People knew who I was. So that was very helpful. I had raised awareness about the disease at the radio station and at the TV station. So that was good. I knew people. I have connected with lawmakers already. I was connected with so many people. But I didn’t know what I was doing when I started my foundation, didn’t have a clue. I didn’t know the first thing I needed to do. I just asked somebody and they’re like, oh, get an attorney first. So I got an attorney first and then you do your bylaws and you get your board. And I didn’t know who to pick for my board. Do you pick friends? Like, how do you start? I just did what I thought I should do. It was great to start with friends too. That’s what I decided to do. People that were 100% or a million percent with you. That was the best thing I did. I know that there can be situations where maybe you shouldn’t have friends. People are like, oh no, you could get in situations, but that was not my experience. But no, I asked so many questions. If I didn’t know, I just thought, hmm, who should I ask or who should I get advice from? And it’s continuously talking to people. I love having mentors. People don’t even think they’re my mentors, but sometimes I’ll reach out to them. Like I reached out to another foundation, for example, Gilda’s Club. Everybody knows Gilda’s Club. Well, I think they raise, they house cancer awareness and support groups. And there’s one in Detroit, and they’re all over different parts of the country. And I was trying to raise money, and I was having a hard time with grants and sponsorship, and it wasn’t my favorite thing. I don’t like asking people for money, even though it’s not for me. And I was lucky to get somebody who wanted to share their information, and she was priceless. She was one of the best people that really helped me get the foundation going financially because her advice was just so strong. You’ve got to ask people, you know, you just talk to people and find out more from them. And then when you apply for grants, just give a lot of information and ask the people you’re writing the grant for, hey, how does this look? Or did I forget something? So it’s always communication, but it was constantly just fanning out and talking to more and more people. so that I learned and I grew and I love criticism. I love positive criticism. I love people saying, hey, I would change that or you might want to think about this. If people aren’t honest with me, it would be embarrassing. It would be embarrassing because I wouldn’t have the same growth. I had a friend recently say, you keep saying, Parents, this event is for parents, but what if the caregiver is an aunt? What if the caregiver is a grandparent? And I thought, oh my gosh, thank goodness he told me because the problem could have been somebody who felt offended by that or somebody who felt left out because I kept saying parents would not tell me. They would probably just say, forget you, Bonnell Foundation. I’m going somewhere else that includes grandparents. So I changed stuff to say caregivers because that’s inclusive. So I appreciate that. And I think that’s one of the biggest things that I tell people as they grow their businesses, you need and you want people to say, hey, I looked at your website and maybe you should think about doing this. It’s very helpful.

Hugh Ballou:
You’re coming by wondering what this is about. This is the Nonprofit Exchange that you’re with Hugh Ballou, and I’m interviewing Laura Bunnell. And what you just got in the last few minutes is a whole course on how to start up a nonprofit. So don’t worry if you didn’t get to write it down. The transcript will be at thenonprofitexchange.org. Find this episode, which is called From Mission to Momentum. Now, let’s talk about that a little bit. So, I would like to point out for people listening also, Laura, the old adage is people who succeed do what other people are not willing to do. And you did it, even though you said I didn’t like Ask for Money, it wasn’t for me, but you did it. And you asked people. I’m going to suggest that people respond to you because of how you asked. in all of those situations. So I think you were aware that you wanted feedback. So say a little bit about it. People could be honest with you because you invited it. Am I right?

Laura Bonnell:
Absolutely. I don’t know everything and I make mistakes and it’s just important. I’ll tell you, I had someone upset about it, I think it was because one of our financial people didn’t get back to him and he left an irate message I called him back and he was going to hang up on me. And I said, hey, it’s OK. We’re supposed to get back to you in two weeks. We didn’t. It was our mess up. And by the end of the conversation, we were like, having a calm conversation. I just think it’s, I just keep saying it, it’s important for growth to say, hey, I messed up, or we messed up, or, you know, we’ll do better. You know, sorry that this happened. A lot is going on in a foundation and you have so many people working on so many different aspects of it. It’s good to always touch base with your people and appreciate them. I think we keep learning as we go, right? We just learn from every experience. So I just think that’s important. And my board and my volunteers must know they can say to me, hey, I’m underworked, I’m overworked, or whatever it is that’s on their mind is really important.

