Building and growing a strong membership community during a pandemic can be challenging. If we can't get together in person, how can we foster strong connections?  In the digital and virtual age, how can we effectively engage our members and encourage them to participate? Enter Yolanda F. Johnson.  With more than two decades of experience in the non-profit sector, she has had an outstanding career as a performing artist, as a composer, as an producer, as an educator, and she has used her background as a performer to become a sought-after fundraising expert. Yolanda founded two membership communities for non-profit professionals— Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy (WOC)® and Allies in Action Membership Network.™ In this episode, we’ll talk about what it takes to build a vibrant membership community and why diversity is the key to a true “philanthropic lifestyle”. Here are some of the topics we discussed: How to build and grow a membership organization and/or nonprofit community Ways to continually engage and connect with your membersHow she grew WOC and Allies in ActionConnect with Yolanda: https://www.yolandafjohnson.com/https://twitter.com/YolandaFJohnsonhttps://www.instagram.com/yolanda.f.johnson/Do me a favor? Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts (or your podcast player of choice) - it helps this podcast get seen by more people that would enjoy it!About Julia Campbell, the host of the Nonprofit Nation podcast:Named as a top thought leader by Forbes and BizTech Magazine, Julia Campbell (she/hers) is an author, coach, and speaker on a mission to make the digital world a better place. She wrote her book, Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits, as a roadmap for social change agents who want to build movements using engaging digital storytelling techniques. Her second book, How to Build and Mobilize a Social Media Community for Your Nonprofit, was published in 2020 as a call-to-arms for mission-driven organizations to use the power of social media to build movements. Julia’s online courses, webinars, and talks have helped hundreds of nonprofits make the shift to digital thinking and raise more money online. Julia's happy clients include Mastercard, GoFundMe, Facebook, Meals on Wheels America, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.