Hugh Ballou:
So why should nonprofits think like corporations?

Laura Bonnell:
Well, we’re a business, and we’re doing the same thing. I think sometimes when you hear a nonprofit, people kind of dismiss you like, oh, you’re not serious, or you’re not doing something. But nonprofits are critical. to this country and the world because they’re doing so much good. And you’re hiring people, you’re paying people, you’re doing all the same things. You have expenses, you have in-kind donations, you have big donations, little donations, you’re, you know, have people that you’re trying to help and you’re employing. So that’s why it’s important. It’s important to realize that what foundations do is meaningful in different ways than corporations. Everybody’s a citizen of the business world, right? And making an impact. So that’s why I think it’s important.

Hugh Ballou:
I’m thinking you could even turn this around, because many of the attributes making a difference in people’s lives, we’re engaging people differently. We’re forging a new way of engagement with people and their boards and communities. So maybe it could also be why corporations should think like nonprofits. Now, we need to have all of those business skills. But it’s harder in nonprofit because you got volunteers and you got all these rules to go by. And so people shouldn’t take us for granted because we’re doing the hard work. You’ve done amazing work. I mean, to get to a place where you can focus on this full-time, many founders never get there.

Laura Bonnell:
Right, I know, I can’t believe it. Honestly, I never thought I would be able to pay myself. It’s almost hard to say it because I still feel guilty about it. And we’ve had this conversation amongst nonprofits. There shouldn’t be this shame of paying yourself or whomever you need to pay because we’re, you know, we employ seven people. But we’re having such an impact. That’s the only way. I mean, people don’t work for free in a corporation. You have to survive, you have to move forward, and it is important. But yeah, I’m proud of how we’ve grown and where we’re going.

Hugh Ballou:
You should be. So what are some of the myths that put nonprofits into this scarcity mindset of not thinking they’re a business?

Laura Bonnell:
I think the mindset is we’re just volunteering. We’re just doing a little something. We’re doing the best we can. Maybe that’s kind of what the thought is, is that we’re just trying to help society the best we can. But I think the reality is that we’re working so many hours. I mean, I can work, I get up and start working at 5 am. I can be working till midnight. Sometimes I think Do I need to sleep? Because there’s so much to do. And even with everybody helping, there’s just a lot of work to do. And then there’s advocacy, advocacy for a patient, advocacy for bipartisan legislation. advocacy for caregivers, for whomever it is, thinking of new programs, what are the gaps, what are we missing, you know. We have a hospital bag program that when you’re, it’s like when you’re having a baby and you’re not prepared, they always say pack a bag. Well, If your child is in an emergency, you’re running to the hospital, you probably are going to forget your phone charger. We include that in a hospital bag. So there are phone chargers and coffee mugs and coffee, Starbucks gift cards or Dunkin Donuts gift cards and toothbrushes and toothpaste and dry shampoo. and journals to write in, all kinds of stuff that we fill these bags with, and social workers in the Cystic Fibrosis Clinics have them. And when your child is admitted, the parent gets this bag. So they have all these things that they probably forgot. So it’s things like that, that you’re just not gonna get anywhere else. That is something unique that foundations do. So that’s… the difference and the importance, I would say.

Hugh Ballou:
Well, I’m sure people are going to want to know about the Bonnell Foundation, and that is exactly the URL, thebonnellfoundation.org. So, Laura, when they go there, what will they see?

Laura Bonnell:
We’ll see so much. Thank you so much, Hugh. They can see the support programs that we have. They can donate. They can buy merchandise. And there you have the dropdown on the CF Familia. Then there’s Education Day, Inspirational Stories, all that stuff. So we have so many different things. You can actually, our public service announcements are debuting. in Detroit on every television and radio station in Detroit and we’re going actually to Grand Rapids and Lansing and some other states to raise awareness about cystic fibrosis. May is CF Awareness Month and so it’s great to get everybody doing the public service announcements in the same month because it really will help raise awareness. But Yes, for all your questions you can email us and get more information. There are 10 million carriers, which I don’t think I mentioned, so a lot of carriers of cystic fibrosis and 40,000 people with the disease. How many carriers? 10 million in the U.S.

Hugh Ballou:
Wow, I’m learning a lot of things I didn’t know now. Tell us about this calendar.

Laura Bonnell:
The calendar I started in 2003. And I thought in the vein of trying to educate about this disease and move forward positively, like, hey, we have this disease and we’re going to move forward in the most positive way that we can. I started the portraits of cystic fibrosis. It’s inspirational stories about people with CF or we take it from a different angle every year. One year we did college students because people were living past the college age for the first time. So that was exciting. So we featured college students, like how’d you get through college and stay on your medications and get, cause it can take two hours in the morning, two hours in the evening to do your medications, all your breathing treatments and everything like that. And then we, I featured parents one year because I thought, well, And granted, I am a caregiver, so it’s from my perspective, but I think in some ways, it’s harder to be a caregiver, because you have to watch everything the patient’s going through, be that supportive person, and usually go cry somewhere else, not when you’re with them. So there is a lot of stress in the chronic illness disease, a lot of guilt. So it was just a way for participants’ cystic fibrosis calendars to kind of inspire people and share emotions.

Hugh Ballou:
And I noticed on your website, you have a dropdown menu with many, many pages for media. And I just want to encourage people to have, tell your story. You don’t have to be a rockstar social media expert like Laura Bunnell. You can do it. Just tell people about the impact of your work. That’s so important. So you, um, you’ve given me a lot of information. I’m sure a lot of others. So what do you want to leave people with today with thought or action or whatever you want to leave people with?

Laura Bonnell:
Well, this is something you asked me about before we even started. And I appreciate the question. It’s, who do you want to be your role model? I think it was something like that. And my answer was, it should be that person. Inspire yourself, be proud of yourself. We’re so hard on ourselves. Sometimes we judge ourselves by how successful someone else is. But whatever it took you to get to where you are now, bravo. thank goodness you are where you are. I just think we need to just be happy with where we are and say, this is where I am and this is where I’m going next. It’s really important to constantly listen to podcasts like this too, because you hear from other people and you get different perspectives, but I encourage everybody to reach out to people and read and look at websites because you need a wealth of information. That’s what gets you there. And then pay attention to the serendipity of your journey. I am sure that when you notice a red car and then you see a bunch of red cars, whatever your disease or your non-profit specialty is, pay attention. Do things out of your comfort zone because like working out and weightlifting, the more you do, the better it gets, the stronger you get. So yeah, I would say look at how great you are. Look at what you’ve done and the journey that it’s taken you to get to this point and just go for it and let people help you and give you ideas but do what is in your head. I’ve had people in the same way that they’ve given good positive suggestions but also given some negative ones and tried to discourage me from doing something that they felt was too adventurous or something. And I’m glad I didn’t listen to them because it happened. I did a celebrity baseball game with the Detroit Tigers and their wives. It was magnificent. And you know there was a lot of all you’ll never get them don’t wanna do it I mean they ran a public service announcement during the baseball game like dream big do it if you don’t do it. Someone else is going to do whatever you want you can do it.

Hugh Ballou:
What an inspiration. I’m going to hang out and go do it. Laura  Bonnell, you’ve been great today. Thank you for sharing your secrets on the nonprofit exchange.

Laura Bonnell:
Thank you. It’s been delightful. Appreciate it.